FM asks United Nations to block KTA funds

Serbian FM Vuk Jeremic met in New York Thursday with United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and a number of Security Council ambassadors. They discussed situation in Kosovo and the issue of the investigation into human organ trafficking in Kosovo. FM asks United Nations to block KTA funds After his meeting with the secretary general of the world organization, Jeremic said that they were talking about the report Ban had presented to the Security Council the day before. Jeremic added that he had raised a question regarding the money of the UNMIK's Kosovo Trust Agency (KTA) that the Privatization Agency of Kosovo now wanted to appropriate to its own use. “The money must be kept away from the parallel institutions in Pristina. There exists an organization called the Privatization Agency of Kosovo, arguing that it is KTA's successor, which is not true. On behalf of Serbia as a UN member, I demanded that the funds be blocked,” Jeremic told a Tanjug correspondent. The Serbian foreign minister said that he and the UN secretary general had agreed that UNMIK was one of the key elements of the international presence in Kosovo and that without the mission and the mandate it had been given through Resolution 1244 no solution could be reached. Jeremic said that he had told Ban that Serbia was fully committed to peaceful negotiation process, adding that he was confident that there was no other option to find any technical or political solution for Kosovo in the future. When asked to comment on yesterday's statements by the Russian and Chinese ambassadors to the UNSC, who demanded that the investigation into the illegal trade in human organs harvested from kidnapped Serbs in Kosovo be transferred from the jurisdiction of EULEX and placed under the jurisdiction of the UN, Jeremic said that Serbia had also requested that a new meeting be held to discuss the investigation, adding that it could take place at the new meeting of the Security Council. “We cannot give up on the investigation because right now we have a closed, opaque, markedly secretive process and I am not sure if anyone can have full confidence in it, given the fact that it insists that no-one should be delivering reports about anything to anybody,” Jeremic said in a comment on the investigation led by EULEX. "It is strange, it is very strange. I do not understand why should someone want to hide something so aggressively,” Jeremic wondered. A year has passed from the beginning of the investigation, and EULEX has not presented any information about the progress of the investigation. The Serbian foreign minister stated that he and Ban also discussed possibilities of cooperation if Serbia gets elected to chair the UN General Assembly. Jeremic also said that he had used the opportunity to invite Ban to come to visit Belgrade in April, when a regional conference of the Alliance of Civilizations, which is one of the most important UN programs, should take place in the Serbian capital. Jeremic met today with Ambassadors to the UN from Brazil, Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, from Botswana, Charles Ntwaagae, from Pakistan, Abdullah Hussain Haroon and Moroccan Ambassador Mohammed Loulichki. All four states are new members of the UN Security Council. Vuk Jeremic (FoNet, file) Tanjug

FM asks United Nations to block KTA funds

After his meeting with the secretary general of the world organization, Jeremić said that they were talking about the report Ban had presented to the Security Council the day before.

Jeremić added that he had raised a question regarding the money of the UNMIK's Kosovo Trust Agency (KTA) that the Privatization Agency of Kosovo now wanted to appropriate to its own use.

“The money must be kept away from the parallel institutions in Priština. There exists an organization called the Privatization Agency of Kosovo, arguing that it is KTA's successor, which is not true. On behalf of Serbia as a UN member, I demanded that the funds be blocked,” Jeremić told a Tanjug correspondent.

The Serbian foreign minister said that he and the UN secretary general had agreed that UNMIK was one of the key elements of the international presence in Kosovo and that without the mission and the mandate it had been given through Resolution 1244 no solution could be reached.

Jeremić said that he had told Ban that Serbia was fully committed to peaceful negotiation process, adding that he was confident that there was no other option to find any technical or political solution for Kosovo in the future.

When asked to comment on yesterday's statements by the Russian and Chinese ambassadors to the UNSC, who demanded that the investigation into the illegal trade in human organs harvested from kidnapped Serbs in Kosovo be transferred from the jurisdiction of EULEX and placed under the jurisdiction of the UN, Jeremić said that Serbia had also requested that a new meeting be held to discuss the investigation, adding that it could take place at the new meeting of the Security Council.

“We cannot give up on the investigation because right now we have a closed, opaque, markedly secretive process and I am not sure if anyone can have full confidence in it, given the fact that it insists that no-one should be delivering reports about anything to anybody,” Jeremić said in a comment on the investigation led by EULEX.

"It is strange, it is very strange. I do not understand why should someone want to hide something so aggressively,” Jeremić wondered.

A year has passed from the beginning of the investigation, and EULEX has not presented any information about the progress of the investigation.

The Serbian foreign minister stated that he and Ban also discussed possibilities of cooperation if Serbia gets elected to chair the UN General Assembly.

Jeremić also said that he had used the opportunity to invite Ban to come to visit Belgrade in April, when a regional conference of the Alliance of Civilizations, which is one of the most important UN programs, should take place in the Serbian capital.

Jeremić met today with Ambassadors to the UN from Brazil, Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, from Botswana, Charles Ntwaagae, from Pakistan, Abdullah Hussain Haroon and Moroccan Ambassador Mohammed Loulichki.

All four states are new members of the UN Security Council.