YouSaid · the spoken record

Covie

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84
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2002-03-27
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2005-02-24
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un-security-council

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  1. “We will approach this goal much faster if we are given a chance to cooperate on security issues through the Partnership for Peace programme and other forms of security liaisons in South-Eastern Europe. In the area of individual and property security, police task forces must reflect the composition and distribution of the population in the municipalities, and there must be equal representation in courts. What are seen as parallel structures in Kosovska Mitrovica should be carefully re-examined. Equal attention should be devoted to electing the city's administration, and measures should be taken to open up prospects for coexistence in that environment. During migrations, Serbs have always gravitated towards urban centres, which is why Kosovska Mitrovica is so important to them.”

    2002-07-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4592 (2002) · source

  2. “One of our priorities is compliance with paragraph 2 of chapter 8 of the Constitutional Framework for Provisional Self-Government in Kosovo and Metohia, which stipulates that the international peacekeeping troops should exercise their duties in monitoring the border, regulating arms possession and providing public law and order. The way we understand demilitarization, and the way we believe the international community understands it, does not imply that new national armies ought to be created in the region. The existing Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) should completely and fully adjust their functions to their stipulated duties. If it is possible for the members of the former warring parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina to participate today in joint peacekeeping operations in the world, then it should be possible in our case as well.”

    2002-07-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4592 (2002) · source

  3. “An economic revival of production and exchange and new employment opportunities, as well as the stimulation and engagement of the experts who used to live in this area, rather then the employment of foreign workers, would be an additional guarantee for the multi-ethnic character of Kosovo and Metohia. Experts and analysts may discuss the future status of Kosovo and Metohia as well as its degree of autonomy, but politicians should take into consideration the stability of the region and should reach the decision on the final status only after a truly multi-ethnic society has been established in Kosovo and Metohia. The pacification of the region of Kosovo and Metohia will be in vain if mountain passes in Kosovo and Metohia continue to be used as passageways for new supplies of modern and sophisticated weaponry.”

    2002-07-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4592 (2002) · source

  4. “Furthermore, it is necessary to respect the deadline of 31 December 2002 to investigate all the graves in Kosovo and Metohia and resolve the destiny of 4,000 missing persons from all communities. In order to create the necessary conditions for a multi-ethnic Kosovo and Metohia, the international community has to show the same degree of determination as it did in the implementation of the Ohrid Agreement in Macedonia, and to implement all the pressure mechanisms at its disposal. This would guarantee the actual implementation of principles of impartiality and equality before the law, equal employment in public services and State enterprises, and the right to receive business development funds. Economic aid from the international community is often not to be found in the right place and at the right time.”

    2002-07-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4592 (2002) · source

  5. “True international reconciliation will be possible only if and when all criminal suspects, regardless of their nationality or current position, are brought to justice. We owe this both to the innocent victims and to the coming generations, who ought to be stepping into the future without a heavy burden from the past. The Government of the Republic of Serbia has taken initial steps towards fulfilling its obligations related to this matter. So far, we have initiated court proceedings against a number of individuals charged with crimes and violence committed in Kosovo and Metohia, or against Kosmet Albanians since 1999. A number of those individuals are now serving prison sentences. This process will continue under all circumstances, but we are also inviting the authorities in Kosovo and Metohia to fulfil their obligations in this respect.”

    2002-07-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4592 (2002) · source

  6. “The fact of the matter is that the Serbs have become a minority in one part of their territory and that they are deprived of their basic human rights in Kosovo and Metohija. Nobody disputes the right of the States in the region to look after their communities in the neighbouring countries, but at the same time our country is deprived of that right in part of its own territory. Examining the destinies of abducted and missing persons, the Coordination Centre has collected eyewitness accounts and information on over 250 kidnappers, who would be able to shed light on the destiny of 74 abducted citizens. This information has been submitted on more than one occasion to the international security forces and the investigators of the Hague Tribunal, but up to now no action has been taken and no kidnappers have been arrested.”

