ADRESS

 

H.E.MR.SLOBODAN CASULE,

MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA

 

at

the Security Council Private Meeting

 

New York, 25 February 2002

 

Mr. President,

 

Since it is my first time to address this august body, I wish to take advantage of this opportunity to express my highest appreciation for the work the UN Security Council has been doing for the maintenance of international peace and security, and in particular for the peace and security in the troubled region of the Balkans, of which the Republic of Macedonia is an integral part.

I would also like to thank Mr. Hedi Annabi, Assistant Secretary General, for a very informative briefing on the situation and current activities of UNMIK and KFOR in Kosovo.  

Also, let me express on a personal note my thanks to you, Mr. President, for being able to accommodate the request for my participation in today’s meeting acting on a very short notice.

 

Mr. President,

 

The Government of the Republic of Macedonia welcomed the progress achieved in the stabilization of the situation in Kosovo with the promulgation of the Constitutional Framework for the provisional Self-Government and the successful holding of the Assembly elections on November 17th 2001 with the participation of all of Kosovo’s communities, as well as the inauguration on December 10th 2001 of the Assembly of the Province, which Secretary-General Mr. Kofi Annan rightfully called “a milestone on the road to democracy” in Kosovo. There are however, in our view, many obstacles on this road remaining for Kosovo to become a functional and truly democratic multiethnic society.

 

The Republic of Macedonia, being in the immediate neighborhood of Kosovo, has more than good reasons to be concerned for the delay in the establishment of the institutions of provisional self-government and thus paving the way for a gradual transfer of a number of authorities from UNMIK to those institutions, in accordance with the SC resolution 1244 (1999) and the Constitutional Framework for the provisional Self-Government. This is of particular importance for the strengthening of the sense of responsibility by the elected political leaders of Kosovo to ensure future for Kosovo as a fair society for all. 

 

We welcome the call made recently by the new Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UNMIK Mr. Michael Steiner, with whom I have established very good initial contacts, that Kosovo “…can only prosper if the neighborhood  prospers” and that ”..it is time to talk to Skopje and Tirana but particularly to Belgrade”.

It is our view, that there are a number of issues of common interest that require immediate attention and quick solutions if we want to prevent further spillover of instability to the neighborhood. My country endorses the Security Council presidential statement of February 13th of this year in condemning any attempts to undermine the fundamental importance of the rule of law in Kosovo’s political development, and calls once again on the UNMIK and KFOR to strengthen their efforts to fight extremism, violence and all kinds of crime, in particular organized crime. Organized crime knows no boundaries and ethnicity, but opts for a state of lawlessness as its harbor.

 

Mr. President,

 

Ever since the outburst of the crisis in the Republic of Macedonia in the beginning of last year and acting upon the request of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia, the Security Council remained actively seized of the matter. The resolutions 1345 (2001) and 1371 (2001) as well as the two Statements by the President of the Security Council of   March 7th and of August 13th 2001 all represent a strong testimony to the efforts the Security Council vested in reaffirming its commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Macedonia, identifying the sources of the crisis, rejecting the use of violence in pursuit of political aims, and supporting the Government of the Republic of Macedonia in its quest for peaceful political solutions to the current problems and implementation of the Framework Agreement of 13 August 2001.     

 

This said,

Mr. President,

 

I would like to draw your attention to the issue that, regretfully, has become an object of confusion, speculations and misinterpretation by some representatives of the international community i.e. the Agreement on the Delineation of the Borderline between the Republic of Macedonia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, signed in Skopje on February 23rd 2001 by the President of the Republic of Macedonia H.E. Mr. Boris Trajkovski, and the President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia H.E. Mr. Voislav Kostunica.

 

I would like to reiterate that the Republic of Macedonia categorically rejects any attempts to question the legality of this bilateral Agreement concluded freely between two Member States of the United Nations.

 

Two of the main organs of the United Nations have officially expressed their view on this Agreement. First, It was welcomed by the Security Council on March 7th 2001 in the Statement of the President on its behalf, emphasizing that it “…must be respected by all”. Second, It was also welcomed by the General Assembly in its resolution 56/18 of 29 November 2001 on the maintenance of the international security-good-neighborliness, stability and development of the South-Eastern Europe, adopted without a vote on the proposal by the Republic of Macedonia and co-sponsored by more than 40 Member States.

 

In addition, these days my country received assurances from the Secretary-General of the United Nations as well as from various representatives of the international community, that they all respect the Agreement.

 

I would like to stress that this Agreement is essentially of a technical nature, the purpose of which is to demarcate the already existing border between the Republic of Macedonia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It is by no means in contravention to the SC resolution 1244 (1999).

On the contrary, the Agreement is in full political and legal conformity with its terms, complementing and reinforcing the resolution, implementing it on the border. Furthermore, it is an essential prerequisite for achieving durable peace and stability in the region.

 

 The Agreement is yet to be implemented and the Republic of Macedonia is open towards workable solutions in that regard.

 

Therefore,

Mr. president,

 

A remaining concern, as a matter of urgency, is practical implementation of the Agreement and the staking out of the borderline, with the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo, KFOR, the newly established provisional institutions of self-government in Kosovo and all responsible authorities in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

This is of crucial importance in order to prevent that the issue of staking and the agreement itself be misused as pretexts for questioning the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the States involved as a step towards their revision, thus undermining our common efforts to build and consolidate democracy, most of all confidence in the new values we are promoting together with you, of which achieving negotiated and peaceful solutions to social misunderstandings and conflicts is paramount.           

 

I thank you, Mr. President.