YouSaid · the spoken record

Steiner

lines on the record: 154
first: 2002-04-24
most recent: 2019-01-25
sittings or episodes: 6
sources: un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“It is a very appropriate example at this time, given that the Dominican Republic, as President of the Security Council, has brought us together on this critical question today. I end this brief presentation by appealing to all participants to consider how the world now views climate risk and how the world is assessing the threat that it poses to the future not only of our economies but also of our human and national security. Ultimately, it also becomes a transboundary challenge to the way that we can look to the future. I express my thanks for this opportunity to address the Council by means of this telephone call, and, again, my apologies for not having been able to participate in person.”
2019-01-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8451 (2019) · source
“My second example is in the Caribbean. For obvious reasons, in partnership with four of the largest insurance companies in the region, UNDP has supported Governments in designing initiatives to facilitate financial risk transfers from climate-vulnerable households to the private sector. This initiative will expand insurance coverage in the Caribbean, building on the reconstruction work in the region. As a final example, in the Dominican Republic, the Government, in partnership with UNDP, has developed a vulnerability index to climate shock - the first of its kind worldwide - to measure household vulnerability to hurricanes, storms and other climate phenomena. It has been used not only in the context of social protection policy systems, but also as a tool for disaster risk planning and disaster response.”
2019-01-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8451 (2019) · source
“I would cite two or three examples from our work across the world that demonstrate how we are currently trying to assist countries in addressing this. I would also mention that at the UNDP today, we literally have a portfolio of hundreds of projects in 140 countries, assisting nations to address these mitigation and adaptation priorities. In Maldives, rising sea levels threaten freshwater supplies. The Government of Maldives and UNDP have piloted an innovative integrated water management system across three islands. I am pleased report that, based on the success of the pilot, the United Nations Green Climate Fund is now providing financing to scale up such an integrated water management system across 45 islands, securing a combination of rainwater and groundwater for a quarter of the population in Maldives.”
2019-01-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8451 (2019) · source
“Sustainable land use and forest management offer powerful and cost- effective means to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce risks to livelihoods and provide rural economies in particular with opportunities to manage this. The third point that I would like to make here is that while we are addressing the first two issues, it is critical that we recognize that people are already at risk today from the impact of climate change. Therefore, investing in adaptation and resilience is now an urgent need if we wish to scale up. Even if we curb emissions for 1.5 degree world, many millions of people are already exposed to the challenges and risks of climate change. A strong focus on adaptation and disaster risk management is therefore essential.”
2019-01-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8451 (2019) · source
“The second major point I wish to make is that our capacity to respond to these threats and address their challenges to human security demands an effective and integrated agenda on climate disaster-risk reduction, peacebuilding and many development measures, including the resetting of our economies and therefore emissions reduction. Integrating efforts to tackle climate change and to prepare for and respond to natural disasters is the right approach. The Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provide us with an approach that can actually leverage various measures that can add up to significant change. Included in that are the optimization of nature-based solutions to scale.”
2019-01-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8451 (2019) · source
“But what is also important is the fact that the empirical evidence of how we can respond to those threats is becoming ever more clear. The nationally determined contributions that all countries agreed to in Paris are not only action plans but also risk maps of where countries have identified the priorities for addressing threats to the future of their security, economic well-being and development. The case of Iraq is an interesting one. The action plan that Iraq brought to the Paris agreement focuses on the nexus between climate and security, which includes mainstreaming climate risks, ecosystem restoration and solar solutions for recovery in newly liberated areas.”
2019-01-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8451 (2019) · source
“These are very troubling developments and point to the fact that we are not keeping up with the challenge. Let me very briefly set out three major themes that have emerged. First, the science that my colleague Rosemary DiCarlo just referred to is becoming ever more clear, both in terms of the nature and scale of the impact and to the linkages between climate change and the effect that it is having not just in the atmosphere, but actually in the biosphere. The report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change points to more extreme weather events, drought, floods, rising sea levels and so on, and those clearly are a threat to communities across the globe, in particular and perhaps on the front line of action to the poorest of the poor and coastal communities in small island developing States.”
