Azerbaijan, Baku, 30 January / Тrend corr. K. Ramazanova / Delays to Kosovo status resolution can put at stake stability in Kosovo and the region, the UN Representative for Kosovo Joachim Rucker said.
"Any delays to a status resolution could put at stake not only stability in Kosovo and the region but also the international community's investment over the past eight years," Rucker said to Trend via e-mail on 30 January.
Since 1999 Kosovo region, which is formally a part of Serbia, has been controlled by the UN. The negotiations on final status of the region between Belgrade and Pristina have had no results. Three mediators are engaged in settling of the conflict - Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko from Russia, Frank Wisner from the United States, and Wolfgang Ishinger from the EU. Kosovo strives for independence, but Serbia offers only the status of autonomic region.
According to Rucker, the international community has made considerable progress on this issue and the status will be resolved successfully in the near future. "The solution must be acceptable to the people of Kosovo," he said.
The West stated its readiness to recognize the independence of the region, but Belgrade offers the region only the status of autonomy. Russia supported Belgrade's position, which put the negotiations to a deadlock.
"We believe that the Western Balkans, including Kosovo, have their future in the European Union," the EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) Javier Solana said to Trend on 28 January.
According to Solana, the sides should find such a settlement to the conflict which will ensure a democratic, multi-ethnic Kosovo committed to the rule of law, and to the protection of minorities and cultural and religious heritage.