The United Nations envoy to Kosovo Martti Ahtisaari has proposed that Kosovo should be "separated" from Serbia and allow it to use its own national symbols, stopping short of suggesting giving independence to the troubled Balkan city.

Ahtisaari is currently in Belgrade to discuss the plan of action to be taken. Kosovo has been under the UN administration since 1999, when the NATO troops forced Serbia to withdraw from the city. Talks have been held since then to determine Kosovo's status, but both sides have failed to reach any agreement.

However such a plan could fail to placate the Albanian population of the city, who have waited for independence ever since NATO freed Kosovo from Serbia eight years ago. Ninety percent of Kosovo's 2 million population are made up of ethnic Albanians. However according to a latest UN report, over 200,000 non-Albanian population of he province regard themselves to be internally displaced refugees.

Ahtisaari's plan includes allowing Kosovo to have its own national symbols, a flag and national anthem. Kosovo would also be allowed to apply for memberships in organizations such as UN. However the province would still be administered by. However NATO and EU troops will still be given the role of policing the province and any attempt by it to cross the plan would be delta by those forces.