Serbian Prime Minister wants Kosova status talks in June

Zoran Djindjic said in Belgrade on 5 February that he wants the international community to launch talks on the final status of Kosova by June, Reuters reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 and 5 February 2003 and "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 31 January 2003). He charged that the province's ethnic Albanian majority is in fact setting up its own state in Kosova, which he considers unacceptable. "Serbs in Kosovo are a nation that cannot live in its own state. We are looking for a solution which will enable them to live there," Djindjic added. He called for a "compromise, [which] means that neither Belgrade nor Prishtina will be happy, but the interests of the both will be respected." This is the first time that Djindjic has mentioned a date in conjunction with his recent call for status talks, which the international community has rejected as premature. All political parties representing the ethnic Albanians, who constitute more than 90 percent of the population, favor independence and want nothing to do with Belgrade. Many Albanians suspect that Djindjic seeks a partition of Kosova. PM