Serbia’s PM Ivica Dacic met with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon ahead on a UN Security Council session on Kosovo on Friday.
Dacic informed Ban about the Belgrade-Priština dialogue and said that UNMIK should have a leading role in Kosovo.
“I pointed out our determination to believe that the UN Mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, should continue to have a leading, key role as a factor of peace and stability in Kosovo and that contrary to Priština’s position, we want the mission to become stronger,” the Serbian prime minister said.
According to him, even though UNMIK’s budget has been cut due to the difficult economic situation, the mission’s presence means a lot to Serbia in terms of protection of its religious and cultural heritage and the security of Serbs in northern Kosovo, their property and returnees.
Dačić added that he Ban had also discussed the Hague Tribunal and Serbia’s initiative to allow Serbian citizens convicted in The Hague to serve their sentences in Serbia “or in worst case in the countries of the region”.
“I talked with the secretary general about our police officers’ participation in missions and he is very pleased that Serbia this way supports establishment of peace worldwide,” he said.