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Belgrade requests continued UNMIK mandate in line with Resolution 1244

Belgrade/New York, 21 April 2008

Serbian President Boris Tadic said today at the UN Security Council session that Resolution 1244 must be fully respected and requested that the transfer of jurisdiction from the UN mission in Kosovo be halted.

File photo of Boris Tadic

Author: Reuters

Tadic underlined that the clearly defined mandate which the Security Council gave to UNMIK must not be undermined and that Serbia explicitly requests that jurisdiction should not be transferred from UNMIK to any other body. That is the only way to prevent further aggravation of the situation on the ground he warned.

The Serbian President said that Serbia’s main position is that the EU mission EULEX operates outside the framework prescribed by Resolution 1244 and that its activities are contrary to the principles of the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act.

To make it clear: I am not saying that the EU is not welcome in our southern province, however, such an engagement requires a clear legal mandate, which can only be secured by a Security Council decision, Tadic explained and added that Serbia is ready to take a constructive part in finding a solution to that complex issue.

He said that Kosovo Serbs feel very unsafe in the newly-emerged situation, when illegally and contrary to Resolution 1244, interim Kosovo institutions are being turned into illegal state institutions and where the EULEX mission is taking over authorities from UNMIK without the necessary Security Council decision. Kosovo Serbs, whether they live north of the Ibar river or in the south, in the enclaves, do not trust Pristina authorities. Kosovo Serbs are not ready to cooperate with the EULEX mission until it gets an explicit mandate from the UN Security Council, Tadic said.

He called on countries that have recognised Kosovo to re-examine their decision, and said that the Security Council should make efforts to continue negotiations, in order to reach a new, viable and mutually acceptable solution, which would rectify the situation created by the unilateral declaration of independence by the Kosovo interim institutions.

Tadic recalled that Security Council Resolution 1244, in the spirit of Chapter VII of the UN Charter, obliges all member countries to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia.

Reiterating that Serbia will never recognise Kosovo, he said that Belgrade demands the continuation of UNMIK’s mandate in accordance with Resolution 1244.

Any validation given to the “situation which arose following the unilateral declaration of independence” is completely unacceptable for Serbia, said the President and expressed concern over the fact that the UN and UNMIK did not react by annulling Pristina’s illegal move.

He criticised the UN Secretary General’s report which only mentions the unilateral declaration of independence and confirms the “new reality on the ground”, but does not conclude that this “new reality” is a product of the violation of Resolution 1244.

Tadic said that according to Ban Ki-moon’s report and with the consent of UNMIK representatives, preparations are being made in Kosovo to implement Ahtisaari’s plan for monitored independence, even though that plan was never considered and not approved in the Security Council.

The Serbian President informed the Security Council that Serbia is bitter over the ICTY’s decision to acquit former KLA commander Ramush Haradinaj.

Tadic recalled that since the arrival of the UN in Kosovo in 1999, Serbs in the province have been the target of violence by extremist Kosovo Albanians who were mainly not held accountable for their crimes.

The decision to acquit Haradinaj is an unjust one and the Serbian people are rightfully bitter, stressed the Serbian President and added that it is expected from the ICTY prosecutors to make an appeal against this unjust decision as soon as possible, since Haradinaj is not returning to Kosovo as an ordinary citizen, rather with the intent to participate in the politics of the province and to carve out a political career for himself.

He recalled that the ICTY was established by the UN, and Serbia as a member of the UN is determined to fully cooperate with the ICTY. He reiterated that Serbia is doing everything in its power to conclude cooperation successfully.

Tadic asked for Security Council support for holding parliamentary and local elections in Kosovo on May 11.

Stating once again that Kosovo is an unalienable part of Serbia, the President said that the parliamentary and local elections to be held in Serbia on May 11 are of crucial importance for the consolidation of democracy in Serbia and its integration into the EU. He stressed that it is particularly important that local elections are also held in Kosovo-Metohija on that day.

We think that it is important that everywhere in Kosovo where citizens who recognise the Republic of Serbia as their state should democratically elect their municipal and parliamentary representatives, the President explained.

He said that Serbia’s most important internal and foreign political goals are preservation of the country’s territorial integrity and the country’s integration into the EU and noted that these two goals must be reached only if both processes are run parallel.

Tadic recalled that Article 135 of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement states that Kosovo is under the interim administration of the UN, on the grounds of Resolution 1244, as well as that the signing of SAA does not prejudice the province's future status.

No one has the right to disrupt Serbia in its legitimate and peaceful defence of its integrity, nor to prevent the country from its other legitimate goal – EU membership, the President said and added he is assured that both goals are mutually related and that without the country's international integration it cannot defend its integrity and without defending integrity it cannot secure its European integration.