UN's Ban - Kosovo delay would have negative impact

By Staff
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BRUSSELS, July 10 (Reuters) UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said atoday that further delay in diplomatic moves to determine Kosovo's final status would have negative consequences in the breakaway Serbian province and beyond.

Ban told a news conference after talks with Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu he hoped the U.N. Security Council would agree on a draft resolution allowing for 120 days of consultation to overcome differences between Russia and the West on a path to independence for Kosovo, cautioning against unilateral action.

''Any further delay or prolongation on this very important issue would have a very negative impact on all peace and security, not only in Kosovo, not only in the Balkans, but in the whole European situation,'' Ban said.

Western nations pressed yesterday for a Security Council decision within the next week on independence for Kosovo but council president China said big powers were as divided as ever.

Ban said the United Nations was facing ''an impasse''.

Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders have threatened to declare unilateral independence from Belgrade unless the international community backs their aspirations soon, but Russia has insisted it will not back any solution without Serbia's agreement.

The Balkan territory of two million, 90 per cent of whom are Albanians, has been under UN administration for eight years since NATO waged an air war in 1999 to drive out Serbian forces and end ethnic cleansing in the province.

''I am concerned that we have not been able to take any action on this, as much as we had hoped,'' Ban said.

The European Union supports the plan of U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari for supervised independence for Kosovo but says it requires a Security Council resolution to take on its responsibility for policing and overseeing the territory.

Diplomats say a unilateral declaration of independence, perhaps with U.S. backing, could split the 27-nation EU.

''Unity of the European Union is very important,'' Ban said.

He said the EU could help by giving ''reasonable incentives'' and a prospect of eventual membership to Serbia to minimise its concerns and anxieties.

''We need to address these issues in a more comprehensive way,'' the UN chief added. Ban, who also met European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, was due to discuss the issue later with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

REUTERS AM ND1614

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