Serbian and ethnic-Albanian leaders ended talks Wednesday without reaching agreement on Kosovo's status, Serbian media reported from Austria.

After the breakdown of the talks at the Baden spa outside Vienna, Serbian President Boris Tadic said Belgrade won't recognize an independent Kosovo, the idea that has been advocated by Kosovo Albanian leaders during the 2-year series of talks, Belgrade's B92 radio reported.

Kosovo's interim President Fatmir Sejdiu said that, while the talks produced no agreement, that ethnic-Albanians in a future independent Kosovo would work on joining the European Union and NATO while working with Serbia and other neighboring countries, the report said.

Kosovo Albanian leaders insist on independence from Serbia while the Serbian government wants to keep Kosovo as an autonomous province.

Envoys of the EU, Russia and the United States who had mediated the past four months of the talks are to submit a report to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Dec. 10.

Kosovo, formally part of Serbia, has been U.N.-governed territory since 1999, when NATO troops were deployed in the predominantly ethnic-Albanian province to prevent ethnic conflicts.  // Copyright 2007 by United Press International




Publication date: 28 November 2007   

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