UN's Kosovo envoy voices
concern at apparent attack on monastery
31 March 2007 – The senior United Nations envoy to Kosovo
has voiced concern about a recent apparent attack on the Deçan/Deæani
monastery, which he said holds great value for the province's
Serb community, currently outnumbered nine to one by the ethnic
Albanian majority.
On Friday afternoon, a grenade
launcher was found on the hillside overlooking the monastery,
and a rocket engine was discovered lodged in one of its outer
walls, according to the UN Interim Administration Mission in
Kosovo (UNMIK). This follows reports of two explosive noises
heard by the monks on Friday.
The Police and KFOR international
forces “are investigating what exactly happened yesterday,”
said Joachim Rücker, the Secretary-General's Special Representative
for Kosovo.
“Violence, especially
directed at minority communities, is intolerable and impermissible
and has no place in Kosovo,” he declared.
“The Deæani monastery
is a place of immense spiritual importance for the Kosovo Serb
community and a treasure for the people of Kosovo and beyond.
I expect quick results from the ongoing investigation.”
The province has been
run by the UN since Western forces drove out Yugoslav troops
in 1999 amid fighting and ethnic abuses. A UN envoy on Kosovo's
status, Martti Ahtisaari, has presented a report to the Security
Council which says that independence is the only option that
will foster a politically stable and economically viable Kosovo.
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Big
Bird and Cookie Monster join UN in teaching Kosovo’s children
tolerance
27 March 2007 – Big Bird, Cookie Monster and Oscar the
Grouch are playing their part in bridging the ethnic and linguistic
divide in Kosovo, teaching tolerance to children in the Albanian-majority
Serb province in a United Nations-backed project that adapts
the world famous Sesame Street programme to local needs.
“With Rruga Sesam/Ulica
Sezam, we aim to fill in the big educational gap at early ages,”
UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) country chief Robert Fuderich
said of the television programme, which uses the Albanian and
Serb words for what is hoped to be a common street in a province
that was torn apart by bitter ethnic fighting eight years ago.
With the help of Sesame Street,
Kosovo’s Albanian and Serbian children are now exposed
to each other’s language, culture and traditions.
The show, a joint initiative
of UNICEF, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE), the United States Agency for International Development
(USAID), the Swedish Agency for Development Cooperation (SIDA)
and the Sesame Street Workshop, is the first locally produced
educational media initiative in the area, and the first to provide
children of diverse ethnic backgrounds with age-appropriate
messages encouraging respect for each other.
“The new season of Sesame
Street will reinforce the message to children and parents from
different ethnic communities in Kosovo that there are children
‘on the other side of the hill’ who speak a different
language and have different cultural traditions and beliefs,”
Mr. Fuderich said of the latest 26 half-hour episodes that started
last year.
Sesame Street Kosovo is based
on existing segments from Sesame Workshop’s international
library, combined with locally produced live action films that
are incorporated into the television series. These two-minute
films depict the everyday lives of children from a variety of
backgrounds and provide a window through which viewers can learn
about the traditions and experiences of others.
In addition, UNICEF is also
producing a second round of outreach materials for use in a
variety of learning environments to extend the educational messages
of the series to Kosovo’s most remote areas.
The project began in December
2004 with 52 episodes dubbed into Albanian and Serbian. Outreach
materials were produced and distributed in communities for home-based
early childhood education activities. Particular focus was placed
upon newly literate mothers who used the outreach materials
with their children.
The UN has run Kosovo
since Western forces drove out Yugoslav troops in 1999 amid
ethnic fighting and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special
Envoy for the province’s future status, Martti Ahtisaari,
has proposed independence with an initial period of international
supervision, decentralization and strong safeguards for minority
rights.
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UN
envoy on Kosovo’s status says ‘independence is the
only option’
26 March 2007 – The only viable option for Kosovo is independence,
with an initial period of supervision by the international community,
the senior United Nations official overseeing the Serbian province’s
future status process has concluded in a report endorsed by
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and sent today to the Security
Council.
Martti Ahtisaari, the Secretary-General’s
Special Envoy for the future status process for Kosovo, stated
that independence is the only way to ensure the province –
where ethnic Albanians outnumber Serbs and other minorities
by nine to one – becomes politically stable and economically
viable.
