The UN's chief representative in Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari, may well have decided to hold back on his recommendations for the blighted province's future until after the Serbian elections for fear of inflaming nationalist sentiment. But, the truth is that Mr Ahtisaari was the ghost at the feast, like it or not.
The elections at the weekend were the first since the break-up last year of Serbia's union with Montenegro and marked another step in Serbia's integration into the democratic fold. Despite the emergence of the nationalist Radicals as the largest party with 29 per cent of the vote, EU foreign ministers were rightly taking a "pot half full" view of the result. "The Radicals got most votes but nevertheless two-thirds of the seats in parliament will go to democratic forces," German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told journalists on Monday on behalf of the presidency. And he confirmed that the union still sees the country as a future member despite the current freezing of negotiations over its failure to hand over fugitive wartime commander Ratko Mladic for trial on war crimes charges.
It is likely now that a pro-western coalition will emerge gradually. Current prime minister Vojislav Kostunica has seen his Serbian Democratic Party pushed into third place by president Boris Tadic's centre-left Democrats, but the former, an economic conservative with a strong nationalist streak, will drive a hard bargain in the hope of retaining the prime ministership. He will not mind a delay in forming a government which could see Mr Tadic blamed for the inevitable concessions that will be made on Kosovo, sacred soil to Serbian nationalists despite its substantial Albanian ethnic majority.
Mr Ahtisaari has to tread a fine line and his report, expected on Friday, may not mention the word "independence" explicitly but will certainly urge the international recognition of the province's government under a de facto system of supervised independence. It is also likely to suggest the transfer of the province to the authority of the EU from the UN jurisdiction it has been under since 1999. Importantly, it will not countenance a union with Albania or Macedonia.
The proposals will certainly not find majority favour in Serbia, although Mr Tadic is believed to accept them as inevitable. Several EU member states warn they have a destabilising potential, and Russia has said it will not back any deal which does not have Serb support. But the dangers to stability of upholding an unhappy status quo and denying Kosovan ambitions are even greater. It is a path the international community must back.