Ban and Dačić: UN continue to adhere to Resolution 1244

Implementation of Resolution 1244 continues to be the foundation of the UN policy towards the issue of Kosovo, the head of Serbian diplomacy Ivica Dačić and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon agreed today.

"Secretary-General has reaffirmed that the UNMIK Mission in Kosovo, now with the new leadership, will continue to firmly observe Resolution 1244, which forms the foundation of the UN policy towards the issue of Kosovo," Minister Dačić told Tanjug news agency after his talks with Ban Ki-moon in New York.

"This is very important to us since we hold that the UN should adhere to the only applicable international legal document on Kosovo," said Dačić, recalling that the resolution is status-neutral and therefore unilateral acts of Pristina must be prevented.

Dačić confirmed that he discussed with the UN Secretary-General Kosovo's request for membership in UNESCO, and that Ban Ki-moon reiterated that the UN refused to relay Kosovo's application for membership and that the UN will continue to adhere to Resolution 1244.

The head of Serbian diplomacy stressed that he used three arguments crucial for Serbia, when presenting the matter to the UN Secretary-General and other Security Council members.

The first is the fact that under Resolution 1244 Kosovo cannot become a member of UN specialised agencies and therefore their request is not in accordance with Resolution 1244, asserted Dačić.

Dačić further brought attention to Serbia's massive cultural and religious heritage in Kosovo and Metohija, and also to the attitude of Priština's authorities towards that heritage and to the property of the Serbian Orthodox Church and its monasteries, not only over the last 10 or 15 years but throughout history.

"I underlined that over 260 churches and monasteries have been destroyed in the last 16 years. I also stressed that four sites have been placed under the UNESCO protection. Moreover, UNESCO has included them on the list of world cultural heritage sites to protect them against the threat personified in the representatives of Priština authorities, who now want to become UNESCO members," Dačić recalled.

As to his third argument, Dačić said that "Priština intends to propose a law and declare that the entire property of the Serbian Orthodox Church belongs to the so-called state of Kosovo".

"We therefore made it clear that this is absolutely unacceptable and that we will use all available political means to fight against such a policy, which represents a direct violation of UN Resolution 1244," Dačić said.

Dačić said that he also discussed very successful cooperation in the field of peacekeeping missions with the UN Secretary-General.

The Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs recalled that Serbia holds the seventh place in Europe and the first in the region as to the number of soldiers and police officers participating in UN peacekeeping missions.

In addition, they mentioned opening of the UN house in Serbia to accommodate representatives of all UN specialised agencies residing in Belgrade.

"That will provide an opportunity, as we discussed, for the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to visit Belgrade by the end of the year, either in December, or in February or March 2016," Dačić announced.