Statement by H.E.Mr.Srgjan Kerim,PhD Permanent Representative of

the Republic of Macedonia to the United Nations at the Security

Council resolutions 1160(1998),1199(1998),1203(1998),1239(1999),

and 1244(1999),New York,5 September 2002

Mr. President,

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to address the Security Council. Mr. Minister, I would like to join previous speakers who have expressed their appreciation for your presidency over this Security Council meeting, Sir. This fact represents a confirmation of the active approach and importance that Bulgaria attaches to the situation in the region.

I would also like to thank Assistant Secretary General Mr. Annabi for his very informative briefing on the situation and current activities of UNMIK and KFOR in Kosovo. From what we have heard today, UNMIK and KFOR are clearly achieving important results in spite of the significant problems that they are facing daily and will be facing in the future.

The Government of the Republic of Macedonia gives full support to the efforts and activities undertaken by the UNMIK and KFOR in Kosovo, FR Yugoslavia, aiming at further improvement of the overall situation by working together with the Kosovo provisional institutions of self-government, in ensuring implementation of the resolution 1244 (1999), building a democratic society, with respect to all human rights and freedoms. We would also like to express our appreciation for the work done by SRSG Mr. Steiner, and our support for the implementation of his policy of benchmarks which is in full accordance with what the distinguish representative of UK called “standards before status approach”.

Mr. President,

The Republic of Macedonia is fully committed to cooperation with UNMIK and KFOR in ensuring the implementation of these objectives. The Government of the Republic of Macedonia on its session two days ago has assessed and endorsed the Agreement on cooperation between UNMIK police and the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Macedonia. Conclusion of this Agreement will have enormous significance for promotion and development of cooperation between UNMIK police and Macedonian Ministry of Interior in combating organized crime, terrorism, illegal trafficking in arms, drugs and people, and money laundering.

On the border issue, the Macedonian Government has worked closely with UNMIK in order to undertake concrete steps that will facilitate movements of the farmers in the border area and cultivation of their lands. This is in full accordance with agreement reached between President of the Republic of Macedonia, Boris Trajkovski and SRSG M. Steiner aimed to find practical solutions for this problem. As a result, we have agreed to open new border crossings, as mentioned in the intervention of ASG Annabi, and we have established a temporary procedure to be applied, pending the finalization of the ongoing process of demarcation and delineation of the border between the Republic of Macedonia and FR Yugoslavia.

Mr. President,

We welcome the prompt and decisive action of SRSG M. Steiner, with regard to the recent arrests of former KLA members by UN police in Kosovo. The political authorities of the Republic of Macedonia give full support to UNMIK and KFOR in their endeavors to put an end to the activities of the people and organizations in Kosovo that use violence in pursuit of their political goals, regardless of their ethnic, national, or political affiliation, especially because their extremist agenda is not only limited to Kosovo. We believe that all neighboring countries should pursue this. To our great disappointment, the Kosovo provisional institutions of self-government issue statements opposed to the intention of UNMIK and KFOR to uphold the rule of law in Kosovo. These public statements only stray the local Kosovo authorities from their true goals and do not contribute to the overall stabilization of Kosovo and achievement of the benchmarks, as well as to the spirit of regional cooperation, which should bring us altogether closer to European integration.

Mr. President,

At the end, I would like to reaffirm the valuable contribution of the Security Council in upholding the security of my country in the process of overcoming the crisis that the Republic of Macedonia has been faced with in the course of the last year. In this regard, acknowledging the United Nations’ continuous policy of decisive and consistent action for preventing instability and conflicts in the region and for ensuring peace and security in South Eastern Europe, I would like to make use of this opportunity to once again mention the Security Council resolutions 1345 (2001) and 1371 (2001), as well as statements of its President of March 7, 2001, March 16, 2001 and August 13, 2001, that substantially contributed to this end.

Thank you for your attention.