EU calls on UN Security Council to back Kosovo independence

(BREMEN) - The European Union on Friday called on UN Security Council members, including Russia, to back moves to offer supervised independence to Kosovo, despite some divergences in its own ranks.

"I trust that UN Security Council members will live up to their responsibilities and pursue a resolution of this matter in the spirit of responsible multilateralism," EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said after a day of talks between EU foreign ministers.

"Only then will we be able to have sustainable stability in the Balkans," added German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier at a press conference in the northern German port city of Bremen.

"The greater consequence" of not agreeing to Kosovan independence "is that the hopes that have grown in recent years in the region will be dashed," he said.

Russia, which can wield a Security Council veto, opposes independence for Kosovo and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday that UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari "will fail" if he pursues his current plan for the province.

Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations since 1999, when a NATO bombing campaign ended a brutal crackdown, including ethnic cleansing, by Serb forces against the large separatist-minded ethnic Albanian majority.

A diplomatic source said while there was broad support for the Ahtisaari plan, there remained "small divergences" among EU member states on Kosovo gaining independence from Serbia.

Slovakia, a traditional ally of Belgrade which bluntly rejects the idea of independence for its breakaway province, was said to be in the awkward camp along with Spain, which has its own concerns over independence activists in Catalonia and the Basque country, and Cyprus, itself divided.

The EU differences will be reflected in the Security Council where Britain and France are permanent members while Slovakia, along with Belgium and Italy, currently hold a non-permanent, non-veto-wielding seat.

Spanish Minister for European Affairs Alberto Navarro spoke of "independence imposed without a judicial basis," adding that concerns remained that "when we talk about splitting countries up, the map of Europe could change every year".

The European ministers played down the differences at their press conference.

"I know there are differences between member states," but "I don't conclude that support for the Ahtisaari plan is falling away," Steinmeier said.

It was the EU's first major get-together since Ahtisaari presented the UN with his final proposals for the breakaway Serbian province's future status.

After over a year of fruitless talks between Serbian and Kosovar authorities, Ahtisaari recommended that the Serbian province be awarded "independence, supervised by the international community".

Despite the opposition and debate in the UN and the EU, the foreign ministers were also preparing for the key role the Union will play in Kosovo if Ahtisaari's plan is implemented.

Most of the responsibility for ensuring the smooth transfer of power from the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) to the province's nascent institutions will fall to the EU, with NATO playing the key security role.

Also an "EU special representative" will "oversee the implementation of the settlement, and have some clearly defined and reviewable executive powers".

The EU's future presence would involve some 1,300-1,500 international police, judges, prosecutors and customs officials based in Pristina.

The total cost to the whole international community of supervising the move to independence is estimated at between 1.3-1.5 billion euros (1.7-2.0 billion dollars) in the three years from 2008-2010.

The Security Council is set to debate Ahtisaari's plan next month.

The ministers also condemned Iran's seizure of 15 British naval personnel.

On Saturday the focus of the two-day meeting shifts to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as the ministers discuss their relations with the new Palestinian government of national unity.