Kosovo’s Government
and Serbia have been unable to reach any agreement over what
should happen, even on smaller, practical issues, Mr. Ahtisaari
said, despite his efforts over the past year to broker a compromise.
He warned that the continuing uncertainty is threatening democratic
development and ethnic reconciliation.
“Such uncertainty only
leads to further stagnation, polarizing its communities and
resulting in social and political unrest,” the envoy wrote.
“Pretending otherwise and denying or delaying resolution
of Kosovo’s status risks challenging not only its own
stability but the peace and stability of the region as a whole.”
Calling Kosovo “a unique
case that demands a unique solution,” Mr. Ahtisaari said
an international civilian and military presence is necessary
as part of the settlement, focused on such areas as minority
community rights, the rule of law, decentralization and the
protection of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
Under his Comprehensive Proposal,
once the Council endorsed his settlement plan and it entered
into force, there would be a 120-day transition period during
which the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK)
– which has run the province since mid-1999 when Western
forces drove out Yugoslav troops amid fierce fighting and human
rights abuses – would remain in charge.
An International Civilian
Representative, who would be appointed by an international steering
group and act also as the European Union (EU) Special Representative,
would have no direct role in Kosovo’s administration but
would hold ultimate supervisory power over the implementation
of the settlement.
The civilian representative
would have the power to annul laws or decisions by Kosovo authorities
and the right to punish or remove officials whose actions he
or she deemed inconsistent with the settlement, and would work
until the steering group determined that Kosovo had implemented
the terms of the settlement.
The Kosovo Assembly, working
with the civilian representative, would approve a new constitution
and any legislation necessary under the settlement. These would
take effect at the end of the transition period, when UNMIK’s
powers would expire and be transferred to Kosovo’s authorities.
Within nine months of the
settlement entering into force, Kosovo would also be required
to hold general and local elections.
A series of constitutional
and legislative provisions would be introduced to ensure that
minority rights are protected and other interests upheld. Albanian
and Serbian would both be official languages, while other community
languages such as Turkish, Bosnian and Roma would have the status
of languages in official use. Ethnic minorities would be guaranteed
representation within the Kosovo Assembly.
The Serbian Orthodox Church
would be recognized formally by Kosovo’s authorities and
enjoy tax and customs duty privileges. Protective zones would
be created around more than 40 key cultural and religious sites.
An international military
presence would remain, with a mission led by the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO) continuing the current work of the
Kosovo Force (KFOR) until such time as Kosovo’s institutions
are deemed capable of assuming complete responsibility for security.
Local police officers in the
Kosovo Police Force would reflect the ethnic composition of
the municipality in which they serve, and a new Kosovo Security
Force would be established within a year of the end of the transition
period. The new force would have a maximum of 2,500 active members
and 800 reservists, and the current Kosovo Protection Corps
would be disbanded.
Mr. Ahtisaari stressed that
Belgrade’s demand for Kosovo’s autonomy within Serbia,
and nothing beyond that, and Pristina’s insistence that
nothing less than independence is acceptable, meant he had no
other option than the proposal.
“A return of Serbian
rule over Kosovo would not be acceptance to the overwhelming
majority of the people of Kosovo. Belgrade could not regain
its authority without provoking violent opposition. Autonomy
of Kosovo within the borders of Serbia – however notional
such autonomy may be – is simply not tenable.”
Mr. Ban expressed his full
support for the report and the settlement plan today, saying
in a statement released by his spokesperson that the future
status process “has reached a decisive phase.
“The Security
Council has been presented with a plan which the Secretary-General
believes contains all of the right elements for a fair and sustainable
solution to Kosovo’s future status,” the statement
said.
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Juvenile
justice system set up in Kosovo with UN help
23 March 2007 – The United Nations Children’s Fund
(UNICEF) has teamed up with the European Agency for Reconstruction
(EAR) to support the development of the juvenile justice system
in UN-administered Kosovo, focusing on rehabilitation rather
than prison.
“European and international
standards require that correctional facilities should be used
for children only as a last resort and responses to juvenile
crime emphasize rehabilitation rather than punishment,”
UNICEF representative in Kosovo Robert Fuderich said of the
1.2 million Euro project, a partnership between the two agencies,
the provisional self-government authorities, civil society and
academia.
