S/PV.3911 Security Council

I should like to inform the Council that I have received letters from the representatives of Austria, Germany, Italy and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, in which they request to be invited to participate in the discussion of the item on the Council’s agenda. In conformity with the usual practice, I propose, with the consent of the Council, to invite those representatives to participate in the discussion, without the right to vote, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Charter and rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure. There being no objection, it is so decided.

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. The Security Council is meeting in accordance with the understanding reached in its prior consultations. Members of the Council have before them two reports of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP), documents S/1998/454 and corrigendum 1, and S/1998/644. Members of the Council also have before them document S/1998/668, which contains the text of a draft resolution submitted by France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Portugal, the Russian Federation, Sweden, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America. The first speaker inscribed on my list is the representative of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, to whom I give the floor.

Let me express the satisfaction of my delegation at seeing you, Sir, the representative of the Russian Federation, preside over the Security Council for the month of July. I can assure you that you can count on my delegation’s cooperation and support. Upon the instruction of my Government, I would like to state the following. The Council is about to take an important decision for the maintenance of peace and security in the region where my country, the Republic of Macedonia, is situated. On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Blagoj Handziski, in his letter dated 15 May 1998 addressed to the Secretary-General, stated the reasons for the request of my Government for the continuation of the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) mission beyond 31 August 1998, for a period of six months, with the same mandate, structure and proportion. Considering the further deterioration of the situation to the north of our borders, my Minister for Foreign Affairs, in his letter dated 9 July 1998 addressed to the Secretary-General, reiterated that the Government of the Republic of Macedonia has endorsed the option of an eventual increase in the military component, in cooperation with, and upon the agreement of the Macedonian authorities, maintaining the same mandate, structure and proportion, taking into account in particular the internal specifics of the country. The Minister of Foreign Affairs considers that the deliberations on reinforcing the Civilian Police with an additional 20 civilian policemen, in cooperation with, and upon the agreement of the authorities of the Republic of Macedonia, could be successful and could contribute to more efficient monitoring. We would like to express our gratitude for the presence of UNPREDEP in the Republic of Macedonia. We would like to emphasize that the mission has been a very successful one and has established an excellent cooperation with the Government, especially with the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the basis of its original mandate. The mission is generally viewed by the international community as one of the most successful United Nations missions. We welcome the recommendations of the Secretary- General contained in his report on UNPREDEP dated 14 July 1998 (S/1998/644), especially the recommendation to extend the mandate beyond 31 August 1998, for a further period of six months. I would like also to express the satisfaction of my delegation that all of my Government’s concerns were taken very seriously into consideration by the members of the Security Council and are embodied in the text of the draft resolution before the Council. I would like to express the gratitude of my Government to the Governments that have made their military, police and civilian personnel available to UNPREDEP and to the members of the Contact Group. I would like also to express my Government’s gratitude to the Secretary-General; the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Mr. Bernard Miyet; the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Mr. Henryk Sokalski; the Force Commander, Brigadier-General Bent Sohnemann; and all personnel of the mission. I would like to reiterate our commitment to further cooperation with the United Nations, and in this context with UNPREDEP, in order to maintain and strengthen international peace and security in the region.

I thank the representative of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia for the kind words he addressed to me. The next speaker on my list is the representative of Austria. I invite him to take a seat at the Council table and to make his statement. The European Union has consistently supported the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia as an important part of the international peace effort in the region. The deployment of United Nations troops to prevent an overspill of conflicts from neighbouring countries was a first in the history of United Nations peacekeeping activities and has proved to be a successful undertaking so far. The operation was initially intended to prevent a spillover from conflicts in the former Yugoslavia; last year its focus shifted towards the civil unrest in Albania. Today the focus has shifted again: the conflict in Kosovo poses a new, grave threat to peace and stability in the region. Today the Security Council, at the request of the Government of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, will extend the current mandate of UNPREDEP for a further six months and authorize the increase of its strength to 1,050 troops. The European Union welcomes these decisions and looks forward to further considerations by the Council on the full implementation of the Secretary-General’s recommendations contained in his report of 14 July 1998. The European Union is deeply concerned about the escalation of the conflict in Kosovo, which poses a serious threat to regional peace and security. The Union fully subscribes to the provisions of Security Council resolution 1160 (1998), which, inter alia, imposed an arms embargo on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In this context, UNPREDEP will play an important role in the monitoring of and reporting on illicit arms flows and other activities that are prohibited under Security Council resolution 1160 (1998). The Secretary-General’s proposal to also increase the number of military observers and civilian police within UNPREDEP will, in the opinion of the European Union, be a crucial aspect for the discharge of the tasks UNPREDEP is mandated with in view of the volatile and destabilizing situation created by the conflict in Kosovo.

