Kosovo elects moderate new president
by Fisnik Abrashi

The Associated Press    Translate This Article
12 February 2006

PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) - Kosovo lawmakers elected a moderate new president Friday, paving the way for the start of talks on the province's future status.

President Fatmir Sejdiu told The Associated Press Friday that he would not abandon the ethnic Albanian majority's push for independence from Serbia. But he pledged in his acceptance speech to make Kosovo a state that guarantees minority rights and is ``at peace with itself and its neighbors.''

``Kosovo's independence is non-negotiable,'' Sejdiu said in an interview at his modest house in Pristina. ``For us it is very important that this road to independence is a quick one,'' he said.

The parliament voted 80-12 to make Sejdiu Kosovo's second president since a NATO bombing campaign ended a Serb crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists in 1999. He replaces pro-independence leader Ibrahim Rugova, who died of lung cancer on Jan. 21.

Since 1999 Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations, leaving open the question of whether it becomes independent or remains part of Serbia.

A top Serbian ultranationalist leader, meanwhile, said Friday that if Kosovo gains independence Belgrade will declare it an occupied territory.

The presidential post in Kosovo is largely ceremonial but it has gained importance because the president is to lead negotiations with Serb officials.

Sejdiu, a 54-year-old law professor and member of parliament, has been secretary-general of Kosovo's largest party, the ruling Democratic League of Kosovo, which he helped found in the early 1990s.

He is considered a political moderate but his positions on Kosovo's status are nearly identical to Rugova's.

Sejdiu pledged in his acceptance speech to work closely with the United States and European Union ``to make Kosovo a state, at peace with itself and its neighbors ... a country that will guarantee all civic freedoms and those of minorities according to the highest international standards.''

Rugova dominated the province's politics for 16 years and epitomized ethnic Albanians' quest for independence. His death caused the latest of several delays in negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia.

U.N.-mediated talks are expected to start around Feb. 20 in Vienna, Austria.

Western diplomats recently indicated that Kosovo's quest for independence from Serbia was conditional on its becoming a democracy that respects minority rights. The first round of negotiations will deal with local government reforms meant to give Kosovo's Serbs and other minorities greater say in where they live.

Tomislav Nikolic, leader of the extreme nationalist Serbian Radical Party, said no politician in Serbia would accept Kosovo independence.

``If someone declares an independent Kosovo ... we will declare that an occupation and use all means to revoke that state of occupation,'' Nikolic said.

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and President Boris Tadic also have rejected independence for Kosovo.

Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.



Translation software is not perfect; however if you would like to try it, you can translate this page using:

(Google) Select a language English to Afrikaans English to Albanian English to Arabic English to Belarusian English to Bulgarian English to Catalan English to Chinese (Simplified) English to Chinese (Traditional) English to Croatian English to Czech English to Danish English to Dutch English to Estonian English to Filipino English to Finnish English to French English to Galician English to German English to Greek English to Hebrew English to Hindi English to Hungarian English to Icelandic English to Indonesian English to Irish English to Italian English to Japanese English to Korean English to Latvian English to Lithuanian English to Macedonian English to Malay English to Maltese English to Norwegian English to Persian English to Polish English to Portuguese English to Romanian English to Russian English to Serbian English to Slovak English to Slovenian English to Spanish English to Swahili English to Swedish English to Thai English to Turkish English to Ukrainian English to Vietnamese English to Welsh English to Yiddish

(Altavista babelfish) Select a languageEnglish to Chinese-simpEnglish to Chinese-tradEnglish to DutchEnglish to PortugueseEnglish to FrenchEnglish to GermanEnglish to GreekEnglish to ItalianEnglish to JapaneseEnglish to KoreanEnglish to RussianEnglish to Spanish

Send Good News to Global Good News.

Your comments.