UN resolution on Kosovo is begining of stalemate unblocking

(BELGRADE) - The UN General Assembly's vote calling for a "dialogue" between Belgrade and Pristina is seen as a breakthrough in the long and fragile process of seeking a solution for the Kosovo issue.

"That is a first step in the right direction," a diplomatic source said.

The joint Serbian-EU resolution approved Thursday said dialogue between Serbia and its breakaway southern province would "promote cooperation, achieve progress on the path to the European Union and improve the lives of the people."

The text also hailed the readiness of the European Union to facilitate dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo.

For the first time since Kosovo proclaimed independence on February 17, 2008, Belgrade has said it was ready to talk with Pristina without bringing up the question of status.

Under pressure from the EU in particular, Serbia yielded on the initial draft of its resolution that would have sparked a debate on the proclamation of independence.

The stance angered those European countries which have recognised Kosovo as as a separate state, for which the issue had been closed, as well as Pristina.

Serbian leaders, including hardline Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic, however emphasised that the resolution does not mean that Belgrade recognises Kosovo as a separate state.

Jeremic protested that Kosovo representatives were in the chamber for the debate, but was overruled by the chair.

"The solution to all unsolved questions (on Kosovo) could not be legitimate until it is confirmed by the Security Council," the foreign minister insisted in remarks to B92 radio in Belgrade.

According to Serbian daily Danas, quoting sources close to the presidency, President Boris Tadic was considering ways of distancing himself from Jeremic.

In Pristina, the authorities hailed the vote in New York, though with caution.

"The battle is won," Kosovo's foreign minister Skender Hyseni told public television RTK.

He hailed the fact that the resolution acknowledged the July 22 opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that Kosovo's declaration of independence did not violate the international law.

Kosovo "absolutely welcomes the beginning of a process of cooperation with Serbia," Hyseni said, while ruling out the possibility of renewing any status talks.

"The talks will be exclusively about cooperation in fields of reciprocal interest. There will never be talks about the status, partition or internal order of Kosovo, which are Kosovo's red lines," he said.

Stressing the future role of the Europeans in regard to future relations between the two neighbours, Hyseni said that Pristina "is leaving the framework of the UN and is crossing to where its place is, in Europe and in the EU."

The minister expressed hope that the UN vote would lead to new and numerous recognitions of Kosovo as an independent state.

Belgrade and Pristina have plenty of topics to discuss, ranging from technical questions such as transport, telecommunications and energy to more sensitive issues.

These include people missing since the conflict between Serbian forces and fighters from Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority, the status of Serbian Orthodox monasteries and the majority Serbs living in northerm Kosovo.

Tadic "will try to get as much as possible for the Serbs in Kosovo, in particular in the north," Kosovo analyst Belul Beqaj said.

"It might still be a source of destabilisation because it means Belgrade will continue to encourage the Kosovo Serbs to go on opposing independence."