YouSaid · the spoken record

Covic

lines on the record: 88
first: 2002-04-24
most recent: 2005-05-27
sittings or episodes: 5
sources: un-security-council

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“The creation of a unified economic space and the finalization of bilateral agreements on the promotion and protection of investments, the agreement on free trade, the reform of the financial sector and efforts to attract direct foreign investment are not merely election promises, but rather the strategy we are using to join the ranks of those countries that are not only economically sustainable but also able to attract investments. The implementation of educational reform and the promotion of scientific, cultural and technical cooperation are preconditions for the creation of opportunities that will keep young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina and enable them to become active players in their own development and future.”
2002-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4661 (2002) · source
“The Bosnia and Herzegovina we all wish to see must ensure sovereignty and constitutionality for Serbs, Bosnians and Croats throughout its territory as well as ensure that their rights are protected. Only in this way can a multi-ethnic State become a community of equal citizens working together to achieve common goals. Full institutional legal protection for all ethnic groups is a requirement in order to ensure political freedom for each and every citizen. Our economic and financial reforms will be achieved through the harmonization of tax rates and customs regulations. Other reforms will also be undertaken on our path towards European integration.”
2002-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4661 (2002) · source
“Mr. Covic' (Bosnia and Herzegovina) (spoke in Croatian; interpretation provided by the delegation): I would like to echo the gratitude expressed by Mr. Mirko Sarovie for the invitation to participate in today's meeting and for the assistance that the Council has for years been extending to Bosnia and Herzegovina on its path towards peace and the building of a sustainable State. In order to ensure a brighter future for Bosnia and Herzegovina, we are firmly committed to European integration and to the application of European standards at all stages of democracy-building, on the basis of internationally recognized norms, especially in the field of human rights. The creation of a politically stable country that fully respects human rights must be based on equality for all peoples in Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
2002-12-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4661 (2002) · source
“However, I am afraid that we will not be able to share in the responsibility if we are not treated as an equal partner in this cooperative effort. I regret that when Mr. Steiner spoke of three allies, he failed to mention Belgrade as a fourth ally. However, I hope and believe that one day, Belgrade will come to be that fourth ally in finding a solution to the problems in Kosovo.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“We believe that existing and potential indictees and their files will not be used to discipline some Albanian leaders, to try to blackmail them into engaging in constructive cooperation in Kosovo. We should like to express our sincere appreciation for all the support and understanding shown by the Security Council. We are fully committed to the further improvement of living conditions in Kosovo. However, we appeal to the Council to bear in mind that resolution 1244 (1999) is still in force and that Kosovo and Metohija is still a part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republic of Serbia. We want to be good hosts and to receive constructive input in the process of finding a solution to the problems in Kosovo.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“We need funds, and the budgets of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and of the Republic of Serbia have already earmarked and set aside certain funds. To that end, I would ask the Council kindly for its support and assistance, so that we can start this process and make progress as soon as possible. We believe that the Albanian detainees who were released based on the files that we transferred to the UNMIK judiciary must remain in custody. The UNMIK judiciary decided that they should remain in custody, and this should definitely be the case because international legality reaffirmed the original judgment. We hope that the same principles will be applied to the Mazreku brothers. With regard to the war crimes, I look forward to progress being made in Kosovo with respect to cooperation with the Hague Tribunal.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“We cannot be forever taking vengeance against each other. We regret that fact that Polish policemen were injured. I personally have had contact with senior Polish politicians, and on the day when the Polish Prime Minister visited Kosovo, I was there with the Polish Ambassador. Although it had originally been planned that the Polish Prime Minister and I would meet, that did not happen. I hope that UNMIK police will improve their command, and we are there to render our support in that regard. Concerning the return of internally displaced persons, one need only look at our returns programme, which has largely been coordinated with the UNMIK Office of Returns and Communities. I hope that we will be able to make some progress.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“In these cases, the Supreme Court of Kosovo overruled the first-instance decisions. In all of the cases, the investigating judges and public prosecutors were Albanians, and we hope that these Serb detainees will also be transferred as soon as possible. It is not only UNMIK that needs to succeed in its mission. Belgrade must also succeed, and therefore we must jointly work on all of these issues. I must state my concern about the situation in Kosovo. Any instability, any hasty moves concerning final-status issues could have a very negative impact and destroy the democratic authorities in Belgrade. I think that confidence-building measures are essential in this process and that the benchmarks that are being created must also address confidence- building measures between different ethnic communities.