News

I welcome Mr. Ivica Dacic, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Hashim Thaci of Kosovo to the Council and thank them for their statements. I also thank Mr. Farid Zarif, Special Representative and the Head of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo for his briefing. Mr. President, Over the past few years positive developments in the region have been hard to miss. A new Government of Kosovo was formed through the dialogue and democratic processes. We welcome its strong commitment to build a democratic, peaceful, prosperous and multi-ethnic Kosovo.

We call for cooperation and collective responsibility further to prevail when resolving numerous open issues in the country, notably in the light of recent protests on the ground.

The new Government and the Assembly need to build on the Kosovo’s reform agenda, strengthen the rule of law, including judicial independence, and fight against organised crime and corruption.

We call to complete necessary steps concerning the establishment of the specialist court to try cases stemming from the findings of the European Union Special Investigative Task Force without further delay.

Lithuania remains a staunch supporter of Kosovo’s European aspirations. We look forward to finalization of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the EU and Kosovo and encourage making progress on the visa liberalisation dialogue.

We also commend the Kosovo Government on the recent adoption of the Action Plan for implementation of the recommendations of the European Commission Progress report.

Mr. President,

Next week the EU facilitated Dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina is to take place in Brussels. We welcome commitment of both parties to continue seeking progress on their way in the normalization process.

We encourage both sides, their leaders, to show their decisiveness necessary for the common European future and to engage actively in further implementation of the First Agreement of Principles Governing Normalization of Relations of 19 April 2013 translating the agreement into the results on the ground and building the trust between communities.

Mr. President,

We reiterate our support for the European Rule of Law mission in Kosovo and mark its important role on the ground in the fight against organised crime and corruption, the prosecution of war crimes and fight against impunity.

Again, my delegation wishes to remind that over a year ago Audrius Šenavičius, a Lithuanian officer serving in EULEX was killed while on duty in northern Kosovo. We ask competent authorities to provide information on progress of the investigation. 

We commend the solidarity Kosovo authorities have demonstrated in the fight against terrorism. We welcome the adoption by the Kosovo Assembly of the law on Prohibition of Joining the Armed Conflicts Outside State Territory.

Finally, I wish to reiterate our view that debating UNMIK report 2 times a year, instead of quarterly, would be a reasonable step forward to acknowledge progress in normalisation of relations between Belgrade and Pristina and the stability in Kosovo.

I thank you, Mr. President.