UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will continue to act in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1244, while the matters of UNESCO membership are decided by UNESCO’s General Conference, Eri Kaneko of the Office of the Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General told Tanjug on Tuesday.

Kaneko confirmed that Ban had received a letter from Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic regarding Kosovo’s efforts to become a UNESCO member.

“The Secretary-General continues to operate within the framework of Security Council resolution 1244 of 1999. The membership of UNESCO is a matter that is decided by UNESCO's General Conference,” she said.

Dacic stated in the letter that Kosovo’s intention to become a UNESCO member-state was unacceptable for Serbia as Kosovo could not be regarded as a sovereign state.

The Serbian foreign minister pointed out that Serbia had not changed its position regarding the status of its southern province.

As a territory under the administration of a UN mission in line with the valid and binding UNSC Resolution 1244 (1999), Kosovo cannot be considered a state as subject to international law, and thereby it cannot qualify for admission to UNESCO, Dacic said in the letter to Ban.