Serbia requests extraordinary UN Security Council session on Kosovo

(Patria) - Serbia's Ambassador to the United Nations has submitted a request for an extraordinary session of the Security Council on Kosovo.

The request draws attention to the situation in Kosovo, which Serbia states is in sharp contrast to the UN Charter and UN Security Council Resolution 1244.

Serbia describes Kosovo's decision to abolish the dinar in circulation as illegal, assessing it as a "continuation of measures of brutal physical and institutional violence against Serbs," and that the goal is "ethnic cleansing and the disappearance of the Serbian population."

Tensions in Kosovo have been raised again following the decision of the Central Bank there that as of February 1st, the euro will be the only currency for payment transactions, meaning the abolition of the Serbian dinar.

Dinars have so far arrived in Kosovo from Serbia through the National Bank of Serbia, which has a treasury in Leposavić, a municipality with a Serb majority in the north of the country.

Dinars have so far been used by the Postal Savings Bank, NLB Commercial Bank, and the Public Enterprise Post of Serbia.

Such a decision by Kosovo has met with strong opposition from Belgrade, while the international community has asked the authorities in Pristina to postpone it.