European nations and the United States pledged here Sunday that they are going to abide by their responsibilities to ensure stability and security in the province of Kosovo, after it unilaterally declared independence from Serbia.
Speaking to reporters after an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Kosovo, Ambassador Johan Verbeke, permanent representative of Belgium to the United Nations, said that "we are determined to take up our own responsibilities, as states and through the EU and NATO, to secure stability and security in the region."
Verbeke was speaking on behalf of the European members of the Security Council, namely, Belgium, France, Italy and Britain, as well as Croatia, Germany and the United States, noting that members of the Security Council "have stressed the particular responsibility of the European Union."
He also expressed his regret that the council could not agree on the way forward.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he received a letter from Serbian President Boris Tadic, who informed that his country had adopted a position that Kosovo's independence "represents a forceful and unilateral secession of a part of the territory of the Republic of Serbia."
The move does not have any legal effect either in the Republic of Serbia or in the international legal order, Tadic said.
Earlier in the day, Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin urged the UN mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) to declare "null and void" the self-proclaimed independence by Kosovo's ethnic Albanians.
Kosovo's parliament officially declared independence from Serbia Sunday, with support from the United States and the European Union.
Russia, which strongly opposes the Serbian province's independence, has said that it would set a dangerous precedent for secessionist groups worldwide.
Kosovo was a southern autonomous province within Serbia before the breakup of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Among its population of 2 million, over 90 percent are ethnic Albanians and Serbs make up about 7 percent.
Kosovo has been under UN administration since mid-1999, after NATO air-strikes drove out Serbian forces from the province.
"At this critical moment, we urge all sides to refrain from provocative words or actions and reiterate that violence will not be tolerated," Verbeke said. |
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