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“At our last meeting, I announced that I would recommend that Serbian Return Coalition (Povratak) accept Mr. Steiner's proposal to join the Government. This has been done. Regarding the transfer of Serbian detainees from facilities in Kosovo and Metohija, I am sorry to note that we have different approaches. Out of 17 detainees, seven declared their desire to be transferred to prisons in Serbia proper. Three were released because they had served their time, one will be released on 17 May, and five do not wish to be transferred from Kosovo and Metohija to Serbia proper. The other is an Albanian who wanted to stay in prison in Serbia proper. All of them are common criminals. However, what we have not mentioned today is the fact that we are holding nine Serbs in prison in Kosovo and Metohija.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“The issue here is that we have to help ethnic communities to live normally and exercise their rights. Believe me: it will be very difficult to resolve the issue of Kosovska Mitrovica if we do not find a way to decentralize the Government in Kosovo and Metohija and if we do not find a way to establish new local institutions of self-government - one of them in the north of Kosovska Mitrovica. I am sure that if we cannot create normal living conditions in Kosovska Mitrovica, we will have no parallel institutions whatsoever. This is not the only threat, however, because another problem is that the people who live there have no confidence in us either. That is a fact. We are transferring Albanian prisoners from detention facilities in Serbia proper to Kosovo and Metohija.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“In that regard, we hope also that we will be able to facilitate the return to Kosovo of a substantive number of those Serbs that have been internally displaced. In regard to Kosovo-Mitrovica, we do not support any violence or conflict. We do not support any provocation, poor command or any statements made by police commanders who say that they have to fight against "Serbian animals". I do not think that anything can be solved in south-eastern Europe through the use of force. Let me assure the Council that if the only problem in Kosovo had been Kosovska Mitrovica, we would have been able to resolve it easily. We are fully committed to this, and we have presented our approach to the resolution of the situation in Kosovska Mitrovica. We are not speaking of any horizontal solution, division or partition.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“We now have certain benchmarks, and we believe that those relating to regional harmonization must be interconnected. I am glad that we have these benchmarks, as well as agencies that will work to achieve them and a time-frame for their use. I believe that we will be able to achieve these goals, and we are genuinely interested in being fully included in the further detailed development of these benchmarks. We hope that they will not prejudge the final status of Kosovo. I was very pleased to hear Mr. Steiner speaking about this and saying that he felt that this was not the time to talk about the future status of Kosovo. We support all of the positive statements made by certain members of the Kosovo Government, and we hope that those statements will bear fruit.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“We in Belgrade have to pay all the instalments at a time when the commercialization is being carried out in Kosovo. I think that this is a problem, and I hope that sometime next week we will be able to find a joint approach on this issue. We support the position of Singapore that at a certain time benchmarks should be used for the assessment of the success of UNMIK and KFOR on the ground. I am very happy to hear about the concept of benchmarks. I regret that Mr. Steiner and I did not have the opportunity to discuss this issue earlier. Some people would say that Belgrade and Pristina did not have a chance to discuss the issue earlier. I regret that Mr. Steiner and I did not have the opportunity to discuss this issue earlier. Some would say that Belgrade and Pristina did not have a chance to discuss this issue earlier either.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“Steiner's invitation to the members of the Council to visit Kosovo, and I would greatly appreciate it if at that time we could together visit Serbian enclaves, spending not just an afternoon or a couple of hours there. I suggest that we spend the night there and spend lots of time with them to see how they live in those enclaves. I think that would put us in a better position to address their concerns. We are fully prepared to support the integration process. However, with regard to privatization, we know who owes whom and we know that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has the responsibility of paying pensions to the retirees. However, we also know that we have had a lot of investment made by different funds and we know how much those companies in Kosovo owe to international organizations. The overall debt totals about $1.5 billion.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“Steiner, and all the support we will give him, we have to emphasize that he will finish his mission and leave, while we will stay to share the destiny of the nations in the region. We are truly grateful for all the support and effort of the international community to solve the crisis in the region. With respect to the integration of Kosovo and Metohija, there will be no integration without respect for fundamental human rights, and the fundamental human right is the right to return home. There can be no freedom of movement without security and without addressing the problem of crime. In this part of the world, the connection between crime and politics is deeply rooted. I fully concur with Mr.