The European Commission will urge the U.N. envoy on Kosovo on Wednesday to end uncertainty over the breakaway Serb province's future and make a clear proposal on its final status, a report obtained by Reuters said. European officials are worried that veteran Finnish mediator Martti Ahtisaari will fudge the issue of Kosovo's final status, risking a unilateral declaration of independence that may cause a diplomatic crisis and split the European Union. "The status settlement needs to be politically and legally clear and to set out a vision for Kosovo's future development," the EU executive will say in its annual report on Kosovo, run by the United Nations since NATO expelled Serb troops in 1999. "Kosovo's status question is sui generis, and hence sets no precedent," the draft report added in an apparent rejection of Russian arguments that Kosovan independence would be a precedent for Moscow-backed breakaway regions of Moldova and Georgia. Ahtisaari's proposal is due sometime this month but there have been increasing signs it will be delayed until after Serb elections, which may take place in December. Ahtisaari has mediated 9 months of fruitless talks between Serbia and Kosovo Albanians, and officials familiar with his thinking say he will stop short of proposing independence for Kosovo in deference to Belgrade's hostility and Russian opposition. They say he will recommend imposing a ruling leading ultimately to statehood for the province. The United States and Britain are still pressing for a final status agreement this year, but many European officials are urging Ahtisaari not to rush. EU officials fear a unilateral independence declaration by Kosovo might create a split in the EU between "Orthodox and Habsburg" states closer to Serbia and others such as Britain that might recognise Kosovo individually. The Commission draft report warned that uncertainty over Kosovo's status was delaying democratic and economic reforms which the province must carry out if it is ever to start the long process of applying for EU membership. "The focus on status has led to the swift implementation of some U.N. standards but has delayed reforms," the EU executive said in the annual report on the province's long-term prospects of closer ties with and ultimate entry to the 25-member bloc. The report said civil service appointments were politically influenced and corruption was rife, while civil and criminal justice was being held back by obstacles ranging from inadequate police investigations to uncooperative witnesses. -SPA
