President to take part in UNGA general debate

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic is due to speak during the general debate of the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.

(KosovoCompromiseStuff) Tuesday, September 25, 2012

He will focus on Belgrade's dialogue with Pristina, the economic crisis, and the global warming.

Nikolić will address the assembly as the third speaker, after his Brazilian and U.S. counterparts.

B92 has learned that the speech will cover global and regional problems, preservation of peace and Serbia's continued EU integrations.

Nikolic will stress the importance of continued dialogue between Belgrade and Priština - as well as the importance of preservation of Serbia's territorial integrity.

Ahead of the session, Nikolic already had a chance to discuss Kosovo with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, and U.S. President Barack Obama.

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivan Mrkic is also in New York, where he is holding a host of meeting on the sidelines of the General Assembly, including with his Croatian counterpart, and those from Finland, Sweden, and Greece.

Top Kosovo Albanian officials, including Atifete Jahjaga and Hashim Thaci, have also arrived in New York. Reports said that Thaci was on Monday seen at the entrance to the UN building.

Serbia's former foreign minister, now president of the UN General Assembly, Vuk Jeremic, commented on this situation for B92 to say that the Kosovo delegation had no right to participate in debates, but that they could attend as guests as one of the UN member-states.

According to information available so far, the Pristina delegation is attending "under the UNMIK (UN mission in Kosovo) umbrella".