The UK, the US and Germany called on the UN Security Council during the Monday’s meeting on Kosovo, to strategically revise the UNMIK mission, praising it for the job done so far, while Russia demanded an apology from Pristina for the treatment of its UN member, the FoNet news agency reported on Monday.
The US representative said Washington was concerned about the tensions between Pristina and Belgrade, adding both sides should go back to the dialogue on normalisation of relations.
That, according to the US, means that Kosovo should revoke the decision on 100 percent import tariffs on goods from Serbia, while Belgrade should refrain from “heavy words” and stop hindering Kosovo’s independence.
Washington also described Kosovo’s special police unit operation on May 28 as “legal”, while the obstruction of the police job with barricades as “worrying,” but there was no reference to the arrest of the two UNMIK members during the operation.
London’s representative said UNMIK staff should be treated in line with international law and that the members should also behave accordingly but added it would wait for the result of the internal UNMIK investigation into the incident.
Berlin agreed that UNMIK staff’s immunity should not be violated, but added Kosovo had the right to fight crime. Germany would also wait for the result of the internal UNMIK investigation.
The German representative reiterated that Berlin believed border changes along the ethnic lines, was not a good idea and called on Kosovo to suspend the taxes.
France said UNMIK contributed to Kosovo’s stability and that Paris was aware of fragile security in the Western Balkans.
The French representative added that the current situation wasn’t sustainable and that the dialogue was crucial for solving the problem, while it was necessary to restrain from acts which raised the tensions.
On the other hand, the Russian representative said Moscow was expecting an apology from Pristina for the treatment of its UN member on May 28.
He described the Kosovo police operation as Pristina’s attempt to forcibly take control over the north, despite an agreement that Kosovo police would not go there if the dialogue was taking place.
“A single careless move can lead into new bloodshed,” he warned, adding the West had turned a blind eye to Kosovo’s operations.
