UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- The top UN envoy for Kosovo on Friday stressed the importance of dialogue between the interlocutors over Kosovo.

"Dialogue can and should be the mechanism used to avoid the dangers which are less often visible, but just as real as they have been during these past 20 years," said Zahir Tanin, the UN secretary-general's special representative and head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo. "History in the region has tragically and repeatedly shown that ostensibly small incidents, misreading of intentions, and outright mistakes can trigger an unstable security escalation that puts lives at risk and benefits no one."

Tanin briefed the Security Council on escalations in the past weeks in Serb-dominant northern Kosovo, where the Kosovo authorities' police operations led to security incidents due to lack of prior communication.

International actors welcomed the recent encounter between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Albin Kurti, the head of government of Kosovo, on Oct. 6 during the EU-Western Balkans Summit in the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, he said. "Still, it would be premature and overly optimistic to say that we can see a resumption of real commitment to the dialogue, which remains the only forum in which responsible and result-oriented discussions can continue."

At the end of the Kosovo War in 1999, Kosovo, a Serbian province dominated by ethnic Albanians, was placed under transitional UN administration by the Security Council. It declared independence from Serbia in February 2008. Kosovo's independence is partially recognized by the international community.

"What I noticed and heard in my meetings with representatives of the international powers represented in this (Security) Council is that despite the other differences, they do clearly share an understanding that there is no reasonable alternative to sustained engagement in dialogue. This is a minimum, to help avert the retrograde potential exhibited these past weeks. It is important, further, to support all initiatives that may help to promote responsible relations among all the neighbors in the Western Balkans," he added.

Trust continues to be the element in shortest supply: trust in good faith negotiations, trust between representatives and their constituencies, and trust in the institutions that are established to deliver both, said Tanin.

A facilitated agreement on paper is a vital objective. But having a paper in hand does not equate to having a solution in hand. Those who could exert more influence on negotiating parties to succeed are mostly worn out by tired arguments and nationalist political sloganeering. This is true in Kosovo, it is true in Serbia, and it is true across the entire region, he warned.

Rebuilding trust demands a sincere approach to the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue process, as well as building an encouraging atmosphere among the different communities within Kosovo. Dealing maturely and responsibly with the past is a precondition for stability, which includes avoiding the instrumentalization of divisive ethno-nationalist themes for political advantage, he said. Enditem

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