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At UN, Serbian Vote, FYROM-ic Name Game, Iceland's Meltdown and Austria's Rightward Drift

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis

UNITED NATIONS, October 8 -- As the General Assembly prepared to vote on Serbia's resolution to get an International Court of Justice opinion on the legality of Kosovo's declaration of independence, polling conducted by Inner City Press found passage of the resolution virtually assured, with twenty-some European Union countries expected to abstain. How this and the no votes -- which we'll report later on this site -- are consistent with respect for international law is not clear. South African Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo stopped to tell Inner City Press that the ICJ is part of the UN system, every member state has a right to ask for an opinion.

  Meanwhile, as the October 17 vote for new Security Council members approaches, the Western Europe and Other group troika continue to jostle for the two slots.  The Ambassador of a Permanent Five member opined that Iceland's financial meltdown might hurt its chances. This may be even more true if it is Russia which become the primary, $4 billion lender to Iceland. Then again, Turkey has Cyprus and Austria, he said, has troubling right-wing developments. In fact, UN staffers in Vienna have expressed fear and trembling to Inner City Press; what USG Costa is going about these concerns is not clear, these staffers say. Some hearken back to Kurt Waldheim.

Kurt Waldheim in Lebanon, FYROM issue not yet shown

  Iceland has continued its campaign, putting out flyers and DVDs in the UN cafeteria and Delegates' Dining Room, where an Icelandic Cuisine festival is running from October 6 through October 17, the day of the vote. Iceland's Ambassador told Inner City Press he's hopeful. Then the financial news got worse.

  Wednesday in front the Security Council, tireless and now bandaged UN mediator Matthew Nimitz spoke to a dozen Greek reporters about his newest proposal to solve the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia name issue. "How about Northern Macedonia?" one reporter shouted out. Nimitz refused to take the bait. He said he's been on the issue for between ten and fifteen years.  Greece's former UN Ambassador told the reporters, pointed at Nimitz, "He's not dead, don't predict what he will do." Nimitz signed that he doesn't have the power of Solomon, to cut the issue, or in this case the name, in half.  And so it goes at the UN.

Footnote: Catch this reporter today on Icelandic television, www.ruv.is

Watch this site, and this Oct. 2 debate, on UN, bailout, MDGs.

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These reports are usually also available through Google News and on Lexis-Nexis.

Click here for a Reuters AlertNet piece by this correspondent about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click here for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali National Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an undefined trust fund.  Video Analysis here

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