UN plan urges UNMIK reconfiguration

23/06/2008

The plan UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon submitted to the Security Council on Friday urges a UNMIK pullout from Kosovo, allowing the EU mission to take charge in the newly independent state.

By Blerta Foniqi-Kabashi for Southeast European Times in Kosovo -- 23/06/08

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the UN must accept "[the] profoundly new reality" since Kosovo unilaterally declared independence. [Getty Images]

The majority of UN member-states agreed with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's new plan for the international presence in Kosovo at the Security Council meeting Friday (June 20th). The 15-member council, however, did not vote on Ban's proposal and is continuing the debate on whether it must approve the plan legally.

Ban told the council that the UN must accept "[the] profoundly new reality" since Kosovo unilaterally declared independence on February 17th. He said the UN cannot handle the majority of the tasks in the new state. "This needs to be acknowledged as a fact of life," he said.

The UN chief also appointed Italian diplomat Lamberto Zannier to take over as UN governor in Kosovo. Zannier, who was in Pristina on Friday, said he will aim to launch talks between the ethnic Albanian majority and Serb minority in Kosovo.

Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu and Serbian counterpart Boris Tadic both attended the meeting. Tadic reiterated that his country would never accept Kosovo's independence and that the EU mission planned for the former province is illegal.

"UNMIK should not leave Kosovo. Only the Security Council can decide to reconfigure the situation," Tadic said. Russia, one of five council members with veto power, also claims that the council must approve such a mission. The country insists UNMIK should remain in Kosovo, a stance that blocks the EU from helping the former province solidify its independence.

"We think it is unlawful without the appropriate sanctions from the Security Council to deploy the so-called EU rule-of-law mission," Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin said.

Many of the EU member-states disagree with Russia, maintaining that the proposal and the mission do not need formal Council approval because the UN is essentially outsourcing daily operating duties, while ultimately remaining in charge.

The US, UK and Croatian ambassadors also support Ban's proposal for the UNMIK reconfiguration. They called on Belgrade to relax its Kosovo policy.

"We accept Ban Ki-moon's statement that the new reality in Kosovo should be in accordance with actual standards," UK Permanent Representative Sir John Sawers said on Friday.

Kosovo is able to rule itself and UNMIK should not have a major role in the independent state, US Ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad said. "The council should be encouraged by the rapid progress Kosovo has achieved since independence -- this progress justifies the secretary-general's decision to reconfigure the UN presence," he said.

Sejdiu said that UNMIK's presence should diminish and EULEX should begin to function. He said he will "work closely" with the UN as it reshapes its role, part of which will be to ensure security in Serb minority areas.