The international administration in Kosovo (KFOR, UNMIK) opposes the return of Serbian forces to Kosovo

20 August 2007 - In statements at the weekend, NATO and UN officials in Kosovo rejected the possibility of allowing Serbia to send hundreds of soldiers and police to the province.

"Serbian forces will not be authorised to return," KFOR spokesman Colonel Michael Knop said on Saturday (August 18th). "KFOR is responsible for security in Kosovo and there is no intention to authorise such a decision."

On Friday, UNMIK spokesman Alexander Ivanko voiced opposition to the idea, describing it as "highly irresponsible".

Kosovo Serbs last week demanded that Belgrade send troops, suggesting that their community might be targets for violence. In March 2004, hundreds of homes belonging to Serbs and other minorities were burned as ethnically based riots broke out across the province.

Citing UN Security Council Resolution 1244, a senior Belgrade official said on Friday it was "high time" Serbian troops and police officers were redeployed to the province to protect the ethnic Serbs living there.

According to Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's adviser, Aleksandar Simic, the resolution allows for a limited number -- "hundreds, not thousands" -- of Serbian security personnel to return.

In Kosovo, where an estimated 10,000 ethnic Albanians were killed during the 1998-1999 conflict, Belgrade's move sparked angry reactions. Government spokeswoman Ulpiana Lama described the proposal as "absurd".

"The fate of the Serbian forces was decided in June 1999," said Arben Qirezi, a senior adviser to Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku. "But it seems the Serbian regime has a very short memory, and unfortunately remnants of (Slobodan) Milosevic's regime and its policy are still alive."

Simic's call came days after the EU-US-Russian troika, set up by the Contact Group to mediate talks on Kosovo's future status, launched a new round in negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina.

The positions of the two parties remain diametrically opposed. Kosovo Albanians, who make up 90% of the province's population of 2 million people, are pushing for full independence from Serbia.

Belgrade insists that all it can agree to is wide-ranging autonomy, but its offer envisions no share in governing Serbia for the Kosovo Albanians.

The talks, led by the Contact Group troika, are expected to resume on August 30th in Vienna when the three diplomats will hold separate meetings with the Serbian and Kosovo Albanian negotiating teams.