Thank you, Madam President. And thank you Special Representative Ziadeh, for your briefing. We would like to acknowledge the efforts you and your team at UNMIK have made in advancing interethnic dialogue and the rule of law reform in Kosovo.
We are duty-bound to also acknowledge there are other UN resident agencies in Kosovo who are more appropriately doing this type of work. After a quarter of a century, UNMIK has long outlived its original mandate, and the United States calls for the Council to review UNMIK in Kosovo and work toward its eventual sunset.
There are much greater demands on the Security Council’s time, as we all know, and these briefings should be reduced to annual, private meetings. We also urge UNMIK, in future reporting, to retain a neutral viewpoint, to better reflect UNMIK’s impartiality.
It has been more than a year since the Serb paramilitary attack on the Kosovo Police Station near the Banjska Monastery in northern Kosovo, and Serbia has made no meaningful progress in holding accountable those involved, including the self-proclaimed leader of the attack, Milan Radoicic. We urge full accountability in accordance with the rule of law.
We also remain concerned over uncoordinated actions taken by the Government of Kosovo, which are inconsistent with Kosovo’s commitment to work through the EU-facilitated Dialogue. These actions affect the welfare of vulnerable and non-majority communities and undermine the path to normalization between Kosovo and Serbia.
The United States shares the aspiration of the people of the Western Balkans, including Kosovo and Serbia, to build greater regional economic integration, foster regional stability, democracy and multi-ethnic societies, and to enshrine the rule of law.
The EU-facilitated Dialogue is the agreed path for normalization between Serbia and Kosovo and progress towards membership in European institutions.
The United States continues to work with the EU, the OSCE, and NATO partners to keep tensions low in the north of Kosovo; to deter escalatory measures by either party; and to push forward on implementing all Dialogue commitments between Serbia and Kosovo, including the establishment of the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities. We caution both sides against uncoordinated or escalatory actions and urge them to resolve issues within the Dialogue’s framework.
The ultimate goal of the United States remains eventual mutual recognition.
Thank you, Madam President.
