27 Nov 2012

UN / KOSOVO

The Security Council discusses UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's recent report on the work of the UN Mission in Kosovo, in which he welcomes the assurances received both in Belgrade and Pristina regarding their readiness and commitment to resume substantive engagement within the European Union-facilitated dialogue. UNTV

Posted at: November 27, 2012 6:13 pm

Duration: 02:45

Available in: SD

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STORY: UN / KOSOVO
TRT: 2.45
SOURCE: UNTV 
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 27 NOVEMBER 2012, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1.	Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters

27 NOVEMBER 2012, NEW YORK CITY

2.	Wide shot, Security Council
3.	Med shot, delegates
4.	SOUNDBITE (English) Farid Zarif, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Kosovo and Head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK):
"I am personally gratified by these developments and wish to congratulate both sides, in particular these two leaders for demonstrating the political will and courage to embark on the difficult yet indispensable process of working together to recast the relations between Belgrade and Pristina. In so doing they each showed that they are looking to the future rather than to the past."
5.	Med shot, delegates
6.	SOUNDBITE (English) Ivan Mrkić, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Serbia:
"Despite the long-standing international presence, there is no significant improvement on the ground. The lives and property of Serbs and other non-Albanians continued to be threatened. There are no basic security conditions of freedom of movement and employment. A safe return has not been assured to Serbian refugees and displaced persons to their homes in Kosovo and Mitrovica. No major infrastructure facilities have been rebuilt. Violence against the Serbian population and their cultural and religious sites by Albanians continue. The human rights situation in Kosovo and Mitrovica, especially of Serbs and other non-Albanians continues to be deplorable. Concern for security and safety, as well as limited free movement, are definitely the mostly important factors having an adverse effect upon the quality of life of Kosovo and Mitrovica Serbs."
7.	Med shot, delegates 
8.	SOUNDBITE (English) Enver Hoxhaj, Representative of Kosovo:
"Kosovo and Serbia had a long and difficult past. The people of Kosovo have bitter memories due to decades of oppression, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing. However, it is in our common interest to close this dark chapter of history. As two independent nations we are responsible for our future and as neighbours we are destined to share our fate. This dialogue aims to solve problems between two independent and sovereign states in the interest of normalization of the relations, improving the lives of the people and advancing the European agenda for both States and the region as a whole."
9.	Med shot, delegates
10.	Wide shot, Security Council

STORYLINE:

A senior United Nations official today (27 November) welcomed the recent steps taken by Kosovo and Serbia to normalize relations, and called on the international community to fully support the dialogue between the two to reach long-term agreements.

In a briefing to the Security Council, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Kosovo, Farid Zarif, hailed the advances achieved on 19 October, when Prime Ministers Ivica Dacic and Hashim Thaci met for the first time during a session of the European Union-mediated dialogue. A second meeting followed on 7 November.

Zarif told the 15-member body via video-link from Pristina that he wished to congratulate both sides "for demonstrating the political will and courage to embark on the difficult, yet indispensable, process of working together to recast relations between Belgrade and Pristina."

He added that "in so doing they each showed that they are looking to the future rather than to the past."

Zarif called on the Council and the international community to support the dialogue process and provide appropriate resources and political backing to encourage sustainable agreements between the parties.

He also warned that the situation in the north of Kosovo remains fragile, as evidenced by public reactions to decisions of courts involving high-profile war crimes defendants over the past week, which highlight the sensitivity around matters of reconciliation and justice.

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivan Mrkić, in his address to the Council raised a series of grievances regarding the situation of ethnic Serbs and other non-Albanians in Kosovo.

Mrkić said that "despite the long-standing international presence, there is no significant improvement on the ground" for these minorities.

He said their lives and property "continued to be threatened" and "there are no basic security conditions of freedom of movement and employment" for them.

Among other issues, he said "concern for security and safety, as well as limited free movement, are definitely the mostly important factors having an adverse effect upon the quality of life of Kosovo and Mitrovica Serbs."

Kosovo's representative, Enver Hoxhaj for his part told the Council that "the people of Kosovo have bitter memories due to decades of oppression, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing" but stressed that it was in the two nations' common interest "to close this dark chapter of history."

Hoxhaj said the renewed dialogue "aims to solve problems between two independent and sovereign states in the interest of normalization of the relations, improving the lives of the people and advancing the European agenda for both States and the region as a whole."

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February 2008, but Serbia does not recognize the declaration. Tensions between ethnic Serbs and ethnic Albanians have flared up over the years, particularly in the north of Kosovo – which has an ethnic Serbian majority, unlike the rest of Kosovo, where ethnic Albanians are the majority – sparking concerns from UN officials.