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Kosovo Albanian Leader in Bonn for Talks
‘Kosovo Albanians have declared their willingness to open negotiations with Belgrade. Belgrade should now take up this offer’
"Kosovo Albanians have declared their willingness to open negotiations with Belgrade. Belgrade should now take up this offer," he said in a statement, adding Serbia's ties with the European Union depended on settling Kosovo's problems. Rugova has in the past emphasised his support for peaceful resistance to Serbian rule in the predominantly Albanian province at the south end of rump Yugoslavia.
The foreign ministry statement said Kinkel and Rugova discussed Kosovo's current situation, "which remains absolutely unsatisfactory and marked by fear and discrimination against the Albanian majority." It said Germany's ties with Belgrade would be affected by how fully Belgrade respects human and minority rights in the region and how it grants Kosovo "a high degree of autonomy.''
"Belgrade must know that full integration in the community of nations and access to long-term financial aid and close co-operation with the European Unjon is a two-way street in regard to Kosovo," it added. Concerned about its ethnic kin, Albania has demanded the withdrawal of Serbian military police from Kosovo and immediate three-party talks between Serbia, Kosovo and Albania.
Yugoslav and Serbian authorities insist Kosovo is an internal problem and have refused offers of foreign mediation to end sporadic violence there. Belgrade argues Kosovo Albanians want to secede and join neighbouring Albania. Serbia rescinded the province's 15-year old autonomy status in 1989.
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BONN, July 11 (Reuters) - German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel met a leader of the ethnic Albanian community in the Serbian province of Kosovo on Thursday and called on Belgrade to open talks with the group on human rights. "The human rights and minority rights of Albanians in Kosovo cannot remain overshadowed by the resolution of problems in Bosnia-Herzegovina," Kinkel said after meeting Ibrahim Rugova, head of the Democratic League of Kosovo (DLK), in Bonn.
Berserkistan, July 7 · Albania’s President Says Kosovo Ready to Explode
Berserkistan, June 19 · Serbia Says Peace at Risk in Kosovo Province
Berserkistan, June 5 · America Establishes Presence in Serbia’s Troubled Kosovo Province
Berserkistan, May 10 · U.S. Threatens Sanctions in Wake of Killing Spree in Kosovo Province
Berserkistan, May 3 · European Union's Carl Bildt Warns of Kosovo Violence
Berserkistan, Apr 25 · Kosovo Deaths Stir Albanian-Serb Issues
Berserkistan, Apr 23 · Four Killed in Kosovo Shootout
KOSOVO & METOHIJA
Kosova Daily Report Daily News from Kosovo Province
Calling Attention to Kosovo Dayton Daily News
The Albanization of Kosovo by Milos Misovic
Kosovo Syndrome and its Political Background
On Political Manipulations
with the Albanian Minority in Yugoslavia
The Truth about Kosovo and Metohija Orthodox World News
Kosovo and Metohija Today WWW.Yugoslavia.Com
The Future of Kosovo by Alex N. Dragnich
Albania and Kosovo Cultural Page by Dorien
van de Belt
GERMANY
Klaus Kinkel Biography German Information Center
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