The Albanian Ambassadors Council (AAC) has expressed deep concern over Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić’s recent statement that the Serbian authorities are considering diverting the course of the Ibar River and have engaged experts on the matter.
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According to the AAC, water resources and issues related to energy security and citizens’ well-being must not be turned into instruments of political pressure against the Republic of Kosovo.
The Council considers the Ibar River and the Ujman/Gazivoda system vital to Kosovo’s water supply, energy production, economic development and the lives of its citizens, regardless of their ethnicity.
Any unilateral action that would alter the river’s natural course and could have significant cross-border consequences must be examined with the utmost responsibility and in full compliance with international law, the AAC emphasized.
The Council recalled that international rules governing transboundary waters are based on the equitable and reasonable use of shared resources, the prevention of significant harm to other parties, cooperation between states and the exchange of information.
This framework also includes the obligation to provide prior notification and consultation on measures that may cause significant cross-border impacts, as well as the protection of ecosystems and the sustainable use of water resources.
These principles are enshrined, among other instruments, in the 1997 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses. They are also reflected in the 1992 UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes, which forms part of the international framework for the peaceful and sustainable management of shared water resources.
A project aimed at altering the course of a transboundary river that could seriously affect the water supply, energy, environment and economic life of another territory cannot be regarded as a purely domestic matter. It requires transparency, a comprehensive assessment of cross-border impacts, notification, consultations and cooperation with the affected parties, in accordance with the relevant norms and principles of international law.
The AAC considers the use of water or other vital resources as instruments of political pressure unacceptable. According to the Council, such an approach runs counter to the spirit of regional cooperation, good-neighborly relations and the principles that should guide the European future of the Western Balkans.
The Council called on President Vučić and the institutions of the Republic of Serbia to abandon any unilateral idea or action that could harm the water, energy, economic and environmental security of the Republic of Kosovo and its citizens.
At the same time, the AAC called on the European Union, the United States of America, the OSCE and other international partners to take Vučić’s statement seriously and demand transparency and official clarification from the Belgrade authorities as to whether there is any concrete project to alter the course of the Ibar River.
The Albanian Ambassadors Council stressed that water is a vital resource and should serve to unite, not divide, peoples. According to the Council, long-term peace and stability in the region cannot be built through threats or the use of natural resources as instruments of pressure, but through dialogue, cooperation, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the implementation of international law.
