Collapse of Kosovo talks threatens war

The threat of a new war in the Balkans looms after the collapse of talks between Serbs and Albanians over the future of Kosovo. Three days of negotiations overseen by international mediators broke down on Nov. 29, with both sides refusing to budge over their claims to the breakaway province. Kosovo's Albanian majority has threatened to declare independence unilaterally. Serbia, which regards Kosovo as the cradle of its civilisation, said this could cause unrest across the fragile Balkans, still scarred from the conflict of the 1990s. "The peace of the Balkans is very much at stake," said Frank Wisner, the UN envoy to the talks. "It is a volatile region." The breakdown of the talks leaves Kosovo in the same limbo it has inhabited since the UN took over its administration in 1998 after NATO drove out Serbian troops. Kosovo's Albanians want full independence while Serbia has ruled out relinquishing any further sovereignty. Tensions have already spilled over into violence several times this year. The US, the EU and Russia, the "troika" of international mediators, have until December 10 to give their recommendations for a settlement to the UN Security Council. Russia, which sided with Serbia to block a previous Western-backed independence deal, looks set to remain opposed. But even countries such as Spain, Greece and Cyprus have signaled their disquiet at an independence deal, fearing it could embolden separatists within their own borders. No precedent exists for the creation of a new state by international committee and against the will of the sovereign power. Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu promised an independence declaration would come "very quickly." Serbian President Boris Tadic vowed to "annul" any such announcement. "Serbia will not accept the independence of Kosovo," he said. Serbia has cautioned that international recognition of Kosovo's independence could cause the Serb enclave of northern Kosovo to secede and spark a secession movement among the Serbs of Bosnia. Both sides said they were committed to a non-violent outcome, but Albanian militias are said to be patrolling the boundary between Kosovo and Serbia, while Serbian militias are said to be arming. Any declaration of independence will force other states to decide whether to recognize Kosovo's independence, recalling the break-up of Yugoslavia, in which domino-like independence declarations by Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia set the stage for the Bosnian War.