July 14, 2000
Russia is arguing against U.N. plans to hold a supervised election in Kosovo, warning that deteriorating security conditions for Serbs prevent any vote from being free and fair. If the internationally monitored municipal elections go ahead this year, ethnic Albanian hard-liners will take power and the chance of creating a truly multiethnic and democratic Kosovo will be lost, Russia's U.N. Ambassador Sergey Lavrov told the Security Council Thursday.
The province's estimated 100,000 Serbs are boycotting the electoral process until the United Nations satisfies their demands for security against ethnic Albanian attacks and provides for the return of Serbs who fled when Yugoslav forces withdrew in June 1999 after a 78-day NATO bombing campaign. He warned that their non-participation ``would distort both the ethnic and the political picture in Kosovo.''
Russia has close cultural and religious ties with the Serbs and has been Yugoslavia's strongest supporter on the Security Council along with China, which also questioned whether elections could be held freely and safely when minorities in Kosovo are still subject to numerous and well-organized attacks.
With registration for the municipal elections set to end Saturday, Assistant Secretary-General Hedi Annabi told the Security Council that nearly 900,000 applications have been received. But despite intensive efforts by the U.N. mission which is administering Kosovo, the Serbs and much of Kosovo's Turkish population refuse to end their boycott, he said.
U.S. deputy ambassador James Cunningham said the United States believes ``the solution to violence lies in the political process'' and elections and a responsible government structure ``are the best way to temper passions.''
Kosovo's chief U.N. administrator, Bernard Kouchner, signed a regulation July 8 which gives him the authority to determine the date for the municipal elections after consulting Secretary-General Kofi Annan. It is widely expected to take place in October.
