2007年VOA标准英语-Kosovo Talks End Without Breakthrough

By Stefan Bos
Budapest
11 March 2007

A year of talks on the future of Kosovo has ended without agreement between Serbia's government and Kosovo's independence-seeking ethnic¹ Albanian leadership. The U.N. mediator² in the talks said he would present the proposed plan for Kosovo to the U.N. Security Council later this month. From Budapest, Stefan Bos has this VOA report.

envoy3 Martti Ahtisaari attends a meeting with Serbian and Kosovo Albanian leaders about Kosovo's future in Vienna" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070523/1456310.jpg" width="195" vspace="2" border="0" />

United Nations special envoy Martti Ahtisaari attends a meeting with Serbian and Kosovo Albanian leaders about Kosovo's future in Vienna

U.N. Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari said the two sides failed to narrow their differences on the future of Kosovo province, which has been administered by the United Nations since 1999.

Under the U.N.-drafted proposal, the territory would become autonomous⁴ with its own flag and the right to join international organizations.

The ethnic Albanian delegation⁵ has accepted the plan, although it falls short of demands for full independence from Serbia for the Albanian-majority province.

But Serbs rejected the proposal. Belgrade has made clear that Serbia cannot accept an independent Kosovo because it considers the province the cradle of Serbian culture and religion.

U.N. Special Envoy Ahtisaari expressed his disappointment that, after 14 months of talks, no agreement was reached on the future status of Kosovo. "With all these efforts, I had hoped, and very much preferred, that this process would lead to a negotiated agreement. But it has left me with no doubt that the parties' respective positions on Kosovo's status do not contain any common ground to achieve such an agreement," he said.

The envoy said he would present his draft plan for approval to the U.N. Security Council later this month. Serbia hopes veto-wielding Russia will stick to its long-held view that it will not accept a deal on Kosovo's status, unless both sides agree.

There are Western fears however that if Ahtisaari's proposal is not adopted by the U.N. Security Council, Kosovo's ethnic Albanians will declare independence from Serbia anyway, perhaps as early as this year.

1 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

2 mediator   

n.调解人，中介人

参考例句：

• He always takes the role of a mediator in any dispute.他总是在争论中充当调停人的角色。
• He will appear in the role of mediator.他将出演调停者。

3 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

4 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

5 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。