Kosovo Message Board - Msg: 9630496

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : Kosovo

Public Reply Prvt Reply Mark as Last Read File

Previous 10 Next 10 Previous Next

To: The Philosopher who wrote (9135)	5/20/1999 3:42:00 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	of 17770

From a Dutch newswire... Air strikes: NATO bypasses UN Security Council by our US correspondent Reinout van Wagtendonk, 25 March 1999 The Security Council of the United Nations has largely been bypassed while the tensions over Kosovo and the killings and ethnic cleansing there mounted. In reaction to the NATO air strikes, Russia and China have immediately demanded a special meeting of the Security Council. In a careful statement, *Secretary General Kofi Annan first voiced cautious understanding* of NATO's action. Annan: "It is indeed tragic that diplomacy has failed. But there are times when the use of force may be legitimate in the pursuit of peace." Annan stated that the United Nations Charter does provide for the use of military force by regional alliances such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. But not without Security Council approval. Annan: "I have many times pointed out, not just in relation to Kosovo, that under the Charter the Security Council has primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security, and this is explicitly acknowledged in the North Atlantic treaty. Therefore the Council should be involved in any decision to resort to force." Russia angrily called for an emergency session of the Security Council. Russia's ambassador demanded "the immediate cessation of illegal military action." The Dutch representative in the Security Council is ambassador Peter van Walsum. He expressed his regrets for the Russian and Chinese point of view. Van Walsum: "The Russians and Chinese feel that this Nato intervention is unacceptable and it contravenes the rule that the UN must not intervene in the domestic jurisdiction of sovereign states. They made that very plain." Russia and China have veto power and so do the United States, France and the United Kingdom: all three leading Nato members. That means a stalemate in the Security Council over Kosovo. But Dutch ambassador Van Walsum does not believe that the impossibility of agreeing to a resolution to allow military intervention in a humanitarian catastrophe must mean inaction. Van Walsum: "If due to one or two permanent members rigid interpretation of the concept of domestic jurisdiction such a resolution is not attainable then we cannot simply sit back and let the humanitarian catastrophy occur. In such a situation we will look for the legal basis that we can find and what we find in this case is quite acceptable. It's a series of resolutions which make it plain that the situation in Kosovo is a threat to peace and security in the region." The Dutch UN ambassador also pointed out that a majority of Security Council members support the view of Nato**, not the view of Russia and China. Direct link: rnw.nl

Report TOU Violation

Share This Post

Public Reply Prvt Reply Mark as Last Read File

Previous 10 Next 10 Previous Next