Frank Wisner, the special representative of the US Secretary of State to the Kosovo status talks, during an interview in Moscow on February 9, 2007.
Photo: Dmitry Kostyukov
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"Maarti Ahtisaari Is Not a Magician"
// US Special Envoy to Kosovo Gives an Exclusive Interview to Kommersant
At the end of last week Frank Wisner, the special representative of the US Secretary of State to the Kosovo status talks, visited Moscow. In an exclusive interview with Kommersant correspondent Gennady Sysoyev, Mr. Wisner explains why Russia would be better off not exercising its veto power in the UN Security Council on a resolution concerning the status of Kosovo.
Before your visit to Moscow, you said, "What we have started together, we should finish together." Was that the purpose of your trip?
The United States and Russia, together with their European partners, have been working on resolving the problem of Kosovo for several years now. Our work started in earnest in the fall of 2005, when Maarti Ahtisaari was appointed the UN secretary general's special representative in Kosovo and when a group that included the US and Russia was formed to tackle the problem. Now that the negotiations are almost complete, it is extremely important that the US and Russia work together. This is important both for future stability in Europe and for the appropriate resolution of the Kosovo crisis. That is why I have come to Moscow – in order to finish with Russia what we started together.
After the presentation of Mr. Ahtisaari's plan, you called it an "excellent" and even "historical" document. Why? In Russia it was met with an entirely different reception.
It really is an excellent document. It is very professionally done. And it is historical because the level of protection that it affords to the rights of the Serbian minority in Kosovo is completely unprecedented in Europe. The Kosovar Serbs will have the right to hold two passports, have their own police force, protect their property, set their own taxes, speak their native language, study in Serbian schools, visit their own hospitals, and even receive financial assistance from abroad via the corresponding Kosovar entities. In addition, their cultural and religious rights are guaranteed, including protection for Serbian monasteries. I personally do not know of any other example in Europe of the rights of national minorities being ensured to such a degree.
Nevertheless, many do not believe that Mr. Ahtisaari's plan is a compromise. The Albanians want independence, and they're going to receive it. The Serbians want autonomy for Kosovo, and they're not going to receive it.
There is not a single word in Mr. Ahtisaari's plan about independence or any other status for Kosovo. That is a question for the future. The plan offers, so to speak, a language for negotiations that are neutral in terms of questions of status.
But if according to the plan Kosovo will have the right to join international organizations and sign agreements with other states, isn't that independence?
These are all Mr. Ahtisaari's recommendations for the future phase of the negotiations in the UN Security Council. It is possible that it may come to that [to independence], but that is not included in Mr. Ahtisaari's plan.
Is that why you have hinted that the Ahtisaari plan may be open to amendment? But to what degree?
Yes, the plan can be amended. Not endlessly, of course. No one can break it down completely piece by piece. Mr. Ahtisaari will discuss the international presence in Kosovo with the international community. Both the Albanian and the Serbian communities in Kosovo can make serious contributions to the discussion of all aspects of life in the territory.
Have you succeeded in convincing your Russian counterparts of the advantages of the Ahtisaari plan?
I have had excellent talks with the leadership of the [Russian] Foreign Ministry, particularly with deputy foreign affairs minister Vladimir Titov. But we did not discuss the Ahtisaari plan – that is a matter for the Serbian and Albanian sides. We talked about what can be done to make the US and Russia work together during the next phase of negotiations, when Mr. Ahtisaari will present his plan to the UN Security Council. We need to send a signal to the whole world that the leading word powers, including Russia, are ready to decide crisis situations and that they have an effective means of doing so.
Russia has also said that the most important things is that Belgrade and Pristina agree to the plan. But what if one of them disagrees, particularly Belgrade? What happens then?
I hope that Belgrade and Pristina will come to some kind of agreement with Mr. Ahtisaari. If an agreement cannot be reached – after all, Martti Ahtisaari is not a magician – he will give his own verdict and pronounce a decision that he believes to be fair.
Does he have that right?
He does. According to UN resolution #1244, the UN Security Council has the responsibility to adopt a final resolution concerning Kosovo, and the Council has appointed Mr. Ahtisaari to the post.
Before your trip to Moscow, you were in Pristina and Belgrade. Do you have any confidence that the Serbs will accept the plan?
Belgrade accepted the basic idea by deciding to participate in negotiations with Martti Ahtisaari. Soon the negotiations will resume, and the Serbian side will have the chance to amend the plan. That is very important. But as for how the talks will go and how they will end, I really cannot say.
Is Martti Ahtisaari's decision to move the date for the talks to be resumed from February 13 to February 21 a concession to Belgrade?
It was a goodwill gesture. It gives Belgrade a chance to finish forming a parliament and a government. Mr. Ahtisaari is demonstrating that he intends to be flexible.
By when could a resolution on Kosovo be adopted?
It is difficult to say. Mr. Ahtisaari's talks with Belgrade and Pristina will resume on February 21. No one will set any artificial deadline for their completion. But it is also imperative not to draw the talks out for too long. Time is not on our side – a decision is necessary in order to maintain stability in Kosovo. If everything goes smoothly, I think that Mr. Ahtisaari will present his plan to the Security Council by the middle of March, and the Council will then make its decision.
But will any decision be made? Russian politicians have repeatedly hinted that Moscow may exercise its veto power.
Russia, like any other permanent member of the Security Council, wields veto power. That goes without saying. But since we started the Kosovo process together with Russia, it would be better if we completed the process together. Better both for us and for the region.
Even if Russia does not block the Security Council's adoption of a resolution on Kosovo, it will insist that the resolution is universal, i.e, that it is applicable to other regions, particularly in the post-Soviet sphere. The West says, however, that the Kosovo question and the resolution are unique. Your opinion?
I think that the situation in Kosovo is both unique and universal. It is unique in that it, unlike any other situation, is regulated by a special UN Security Council resolution. In addition, peace in Kosovo has long been maintained by a strong international presence, both military and civilian. On the other hand, crises, including the Kosovo crisis, threaten stability, and responsibility for resolving them lies with the great powers. That is the universality of crises, both in Kosovo and elsewhere.
I'll ask flat-out: could the Kosovo formula be applied to, let's say, Abkhazia or South Ossetia?
Every crisis has its own peculiarities. The responsibility borne by powerful states to resolve them is universal. They should be ready to work together to resolve crises.
If Russia were to agree today with the US on the Kosovo question, would the US take a step towards Russia tomorrow on the question of South Ossetia?
I have been a diplomat for 37 years, and I try never to answer geopolitical questions. Nevertheless, I will say that the US is ready to take responsibility for resolving any problem together with Russia. But what the formula would be for South Ossetia, I couldn't say today.
Gennady Sysoyev
All the Article in Russian as of Feb. 12, 2007
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