Serbian media covers and today the issue of the disclosure of the letter of the US ambassador to the UN, Nikki R. Haley, proposing the departure of UNMIK from Kosovo.
After yesterday’s reports on the indignation of Serbian officials, today the media covers comments and opinions of people familiar with the Kosovo situation as well as international law.
Belgrade based news agency Tanjug in connection to this issue reported that Pavle Jevremovic, former Serbian ambassador to UN, said that UN Mission in Kosovo is an important element of stability in Kosovo. Jevremovic assesses that currently it would be difficult to know the consequences of the mission’s departure, but that surely would be some. He said that for now there is no way to anticipate the mission’s closure. He explains that a consensus is needed in the UNSC for the closure of the mission but reminds of the possibility of veto from China and Russia.
However, to Jevremovic was far more interesting that the letter went public and estimates that this could be an indication of one of the possible US views on the UNMIK mission for the future.
“It is difficult to conclude whether it means changing the US position and whether it is a form of pressure on UNMIK,” says Jevremovic, but adds that there is obviously some sort of saturation with the UN mission, because the status quo in Kosovo, regarding treatment in UNSC has been unchanged for many years. “Perhaps I am interpreting that decision as a message that the process in Kosovo should be revitalized, some sort of seeking for a solution within the positions of the American politique, which would definitely not suit us,” said Jevremovic. He sees the US Ambassador’s letter, as well as the earlier decision of the United Kingdom not to include the Kosovo debate on the agenda, as political manoeuvres, nevertheless, of no more significance and consequence. He adds that it is obvious that there is pressure from various actors to clarify the situation in Kosovo in some way, but that it is unclear how and on which lines. Finally, Jevremovic concludes that “all this is part of a political Kosovo pot.”
Sputnik in Serbian language in an article ‘Serbia after Haley: Still room for manoeuvre’ cites Dejan Mirovic, a professor of international law at the University of Mitrovica, as saying that one should not panic, because the resolution 1244 should be abolished to abolish the mission, and that it was necessary to include the Resolution in the Brussels agreement, but it wasn’t. “I am not speaking in political terms, but from a legal point of view, five years after the signing of the Brussels Agreement, I cannot understand why this was done, but I see that this mistake is indirectly recognized and now we are referring again to Resolution 1244. I give myself the right to say that it seems to me that this move is a consequence of the visit of the President of Serbia to Moscow, where again Russia was insisting on Resolution 1244,” sad Sputnik’s interlocutor. “They can now make some legal acrobatics, say that the Resolution does not exist in the Brussels agreement, that it should be replaced by a legally binding agreement, but it is obvious, no matter what they think about international law, the resolution is a bone in the throat of those who want Kosovo to enter the UN and be de jure recognized. The resolution is in force and will be until Serbia signs a legally binding agreement, and then – according to what I could interpret from Vucic’s visit to Moscow – I think it will all depend on the Russian Federation, not on such non-serious factors,” Mirkovic says.
He adds that, regardless of this move by Haley, there is room for manoeuvre, and that the importance of Resolution 1244 in the negotiations should be reaffirmed, as it will exist as long as there are those who have adopted it, permanent members of the Security Council. And while there are United Nations, its legal importance is above all other documents, Brussels and any other legally binding agreement, Mirovic points out. “The United Nations is above the European Union, whatever we may think based on the daily political interpretation of the event. In the international law is known which one is the universal, the only intergovernmental organization,” reminds the professor.
Sputnik reports that Serbia will oppose this initiative in the UN and will primarily talk with permanent members of the Security Council, Russia and China.
Daniel Server, professor of Washington University Jones Hopkins and an expert for the Balkans for RFE, says, when asked whether the mission can be withdrawn while Resolution 1244 is in force, that he believes that this Washington’s initiative is “part of the United States general strategy to reduce the engagement of United Nations peacekeeping missions”.
“Is it possible that UNMIK should withdraw from Kosovo without an agreement on the final status – I suppose it is, but it would probably require a new resolution of the UNSC, and of course, Russia would control whether it would pass or not. I think the Americans will probably try to reduce the number of staff and the UN budget, but I do not know how many people there are and how much their budget is, so I cannot tell you what the implications would be,” Server says to RFE.
At the end abbott Sava Janjic assessed as ”tough hypocrisy to insist on the preservation of UN mission in Kosovo, at the same time, working viciously to undermine the Resolution 1244, on which the mission lies – seeking the abolition of Kosovo’s recognition from the countries, while working on the division of Serbia and the surrender of the largest part of Kosovo and Metohija,” says Janjic on Twitter.