2019-01-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8451 (2019) · source
“In a recent report, our colleagues in the World Bank have also pointed to the fact that without urgent climate action, more than 140 million people in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America will migrate within their countries' borders by the year 2050, adding significantly to the challenges that are already being faced by vulnerable communities in cities. In our work on the ground as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), we are witness to the ways that climate change is driving insecurity and, increasingly, conflict as well. For instance, in extreme weather events such as drought, we are already witnessing a higher number of victims arising from conflict between pastoralists and sedentary populations in West Africa than from some of the extreme violence related to political developments.”
2019-01-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8451 (2019) · source
“It is telling that this week the World Economic Forum published its Global Risks Report 2018, in which it identifies the impact of extreme weather events and failure to implement climate-change mitigation and adaptation measures as the top two global risks that the world now faces, well ahead of cybersecurity, data theft and other such phenomenons that pose risks to the global economy and international security. As Council members all know, climate change is a risk multiplier. It aggravates an already fragile situation, including in countries in conflict, where communities have limited capacities to cope with additional shocks.”
2019-01-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8451 (2019) · source
“I also want to join my colleague Rosemary DiCarlo and our other briefers in expressing the hope that what we share with the Council today will not only demonstrate the linkages that the Council is exploring but also bring to its attention once again the sense of urgency with which the world now needs to address this issue. Taken alone, climate-related disasters, conflict and insecurity each threaten human security and development. Examples will be forthcoming today. But their convergence can lead to catastrophic impacts on people and societies.”
2019-01-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8451 (2019) · source
“Mr. Steiner: I begin by offering my apologies for the fact that, due to technology issues, it has not been possible to establish a video connection. I shall therefore restrict my statement to a brief overview of the main points that I wanted to share with the Security Council and will submit the full statement in due course. IfI may, I would like to begin by thanking the Dominican Republic and you, Mr. President, in your capacity as its Foreign Minister, for calling the Council's attention once again to the impact of climate-related disasters on international peace and security in this debate.”
2019-01-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8451 (2019) · source
“If we take into account food insecurity, natural disasters and the potential for conflict and tensions over ever more scarce resources, together with displacement and the potential disappearance of entire nation States from our world map - including their culture, identity and sovereignty - within a time span of 50 to 100 years, we have to recognize that climate change is an issue that needs to be viewed not just from a scientific and technological perspective of managing carbon emissions, but truly from a geopolitical and security perspective. Our response will either unite us in cooperative action or divide us and lead us into chaos, tension and potential conflict.”
2011-07-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6587 (2011) · source
“The sustainable development paths of individual nations are today predicated on the ability of the international community to act collectively. Many of the sustainable development objectives, ambitions and pathways that nations have pursued are under threat beyond what traditionally have been the means of a national sovereign State to determine policies within its territory.”
2011-07-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6587 (2011) · source
“I hope that historians in 50 years looking back at the decisions we are making today will see an international community using the knowledge available - including unavoidable uncertainties - to address cooperatively a phenomenon that, as I said earlier, is unprecedented in its implications for civilization. The simultaneous nature and the degree and scale of the changes that we will have to accommodate, adapt to and deal with represent a great threat on many fronts. However, if addressed by the international community with appropriate measures, they also represent an opportunity to transition not only towards a low-carbon economy, but also towards a more stable mechanism for international cooperation.”
2011-07-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6587 (2011) · source
“The research on glacial melt done at Beijing University and other institutions in China indicates that, in the headwaters of the Yangtze basin, there is a significant reduction in the area covered by glaciers, which will determine future water flows and availability. The implications of what I am describing are so profound that the recognition of climate change as a factor in the future stability, cooperation and security of our planet is not an academic matter. I say this fully aware of the debate that Member States have had on the role of the Security Council. I do not wish to pronounce myself on that issue because it is not my place to do so. I do, however, want to speak today for an entity within the international system and the United Nations.”
