As promised, Ahtisaari unveiled the draft of his plan immediately after Serbian elections, on February 2, 2007 (his “recommendations” would come later). The document already had been reviewed by the Contact Group. In Belgrade, he handed the plan to President Boris Tadić; then, in Pristina, he presented it to President Fatmir Sejdiu and the Unity Team. He also met at the UNMIK Headquarters with representatives of the non-Albanian communities in Kosovo.

The reaction in Belgrade was hostile. The bloodshed of 1998 and 1999, the Djindjic assassination, and the March 2004 riots meant that the possibility of violence was never far from the minds of observers of the status process. For his part, Koštunica refused to receive Ahtisaari on the grounds that he (Koštunica) was without authority. He further claimed that no one could represent Serbia until a new government was formed – an especially ridiculous assertion because Koštunica himself regularly made major decisions on behalf of Serbia during this period. Undeterred, Ahtisaari arranged for a meeting with President Tadić.

UNOSEK leased a twelve-passenger Learjet® for Ahtisaari's small staff plus two security personnel for the short flight to Belgrade. When the group arrived at the Belgrade Airport, they were met with the pomp and circumstance usually attending a state visit and taken immediately into the VIP lounge at the airport. Not everything went smoothly.