EU Ministers Try to Head Off Kosovo Breakaway

EU foreign ministers today cautioned the winners of Kosovo's election against a unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia.

The former guerrilla leader Hashim Thaci, who is expected to become prime minister of the breakaway province, said parliament would declare independence after the December 10 deadline for international mediation efforts, which have gone nowhere.

With 90% of the votes counted, independent election monitors said Thaci's Democratic Party (PDK) had come first with 34%, ahead of the ruling Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK).

Thaci is determined to push for independence, but even Kosovo's strongest backers are urging him not to rush matters.

"Kosovo should have her independence, (but) it shouldn't be an unmanaged unilateral declaration. It should be one that is coordinated with the international community," Britain's minister for Europe, Jim Murphy, told reporters in Brussels.

Britain, along with the US, backs independence for Kosovo, but acknowledges that it would be better if such a move had the UN's approval. The EU is split on the issue, with Spain and Greece the most hesitant to back a unilateral declaration because of their own separatist problems.

The Swedish foreign minister, Carl Bildt, urged Thaci not to stoke tensions in the ethnically divided province and warned that any hasty moves could lead to isolation.

"Mr Thaci has to understand there is a difference between being a politician in opposition and a responsible prime minister," said Bildt. "I don't think they (Kosovars) want to be independent from the international community."

The Austrian foreign minister, Ursula Plassnik, said Thaci's call was not a surprise, but she urged Kosovo Albanians and Serbs not to exacerbate the already growing tensions between the two sides.

"The EU has asked all parties in this climate to behave carefully. That applies to both Belgrade and Pristina," she said.

Kosovo has been a virtual UN protectorate since 1999, when a Nato air campaign drove out Serbian troops after Kosovo guerrillas took up arms to end a decade of repression under the late Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic.

Kosovo Albanians, who form 90% of the population, are increasingly disenchanted by the heavy presence of international bureaucrats and Nato forces and want independence from Belgrade.

High unemployment and regular power outages are fueling discontent.

A mass boycott of Saturday's parliamentary elections by Kosovo Serbs - in protest at the wide support for independence among Kosovo Albanian politicians - underlined the deep divisions in the province.

The EU is anxious to avoid a repeat of the dilemma it faced in the 1990s, when internal splits over how to deal with the Balkan wars showed its ineffectiveness in forging an effective foreign policy.

"This is a European challenge. It is not one we can ask the United States to solve for us," Murphy said.