07102003kosovo

U.S. SAYS KOSOVA-SERBIA TALKS SHOULD BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY. U.S. State
Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in Vienna on 6 October that
"the United States welcomes the [recent] announcement that direct
dialogue between authorities in Belgrade and Prishtina will open in
Vienna on 14 October. The initiation of this dialogue is an important
step forward on the path mapped out by the United Nations Security
Council in Resolution 1244." Boucher noted: "This dialogue will
include discussion of practical topics of mutual interest, including
energy and transportation issues, as well as missing persons and
return of displaced persons. The United States considers this
dialogue extremely important, and hopes that both the government of
Serbia and Montenegro and leaders of the Kosovo Provisional
Institutions of Self-Government will approach them with serious
intent and send appropriate high-level political representation." He
also noted that "the U.S. delegation will be led by Deputy Assistant
Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Lawrence Rossin,
and will also include Ambassador to Serbia and Montenegro William
Montgomery and the chief of the U.S. Office in Prishtina, Marcie
Ries" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 1 and 3 October 2003, and "RFE/RL
Balkan Report," 13 and 20 June, 1 August, and 26 September 2003). PM

VETERAN KOSOVAR LEADER SEES LITTLE CHANGE IN SERBIA IN THREE YEARS.
Azem Vllasi, who was a senior communist-era Kosovar political leader,
told Deutsche Welle's Albanian Service on 6 October that there is
little difference between the present Serbian leadership and that of
former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic where attitudes toward
Kosova are concerned. Vllasi believes that the main achievement in
the three years since Milosevic's ouster is that the present Serbian
leadership has renounced war as an instrument of policy. Vllasi said
the Kosovars are willing to discuss almost all issues with Belgrade,
adding, however, that independence is non-negotiable. PM