Serbia rejects UN plan to draw down its mission in Kosovo

Jun 20, 2008, 15:05 GMT

New York - Serbia's President Boris Tadic on Friday rebuffed UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's assessment that Kosovo's independence status would compel the UN to decrease its presence in Pristina.

Serbia, backed by Russia, has rejected Kosovo's news statehood and continues to claim ownership of its former province.

Tadic attended a special session of the UN Security Council in New York to carry on his fight to keep Kosovo, charging the 40 or more countries that recognized Pristina with violating international law. He turned against Ban's proposal to readjust the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK)'s mandate and reconfigure its presence.

Kosovo's President Fatmir Sejdiu also attend the meeting. But while the council president, US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, called Tadic 'Mr. president,' he did not give Sejdiu that title.

Tadic said, 'Under the circumstances, the United Nations cannot, and must not, walk away.'

He cited for background the council's Resolution 1244, which established UNMIK in 1999 to administer that province until a political solution was found to resolve demands of autonomy by the Albanian majority.

'That is why the Republic of Serbia cannot endorse the secretary general's report,' he said. 'Until the process envisaged by Resolution 1244 ... is complete, the international community, led by the UN, has to retain its central role in the maintenance of peace and security in Kosovo.'