Russia will send a demarche to the UN over EULEX
Russia will send a demarche to the United Nations over the presence of the EULEX mission in Kosovo, its ambassador to Belgrade Alexander Konuzin said.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Monday, August 18, 2008
"Serbia should insist on the non-acceptance of illegal steps, regardless of whether they are made by the European Union or the UN Secretariat. Russia will provide the most energetic help in this", Konuzin said.
"We have retierated many times that the international presence in Kosovo is based on a UN Security Council decision, as regulated by Resolution 1244. Therefore, any change to its mandate or format, as well as the deployment of the EU mission in the province, should be carried out with approval of the UN SC and with the agreement of the participating sides", the Russian ambassador explained.
"Belgrade has rejected the EULEX mission, because it was created with the aim of realizing the famous Ahtisaari Plan, which was also rejected by the SC. We will continue to act in this sense. This does not exclude other unprovocative forms of EU participation in helping to resolve the Kosovo issue. Of course, all in keeping with the the above-mentioned resolution. However, the reconfiguration of UNMIK began without a SC decision, and Brussels planned for EULEX to enter Kosovo through that process. We know that this is illegal. Russia intends to send a demarche to the UN Secretariat demanding an explanation at a SC session", Konuzin set out.
Meanwhile, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic, who returned from New York -- where he filed on Friday a draft resolution to the UN General Assembly requesting an opinion from the Internation Court of Justice on Kosovo's secession - said the UNMIK reconfiguraiton is a "big mistake".
Jeremic said that he had informed the United Nations in New York about Serbia's disagreement with this act.
"We believe that the reconfiguration was initiated in a manner that should not have happened, without the agreement of all interested parties and without the explicit support of the UN SC. We view this as a big mistake," Jeremic set out.
He stated that he expects "this process not to be completed without the full participation of Serbia and the explicit backing from the Security Council."
Jeremic said he was certain that the talks with UNMIK on the modalities of the international civilian presence in Kosovo would be continued and that this would would, in the end, lead to an agreement that would be approved by the SC.
