Reactions to first UN SC Kosovo session

Reactions to first UN SC Kosovo session

Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said today that “by way of adamant and irrefutable arguments, Serbia refuted Ahtisaari’s proposal on Kosovo-Metohija’s future status at the UN Security Council.”

“Having demonstrated that Ahtisaari’s plan is an illegal and illegitimate proposal aimed at seizing 15% of Serbia’s territory, which directly breaches the UN Charter, it is only natural that a considerable majority at the UN Security Council should acknowledge Serbia’s stance and refuse to support Ahtisaari,” Koštunica said in a statement, as reported by the government’s web site.

“The simple truth is that Ahtisaari’s proposal failed to receive the endorsement of the Security Council,” Kostunica said, adding  that Serbia must now turn to a new negotiating process with a new international mediator.

Kostunica praised Russia’s proposal that the UN Security Council should set up a mission which will come to Serbia and see for itself the actual degree of implementation of the UN Resolution 1244's defined standards in Kosovo.

“This may provide a good basis for a new negotiating process which would take course this time within the clear framework of the UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and finally enable the creation of a compromise and just solution,” the Serbian Prime Minister said.

Britain's ambassador to the UN Emyr Jones Parry announced that his country, along with France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the United States, would initiate the drafting of a new UN resolution on Kosovo in April.

He added that there would be no further debates on the future status of Kosovo by the end of April.

“The international community will, in the meantime, try to consolidate its position within the Contact Group sessions,” Parry said. Asked how the

Council would advance the issue given the divergent views on how to proceed, including strong opposition to independence by Russia and Serbia, Parry said Tuesday’s discussion was informative because it demonstrated to the Council “how sensitive this issue is and how carefully President Martti Ahtisaari has formulated his proposal.

Advisor to the Serbian President Vuk Jeremić said that Ahtisaari’s recommendations so far garnered insufficient backing. He remarked that Serbia strengthened its position when it came to demands for the continuations of Kosovo talks.

However, Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu gave an opposite perspective of the UN Security Council's Tuesday session, saying that Kosovo was on the verge of gaining independence.

Kosovo's parliament endorses UN plan

Kosovo's parliament overwhelmingly endorsed a UN plan Thursday that proposes internationally supervised independence for the disputed province.

The resolution was approved 100-1 in the overwhelmingly ethnic Albanian 120-seat assembly, drawing a thunderous applaud and a standing ovation. Nineteen lawmakers were absent from the vote, the AP reported.

Kosovo's parliament welcomed the plan drafted by UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari "believing that his recommendations present a balanced and right solution, which is in accordance with the will of people of Kosovo," the resolution said.

The lawmakers pledged to "fully implement" the status package, outlined by the UN special Kosovo envoy who mediated yearlong talks between ethnic Albanians and Serbs over the contested territory.

Bulgarian PM: Ahtisaari given an "impossible mission”

UN chief mediator Martti Ahtisaari was given an "impossible mission" on finding a solution to the Serb province, Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev said Wednesday.

"Ahtisaari was given an impossible mission from the start, that is to come up with a solution acceptable to two sides with irreconcilable positions," he said after meeting his Croatian counterpart Ivo Sanader.

Stanishev said that his proposals were "a good basis" on which to help the Security Council to find a solution to Kosovo and guarantee stability in the wider Balkan region.

"For Bulgaria, it is important that a solution for Kosovo guarantee stability in the region thereby bringing it closer to European standards," said Stanishev.

Croatian Prime Minister Sanader said that Zagreb backed Ahtisaari's plan even though it does not offer an ideal solution.

"There are no ideal plans in international policy, and both sides can find shortcomings in Ahtisaari's plan, but at this point it is the best that could have been achieved," he said.

UN to send mission to Serbia and Kosovo in April

The Security Council will send a delegation to Kosovo this month, the 15-member body’s President said today.

“I expect that during the month of April there will be a Security Council mission to Belgrade and to Priština,” Emyr Jones Parry, the Ambassador of the United Kingdom, which holds the Council’s rotating presidency this month, told a press briefing in New York.

He added that details would follow after meetings with other Council members to see “how they would like to conduct that mission.”

Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin suggested last week that the UN Security Council send its mission to Kosovo and Serbia.

He said that the Council needed detailed information on the situation in the area ahead of taking Ahtisaari’s plan into consideration.