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As Serbia Wins UN Vote, Montenegro
Mysteries, UNDP and Napalm, Kosovo Trust Agency
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of
Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS,
October 8 -- In the run up to Serbia's
77--74-6 win on its General Assembly resolution to get an International
Court
of Justice opinion on the legality of Kosovo's independence,
Montenegro's
President Filip Vujanovic on October 7 said his country "could not
delay" granting recognition to Kosovo. Serb foreign minister Vuk
Jeremic
said "Serbia will not sit with its hands crossed"
if
Montenegro took the recognition route. Then on October 8, Montenegro
was
recorded as voting for Serbia's resolution. After the General Assembly
session,
Inner City Press asked Jeremic about this, and about the controversy
surrounding the Kosovo Trust Agency, missing money, missing documents.
Video
here.
Jeremic
responded that Serbia's neighbors should be all the more understanding
of the
need for this Court ruling, but that some like Montenegro were moving
to
recognize Kosovo under pressure, mostly by the United States which
along with
five small island friends voted against Serbia.
But what explains Montenegro's pro-Serbia vote? Some
say its a
non-Presidential, non-U.S. influence in Montenegro, a Russian
businessman who controls a large part of the Montenegrin economy: Oleg
Deripasca.
Others,
more cynical yet, say there's a connection between Serbia now agreeing
in essence to consent to the EU's EULEX force and swing votes like
Montenegro's, from absention over to yes. Jeremic was asked about
financiers, but said that's a job for investigative reporters.
To Inner
City Press, this then is a call to action, to follow up on such stories
as the
UN Development Program's funneling of George Soros' charity's funding
to
Georgian president Saakashvili.
Montenegro's flag goes up in 2006, Kosovo
Trust Agency not shown
As it
happens, Inner City Press has asked UNDP some questions about its
operations in
Montenegro, yielding for now only this response:
"Yes, UNDP is involved in
the disposal of hazardous toxic waste in Montenegro (Liquid Propellant
and
Napalm). This is a joint project of the Government of Montenegro, the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and UNDP. This
project is
designed to dispose of this toxic hazardous waste in a safe, efficient
and
effective way that complies, wherever achievable, with all relevant
international and EU environmental and safety legislation, and hence to
existing
international 'best practice.'"
Now dealing
in napalm is withing UNDP's mandate is not clear. On the Kosovo Trust
Agency,
Jeremic said the money cannot simply pass from the UN to the "de
facto" or self-styled Kosovo leadership. He said he was meeting with UN
envoy Zanier on just this topic right after the briefing.
Footnotes on the
vote: Beyond Montenegro's
surprising vote, Liechtenstein, Greece, Cyprus, Spain , Slovakia and
Iceland
voted yes. Bosnia, Iraq and Guinea Bissau were among those listed as
absent.
Click here for an Inner
City Press story today about Iceland's chances of winning a Security
Council
seat.
Watch this site, and this Oct. 2 debate, on
UN, bailout, MDGs.
* * *
These
reports are
usually also available through Google
News and on Lexis-Nexis.
Click
here
for a Reuters
AlertNet piece by this correspondent
about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click
here
for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali
National
Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an
undefined trust fund. Video
Analysis here
Feedback: Editorial
[at] innercitypress.com
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Other,
earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available
in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
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2006-08 Inner City Press, Inc. To request
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