United Nations envoy Martti Ahtisaari unveiled a plan today to set the breakaway province of Kosovo on a path to independence, an outcome immediately welcomed by Kosovo Albanians and rejected by Serbia.
Mr Ahtisaari's proposal did not mention the word "independence" or address the loss of Serbia's sovereignty over the territory, where 90 per cent of the people are ethnic Albanian. But both sides said this was clearly what it implied.
"Kosovo will be sovereign like all other countries," said Kosovo president Fatmir Sejdiu after meeting Mr Ahtisaari in Kosovo's capital Pristina, where there were celebrations.
Prime minister Agim Ceku, a former guerrilla in the 1998-99 Kosovo Liberation Army which fought the forces of the late Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic, said the document "is very clear for Kosovo's future".
After a meeting in Serbia, President Boris Tadic agreed that the plan "opens up the possibility of independence". But Mr Tadic said he told the envoy: "Serbia and I as its president will never accept the independence of Kosovo."
Serbian prime minister Vojislav Kostunica has condemned Mr Ahtisaari for "anti-Serb bias", and took the lead in rejecting his plan in advance, refusing even to meet the envoy today.
The plan gives Kosovo access to international bodies usually reserved for sovereign states and allows it to use its own flag, anthem and other symbols.
"The settlement provides for an international representative to supervise the implementation," Mr Ahtisaari told a news conference. The Nato-led peace force "will continue to provide a safe and secure environment ... as long as necessary".
It includes measures to "promote sustainable economic development including Kosovo's ability to apply for membership in international financial institutions", he added.
Mr Ahtisaari declined several opportunities to address the issue of Kosovo's ultimate status, saying this would be settled by the United Nations Security Council once he formally presented his plan, following a last round of consultations.
He said the diametrically opposed positions of the Serbs and Kosovo Albanians were "extremely fixed". He was allowing them "one more chance" to find compromise but was "not terribly optimistic".
Invitations will be sent for a meeting in Vienna on February 13th and it will be up to Serbs and leaders of Kosovo's 90 per cent ethnic Albanian majority to decide whether to turn up, the former Finnish president said.
Serb premier Kostunica said the envoy's proposals were "illegitimate". He is urging all parties in the next government to solemnly pledge to cut Serb ties with any country recognising Kosovo's independence, including major Western powers.