Western divisions emerge over Kosova...
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried said on April 28 that Washington hopes "Russia understands that Kosovo is going to be independent one way or another," Reuters reported the same day. Fried said that "it will either be done in a controlled, supervised way that provides for the well-being of the Serbian people, or it will take place in an uncontrolled way and the Kosovo Serbs will suffer the most, which would be terrible." Previous U.S. predictions of violence have been condemned as "blackmail" by Russia (see "RFE/RL Newsline," April 20, 2007). Fried said the EU would be divided over recognizing an independent Kosovo if the ethnic Albanian majority were to declare independence without a Security Council resolution. "A divided Europe is a bad thing in general and a terrible thing in this particular case," he continued. However, Fried struck an optimistic note, saying, according to the "International Herald Tribune" on April 29, that he expects a UN resolution to "be adopted by the end of spring." Fried was speaking at a conference in Brussels organized by the German Marshall Fund, during which differences between the United States and some Europeans did emerge. Carl Bildt, Sweden's foreign minister and the EU's special envoy in the Balkans in the mid-1990s, warned that a U.S. threat to recognize Kosova without the backing of the UN would be "playing with fire," not only in the Balkans but also in U.S. relations with Western Europe, Radio-Television Serbia reported on April 28. The Serbian broadcaster also quoted Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht as saying unilateral steps should be avoided. NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said on April 27 at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers that NATO's members "believe that the time, after eight years, has come for a decision on the issue," international media reported the same day (see "RFE/RL Newsline," April 27, 2007). Media reports from the NATO gathering indicated willingness by the United States to accommodate some concerns about the Serbian minority, but no changes that might compromise the principles of the UN blueprint. "There is no questioning of the Ahtisaari plan, but there could be some adjustments," Reuters quoted one diplomat as saying. // Copyright (c) 2005. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. RFE/RL
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