Kosovo PM Tries to Win Russia Over on Independence

Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku courted the Russian government on Thursday to persuade them to drop their resistance to independence for Kosovo, Serbia’s province with a predominantly Albanian population, Reuters reports.

Ceku, a former guerrilla commander, was the first Kosovan leader to visit Russia — a traditional ally of Serbia — since NATO expelled Serb troops and the United Nations assumed governance of the region in 1999.

Kosovo, backed by Western powers, wants independence and has promised to protect the rights of the Serbian minority living in the province which Belgrade and the Kremlin have said is a stumbling block to independence.

“We just don’t want to be ruled by Belgrade any more,” Ceku told reporters. “But we do want the Serbians to remain in Kosovo.”

Russia holds a veto in the U.N. Security Council which means it can block any motion granting Kosovo independence. Instead, the Kremlin says independence can be granted only through official negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina.

“If we have a package (presented to the Security Council) which ensures all the rights of minorities in Kosovo then personally I don’t see the need for Russia to use its veto,” Ceku said.

About 2 million people live in Kosovo, of whom about 100,000 are Serbs mainly living in enclaves in the north. Serbs have been the target of revenge attacks since the war and in March 2004 Albanian rioters killed 19 people.

Ceku met Russian deputy foreign minister Vladimir Titov and members of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, but despite his enthusiasm a statement by Russia’s Foreign Ministry suggested there had been no change in its position.

“It was noted that the Kosovan-Albanian leadership has the bulk of responsibility of making sure there are no extremist campaigns on Kosovan territory which could only complicate the process of stabilisation,” the statement said.

It insisted that only direct talks could bring independence.

Russia has said Kosovan independence would set a precedent for pro-Russian separatist drives by parts of Moldova and Georgia, which the West opposes.

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