Steinmaier: The December 10 deadline should not be underestimated
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmaier said in Berlin after a meeting with his Serbian counterpart Vuk Jeremic that the negotiations process on the Kosovo future status was tough and warned that the December 10 deadline for the Troika report to the UN Secretary-General should not be underestimated.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Thursday, November 08, 2007
Jeremic said that finding a compromise was more important than sticking to deadlines and that Serbia cares about the quality, not about the speed of the talks.
"Talks are not simple, but not finding a solution before that date (December 10) could result in new instability in the Balkans", the German Foreign Minister said.
He added that, after the Vienna round of talks on Monday and his meeting with Jeremic, there was a "glimmer of hope" that a larger crisis in the Western Balkans could be avoided.
Steinmaier said he hoped it would be possible to "inspire the reason and flexibility of the parties in order to avoid a larger crisis in the Balkans", and that the Troika would be able to present on December 10 a report which could show "the way forward".
Jeremic repeated the Serbian proposed which reminds of the Hong Kong solution, under the motto "two systems in one country".
He added that "Serbia was interested in a compromise solution which could guarantee long-term stability in the Western Balkans", but that it was "against doing anything prematurely".
