EU foreign affairs chief Javier Solana has called for “calm and responsibility” as Kosovo gets closer to knowing its destiny in the next few weeks, when the UN will present its report on the state of the disputed province, where the EU is set to take over the UN role later this year.

“What is necessary, is to maintain calm and responsibility,” Mr Solana said at a press conference in Brussels on Monday (15 January). “Important days [are] ahead of us,” he added.

The UN’s envoy in Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari, is shortly to present a proposal on the fate of Serbia’s Kosovo province, which will have to be voted on in the UN security council before it has a chance of becoming a reality.

Senior western officials speaking to Reuters have said the package – to be presented after Sunday’s (21 January) general election in Serbia – will recommend a “supervised independence” status for Kosovo.

It would be granted access to international bodies such as the EU, traditionally reserved for sovereign states – but diplomats and NGOs predict that Russia will have objections to the proposal.

Russia has threatened to use its veto to block any solution which its historical Balkan ally Serbia does not agree to. Serbia has offered autonomy but rejects independence, due to its religious and historical claims on the territory.

UN Security Council members are unlikely to agree on a new resolution for Kosovo status before the summer, because of the time needed to resolve the disagreements among major western powers and Russia, said Alexander Anderson from the International Crisis Group in Kosovo.