JOINT STATEMENT on behalf of the European members of the Security Council (Belgium, France, Italy, the United Kingdom and Croatia), Germany, and the United States following emergency United States Security Council meeting on Kosovo.
JOINT STATEMENT on behalf of the European members of the Security Council (Belgium, France, Italy, the United Kingdom and Croatia), Germany, and the United States following emergency United Nations Security Council meeting on Kosovo, 17 February 2008.
This has been an important day for Kosovo and for the region.
We have long argued and continue to believe that the UN Special Envoy's proposal for kosovo's internationally supervised independence is the only viable option to deliver sustained stability and security. It is a sui generis solution to a unique set of circumstances. Its sets no wider precedent.
Today's events thus represent the conclusion of a status process that has exhausted all avenues in pursuit of a negotiated outcome. We regret the failure to secure a mutually agreed outcome, but the status quo had become unsustainable and a coordinated and stable process, with international support is better than prolonged instability.
The international community has a continuing role to play. Members of the Security Council have stressed the particular responsibility of the European Union. The EU as a whole has agreed to support Kosovo with a new ESDP mission.
The processes under way are fully in accordance with international law, including United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244. That resolution provides the framework for transition to a sustainable new status for Kosovo. Security Council Resolution 1244 also provides continuing authority for international military and civil presences needed to support Kosovo in this new phase.
We regret the Security Council cannot agree on the way forward. But this impasse has been clear for many months. It is not going to change. But we are determined to take up responsibilities, as states and through the EU and NATO, to secure stability and security in the region. This is also the UN's key interest.
Therefore Foreign Ministers of the European Union are meeting on 18 February in Brussels to agree how to react to today's developments. We all want to see a united and effective European lead in the days and months ahead.
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