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STORY: UN / KOSOVO
TRT: 02:26
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 15 OCTOBER 2021, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, flags outside United Nations Headquarters
15 OCTOBER 2021, NEW YORK CITY
2. Various shots, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Zahir Tanin, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK):
“Dialogue can and should be the mechanism used to avoid the dangers which are less often visible, but just as real as they have been during these past twenty years. History in the region has tragically and repeatedly shown that ostensibly small incidents, misreading of intentions, and outright mistakes can trigger an unstable security escalation that puts lives at risk and benefits no-one.”
4. Med shot, delegates
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Nikola Selaković, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Serbia:
“Deep regret and concerns are raised by the fact that security situation in Kosovo and Metohija in the past period has been marked by an increasing number of various ethnically motivated attacks and incidents targeting Serbs, which was also stated in the report, that the provisional institutions of self-government in Pristina continue to take unilateral steps and refuse to implement the agreements reached in the Brussels Dialogue, and that institutional discrimination against Serbs, attacks on the sites of Serbian Orthodox Church, and the undermining of the economic sustainability of Serb communities in the province, have continued.”
6. Med shot, Niger Representative
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu, President, Kosovo:
“We call on Serbia to respect international law, as we do so for those members that are still in doubt with respect to Kosovo’s independence. The Republic of Kosovo today is a free, sovereign, independent country, and an increasingly prosperous country. This should serve as sufficient evidence to make it clear for everyone that UNMIK has not only overstated its mandate, but it is also there in contradiction to the interpretation of the International Court of Justice. While we thank them for their work of the past, we urge you, members of the Security Council, to put your budget at a better use.”
8. Wide shot, Council
Following a series of security incidents in Kosovo, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Zahir Tanin, today (15 Oct) called for dialogue and said, “history in the region has tragically and repeatedly shown that ostensibly small incidents, misreading of intentions, and outright mistakes can trigger an unstable security escalation that puts lives at risk and benefits no-one.”
Tanin, who is also the Head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), presented the report of the Secretary-General on Kosovo to the Security Council.
He described clashes stemming from a police operation in northern Kosovo to enforce a new license plate validity regime in September, as well as further protests and clashes this past Wednesday following the deployment of Kosovo Police Special Police Units in the north, as part of what was described as an anti-smuggling operation.
The Foreign Minister of Serbia Nikola Selaković expressed “deep regret and concerns” that the security situation “has been marked by an increasing number of various ethnically motivated attacks and incidents targeting Serbs, which was also stated in the report, that the provisional institutions of self-government in Pristina continue to take unilateral steps and refuse to implement the agreements reached in the Brussels Dialogue, and that institutional discrimination against Serbs, attacks on the sites of Serbian Orthodox Church, and the undermining of the economic sustainability of Serb communities in the province, have continued.”
For her part, the President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu told the Council that “the Republic of Kosovo today is a free, sovereign, independent country, and an increasingly prosperous country” and said the UN Mission “has not only overstated its mandate, but it is also there in contradiction to the interpretation of the International Court of Justice.”
She urged Council members “to put your budget at a better use.”
