UN Urges More Serbia-Kosovo Progress

Presenting the UN secretary-general’s report on Kosovo to the Security Council on Tuesday, Kosovo mission chief Farid Zarif urged Belgrade and Pristina to stay on track with the implementation of their landmark April 2013 deal despite their differences and internal political situations.

Zarif said that some progress had been made but “at a slow pace due in part to general elections in Serbia and the forthcoming legislative elections in Kosovo”.

“Both sides must embrace forward-looking approaches to tackling sensitive issues leading up to and beyond next month’s elections [in Kosovo],” he added.

He said that the remaining challenges included the establishment of the association of Serbian municipalities in Kosovo which was envisaged by last year’s EU-brokered deal.

“President Nikolic, our thoughts and prayers are with your citizens affected by this tragic natural disaster,” Jahjaga told the UN Security Council meeting on Kosovo held on Tuesday in New York.

Jahajaga was the first senior Kosovo official to comment on the floods since they struck Serbia, Bosia and eastern Croatia, about two weeks ago.

According to government data, 33 people died in Serbia as a result of the flooding, while the number of missing remains unknown.

Last week, Serbia lifted the national state of emergency it introduced on May 15, but it remains in force in various towns.

Zarif said there had been progress despite recent violent incidents in Kosovo, citing the investigation of a potential mass grave in Raska in southern Serbia, where it is believed that the bodies of Kosovo Albanians killed in 1990s war are buried.

“This is work done by Serbian institutions… and monitored by international and local...