The United States said on Tuesday that negotiations on the final status of the breakaway Serbian province of Kosovo should be completed as soon as possible. "It is the firm view of the US that a delay offers no advantages to any party," US Kosovo envoy Frank Wisner said in Belgrade after meeting Serbian officials.
"The United States further believes that delay can only leave in limbo the definition of this region, which needs to close its door on the past and to define its future."
Earlier on Tuesday, European Union foreign affairs chief Javier Solana said the United Nations mediator for Kosovo Martti Ahtisaari should delay presenting his final plan on Kosovo until after Serbian elections, if a vote is held this year.
If a Serbian election is to be held in 2006, Solana said, "we would wait to make the decision on what would be the final status," he told reporters in Madrid.
Diplomats say Kosovo will be given a path to eventual statehood, but delaying the announcement until after elections could help Serbia's pro-Western parties and avoid a victory by ultranationalists likely to capitalise on Kosovo's "loss".
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