Final consultations are currently underway in the UN headquarters in New York ahead of the UN Security Council (UNSC) Monday session on Kosovo, during which Serbia will call for a clear condemnation of the unilateral moves drawn by the Pristina government with a view to changing the situation in the field in northern Kosovo-Metohija.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Vuk Jeremic said at UN headquarters in New York that final consultations are underway before the session of the Security Council on 29 August, where Serbia will seek a clear condemnation of unilateral attempts to change reality in the north of Kosovo-Metohija by interim authorities in Pristina.

After conferring with representatives of several UNSC member countries, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic told Tanjug that Serbia will require the situation in the field to be restored to its previous state or else it would become obvious that unilateral use of force is something that can bring advantage to those who opt for it.

Jeremic explained that the Russian Federation presented a draft presidential release to the UNSC in which it voiced such stand and called on all international missions operative in the territory of the southern Serbian province to perform their mandate in keeping with the status-neutral position envisaged in UNSC Resolution 1244.

Jeremic expects UNSC sitting to be difficult

Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic expects the UN Security Council (UNSC) sitting to be exceptionally difficult, having in mind the conflicting stands of UNSC members with regard to the draft presidential release filed by Russia.

Judging by the consultations about the draft presidential release filed by Russia, we can expect the UNSC sitting to be exceptionally difficult because it seems that stands of some important UNSC member countries are in sharp opposition, Jeremic said in an interview for Tanjug ahead of the Monday UNSC session.

However, he underscored that a considerable majority of UNSC members can be expected to back more or less the same stands as Serbia.

Jeremic underscored that based on the meetings that took place over the past few days, he expects the majority of UNSC members to take Serbia's stand, while the question as to whether the presidential release would be adopted should be resolved at the very session because the adoption of the document requires a consensus which is currently lacking.

We will continue doing all we can in order to achieve the consensus, the minister said. During the consultations, he added, officials concluded that Serbia's stand would be backed by China, Brazil, India, South Africa, Lebanon and Gabon. He specified that Russia filed the draft presidential release which condemning Pristina over its decision to resort to force and calls for restoring the situation to its previous state, that is, before the beginning of the violent intervention.

The draft release also calls on all international missions in Kosovo, including KFOR and EULEX, to behave strictly in keeping with their mandate as envisaged in Resolution 1244.

Jeremic expressed belief that it is extremely important for the UNSC session to send a clear message to everyone who believes problems in Kosovo can be solved by force that this is unacceptable and that solutions can be found through dialogue only.

He said that one of the topics the UNSC would discuss on Monday would refer to the investigation into human organ trafficking in Kosovo, adding that nothing has been done so far in this area although almost 10 months have passed since the adoption of the report authored by Council of Europe Special Rapporteur Dick Marty.

We believe it would be unacceptable for competent bodies not to launch an adequate investigation into this case, which comprises charges regarding monstrous violation of human rights, Jeremic said and added that blocking the investigation would imply a blatant use of double standards in the approach to war crimes.

Jeremic noted that he does not expect UNSC members to vote during the Monday sitting on the draft Serbian resolution which envisages that the investigation into illegal human organ trafficking should be conducted under UN mandate.

However, this matter must be voted on soon, or before the end of the year at any cost, Jeremic said and added that by the end of the year, the UNSC would have to state its stand clearly and finally establish who is in charge of conducting the investigation.

It remains to be seen whether it would be possible to adopt the release, Jeremic said and added that at the moment, several permanent UNSC members are fiercely opposing the adoption of the document. He also stated that he would not like to speculate as to the outcome of the consultations.

Jeremic said that the majority of UNSC member countries support the draft authored by Russia, but there are certain countries within the UNSC that have the right to veto, which means that the documents cannot be adopted without consensus.

We will do all we can to see the document adopted, Jeremic said and expressed expectation that the majority of UNSC members would take the same view as Serbia during the session.