Disagreements over Kosovo in UN Security Council

NEWS 04.02.201908:54
REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

The UN Security Council failed to adopt an agenda for February due to disagreement over a regular quarterly report on Kosovo, the chairman of that UN body confirmed to reporters in New York.

Equatorial Guinea’s Ambassador Anatolio Ndong Mba said some UN Security Council members expressed concern over the intention to debate the UNMIK report on the situation on the ground at a session on February 7. According to the ambassador, some Security Council members believe that convening every three months is too frequent for an open meeting on Kosovo.  

Ndong recalled that similar disagreements surfaced in the Security Council last September when the Security Council failed to formally adopt an agenda and expressed hope that the member states will reach an agreement on the issue to avoid what he said would be a regrettable procedural vote.  

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said a few days ago that UN Security Council presiding in February “Equatorial Guinea … acted heroically when it placed Kosovo on the agenda for February”, adding that the decision met with disapproval from some countries.  

The heads of the UNMIK mission have reported to the Security Council every three months since resolution 1244 was adopted in 1999 but the practice was broken off by Great Britain as presiding in August 2018 when it refused to put the Kosovo report on the agenda.

Kosovo was placed on the agenda in November when China took over as presiding. Western Security Council members want changes to the sessions on Kosovo along with a smaller budget for UNMIK, claiming that the situation in Kosovo is not a threat to international peace and security.