UN Holds Emergency Meeting In Regards To Kosovo

While the United States and the European Union do welcome Kosovo’s independence and are ready to recognize it as an independent state, Serbia and Russia think otherwise. Serbia had called Kosovo’s move for independence as illegal. Russia had condemned Kosovo’s independence.

In Russia’s concerns, the government fears of a conflict in the Balkans between Georgia and other breakaway states. The UN Security Council meeting revealed the deep divisions on the future of Kosovo’s independence. Serbia is a close ally or Russia. As a result, Russia had refused to recognize Kosovo’s independence.

Great Britain, France, the United States, and the European Union are ready to support Kosovo and its majority of ethnic Albanians. UN Security Council had met via Russia’s request. Recently, Vietnam was given a two-year trial membership in the United Nations Security Council.

While Vietnam has been trying to work with North Korea, the incident between Kosovo and Serbia could be one of many tests to see if it is ready to tackle global issues. The meeting started on a rough patch because there were not enough interpreters.

The current UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon explained that he received word from Serbia’s president saying that Kosovo’s declaration is of no legal weight or value.

But, Kosovo’s Prime Minister Hashim Thaci had said several times that nobody in Kosovo will be discriminated. He also said that included Serbians that live in Kosovo. That was one point that Thaci had reiterated before Kosovo was set to declare its independence.

However, due to the past Security Council resolution after the NATO air strikes in 1999, the United Nations is still in charge of the government of Kosovo.

“Our concern is for the safety of the Serbs and other ethnic minorities in Kosovo,” said Vitaly Churkin, the United Nations Ambassador for Russia. He added: “We’ll strongly warn against any attempts at repressive measures, should Serbs in Kosovo decide not to comply with this unilateral proclamation of independence.”

But it is not likely that there will be a solution reached. Kosovo had already sent letters to various countries across the globe asking them to recognize its independence as a state.

The European Union plans to meet on Monday in Brussels, Belgium. However, Russia does have veto power in the EU.