It is my understanding that the Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution (S/1998/668) before it. Unless I hear any objection, I shall put the draft resolution to the vote now. There being no objection, it is so decided. I shall first give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements before the voting.

The threat of war in the Balkans is far from over. In spite of years of suffering and lost opportunities there is still a belief prevailing in the region that political goals can be achieved through the use of force. In the United Nations, we talk a lot about preventive action. In the Balkans, such action is needed. The positive experience of more than five years of United Nations preventive deployment in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia demonstrates that results that can be achieved with relatively limited resources if action is taken early enough. The Security Council’s decision of December 1992 to send United Nations troops to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to prevent spillover from the ongoing conflicts in other parts of the former Yugoslavia was the right step at the right time. The subsequent extensions of the mandate of the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) have also been highly justified by developments in the region, as was the case last year in Albania. Today the major threat to the stability of Macedonia emanates from the escalating conflict in neighbouring Kosovo. In the present situation, the international support for the sovereignty, stability and peace of Macedonia must be upheld and even strengthened. As a strong supporter of UNPREDEP and a troop contributor from the very beginning, Sweden welcomes the Secretary-General’s recommendations on the extension of the mandate and the strengthening of UNPREDEP. Sweden will continue to contribute to UNPREDEP. The draft resolution before us today has our full support. It will give UNPREDEP the additional capacity needed to intensify its monitoring activities, especially Sweden welcomes the intention stated in today’s draft resolution to consider further the recommendations of the Secretary-General, including a modest but strongly needed increase in the number of military observers and Civilian Police in the mission. We look forward to the Security Council’s reverting to this question in the near future. Finally, let me just say that Sweden fully associates itself with the statement just made by the Ambassador of Austria on behalf of the European Union.

The draft resolution submitted for action today will extend the mandate of the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) and will thus represent an important contribution to the maintenance of international peace and security in the Balkans. It is worth recalling on this occasion that UNPREDEP was established in 1992. The purpose of its establishment, as defined in resolution 795 (1992), was to prevent any developments which could undermine stability in Macedonia or threaten its territorial integrity. That was an important decision taken at a time when a large part of the region was destabilized and when the war against Bosnia and Herzegovina already represented a major threat to international peace and security. The decision to establish the first United Nations preventive deployment mission at that moment was timely, brave and wise. That decision once again confirmed that an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure, a lesson successfully tested in Macedonia and sadly neglected in some other situations in the region. The mandate of the mission has been clear: to prevent spillover from the armed conflicts in other parts of the region. The mission was initiated by the Government of Macedonia, a matter of considerable importance for its success. In the years following its establishment, UNPREDEP played an outstanding role in the stabilization of the situation along Macedonia’s northern and western borders, in deterring threats and preventing clashes and in generating dialogue among the ethnic communities in the We share the view expressed by the Secretary-General that peace and stability in Macedonia continue to depend largely on the developments in other parts of the region. The continued tension and conflict in the immediate vicinity of Macedonia could easily exacerbate its internal problems and could lead to the deterioration of inter-ethnic relations in the country. UNPREDEP should therefore continue its vitally important mission. It is timely and necessary that the Security Council take action now. Slovenia will vote in favour of the draft resolution before the Council.

