Gallucci: KFOR violated its mandate, ex-UN official claims

17.8.2011 by CrniLabudovi.

17.08.2011 | 13:21
KFOR violated its mandate, ex-UN official claims
Source: Beta

BELGRADE — Ex-UN Regional Representative in Kosovska Mitrovica Gerard Gallucci says that KFOR has violated its UN mandate by closing off administrative crossings.
KFOR troops at an administrative crossing (Tanjug)
KFOR troops at an administrative crossing (Tanjug)

Gallucci points out that such KFOR actions are illegal and aimed at completely isolating the northern Serb population for purely political ends.

The former U.S. diplomat quoted several UN Security Council Resolution 1244 paragraphs, that, as he said, show that KFOR has gone far beyond its mandate.

“According to UNSCR 1244, NATO has no political mandate, none whatsoever. This means that once order was secured at the northern Kosovo crossing points, responsibility there returned to the civil presence, in this case EULEX under the November 2008 agreement with the UN,” Gallucci stressed.

“There can be no doubt that KFOR’s imposition of Priština’s trade blockade is beyond NATO’s mandate, as is (KFOR Commander) General (Erhard) Buhler’s ‘negotiating’ political agreements,” he added.

The former UN official explained that “if any UN-mandated element played such a political role, it would be UNMIK or EULEX.”

“Of course, UN resolutions do not self-enforce. Members either follow their UN commitments or not. In this case, the Quint countries – led by the U.S. and Germany – have disregarded the UN mandate. If any effort were made at the Security Council to reprimand NATO or strip it of its Kosovo mandate, the US veto would prevent passage. The Quint can have its way. Russia is unlikely to strenuously resist as it will no doubt be glad to pocket the unfortunate precedent set by the Western powers for use elsewhere at its pleasure,” Gallucci points out.

http://www.b92.net

>Lt. Gen. Fabio Mini: “International law has been grossly violated in Kosovo,”

Geschrieben in Balkan (Englisch) | Keine Kommentare »