UN envoy appeals for Kosovo compromise
AFP, February, 2007
BELGRADE (AFP) — United Nations special envoy Martti Ahtisaari has appealed to Serbian and Albanian leaders to commit to new talks in order to achieve a compromise over the status of Kosovo.
"Compromise is important," Ahtisaari told a Belgrade press conference after he presented his proposal for a Kosovo settlement to Serbian President Boris Tadic.
Ahtisaari, a former president of Finland, refused to talk of Kosovo's possible independence, as sought by its ethnic Albanian majority, until he submits his final proposal to the United Nations.
"I will not deal with the question of status until I submit the final proposal to the UN," Ahtisaari said in answer to a question on whether his proposal would lead to Kosovo's independence.
However, the veteran UN mediator stressed that his draft proposal was aimed at reaching agreement between Serbia and ethnic Albanian leaders in the disputed ...