UNSC to review UNMIK report in January

The UN Security Council will reconvene to discuss Kosovo next month, says Vitaly Churkin. The Russian ambassador to the UN announced yesterday that the next meeting of the Security Council for discussions on the Kosovo status question could be scheduled some time in mid-January 2008. UNSC to review UNMIK report in January Consultations have yet to be held for the meeting, though it has been announced that Security Council member-state ambassadors will meet then because UNMIK chief Joachim Ruecker’s Kosovo report had to be put back to January because the schedule was too full in December. In January, Libya will preside over the UN Security Council. Churkin said that the session, where the work of the UN Mission in Kosovo would come under review, was of the utmost importance. "The Kosovo issue will remain on the UN Security Council agenda, as will the official draft of the Council's presidential statement proposed by Russia," Churkin told Russian reporters at UN Headquarters in New York, and added that NATO and the European Union did not have the authority to settle this issue. “Only the UN Security Council can take decisions after an agreement between Belgrade and Pristina,” Churkin said, adding that the UN Security Council had to approve the mandate of any European military or civilian presence in Kosovo. According to the RIA Novosti news agency, Churkin said that the session on the UNMIK report would be of key significance. "The presence of one of Serbia's officials is planned at this session," Churkin said. He said that, by that time, Russia might have presented some elements of a roadmap for the resolution of Kosovo's status on the basis of a compromise between Belgrade and Pristina. Such a document must be formulated on the basis of Resolution 1244, international legal norms and the UN Charter, Churkin said. “This would allow us to take into account the interests of the sides and the priorities of the leading international factors in resolving the matter on the one hand and, on the other, mark the path to agreement between the sides, including the path for their common EU prospects,” Churkin said. Vitaly Churkin (Tanjug)

UNSC to review UNMIK report in January

Consultations have yet to be held for the meeting, though it has been announced that Security Council member-state ambassadors will meet then because UNMIK chief Joachim Ruecker’s Kosovo report had to be put back to January because the schedule was too full in December.

In January, Libya will preside over the UN Security Council.

Churkin said that the session, where the work of the UN Mission in Kosovo would come under review, was of the utmost importance.

"The Kosovo issue will remain on the UN Security Council agenda, as will the official draft of the Council's presidential statement proposed by Russia," Churkin told Russian reporters at UN Headquarters in New York, and added that NATO and the European Union did not have the authority to settle this issue.

“Only the UN Security Council can take decisions after an agreement between Belgrade and Priština,” Churkin said, adding that the UN Security Council had to approve the mandate of any European military or civilian presence in Kosovo.

According to the RIA Novosti news agency, Churkin said that the session on the UNMIK report would be of key significance.

"The presence of one of Serbia's officials is planned at this session," Churkin said.

He said that, by that time, Russia might have presented some elements of a roadmap for the resolution of Kosovo's status on the basis of a compromise between Belgrade and Priština.

Such a document must be formulated on the basis of Resolution 1244, international legal norms and the UN Charter, Churkin said.

“This would allow us to take into account the interests of the sides and the priorities of the leading international factors in resolving the matter on the one hand and, on the other, mark the path to agreement between the sides, including the path for their common EU prospects,” Churkin said.