(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-02-10 09:23

BELGRADE - The Kosovo parliament will adopt a statement of intent to proclaim independence on February 17, just ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers, and the proclamation will take effect in early March, local media reported on Saturday.

The allegations were confirmed at the European Union headquarters, the Serbian national news agency Tanjug reported, citing reports of Radio Television Kosovo (RTK).

The European Union meeting on February 18 could approve the start of the deployment of an EU mission in Kosovo charged with supervising the initial phase of independence for the ethnic Albanian-dominated Serbian province, which has been run by the UN mission since 1999.

RTK reported that, during the period from February 17 until early March, the Kosovo parliament will adopt the constitution and a package of laws envisaged within the proposals made by former UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari, who recommended independence under "international supervision."

The state insignia of Kosovo, the flag and the seal, should also be determined, the provincial television station said.

However, the sources in the EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana's office on Saturday declined to comment on the allegations made by Pristina media.

That is one of the options that they heard mentioned, the sources in Brussels told Tanjug, but pointed out that they knew of other options as well.

European diplomats say that, in any event, the declaration should occur before March 1, when Moscow takes the chair of the UN Security Council.

Russia is a permanent member of the Security Council, where it has warned it will use its veto powers to block any such declaration in support of its traditional ally Serbia, which staunchly opposes Kosovo independence.

Whatever the process, a transitional period of 120 days would follow as envisaged in the plan devised by Ahtisaari.

The Ahtisaari plan, rejected by Belgrade and Moscow, was approved last year by Kosovo's parliament and was supported by the United States and several major EU countries, which want Kosovo authorities to respect it, according to analysts.

Radio Deutsche Welle on Saturday carried a report by the German daily Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, which said, quoting diplomats from several European countries, that Kosovo will proclaim independence at an emergency session of parliament on February 17, and that most EU states, including Germany, will recognize the new state on March 10.