Radakovic: UNMIK report has not been this realistic, accurate and comprehensive in a long time

Executive Director of the NGO Advocacy Center for Democratic Culture (ACDC) Dusan Radakovic said that the UNMIK report presented at the United Nations Security Council session was one of the most comprehensive and concrete to date, as it covered rights violations from March to the present, including the events at Gazivode and Gazimestan.

“UNMIK’s report has not been this realistic, accurate and comprehensive in a long time. I am referring primarily to rights violations from March to the present, including the events at Gazivode and Gazimestan, police conduct and torture in the north, as well as the closure of institutions and provisional bodies. I do not think UNMIK has produced such a comprehensive and concrete report in a long time, which was a pleasant surprise. Reports by EULEX were also cited at the session, as were findings by civil society, including those of us who contributed through various initiatives. I think the United Nations has finally presented a meaningful, useful and comprehensive report. Everything else was a political contest between Konjufca, who defended one side and portrayed it as the most democratic country in Europe, and Djuric, who, on the other hand, presented the opposing position and highlighted the violations that have taken place from March to the present,” Radakovic told Kosovo Online.

Speaking about what had changed compared with previous sessions, Radakovic said that there had been no significant changes and that differences within the international community remained evident.

“To be frank, not much has changed. Differences in the positions of the international community remain visible. I am referring primarily to US institutions, which want to bring the UN mission to an end to some extent or gradually transform it into a significantly smaller mission, primarily because of crises around the world and a lack of funding. On the other hand, China, Russia and other countries continue to invoke the establishment of the Community of Serb Municipalities, Resolution 1244 and other issues. These are topics that recur at every session. Nevertheless, as I said, the report was a pleasant surprise because it was more comprehensive and concrete, providing clear details about where the constitutional and legal rights of all citizens, and above all members of the Serbian community in the north, are being violated,” he said.

Radakovic expressed hope that yesterday’s session could lead to an improvement in the position of Serbs in Kosovo. He expects the international community to increase pressure on Pristina, particularly now that Kosovo’s institutions have been formed.

“I sincerely hope that this will happen because, as I said, this is a serious and strong report that was presented at a session of the United Nations Security Council attended by all of the world’s most powerful countries. I hope that the international community, primarily the European Union, but also US institutions, will finally, after two years and now that the institutions in Kosovo have been formed, exert significantly greater pressure on Pristina to implement numerous measures and laws,” Radakovic stressed.

He recalled that during the previous two years, as he put it, there had been no functioning government or institutions fully performing their duties, with governance instead being conducted on the basis of administrative instructions.

“In practical terms, for two years we did not have a government or institutions that were operating and functioning, but instead worked on the basis of those well-known administrative instructions. We now have a fully functioning government and a president, on whom the international community, primarily the European Union, could and should exert pressure, both regarding the rights of Serbs and human rights in Kosovo more broadly, Kosovo’s European path and the numerous laws that need to be adopted,” he said.

Radakovic expressed hope that, particularly if the war in Ukraine ended, there could be a turning point and an improvement in the situation in Kosovo. “I sincerely hope that, particularly if the war in Ukraine comes to an end, there will be a certain turning point in Kosovo and that the situation will improve,” Radakovic concluded.