Shared Policy

The discussions were preceded by a briefing from Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger, the EU representative in the European Union, Russia and US troika charged with facilitating negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina on the future status of the predominantly ethnic-Albanian Serbian province.

The troika is due to submit its final report on Dec. 10, and Kosovo's leaders are threatening to declare independence from Belgrade unless a negotiated solution is reached by that date.

"We are in the middle of this process and we hope that we can shape it so that what you fear -- a break-up of the common foreign policy position of Europe -- does not come to pass," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Saturday.

While ministers meeting in Viana do Castelo were not keen to acknowledge the possibility of a failure by the troika, it is understood that "plan B" discussions were also held in the northern Portuguese town.

"We should not talk ourselves into a crisis, as we so often do," Steinmeier said, before adding that he did not have "too many expectations" for the troika's success.

EU unity crucial for Balkans

The bloc's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, insisted that the problem of Kosovo "is not unsolvable," and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner warned colleagues against being tempted to go it alone on Kosovo.

"The main thing is to maintain unity," Kouchner told journalists. "In fact, I'd prefer to be united than see an individual solution to Kosovo."

Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado, who is hosting the talks, said this week that Kosovo's status "is probably the greatest challenge with which the EU is confronted."

Some European diplomats said a rift within in the bloc on the Kosovo issue could damage the EU's credibility on the international political stage.

Still divided over UN plan

A plan by UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari for a supervised independence for Kosovo is strongly opposed by Serbia and Moscow and is disliked by some EU members that have ethnic minorities of their own and which see it as setting a dangerous precedent.

The ethnic Albanians, who make up the majority of the population in the Kosovo, have, however, called for complete independence from Serbia. That's a step Belgrade, backed by Russia's veto in the UN Security Council, has called unacceptable.

"After the Ahtisaari plan unfortunately didn't lead to the result we had hoped for, the prospects are certainly not better now," Steinmeier said.

The province is under UN administration since NATO drove out Serb security forces in 1999.

On Friday, the ministers made little progress on settling a number of issues concerning a new reform treaty, just six weeks before the discussions on the draft version are due to be concluded.