It will help officials ensure
that children’s rights are respected in the justice system.
Research, training and new operating procedures will be developed
based on good practices in European Union Member States.
In partnership with Terre
Des Hommes, a network of 11 national organizations promoting
children’s rights, the Human Rights Centre at Pristina
University and others, the project will also introduce innovative
approaches to prevent children from becoming involved in crime.
The effort is welcomed by
Justice Minister Jonuz Salihaj. “Kosovo has a modern Juvenile
Justice Code. It is aligned with international standards, but
we need support to implement the law. Our staff is motivated
and we are looking forward to cooperating with UNICEF as the
specialized agency for children,” he said.
The UN has run the Albanian-majority
Serbian province ever since Western forces drove out Yugoslav
troops in 1999 amid ethnic fighting.
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Kosovo:
UN regrets withdrawal of Romanian police in probe of demonstrators’
deaths
23 March 2007 – The United Nations peacekeeping mission
in Kosovo today asked Romania to make available police officers
it had withdrawn, despite a request that they be kept there
for a few more weeks, should they be needed in the probe into
the deaths of two people when UN police used rubber bullets
against pro-independence demonstrators last month.
The UN Interim Administration
Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), which has run the Albanian-majority
Serbian province ever since Western forces drove out Yugoslav
troops in 1999 amid ethnic fighting, said it expected the Romanian
authorities to “adhere to their obligations and continue
to cooperate and assist fully” with ongoing investigation.
“UNMIK regrets that
the Romanian authorities did not agree with the request of UN
Headquarters that 11 of these officers remain in Kosovo until
6 April to continue cooperation with the investigation,”
the mission said in a statement.
“If required by the
investigation, such cooperation must include an assurance that
any of the Romanian police officers who have left the mission
area shall be made available as requested for the purposes of
the investigation on the territory of Kosovo. UNMIK reaffirms
its commitment to ensure that a full and impartial investigation
is concluded in a timely manner,” the statement added.
The deaths occurred on 10
February during a demonstration by the ethnic Albanian Vetëvendosja
(self-determination) group shortly after the UN envoy for the
future status of the province, where Albanians outnumber Serbs
and others by 9 to 1, issued a plan widely seen by both sides
as proposing independence under international supervision. The
group wants immediate self-determination while Serbia rejected
independence.
At the time Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon’s Special Representative in Kosovo Joachim
Rücker demanded the resignation of UN Police Commissioner
Stephen Curtis without prejudging the probe’s outcome,
calling the loss of life tragic regardless of the circumstances.
“We are at a critical juncture in the history of Kosovo
and nothing must be allowed to interfere in the confidence of
those involved in this process,” he said then.
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UN
envoy warns against delays to decision on Kosovo’s final
status
19 March 2007 – Any delay to the process of determining
Kosovo’s final status could make a sustainable solution
impossible to attain, the head of the United Nations peacekeeping
mission to the Serbian province (UNMIK) told the Security Council
today.
Joachim Rücker, who is
also the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, told
a closed-door Council session that there were high expectations
among Kosovo’s population for a timely solution.
“It’s very important
that the momentum in the status process is kept,” Mr.
Rücker told journalists after the meeting, adding that
he had used his briefing to inform Council members about the
perceptions on the ground about the process.
Last month, Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon’s Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari for the future
status process issued a proposal under which Kosovo would have
the right to govern itself and conclude international agreements,
including membership in international bodies, with an international
civilian and military presence supervising the new arrangements
and helping to ensure peace and stability.
Serbia rejects independence,
a goal sought by many ethnic Albanians who outnumber Serbs and
other minorities by 9 to 1 in the province, which has been run
by the UN since Western forces drove out Yugoslav troops in
1999 amid ethnic fighting.
Earlier this month Mr. Ahtisaari’s
office said Serbia and the ethnic Albanian government of Kosovo
remain “diametrically opposed” on the issue, despite
a week-long round of talks in Vienna. The envoy later issued
a revised proposal and Mr. Ban plans to submit a final version
to the Council by the end of this month.
