PRISTINA, Serbia - Kosovo's prime minister joined calls Friday to declare independence by the end of this year, saying that the UN sponsored process has failed.
Prime Minister Agim Ceku suggested the province's parliament should move to adopt a resolution later this month, setting Nov. 28 as a possible date for declaring Kosovo's independence.
"It is a date that we celebrate in our history,'' Ceku told reporters. "We wanted to make these days more festive.''
However, he swiftly noted the suggested date remained an idea and was yet to be discussed with Kosovo leaders that will ultimately decide on the issue.
"This was initially an idea among other ideas on how to get out of a situation that has been blocked in the UN Security Council,'' Ceku said.
He also steered clear of any suggestions that the move could be made without Western backing.
"In no way are we talking about a unilateral action,'' Ceku said.
"We are talking about a declaration coordinated with our friends and partners. It is simply an idea and since it has not been approved ... it remains an idea.''
The ethnic Albanian leader urged Western powers to avoid risking Russia's veto at the UN Security Council and seek alternatives to making the province independent.
He said failing to pass the resolution would be "of no surprise'' but a refusal from veto-wielding power Russia could upset some European countries uneasy about endorsing Kosovo's split from Serbia.
Ceku did not comment on the ways a solution might be reached, but insisted attempts of solving Kosovo's issue within the UN should be declared failed.
The resolution is expected to be tabled later Friday, although no date has been set for a vote because the United States and the European Union still want to persuade Russia to drop its threat to veto the measure.
Kosovo remains a province of Serbia, but has been under UN and NATO administration since a 78-day NATO-led air war that halted a Serb crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists in 1999. In April, UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari recommended that Kosovo be granted internationally supervised independence -- a proposal strongly supported by the province's ethnic Albanians, the U.S. and EU, but opposed by Serbia and Russia, a traditional Serb ally.
There is widespread concern in the Security Council and the region that the province's ethnic Albanian leaders could declare independence unilaterally if the council does not approve a path to independence.
On Friday, Ceku said Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leadership would "not go it alone'' in making a unilateral move and would seek "co-ordinated independence'' in unison with the U.S. and the EU.
