Daily: Ban rejects Ruecker proposal

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has rejected a proposal to extend the mandate of Serb municipalities in Kosovo by a further three months, writes daily Zeri. UNMIK Chief Joachim Ruecker informed representatives of Contact Group countries accredited to Pristina that he had decided to extend municipal representatives’ mandates in majority-Serb areas by a further three months, after UNMIK failed to recognize the results of the elections Serbia organized in the province on May 11. Daily: Ban rejects Ruecker proposal According to Western diplomatic sources that the Pristina daily quotes, this proposal was not supported by the secretary-general. “Ruecker and UNMIK received a message from East River not to address this issue, and not to extend the mandate of Serb municipalities in Kosovo,“ writes Zeri. The paper says that this is not the first time since February and the unilateral declaration of Kosovo independence that UNMIK has received such orders, pertaining chiefly to witholding from reactions to certain measures taken by Belgrade in and around Kosovo. “However, it seems that this is the worst case so far of not respecting UNMIK’s position vis-a-vis such a serious challenge as opposing the results of the Serbian elections on May 11,” says the daily. Ban Ki-moon (Fonet, archive)

Daily: Ban rejects Ruecker proposal

According to Western diplomatic sources that the Priština daily quotes, this proposal was not supported by the secretary-general.

“Ruecker and UNMIK received a message from East River not to address this issue, and not to extend the mandate of Serb municipalities in Kosovo,“ writes Zeri.

The paper says that this is not the first time since February and the unilateral declaration of Kosovo independence that UNMIK has received such orders, pertaining chiefly to witholding from reactions to certain measures taken by Belgrade in and around Kosovo.

“However, it seems that this is the worst case so far of not respecting UNMIK’s position vis-a-vis such a serious challenge as opposing the results of the Serbian elections on May 11,” says the daily.