The United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) has so far achieved impressive success in preventing the spillover of conflicts elsewhere in the region into the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. However, the current situation in Kosovo raises serious concern in terms of peace and security in the region, including Macedonia. My delegation therefore welcomes the recommendation of the Secretary-General to extend the mandate of UNPREDEP after 31 August of this year for an additional six months, primarily because of the situation in neighbouring Kosovo. My delegation also considers that UNPREDEP, with its increased strength, will have sufficient capability to play a significant role in a comprehensive regime to monitor the implementation of the arms embargo set out by Security Council resolution 1160 (1998). The Government of Japan is of the view that the effective prevention of the influx of weapons and armed personnel to Kosovo Albanians is as important as pressure on the authorities in Belgrade in order to stop the violence in Kosovo. My delegation therefore fully supports the recommendation of the Secretary-General to increase the strength of UNPREDEP. For these reasons, my delegation will vote in favour of the draft resolution now before us, which purports to enable UNPREDEP to further contribute to the maintenance of peace and stability in the region. I should like to take this opportunity to reiterate the basic position of my Government concerning the Kosovo crisis, which is so clearly reflected in the statement on The authorities in Belgrade must cease all actions by the security forces which affect the civilian population. They must enable unimpeded international monitoring in Kosovo and facilitate the return of refugees and displaced persons to their homes. They must also make substantial progress in the dialogue with the Kosovo Albanian leadership. At the same time, the Kosovo Albanians — who also share the responsibility for the immediate cessation of hostilities — must make very clear their rejection of violence and acts of terrorism. As is mentioned in the London statement, a political dialogue is unlikely to take root if violence continues to be espoused by members of the Kosovo Albanian community. I should like to close by expressing the deep appreciation of my Government to all the men and women working for UNPREDEP for their efforts and dedication in carrying out their important mission.

The most recent reports on the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia contain both reassuring and disturbing assessments of the situation. On the one hand, it is stressed that UNPREDEP has had a stabilizing role that has successfully contributed to preventing the spillover of the conflict. On the other hand, tensions in neighbouring countries continue to give rise to serious concern. The instability across the northern border of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia argues in favour of the continued deployment of UNPREDEP, in line with the wishes expressed by Minister for Foreign Affairs Blagoj Handziski in his letters to the Secretary-General and as proposed by the Secretary-General in his latest report. The tasks entrusted to UNPREDEP in the draft resolution on which we are about to take action include monitoring the border areas and reporting on any developments which could pose a threat to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, including reporting on illicit arms flows and other activities that are prohibited under resolution 1160 (1998). We note with satisfaction that the authorities in Skopje have informed the Committee established by It is also worth pointing out that the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Greece and of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia met in Athens on 23 June — an event which deserves to be highlighted for its intrinsic importance — and that they called for a peaceful solution to the Kosovo crisis. We welcome these statements as a sign of moderation that might hopefully be followed in the region so that all peoples in the Balkans are given the chance they await to reconstruct their lives in an atmosphere of increasing mutual tolerance. UNPREDEP is being strengthened and its duration extended for another semester beyond the date that had been initially foreseen for its termination on the basis of the need to avoid the so-called spillover of conflict from neighbouring areas and of the apprehension that the situation to the north might further deteriorate. This being the case, it is only fair to expect that the Security Council’s consideration of the future of UNPREDEP and of the situation in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia will benefit in time from as clear and precise information as can be made available on the impact that various diplomatic initiatives are having on the stabilization of the areas beyond its borders.

China has always been much concerned about developments in the area of the former Yugoslavia, and has always supported the efforts of the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) to prevent the spillover of the conflict in the area of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. We greatly appreciate the close cooperation and consultations that have taken place between UNPREDEP and the Government of Macedonia, and the role that UNPREDEP has played in stabilizing the situation in Macedonia. As a matter of principle, China has always been of the view that United Nations peacekeeping operations should have both a proper beginning and a proper conclusion. However, taking into account the request by Macedonia and the concern expressed by other countries of the area, we shall not object to the Secretary-General’s recommendation on the further extension of the mandate of UNPREDEP. We have taken note of the recommendation of the Secretary-General relating to the adjustment of UNPREDEP’s mandate to enable it to be responsible for monitoring the border areas between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Albania. We hope that this adjustment will help effectively to contain illicit arms flows and terrorist activities in the region. On the basis of that consideration, and in the overall interest of maintaining peace and stability in the area, we shall not object to the adjustment of the mandate of UNPREDEP, and will vote in favour of the draft resolution before us. At the same time, I wish to note that this vote by the Chinese delegation does not constitute any change in its position of principle with respect to resolutions 1101 (1997), 1114 (1997) and 1160 (1998), to which reference is made in the draft resolution.

