The head of the Foreign Ministry of Kosovo, who voted for independence from Serbia in 2008, Skender Hyseni, urged UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon on Monday to replace resolution 1244 of the UN Security Council, confirming the territorial unity of Yugoslavia (Serbia is its successor), but the initiative was declined, RIA Novosti reports, citing the newspaper ‘Kokha ditore’.
Hyseni and Ban Ki-moon met in New York, before the meeting of the UN Security Council on Kosovo in New York on Tuesday.
Resolution 1244 of the UN Security Council concerns the settlement of the Kosovo conflict (1998-1999). It was adopted on June 10th 1999. It recognizes the territorial unity of Yugoslavia and decides the final status of Kosovo.
Kosovo believes that the decision of the International Court of the UN has created new conditions, making resolution 1244 less relevant.
The International Court in the Hague declared on July 22nd that the independence of Kosovo does not violate international law. The court did not observe the consequences of the declaration of independence. Hyseni said that the fate of resolution 1244 depends on the position of Security Council members, not the court.
Kosovo has been under the control of the UN administration since 1999, based on resolution 1244. The administration of the UN and the international forces of KFOR under NATO command were brought to the region after the 78-day bombing of Serbia by NATO airforces. NATO supported the local Albanians, 95% of the population of Kosovo.
The Albanian authorities of Kosovo, supported by the USA and a set of EU countries, unilaterally declared independence from Serbia. 69 of 192 UN member-states recognized the self-proclamation. Serbia, Russia, China, India and various other leading countries refused to recognize Kosovo, saying that the Albanians had violated international law.
