Kosovo vows to improve minority Serbs´ conditions

Kosovo, aided by the international community, is working on a plan to integrate country's Serb-majority north into its institutions.

Kosovo and the international community are working on a special plan to better integrate the country's Serb-majority north into its social and political institutions, a cabinet member said Tuesday.

- The government is actively engaged with the ICO (International Civilian Office) in drafting the plan which would lead to the north's integration - Sadri Ferati, Kosovo's minister for local administration, told AFP.

Kosovo is predominantly ethnic Albanian but its northern region which borders Serbia is almost exclusively inhabited by ethnic Serbs who reject the central government's authority.

- The plan aims at establishing a physical presence of the Kosovo institutions in the north as well as at strengthening the municipalities - by integrating them into the national administration, he added.

Serbia considers Kosovo a breakaway province and actively encourages the 120,000-strong Serb minority to boycott the government in Pristina.

Separated from the rest of Kosovo by the Ibar River, the north remains a flashpoint amid continuing tensions between its Serbs and the ethnic Albanian majority.

While the Kosovo government does not wield any significant power over the north, Serbia exercises control over the area by backing and financing its parallel political, economic and social system.

Ferati said the plan would consist of ''establishing the rule of law in the area which has been considered one of the most tense and insecure in the Balkans.''

- Citizens will be able to become decision-makers without the need to improvise parallel governance - he said, adding the plan would foresee special funds which would provide ''a great perspective for the region.''

Serbian President Boris Tadic has dismissed the plan as ''a useless provocation.''

- The plan proposed by the ICO anticipates some activities aimed at forcing the Serb majority in the north of Kosovo to accept the unilateral proclamation of independence - Tadic said during a UN Security Council session devoted to the Kosovo issue last week.

Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic on Tuesday in Brussels called for an end to all ''unilateral steps'' in Kosovo.

- It's extremely important that no unilateral steps are taken by anybody anymore. We've had enough of unilateralism - Jeremic said.

The ICO in Kosovo is a mission that regroups the main countries that have recognized the independence of Kosovo proclaimed in February 2008.

It is in charge of monitoring the implementation of a status settlement proposal drafted by UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari.

The ICO is led by Pieter Feith, who is also the European Union's special representative to Kosovo, but does not represent all EU countries as Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Spain do not recognize Kosovo's independence.