The Security Council of the United Nations will discuss the new report of the General Secretary, Antonio Guterres, on the work of the UN Mission to Kosovo.
In the session to be held in New York and to be headed by Russia, Kosovo and Serbia will be represented by the respective Foreign Ministers, namely Donika Gërvalla Shwartz and Ivica Dačić.
In the report covering September 16th, 2022 to March 18th, 2023, Guterres welcomed the Agreement of normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia and the Annex of its implementation.
The report will be presented by the chief of the UN Mission to Kosovo, Caroline Ziade. Guterres assessed that the new dialogue framework has potential to push forward the process of reaching long term solutions.
He underlined that the constructive engagement in implementing the Agreement will be necessary in order to maintain stability and stop new tensions and conflicts from arising.
“The parties are willing to respect all articles of the Agreement and fulfill all liabilities in good faith. This is even more important, because the events in the period we overwatched, brought tensions in a crisis level, resulting in the most serious stagnation since the beginning of the dialogue process in 2011,” said Guterres.
He added that “the intensified rhetoric from all sides, the barricades and the many security incidents and protests in the north of Kosovo, have augmented the risk for violence”.
“Incidents of ethnic nature, using fire arms and harming of civilians and Police of Kosovo, and the visible targeting of journalists and foreign actors of security, are of utmost concern. All parties must refrain themselves and assure that all disagreements are resolved peacefully through dialogue, and not escalation of violence,” continued Guterres.
The report does not include the local elections held last week in 4 communes in the north of Kosovo. Guterres declared that the further advancement in the dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade remains the “key in creating conditions for the return of Serbian representatives in the institutions in the north of Kosovo”.
