Chairman of the Committee for Kosovo and Metohija (KiM) Milovan Drecun met with the rapporteur of the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Agustin Conde. They discussed the issues of human rights, establishment of democratic standards and the fight against corruption and organized crime in Kosovo.

Security Council is preparing a new reorganization of the UN Mission in Kosovo

“The main topic of the briefing on UNMIK, in the Security Council on 21 August, will be the reorganization and reduction of the UN mission in Kosovo. Format of UNMIK should be adapted to the results of the Brussels agreement on the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina,” said political analyst Dusan Janjic.

The official request of Kosovo for the UNESCO membership still didn’t arrive in this organization was stated from the Public Relation Service of this UN organization.

Though Thaci wrote on 16 July on his Facebook profile that Pristina applied for membership, the first step towards the formal membership still has not been submitted. So far, Thaci refused to answer to the question whether the request was signed by the President Jahjaga or it was submitted by UNMIK.

Currently, on the UNESCO list of world cultural heritage, the Serbian monuments in Kosovo are under Serbia. However, in July at the meeting of the Committee for World Heritage, without discussion was decided that these are ‘medieval monuments in Kosovo.’

Serbian Ambassador to UNESCO, Darko Tanaskovic

Pristina expects admission to UNESCO, referring to the number of member states that have recognized the self-proclaimed independence of Kosovo, the fact that it has already entered into many financial, cultural and international organizations, as well as the legally non-binding opinion of the International Court of Justice on the Declaration of Independence. Are these arguments sufficient versus current UN SC Resolution 1244?

If it turns out that UNMIK on behalf of Kosovo applied for membership in UNESCO, it opens up a new political game, where the UN organization in a direct way interfered with the relationship between Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo, positioning itself on the side of Kosovo Albanians.

Serbian Ambassador to UNESCO Darko Tanasković said that Pristina's request for membership in UNESCO was sent through UNMIK, by which this international mission in Kosovo violated its competencies.

Whether UNMIK really stepped out from its mandate and what are the consequences?

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.

Whether Kosovo will become a member of UNESCO depends on the member states of this organization. Instead of panic, Serbia should welcome entering Kosovo in UNESCO, as another mechanism for the protection of heritage of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo, said Kosovo Deputy FM Petrit Selimi, commenting the letter which Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia sent to the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon.

Minister of Communities and Returns in the Kosovo government Dalibor Jevtic denied speculations that MPs of the Serbian List gave “the offer” in order to vote support for the announced establishment of the Kosovo Army. “The Serbian List insists on the fulfilment of the coalition agreement with PDK and LDK, but there is not a word about ‘trading with the Serbian votes for the establishment of the Kosovo Armed Forces.’ No one from the government or the assembly discussed with us, Serbian MPs, the issue of Kosovo Army. That issue requires broader dialogue.

More than 220,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Kosovo share the fate of refugees and cannot return to their own homes, the Serbian government’s Office for Kosovo-Metohija (KiM) said in a release on Saturday.

The Office said on the occasion of International Refugee Day, marked on June 20, that no sustainable conditions for the return of IDPs to Kosovo had been created yet despite the fact that the majority of those people wanted to return to their homes.