UNSC to hold meeting on Kosovo

BELGRADE - The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will hold a meeting on Monday, tabling the regular three-month report by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on the situation in Kosovo-Metohija, and the list of speakers will include Ivica Dacic, Serbia's outgoing prime minister.

In the report for the period between October 16 and January 20, Ban says that the year 2013 was a year of significant changes and substantial political progress which resulted in the historic EU-facilitated agreement reached between Belgrade and Pristina in Brussels on April 19, and underscores that, in 2014, efforts must continue to consolidate the critical achievements of the past year in the dialogue and along the path toward regional reconciliation, stability and prosperity.

The Secretary General notes that the local elections in Kosovo, including the north, were successful, stressing that this has cleared the way for new political dynamics within Kosovo and leads to full implementation of the Brussels agreement and establishment of a community of Serb municipalities.

He calls on the international community to continue to encourage and actively support the dialogue process and assist the newly elected local municipal assemblies and leaders, including those in northern Kosovo.

In the report, which Tanjug has seen, Ban notes that both sides have made progress in getting closer to the EU and welcomes the decision of the European Council to launch the EU accession negotiations with Serbia.

Ahead of his trip to New York, Prime Minister Dacic has said that in the meeting he will voice Belgrade's commitment to the dialogue, but that he will also warn that Pristina is misusing the dialogue in an attempt to affirm Kosovo's independence...