Mr. Rücker told the Council
that everyone in Kosovo deserved a clear sense of its permanent
future, according to a press release issued by UNMIK following
the meeting.
“The Kosovo Serbs need
this clarity in order to gather the strength to take the decision
they must take: to accept the hand extended to them by the Kosovo
institutions and become an engaged part of Kosovo’s society,”
he said.
“The Kosovo Albanians
and Kosovo’s other communities also need clarity on status
to feel secure that the future they and their leaders are building
is permanent and is sustainable after nearly eight years of
international administration.”
The envoy said Kosovo Albanian
leaders had made efforts to promote patience among their own
community and to encourage Kosovo Serbs to be more supportive.
“Not without success,
the political leaders are intensifying efforts to reach out
to Kosovo Serbs and reassure them that the status proposal contains
a host of arrangements carefully designed to fully protect their
rights, interests and identity,” he said.
Mr. Rücker also told
the Council session that Kosovo’s provisional institutions
of self-government (PISG) remained steady in their commitment
to implementing the standards, eight overall targets that include
building democratic institutions, enforcing minority rights,
creating a functioning economy and setting up an impartial legal
system.
But he said that in many cases
this has not translated into material improvements in the living
conditions of the province’s ethnic Serbs, largely because
so many Kosovo Serbs were unwilling to participate in the PISG
or accept opportunities offered by the government and municipalities.
“All too often, their
non-participation in the institutions appears linked to the
stance of Belgrade, which has continued to threaten Kosovo Serb
civil servants with cutting off their salaries if they remain
on the legitimate payroll of the PISG.
“Belgrade has
continued to make statements discouraging returns and politicizing
security incidents, which creates an objectively unjustified
climate of fear,” he said, calling on the Serbian Government
to support the participation of Kosovo Serbs in the PISG.
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Ban
Ki-moon receives proposals for future status of UN-administered
Kosovo
15 March 2007 – Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon today received his Special Envoy’s plan for
the future status of Kosovo – the ethnic Albanian majority
Serbian province that the United Nations has run since Western
forces drove out Yugoslav troops in 1999 amid ethnic fighting
– after efforts to reach a compromise with the two sides
ended in deadlock.
Mr. Ban will now study the
proposals drawn up by Envoy Martti Ahtisaari and presented to
him at UN Headquarters in New York by Mr. Ahtisaari’s
deputy, Albert Rohan, and send them on to the Security Council.
Serbia rejects independence,
a goal sought by many Albanians who outnumber Serbs and others
in the province by 9 to 1, and after neither side showed any
will to reach a negotiated accord at final talks in Vienna last
Saturday, Mr. Ahtisaari said he would submit a “realistic
compromise” himself.
The initial plan he put forward
last month would give Kosovo the right to govern itself and
conclude international agreements, including membership in international
bodies, under international civilian and military supervision
to help to ensure peace and stability.
Both sides interpreted this
as meaning independence supervised by the international community.
While Serbia has consistently rejected any notion of independence,
some Kosovo Albanians demonstrated for immediate self-determination.
Mr. Ahtisaari himself has
declined to be drawn publicly on the independence issue but
has said he will make “a very clear statement” in
the report submitted to Mr. Ban today.
The plan unveiled in February,
which Mr. Ahtisaari said then could be refined in the light
of “constructive amendments” made by the sides,
addressed the needs of a multi-ethnic society and called for
wide-ranging decentralization, giving Serbs a high degree of
control over their own affairs such as secondary health care,
higher education and finance, and setting up six new or significantly
expanded Serb majority municipalities.
This was a point stressed
today by Kosovo’s UN administrator Joachim Rücker,
who said Serbs and other communities would have a good future
under Mr. Ahtisaari’s proposals. “A very extensive
part of the status proposal is about making sure that the Kosovo
Serbs and other communities feel secure and have a prosperous
future in Kosovo,” he told Serbs and Croats in an outreach
meeting the town of Vërboc/Vrbovac.
“The municipalities
are meant to add to the cohesion of post-status Kosovo and not
to divide it,” Mr. Rücker stressed, noting that the
proposed decentralization will create new municipalities with
clear lines of responsibilities between local and central institutions.
