VZCZCXRO8424
OO RUEHIK
DE RUCNDT #0047/01 0261737
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 261737Z JAN 10
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8061
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 USUN NEW YORK 000047 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KPKO UNMIK SR KV
SUBJECT: UNMIK: TADIC AND HYSENI SPAR ON KOSOVO DURING 
QUARTERLY UNSC DEBATE 
 
USUN NEW Y 00000047  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. SUMMARY.  Kosovo SRSG Lamberto Zannier told the Security 
Council during a January 22 quarterly debate that the 
security situation remained stable, but fragile, in 
northern Kosovo due to politicization of issues such as 
municipalelections and energy delivery. Serbian President 
Boris Tadic called for dialogue on political differences 
after an ICJ advisory opinion requested by the General 
Assembly on Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence 
is issued (UDI),Tadic emphasized that Serbia would never 
recognize Kosovo. Kosovo Foreign Minister Skender Hyseni 
welcomed dialogue with Serbia, but emphasized that Kosovo's 
independence was irreversible and that reopening status 
discussions would destabilize the region. The U.S., UK, 
Austria and France called on Serbia not to interfere with 
Kosovo institutions. New Security Council members Gabon and 
Brazil made clear that they would not recognize Kosovo's 
UDI, and would look to the ICJ opinion to guide the way 
forward. Nigeria and Lebanon were more measured in their 
comments, while Bosnia and Herzegovina avoided political 
issues, focusing instead on technical aspects of the SYG's 
report. Russia, China, Japan and other Council members 
reiterated previously stated positions. END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
SRSG ZANNIER CITES STABLE BUT FRAGILE ENVIRONMENT 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶2. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General 
(SRSG) for Kosovo, Lamberto Zannier, delivered his 
quarterly report on the UN Interim Administration in Kosovo 
(UNMIK) during a January 22 debate.  Zannier said UNMIK 
continued to play a valuable role in Kosovo promoting 
security, stability and respect for human rights.  He noted 
that Kosovo's municipal elections, in which UNMIK played no 
role, were conducted peacefully and in an orderly manner. 
He added that while northern Kosovo Serbs did not 
participate in the elections in large numbers, Serbs south 
of the Ibar river participated in greater numbers than in 
the past, and had elected mayors and municipal governments 
which would allow them to play a "meaningful role in local 
administration" and would "increase the climate of 
reconciliation". 
 
¶3. Zannier said northern Kosovo remained a flashpoint, and 
the security situation was tenuous, citing political, 
technical and legal disagreements about control of energy 
distribution as an example.  The appointment by Serbian 
authorities of Serbian judges to the multi-ethnic courts in 
Mitrovica had led the Kosovo authorities to call for their 
dismantlement. The UN Administration in Mitrovica, he said, 
played an important facilitation role in northern Kosovo. 
Zannier recalled the low level of returns to Kosovo in 
absolute terms, and said it was due to a variety of 
factors, including the absence of economic prospects for 
returnees and concerns about freedom of movement and 
security. Zannier said Kosovo authorities had expressed an 
openness to returns, but that more needed to be done.  He 
called on Belgrade to reopen offices for the Kosovo Property 
Agency in Serbia.  On the protection of cultural heritage, 
Zannier said UNMIK was ready to assist the efforts of an EU 
envoy. 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
TADIC CALLS KOSOVO INSTITUTIONS ILLEGITIMATE 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. Serbian President Tadic framed his remarks by recalling 
the General Assembly's request for an Advisory Opinion from 
the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on whether 
Kosovo's UDI was in accordance with international law.  He 
said the ICJ opinion would be a "landmark case," and an 
opportunity to "find a way forward," which he suggested 
would need to involve negotiations on "all outstanding 
political differences."  Referring to parallel 
Serbian structures in Kosovo, Tadic said the Serbian 
institutions were actually the legitimate ones, since they 
operated "under the overall authority of the UN." On the 
other hand, he said, the Kosovo institutions were not 
legitimate since they operated on the basis of Kosovo's 
UDI.  Tadic likewise called Kosovo's recent municipal 
election "illegitimate" because "the SRSG did not call 
it, the OSCE did not monitor it, and the UN did not certify 
it."  Tadic called for a "functional decentralization" 
that would be "acceptable to all stakeholders," and 
suggested that an organization such as the OSCE could 
create a "legitimate" decentralization package.  Tadic 
said Serbia was open to the participation of Kosovo 
officials in regional fora, but only in the 
presence of UNMIK officials, who needed to speak first. 
 
¶5.  On the judiciary, Tadic cited differences over 
 
USUN NEW Y 00000047  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
territorial jurisdiction of the court in Mitrovica, the 
ethnicity of judges and prosecutors, and the 
applicability of UNMIK law. On customs, he said differences 
remained over how revenues would be used to "benefit 
relevant communities."  He defended Serbia's decision to 
provide electricity to northern Kosovo homes as averting a 
"humanitarian catastrophe." Tadic welcomed an EU facilitator 
to help resolve disputes over the protection of Serbian 
cultural heritage in Kosovo and expressed concerns about the 
transfer of responsibility for protection of some 
religious sites from KFOR to Kosovo authorities.  He 
referred to the strategy document for northern Kosovo being 
prepared by the International Civilian Office (ICO) as a 
"final solution", and said its authors were playing into 
the hands of extremists who wanted to destabilize Kosovo. 
Tadic portrayed the recent refusal by Kosovo authorities 
to allow Serbian Minister for Kosovo Goran Bogdanovich 
to enter the country as a provocative act and a "denial 
of basic human rights." 
 
