Future of Kosovo

The European Union is ready to take on a key role in resolving the Kosovo's unresolved status issue, Portugal's Foreign Minister Luis Amado said Wednesday. Portugal currently holds the bloc's rotating presidency.

"We are in Europe," said Amado after meeting with UN officials in Kosovo. "The European Union has an important responsibility in dealing with this situation."

The International Crisis Group (ICG), a Brussels-based think tank, had warned on Tuesday of a "bloody and destabilizing conflict" if the EU didn't recognize the independence of the southern Serbian province very soon, even without a UN resolution.

So far the EU has refused to deploy a mission to Kosovo without official UN backing.

"The sooner the better"

"The EU has a ticking time bomb in its own backyard," said Alexander Anderson, ICG's Kosovo project leader, on Tuesday in the capital city Pristina.

"The sooner the EU or a majority within the EU agree to support an independent Kosovo, the better the prospects are for preventing a catastrophe," said Anderson.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed the issue of Kosovo's status with Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurscany on Tuesday during her visit to Budapest.

"If the EU wants to play an active role in global processes then we should be able to respond to challenges in our own region," said Gyurscany, who is scheduled to meet with Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica next month.

Possible split

As a last resort, Kosovo may have to be divided, with the northern portion, settled mainly by ethnic Serbs, joining Serbia, according to the ICG. Serbia, with the support of Russia, has categorically rejected both independence for Kosovo and a division of the province.

Albanians, which make up some 90 percent of the population of Kosovo, have insisted on independence, an option generally favored by the US and the EU.

Russia, the EU and the US began 120 days of negotiations over the future of the war torn region on Aug. 10. The so-called troika stepped in after the World Security Council failed to agree on UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari's report, recommending an internationally monitored independence for Kosovo.

The troika is scheduled to meet next on Aug. 30 and is due to report back to the UN by Dec. 10.

Kosovo has been under the administration of the UN since 1999, when NATO put an end to Serbian control of the province.