Speaking to reporters at the end of his four-day visit to Kosovo, Ahtisaari said that certain progress had been made in talks on Kosovo's future, but he warned that there were still many outstanding issues.
The former Finnish president called on Pristina and Belgrade to be ready for concessions and to reach agreement. Before Kosovo's status is defined, solutions must be found for decentralisation, minority rights, protection of cultural and religious monuments, and other practical issues, Ahtisaari said.
He went on to say that no date had been set for the completion of the negotiations, but that he intended to have the process completed this year.
The negotiations will continue on the basis of the principles defined by the Contact Group, he said.
In the last four days, Ahtisaari has met the acting UN Civil Administrator in Kosovo, Steven Schook, and the new Civil Administrator, Joachim Ruecker, who will take up office on September 1. He has also met Kosovo's president and prime minister and representatives of the Serb List for Kosovo, and visited Zvecan in the north of the province for talks with representatives of three municipalities.
The media in Pristina reported that Kosovo's negotiating team did not accept Ahtisaari's proposal that the northern part of Mitrovica, which Pristina suggests should be the second municipal unit within the town, be joined with Zvecan municipality to form a single municipality.
Kosovo's delegation accepted that some municipalities be given more powers, to be defined by documents.
Although the general impression is that Ahtisaari's mission was not successful, well informed media with sources in the Kosovo negotiating team claim that significant progress had been made in settling outstanding issues between the international mediator and Pristina.
Asked by the coordinator of the Serb negotiating team to clarify his statement that Serbs were guilty as a nation, Ahtisaari said at today's news conference that Slobodan Milosevic's policy must be taken into account when defining Kosovo's status.
The current democratic leadership in Serbia cannot be responsible for Milosevic's conduct, but it must face the historical legacy and responsibility, which must be taken into account in the search for a solution to Kosovo's status, Ahtisaari said.
The Serb negotiating team today demanded an explanation from Ahtisaari for his statement that Serbs were guilty as a nation and warned him that such statements brought into question his impartiality in the talks.