Plain-speaking Martti Ahtisaari, the former Finnish president who is widely tipped to win the Nobel peace prize tomorrow, let the Kosovo cat out of the bag this week with potentially unpredictable consequences for stability in the Balkans. As UN envoy charged with brokering a settlement by the end of the year between Serbia and the ethnic Albanian leadership in Pristina, Mr Ahtisaari conceded the negotiations were not going well. In fact, he went further. Agreement on Kosovo’s final status was not on the cards, “at least not in my lifetime", he said. “The parties remain diametrically opposed." The breakaway province...