-------------------------- 
HYSENI TAKES A HIGHER ROAD 
-------------------------- 
 
¶6. Kosovo Foreign Minister Skender Hyseni focused on the 
progress that had been achieved in Kosovo in recent 
months. Hyseni said that 65 states had recognized Kosovo, 
and that the country had established diplomatic relations 
with 25 states.  He listed bilateral treaties and 
agreements that Kosovo had entered into with its neighbors 
and reviewed the results of recent municipal elections and 
decentralization processes, citing statements 
by international observers that they had been orderly, 
democratic, and encouraging signs of the possibility for 
reconciliation.  Hyseni said Kosovo placed its "full 
trust" in the ICJ to rule that Kosovo's UDI had not 
contravened a international law. 
 
¶7. Hyseni said the security situation in Kosovo was stable, 
but he accused Serbia of undermining the ongoing 
decentralization process by nominating Serbian judges and 
prosecutors for courts in Kosovo. He also noted that Kosovo 
institutions had been cooperating with the EULEX rule of 
law mission to combat crime and corruption.  Hyseni 
affirmed that Kosovo independence was irreversible, and 
said that opening new status negotiations as Tadic had 
suggested would spark violence. 
 
------------------------------------- 
COUNCIL MEMBERS REITERATE KNOWN VIEWS 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. Council members to a large extent expressed previously 
known views on Kosovo.  EU members UK, France and 
Austria, as well as Turkey, noted that Serbia's future lay 
with the EU, and that the EU role in Kosovo was growing. 
The UK pointed out that Serbia's continued efforts to 
disrupt Kosovo's independence served as a distraction to 
this objective, and called for Serbia and Kosovo to work 
toward reconciliation following the ICJ opinion.  The UK 
also noted that the UN needed to continue to review 
the resources necessary to sustain UNMIK to ensure that 
they were "commensurate with its role."  Similarly, 
France "deplored" Belgrade's unilateral decisions on 
Kosovo, which did not lead Serbia in the direction of the 
EU. Turkey emphasized that the future of Serbs in northern 
Kosovo lay with Kosovo, not Serbia.  Austria called on 
Serbia to "renounce" parallel structures. 
 
¶9. Russia fully supported the statement made by President 
Tadic, including the call to restart negotiations, the 
"illegitimacy" of Kosovo's elections, and concern about a 
"final solution" for the north.  Mexico, Brazil and Gabon 
also said they did not support Kosovo's unilateral 
declaration of independence, and that they would be guided 
by the ICJ opinion. Uganda, Nigeria and Lebanon supported 
positive developments in Kosovo, including the municipal 
elections run by Kosovo, but caveated their support as 
being "within the status neutral framework" of SCR 1244. 
Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) avoided addressing political 
issues, welcoming efforts directed at returns, 
reconciliation and dialogue.  BiH also welcomed the role of 
EULEX "in the context of the status neutral implementation 
of resolution 1244." 
 
¶10. Ambassador DiCarlo noted the successful municipal 
elections and Kosovo's efforts to strengthen relations with 
its neighbors which demonstrated Kosovo's readiness to play 
a constructive regional role.  She called for flexibility 
in defining a modus operandi to allow Kosovo to participate 
fully in regional and international mechanisms.  Ambassador 
 
USUN NEW Y 00000047  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
DiCarlo echoed the SYG's request to redouble efforts on 
returns and called on Serbia to accept UNHCR's offer to 
reestablish a presence.  She offered support for EU 
efforts to help resolve outstanding issues related to 
religious and cultural heritage.  DiCarlo said illegal 
Serbian parallel institutions threatened stability in 
northern Kosovo, and urged Serbia to look at the 
reconciliation taking place in other parts of Kosovo to the 
clear benefit of Kosovo's Serbs. 
 
---------------- 
RIGHTS OF REPLY 
--------------- 
 
¶11. As has become typical in the quarterly debates on 
UNMIK, both Serbia and Kosovo asked for the right of 
reply.  President Tadic thanked the 127 states that had not 
recognized Kosovo and said it was "deeply disappointing and 
incredibly shocking" that Hyseni had said reopening status 
talks could provoke a new conflict. Tadic called this a 
"direct threat" and an example of the "destabilizing 
consequences of UDI."  He also recalled recent statements 
by President Mesic of Croatia related to Bosnia and 
Herzegovina (BiH), and said that Serbia fully 
supported the sovereignty and territorial integrity of 
BiH.  Foreign Minister Hyseni reiterated that new 
negotiations over the status of Kosovo would be impossible, 
but offered to speak with Belgrade "any time, anywhere" to 
discuss matters of common interest.  He also emphasized 
that Kosovo was committed to peace with its neighbors. 
 
¶12.  A complete transcript of the session is available 
under the heading "Meetings" on the Security Council page 
at the UN web site:  www.un.org 
RICE