    2002-07-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4592 (2002) · source

  7. “According to the report by our Commission for Refugees, during the year 2001 the Commission received 10,000 new applications for ID cards for internally displaced persons, and the same trend has continued in this year, which means that even with the return of a limited number of Serbs, their expulsion from Kosovo and Metohia continues. If we do not most urgently grasp the seriousness of this moment, as well as the difficult situation and vital conditions of the displaced persons, and if we fail to take decisive measures towards fulfilling the programme for their return, the international community will have to bear the heavy responsibility for neglecting basic human rights.”

    2002-07-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4592 (2002) · source

  8. “What the report fails to show is how many returnees came back to central Serbia and Montenegro after they were unable to get their previously held jobs. There are no Serbs left in public services, industry, agricultural farms or the electric power supply system, which is currently also suffering the consequences of an accident in mid-July in the Thermoelectric Power Plant Kosovo B. By and large, those were the cases of spontaneous return to the predominantly Serbian communities, and in most of these cases the participation of the international community was reduced to the mere organization of escort and transport services.”

    2002-07-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4592 (2002) · source

  9. “It has been three years since the massive expulsion of Serbs and other non-Albanian populations- 280,000 people - from Kosovo and Metohia, and this process has in smaller proportions continued up to the present day. The patience of the displaced persons has been exhausted, which is why the realization of planned and organized return must be handled in a determined manner, without denying the right of individual return, either. The report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) quotes the numbers of displaced persons who have returned to the area of Kosovo and Metohia in the period from 2000 to 2002 as: 2,888 Serbs, 384 Romas, 769 Egyptians, 74 Bosniaks, 31 Gorans and 59 Albanians, which makes a total of 4,205 individuals.”

    2002-07-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4592 (2002) · source

  10. “Both documents are based on the conviction that return is a voluntary act; that everybody has the right to return to his or her home across Kosovo and Metohia; that return also has to begin in urban areas; that the provisional institutions of the local self- government must direct considerable budgetary funds towards return and reintegration; and, above all, that return has to be made sustainable by the fulfilment of basic preconditions of personal and professional safety, freedom of movement and realization of property rights. Despite the indisputable uniformity of principles and goals that were presented in both documents, the process of return unfortunately remains more of a dead letter in writing than an action realized in the field.”

    2002-07-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4592 (2002) · source

  11. “The reality in Kosovo and Metohia obliges me to share with you some very disturbing facts: the deployed international peacekeeping forces, members of the International Police Task Force (IPTF) and the United Nations administration in Kosovo and Metohia are still incapable of preventing the violations of basic human rights. The remaining non-Albanian population and the few returnees to Kosovo and Metohia continue to be subjected to terror, murders and robberies on a daily basis. Let me remind the Council of my expose of 24 April 2002, in this very place, when I presented to you the Principles of the Programme for the Return of Internally Displaced Persons from Kosovo and Metohia. On 25 May 2002, the UNMIK administration produced their Concept of Rights to Sustainable Return.”

    2002-07-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4592 (2002) · source

  12. “Our principles are unambiguous: to build a multi- ethnic society in Kosovo and Metohija with the full respect for and implementation of Security Council resolution 1244 (1999), the Constitutional Framework and the common documents of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and UNMIK. The Serbian and the Albanian people, despite their changing roles in the past, must achieve reconciliation and make an effort to create and sustain conditions for the implementation of multi- ethnic, multicultural and multi-confessional principles.”

    2002-07-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4592 (2002) · source

  13. “Steiner, to whom I continue to give my full support, is contributing to the process of building confidence and mutual understanding between UNMIK and KFOR, on the one side, and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republic of Serbia on the other. The process of cooperation is slowly moving forward, but there are many things that still need to be done in order to create the conditions for building civil society in Kosovo and Metohija. Its full democratization necessitates not only time but also the support of the international community and of all the progressive forces within Kosovo and Metohija, along with full cooperation with the democratic leadership in Belgrade.”

    2002-07-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4592 (2002) · source

  14. “Furthermore, an agreement on appointing judges and public prosecutors has been reached, the memorandum of understanding on police cooperation has been signed, as well as the Technical Agreement between the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and Serbian Railways, and the Protocol on the Movement of Registered Vehicles. With the goal of making an honest dialogue possible, the Serbian side responded positively in the exchange of cultural treasures by handing over the 6,000 year old figurine, the "Goddess on the Throne", to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General. UNMIK and KFOR operations take place in very complex circumstances, which is precisely why their efforts and results deserve particular praise and respect. I would like to emphasize that the exceptional level of cooperation with Mr.”

