Final phase of dialogue affects Ahtisaari Pack

Ahtisaari's document, on which Kosovo's independence has been declared in February 2008 and which the document is embedded in the Constitution of Kosovo, is a document containing all major concessions, which Kosovo has made in relation to Serbia, in the process of negotiations in Vienna for Kosovo's final status during 2006-2007.

That is how officials of political parties of power and opposition assess, who have been part of this process as well as connoisseurs of the International Law.

However, they have differing views on whether the document, which Martti Ahtisaari had offered, the leader of the international mediating three -- the US, the EU and Russia -- is the <x0->the red operation of compromises, beyond which Kosovo cannot pass into future negotiations with Serbia, to reach a comprehensive agreement.

Hajredin Kuci, deputy head of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, which was part of the Vienna negotiating process, speaking of Radio Free Europe, says the compromises Kosovo has made in that process were based on the international community's promises that they would be the latest compromises and that the document would be passed to the UN Security Council even with the consent of members who have veto power, like Russia and China.

However, according to him, Kosovo is already ahead of dilemmas for new compromises and beyond the Ahtisaari Document.

A fact we must accept that any new dialogue implies new agreements and any new agreement implies new compromise. Failure to implement that Packoje (The Ahtisaari document), in particular in the northern part (of Kosovo), as well as full international support for its implementation, has created a space for new dialogue. This new dialogue, we need to be honest that requires a new compromise, and that compromise will still be out of the picture with the Ahtisaari Pack. Of course, it could be compromise at the expense or collapse of Ahtisaari”, Kuci stressed.

The Empire of State, dependent on Compromise

Former Kosovo Foreign Affairs Minister Skender Hyseni of the Democratic League of Kosovo, which had participated throughout the Vienna process, tells Radio Free Europe, that the eventual compromises in an agreement with Serbia, which would be out of the contents of the Ahtisaari Document, would mean touching Kosovo's status.

According to him, the Ahtisaari document is an integral part of the Kosovo Constitution and part of the country's declaration of independence. The Centenisation of this document, according to him, would imply talks on Kosovo's status and the country's Constitution, as well as would affect the opinion of the International Court of Justice (GJND), that Kosovo's declaration of independence is in line with International Law.

“I see in a strategic context a serious error, in case Kosovo's status is affected, the Kosovo Constitution is affected, or topics that will question Ahtisaari's Pack are being reopened respectively. At the same time, even the excellent JND's view of Kosovo” would be questioned, Hyseni points out.

Africa Hoti, professor of International Law at the University of Pristina, in a conversation with Radio Free Europe, estimates that the Ahtisaari Document is the last degree of compromises the Kosovo side has made in the negotiation process in Vienna to solve the problem with Serbia.

According to him, overcoming this document, which minority communities -- especially the Serb community -- ensures more rights than in any European country, as well as moving towards any compromise at the expense of Kosovo -- would cause serious damage to the functionality of the state of Kosovo.

Over that base, we've walked a lot longer than European Union countries and other friendly states have done. I think we should use this argument to convince both our friends and especially our opponents, that the Republic of Kosovo should be, first of all, functional, with strong constitutional basis and with respect and compliance with international standards. Beyond these lines, I fear that we would jeopardise an dysfunctional and damage to Kosovo's domestic and foreign judicial and political order”, Hoti points out.