S/PV.6097
6097th meeting
Monday, 23 March 2009, 10 a.m.
New York
Report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (S/2009/149)
The President (spoke in Arabic): I shall now make a statement in my capacity as the representative of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.
At the outset, I would like to add my voice to those earlier speakers who welcomed His Excellency Mr. Boris Tadić, President of the Republic of Serbia. I would also like to welcome Mr. Skender Hyseni and extend my thanks to Mr. Zannier, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, for the briefing that he presented on the latest developments in Kosovo.
We realize that the situation in Kosovo has undergone drastic changes and found a new reality that supports the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) in undertaking its role in line with resolution 1244 (1999). That makes it necessary for UNMIK to adjust its mandate to the new changes and developments, in conformity with resolution 1244 (1999), particularly given the remark made by the Secretary-General in paragraph 4 of his report (S/2009/149) that many Kosovo Albanians are of the view that UNMIK has achieved its goals.
In that regard, we welcome the acceptance by the Serbian authorities and Kosovo Serbs of the deployment of the European Union Rule of Law Mission. Also, we commend the reconfiguration of UNMIK and the uneventful deployment of the European peace mission, and we hope that all parties will continue their cooperation with the European mission in coordination with UNMIK, in accordance with the presidential statement of the Security Council of 26 November 2008 (S/PRST/2008/44).
We also welcome the readiness by the two parties to resume dialogue and to engage in discussions at the technical level. We also understand the positions of each party and we hope that those efforts to implement the temporary arrangements and the six mutual provisions specified by the Secretary-General in his letter to President Tadić of the Republic of Serbia of
12 June 2008 (S/2008/354, annex 1) — police, courts, Customs, transportation and infrastructure, boundaries and Serbian patrimony — will continue.
We would like to emphasize the need for the Mission to continue its dialogue with all parties on all practical issues. While we welcome the stabilizing of the security situation, we are concerned at the divergence in views between the Kosovo Albanians and the Kosovo Serbs and the series of inter-ethnic incidents, as mentioned in paragraph 9 of the Secretary-General’s report. That may affect the independence of Kosovo in the long term.
Therefore, we call on all parties to exert further efforts towards co-existence and harmony and keeping open the channels of constructive dialogue and cooperation and to avoid confrontation and violence. Also, we would like to assert the need for the return of all internally displaced persons and to protect them and religious and cultural sites in trying to find common ground for the maintenance of stability and peace in the Balkan region.
I now resume my functions as president of the Council.
