UN Security Council discusses report on Kosovo

UN Secretary-General's Special Representative and head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) Caroline Ziadeh presented the report.

“I have held many consultations with political actors in Pristina and Belgrade, religious leaders, civil society organizations and with our main international partners on the ground. One of the key common observations is dissatisfaction with the level of progress being achieved through political dialogue and the effects this has on the security situation. The level of mistrust unfortunately remains high and must be addressed. Over several months, sustained efforts have been focused on resolving the contested issue of local government legitimacy in four municipalities populated mainly by ethnic Serbs in the northern part of Kosovo,” said Ziadeh.

She said signatures were collected for recalling the mayors in these municipalities who were elected by less than four percent of the votes, adding that, “this process, long discussed in the framework of the EU-facilitated talks, has aimed toward reducing the tensions which inevitably resulted from these elections.”

The UNMIK chief said there were no incidents in the process recalling the mayors in northern Kosovo, but that only a few hundred voters participated.

“We will continue to support the EU-facilitated dialogue and the forum to find a consensual resolution of outstanding issues. Serious security incidents occurred in the village of Banjska last September. Numerous developments have caused hardship and fuelled mistrust between the communities. The Kosovo Serb community representatives have shared their feelings that they are faced with human rights challenges. These, as well as the frequent use of inflammatory and derogatory rhetoric in both directions, demand close attention and scrutiny, as well as responsible, immediate action by those in leadership positions,” said Ziadeh.

She also expressed great concern over the ban on financial transactions, which hinders the normal life of the Serb minority community.

Another element that can reduce mistrust is taking sincere steps towards establishing the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities (CSM), she said, adding that, regardless of the final CSM framework, it would provide stable financial transactions, education, and healthcare to the Serb community in Kosovo.

The UNMIK chief stressed that the issue of the dialogue between the two parties has never been more important in order to facilitate constructive solutions. She also commended the implementation of the 2016 court decision to return land to the Decani Monastery, which had been postponed by Pristina for years.

We will continue to work on overcoming community mistrust and positively influencing processes that are important for everyone's future, emphasized Ziadeh.

Vucic: Pristina creating unbearable living conditions for Serbs, other non-Albanians

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told the UN Security Council meeting that April 19 marked 11 years since the adoption of the Brussels Agreement between Belgrade and Pristina, with the EU being one of the signatories, yet the formation of the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities (CSM) is nowhere in sight.

He said that, for all the Serbs living in Kosovo and for entire Serbia, those eleven years have been years of the accidental or intentional inability of the European Union, as the guarantor of this agreement, to move things from square one.

“Of course, all that resulted in what we can call today legal violence and physical harassment of the Serb population in Kosovo and Metohija,” stressed Vucic.

He thanked UN Secretary-General Guterres for his dedication to fulfilling UNMIK's mandate, as outlined in Resolution 1244.

“Therefore, while the subject report may not fully capture the seriousness of the situation on the ground, it factually documents nearly all of the important events during the reported period, and this has considerable value for member states,” said the Serbian president.

He emphasized that, in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the report, he would point out certain critical points for consideration.

Vucic highlighted that brutal repression against Serbs and non-Albanians intensified after the emergency UN Security Council meeting in February, held at Serbia's request.

The provisional self-government institutions in Pristina, Vucic emphasized, create unbearable living conditions for Serbs and other non-Albanians. He added that the meeting was held thanks to the fact that members assessed that Serbia's complaints were consistent with the facts.

He recalled that all UN Security Council members expressed concern for the position of Serbs, with emphasis on the ban on dinar transactions.

The mentioned measures to abolish the dinar are the culmination of an ethnically motivated campaign against Serbs and non-Albanians, Vucic pointed out.

The Serbian President said that Serbia unequivocally condemned the September violence in Banjska, northern Kosovo, adding that those events were not the cause but the consequence of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti's repression and persecution of civilians.

This is why we will not allow for this tragedy to be used as an excuse for the persecution of Serbs or for diverting attention from it, stressed Vucic.

He said that Serbia demands the immediate release of all political prisoners held by the Pristina regime and stressed that there can be no reconciliation without the release of all political prisoners.

Kosovo’s Osmani: Claims by Serbia on alleged persecution of Kosovo Serbs are false

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani told the UN Security Council that claims by Serbia on the alleged ethnic cleansing and persecution of Kosovo Serbs are false, baseless and politically motivated.

“This narrative has also been thoroughly discredited by the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, the European Parliament and many other international organizations,” said Osmani.

Kosovo’s legal and institutional structures not only protect but actively advance the rights and security of the Kosovo Serb community as well as of all the other communities, promoting an inclusive society.

By contrast, about half a mission Serbs have left Serbia during Vucic’s reign in the past couple of years, “so it should be rather clear to us who the Serbs are actually running away from,” said Osmani.

She added that Serbs in Kosovo have a veto power over constitutional amendments, and that Kosovo laws require the use of the Serbian language, while the Orthodox Church enjoys special protection, and there have been no attacks on churches.

“Multi ethnicity and multiculturalism are values which we cherish and we will defend at any cost,” said the Kosovo President.

She assessed that Serbia's aggression continues, that Serbia abducted three Kosovo police officers, and that everything culminated in the Banjska terrorist attack of September 24, 2023. After that, Serbia increased its military presence along the border with Kosovo and tested Iranian drones near the border, said Osmani, adding that these are the kind of messages Serbia sends to its neighbors.

Osmani said Serbia is trying to hinder the process of the Serbs’ integration in Kosovo by intimidating them. Kosovo Serbs are under pressure, not by the Kosovo Government, but by the Government of Serbia, which intimidates them, she said.

She noted that Serbia had forced the Kosovo Serbs to boycott the elections in northern Kosovo last year, as well as that they boycotted the Sunday vote to dismiss the Albanian mayors in four northern Kosovo municipalities because they were influenced by Belgrade.

The Serbs are to thank Vucic for the fact that the Albanian mayors are still in their offices, she added.

Regarding the Community of Serb Municipalities (CSM), Osmani said conditions should have been created for it, which meant that Serbia needed to dismantle illegal structures, which it instead turned into paramilitary structures.

Osmani said that non-implementation of agreements in Serbia’s “middle name,” that Serbia is not implementing many agreements, and that Vucic should first say whether Serbia accepts the 2023 agreement. At the same time, she said Kosovo is committed to fully implementing this agreement.

The Kosovo President said Kosovo’s membership in the Council of Europe also guarantees more rights for the Serbs.
She said that, 25 years after the war, Kosovo shines and fights for democracy, promotes multi-ethnicity, and enhances human rights for all. Our future is bright, and I believe that one day we will join you and become part of the UN family, she added.

Osmani also talked about the crimes Serbia committed in Kosovo in 1999, and presented two people, who sat behind her at the meeting, as victims.

Serbian President Vucic reacted saying this was “political theater,” because Osmani had not said any thing about the six-monthly report.

“We have been listening to a trial against the Serbs for something that happened 25 years ago. Not a single word about the report. Nothing about the past six months. Why didn’t you inform us who is going to be a member of each delegation. Do you really believe that there were no raped Serbian women in Kosovo,” said Vucic.

Regarding Osmani’s claim that Serbia had tested Iranian drones near the border with Kosovo, Vucic said neither he nor anyone in Serbia has ever seen a single Iranian drone.

The UN SC president said that, with regards to the delegation from Kosovo, some members of the Kosovo delegation were accredited as civil society representatives. Osmani said the women sitting behind her were also members of her office.