View full page

The UN authority put to the test

Autoriteti i OKB-së në provë

L’autorità dell’ONU messa alla prova

Original newspaper scan

Original newspaper scan

The G-8 resolution, which envisaged declaring an oil embargo, would not have helped the authority of UNMIK in Kosovo. This is how Russia’s ambassador to Albania, Bashkir Bazarbajev, commented yesterday in Tirana. According to him, the G-8 did well to agree that the matter be examined with the new draft resolution formulated by Kofi Annan, moving away from another approach in the world. In the end, the ambassador stressed, the disagreement between Russia and the UN has been resolved, which makes it possible to move forward with concrete projects, especially the new draft resolution. Speaking about the escalation of the crisis in Kosovo, he said that everything must be resolved through diplomatic means, and that the Kosovo issue should not be elevated to the level of a permanent problem. The ambassador praised the positions of the West and Russia on this issue. He recalled the 1992 agreement, saying that after the blockage of the project to impose a new tax on Yugoslavia, a path had been opened to a new war, which, in his view, would create a real risk to the sovereignty and security of the Balkans. In the context of the discussion, the ambassador added that the US, the UN and the European Union have put pressure on everyone to avoid the use of weapons and to resolve the crisis through dialogue. He also noted that Russia had asked for the Serbs of Kosovo to be protected and for their rights to be respected.