Belgrade wants UNMIK to stop any further disabling of Serbian mobile phone networks in Kosovo

In a letter sent to UNMIK Chief Lamberto Zannier, Matic is asking for UNMIK to establish control over the telecommunications sector in Kosovo, stating that a regulatory body of the ethnic Albanian government in Kosovo is violating UN Resolution 1244.

This body, dubbed the Regulatory Agency for Telecommunications, assisted by Kosovo police, KPS, last weekend dismantled a number of base stations operated by Telekom Srbija and Telenor companies, leaving some 100,000 Serbs in the enclaves south of the Ibar River without telephone services.

The body said that the operators "did not have legal licenses" to provide phone services.

Matic called on Zannier to hold consultation with all sides in Kosovo in order to take control over telecommunications and maintain a status-neutral implementation of laws in the southern Serbian province, according to UNSC Resolution 1244.

The Serbian Telecommunications Ministry also called on the International Telecommunications Union to react immediately and enable the restoration of the phone networks in Kosovo.

Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic on Wednesday in Belgrade stated that work is being done on reestablishing service of Belgrade-based telephone operators in parts of Kosovo populated by Serbs and that diplomatic activities aimed at solving the problem are in progress.

Transmitters of Serbian telephony providers were forcefully removed by the Kosovo Albanian authorities over the weekend in the areas south of the Ibar River.

"In some parts of Kosovo, service has been restored and I believe that the same will be done in the rest of the territory," said Jeremic, adding that this would not be possible without intensive diplomatic efforts.

During a joint news conference with visiting Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, Jeremic warned that the current situation was not sustainable and that had to change.

"Telekom Srbija has to get another opportunity to connect our citizens," said Jeremic.

Frattini commented by saying that "every move has to be carefully considered in such a delicate situation", evaluating that "technical solutions have to be urgently found in order to avoid its escalation, and that it should not be turned into a political issue".

Responding to a Tanjug question on whether there is any truth in speculations that the provisional authorities in Pristina had blocked the Serbian operators because they had failed to obtain the country code, Jeremic replied that this cannot be a subject of compromise.

"Kosovo may not have a code because it is a privilege that only states have," underscored Jeremic, adding that the issue must not affect the everyday life of citizens in the province.

"The citizens must not be hostages of the failure of the Pristina provisional authorities in the international arena," said Jeremic.