UN Security Council debates UNMIK mandate

Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaliy Churkin, who is currently presiding over the Security Council, said he suggested the session be open for public, followed by closed door consultations, because, as he said, many things "have been very wrong," since Kosovo declared independence from Serbia.

Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic will urge the 15-member body to make sure that the UN mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, stays on the ground with full responsibilities, despite the strong Western offensive aimed toward at the deployment of 2,000 European Union mission, dubbed EULEX.

The EU mission was sent unilaterally, without UN approval, and has as its legal basis a truncated version of the Resolution 1244, from which it has taken away a key reference to Kosovo's "substantial autonomy" within Serbia.

Jeremic reiterated Belgrade's stance towards Kosovo's unilaterally declared independence, saying that Serbia cannot accept changes of province's status made outside the UN framework and without proper decision by the Security Council.

"No transfer of jurisdiction from UNMIK to any other mission can occur," Jeremic said referring to the last week's initial deployment of EU's mission in Kosovo.

"The deployment has started, and the first elements arrived out last week," EULEX chief Yves De Kermabon told reporters in New York, explaining that his visit to UN headquarters serves as "coordination" between EU and the UN.

However, the UN diplomats reported "certain problems" in EU's plan to deploy its mission in Kosovo and take the control from the existing UNMIK, as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned Brussels that "some members of Security Council" oppose such a move.

The new Kosovo debate was strongly opposed by the pack of Western countries led by the United States and Great Britain.

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