Nezavisimaya Gazeta Moscow defends Belgrade in UN Security Council
Russian and British diplomats clashed over the future of Kosovo during a regular meeting of the UN Security Council on the break-away Serbian province. Russia's permanent representative to the UN Vitaly Churkin said that Moscow would continue backing Serbia and would block the self-proclaimed republic's membership in the United Nations. The sharp exchange began with the UK deputy permanent representative to the UN Philip Parham reproaching Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic for voicing Belgrade's commitment to finding a mutually acceptable solution to all outstanding issues through peaceful dialogue. Parham flatly rejected the possibility of restarting the negotiations on Kosovo's status or its boundaries. He said that if Belgrade goes down this path, it will face a showdown with those nations that have already recognized Kosovo's independence. The UK will firmly resist such attempts, the British diplomat added. Experts point out that this was one of the most strongly worded statements on Kosovo to date made by western diplomats. Kosovo Albanians proclaimed their independence on February 17, 2008 with the support of the United States and several EU countries. Kosovo's independence has been recognized by 69 out of 192 UN member-states. Russia's permanent representative to the UN was quick to respond to Parham's sharp words. He questioned the British diplomat's authority to speak on behalf of all those nations and expressed hope that most of them had moderate and balanced approaches to the issue and would not oppose Pristina's dialogue with Belgrade, which is the only right decision. Meanwhile, Pristina continues to flatly reject such a dialogue. Kosovo's Albanian government welcomed the non-binding decision by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, which ruled on July 22 that Kosovo's declaration of independence did not violate the international law. Pristina looks forward to more countries recognizing its independence, something it was promised by Washington and which will help it to secure a majority vote in the UN General Assembly. Kosovo interpreted the ICJ decision as recognition of its independence and sovereignty. Based on this understanding, Pristina has intensified its diplomatic efforts in the UN. Thus, Kosovo's foreign minister Skender Hyseni has asked the UN Secretary-General to cancel the Security Council Resolution 1244, adopted in 1999. The resolution reaffirms Serbia's territorial integrity and authorizes the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) to exercise the supreme power in the province. Vitaly Churkin strongly rejected the Kosovo Albanians' claims. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Russia has the power of veto. Churkin made it clear that Moscow would ensure that Resolution 1244 is not be replaced by any other document and that Kosovo is denied a UN membership. RBC Daily http://en.rian.ru/papers/20100805/160082524.html _______________________________________________ News mailing list News@antic.org http://lists.antic.org/mailman/listinfo/news
