US May Bypass the UN for Kosovo Independence

by Warren Hoge, The New York Times, July 13, 2007

United Nations - Declaring the need for a timely decision on Kosovo’s desire for independence from Serbia, the United States threatened Friday to seek a solution outside the United Nations if Russia persisted in blocking Security Council action.

“We are determined to move forward, either within the Council or otherwise,” Zalmay Khalilzad, the American ambassador, said in a conference call with news agency reporters.

Russia supports Serbia’s determination to prevent Kosovo, Serbia’s breakaway western province, from becoming independent and has threatened to use its veto if the matter comes to a vote.

“The noises that we hear from Moscow are not encouraging, but we have not heard the final word from Moscow, and it is up to Russia whether the Council plays a role in deciding the next stage in regard to Kosovo or not,” Mr. Khalilzad said.

On Friday, the United States and its European allies circulated a new Kosovo resolution with the latest of a half-dozen revisions aimed at overcoming Russian objections.

Kosovo, with a population that is 90 percent Albanian and 10 percent Serbian, has been administered by the United Nations since a NATO bombing campaign in 1999 that pushed Serbian forces from the province.

The original resolution called for a managed independence under the aegis of the European Union, with built-in protections for the Serbs.

It endorsed a plan laid out by Martti Ahtisaari, the United Nations special envoy, after 13 months of direct talks between Serbia and Kosovo that he said in March had produced an impasse. Russia had said it would not agree to any measure that resulting in Kosovo independence.

The latest version of the resolution calls for 120 days of new negotiations that, contrary to an earlier formulation, would not result in an automatic return to the Ahtisaari model in the event the talks failed.

Mr. Khalilzad indicated the latest revision might be the last and said he would push Monday for a decision on whether and when to schedule a vote.

“The core of what we are proposing is in there and is not subject to further changes,” he said, except what he called “the wording at the margins.”

Striking a balance that will satisfy Moscow is sure to provoke the leaders of Kosovo, who have threatened to declare unilateral independence if the United Nations does not act.

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, NATO’s secretary general, warned in Belgrade, Serbia, on Friday that there was a danger of going from a “controlled to an uncontrolled” outcome unless both sides showed restraint.