The first Kosovo's future status talks, due to be held in Vienna
on Feb. 20, will focus on "technical issues" relating to
decentralization, a spokesperson for UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari said
on Monday.
The process of decentralization or "technical issues" such as
competencies in the areas of health, justice, police and education
will be the main topics of the two-day talks, said Hua Jiang,
spokesperson for Ahtisaari, in a statement to the official Tanjug
news agency.
Jiang said she could not specify whether the two delegations
from Belgrade and Pristina would discuss the topics directly or
they would only present their stands.
Legally still part of Serbia, Kosovo has been run by the United
Nations since mid-1999. Kosovo's future status has been a bitter
subject between Belgrade and Kosovo's Albanian majority who are
pushing for independence from Serbia.
The UN-sponsored status talks should have started on Jan. 25,
but the talks was postponed due to former Kosovo President Ibrahim
Rugova's death on Jan. 21.
Other issues relative to decentralization, such as borders of
municipalities and financing, would most likely be discussed at
later meetings, said Jiang, adding that US, EU and NATO observers
will attend the talks in Vienna.
(Xinhua News Agency February 14, 2006)
