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Pristina’s actions against UN mission member should be met with response — Russia’s MFA

A Russian staff member of UNMIK was declared undesirable by Kosovo authorities on Friday

MOSCOW, January 4. /TASS/. Moscow hopes that Pristina’s move against a representative of the UN mission in Kosovo will have a due response from the world organization’s leadership, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement on Tuesday after a UN mission member had been declared persona non grata.

"We expect that this arbitrariness of Pristina will receive a proper categorical response from the UN leadership. We call on the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the international Kosovo Peacekeeping Force (KFOR to ensure safety of the Russian and all other members of the UN mission, within their authority under the UN Security Council resolution," the diplomat said.

Zakharova pointed out that declaring a member of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo persona non grata is a continuation of the provocative line aimed at aggravating interethnic relations.

"We consider Pristina’s another stunt as a continuation of the provocative line for aggravation of interethnic relations in the province, discrediting the world organization and, last but not least, Russia’s constructive role in the Balkans. The Kosovo authorities are obviously determined to get rid of those who can objectively record Pristina’s destructive policy in the region’s Serb-populated areas," she said.

"We strongly condemn any attempts to limit the UN mission’s operation or 'squeeze it out' from Kosovo by taking aggressive steps that run counter to the spirit and letter of UN Security Council Resolution 1244," she added.

In addition, Zakharova said that "the international community’s response to the breach of the status of the staff members of the missions deployed by the UN Security Council around the world - from Africa and Europe to Asia and Latin America - should be clear and without double standards, fully consistent with the UN’s impartial approach to peace and security in conformity with the principles and purposes of the UN Charter."

A Russian staff member of UNMIK was declared undesirable by Kosovo authorities on Friday.

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