With a positive report in hand, it is likely that Kosovo?s UN governor Soren Jessen-Petersen will be able to convince the UN Security Council to endorse the beginning of talks on the future status of Kosovo, the breakaway province of Serbia . At last, Kosovo, which has been in limbo for five years as a UN protectorate, can move toward a future. Whether the losers of these talks accept the inevitable will impact directly the chance of success for the future Kosovo. The report claims that Kosovo has made progress in security and minority rights in the last three months and has met all eight benchmarks. Considering the 2004 riots, which killed 22 people and resulted in the burning of over 400 Serb homes and churches; a general state of unease, especially by the Serb minority; and a malfeasance of the population in general over a bleak economy (WAR Report), it would seem that the report took a more optimistic approach. However, the last few months have been relatively quiet.

All parties concerned — the Kosovo Albanians, the Kosovo Serbs, the Serbian government, and the international community — are acutely aware that Kosovo cannot move forward while it remains in this state of uncertainty. Uncertainty can breed unrest, and the last thing the province needs is more unrest. Whether Kosovo is truly ready, progress needs to be made on its final status. If the Kosovo issue is to be resolved by early 2006, then the process has to begin now. To be fair, the process goes beyond this initial report. With a Security Council endorsement, a special envoy will be sent to Kosovo in June/July to conduct a comprehensive review of progress from 2003. Then another special envoy will mediate between Belgrade and Pristina in the autumn of 2005; hopefully there will be resolution in early 2006.

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