Majority of members of the UN Security Council back further Kosovo status talks

The passionate debate held behind the closed doors, which lasted for more than two-and-a-half hours, showed the deep division in the Security Council with a pack of Western nations, led by the United States strongly supporting Kosovo's drive towards independence and the rest largely in favor of more talks between two bitterly opposed sides.

British ambassador to the UN John Sawers made a somewhat different math about the opinion in the the 15-member body.

"The Council was evenly split between those who favored more talks and those who saw no point in them," Sawers told reporters after the meeting.

Despite the fact that Council failed to come up with any kind of decision, the debate has shown that Western arguments considering the fate of troubled province have much less international support than previously claimed in Washington and Brussels.

"Let me be clear. The Republic of Serbia shall never accept any violation of its territorial integrity," Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic told ambassadors of 15-member body. "We shall never recognize Kosovo's independence. We shall not waiver, we shall not yield, should this cowardly act proceed unchecked."

"Not now. Not in a year. Not in a decade. Never," Mr. Jeremic said.

The urgent meeting was scheduled on Serbian request, just days before Kosovo Albanian leaders scheduled a parliamentary session and huge celebration of unilaterally declared independence.

Serbian stance was once again strongly backed by Russia, whose UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said only the U.S. and its European allies were determined to push the idea of Kosovo's independency all the way, while all other members of Security Council backed the continuation of negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina.

"Kosovo's independence is a blatant breach of international law...It would grossly violate the United Nations Charter and would infringe on Security Council Resolution 1244," Churkin said, adding that unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo would present a "grave threat to the security of the local population and the international personnel in Kosovo."

"There is a real danger of renewed danger of renewed interethnic violence and increase in extremist activities in Kosovo and the Balkans as a whole," Churkin said.

However, the Council's chair for the month, Panama's Ambassador Ricardo Alberto Arias said after the meeting he got the impression that the European Union will take a charge of future moves considering the fate of volatile province.

U.S. deputy ambassador Alejandro Wolff reiterated Washington's earlier position that the Security Council is "completely blocked" over the Kosovo issue, saying also that months of talks between Belgrade and Pristina had showed that two sides remain far apart without realistic hope of mutually acceptable compromise.

"We shall undertake all diplomatic, political, and economic measures designed to impede and reverse this direct and unprovoked attack on our sovereignty," Jeremic told Security Council, making crystal clear that Belgrade "shall not tolerate such an illegal act of secession."

"If forced to react to events beyond our control, our government and National Assembly will declare the actions of the authorities in Pristina null and void," Jeremic said.

The UN Security Council might tackle the Kosovo controversy again early next week on another emergency session, which is expected to be scheduled after Kosovo Albanian leaders declare independence on Sunday.

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