Kosovo remains Europe's flashpoint

Speaking at briefing on Friday Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina on the Kosovo problem should be resumed.

I am convinced that with the good will it is possible to resume the talks. The main thing is that those who are patronizing Pristina urge it to hold talks with Belgrade, the Foreign Minister said:

"This position is especially relevant before the coming UN's Security Council meeting on the Kosovo problem. The meeting is not expected to result in a resolution on Kosovo but the debates promise to be hot. Kosovo still remains Europe's main flashpoint. According to a report by the UN's Secretary General Ban Ki Mun, in the northern region of Kosovo where the Serbian population predominates, the situation is unstable. The area saw a number ethnic clashes in late 2009, in particular the incidents in Kosovska-Mitrovica district divided by the Ibar river into the Serbian and Albanian parts".

The return of 300,000 Serbian and non-Albanian refugees as it was envisaged by the UN resolutions is still pending. Despite the promises of the UN, EU and NATO to put the end to the crime its rate is quite high. Mainly it is because of the operation of half legal and illegal military organizations structures and the presence of military arsenals there.

But the main reason of instability is Kosovo's independence. It adds fuel to the destabilization of the situation in the whole country and on the Balkans in general. The Western countries have recognized the independence of Kosovo which had been declared against the international legal norms. Most of the members of the global community refrain from recognizing Kosovo's independence because it can provoke  an outbreak of separatism in different parts of the world. For Russia, Serbia and other countries the unilateral declaration of Kosovo's independence is illegitimate.

Gradually the global community realizes that it is necessary to look for other solutions of the problem. We hear from Alexander Karasev, expert of the Institute of Slavs studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences:

"The current discussion by the UN Security Council in general should try to look for a solution which would satisfy the global community and the parties concerned. But it is a difficult task because Serbia does not recognize the independence of Kosovo and Pristina administration is trying by all means to force the Serbian minority there to recognize it".

In his report UN's Secretary General Ban Ki Mun has urged Belgrade and Pristina to postpone the dispute on Kosovo status in favor of regional cooperation.