MOSCOW, Dec 26 Attempts to undermine or ignore UN Security Council resolution 1244 on Kosovo are unacceptable, a new aggravation that has broken out in the province convincingly demonstrates that a departure from the current regulatory framework on Kosovo only provokes the «Pristina radicals,» said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
Resolution 1244 was adopted on June 10, 1999, it authorized an international civilian and military presence in what was then Yugoslavia.
“For seventeen days now, the Serbs have been on duty at the barricades they erected in the north of the region as a sign of protest against the detention by the Kosovars of the former employee of the local “police” Serb Dejan Pantic. «authorities», — said Zakharova, her comment is published on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
According to her, «NATO and EU contingents deployed in the region cannot and do not want to influence what is happening … they act as extras, condone escalation.»
“The United States and the European Union continue to talk down to the Serbs, now and then they break into a brazen distribution of instructions. A typical example was the lectures of the High Representative of the EU Josep Borrell, who categorically ordered the Serbs to “immediately remove” the barricades. Such frank accompaniment of Brussels to the appetites of the Kosovars goes beyond all conceivable limits of cynicism The constant pressure of the European Union and the leading member states on the Kosovo Serbs contrasts sharply with their deathly silence about Pristina's ignoring the obligation to create a Community of Serbian municipalities in the province,» Zakharova stated.
According to her, the Kosovars «only receive indulgences — whether in the form of visa liberalization or favorable acceptance of the application of the self-styled «Republic of Kosovo» for EU membership.»
«The key prerequisite for a Kosovo settlement, if anyone really strives for peace, is firm adherence to its international legal foundations. Attempts to undermine or ignore the fundamental UN Security Council resolution 1244 are unacceptable. The new aggravation that has broken out in the province convincingly demonstrates that a departure from the current regulatory framework on Kosovo only provokes Pristina radicals. And there is not far from a real, large-scale conflict,» summed up the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Tensions remain in Kosovo and Metohija. Police in the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo in December detained several police officers in the north on suspicion of war crimes during the 1998-1999 conflict and terrorism. On December 10, Kosovo Serbs erected barricades because of this and are on duty on the highways in the north of the region.
The situation on the barricades themselves in the municipalities of Leposavić, Zvecan and Zubin Potok remains peaceful, local Serbs are on duty in tents at night. During the day, local women also come out to the barricades. In the Serbian segment of social networks, videos of the movement of military equipment in the municipality of Raska and the flight of Mi-35 helicopters of the country's Air Force are being distributed.
The Prime Minister of the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, on December 15 submitted Pristina's application for EU membership to the Czech Republic presiding in the Council of the European Union. In response, the Serbian Ministry of Defense transmitted a request to the command of the NATO KFOR mission to introduce a limited contingent of up to 1,000 Serbian police and military forces into Kosovo and Metohija in accordance with UN Security Council resolution 1244. A number of EU countries — Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Slovakia and Romania — do not recognize Kosovo.