In
North Kosovo Track Dispute, UN "Will Not Tolerate" Serbian Railroads,
Will Russia Tolerate UN?
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS, March 3 -- In
Northern Kosovo, Serbia's state-owed railroad company has claimed
control of the tracks and trains. At the UN in New York, Inner City
Press asked the UN spokesperson for a response, if the UN Mission in
Kosovo could confirm it. "We can ask for you," Spokesperson Michele
Montas said. "I don't have that information at this point." Hours later
a response arrived by e-mail, that "any movement of trains south of
Leshak by Serbian Railways is a clear breach of the 2003 Memorandum of
Understanding between UNMIK Railways and Serbian Railways. This
violation will not be tolerated. Border police, with the support of KFOR,
will act to prevent these trains traveling south of Leshak." Click
here for
the e-mail.
While it seems to many
that the UN is remaining strikingly quiet about troubles in Northern
Kosovo, including a reported shooting at UNMIK's headquarters there on
Monday -- the spokesperson
later said that
"the Kosovo Police
Service is investigating the incident" --
the railroad response seemed surprising sharp. Inner City Press asked
Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, the Security Council president for
March, about Serbia's claim over the railroad. Amb. Churkin indicated
that he had not heard about it. Inner City Press provided a copy of an
article,
and the above-quoted
response from the UN
Spokesperson's Office.
We'll see.
Sergei Lavrov and Ban Ki-moon,
Serbian railroad not shown
It has been pointed out that most
successful resolutions of disputes like Kosovo leave both parties
unhappy. In this case, the glee of one side may be a less than positive
auger.
A Permanent Five
diplomat said the Secretariat's railways statement given was not
balanced, and that the politics originate "from upstairs." It has been
increasingly widely rumored that Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov has
spoken to Ban Ki-moon about Russian (non) support for a second term. On
February 25, Inner City Press
asked Ban's
spokesperson,
"Has
the Secretary-General received a phone call from Russian Foreign
Minister Lavrov concerning Kosovo and, if so, what was said?" The
spokesperson replied, "I will try to find out. I don't think that was
one of his phone calls this weekend, no, I don't think so, but I'll
check."
Inner
City Press clarified, "about the Lavrov call, I just want to make clear
that I meant not this weekend but since the declaration [of
independence] was made." The UN
later stated
that "the Secretary-General has not spoken recently to the Russian
Foreign Minister." Still, diplomats talk about the call and non-support,
and Monday the P-5 diplomat told Inner City Press that with Russia, the
threat is credible. While four years is a long time, why now the
strident position about the rails? Watch this site.
* * *
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
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