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“Mr. Covic' (Yugoslavia) (spoke in Serbian; English interpretation provided by the delegation): We would like to extend our appreciation for the understanding the two of us received. However, it sometimes seems as if we were talking about two different Kosovos. I would like to comment on some of the questions. We are fully in favour of cooperation with the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), but we want it to be sincere cooperation based on mutual respect and not on the optics of the past, when we had an undemocratic regime in Belgrade. The Council will agree, I hope, that we will continue to live in the area. We will have to take responsibility for that. With due respect for Mr.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“It has the power to make this dialogue successful and worthwhile, and its participants responsible. I wish to point out that attached to my statement are "Principles of a programme for return of internally displaced persons from Kosovo and Metohija", the "Report on the destruction of cultural heritage in Kosovo and Metohija" and a letter from the local Serbs from Kosovo Mitrovica addressed to the Security Council.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“The whole world has rendered support to the democratic changes in Yugoslavia and Serbia, to the return of Yugoslavia to all international institutions and to the readiness of its new authorities to seek solutions to problems in the former Yugoslavia in peace, through dialogue and tolerance, with full respect for the interests of others and for protection of one's own interests. Granting any kind of independence to Kosovo, regardless of whether it is conditional or unconditional, would drastically ignore Serbian and Montenegran concerns and would punish the Serbs for all they have done recently to join the family of worthy nations. The United Nations is responsible for and fully capable of initiating a dialogue without imposing final solutions.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“I have made all these proposals and comments because I feel that we must be very cautious in our efforts to improve the conditions in Kosovo and Metohija as expeditiously as possible. There are some international groups and organizations that have been offering their "good services" without this caution. They behave as if there had been no 5 October 2000, as if there had been no changes in Belgrade at all, as if Milosevic did not reside in The Hague. In this spirit, some have recently formulated a proposal to grant conditional independence to Kosovo and Metohija.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“It is necessary to eliminate the very possibility of a battle for territories and to encourage a battle for rights - the rights of people to work and earn, to develop their language and culture, to live in peace in their homes and on their land, on the hearths of their ancestors and next to the historic and cultural monuments they are undoubtedly heirs to. I also called for a common approach among the countries in the region that would efficiently take care of regional peace and stability. I believe that such an approach would be an interim step that would make all members ready and eligible to join the European Union. Lastly, I said that it is necessary to make a plan immediately and define a precise sequence of steps to be taken in the coming months and years toward establishment of a permanent and sustainable peace in the region.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“A reverse approach - addressing the region from the Kosovo perspective - would not tackle the integrity of the problem and thus would not be fruitful or, even worse, would prove counterproductive. The status of Kosovo and Metohija cannot be addressed without constantly taking into account the impact of any resolution on the preservation of an integral Bosnia and Herzegovina and on the peace in Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia. Solutions to all regional problems should be sought in compromise and in self-sustainable stability, and therefore all parties to the conflict should renounce their maximum objectives. No party to the conflict should get everything and no party should lose everything.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“We see this "substantial autonomy" as a part of a democratic and stable state of Serbia and Montenegro, which, integrated in the regional and European organizations and initiatives, would be the key factor and a pillar of peace and stability in the Balkans. Recently, in two international conferences in Belgrade, I talked about the conditions that need to be met to achieve this peace that we have talked about and have dreamed about so often. I said that none of the Balkan conflicts should be viewed separately, but as a part of the regional processes and problems. Kosovo and Metohija, as the biggest and most dangerous hotbed, should be addressed from the regional perspective, because only such an approach could claim stability.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“We remain strong in our position, as always, against any partition of Kosovo and Metohija. We do not want any of our neighbors to see us as a threat or danger. We want to be seen as friends, ready to help in good faith. Security Council resolution 1244 (1999) on Kosovo and Metohija provides that the province shall be given "substantial autonomy". We do not see this "substantial autonomy" as a mono-ethnic community, divided by a high wall from the countries and the nations of the region. Such a mono-ethnic community, torn from its surroundings, would be a dangerous precedent. It would increase the insecurity and dissatisfaction of the people and the nations in the Balkans to a distressing extent. It would dramatically increase the level of insecurity and would jeopardize the ongoing and future regional and European integration.