2011-07-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6587 (2011) · source
“Across the globe, whether it is in the Hindu Kush, the Andes or Central Asia, glacial melt occurring as a result of climate change and global warming has the effect of disrupting the hydrological cycles and the flows around which societies have developed their agriculture, infrastructure and settlements. It also calls into question the arrangements that nations have developed about how to share water resources. There are 145 countries with more that one trans-boundary river that they share. Scarcity of access to water resources is already beginning to be an issue of tension between communities within nations and internationally between nations.”
2011-07-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6587 (2011) · source
“The entire hydrological cycles of significant parts of South America depend on how the systems of the Amazon function. The second concept I want to recall is feedback mechanisms. If indeed Arctic melt continues to occur and if permafrost continues to melt in the tundra, old carbon will be released that is currently stored in those soils. According to one report, there is evidence that an amount of carbon equivalent to 270 years of emissions at today's level could be released by the end the century - a secondary effect of the increase in temperatures leading to the melting of the permafrost. Another example is glacial melt.”
2011-07-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6587 (2011) · source
“One of the most unsettling aspects of trying to understand these planetary systems is that we cannot assume linear developments. We cannot assume that with a certain number of years passing with a certain degree of global warming certain things will occur. In our Earth's natural systems, there are tipping points. Brazil's environmental protection agency published a study about two years ago that looked at the implications of 2Â°C, 3Â°C and 4Â°C warming scenarios for the Amazon. Ecologically speaking, what emerged from that research is that, at a certain point of warming, an entire ecosystem ceases functioning in the way that is functions today, not only in terms of the biodiversity of the ecosystem itself. In the case of the Amazon, it is the world's largest water pump.”
2011-07-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6587 (2011) · source
“Recently, a report was published that analysed 20,000 African maize trials from recent decades. The results were that in a 1Â°C warming scenario, roughly 65 per cent of Africa's existing growing areas would suffer yield losses within this century. Viewing the ramifications and implications from any angle, we have to recognize that such trends are disruptive to the sustainable development paths of nations and to the economic, social and environmental stability of our societies, our economies and our planet. Moreover, they are disruptive in part because we cannot predict their magnitude. On that subject, I want to recall two very important concepts in the science emerging in climate change: the notions of tipping points and feedback mechanisms.”
2011-07-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6587 (2011) · source
“These are just the officially captured numbers. They do not give even a sense of the human tragedy or the rebuilding efforts that are required in that context. I would also like to refer to the notion of food security as not just being a matter of having food available. We know today that an extreme weather event in one part of the world can change the global commodity markets overnight and literally price tens of millions of people out of the market for food. This is how interconnected our global economy is today. Food insecurity is predicted to increase in prevalence and magnitude in the coming decades. Clearly, if we are unable to feed ourselves and to have food available where it is needed at an affordable price, the result will be major social instability and disruption. Climate science is advancing by the day.”
2011-07-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6587 (2011) · source
“Some 70 per cent of the country's infrastructure was destroyed, and therefore the maps that the country used for settlements, towns and roads had to be basically redrawn. We are all familiar with the natural disasters that are occurring across the planet - be they floods in Pakistan or the drought to which the Secretary-General just referred - and that are occurring in ever-faster patterns in regions such as the Horn of Africa. We can see that their impact in terms of the number of people affected and the ability of societies to cope with these natural disasters is increasing every day. The Norwegian Refugee Council has estimated that, in the year 2010, 42 million people were displaced by natural disasters and that 90 per cent of those disasters were in fact related to weather-related extremes, such as floods and droughts.”
2011-07-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6587 (2011) · source
“As a global economy and a global community, we are confronted with scenarios of natural resource scarcities, droughts and floods, and corresponding instabilities in global markets for food and other commodities that are putting into question some of the gains that we have achieved in sustainable development in recent decades. In fact, natural disasters are fundamentally disruptive events, and if some of the scenarios that the IPCC and many scientists have drawn up hold true, then the scale, number and nature of these natural disasters will increase exponentially. If we go back to Hurricane Mitch in Honduras, the President of that country at that time called it the biggest disaster in the history of the nation, with 50 years of development lost literally in a matter of hours.”
