Dacic and Mrkic attend UNSC session on Kosovo

The session will also be attended by Serbian Foreign Minister Ivan Mrkic, Tanjug learnt in the Serbian mission in the UN. The session was originally meant to be held on February 22 but it was postponed by one month due to the continuation of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue. In his regular quarterly report on Kosovo, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon pointed out that significant progress has been made by elevating the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue to a higher level, but he also called on the Kosovo government to react firmly to the expressions of bigotry against Serbs, such as the incident which occurred in Kosovo during the celebration of the Orthodox Christmas. Ban underscored that restoration of the dialogue constitutes a strong signal that both sides support a peaceful dialogue and overcoming the burden of the past conflicts. When it comes to the situation in northern Mitrovica, the UN secretary general underscored that the authorities need to act carefully and in coordination so as to resolve all open issues benevolently and thus avoid further tensions. Ban noted that in addition to the high-level political process, important sustainable efforts are being invested in enhancing reconciliation and increasing trust among communities in Kosovo.