Persona Non Grata Status Inapplicable to UN Staff, Dujarric Says Regarding Russian Member

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) - The "persona non grata" status cannot be applied to employees of the United Nations, Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said commenting on the situation with the Russian employee in Kosovo.

On Friday, self-proclaimed Kosovo declared a Russian employee of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) persona non grata, with Foreign Minister Dominika Gervalla-Schwarz claiming that the employee was involved in some "harmful activities."

"We have been made aware of the Kosovo authorities’ declaration as ‘persona non grata’ of a staff member of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo, UNMIK. No official communication has been received by the Mission from the Kosovo authorities with respect to this announcement. The doctrine of ‘persona non grata’ is not applicable to United Nations personnel and is not contemplated under UNMIK regulation 2000/47," Dujarric said in a Saturday statement.

He specified that the UNMIK regulation concerns the status, privileges and immunities of the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) and UNMIK and their personnel in Kosovo.

"Any concerns regarding a member of UNMIK personnel should be addressed to the mission leadership so that UNMIK can address the matter in line with the status, privileges and immunities of UNMIK and its personnel," Dujarric said.

The spokesperson emphasized that the United Nations is taking measures to ensure the safety of its personnel, particularly the Russian employee.

"UNMIK and UN headquarters are taking appropriate measures to ensure the safety of the staff member concerned and following up with relevant authorities on this matter," Dujarric said.

The Russian Embassy in Serbia said on Friday that Pristina’s decision to declared a Russian employee of the UNMIK persona non grata was an anti-Russian and anti-UN provocation "carried out to curry favor with Western mentors."

The embassy emphasized that it was expecting the UNMIK to give a "harsh and unambiguous" assessment of this decision and called on the regional UN offices to ensure safety of Russian employees.