UN Security Council meets for Kosovo session

The meeting is the first since the ICJ gave its advisory opinion in the Kosovo case last month, saying the unilateral declaration of independence, made by ethnic Albanians, was not actively prohibited by international law, and for that reason did not violate it.

Serbia has sent Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic to the session, where UN mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, chief Lamberto Zannier will submit his quarterly report.

The Kosovo Albanian side will be represented by the Pristina government's foreign minister, Skender Hyseni.

On Monday, Hyseni met with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to request a "replacement" of the valid UN Resolution 1244, which was adopted by the Security Council to end the 1999 war over the province.

In Moscow, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the ICJ did not look into the right of Kosovo's Albanians to self-determination and secession from Serbia when it made its advisory opinion concerning the UDI itself.

At the same time, Moscow noted that the court did not make a stand on whether Kosovo was a state, or whether it was legal for countries to recognize it as such.

In his statements to the press ahead of the session today, Jeremic said that "in addition to the review of the regular UNMIK report and the extremely difficult situation in which the Serbs and other non-Albanian population are in Kosovo, we will take the opportunity to present at the session the state positions that were approved last week by the National Assembly of Serbia."

"We will seek international support for the initiation of a dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, which will enable to find a compromise solution for Kosovo," said Jeremic.

The minister added that the unilateral declaration of independence "cannot be a basis for the normalization of the relations between Serbs and (ethnic) Albanians, as no attempt at secession in the history of the United Nations has led to the establishment of statehood of any territory in the world".

"It is essential to maintain peace and stability in the territory of the province as a whole, a key role in what continues to play the UN Security Council," Jeremic also said.

On Monday and today in New York, Serbian Foreign Minister met with ambassadors of the Security Council member countries which did not recognize Kosovo and asked them to present their principled stance on respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia during the debate.