It is up to Ahtisaari to set the time of the negotiations, Hoon told the press after meeting Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic. He said the UN envoy had shown exceptional flexibility earlier, when he postponed the presentation of his plan for Kosovo until after Serbia's election, and voiced confidence he would do the same now.
Great Britain wishes Serbia to progress towards the European Union, Hoon said, adding that Ahtisaari's proposal for Kosovo's final status was subject to changes and that it was very important that Serbia state its position during upcoming negotiations in Austria.
Before meeting Serbian officials, Hoon told Belgrade's Blic daily, in a statement delivered by the British Embassy, that the Contact Group, the EU and NATO supported Ahtisaari, that he was confident that Ahtisaari's proposal offered the most realistic possibilities for settling the Kosovo issue, and that the realisation of the proposal would contribute to sustainable regional stability and provide for a multiethnic Kosovo.
Draskovic said Serbia did not consent to changes of its borders and that the "imposed solution of its partitioning" should be avoided so as to prevent Serbia from becoming a factor of instability in the region.
"We are half way to a compromise that depends on the will of those big -- the Contact Group and the UN Security Council," said Draskovic, adding that in case Ahtisaari's document was "reinforced with an amendment that Serbia's current, internationally recognised borders will not be changed, we would be on the threshold of a big historic compromise and of Serb-Albanian reconciliation".
Hoon also met Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica who, according to a statement, said that Ahtisaari's proposal for Kosovo was unacceptable for Serbia, and with President Boris Tadic.
Tadic and Hoon agreed that Serbia must complete its cooperation with the Hague war crimes tribunal, a press release said, adding that Serbia, although against Kosovo's independence, would continue to constructively participate in the negotiating process, "perseveringly defending state and national interests".