EU seeks stepped up effort for Kosovo resolution

LUXEMBOURG, June 18 (Reuters) The European Union reiterated its backing for a UN plan for independence for the breakaway Serb province of Kosovo today and called for stepped up efforts for a rapid solution via a UN resolution.

EU officials said the stance of EU foreign ministers who met in Luxembourg represented a holding position ahead of a July 1 meeting between US President George W Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who are poles apart on the issue.

A statement from the Council of 27 EU member states said they had confirmed their support for the plan drawn up by UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari, which is bitterly opposed by Serbia and its Russian ally.

''The Council expressed its support for intensified efforts to ensure that the Security Council can adopt such a resolution in a timely manner...the Council underlined the necessity of rapidly finding a solution...,'' the statement said.

EU diplomats said the statement was a trade-off between those who wanted a quick Security Council resolution and those that wanted more time.

And by underlining backing for Ahtisaari plan it was also aimed at heading off any unilateral declarations of independence should the Russian continue to block the plan, they said.

At a G8 summit in Germany this month France proposed delaying a UN resolution on Kosovo for six months if Moscow would acknowledge ''the inevitability'' of independence.

But Putin refused to back down from his insistence that there could be no resolution of Kosovo's status without the agreement of Serbia and warned that undermining state sovereignty was a dangerous step.

Relations between the European Union and Serbia have improved in recent days with Belgrade's arrest of two leading war crimes suspects.

The European Union hailed the progress and has resumed talks on a Stability and Association Agreement that is the first step towards eventual EU membership.

REUTERS SG BST0020