JURIST - Paper Chase: Russia rejects latest UN independence proposal for Kosovo

[JURIST] The latest proposal [BBC report] for a UN-supervised independence plan for Kosovo [JURIST news archive] has been rejected by the Russian government, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov [official website] said Thursday. The US, France and the UK offered the revision to a June draft resolution [JURIST report] in an attempt to compromise with Russia and Serbia, which oppose independence. Previous proposals called for immediate independence, but Lavrov said Thursday that the latest resolution was substantially the same as earlier drafts and that it simply assumed a plan by UN Kosovo Envoy Martti Ahtisaari [official website] would go into effect if 120 days of additional negtiations failed to produce results.

Kosovar Prime Minister Agim Ceku [official website] has urged the international community to quickly adopt a UN-supervised independence plan for Kosovo, saying that the Kosovar people's desire for an identity should not be held "hostage" to the opposition. In April, Kosovo's parliament voted 100-1 to support a UN plan [JURIST reports] to establish an independent Kosovar state under UN supervision. B92 has more.

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