EU names German diplomat for Kosovo negotiations

BRUSSELS, July 29 (Reuters) The European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana has named German diplomat Wolfgang Ischinger to represent the bloc in negotiations on the future status of Kosovo, his office said today.

Solana spokeswoman Cristina Gallach said Ishinger, Germany's ambassador to the United Kingdom and an expert on the Balkans, would be the EU representative in efforts to ease talks between Serbia and Kosovo's ethnic Albanians during negotiations expected to last at least four months.

Attempts to clinch a UN resolution on Kosovo's status reached an impasse this month after Russian resistance in the UN Security Council, raising the prospect of Kosovo declaring independence without a UN mandate.

EU states raised fears on Monday that a unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo would shatter fragile EU unity on the fate of the Serbian province, and urged both Belgrade and Pristina to compromise.

REUTERS SM KP1736