2011-07-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6587 (2011) · source
“That is why I believe that the term "threat multiplier", which perhaps has a strong connotation for defence establishments and analyses, is not irrelevant to a review of the implications of a changing climate upon the international peace and security context. As the Secretary-General just said, as we in the international community and as nation States seek to move forward on the path towards sustainable development, what we are confronted with today is the fact that there are a number of threats that are beginning to undermine the tenuous gains we have made in terms of sustainable development.”
2011-07-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6587 (2011) · source
“Indeed, not long ago the Royal Society of the United Kingdom published another report that stated that the worst-case scenario under current conditions could be a 4Â°C warming by 2060. I do not want to delve further into the science; I have cited many other examples in my written statement. I simply wanted to tell the Council that when we talk about the changing climate today, it is already a fact. We know enough about what is happening, but we do not yet know enough about how fast and in how many different domains it will manifest itself. Perhaps most important, we have not yet well understood the implications of these changes for our societies, our economies and the Earth's life-support systems.”
2011-07-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6587 (2011) · source
“The IPCC erred on the conservative side in its Fourth Assessment Report when it spoke about 0.18 to 0.59 metres fl roughly half a metre maximum - in sea-level rise. We are now talking about a l-metre sea- level rise possibly occurring this century. If we look at a world map and we realize how many tens of thousands of kilometres of coastline will be affected by this, and how in a sense we will redraw the world map not only in geographical terms but also in terms of exclusive economic zones and many other implications, we begin to realize that we are now truly confronted with a level of scientific knowledge that is sufficient for us to begin to realize that we are talking about major implications, not only in a territorial sense, but also from a geopolitical perspective.”
2011-07-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6587 (2011) · source
“Let me just point out that, while we are still struggling with finding a way in which we can stay within the 2Â°C realm - which was an emerging consensus in the international community around the climate change negotiations - the latest projections that we are receiving from scientists for certain parts of the world are talking about 3Â°C and 4Â°C scenarios this century. This means that the world is confronting a global warming scenario that is already well beyond where we believe we might be able to manage these changes and trends if we are able to conclude our negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme has also predicted that sea-level rise is likely to reach 1 metre by the end of this century.”
2011-07-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6587 (2011) · source
“But as we have seen, and as almost every day that passes brings new consolidation of our science, there is no question in the minds of those who have studied this subject with great intensity - across institutions north and south, east and west; whether from a natural science perspective, an economic science perspective or a social science perspective - the nature and scale of these changes are of such a degree that we cannot simply View them as a challenge of changing our energy systems or adjusting our transport economy. It is in fact a series of developments that are triggering responses and impacts far beyond any single sector of our economies and societies.”
2011-07-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6587 (2011) · source
“Indeed, where the IPCC found itself in more challenging territory - as all science does, because perfect knowledge has rarely been the foundation of human understanding - is in trying to understand the future. Clearly, here science is far from being able to capture the complexity of how our climate systems work, how the atmosphere and the biosphere interact, or how ocean, marine and terrestrial ecosystems will respond to these different trends.”
2011-07-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6587 (2011) · source
“3 Whether we look at the linear warming trend over the past 50 years - on average, 0.l3Â°C warming per decade, which is nearly twice the temperature increase we have seen over the past 100 years; whether we look at the increase in terms of extreme weather events, such as storms and cyclones; whether we look at the thermal expansion of oceans; or whether we look at the melting of the Arctic summer ice, none of these are speculative data about the fact that a changing climate is a reality today. These are proven trends. The limitations of our knowledge still lie today in interpreting, first of all, the implications of these changes for our weather systems, ecosystems and, indeed, atmospheric response mechanisms. Science cannot yet tell us everything about these factors.”
2011-07-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6587 (2011) · source
“I want to reassure the Council once again that, despite some of the discussions that occurred around some of the IPCC reports, what remains without contest is that the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report is a document that is uncontested in terms of the international peer review, and that it speaks very clearly, first, to the fact that climate change is happening. Not only is it happening; it is also accelerating. Not only is it accelerating, but indeed the latest science being published by scientific institutions across the planet is in many respects overtaking the rather conservative scenarios, predictions and models that the IPCC brought to our attention four years ago.”
