Kosovo's Impending Settlement: Analyzing the Ahtisaari Proposal
March 13, 2007 // 10:00am11:30am  For the last eight years, the
international community has stalled on its decision to determine
the status of Kosovo. Because this issue is so contentious,
progress towards creating functioning markets and democracy in
Kosovo and in Serbia has also been stalled. In the next few
weeks, the United Nations Security Council is due to review the
proposal for resolving the status of Kosovo, drafted by Martti
Ahtisaari, the Special Envoy for the Future Status Process for
Kosovo. The so-called "Ahtisaari Proposal," which is currently
available in draft form, is meant to represent a compromise
between two essentially irreconcilable positions: the Serbs (who
believe that Kosovo is an integral part of Serbia) and the
Kosovar Albanians (who want to gain independence from Serbia).
EES invited two experts to discuss this proposal and what
effects it might have on Kosovo and the wider Balkan region. The
process of drafting the