First UN Security Council Decison on Kosovo since its Independence Proclamation

Yesterday, the UN Security Council agreed for the first time on Kosovo since the country’s  independence proclamation in February this year and gave green light for further reconfiguration of the international civil presence in Kosovo with EULEX as the main future actor.

As the Council was briefed on the implementation of its resolutions on Kosovo, most respectively Resolution 1244 (1999), it learned that “the political transition following Kosovo’s declaration of independence […] was proving to be more complex than many observers had expected”. Head of UNMIK Zannier reported that international civil presence in Kosovo needed to adapt to new cicrumstances, also due to Kosovo’s authorities oposition to UNMIK’s direct administration. Thus UNMIK‘s function was becoming more political than operational. At the same time EULEX was being deployed at “increasingly accelerated rate”. However, so far UNMIK remains the “principle international guarantor of the rule of law in Kosovo”.

In core the members of the SC confirmed the UN status-neutral framework for EULEX, also stressed in the six-point plan on which the Secretary-General achieved an agreement with Serbia and foresees inter alia higher level of involment of international civili presence in the areas where Serbian population is in majority. Kosovo’s autohorities however would cooperate with EULEX but reject the six-point plan in its entirety.

The text of presidential statement S/PRST/2008/44 read at the end of the session is, as follows:

“The Security Council welcomes the Secretary-General’s report on UNMIK (S/2008/692) dated 24 November 2008 and, taking into account the positions of Belgrade and Pristina on the report which were reflected in their respective statements, welcomes their intentions to cooperate with the international community.

“The Security Council welcomes the cooperation between the United Nations and other international actors, within the framework of Security Council resolution 1244 (1999), and also welcomes the continuing efforts of the European Union to advance the European perspective of the whole of the Western Balkans, thereby making a decisive contribution to regional stability and prosperity.”

Last month UN GA voted in favour of submitting the question of the legality of Kosovo’s proclamation of indepence to the International Court of Justice.