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UNCLAS STATE 066064 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: UNSC PREL UNMIK KO YI EU
SUBJECT: KOSOVO -- GUIDANCE FOR UNSC MEETING ON JUNE 20 
 
 
¶1.  (U) The Department requests that USUN draw on the 
following points in making our statement during the June 
20, 2008, UN Security Council session to discuss the 
recent report by UN SYG Ban Ki-moon regarding the 
reconfiguration of the UN presence in Kosovo. 
 
¶2.  Begin Points 
 
-- The United States welcomes the report of the Secretary 
General on the reconfiguration of the UN presence in 
Kosovo.  The issue at stake is whether the UN presence in 
Kosovo should remain static or should rather adapt and 
respond appropriately to recent events. 
 
-- In response to the Secretary-General's report, I would 
like to make four points. 
 
-- First, the United States supports in principle the 
Secretary-General's initiative to reconfigure the UN 
presence in Kosovo. 
 
-- The Secretary-General's report to this Council rightly 
notes that the UN must adapt to the evolving situation on 
the ground.  This conclusion is neither new nor radical. 
As far back as 2005, then UN Envoy Kai Eide reported that 
the UN's leverage in Kosovo was declining and that new 
international actors, particularly the EU, would need to 
play a leading international role. 
 
-- The UN administered Kosovo for nine years, much longer 
than anyone imagined when the Council adopted resolution 
1244 in June 1999.  As the years have passed, the UN 
Secretary-General has continually adjusted the UN presence 
in Kosovo and its relationship to other international 
organizations.  The fact that Kosovo's democratic, 
multi-ethnic government is now ready to govern is a 
testament to the UN's success in institution-building. 
 
-- The Secretary General's continued cooperation with 
other international organizations, particularly the 
European Union, will ensure that there is appropriate 
oversight by the international community and that Kosovo 
continues its progress in building a more stable society. 
 
-- My second point today is that the United States finds 
certain elements in the Secretary-General's report to be 
troubling. 
 
-- The Secretary General has proposed a new round of UN 
dialogue with Belgrade to discuss institutional 
arrangements within the state of Kosovo.  We believe that 
such dialogue should always be encouraged, particularly if 
UN officials can facilitate the government in Belgrade's 
support of multi-ethnic institutions in Kosovo. 
Nevertheless, any institutional arrangements for Kosovo 
must be discussed with and agreed to by the government in 
Pristina. 
 
-- This dialogue must be transparent regarding both its 
agenda and objectives and must be thoroughly coordinated 
with the major international stakeholders who will assume 
responsibility for security and stability in Kosovo. 
 
-- I also note with concern language in the Secretary 
General's report that could be construed as proposing a 
more robust and long-term UN role in Kosovo than is 
warranted.  Our view is that the Secretary General should 
have acknowledged more explicitly that the UN can no 
longer play such a major role in Kosovo under the present 
circumstances. 
 
-- Third, I would note that the Council should be 
encouraged by the rapid progress Kosovo has achieved since 
independence -- this progress justifies the Secretary 
General's decision to reconfigure the UN presence. 
 
-- We are pleased to see that Kosovo's transition to 
independence has gone more smoothly than many had 
expected.  Kosovo's multi-ethnic government -- which 
includes Kosovo Serbs, Turks, Bosniaks and Roma -- has 
enthusiastically begun to implement the minority rights 
framework proposed by UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari. 
The Kosovo Assembly has adopted key laws to implement the 
Ahtisaari Plan in areas such as decentralization of local 
government, protection of cultural heritage and the rights 
of ethnic communities and their members.  Kosovo's new 
constitution meets the highest international human rights 
standards and incorporates rights protections contemplated 
in the Ahtisaari Plan.  Nevertheless, serious problems 
remain and Kosovo has much work to do to fight corruption, 
implement market reforms, and build better institutions. 
But the political maturity its leaders have shown, 
particularly through their words and actions to reach out 
to Kosovo's minorities, suggests Kosovo has a bright 
future. 
 
-- My fourth and final point is that Belgrade's efforts to 
promote ethnic separation in Kosovo threaten to reverse 
the progress the UN and the people of Kosovo have 
achieved. 
 
-- The Secretary General's report correctly notes that 
Belgrade will continue to have a relationship with Kosovo 
Serbs.  Indeed, even the Ahtisaari Plan provided for this 
relationship to continue and proposed transparent 
mechanisms for Belgrade to support Kosovo Serb 
communities.  But Belgrade has recently decided to use 
this relationship to discourage Kosovo Serbs from 
cooperating or even talking with their Kosovo Albanian 
neighbors.  On March 22, Serbia's Minister for Kosovo 
Slobodan Samardzic (sah-MAR-jitch) publicly characterized 
Belgrade's plan as the "functional division of Serbs and 
Kosovo Albanians" in Kosovo.  To implement this plan, 
Belgrade sponsored parallel municipal elections in Kosovo, 
which the UN correctly declared illegal and contrary to 
Security Council resolution 1244.  Belgrade also and 
pressured Serbs to withdraw from Kosovo's multi-ethnic 
institutions that were established under UN auspices. 
Belgrade is now supporting a Serb parliamentary assembly 
in Kosovo, an attempt to solidify parallel institutions. 
Belgrade has also reinforced its control over northern 
Kosovo, where Serb-instigated violence resulted in the 
death of a UN police officer in March. 
 
-- Such policies of ethnic partition and separation run 
contrary to the principles of the UN Charter and threaten 
to undermine nine years of international community efforts 
to promote multi-ethnic governance in Kosovo. The United 
States has long believed that Serbia, a great nation and 
regional leader, has a bright and prosperous future in 
Euro-Atlantic institutions.  We therefore encourage 
Belgrade's new government to encourage Kosovo Serbs to 
participate in multi-ethnic institutions in Kosovo. 
 
-- In conclusion, Kosovo seems to be moving in the right 
direction, especially when compared to many of the 
troubled regions of the world that demand the Council's 
attention.  As the period of UN administration over Kosovo 
comes to a close, we look forward to working with the 
Secretary General to protect the UN's positive legacy in 
Kosovo of peace and democracy. 
End Points 
RICE