http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Politics/?id=1.0.2272354938
ADN KRONOS INTERNATIONAL (ITALY) Kosovo: Security council divided over secretary general's proposal New York, 20 June (AKI) - The United Nations Security Council split on Friday over Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's proposal to reduce the role of the UN mission in Kosovo or UNMIK. Ban proposed last week that UNMIK should gradually turn over its competences to a European Union mission (EULEX) after Kosovo declared independence. But Serbia's ally Russia, which has already blocked Kosovo's independence drive in the Security Council, said on Friday that no change of authority could take place without a new Security Council resolution. UNMIK was deployed in Kosovo in 1999 under UN resolution 1244 which officially treats Kosovo as part of Serbia. Belgrade opposes Kosovo's independence, though it no longer has authority in the province, but is holding on to resolution 1244 as the last straw to retain, at least formally, Kosovo within its borders. Countering western moves in the Security Council, Russian ambassador Vitaliy Churkin said any attempts to bypass the Security Council in replacing UNMIK by EULEX would be considered "a violation of the UN Charter" which provides for inviolability of the existing state borders. The Republic of Serbia deems that the course of action proposed in Ban Ki-moon's report doesn't lead to a compromise solution for the Kosovo status, which would be acceptable to both sides. "We therefore cannot accept secretary-general's report," said Serbian president Boris Tadic. But the EU has decided to gradually deploy its mission by September, despite opposition from Belgrade and Moscow. __,_._,___