He called on Serbs to
participate in the province’s political process, from
which they have stood largely apart since the UN Interim Administration
Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) took over after NATO forces drove
out Yugoslav troops in 1999.
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Ban Ki-moon calls for ‘timely conclusion’
of Kosovo’s future status talks
13 March 2007 – As Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian-led
Government and Serbia remain at an impasse on the future of
the Albanian-majority Serbian province, a “timely conclusion”
to the process to determine its final status is necessary, United
Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a report to the
Security Council released today.
“After almost eight
years of United Nations interim administration, Kosovo and its
people need clarity on their future,” Mr. Ban said in
his report on the UN Interim Administration Mission (UNMIK),
and other developments spanning the period between last November
and 19 February.
Finding a “sustainable
solution” for Kosovo’s future which is “stable
and in which all communities can coexist in peace” is
also key, he added, decrying the use of violence by extremist
groups.
Two people died in a protest
on 10 February in the capital, Pristina, organized by the Kosovo
Albanian self-determination movement Vetevendosje, the report
notes, calling for all groups to “exercise restraint and
responsibility in peacefully furthering their political aims.”
In the face of the stalemate,
the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the status process,
Martti Ahtisaari, recently declared an end to negotiations between
the two sides that began after he unveiled his provisional plan
for Kosovo, which the UN has run since Western forces drove
out Yugoslav troops in 1999 amid brutal ethnic fighting, early
last month.
Serbia rejects independence,
an end sought by many Albanians in the province where they outnumber
Serbs and others by 9 to 1, and both parties interpreted this
plan as meaning independence supervised by the international
community.
“I regret to say that
at the end of the day, there was no will from the parties to
move away from their previously stated positions,” Mr.
Ahtisaari said after this weekend’s meeting in Vienna
with Serbian and Kosovar leaders.
The Special Envoy said that
he will make “a very clear statement” on the independence
issue in the version of the plan he submits to the Security
Council by the end of the month.
In his report, the Secretary-General
said that UN staff will persist in focusing on “creating
an enabling environment for the future status” through
coordinating efforts with local leaders and also by laying plans
for transition following the settlement of Kosovo’s future
status.
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Kosovo:
declaring end to future status talks, UN envoy to present ‘realistic
compromise’
12 March 2007 – Neither Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian-led
Government nor Serbia have shown any will to reach a negotiated
accord on the future status of the Serbian province, where Albanians
outnumber Serbs and others by 9 to 1, and the senior United
Nations official overseeing the issue will submit a “realistic
compromise” to the Security Council this month.
“It is my firm conclusion
that the potential of negotiations is exhausted,” Special
Envoy Martti Ahtisaari said after chairing a weekend meeting
in Vienna of key players involved in deciding the future of
the province, which the UN has run since Western forces drove
out Yugoslav troops in 1999 amid ethnic fighting.
“I regret to say that
at the end of the day, there was no will from the parties to
move away from their previously stated positions,” Mr.
Ahtisaari added of his intensive talks with both sides since
he put forward an initial plan last month that would give Kosovo
the right to govern itself and conclude international agreements,
including membership in international bodies, under international
civilian and military supervision to help to ensure peace and
stability.
Serbia rejects independence,
a goal sought by many Albanians and both sides interpreted this
plan as meaning independence supervised by the international
community. Mr. Ahtisaari has said he will make “a very
clear statement” on the independence issue in the version
he submits to the Security Council by the end of the month.
“I had hoped, and very
much preferred, that this process would lead to a negotiated
agreement,” he said on Saturday after chairing the talks
among Serbian and Kosovo leaders, the so-called Contact Group
– the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France,
Italy and Russia – which has been helping to seek a solution,
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) whose forces drove
out Yugoslav troops in 1999 and who now help to maintain security
in the province, and the UN Interim Administration Mission in
Kosovo (UNMIK).
“But it has left me
with no doubt that the parties’ respective positions on
Kosovo’s status do not contain any common ground to achieve
such an agreement. No amount of additional negotiation will
change that,” he added.
Stressing that a sustainable
solution to the status issue was urgently needed, not only in
the interest of the people of Kosovo but as a matter “of
vital importance” for regional peace and stability, Mr.
