US Seeks to End UNMIK at UN Security Council, China Objects

The United Nations Security Council debated the six-month report on UNMIK on October 20, and the session showed that council members hold opposing views on the future of the mission in Kosovo and Metohija. The US deputy permanent representative to the UN, Temi Bruce, said UNMIK’s mandate has expired and the Council should end it, while China’s deputy ambassador, Sun Lei, called for the mission to continue its work.

The report was presented by Peter Due, the UN Secretary-General’s special representative and head of UNMIK. Serbia was represented before the Council by its caretaker Foreign Minister Marko Duric, and Pristina by Glauk Konjufca. We reported the contents of the report earlier, and now it is clear what the speakers said about it.

What did Peter Due say about the dialogue and missing persons?

Due said that progress in the EU-mediated dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina remains essential, and he called for the implementation of agreements already reached, above all the creation of the Association of Serb Municipalities. He welcomed the separate meetings the EU held in New York in September with Aleksandar Vucic and Albin Kurti.

“I call on both sides to engage constructively and implement the agreements already reached, including the establishment of the ASM, as well as to take steps that contribute to building trust and reducing tensions,” Due said.

The fate of 1,577 people remains unresolved. “I encourage the parties to allow access to archives that could help clarify their fate,” the head of UNMIK said.

Tensions have risen over the past six months, Due said, because of intermunicipal issues and property disputes, including demolitions and evictions. He also cited a stalled reintegration of Kosovo Serb judges and prosecutors, as well as allegations of abuse of Serbs by Kosovo police officers, which the Kosovo Police Inspectorate has opened investigations into.

Why did Due criticize Pristina over the Specialist Chambers?

Due condemned Pristina’s attempts to narrow the jurisdiction of the Specialist Chambers in The Hague, which sentenced former KLA commanders to a combined 81 years in prison. After the verdicts against Hashim Thaci and three former commanders, demonstrations followed in several Kosovo towns, and police did not inform UN representatives about the investigations.

Konjufca called the report one-sided and biased and UNMIK unnecessary, and said it is time for the mission to be abolished. He claimed there is no evidence of Albanian responsibility for interethnic incidents. He accused Serbia of marginalizing Albanians in southern Serbia by denying them a presence in local institutions.

“We are very concerned by the findings of that court and the verdicts… We have serious reservations about that court’s historical and factual interpretations, and we expect the verdicts to be overturned before the Appeals Panel,” Konjufca said.

What did Marko Duric tell the Security Council?

Duric said 37 people were arrested after the Vidovdan commemoration at Gazimestan, among them one minor. According to him, the report records the demolition of Serb houses and property around Lake Gazivode, as well as injuries that UNMIK human rights staff noticed on several detainees. He added that 47 members of non-majority communities returned voluntarily during the reporting period, and that none of them was a Serb.

He condemned attacks by Kurti and Albanian President Bajram Begaj on the verdicts in The Hague.

“We seek justice for every victim, Serb and Albanian. Not a Serb version of justice. Not an Albanian version of justice.”

He spoke sharply about the situation in the north: “For Serbs, northern Kosovo has become a police protectorate, in which intimidation and violence against civilians have become part of everyday life.” The report describes the situation as calm but fragile, and Duric asked that both words be heard carefully.

“A street can be calm because a family decided it is safer to stay inside. A town can seem quiet because its young people have left. A community can slowly disappear, without a single dramatic event that would draw the world’s attention.”

He closed with a message about the return of displaced people: “The message displaced Serbs hear is: do not return. The message to those who stayed is: learn to live without the institutions you depend on. And those who seek protection in agreements are told: even a signed commitment can remain unfulfilled for years.”

How did Washington, Beijing, London and Moscow respond?

Temi Bruce said that KFOR and the EU mission are now far more important than UNMIK. “UNMIK no longer plays any role in Kosovo,” she said, adding: “Extending the duration of this mission helps no one.” The Council’s inability to take a position on this, she said, shows the problems the UN faces.

Sun Lei warned of fragile security in northern Kosovo, where demolitions of Serb houses and property have been recorded, along with reports of police abuse. He said the mission has so far played an invaluable role and asked that Kosovo institutions and the international community help it continue its work.

Jennifer Meknotan, a political adviser at the UK mission to the UN, said the changes of the past 27 years call for a review of UNMIK’s mandate.

“We call for a strategic review of UNMIK’s role and funding,” Meknotan said, and she urged Belgrade and Pristina to fully implement earlier agreements, including the agreement on self-governance for Kosovo Serbs.

Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzia, spoke of about 500 ethnically motivated incidents over the past few years and accused Pristina of “legal manipulations” over the verdicts against former KLA leaders. “We demand full implementation of Resolution 1244. The Security Council must send a clear message that the international community will not tolerate violations of that resolution,” Nebenzia said.

The Security Council last discussed Kosovo on April 9, when Due also called for the formation of the Association of Serb Municipalities. The report considered this time states that progress in implementing the Brussels Agreement has remained limited.