The United States strongly supports this draft resolution to extend the current mandate of the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP). UNPREDEP has been and continues to be an extraordinarily successful mission. During the past six years, the United Nations presence there has helped to guard against the spillover of the tension and conflict so pervasive in many other parts of the Balkan region. Despite this success, however, UNPREDEP’s mission is not over. In nearby Kosovo, Belgrade has failed to fulfil the calls of the international community to cease action against the civilian population, return forces to barracks, and begin meaningful negotiations on an enhanced status and a substantially greater degree of autonomy for Kosovo. This in turn has led to a deteriorating situation in Kosovo that threatens regional stability. The current crisis in Kosovo reinforces the need for an increase in and extension of UNPREDEP’s current mandate. The current mandate calls for UNPREDEP to monitor the border areas and report any developments which could pose a threat. The mandate also provides for The undemarcated border with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia also presents a serious ongoing problem, and we call on both Belgrade and Skopje to resolve this issue as soon as possible. The Albanian situation is now more stable, and there is good cooperation between Tirana and Skopje. Nevertheless, UNPREDEP plays a still-important role in helping to bolster confidence along their common border. Today we are not only renewing UNPREDEP’s current mandate but also increasing UNPREDEP’s troop strength by 300 troops. By restoring UNPREDEP troop numbers to their previous levels, we are highlighting our commitment to the mission and to stability in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. We do not exclude consideration of a further increase if the situation in the region requires it. We look forward to the day when Skopje will be able to provide completely for the defence of its national borders. For now, however, UNPREDEP’s presence under its continued mandate remains essential. Finally, we would like to acknowledge the contributions of the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of UNPREDEP, Mr. Henryk J. Sokalski, and the UNPREDEP Force Commander Brigadier-General Bent Sohnemann, as well as the dedication of the men and women of UNPREDEP.

I shall now make a statement in my capacity as the representative of the Russian Federation. The Russian delegation shares the view expressed by the Secretary-General in his last two reports on the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) that the continuing complex situation in Kosovo, Serbia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, makes it advisable to extend the mandate of that operation. But it is clear to us that the direct reason prompting the members of the Security Council to adjust the Council’s decision on terminating UNPREDEP after 31 August relates to resolution 1160 (1998), which authorized the imposition of an arms To date, unfortunately, we have no reliable mechanism for monitoring the prohibitions established by resolution 1160 (1998); this has a negative influence on the situation in Kosovo itself, and on the overall stability of the region. We believe that UNPREDEP can and should make a useful, practical contribution to carrying out monitoring functions in line with resolution 1160 (1998). An appropriate provision, based on the recommendation of the Secretary-General, has been included in the draft resolution before the Council today, which clearly states that the tasks of UNPREDEP will include “monitoring and reporting on illicit arms flows and other activities that are prohibited under resolution 1160 (1998).” (S/1998/668, para. 1) In practice, this very important provision should mean primarily a more direct, better focused monitoring of the arms embargo in the Kosovo direction, including in particular the initiation of more intensive patrol procedures in the border areas. There is clearly an urgent need to reach a speedy, effective conclusion of this task, given the ongoing delivery of supplies from external sources to the Kosovo terrorists, primarily in the form of arms and money, despite all the demands of the Security Council and of the international community. It is precisely in the context of UNPREDEP’s monitoring tasks under resolution 1160 (1998) that it is advisable to consider increasing the troop strength of the Force, with most of the additional contingent being deployed on Kosovo’s border with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, as well as on its border with Albania. The draft resolution provides for returning the strength of UNPREDEP’s military component to its previous level of 1,050 troops. At the same time, it expresses the Council’s readiness to consider further the recommendations contained in the Secretary-General’s recent report on UNPREDEP, in particular the possibility of increasing the size of the military observer and Civilian Police components. We are open to a constructive solution to this question. The Russian Federation will support the draft resolution on extending UNPREDEP’s mandate and I now resume my functions as President of the Security Council. I now put to the vote the draft resolution contained in document S/1998/668.

There were 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 1186 (1998). The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on its agenda.