    2002-07-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4592 (2002) · source

  15. “Mr. Covie (Yugoslavia) (spoke in Serbian; interpretation provided by the delegation): It is a pleasure to address the Council today and to emphasize the improvements that we have made in solving various problems in Kosovo and Metohija. The Kosovo and Metohij a multi-ethnic Assembly has been formed and the Government has been elected, while members of the Serbian national community have been appointed to the positions of the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development, Special Adviser in the Office for Return and Communities of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, as well as the Inter-Ministerial Coordinator for Returns in the Office of the Premier of Kosovo and Metohija.”

    2002-07-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4592 (2002) · source

  16. “The Belgrade authorities are fully prepared to provide the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo and KFOR with all the assistance necessary to resolve these issues and to improve the return process. Finally, the representatives of Povratak are grateful for the offered position of Minister of Agriculture. However, they asked me to convey their message to the Council that this portfolio has no importance whatsoever to the future and survival ofthe Serbs in Kosovo. I therefore request the Council's assistance and support in doing our very best, jointly, to encourage them to enter the Kosovo Government. We cannot succeed in this unless we cooperate very closely in this regard. We are at the Council's disposal and I wish to assure members that we will do our utmost, without exerting undue pressure.”

    2002-03-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4498 (2002) · source

  17. “I have heard and fully recognize the arguments made by Assistant Secretary-General Annabi and am prepared, upon my return to Belgrade, to consult with the representatives of Povratak in order to have them further clarify their position. The final decision, however, will be up to them. Nevertheless, given their genuine concerns, I note that it will be necessary in exchange to provide them with specific assurances that all will be done to improve the process of the return of Serbs and non- Albanians to their homes in Kosovo. We must not allow security issues to dominate the return process or to be used to discourage potential returnees.”

    2002-03-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4498 (2002) · source

  18. “I want to be very clear that neither Belgrade nor I have ever planned to block the participation of the Serbian deputies in the Government of Kosovo. Their participation is blocked by the situation in Kosovo. It is important to recall that there are three times as many Kosovo Serbs in Serbia and Montenegro - internally displaced persons and refugees - than in Kosovo itself. I say this in support of my statement that they hold different views than those who remained in Kosovo. In order to help the Serbs to survive in Kosovo within a truly multi-ethnic society, it is absolutely essential that we make substantive progress on returns.”

    2002-03-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4498 (2002) · source

  19. “However, Mr. Steiner has had several talks with the deputies of Povratak and they feel that it will be necessary for them to consult further. They also believe that their unity must be preserved and that attempts should not be made to divide them. There have been some efforts to create different factions within the Coalition, in the belief that that would be the quickest way to achieve a result. The Povratak deputies were informed about the agreement made with the Albanian leaders only after it had been signed. They were informed about the ministerial positions in the Government only after all the ministerial positions had been filled. We must try to understand their point of view, because the Serbs in Kosovo have had a very different experience from that of the Serbs who left Kosovo, and they have different opinions.”

    2002-03-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4498 (2002) · source

  20. “Mr. Covie (Yugoslavia) (spoke in Serbian; English interpretation provided by the delegation): I would like to take this opportunity to thank you, Mr. President, for organizing this meeting today. I am very pleased that a question was asked - perhaps indirectly - today about the participation of the Povratak Coalition in the Government of Kosovo. Of course we are aware that the decision will be up to the deputies of the Povratak Coalition. They want to be real partners; they are not interested in mere window dressing. The way in which the issue of their participation was presented to the deputies of Povratak confused them; they said that they had not been consulted and had not come to an agreement in this regard. As the Council knows, an offer was not even made to them to sign the coalition agreement on the Government of Kosovo.”

    2002-03-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4498 (2002) · source

  21. “Annexed to that material are copies of two very important documents: the Agreement on the Basic Principles for the Holding of Municipal By-elections in South Serbia, and the UNMIK-Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Agreement on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons.”

