BELGRADE, Serbia
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told a news conference Thursday he will request an urgent meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the UN Security Council to discuss the situation in Kosovo.
Vucic said he wants to tell Stoltenberg about what Serbia can do to de-escalate the tension.
He added that Serbia, for the first time, will request an urgent session of the Security Council during the next week.
Vucic is expected to meet Stoltenberg during the NATO summit on July 11 – 12 in Lithuania.
“We feel that all UN member states are obliged to prevent the persecution of the Kosovo Serbs,” he Vucic, and added that he would personally attend the Security Council’s session.
Vucic accused Kosovo authorities of ethnic cleansing.
“That pogrom, persecution, and ethnic cleansing of the Serbs in Kosovo by the Pristina regime is well organized, planned, and with the fundamental support of certain international community circles,” said Vucic.
NATO urged Serbia and Kosovo to take immediate steps Wednesday toward de-escalation for the stability of the region.
After the April elections in northern Kosovo, the EU said the low turnout among Serbs did not provide municipalities with long-term political solutions.
Ethnic Serbs have been protesting the election of Albanian mayors since late May.
On May 30, NATO decided to deploy 700 more troops to the Kosovo Force (KFOR), the alliance-led peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, after 30 of its soldiers were injured amid unrest. A contingent of Turkish troops was among the reinforcements.
The EU requires Kosovo and Serbia to reach a final agreement and resolve disputes to move forward with their integration into the bloc.
Most UN member states — including the US, the UK, France, Germany and Türkiye — recognized Kosovo as a country separate from its neighbor when Pristina declared its independence 15 years ago, but Belgrade continues to regard it as its territory.
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Source link : https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/serbia-to-request-meeting-with-nato-un-security-council-session-president-vucic/2938811
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Publish date : 2023-07-06 03:00:00
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