2011-07-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6587 (2011) · source
“Mr. Steiner: It is my privilege this morning to address the Security Council from the perspective of the knowledge, the science and the expertise we have acquired over a period of roughly 30 years in terms of understanding the significant and profound implications of climate change. What do we know today and what do we not know yet about the implications and impacts of climate change and how the world needs to prepare for changes that are now on the horizon and which, perhaps, to modern civilization are of an unprecedented nature in terms of the time, the scale and the implications across the planet? For the international community, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) remains the first point of reference in terms of determining what it is that science can tell us today and what it is that science cannot yet tell us.”
2011-07-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6587 (2011) · source
“In that sense, I would be very grateful if the at the end. Council would extend to my successor and to the members of this mission, who work hard on the ground - and no one sees what happens on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, under circumstances that are not the best, as is known - the support given to me during this year and a half to my successor and the mission. There are no further speakers on my list. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on its agenda. The meeting rose at 12.30 11.711.”
2003-07-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4782 (2003) · source
“In that situation, it is absolutely crucial for us to be able to say that we have the support of the international community. One cannot overestimate the power of general consensus coming from the central organ of the international community: the Security Council. That was my daily experience in Kosovo and throughout the region. That is, in the end, our real strength as a mission on the ground, because, in the end, we are an instrument of the Security Council and we are there to execute its policy and attain its goals. I think what concerns the international community and those who guide us and who have dispatched us-andlthink this is the most important The President (spa/[e in Spanish): I thank lesson - is that, if you start to do something, you have Mr. Steiner for his clarifications and thoughts offered to finish it.”
2003-07-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4782 (2003) · source
“At the end of my time in Kosovo and after this remarkable meeting of the Council, whose support from all sides I am very grateful to receive, let me make one final point. What are the lessons to be drawn from what we are doing in these peacekeeping situations? What are the lessons that we can draw from Kosovo over the past four years? I think that the main lesson we can draw is that, if we do it right, it can be done. It will take a long time, but it can be done. One of the preconditions is that the parties should see that if we try to stay the course, despite the criticism from the various sides, we are supported by the international community, and in this case especially by the Security Council We are confronted by centrifugal forces on the ground, which is no surprise, because the parties have different views on Kosovo's future.”
2003-07-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4782 (2003) · source
“What has consequently happened is that the author of the article is not writing anymore and has been fired from Bota Sat, and the newspaper has officially apologized for the article. So our interest is, of course, if we have incidents like that - violations of fundamental rules of behaviour - that the Institutions should react; that there be an appropriate internal reaction. We had that in this case; the person who wrote the article was removed from the newspaper. The newspaper has officially apologized for the attack, and I hope that the representative of the Russian Federation will take note of that action. We were concerned, as he was. I also acted publicly when I saw that article.”
2003-07-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4782 (2003) · source
“The final concept, before we issued the regulation, was voted on by the Board of the Kosovo Trust Agency, which is responsible there. All ethnicities are represented on that Board, including a Kosovo Serb representative. They all voted in favour, including the Kosovo Serb Minister for Agriculture, who is the Serb representative. We did this in full transparency and in a way that can work, if one really wants to have privatization. Let me also address the point mentioned by the Russian representative concerning an article in Bota Sot, one of the newspapers there. It was an atrocious article, which alleged that Russia might be behind the Obilic murders, which, of course, was absurd. We reacted to that. We have a Media Commissioner. The Media Commissioner called in the newspaper Bota Sot.”
2003-07-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4782 (2003) · source
“Economically, that represents the same value as a property transfer, but it still respects the fact that the issue of ownership has not been resolved and still respects the residual property rights of the potential owner, whom we do not know. Privatization without addressing what is done with the land on which a socially owned company is sitting is not privatization. It makes no sense. No one buys a company whose land cannot be used. It has no value without the land. So we had to address that, and we have addressed it in a way that, I think, is satisfactorily under the legal requirements and the ownership requirements of potential owners. Andy Bearpark, the pillar leader, was in Belgrade; we discussed this with the responsible minister of the Government in Belgrade and there was agreement on it.”
