Ban: Priština ignoring Zannier

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon states in his latest report that Kosovo officials are ignoring his special envoy, Lamberto Zannier. Ban warns the Security Council that the Kosovo authorities have been ignoring the UNMIK chief ever since last year’s unilateral declaration of independence and have been seeking the speedy withdrawal of his mission. Ban: Pristina ignoring Zannier “The Kosovo authorities continue to act in line with the ’Republic of Kosovo Constitution’ and have sought an end to the UNMIK mission on more than one occasion, stressing that resolution 1244 is no longer a relevant document and that they have no legal obligation to comply with the document,“ states Ban’s regular report, which was distributed to Security Council member-states on Wednesday. This approach, he says, has resulted in “minimal“ contact between Pristina government representatives and Zannier, though cooperation on practical issues has nonetheless continued. In the report, which will be on the Security Council’s agenda on June 17, the secretary-general states that the EULEX mission is functioning under the UN umbrella, and is status neutral, in keeping with resolution 1244. As one of the most serious problems, Ban highlights the controversy over visits by Serbian officials to the province, and the Kosovo authorities’ insistence that representatives of the government in Belgrade may not enter the province without the permission of the “Kosovo Foreign Ministry.“ He also calls on Kosovo’s electricity company to adopt a more flexible position when it came to addressing the problem of power supply to Serb enclaves, primarily because of the sensitive climate, though stating that the power cuts had no ethnic sub-text. The secretary-general also notes that the number of returnees is disappointingly small, as only 137 people have returned to the province since the turn of the year. Ban Ki-moon (Fonet, archive)

Ban: Priština ignoring Zannier

“The Kosovo authorities continue to act in line with the ’Republic of Kosovo Constitution’ and have sought an end to the UNMIK mission on more than one occasion, stressing that resolution 1244 is no longer a relevant document and that they have no legal obligation to comply with the document,“ states Ban’s regular report, which was distributed to Security Council member-states on Wednesday.

This approach, he says, has resulted in “minimal“ contact between Priština government representatives and Zannier, though cooperation on practical issues has nonetheless continued.

In the report, which will be on the Security Council’s agenda on June 17, the secretary-general states that the EULEX mission is functioning under the UN umbrella, and is status neutral, in keeping with resolution 1244.

As one of the most serious problems, Ban highlights the controversy over visits by Serbian officials to the province, and the Kosovo authorities’ insistence that representatives of the government in Belgrade may not enter the province without the permission of the “Kosovo Foreign Ministry.“

He also calls on Kosovo’s electricity company to adopt a more flexible position when it came to addressing the problem of power supply to Serb enclaves, primarily because of the sensitive climate, though stating that the power cuts had no ethnic sub-text.

The secretary-general also notes that the number of returnees is disappointingly small, as only 137 people have returned to the province since the turn of the year.