The presidency of the UN Security Council rotates by alphabetical order monthly. The USA’s new Ambassador to the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad, will preside over the UN SC in May.
The UK served as SC President in April — and took the 15 Council members on a trip to Kosovo that ended on Sunday. Belgium’s Ambassador Johan Verbeke spoke to the press in Kosovo and said that “the Security Council delegation saw in Kosovo a willingness to build a strong multiethnic society. Asked about divisions in the Council over Kosovo, he said there was enough potential for mutual confidence and cooperation to move towards the international community’s collective aim for Kosovo – namely a multiethnic society where everybody is at ease. Verbeke also said that there were no firm deadlines in the status process”.
In Washington today, the U.S. State Department spokesman was asked by a journalist about “an interview published today in which the Kosovar Foreign Minister said that he expected to declare — unilaterally declare — independence, before the end of the month unless there’s a — the Ahtisaari plan gets through the Security Council. Given Russia’s intention to veto –”
The State Department spokesman Sean McCormick replied: “Yeah. Well, I wouldn’t — you know, I’m not going to put words in the Russians’ mouths. I haven’t heard them say the word veto. But, look, you’re going to see a lot of, I expect, political brinksmanship in the region by — on the part of various actors in the Balkans in the coming months. These are significant stakes for the people of the region, for Kosovars, for the Serbs, for others in the region. We understand that. We believe the Ahtisaari plan is the right way forward and right now, we are going to be — or at the moment, we are working in the Security Council to bring about a change in the Security Council resolution so we can move this forward. It’s been too long. And we do believe that if a solution is not found in the near future, when you do have a risk of possibly inciting further violence in a region that has already seen far too much of it. So we want to be a responsible player in this and try to find the right kind of compromise of this. Not everybody’s going to be happy with all the compromises that are made, but we think that what Mr. Ahtisaari has outlined gives us the best possible way forward.
QUESTION: Do you see a lot of brinksmanship in coming months? Do you expect this process to last months
MR. MCCORMACK: Maybe over the next month or two”. (PB # 76 — released on April 30, 2007).