UNITED NATIONS, March 23 (RIA Novosti) - Serbian President Boris Tadic and Kosovan Foreign Minister Skender Hyseni took part on Monday in an open session of the UN Security Council on the situation in Kosovo.
The meeting is dedicated to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's report on the United Nations mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), which holds a neutral stance in regard to Kosovo's independence.
Tadic said he did not share the secretary general's optimistic evaluations of the situation in Kosovo.
"The Serbs in Kosovo have no security, no freedom of movement, no rule of law, no electricity, and no water. In short, the respect of basic civilized norms is denied to them," Tadic said in his opening statement.
Neither the Serbian president nor the United Nation recognizes Kosovo's representative at the meeting as foreign minister as neither Serbia nor the UN has recognized Kosovo as an independent state.
"The Republic of Serbia supports new negotiations on Kosovo's future status," Tadic said. "Serbia will never recognize the independence of Kosovo, either directly or indirectly."
Russia's envoy to the UN said all forms of the international presence in Kosovo should be streamlined under the aegis of UNMIK to improve the lot of the Serbian minority in the region.
"The only chance to normalize the situation in Kosovo is to preserve the UN mission in Kosovo and to streamline under its aegis... the activity of the OSCE, EU and NATO missions," Vitaly Churkin said. "The UN mission should retain not only its coordination and political, but also administrative functions."
Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in February 2008, but has only been recognized by 56 of the 192 UN member states.
