EU ministers seek to avert rift over Kosovo

By Staff
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VIANA DO CASTELO, Portugal, Sep 8 (Reuters) The European Union sought today to maintain a united front over the breakaway Serbian province of Kosovo amid growing concern that it will declare independence unilaterally.

Foreign ministers meeting in Portugal dodged questions over how they would react if Kosovo's Albanian majority unilaterally declared independence later this year, a move that could split the bloc in two.

''We are in the middle of this process and we hope that we can shape it so that what you fear -- a break-up of the common foreign policy position of Europe -- does not come to pass,'' Germany's Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters.

Yet after the failure of UN mediator Martti Ahtisaari's efforts to get Serbia and Kosovo Albanians to agree on supervised independence for the territory, few hold out much hope for last-ditch negotiations due to end on December. 10.

''After the Ahtisaari plan unfortunately didn't lead to the result we had hoped for, the prospects are certainly not better now,'' Steinmeier conceded at the start of a second day of talks in the coastal town of Viana do Castelo.

Britain and France are among EU states ready to recognise Kosovo's sovereignty.

Spain, Hungary, Greece, Slovakia, Cyprus and Romania are reluctant, either because of their proximity to the Balkans or fears it could encourage separatists at home, and Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt yesterday also spoke out against recognising a unilateral declaration of independence.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana told reporters: ''We are going to continue maintaining the unity of the EU with the objective of getting a solution to this problem, the stability of the Balkans and the proximity of these countries with the EU.'' Serbia has said it could never accept independence for the province of two million people and has the backing of Russia, which holds a veto in the UN Security Council.

A split over Kosovo would shatter the bloc's efforts to be a credible foreign policy player more than a decade after it failed to halt the Balkans wars of the 1990s.

It could also weaken the 16,000 NATO-led Kosovo peace force, mostly made up of European troops, and encourage Serb efforts to derail any breakaway move by Kosovo. Diplomats say Germany is anxious about keeping troops there without a new UN mandate.

The EU demanded yesterday that Serbia clarify remarks by a junior minister that Belgrade could send troops into Kosovo to thwart Western recognition of the territory's independence.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn called the reported comments by the secretary of state for Kosovo, Dusan Prorokovic, ''highly unfortunate'' and said he expected a clarification before Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica visits Brussels on Wednesday.

''It is not comprehensible that a country that is pleading for a negotiated settlement on the one hand, makes such threats of violence on the other hand which question its commitment to serious negotiations,'' Rehn told Reuters in an interview.

REUTERS LPB RK1610

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