Troubled North To Dominate UN Meeting On Kosovo
By Petrit Collaku
The UN Security Council will discuss today the latest report by the Secretary General Ban Ki Mun on Kosovo. The recent crisis in the Serb-run north is expected to be the main focus.
In the quarterly report, obtained by Balkan Insight, Ban Ki Mun urges Kosovo and Serbia to enhance dialogue, adding that that sensitive issues relating to northern Kosovo can only be resolved through peaceful means.
Despite describing the situation in northern Kosovo as “relatively calm”, the report said the region was not without friction.
“The overall security situation in northern Kosovo remained relatively calm, but tensions increased towards the end of the reporting period,” the Secretary General stated in the report.
Kosovo’s delegation to the UN, headed by Foreign Minister Enver Hoxhaj, is expected to focus on the Kosovo’s government determination to impose the rule of law over the whole territory of Kosovo.
During this session, Hoxhaj will urge Serbia to dissolve its so-called parallel structures in northern Kosovo and rein in organized crimes groups operating in the north.
Serbia’s foreign minister, Vuk Jeremic, according to Belgrade’s Tanjug news agency, has said he expects an extremely difficult session, as members of the Security Council are divided over a statement proposed by Russia, condemning the Kosovo government’s recent attempt to use force to resolve the situation in the north.
Tensions escalated in the north of Kosovo last month after a botched police raid on customs crossing points in the north led by police loyal to the Kosovo government.