2003-07-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4782 (2003) · source
“We have a concept that takes care of the interests of the potential owners of socially-owned companies and which respects the fact that the issue of status is not solved. However, privatization must provide an answer to the question of what happens to the land used by socially-owned companies. There cannot be privatization if no answer is provided on how land is to be used, because that is the most valuable asset. We have discussed this very difficult question with lawyers of the European Commission, the World Bank and, of course, United Nations Headquarters. We arrived at a concept affirming that there would be no transfer of land when carrying out privatization, but that it would be done in the form of 99-year leases.”
2003-07-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4782 (2003) · source
“Last year, at the rightful insistence of the Council, after long negotiations, we finally agreed on a concept for how privatization can work in Kosovo, taking into account, first, the fact that the issue of status has not been solved and, secondly, the fact that no one knows who owns socially-owned companies. There are all sorts of legal opinions from lawyers. Our conviction was that if we waited until the question was clarified, all assets in the form of socially-owned companies would be stripped and there would no longer be any assets. We had to react. We had to start privatization. We therefore had the legislation that was agreed upon by lawyers from United Nations Headquarters, the European Commission and the World Bank.”
2003-07-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4782 (2003) · source
“When we found out that the financing of the parallel structures from the outside was occurring clandestinely, the director of the tax administration wrote a letter to his counterpart in Belgrade, making it clear that the clandestine money coming over the boundary line into Kosovo represented a violation of the money- laundering provisions enforced in Kosovo. Therefore, we must make it clear that if any more money comes in that is not publicly declared to the UNMIK institution - money coming in clandestinely, financing parallel structures - we have to react in accordance with the provisions of the money-laundering legislation. Secondly, Mexico raised the issue of the policy on privatization.”
2003-07-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4782 (2003) · source
“This is what we have to see: I think if we want to have the right political climate, all the political leaders have a responsibility to leave the past behind. I am thinking along the lines of the statement on return that we have mentioned here, and which so many Council members have also welcomed. I would like briefly to address three points that were mentioned by Council members. The first was Spain's mention of what we are doing about parallel structures. In a functional way, parallel structures are a problem mainly because they are still financed.”
2003-07-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4782 (2003) · source
“The Council of Europe says that the reasons for this difficult political climate are, yes, statements in the Assembly that are not within the mandate of the Assembly; and yes, for example, the "war values" resolution to which, as the Council knows, I have reacted. But then the report mentions other reasons why the climate is so bad. It mentions an election campaign in Belgrade, the withdrawal of the Kosovo Serbs from the Assembly and the inclusion of Kosovo in the preamble of the Constitution of Serbia and Montenegro. It also mentions a change of policy in Serbia, the constant demands for the partition of Kosovo, divisive statements from politicians and provocative language concerning the possibility of a renewal of hostilities.”
2003-07-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4782 (2003) · source
“We have increased the 24-hour presence of the Kosovo Force (KFOR) and of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). I have offered a reward of 50,000 euros for information leading to the capture of the perpetrators. We are really doing everything we can to catch the perpetrator, which is also in our own interest. I would also like to appeal to everyone present, specifically those from the region, not to prejudge the outcome and to avoid any politicization of that heinous crime. Secondly, the Council of Europe was mentioned, which in its most recent report indeed stated that the political climate is very bad. But let us look at the reasons that the Council of Europe mentions.”
2003-07-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4782 (2003) · source
“The news broadcast of the main television station, which is normally from 7.30 to 8.00, dedicated 20 minutes to that incident. Not one leader in Kosovo failed to express himself clearly in condemning the crime. On the same day, I established a special police squad, with perhaps the best leader at its head - it now comprises 16 police specialists - in order to catch those who are responsible for the crime. But we must respect the fact that the police can act only on the basis of the rule of law. The police have to respect the requirements we want to introduce into Kosovo. Of course, it is sometimes difficult to get progress under those circumstances. I hope that we get progress soon. I can only say that 50 per cent of the work of the Police Commissioner, Stefan Feller, is concentrated on that specific issue.”
