No breakthrough at Kosovo-Serbia talks

Kosovo and Serbia negotiators on Monday ended their third round of difficult talks in Austrian capital on the self rule powers for Serbian minority at municipal level, without a breakthrough.

UN deputy envoy Albert Rohan (who is the chairman of the talks) said that Ethnic Albanians and Serbian teams are still divided mainly on the level competencies of existing and new municipalities to be created and the relations of Serbia with municipalities populated mainly by Serbs.

Rohan told reporters that “there are considerably differences between two sides” although on number of the issues common ground has found in previous rounds.

He said that Kosovo team wants a “system of decentralisation for all municipalities motivated on good governance, ethnically neutral with of course readiness to address the aspirations of various ethnic groups”, while the Serbia’s team wants “large degree autonomy for Kosovo Serb majority municipalities”.

“More we go into substance, more visibly become the differences” Rohan said.

UN deputy envoy said that another meeting is scheduled for fourth May announcing the flashpoint issue of northern divided town of Mitrovica to be included on the agenda.

Mitrovica remains divided with Serbs living in the north of the river Iber and Ethnic Albanians in the south, since the war in Kosovo ended in June 1999.

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