UN chief appeals for calm in Kosovo
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon today appealed to all parties involved in the dispute over the future of Kosovo to avoid any unilateral moves that could provoke violence.
“Any further delay (in settling the region’s status) will have very negative impact on peace and security not only in Kosovo,” he said in Brussels.
Although Kosovo officially remains a province of Serbia, it has been under UN and Nato administration since a 78-day Nato-led air war that halted a Serb crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists there in 1999.
In April, UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari recommended that Kosovo be granted internationally supervised independence – a proposal strongly supported by its ethnic Albanians, but vehemently rejected by its Serb minority, Serbia and Russia.
Speaking to journalists at a conference on international migrations, Ban appealed to all parties to refrain from violence.
“I hope parties concerned will not take any unilateral moves,” he said.
Ban was scheduled to discuss the issue with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana later today.
