Former Yugoslavia.

The Security Council on 15 June extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH) for one year, until 21 June 1999, and authorized Member States, acting through or in cooperation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), to continue the multinational Stabilization Force (SFOR) for a further 12 months.

By unanimously adopting resolution 1174 (1998), the Council also decided that the civilian police component of UNMIBH - the International Police Task Force (IPTF) - should continue its tasks pertaining to the inter-entity boundary line and related matters, as set out in the General Framework Agreement on Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, signed in 1995 in Dayton, Ohio.

Determining that the situation in the region continued to constitute a threat to international peace and security, the Council authorized the Member States concerned with SFOR to effect the implementation of, and ensure compliance with, Annex 1-A of the Peace Agreement, which spelled out the military aspects of the peace settlement. It stressed that the parties should continue to be held equally responsible for compliance with the Annex and be subject to enforcement action by SFOR.

The Bosnian authorities were asked to cooperate with SFOR to ensure the effective management of the airports, as the Council demanded that the parties respect the security and freedom of movement of SFOR and other international personnel.

In reiterating that the primary responsibility for the success of the peace process lay with the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Council underlined the importance of cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, including the surrender for trial of all persons indicted by the Tribunal and the provision of information to assist in Tribunal investigations.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 10 June, in recommending the extension of UNMIBH for another year, observed that such action would be a demonstration by the international community of its long-term commitment the peace process in Bosnia.

Mr. Annan said he had been informed by NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana that NATO military authorities developed an operational plan for the continuation of a multinational force in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which had been endorsed by the Foreign Ministers of NATO's member States on 28 May. The plan, built on the success of SFOR, had the same unity of command, the same robust rules of engagement and similar composition and size. It would continue to provide broad support for the implementation of the civil aspects of the Framework Agreement.

On 21 May, the Security Council authorized an increase in the strength of the IPTF by 30 posts, to a total of 2,057 monitors, to carry out new intensive training programmes for the local police in a number of specialized fields.

By unanimously adopting resolution 1168 (1998), the Council also agreed to consider expeditiously a UNMIBH-led court monitoring programme as part of an overall programme of legal reform, and asked the Secretary-General to submit recommendations on the "possibility of using locally hired personnel as far as is practical, as well as of voluntary funding". It also recognized that establishing an indigenous public security capability was essential to strengthening the role of law in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Secretary-General on 20 May, in welcoming the four religious leaders of Bosnia and Herzegovina at their interreligious dialogue at Headquarters, congratulated them on "this remarkable act of healing and reconciliation", and urged them to meet many more times in Bosnia so that the people could see that coexistence was not only necessary but possible.

"Your mission has a special place in the hearts of all of us here at the United Nations who sought to end the war in Bosnia", he stated. "For too long during Bosnia's dark days of war, religion was used not to unite, but to divide; not to teach mercy, but to incite hatred; not to resolve differences peacefully, but to make those differences the cause of conflict."

On 16 July, the Security Council approved the establishment of a programme to monitor and assess the court system in Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of an overall programme of legal reform, as outlined by the Office of the High Representative.

In unanimously adopting resolution 1184 (1998), the Council also requested the authorities in Bosnia to cooperate fully with the court monitoring programme and instruct their respective officials to provide their full support.

UNMOP extended

The Security Council on 15 July authorized the United Nations Mission of Observers in Prevlaka (UNMOP) to continue monitoring the demilitarization of the Prevlaka peninsula until 15 January 1999, and reiterated its call on the Republic of Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) to cease all violations of the demilitarization regime there.

By unanimously adopting resolution 1183 (1998), the Council also called upon the parties to take further steps to reduce tension and improve safety and security in the area. In that regard, the Council noted the Secretary-General's positive assessment of recent developments, including the Croatian initiative for a final resolution of the disputed issue of Prevlaka and the proposal from the FRY on a permanent settlement of the issue.

The Secretary-General on 26 June had reported that both parties continued to indicate, in their contacts with UNMOP, that they retained divergent interpretations of the Prevlaka dispute: for Croatia, it was a security issue, whereas the FRY regarded it as a territorial issue.

As the military threat had decreased, there were increased difficulties of a civilian nature, such as claims by local landowners and fishermen to make commercial use of parts of the UN-controlled zone, he added.

The Security Council on 2 July called on the Government of Croatia to "improve police response to ethnically-related incidents, evictions and housing intimidation cases and to take measure to strengthen public confidence in the police, including through public information and police prevention action."

Through a statement by its President, Sergey V. Lavrov of the Russian Federation, the Council also expressed its grave concern that large number of Serb residents and displaced persons had emigrated from Croatia since late 1996, "mainly because of continued security incidents, ethnically-related intimidation, a dire economic situation, bureaucratic hurdles, discriminatory legislation and a stalled return programme". A continuation of that trend could have a seriously negative effect on the restoration of a multi-ethnic society in Croatia, the Council stated.

UNPREDEP extended, reinforced

On 21 July, by reaffirming its commitment to the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), the Security Council extended the current mandate of the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) for a further six months, until 28 February 1999, and authorized an increase in its troop strength by 350 all ranks, up to 1,050.

In unanimously adopting resolution 1186 (1998), the Council also decided that UNPREDEP would continue by its presence to deter threats and prevent clashes, monitor the border areas and report to the Secretary-General any developments which could threaten the FYROM, including on illicit arms flows and other activities prohibited under resolution 1160 (1998).

In resolution 1186 (1998), the Council also expressed its intention to consider further the Secretary-General's recommendation to increase the strength of the military observers and the civilian police elements of UNPREDEP by an additional 12 and 24 personnel, respectively, in order to intensify community and border patrols, as well as to monitor and report on the situation at border crossings.

In his reports of 1 June and 14 July, the Secretary-General said that the fulfilment of the Force's mandated tasks along the borders with Albania and the FRY had already stretched to the limit the reduced strength of the operation. As a result, following the deterioration of the situation in Kosovo, UNPREDEP had not been able to maintain an extensive presence along that stretch of the border for a sustained period of time without jeopardizing implementation of its other tasks.

Kosovo

The Secretary-General on 19 June stated that he continued to closely follow the situation in Kosovo - a mostly Albanian-populated province of Serbia. He welcomed the efforts being made at the international level by President Boris Yeltsin of the Russian Federation and others to bring about a diplomatic solution to that conflict.

In expressing his hope that those efforts would be successful, "thus, eliminating the need for the use of force", the Secretary-General urged the parties to "urgently pursue negotiations with a view to bringing this tragic conflict to an immediate conclusion".

Six United Nations agencies on 16 June appealed for $18 million to assist tens of thousands of refugees from Kosovo and the local communities which were hosting them in the Balkans.

"While we hope for a peaceful resolution of the Kosovo crisis, we must be ready for even a larger number of refugees", said High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata, whose agency was leading the Kosovo relief effort.