Global Courant 2023-04-27 22:57:37
During the discussions on the new six-monthly report on Kosovo in the United Nations Security Council, the Foreign Ministers of Kosovo and Serbia accused each other of blocking the dialogue mediated by the European Union.
In the session held in New York of the USA and chaired by Russia, members of the Security Council called for an agreement to be reached in Brussels and for both sides to refrain from inciting tensions.
The Foreign Minister of Kosovo, Donika Gërvalla, said that Serbia is trying to block the integration of the Balkans in the European Union and block the progress in the dialogue.
“It is clear that Serbia does not want an agreement in dialogue. Otherwise, it will hinder any agreement because the Serbia of 2023 will no longer join the European Union,” she said.
On the other hand, the Foreign Minister of Serbia, Ivica Dacic, said that in Gervalla’s speech it was noted that Kosovo “doesn’t actually want a dialogue. They want the continuation of the war, of the conflicts”.
During her speech, Gërvalla mentioned the crimes against the Albanian population during the 1999 war and compared the war in Kosovo with the current Russian occupation of Ukraine, as she said that “Serbia is the biggest threat to peace in the Balkans”.
Dacic requests the establishment of the Association
During his speech, Dacic called for the agreements previously signed within the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue to be implemented.
“It is necessary to form the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority as soon as possible because this is the only possible mechanism for the protection of the rights and security of the Serbian community in Kosovo”, said Dačič.
“Prishtina is deliberately avoiding the fulfillment of this obligation”.
He insisted that Serbia “will never recognize Kosovo’s independence” and also demanded the full implementation of UN resolution 1244.
“You have to cancel it, or respect it. If you don’t respect (Resolution 1244), then it is questioned why the UN exists”, said Dacic.
Resolution 1244, adopted in 1999, provided a framework for resolving the conflict in Kosovo, authorizing the establishment of an international civilian and military presence. She established an international transitional administration and oversaw the withdrawal of Serbian military forces from Kosovo.
The head of UNMIK asks not to use inflammatory rhetoric
During the presentation of the report on Kosovo to the UN Security Council, the head of UNMIK, Caroline Ziade, called for the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia and called on both sides to refrain from inflammatory rhetoric.
Ziade said that during the last year, various challenges have been identified, “but also attempts to bring the relations between Kosovo and Serbia closer to normalization”.
“Leaders must take responsible steps to reduce the likelihood of stalemate in the issues that have degraded public trust over the past few months,” she said, citing as examples the withdrawal of Serbs from Kosovo’s institutions in the north and the boycott of elections in on Sunday, April 23, by the Serbs. She said that the tensions between Kosovo and Serbia had not only distanced the two sides from attempts to normalize relations through dialogue, but had also put them “close to the edge of physical confrontation”.
Speaking about the elections in the north, Ziade emphasized that they were peaceful, but “at the same time, the question of representation must be addressed as part of the broader political process.”
According to Ziade, a step forward in the relations between Kosovo and Serbia could be the approval of the statement on missing persons.
Internationals call for agreement
The representative of the USA, Jeffrey DeLaurentis, expressed his satisfaction with the steps taken by Kosovo and Serbia in the recent meetings between the leaders in Brussels and Ohrid, while he added that he hopes to see a similar willingness in the next meeting on May 2 .
“We encourage Kosovo and Serbia to move quickly to implement their respective commitments and avoid the recurring crises that have hindered progress in the EU-mediated dialogue,” DeLaurentis said.
He asked for the establishment of the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority “in a way that complies with the Constitution of Kosovo”.
Meanwhile, the representatives of Great Britain and France expressed support for the dialogue mediated by the EU. France called on both sides to refrain from actions that could escalate tensions between the two countries.
The representative of Great Britain emphasized that “we fully support the inclusion of Kosovo in the international system”, while he called for the establishment of the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority.
“We strongly encourage both sides to demonstrate the political will and courage to implement what they have agreed to,” he said.
The representative of Russia, Vasily Nebenzya, criticized Minister Gërvalla for her statements regarding the war in Ukraine, saying that this is “not a matter for Pristina”, while he said that there is a continuous attempt to remove the Serbs from Kosovo.
“Russia’s position on Kosovo remains unchanged. The solution must be in the interest of Belgrade and the Serbian people and must be approved by the Security Council,” he said.
During his speech, he also mentioned the trial of the former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army in the Specialized Chambers in The Hague. He said he hopes “that these criminals will be punished as they deserve and that the Hague Tribunal will not repeat the catastrophic mistakes of the Hague Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia”.
UNMIK’s mandate, in question
During her speech, the Foreign Minister, Gërvalla, said that the presented report has errors and that some important events are missing, as she added that “these shortcomings are not new”.
“UNMIK has become a destabilizing factor and does not serve stability and peace in the region. With this report, it has also documented how unnecessary it has become”, said Gërvalla.
Even the representatives of the USA and Great Britain said that the mandate of UNMIK should be reviewed.
“It is time for the UN to find a more relevant role in Kosovo. We must accept that the mission has fulfilled its original mandate for a long time”, said the US representative.
Meanwhile, the representative of China, Geng Shuang, said that “the issue of Kosovo is still a security problem for the Balkans and Europe. Therefore, the role of UNMIK remains indispensable”.
Gërvalla complains that he was not allowed to speak Albanian
The Foreign Minister of Kosovo said that the President of the Security Council for the month of April, Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia, denied her the right to deliver her speech in Albanian.
Nebenzia denied this, saying that Gërvalla would have been allowed to speak in Albanian if he had insisted and if he did not know any of the six official languages of the UN.
Albania’s ambassador to the UN, Ferit Hoxha, said that “it is ridiculous to say that it was necessary to insist”, after he said that Kosovo has made a written request to hold the speech in the Albanian language.
Hoxha added that the Russian presidency of the Security Council was not impartial, in a statement with which the US representative, DeLaurentis, later agreed.
In the report on the new six-monthly report for the period from September 16, 2022 to March 18, 2023, the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, welcomed the Agreement on the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia and its implementation Annex, for which leaders of both parties recently reached an agreement.
Guterres, in the report, assessed that the new dialogue framework has the potential to advance the process towards reaching long-term solutions.
He said that constructive engagement in the comprehensive implementation of the Agreement will be necessary to maintain stability and prevent the renewal of tensions and conflicts.
“The parties are fully committed to comply with all articles of the Agreement and to fulfill all obligations appropriately and in good faith. This is even more important because the events during the observed period brought tensions to a crisis level, resulting in the most serious stalemate since the beginning of the dialogue process (between Kosovo and Serbia) in 2011,” wrote Guterres.
He added that “intensified and inciting rhetoric from all sides, the establishment of roadblocks, numerous security incidents and protests in the north of Kosovo have increased the risk of violence”.
“Incidents of an ethnic nature, the use of firearms and injuries – both among civilians and among members of the Kosovo Police – as well as the apparent targeting of journalists and international security actors, were of particular concern. All parties must show restraint and ensure that all disputes are resolved peacefully through dialogue, not escalation (of violence),” Guterres wrote.
In the report, which did not include the local elections that were held last week in four municipalities in the north of Kosovo, Guterres stated that further progress in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina is “key to creating the conditions for the return of Kosovo Serb representatives to the institutions of Kosovo in the north”.
Since the adoption of Resolution 12 44 of the UN Security Council on June 10, 1999, this body has discussed Kosovo four times a year until 2018. In 2019, three sessions of the UN Security Council were held. for Kosovo, while from 2020 two sessions are held per year./ REL
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