UK, London 16 February / corr Trend G.Ahmadova / "If Serbia, Russia, and other countries refuse to acknowledge Kosovo's independence this is an unhappy situation but not an unmanageable one", Daniel P. Serwer is vice president of the Center for Post-Conflict Peace and Stability Operations and the Centers of Innovation of USIP's (United States Institute of Piece) told Trend
"I don't expect it to deteriorate into violence. Both Serbs and Albanians seem determined to maintain peace and stability, despite hot heads on both sides who might like something else", said Daniel P. Serwer, analyst on Kosovo.
Mr Serwer thinks that Belgrade has made it absolutely clear that it intends to maintain its de facto control over the North and some of the Serbian enclaves in the South of Kosovo.
"I expect that such control will continue until there is a gradual re-integration of those territories into a sovereign Kosovo. If Kosovo becomes sovereign, Serbian security forces can never again enter its territory legitimately without the permission of the Pristina government. Likewise, NATO forces would have to be in Kosovo as part of an agreement with Pristina, unless there is a U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing their presence", he continuied.
Vice president of the Center for Post-Conflict Peace and Stability Operations of USIP's doesn't expect that Belgrade will forever see the issue of Kosovo as more important than the issue of the EU.
"The recent election suggests that the majority of Serbs have already come to the conclusion that they value the EU more than Kosovo", he added.
According to Mr. Serwer, there's a great deal of work that needs to be done to implement the Ahtisaari plan.
"Those in Kosovo who think that independence is a big party should remember that that's not the way it works. There is a lot of responsibility involved here. The most immediate requirement is for the Pristine government to make it absolutely clear to the entire population of Kosovo that violence against Serbs and other minorities will not be tolerated", said USIP's analyst.