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UN Kosovo report not basis for unilateral decision - Albanian PM

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Albania's premier said that a report on Kosovo due to be presented to the UN secretary general December 10 is not a cause for making unilateral decisions on the province's status, Italy's APCom reported.
ROME, December 3 (RIA Novosti) - Albania's premier said that a report on Kosovo due to be presented to the UN secretary general December 10 is not a cause for making unilateral decisions on the province's status, Italy's APCom reported.

"December 10 is only the date when the international troika is to present its report to the UN secretary general, and not a deadline for making unilateral decisions," Sali Berisha told a press conference after talks with his Italian counterpart Romano Prodi.

The latest round of negotiations, held in Austria last week, failed to break the long-running deadlock over the province's status. The talks on the Albanian-dominated province's status between Belgrade and Pristina with Russia, the U.S. and the EU mediating, only saw Kosovo continue to insist on full independence with Serbia offering broad autonomy.

The UN has set December 10 as a deadline for the parties to reach an agreement. Kosovo has repeatedly said it will unilaterally declare independence if the UN fails to give its approval, while Serbia has warned it may impose an economic blockade on the small impoverished region if Kosovo Albanians carry out their threat.

Kosovo's drive for independence is backed by the U.S. and some European nations, while Russia, Serbia's long-time ally, has repeatedly warned that independence would serve as a precedent and could have a knock-on effect, provoking instability in other secessionist territories, including those in the former Soviet Union.

Kosovo has been a UN protectorate since 1999, when NATO's bombing of the former Yugoslavia ended a bloody war between Serb forces and ethnic Albanians in the region.

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