S/PV.5944
5944th meeting
Friday, 25 July 2008, 10 a.m.
New York
Report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (S/2008/458)
Mr. Mubarak (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) (spoke in Arabic): Allow me at the outset to welcome His Excellency Mr. Vuk Jeremić, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Serbia, and Mr. Skender Hyseni. We also welcome Mr. Lamberto Zannier, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, and we thank him for his very valuable briefing to the Council. We also wish to commend the Secretary-General for his report on the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) (S/2008/458).
Before turning to the content of the report, I should like to emphasize the following principles, which are the essential reasons for the presence of UNMIK in Kosovo. Resolution 1244 (1999) remains the legal framework for UNMIK, and the Security Council is the body with the authority to amend the mandate of the United Nations mission in Kosovo. The United Nations presence in Kosovo is of the utmost importance, at least in the medium term, especially with regard to addressing the problems, easing tensions that may arise and fostering peace and stability in the region.
We are convinced of the importance of the role of regional arrangements in the maintenance of international peace and security, in accordance with Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations. We thus commend the European Union for playing its part in strengthening peace and security in the Western Balkans and for the support that it has provided to the United Nations operation in Kosovo. We believe that the continued cooperation between UNMIK and the European Union in Kosovo should not exceed the legal parameters defined in resolution 1244 (1999) and should take place under the guidance of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General.
Regarding the report of the Secretary-General, we are concerned at the tension that has characterized the past three months, especially in northern Kosovo, to which the Secretary-General refers, when discussing the political and security situation. Nonetheless, we are hopeful that the tension and the violence remain limited to specific areas and we appeal to all parties in Kosovo work constructively with UNMIK to overcome the painful events of the past and look towards a future of tolerance and harmony, with progress and prosperity for all the people of Kosovo.
Kosovo is not the only place in the Balkans where religious and ethnic minorities have coexisted. We urge UNMIK to deploy greater efforts to guarantee the return of displaced persons of all ethnicities, to provide assistance to the displaced and to protect religious and cultural sites. We condemn all actions taken against all such places or against humanitarian workers.
Finally, we urge the Secretary-General to continue negotiations with all the parties concerned and other interested parties in Pristina and Belgrade in order to overcome the challenges that UNMIK may face in Kosovo, with a view to the accomplishment of a noble goal: the maintenance of peace and stability in Kosovo through dialogue.
