EU Mission Only With UN SC Mandate
Serbian PM: Useless EU Bureaucrats Can Get Jobs in Kosovo Province Only with the UN Security Council Mandate
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica on Friday warned that the question of the arrival of a European Union mission in Kosovo and Metohija province can be resolved only on the grounds of a new resolution passed by the United Nations (UN) Security Council that would stem directly from an agreement on the future organization of the province reached between Belgrade and Pristina.
Tanjug was told at the Office of the Serbian Prime Minister that the statement by Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic, on the occasion of the call for members of a European Union mission in Kosovo, that only the UN Security Council has the mandate to decide about the administration in that province.
Serbia’s stand on the issue of the arrival of an EU mission was formulated already in July this year, when the United States had proposed to the UN Security Council a so-called minimalist resolution envisaging the replacing of UNMIK with an EU mission in keeping with the plan of Martti Ahtisaari, the sources at the Office said.
It is well known that the Security Council rejected this minimalist resolution at the insistence of Serbia and with the support in principle of Russia.
Serbia’s stand remains the same today, that a new UN Security Council resolution must stem from an agreement reached between Belgrade and representatives of Kosovo Albanian separatists, which means that it must clearly confirm respect of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia and establish essential autonomy for the Albanian national minority in Kosovo, the national news agency was told at the Office of the Serbian Prime Minister in Belgrade.
Democratic Party of Serbia: Any New Mission in Kosovo Province Unacceptable
The Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) believes that any new mission in Kosovo and Metohija, be it civilian or military, is unacceptable for Serbia until the province’s status is resolved, DSS spokesman Andrija Mladenovic said Monday.
Mladenovic told reporters that any new mission should be approved by the UN Security Council, adding that the current mission has also undergone this procedure.
He excluded the possibility that the European Union mission replaces the existing UN Security Council mission in Kosovo and Metohija before the status talks are completed and a compromise solution, in the form of essential autonomy, is reached. Mladenovic noted that the deployment of such a mission before the end of the process "would represent a precedent that would pose a serious problem."
He recalled attempts to replace UN Security Council Resolution 1244 with a new one, pointing out that the Serbian side managed, with the aid of Russia, to prevent this in the Security Council.
Mladenovic underscored that the rejection of the Ahtisaari proposal for Kosovo and Metohija, removed the possibility of any new mission coming to the province without approval of the Security Council.