Russia's foreign minister on Friday signaled that his country would accept the EU replacing the UN in Kosovo only with the blessing of Serbia and the UN Security Council, where Moscow holds veto power.
"If the EU wants to replace the UN it's not impossible," Sergey Lavrov said on Russia's Vesti-24 television. "But to do that, two conditions must be fulfilled: It's necessary to pass a UN Security Council Resolution ... and have Belgrade's agreement for that."
The EU agreed a week ago to send an 1,800-strong police and security mission to Kosovo to replace the current UN administrative mission in the province, which has been run by the UN and NATO since 1999.
Lavrov, who strongly warned the US and the EU against backing Kosovo independence, said that any action taken outside the UN would undermine international law and set a dangerous precedent for other conflict zones.
He said that many in the EU appeared to realize the dangers of backing Kosovo's independence outside the UN and sought a UN endorsement for an EU mission in the region.
"That's why they are trying to get at least some kind of reaction by the UN Security Council to their decision to send an EU police or civilian mission to Kosovo," Lavrov said.
In a statement later on Friday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin also said Security Council approval would be required to change the structure of the Kosovo mission. But he claimed the US and EU intend to turn the mission "into an instrument for construction of an `independent Kosovo'" -- a more fundamental change he said would be a "crude violation of the UN Charter."
Serbia, backed by Russia, insists that Kosovo, a province of Serbia that is 90 percent ethnic Albanian, should remain part of its territory. But the Kosovars demand independence, which would be backed by the US and key European nations.
The US and Europeans have insisted the issue of Kosovo's future status is unique, and would not set a precedent for other separatist groups, as Russia and Serbia claim.
At an EU summit on Dec. 15, leaders rejected immediate unilateral recognition of an independent Kosovo. They agreed to try to coordinate a phased-in recognition of Kosovo's independence and also left the door open for a negotiated settlement.
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Two daughters of an Argentine mountaineer who died on an icy peak 40 years ago have retrieved his backpack from the spot — finding camera film inside that allowed them a glimpse of some of his final experiences. Guillermo Vieiro was 44 when he died in 1985 — as did his climbing partner — while descending Argentina’s Tupungato lava dome, one of the highest peaks in the Americas. Last year, his backpack was spotted on a slope by mountaineer Gabriela Cavallaro, who examined it and contacted Vieiro’s daughters Guadalupe, 40, and Azul, 44. Last month, the three set out with four other guides
RSS