Kosovo
Security Council on Kosovo: US calls for UNMIK to close, Konjufca urges UN membership
At Tuesday's session in New York, Deputy Prime Minister Konjufca criticized the UNMIK report, while Serbian minister Gjuriq spoke of pressure on Serbs. The EU said Kallas is ready for a high-level meeting.
By ANN Newsroom · Newsroom
October 20, 2026, 22:00 · Updated 12:22 · 2 min read
In brief
- US representative Tammy Bruce said UNMIK has outlived its purpose and no longer has a place in Kosovo.
- Glauk Konjufca called for an affirmative agenda that opens the way to Kosovo's UN membership and said the verdict against former KLA leaders contains factual errors.
- Britain called on Serbia to bring Milan Radoiçiq to justice for the Banjska attack.
The UN Security Council met on Tuesday evening, at 9 p.m. Kosovo time, to review the semiannual report of UNMIK head Peter Due. Kosovo was represented by First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Glauk Konjufca, and Serbia by Foreign Minister Marko Gjuriq.
Washington: UNMIK should close
The strongest statement came from US deputy representative Tammy Bruce, who called for the mission to be shut down. According to her, UNMIK is overstaffed, has no peacekeepers and no longer plays a meaningful role in governance, while its remaining tasks could be better carried out by KFOR, the EU and the OSCE. She said progress must come from Pristina and Belgrade, not from the Security Council, and that the inability to review the mission's open-ended mandate shows the system is not working well.
Konjufca: Time for UN membership
Konjufca questioned why Kosovo continues to be discussed in the Council and asked that UNMIK's resources be used to bring Kosovo closer to the UN system. He recalled the International Court of Justice's opinion that the declaration of independence did not violate international law. He called the report selective, said the Specialist Chambers do not stem from Resolution 1244 and that the verdict against former KLA leaders contains errors of fact and substance, which he hopes will be corrected on appeal. He demanded accountability for the attacks in Banjska and Ibër-Lepenc and spoke of discrimination against Albanians in the Presheva Valley, who according to Serbia's 2022 census make up 71% of the population there.
Gjuriq complained of pressure on Serbs in the north, criticized the reactions of Pristina and Tirana to the Kosovo Specialist Chambers' ruling and said that establishing the fate of the missing cannot depend on political negotiations. In Kosovo, 1,577 people are still missing.
Britain, the EU and France
British representative Jennifer MacNaughtan called on Serbia to bring Milan Radoiçiq to justice, recalled the killing of Sgt. Afrim Bunjaku and called for archives on the missing to be opened. She welcomed the formation of institutions in Kosovo. The EU said High Representative Kaja Kallas is ready to convene a high-level Kosovo–Serbia meeting if there is willingness on both sides, while France backed UNMIK's work alongside KFOR and EULEX. Peter Due urged the parties to engage in dialogue and welcomed the election of the president.
