Byzantine Blog

U.N. Secretary General Will Reject Ahtisaari’s Proposal

Excerpt from March 9, 2007 Report from Vienna by Diana Milosevic, published by Glas Javnosti

U.N. Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari’s Kosovo-Metohija status proposal, scheduled for the final round of attempted discussions between Belgrade and Pristina delegations tomorrow (Saturday, March 10), will not be presented and offered for voting in the U.N. Security Council. Instead, Ahtisaari’s failed proposal will be rejected by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon immediately upon Ahtisaari’s submission.

According to one of the best informed Vienna diplomats, just like a number of powerful UN officials, the UN Secretary General is extremely dissatisfied with Ahtisaari’s work, as well as with the fact Kosovo-Metohija Special Envoy has clearly overstepped his mandate. He added that ex-Finnish president has been given this task by the former UN Secretary General, but the new United Nations Secretary General will have a final say. According to this diplomat, Ahtisaari’s paper will be returned to be revised, and the new negotiations will take place in Belgrade and Pristina, in order to calm the situation down and practically freeze the entire issue.

Neither Russia, Nor Serbia Will Budge

Such course is mainly set forth by the Russian Federation, which has insisted that this is not the time to present the draft to the Security Council, until the proposal gets to represent a compromise, but also by the Serbian politicians and state representatives who have remained determined not to give up Serbia’s sovereignty over Kosovo-Metohija province. Close to both American and Russian highest political circles, the said diplomat confirmed that on the eve of Serbian delegation’s departure to Vienna for the new round of negotiations on February 21, Serbs were directly and clearly asked by Russia which option do they want to pursue: Do they wish to keep southern Serbian province within Serbia, to grant the independence to Kosovo-Metohija, to partition the province, or to “trade.”

Serbian representatives remained firm and repeated both Prime Minister Kostunica’s and President Tadic’s unwavering stance that Serbia intends to keep Kosovo-Metohija province and that independence is out of the question. Russians have accepted Serbian decision and resolved not to withdraw their support for Belgrade.

The same source emphasized that both Serbian and Russian diplomats have demonstrated to Western emissaries during the past days that “Putin is not Yeltsin, and that Russia has no debts, but a bucket EU depends upon,” so Moscow will not be tripped over by the threats or promises of minor military and logistic concessions.

Russia’s essential interest, according to this diplomat, is to “prevent the U.S. of achieving its main objective — entering Gruzia.” The point is further emphasized by the Putin’s statement that Russia will use its veto in the U.N. Security Council in case the proposal for Kosovo-Metohija province solution contradicts Russian interests, since the purpose of veto, as President Vladimir Putin stated, is “not to collect dust.”

Swedish Experts: Ahtisaari’s Proposal Made-to-Order, Unjust, Intellectually Indefensible and Unsustainable

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, March 8, 2007 (Source: Tanjug) — Three leading world experts in the sphere of peace studies — Johan Galtung, Jan Oberg and Hokan Viberg, told Thursday’s issue of Sweden’s daily with the highest circulation, Aftonbladet, that the proposal of UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari was “made to order, unjust, intellectually indefensible and unsustainable.”

As an instrument of short term power interests, Ahtisaari’s plan would create instability and cause greater violence, the Swedish analysts said.

The experts said that Ahtisaari’s plan was “made to order” and that it does not contain any trace of professional mediation or resolution of the conflict.

Before Serbia and the Serbs are criticized for protesting against Ahtisaari’s plan, one would do well to find at least one sovereign state on the planet whose leaders would not do the same in protest against such arrogance, Galtung, Oberg and Viberg set out.

Swedish analysts also criticized the world media for frequently forgetting to say that current Kosovo-Metohija province’s self-styled “Premier” Agim Ceku took part, as a Croatian Army general, in the massacre of Serbs in the Medak Pocket, in Croatian Krajina.

At the same time, the team of Swedish experts stated, the fact that the ethnic Albanians drove away over 200,000 Serbs out of Serbian Kosovo province is being overlooked, as is another fact — that the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army is behind the unrest in southern Serbia and Macedonia.