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“We recognize that now UNMIK and KFOR have jurisdiction over peace and stability throughout the territory of Kosovo and Metohija, and we shall take no steps whatsoever that might result in the failure of the concept of a multi-ethnic character for the province. We will be ready to support the idea on creating entities in Kosovo and Metohija, based on the model of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but only if it is judged that this idea, used as an interim step, will facilitate the development of local self-government and the protection of minorities, as well as a considerable return of internally displaced and expellees. We will oppose it firmly if there is a generally accepted feeling that it would become an obstacle to a multiethnic character for the province and would introduce a territorial partition.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“As I have set out what we Serbs - and all the citizens of Serbia and Montenegro - do not want and are concerned about, it would only be fair to say what we do want and hope for. We want to see an end to media stereotypes showing the Serbs as a threat to European and world peace. We acknowledge that the former regime made tremendous mistakes, and we have been trying hard to explain how difficult it is to carry this burden that we inherited from the past. We want to see the international community's clear position that the new Kosovo and Metohija must not be built on results of ethnic cleansing and widespread criminal activities in the society.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“Ethnic Albanian leaders, who had an alibi and an excuse for their secessionist intentions during the rule of Slobodan Milosevic, have been refusing a dialogue with the new, democratic authorities in Belgrade as well, as if they missed the old regime. You will not find a single sign in the Serbian language outside Serbian enclaves in Kosovo and Metohija, and I am wondering whether the result of the proclaimed and expected Europeanization would look like this. I would like to assure you that this situation does not boost democratic forces in Serbia and Montenegro; on the contrary. Individuals from the old regime now point to the situation in Kosovo and Metohia and say: that is your reward for all the tolerance you have shown and the concessions you have made.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“They say that there is no collective responsibility in the democratic world. A few Serbs are being brought to justice before international and domestic courts for crimes and injustices committed against Albanians. We have seen no signs yet that Albanians will also be brought to justice for murders of those who did not belong to their religion or ethnic group, for usurpation of their neighbours' property, for destruction of Serbian cultural heritage, or for ethnic cleansing of Kosovo and Metohija. Albanian extremism is in a hurry to draw Kosovo and Metohija in its ethnic map as an island, isolated from the region and populated only by ethnic Albanians.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“In an effort to improve further the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, we offered the head of UNMIK, Mr. Steiner, a draft agreement on the principles for solving the crisis in the northern part of that Kosovo-Metohija town. After Council members have read the draft, they will see that we base our policy and strategy on sustainable compromises and on respect for the interests of all parties to the conflict. Solutions that have come out of improvisation and pressure have proved disastrous in the Balkans. Let us not repeat previous mistakes. Security Council resolution 1244 (1999) was not written for ethnic Albanians only, to protect only them and to improve only their position in Kosovo and Metohija; it was written for Serbs and for all other ethnic communities as well.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“In the process of finding a solution to the security issue in Kosovo and Metohija, we cannot make assessments and evaluations based on the number of security incidents. Instead, we should base our assessments on progress made with regard to the level of full freedom of movement. The reduced number of attacks against the lives and the property of Serbs, Turks, Romas, Goranis and other non-Albanians has not resulted in the return of internally displaced and expelled persons. That is a direct result of the fact that UNMIK and KFOR have restricted freedom of movement and the return of refugees in order to prevent security incidents. I am deeply concerned about the situation in Mitrovica, which is a consequence of the existential concerns of the Serbs and of profound inter-ethnic distrust.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“If that had not been the case, we would have had bilingualism, inter-ethnic tolerance, unbiased police and an independent judiciary. Some might say that conditions that have been deteriorating for such a long time cannot be improved in a day or in a year. I agree, but I can find no reassurance when I analyse the Kosovo and Metohija of today. Sometimes, even something that seems good is not genuinely good. As reported, fewer murders and attacks on Serbs and other non-Albanians were recorded in the last year than in the year before. Unlike some of my interlocutors, I emphasize that this is only a result of the fact that Serbs and other non-Albanians have been forced to live in enclaves or ghettos and that they have learned to stay away from harm.