2006 Press Releases

President Sejdiu: it was a pleasure to have a joint meeting with Ms. Rosemary DiCarlo and Mr. Stefan Lehne, with whom we discussed the numerous issues to speed up the future processes in Kosovo, the talks, and of course some aspects in dealing with our joint vision for as light an international presence as possible in Kosovo, that would be necessary for the Kosovo institutions and Kosovo Albanians. I repeat once more that I expressed my gratitude for the help we have received from the United States and the European Union, and for their assistance to the Mr. Ahtisaari’s team to fulfill their mandate, with the commitment that these talks and this process be concluded in 2006. I expressed our determination that this process end with the international recognition of Kosovo and its independence, which is the interest of the people of Kosovo and the view of all the people of Kosovo; as well as our willingness to take a step forward towards further communication with the United States and the European Union in the development processes that Kosovo will have in the future, always keeping in mind that we must give special attention to the minorities in Kosovo. These are general issues that we discussed and I hope we will keep communicating with both Mrs. DiCarlo and Mr. Lehne. Thank you.

DAS Rosemary DiCarlo: First of all I must say I am very pleased to be back in Kosovo again. We had a very good discussion with the President this morning. The United States continues to work very closely with other members of the CG, including colleagues from the European Union on the future status of Kosovo. We are committed to the Contact Group principles in this regard and we reaffirm the words of our Ministers back in January that we believe that every possible effort should be made to reach a negotiated settlement by the end of this year. I just want to make one point, very strongly, that the international community remains involved now as negotiations are under way, with strong support for President Ahtisaari in this regard. We encourage flexibility on all sides to reach a satisfactory conclusion of the process. And we want to make very clear that the international community will remain engaged after Kosovo’s status is decided. We will remain engaged both from a military perspective and a civilian one. Thank you.

Special Rep Stefan Lehne: We had a very useful discussion on the need for continued progress on standards. This remains a top priority also for the EU. We have seen some encouraging progress over the last weeks and months, but [undecipherable] efforts – better say on some more efforts still to reach out to all communities in Kosovo. We appreciate the overall very constructive role that the Kosovar delegation has played in the status talks so far. There again I believe a lot more remains to be done. We are moving towards a new very interesting and very intensive phase in the negotiations, where still greater efforts are required from the Unity Team -- and great unity among the members of the Unity Team -- in order to move this process forward. As you know there is consensus in the international community. It is part of the guiding principles of the Contact Group that there will be a military and civilian presence following the status settlement. We are initiating a dialogue with our partners here in Kosovo on this issue. We very much appreciate the letter of invitation that President Sejdiu has sent, showing the interest of the Kosovars in having this international presence. We very much see this as a partnership, as something that we do together, and therefore we are very happy about this beginning dialogue about this issue. Thank you very much.

Question: Madame, the Contact Group has set a kind of a deadline for the final status to be decided by the end of this year. Is there any obstacle to this task, any obstacle that could delay the final decision this year?

DAS DiCarlo: First of all I would just repeat what we have said. We said that every effort should be made to reach a negotiated solution and negotiated settlement by the end of the year, that’s what everyone is working toward at this point. Thank you.

Question: Miss DiCarlo do you have any message for the Serbian leaders, especially having in mind the recent developments in Belgrade, their new constitution that might include Kosova as their own part? Does it prejudice the negotiations? Could it be considered as a real problem for the negotiations?

DAS DiCarlo: First of all we have commitment from the leaders of Serbia that they will participate actively and constructively in the talks, and we expect that they will continue to do so. Thus far the talks have been under way in Vienna, in both Belgrade and Pristina, and we expect they will continue over the next couple of months.

Question: Would it be a constructive step to have such a new constitution of Serbia for the negotiations? Would it be considered constructive?

DAS DiCarlo: I think I am going to leave Serbia and Serbia’s constitution and Serbian laws to the Serbian leaders to discuss. I think right now we have the commitment of Serb leaders to participate in the talks, and we will pursue those talks. And I know from the United States’ perspective, from the Contact Group perspective, we will do everything to support the talks that Mr. Ahtisaari is leading.

Question: You are calling on both sides for more flexibility. On which specific issues, can you be more specific?

DAS DiCarlo: Well, you are all aware of the talks that are under way and the various issues that are under way. We need to have functional arrangements, we need arrangements that will lead to a Kosovo that is a secure place for all, where opportunities are greatest and where communities, minorities are protected.

Thank you.