UNITED NATIONS — Russia tried to block Kosovo’s independence during a closed-door emergency session of the U.N. Security Council today, saying it is deeply concerned about the safety of Serbs living in the territory.
The 15-member council is divided on the future of Kosovo. Russia backs its close ally Serbia, while the United States, Britain, France and other European Union members are supporting the Kosovo Albanians.
The council met at the request of Russia, which argues that Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia made earlier today violates the council’s 1999 resolution.
The session got off to a rocky start; shortly after it began, the session had to be suspended for a couple hours because of a lack of interpreters.
Russia, France and Croatia led off the talks, according to diplomats at the meeting.
Before the session, Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Moscow was “highly concerned” about Sunday’s decision by Kosovo’s parliament in Pristina “to declare unilateral independence of Kosovo.” He specifically addressed the minority Serbs living in enclaves in Kosovo.
“Our concern is for the safety of the Serbs and other ethnic minorities in Kosovo,” Churkin told reporters. “We’ll strongly warn against any attempts at repressive measures, should Serbs in Kosovo decide not to comply with this unilateral proclamation of independence.” U.S. and other Western countries disputed those arguments, saying there was little danger to the Serbs in Kosovo and that the 1999 resolution does not apply to the current situation because its provisions are not meant to be permanent.
“We’ve knocked it down over and over again. This is an unprecedented situation, it creates no precedent,” Alejandro Wolff, the U.S. deputy ambassador to the U.N., told reporters before the session Wolff said the United States is not “particularly concerned or sees no particular danger to be worried about” with regards to the safety of Serbs in Kosovo.
“We’re pleased by the commitments made to respect for religious and ethnic communities in Kosovo,” he told reporters. “We’re very much pleased that the declaration also reflects a position of the United States that’s longstanding.” Kosovo’s 2 million population is 90 percent ethnic Albanian, mainly secular Muslims, who do not want to be part of Serbia, a predominantly Christian Orthodox nation.
Kosovo has been under U.N. and NATO administration since a NATO-led air war halted a Serb crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists in 1999.
In April 2007, U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari recommended that Kosovo be granted internationally supervised independence — a proposal strongly supported by the province’s ethnic Albanians, the U.S. and most of the European Union, but vehemently opposed by Serbia and Russia, a traditional Serb ally.
An additional period of negotiations failed to bridge the differences between the Serbs, who have offered wide autonomy, and Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian leaders, who insist on independence.
Kosovo hopes for international recognition that could come on Monday when European Union ministers meet in Brussels, Belgium.
Russia, which has veto power on the council, insists Kosovo is a Security Council issue — not an EU issue — and argues that Kosovo’s move sets a dangerous precedent for separatist groups globally.
The Security Council’s president, Panama’s U.N. Ambassador Ricardo Arias, scheduled the emergency “consultations” for Sunday afternoon after Russian and Serb diplomats sent letters requesting such talks. During the closed-door session, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was expected to brief council members on the situation in Kosovo.
A more formal meeting, with possible action by the council, has been scheduled for Monday, although diplomats said the deep divisions within the council — particularly among the five permanent members with veto power — would likely prevent any agreement on a resolution or statement.
“We’ll insist that it should be an open meeting, and we expect that the president of Serbia will participate,” Churkin said.