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“There is a democratic Belgrade, and there are democratically elected institutions of self-government in Pristina, but there is no dialogue. I can see a logical explanation for this tragic impasse in the fact that extremism has been marginalized in all parts of the former Yugoslavia except Kosovo. The ideas of a greater Serbia and a greater Croatia have been discarded and suppressed. Yet the idea of another great, ethnically clean country in the region has been neither discarded nor suppressed: that anti-European and anti-civilization project has been preserved and strengthened in the presence of the international mediators. Extremism in Kosovo and Metohija is an extremely powerful force, and sometimes extremists themselves are in power.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“Little has been done for the preservation and protection of property. Return of internally displaced individuals and refugees cannot be limited to the territory of north Mitrovica or a few enclaves. It is essential that there be returns to cities as well and that property from which certain groups of ethnic Albanians have already made enormous profit be returned to its legal Serbian and other non-Albanian owners. Furthermore, unforgivably little has been done to clarify the fate of 1,300 kidnapped and missing individuals. UNMIK has an historic responsibility to deal with these and other issues. It is UNMIK's duty to continue preparing ethnic Albanians for a dialogue. However, UNMIK must work with the Serbs as well, and regrettably that has not been the case.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“The circulation of money made from prostitution and the trafficking in drugs, weapons and human beings has not been stopped. No steps have been taken - not even symbolic ones - to facilitate the return of a quarter of a million internally displaced persons and refugees to Kosovo and Metohija. Furthermore, the donors conference designed to address this problem has been postponed. Before the elections in Kosovo and Metohija, when the Common Document was signed, the international community seemed to have energetically and enthusiastically advocated a plan for the expeditious return of the internally displaced and expelled. Regrettably, that enthusiasm evaporated shortly after the elections, and the new Kosovo Government has not earmarked even a single euro or dollar for the return of refugees.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“We have also proved our genuine intentions by encouraging and supporting a strong campaign for the registration and participation of Serbs in the elections on 17 November 2001, by exhumation of all mass grave sites in Serbia proper, by opening a DNA laboratory centre in Belgrade in cooperation with the International Commission for Missing People, and by the expeditious transfer of ethnic Albanian prisoners from detention facilities in Serbia proper to Kosovo and Metohija. Although we have reached and signed a precise agreement on the transfer of Serbian detainees, not a single Serbian detainee has yet been transferred from prisons in Kosovo and Metohija to prisons in Serbia proper. I cannot fail to note a few other disturbing facts.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“We have proved our genuine intentions by normalizing relations with all our neighbours, by cooperating with the Hague Tribunal, and by having considerably improved the political environment and the inter-ethnic relations in southern Serbia, both in multi-ethnic Serbo-Albanian communities and in settlements with an Albanian majority. Of the total of 12,500 displaced persons, almost 10,000 Albanian refugees have already returned to that part of the country.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“It would be unfair to say that the current conditions are worse than those in the past. I want to emphasize right away that I genuinely and deeply respect the efforts of UNMIK and KFOR and the results that they have achieved under very difficult circumstances. Once again, I would like to take advantage of this opportunity to express my full support for Mr. Michael Steiner and other international mediators and protectors. I want to assure the Council once again that Serbia and Yugoslavia will do everything possible to help the inter-ethnic reconciliation process in Kosovo and Metohija succeed.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“In the end, the actual choice of when they arrive or how long they stay in Pristina depends not on them but on the whim of KFOR and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). Officials of Serbia and Yugoslavia, the State of which Kosovo and Metohija form a part, must provide information on their travel to the province three days in advance, because it takes three days to carry out the necessary preparations, checks and complex security measures. Sometimes, UNMIK and KFOR unilaterally decide that it is not convenient to do so. Kosovo and Metohija is, therefore, the only part of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia where people cannot move freely and where insecurity and fear of violence and death have been persistently and deliberately preserved.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source
“Mr. Covic (Yugoslavia) (spoke in Serbian; interpretation provided by the delegation): Before I address the Council, I should like to extend my greetings to Mr. Kouchner, who has made a great contribution to Kosovo and Metohija in the process of the reconciliation of different ethnic groups. There is a province on our planet where the old truth that violence always goes hand in hand with fear is being dramatically confirmed. That province is Kosovo and Metohija. There is a bus line in Kosovo and Metohija that has no timetable. For the sake of the passengers' security, departure dates and times are unknown; so are arrival dates and times. Deputies of the Serbian coalition Povratak come to the Assembly of Kosovo and Metohija in armoured vehicles with a heavy international security detail.”
2002-04-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4518 (2002) · source