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Bulgaria <http://www.sofiaecho.com/news/bulgaria-and-the-world/catid_68> and the World Kosovo Serbs to form own parliament, Tadic slams UN force reconfiguration 19:00 Mon 23 Jun 2008 - Spasena Baramova Photo: Reuters Serbian representatives elected in Kosovo at the May 11 2008 Serbian elections, will form their own parliament in Northern Mitrovica on June 28, the Financial Times reported on June 23. The parliament will include 43 delegates from the Serbian municipalities in Kosovo. The May 11 general and local elections, held in Serbia, were carried out in the Serb-populated areas of Kosovo in spite of Kosovar authorities and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) slamming them as illegal. “This assembly will [...] unify the work of local institutions [...] and will represent all citizens in the province that consider Serbia to be their state,” Slobodan Samardzic, outgoing Serbian minister for Kosovo-Metohija said, as quoted by the Financial Times. Meanwhile, on June 20, the UN Security Council met in New York to discuss the reconfiguration of UNMIK after Kosovo's constitution went into force on June 15, UN's news centre reported. While secretary general Ban Ki-moon defined his reconfiguration report a “practical and workable solution”, Serbian president Boris Tadic said it “gave the impression of acquiescing to an unjustifiable violation of resolution 1244”. Ban said the Kosovo issue was one of the most complex in his career and that although his proposal would not fully satisfy all parties, to him it was the least objectionable option. “In almost forty years of diplomatic life I have almost never encountered an issue as divisive, as delicate and as intractable as the Kosovo issue,” he said. “I am very aware that the package I have developed is an effort [...] to try to find an operational modus vivendi to help move Kosovo a few steps back from the brink of further conflict. To many, it may not be fully satisfying, because it does not completely meet the aspirations of any of the key stakeholders. Indeed, it is not a ‘winner-take-all’ solution. Nevertheless, [...] I have come to the view that the package represents the ‘least objectionable’ way forward.” President Tadic, however, once again stressed that Kosovo's independence breached international law and would never be recognised by Serbia, which will continue looking for a way to resolve the issue. “This usurpation by the authorities in Pristina of the mandate this Council gave UNMIK is deeply troubling,” he said, referring to the Kosovar constitution. Tadic also stated his conclusion Ban's report “was an acknowledgement that an influential and determined minority could set aside international law”. According to Tadic, the report's provisions did not make way for reaching a “compromise solution” to the Kosovo status, which was why Serbia could not endorse it. Moreover, the only body that had the legal authority to decide on a reconfiguration, was the Security Council. The reconfiguration of UNMIK was made necessary after Kosovo's constitution went into force on June 15, marking a shift of power from the UN mission to the official authorities of the newly-born state and the European Union. Days before the enactment of Kosovo's basic law, Ban announced on June 12 that the UN planned to reconfigure UNMIK. In a letter sent both to Tadic and Kosovar president Fatmir Sejdiu, Ban said UNMIK would be adjusted so as to allow the increase of the role of the EU in the rule of law field, but still under an UN umbrella. The reconfiguration included appointing a new UN special representative to Kosovo, with Italian Lamberto Zannier already reported functioning in the place of former representative Joachim Rücker.