    2002-03-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4498 (2002) · source

  22. “I ask the Council to help us to continue to do so by working with us on enhanced return of refugees from Yugoslavia to their homes in Kosovo and Metohija, on ensuring freedom of movement for all in Kosovo and Metohija, on bringing to an end standoffs and confrontation with UNMIK and KFOR in Mitrovica, and on a comprehensive programme to locate the missing on all sides. That is the best way forward for Kosovo and Metohija, for Yugoslavia and for the region as a whole. I wish to draw attention to the detailed briefing material on results in the implementation of the plan for resolution of the crisis in southern Serbia, and on results in the implementation of the Common Document for Kosovo and Metohija of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and UNMIK, copies of which have been made available to members of the Council.”

    2002-03-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4498 (2002) · source

  23. “Unless and until the Serbs of Kosovo and Metohija feel secure in their position in Kosovo and Metohija and are free from violence and certain that their children will have full opportunities to speak their language, practice their religion and travel freely, they will want a lifeline to Serbia itself, as normal people anywhere would. We in the Coordinating Centre have demonstrated, by the get-out-the-vote campaign and now on the Kosovo Albanian prisoner issue, that we can play a positive role.”

    2002-03-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4498 (2002) · source

  24. “That same theory seems, by the way, to prejudge the future of Kosovo and Metohija by ensuring that it would be totally independent ofthe rest of Yugoslavia. Let me say more with sadness than with anger that if those members of the international community continue to build that wall they will certainly succeed, because they undoubtedly have the power to do so. But virtually all the Serbs now in Kosovo and Metohija will be on the other side of that wall in Yugoslavia and Serbia, both putting enormous social pressures on us and creating the very poisonous situation in Kosovo and Metohija which I described earlier.”

    2002-03-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4498 (2002) · source

  25. “What sort of society will result if the extremists prevail? What sort of relationship can they expect to have with Serbia ifthey drive the local Serbs out of Kosovo and Metohija? Believe me, for Kosovo and Metohija to survive and flourish economically, it must have a positive, constructive relationship with the rest of Yugoslavia. Otherwise it will continue in perpetuity to rely on the generosity of the international community. Finally, let me say a word about the relationship today between Belgrade and the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija. There are those, including many in the international community, who would prefer to build a five-metre-high wall around the boundary of Kosovo and Metohija with the rest of Yugoslavia, the theory being that the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija must learn to live entirely within Kosovo and Metohija.”

    2002-03-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4498 (2002) · source

  26. “If we are not successful in creating a multi-ethnic society in Kosovo and Metohija, the resulting turmoil and dislocation will have a dramatic negative impact on the political situation in Yugoslavia. At the very least, it will shift the focus from economic, democratic, nation-building issues to nationalism. At worst, it could well return to power those forces of darkness and despair that ruled over my country for far too long. But as difficult and dangerous as that scenario may be, it is in fact just as bad, or even worse, for the future of Kosovo and Metohija. If extremist groups there are allowed to prevail, the real losers will be all the citizens of Kosovo and Metohija. Those same extremist groups that bomb buses carrying Serbs are also killing other Albanians from Kosovo and Metohija who do not share their extremism.”

    2002-03-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4498 (2002) · source

  27. “This removes one of the key issues that has long been cited as a block to genuine reconciliation between the ethnic groups in Kosovo and Metohija. I hope that proves to be the case. I am here today to ask for the Council's help in moving forcefully to create a true multi-ethnic society in Kosovo and Metohija. The stakes are very high. In Yugoslavia and Serbia, we are trying hard to overcome the legacy of the past and to move towards a democratic, market-oriented society, taking its rightful place in the European Union. We face immense challenges, however, from the legacy of problems left behind by Slobodan Milosevic, including a failed economy, the Kosovo and Metohija issue, coming to terms with our past and with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and the Montenegro question.”

    2002-03-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4498 (2002) · source

  28. “This includes making a major push this year on refugee return; confronting extremists on all sides; insisting that there be real freedom of movement throughout Kosovo and Metohija; working hard to make the institutions work; and trying to account for the missing on both sides. As I speak here today, virtually all of the remaining 146 Albanian prisoners from Kosovo and Metohija who were transferred from Kosovo prisons in the last days of the war to Serbia proper are on their way to UNMIK in an agreement worked out with UNMIK. A companion agreement will allow Albanians from Kosovo and Metohija who were arrested after 5 October 2000 in Serbia proper to apply to serve out their sentences in Kosovo and Metohija and Serbs who were arrested and convicted in Kosovo and Metohija to apply to serve out their sentences in Serbia proper.”

