The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is scheduled tonight, Russia's presiding

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is scheduled tonight, Russia's presiding

Tonight in New York, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will discuss the new, six-month report of UN Secretary General António Guterres on the work of the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).

At the session chaired by Russia, from 21:00 CET, both Serbia and Kosovo will be represented by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Ivica Dacic and Donika Gërvalla-Schwarz.

In the report for the period from September 16, 2022 to March 18, 2023, Guterres welcomed the Agreement on the Road to Normalization of Relations between Kosovo and Serbia and its Implementation Annex, on which the leaders of the two sides recently reached an agreement.

Guterres, in the report, which will be presented at the session by the head of UNMIK, Caroline Ziadeh, assessed that the new dialogue framework has the potential to advance the process towards achieving long-term solutions.

Guterres stated that constructive engagement in the comprehensive implementation of the Agreement will be necessary to preserve stability and prevent the renewal of tensions and conflicts.

"The parties have fully committed themselves to respect all the articles of the Agreement and fulfill all obligations in an expedient manner and in good faith. This is all the more important because the events during the observed period brought tensions to a crisis level, resulting in the most serious setback since the beginning of the dialogue process in 2011", Guterres wrote.

He added that "intensified and incendiary rhetoric on all sides, setting up roadblocks, multiple security incidents and protests in the north of Kosovo have increased the risk of violence."

"Incidents of an ethnic nature, the use of firearms and injuries, both among civilians and members of the Kosovo Police, as well as the apparent targeting of journalists and international security actors, were of particular concern. All parties should exercise restraint and ensure that all disputes are resolved peacefully through dialogue, not escalation," Guterres wrote.

In the report, which does not include last week's local elections in four municipalities in the north of Kosovo, Guterres stated that further progress in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina is "key to creating conditions for the return of Kosovo Serb representatives to Kosovo institutions in the north of Kosovo."

Since the adoption of Resolution 1244 of the UN Security Council on June 10, 1999, that body has discussed Kosovo four times a year until 2018. In 2019, there were three sessions of the UN Security Council on Kosovo, and from 2020, two sessions per year.