Summary: June 26, 2002: EU Statement at the Security Council on Kosovo (New York)
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The central and eastern European countries associated with the European Union, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania. Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, and the associated countries Cyprus, Malta and Turkey as well as the EFTA country members of the EEA, Liechtenstein and Iceland, align themselves with this statement.
Mr. President,
Let me first of all thank USG Guehenno for his briefing today.
We support the determination with which SRSG Steiner is implementing his policy of benchmarks to measure progress in the establishment of a multi-ethnic, politically stable and economically sustainable Kosovo. Achieving a culture based on the rule of law, tackling crime and violence and ensuring economic progress are the priorities that all efforts need to be concentrated on before considering issues pertaining to the status of Kosovo. We are encouraged to see that the priorities highlighted by
the draft program submitted by the Provisional Government to the Assembly last 9 May aim in the same direction as the benchmarks.
We welcome the fact that the representatives of Coalition Povratak have taken up the positions assigned to them in the Provisional Government and in the Office of the SRSG. The full participation of the Serbian Community, and indeed of all minorities in Kosovo, remains paramount for the well-functioning of the Provisional Institutions, as well as to ensure that their interests are fully taken into account and defended. It will also prove crucial to foster the return process and to promote
reconciliation and inter-communal confidence-building.
We support UNMIK's emphasis on minority return and expect that the new Inter-Ministerial Coordinator on Returns and the Senior Adviser in the Office of Returns and Communities will play an important role in helping to shape policies aimed at facilitating sustainable returns and integrating non-majority communities into mainstream Kosovo society.
More than one million people are still displaced around the region as a legacy of conflict. The past few years have shown that, when conditions are established on the ground, especially for minority returns, progress can be achieved quickly. All regional actors must spare no effort in putting in place appropriate security and legislative conditions for return and in allocating resources to ensure its sustainability.
Mr. President,
The EU remains concerned over the situation in the northern part of Kosovo and calls on FRY authorities to encourage and contribute to unconditional respect for UN authority in all of Kosovo. Support for parallel structures in Mitrovica must end and the city must be reunited under the full authority of UNMIK and the elected representatives of the population. The benchmarks policy that is being now applied in Kosovo should also be fully applied to Mitrovica. Progress needs to be made now, with
the full commitment of all parties involved, so that the 26 October municipal elections can eventually bring about the necessary administrative normalization.
We support all efforts by UNMIK in this respect, including the joint patrolling with KFOR recently initiated in North Mitrovica, as well as the set up of working groups aimed at confidence building.
The EU has already expressed its full support for SRSG Steiner's decision to declare null and void the 23 May Kosovo Assembly resolution on "the territorial integrity of Kosovo", and has urged the Kosovo Provisional Institutions to discharge their duties within the remit defined by resolution 1244 and the Constitutional Framework, and to concentrate their efforts on strengthening the rule of law, improving the economic situation, including the creation of jobs, and contributing to a secure
environment, thus encouraging the return of refugees and IDPs.
We reiterate our full support for the 23 February 2001 FYROM-FRY border agreement and encourage UNMIK and the FYROM government to rapidly agree and implement practical solutions to the problems faced by the affected population. We are concerned at the increasing rate of incidents at the Kosovo-FYROM border.
SRSG Steiner has made tackling crime and violence and ensuring freedom of movement one of his priorities, and rightly so. Violence and crime prevent democracy from taking root and harm the prospects of investment and economic growth. We support Mr. Steiner's policy of zero tolerance and commend him for the measures he is taking and the regulations he is introducing to enhance UNMIK's capabilities to effectively combat organized crime, terrorism, extremism and violence. We also welcome the
agreement reached with the authorities of FRY and Serbia on police cooperation.
Mr. President,
Let me dedicate my last words to the Stabilisation and Association Process, a long-term policy approach in support of sustainable and EU compatible reform aimed at helping the countries of the region prepare for integration with the European Union. It has become a driving force for political, democratic and economic reforms within the individual countries as well as for the strengthening of the regional dimension and reinforced regional cooperation, which go hand in hand with rapprochement to
the EU.
We urge Belgrade and UNMIK, together with the Provisional Institutions for Self-Government of Kosovo, to work resolutely, on the basis of the Constitutional Framework and the Common Document, toward the objectives of the SAP within the framework of Security Council Resolution 1244.
Thank you, Mr. President.
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