EU Presidency Statement - UN Security Council Public Meeting on Kosovo

United Nations Security Council, Public Meeting on the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo; Statement by Ambassador Mr. Gerhard Pfanzelter, Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations, on behalf of the European Union, New York

Mr. President,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The Acceding Countries Bulgaria and Romania, the Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine align themselves with this declaration.

Mr. President,

Let me begin by thanking the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNMIK, Mr. Søren Jessen-Petersen, for his briefing and by reiterating the European Union's full support for his work. We would also like to warmly welcome the participation of the President of Serbia, Boris Tadic. At the same time, we also warmly welcome the presence of the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Bajram Kosumi in the delegation headed by Mr. Jessen-Petersen.

The European Union expresses its profound sadness at the passing away of the President of Kosovo, Ibrahim Rugova. Kosovo has lost a historic leader who devoted his life to promoting peacefully the rights of his people. In this time of important decisions for the future of Kosovo, the European Union calls on all Kosovar parties and leaders to work together so that further progress is achieved in implementing standards and that Kosovo participates constructively in the Status process. In this context, the EU welcomes the election of Mr. Fatmir Sejdiu as President of Kosovo. His election on 10 February coming so swiftly after the end of the mourning period for the late President signals stability and continuity and marks an important step towards the further consolidation of Kosovo's political life.

Much has changed since the Secretary-General and the Special Representative last reported to the Council on the situation in Kosovo. Last year the conduct of the comprehensive review under the leadership of Ambassador Kai Eide encouraged the Kosovo Provisional Institutions of Self-Government to make progress on the implementation of the standards, dialogue between communities and reform of local government. In November, the Secretary-General appointed Mr. Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland, as his Special Envoy to lead the political process designed to determine the future status of Kosovo. Mr. Ahtisaari and his deputy, Ambassador Albert Rohan, have started work on the future status and held initial consultations in the region. Mr. Ahtisaari's negotiation team enjoys the full support of the European Union.

Mr. President,

The European Union shares the Secretary-General's assessment that since his report last May, the Kosovo Albanian leaders have made significant progress in preparations for the status process as well as some progress in other areas such as the protection of property rights and the reconstruction of cultural and religious heritage. We also share his assessment that overall progress on standards implementation has been too slow and his serious concern that there have been delays or setbacks in most areas of standards implementation. Together with the Secretary-General, the European Union strongly urges Kosovo's institutions to renew their efforts to ensure substantive, accelerated and sustainable progress in the implementation of the standards, especially in key areas such as returns, equal access to justice, and the preservation of cultural heritage. Their commitment is crucial to the prospects for a sustainable status settlement that enables all communities to live and thrive in safety.

The European Union attaches particular importance to the establishment of a substantial dialogue between all Kosovo communities, as well as between Belgrade and Pristina. We hope that today's presence of President Tadic and Prime Minister Kosumi will give new impetus in this regard. We call upon the authorities in Belgrade to encourage, rather than discourage the Kosovo Serb leaders to participate constructively in the Provisional Institutions which would contribute to concrete improvements of their living conditions and ensure that their interests are taken into account. All communities should participate actively in the political process for standard implementation and become more involved in presenting their own communities interests during the status process. At the same time, leaders on all sides will have to prepare their populations for difficult compromises ahead.

The European Union also expects Kosovo's institutions to move ahead on the reform of local self-government and welcomes the first Ministerial-level meeting on decentralisation held in Vienna last September. It also urges both parties to participate and engage constructively in the meeting on decentralisation organised by the UN Status Envoy in Vienna which has been re-scheduled due to the death of President Rugova and will now take place on 20 February.

The European Union calls upon both Pristina and Belgrade to engage constructively in the working group on missing persons and hope that progress can be made on this humanitarian issue.

We further remind the relevant authorities of their commitment to alleviate, without further delay, the humanitarian crisis created due to the continued use of contaminated facilities for the temporary residence of a large Roma community in Mitrovica. Bureaucratic obstacles must be overcome. In this regard the European Union supports the call made by UNMIK, the World Health Organisation and UNICEF on 9 February 2006 for all Roma, Ashkaeli and Egyptian communities to vacate the lead polluted camps in northern Mitrovica in Kosovo and to move their families to the safer environment at Osterode camp. We also remind the PISG of the necessity to find a long-term solution for the IDPs. They should continue to work towards creating safe housing for IDPs, and should move quickly to provide sustainable options for returns and permanent housing.

Mr. President,

The European Union also fully supports the call of the Foreign Ministers of the Contact Group at their meeting on 31 January for all possible efforts to be made to achieve a negotiated settlement in the course of 2006. In this respect, we encourage leaders in both Serbia and Kosovo to show the political courage and vision necessary to come forward with realistic proposals.

Whatever Kosovo's future status will be, it will be firmly rooted in the European architecture. With this tangible European perspective in mind, accelerated implementation of standards should not be viewed just as a goal in itself or a quicker way to a decision on the future status of Kosovo. Effective standards implementation, including dialogue and outreach to Kosovo's minority communities, and thereby building a sustainable democratic and multiethnic society, is also a prerequisite for the fulfilment of Kosovo's European perspective. In December, the European Union adopted a new "European Partnership" document for Kosovo within the European Union's broader Stabilisation and Association Process for the Western Balkans. The Partnership incorporates the standards as requirements for Kosovo's long-term European perspective, thereby underscoring that they must continue to be a central focus of efforts by the Provisional Institutions throughout and beyond the status process.

The European Union has been steadfastly at the side of the people of Kosovo throughout the post-conflict period and has provided a major part of international aid, economic access, political support and reform advice. The Contact Group's "Guiding Principles for a settlement of the status of Kosovo" adopted in November 2005 make it clear that Kosovo will require an international civilian and military presence to supervise the compliance of the provisions of the Status settlement to ensure security and protection of minorities, and to support the continued implementation of the standards. The European Union is fully engaged in the Status process and in close contact with Mr. Ahtisaari. It has appointed Mr. Stefan Lehne as EU Representative to the Kosovo future status process. We are ready to assume our responsibilities and to work on an enhanced future EU engagement with a view to assisting a democratic and multi-ethnic Kosovo in its efforts to realize its European perspective. In parallel, we are already co-operating closely with other international agencies which will continue to play a role in Kosovo according to their comparative strengths and specialisations.

Mr. President,

On 27 January, the European Commission adopted the communication "The Western Balkans on the road to the EU: Consolidating stability, raising prosperity". The EU Council of Ministers welcomed the Communication as a good basis for further work in preparing discussions at the informal EU-Western Balkans Foreign Ministers meeting in Salzburg in March 2006. Thus, the European Union remains committed to helping the Western Balkan countries through practical measures to make the European perspective more tangible.


* Croatia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.

| Arriba |

• EU Presidency Statement - UN Security Council: Debate on UNMIK (13/9/2006)
• EU Presidency Statement - Security Council Public Meeting on Kosovo  (20/6/2006)
• EU Commissioner Rehn on election of Kosovo President Sejdiu  (13/2/2006)
• Kosovo Contact Group Statement  (31/1/2006)
• EU Parliament urges Kosovo to continue along Rugova's path of peace  (25/1/2006)
• EUHR Solana appoints personal representative in Pristina (2/12/2005)