Negotiations between Pristina and Belgrade can get under way as soon as the Kosovo side decides who will take part in its delegation, deputy UN special envoy Albert Rohan said Monday, one day before a Contact Group meeting that urged Kosovo's status be resolved by year's end.

The deputy UN special envoy for negotiations on the status of Kosovo, Albert Rohan, arrived in Pristina on Monday (30 January) to reschedule the date for the talks between Kosovo and Serbia. "Talks between Kosovo and Serbia will start as soon as the Kosovo side decides who will take part in the delegation," he said.

"We are ready and the Serbians are ready, too. So it depends really on Kosovo's leaders," Rohan said. A round had been scheduled for 25 January in Vienna, but had to be postponed because of Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova's death on 21 January.

Rohan met with UNMIK chief Soren Jessen-Petersen briefly Monday before he departed for London to take part in Tuesday's Contact Group meeting.

According to Rohan, the international community is ready to start negotiations tomorrow. "We don't have a deadline. It depends entirely on Kosovo leadership … It really depends on how quickly we can get a delegation from here to Vienna to start the talks," Rohan said, emphasising the need to proceed.

"The sooner the talks start, the better for everybody," he said. His visit came a day before the Contact Group meeting in London, where diplomats from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the United States called for an agreement on the province's status by the end of this year.

On Wednesday, US envoy to Kosovo Frank Wisner echoed that call. Arriving in Pristina for consultations with the Kosovo negotiating team, he said he was bringing a message of "full support" from Washington for completing the process during 2006.
In other news, Radio B92 reported that Serbian President Boris Tadic and Democratic Party of Kosovo leader Hashim Thaci met briefly on the sidelines of the Socialist International forum in Athens. The impromptu meeting Tuesday was arranged by Greek opposition leader George Papandreou and Greek President Karolos Papoulias. Tadic extended his condolences on the death of Rugova, and both expressed their stances on Kosovo's status -- Tadic favouring the retention of Serbian sovereignty, and Thaci advocating full independence.

Source: Southeast European Times