The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon on his quarterly report on Kosovo which will be reviews on 26 May, has welcomed the continuation of the Pristina – Belgrade dialogue and the reaching of agreement on judiciary, and stressed that one of the remaining crucial issues is the establishment of the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities.
According to the report published on the UN website, Ban Ki-moon stresses that the agreement on the integration of the judiciary in northern Kosovo, reached on 9 February, shows that both sides are committed to the implementation of the Brussels Agreement and to continue the dialogue.
Also, he notes that Pristina and Belgrade should take all the necessary steps in order to apply consistency to all agreements reached. He emphasizes that it is crucial that Pristina and Belgrade make progress in the implementation of the provisions of the Brussels Agreements that have not yet been resolved.
“From this aspect, is it of key importance the establishment of the Association/Community of Serb-Majority municipalities,” said Ban and called on political leaders in Belgrade and Pristina that as soon as possible to find a solution to this problem, by consulting Kosovo Serbs and their political leaders who will be directly affected by the establishment of the Association/Community.
After acknowledging that Kosovo authorities have taken steps to establish the special court, which will address the accusations arising from the findings of the Special Investigative Task Force (SITF), Ban emphasized that other steps are even more important.
“The essential is that the next steps in the process, which are crucial for the future of Kosovo, to be faster and I call on Kosovo’s political leaders to redouble their efforts to this end”, said Secretary General.
He welcomed the “clear determination demonstrated by the Kosovo Government to necessary economic reforms, respect of rule of law and efforts to promote trust between communities in Kosovo,” despite the many challenges it faced during its first one hundred days in office.
The security situation in Kosovo has remained stable, the report adds, although there have been instances of violence such as the protests in Pristina and several other incidents in the northern part of Mitrovica.
Although Ban confirms a decline of the number of incidents potentially ethnically motivated, he warns of the large number of attacks on abandoned properties of the members of minority communities. He stresses that the main obstacle for return of displaced persons remain the unresolved property issues.
Ban said efforts to strengthen stability in the northern part of Kosovo need to continue and that local leaders in the north and Kosovo authorities should be constructively engaged in resolving disputes over municipality budgets and ensure continuation of basic services.
UN SG Ban also hailed the joint efforts of several European countries in cooperation with Pristina and Belgrade to prevent the concerning trend of illegal migration from Kosovo. At the same time, he warned of the need for “further efforts in improving socio-economic conditions in Kosovo and resolving of other causes of the recent migration of the people.”
The report covers the period from 16 January to 15 April of 2015 and will be reviewed in the upcoming meeting of the Security Council on 26 May.