    2002-03-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4498 (2002) · source

  29. “This is an absolutely critical flaw, because nothing that the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija are now seeing can give them any comfort at all about their future. Freedom of movement outside of a few enclaves is totally impossible, refugee return is almost non-existent and a climate of violence permeates the very air that the Serbs breathe. There are those who will say that the situation is improving. They should not be believed. The Serbs and other minorities have simply learned the rules of the game and how to stay out of harm's way. In November 2001, I signed with then Special Representative Haekkerup a Common Document outlining how we would work together to improve the situation in Kosovo and Metohija. I believe that the key to our common future is to fully implement that agreement in good faith and with as much energy as possible.”

    2002-03-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4498 (2002) · source

  30. “I personally think that, unless we make major progress on key issues this very year, we will face immense problems. There are two basic interrelated tasks in Kosovo and Metohija: building institutions and building a true multi-ethnic society. For obvious reasons, I am going to concentrate more on the latter than on the former in my remarks, though both are crucial to real success. Unlike the situation of ethnic groups in Bosnia, the Serbs of Kosovo have been given absolutely no assurance whatsoever that their language, culture, religion or way of life will definitely survive and flourish in Kosovo and Metohija. Quite to the contrary, everything really depends on the prevailing whim or good will of UNMIK and KFOR, with absolutely no assurance for the future.”

    2002-03-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4498 (2002) · source

  31. “Turning to Kosovo and Metohija, the most important point that I wish to make is that we are currently in a race against time. Two different forces are going to be pushing harder and harder to come to a final solution for Kosovo and Metohija: the ethnic Albanians from Kosovo and Metohija and, for separate reasons, the international community, which is growing tired of investing resources and energy in the Balkans. If this last statement should be doubted, one need only consider the sharp reduction in refugee funding for the Balkans for next year or the statements made by various troop contributors about withdrawing all or part of their forces. I firmly believe that we have less time than most of us think or want to prepare for this final solution, so every day counts.”

    2002-03-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4498 (2002) · source

  32. “The army units will be withdrawn from the school building in Bujanovac and the shoe factory in Presevo by 15 April. 8,982 internally displaced ethnic Albanians have returned to their homes in southern Serbia, while document problems for the Albanians have been resolved to allow their diplomas and other certificates issued in Kosovo and Metohija to be fully recognized. More remains to be done, however. We must continue to improve the infrastructure, particularly for returning refugees and internally displaced persons, and we must increase employment possibilities for everyone. We need the Council's continued help on these and other issues. I wish to touch briefly on Macedonia. I have been in frequent touch with the leaders of Macedonia and given them advice and encouragement based on the model we developed together for southern Serbia.”

    2002-03-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4498 (2002) · source

  33. “Over 345 new recruits, including 213 ethnic Albanians and 23 women, have gone through OSCE- assisted training and been assigned in southern Serbia as multi-ethnic police. The Serbian Government spent more than $16,882,000 on various infrastructure projects in 2001 and plans to spend a further $10,000,000 this year. This is in addition to the considerable assistance provided by other countries. Municipal elections are scheduled for 15 or 16 June. We have withdrawn 12,282 special unit soldiers from the region as peace has been restored. There is full freedom of movement and security. The integration of representatives of the ethnic Albanian and Roma communities into State institutions has been intensified. Amnesty and abolition have been fully implemented.”

    2002-03-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4498 (2002) · source

  34. “Mr. Covie (Yugoslavia) (spoke in Serbian; English interpretation provided by the delegation): Before I begin my comments on Kosovo, I would like to give the Council a brief update on the situation in southern Serbia; I have prepared a more detailed written briefing for review. Thanks to the support and assistance of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), KFOR and many of the countries represented here on a bilateral basis, we are continuing to consolidate the reconciliation process in southern Serbia. To this end, I would like to list some of the most recent confidence-building measures in this process.”

    2002-03-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4498 (2002) · source