2003-07-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4782 (2003) · source
“Mr. Steiner: First of all, with respect to Obilic, what took place there was an atrocious crime. A father of 80 years of age, his wife of 78 years of age and their son aged 53 were brutally mistreated and murdered. I was at the site of the crime. I saw the sister of the murdered son, who arrived on that exact same day because she had the intention of coming back to Obilic, where inter-ethnic relations are quite good. She had the intention of coming back to that place from Serbia because she was encouraged by the progress. Now she had to come back under those circumstances. It was atrocious, no doubt about that. What has been done after Obilic? With the support of the leaders of the larger parties, the next day the community declared a day of mourning.”
2003-07-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4782 (2003) · source
“He or she also inherits a team of dedicated and talented people. It has been a pleasure and a privilege to lead this team in such a unique United Nations mission, and an honour to serve the people of Kosovo. The next Special Representative of the Secretary-General and all the staff of UNMIK will need the Council's continuing support. In the meantime, I leave the mission in Charles Brayshaw's capable hands. Much remains to be done to complete Kosovo's transformation into a society in which all its people can live in security and in dignity. But with the help of thousands of men and women from all communities in Kosovo and from most countries in the world, I leave behind a solid foundation. From the oppression, humiliation and tragedy of 1999, Kosovo has embarked on the road towards a liberated, functioning, democratic society.”
2003-07-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4782 (2003) · source
“Who could have imagined a year and a half ago that the European Union would say that Kosovo was destined to be part of the EU? Who would have thought that the President, the Prime Minister and the Kosovo Serb Interministerial Coordinator for Returns would have been welcomed together as part of the UNMIK delegation at an EU summit? Who would have thought that the President of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia would invite President Rugova to be part of an UNMIK delegation visiting Skopje? Who would have thought that we would put Pristina on track for direct dialogue with Belgrade? Who would have imagined, a year and a half ago, all the leaders of Kosovo's majority community formally urging all displaced persons to return to Kosovo now? My successor inherits many challenges.”
2003-07-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4782 (2003) · source
“What UNMIK has been doing in Kosovo is something new, and we are still learning. Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq all demonstrate how difficult it is to win the peace, to build functioning institutions and to start up the economy. Kosovo has the added burden of its unresolved political status. This is now coming slowly to the fore. No one should be surprised by this. What is more surprising is how far we have come, and from how far people have come to help get us to where we are. Men and women from 119 countries serve in UNMIK. KFOR, whose contribution in providing a safe and secure environment is the essential basis of all our work, itself draws forces from 37 countries. As the Russian contingent is leaving, I thank them for four years of professional service. Kosovo is now moving towards the standards that will define its place in Europe.”
2003-07-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4782 (2003) · source
“But one standard on which progress long eluded us was direct dialogue with Belgrade on practical issues. Thessaloniki changed that. I had three goals for the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Thessaloniki: first, a further step towards the EU; secondly, to bring a multi-ethnic delegation; and thirdly, to put direct dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade on practical issues - the seventh benchmark - on the right road. So what was achieved? First, in the words of European Commission President Prodi, integration of the Balkans, including Kosovo, into the European Union "is now irreversible". Secondly, my delegation was multi-ethnic. Thirdly, direct dialogue on practical issues was put on track - the very dialogue requested by the Security Council mission after it visited Kosovo last December. Despite all the rhetoric, the dialogue will now come.”
2003-07-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4782 (2003) · source
“In Pristina, Kosovo Albanians try to infringe on reserved powers, and they continue to push for rapid independence. Belgrade continues to support parallel structures with money hidden under car seats, and it obstructs freedom of movement by refusing to recognize United Nations number plates for Kosovo. Some knowingly paint an entirely bleak picture of the realities in Kosovo, effectively discouraging returns. Leaders on both sides need to foster confidence. If leaders are not leading their constituents forward, they are leading them backward. For our part, we must stay the course - not despite the criticism coming from both sides, but because of it. By keeping our eyes on the road ahead, we have accomplished many things with regard to Kosovo's European future.”
2003-07-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4782 (2003) · source