Six years after the end of the war over Kosovo, talks on its future are set to begin. They will be a led by a senior envoy appointed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and they may well end in what is called 'conditional independence'. What this actually means remains to be seen, but destabilising consequences, particularly in Serbia, cannot be ruled out. EU diplomats are hoping that the good news of a 'Stabilisation and Association' agreement with Serbia, which they hope to achieve in 2006, can help counteract the simultaneous bad news of the loss of Kosovo and likely secession of Montenegro.