Ahtisaari said: “Delaying the status resolution would
not create any better conditions for a solution – it would
only be for the sake of delaying a difficult decision.”
The envoy’s provisional
plan, unveiled on 2 February, addressed the demands of a multi-ethnic
society, with a constitution enshrining the needed principles,
to protect the rights of all communities, including culture,
language, education, and symbols, as well granting specific
representation for non-Albanians in key public institutions
and requiring that certain laws may only be enacted if a majority
of the Kosovo non-Albanian legislative members agree.
It called for wide-ranging
decentralization, focusing in particular on the specific needs
and concerns of the Serb community, which will have a high degree
of control over its own affairs such as secondary health care,
higher education and financial matters, including accepting
transparent funding from Serbia. Six new or significantly expanded
Kosovo Serb majority municipalities will be set up.
Since then, Serbia has repeatedly
rejected any notion of independence for the province, while
some Albanians have demonstrated for immediate self-determination.
President Boris Tadic
and Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica represented Serbia at
Saturday’s meeting, while President Fatmir Sejdiu led
the Kosovo team.
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Kosovo:
UN envoy presents revised proposals on future status
8 March 2007 – The United Nations envoy for the status
of Kosovo has submitted revised plans after reporting that Serbia
and the ethnic Albanian-led government remain diametrically
opposed over the future of the Albanian-majority Serbian province,
which the world body has run since Western forces drove out
Yugoslav troops in 1999 amid ethnic fighting.
The parties are currently
considering Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari’s revised proposal
ahead of a meeting of both sides and major international partners
in Vienna on Saturday, spokesperson Michele Montas told a news
briefing at UN Headquarters in New York today.
Serbia rejects independence,
a goal sought by many Albanians who outnumber Serbs and others
by 9 to 1 in the province, and both sides interpreted Mr. Ahtisaari’s
initial plan as meaning independence supervised by the international
community.
While that plan did not specifically
mention independence, it would give Kosovo the right to govern
itself and conclude international agreements, including membership
in international bodies, under international civilian and military
supervision to help to ensure peace and stability.
Mr. Ahtisaari aims to deliver
the final version to the Security Council by the end of the
month when he has said he will make “a very clear statement”
on the independence issue.
Currently there are
no plans for any further meetings following the one on Saturday,
which will bring together not only Serbia and the Kosovo Government
but also the so-called Contact Group – the United States,
United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and Russia – which
has been helping to seek a solution, the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) whose forces drove out Yugoslav troops in
1999 and who now help to maintain security in the province,
and the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).
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Kosovo:
Roma return to new homes in Mitrovica with help from UN and
partners
7 March 2007 – The United Nations Interim Administration
Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) today announced that after nearly
eight years in makeshift camps, a number of Roma families have
begun to return to south Mitrovica thanks to a combined UN and
non-governmental organization (NGO) project that is also placing
them in new homes.
The Roma, who were living
in South Mitrovica, some 35 kilometres north of Pristina, fled
to the northern, Serbian-speaking area of Mitrovica at the outbreak
of hostilities in 1999 and have been in internally displaced
persons camps since then.
Some 16 persons in three families
arrived Wednesday in trucks supplied by the Office of the UN
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). They were given titles
to their new homes in the form of 99-year leases.
Wednesday’s arrivals
were part of a programme which will resettle some one hundred
families or a total of more than 500 Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian
people in the new homes by the end of summer. Twenty-four flats
and 57 houses have been completed and another 24 flats are under
construction.
The project is a combined
effort of the provisional government of Kosovo, the Organization
for Security and Co-operation (OSCE) in Europe, the UN Development
Programme (UNDP), UNMIK, the Norwegian government, the Irish
government, Norwegian Church Aid and the Danish Refugee Council.
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As
Kosovo nears final status decision, UN mission organizes outreach
meetings
7 March 2007 – The United Nations mission in Kosovo is
arranging dozens of outreach meetings focused on the integration
of minorities and good governance as the Albanian-majority Serbian
province which the world body has run since Western forces drove
out Yugoslav troops in 1999 amid ethnic fighting nears a decision
on its final status.
The activities, including
town hall and youth meetings, public gatherings and round table
discussions have been organized and facilitated by the UN Interim
Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) Multi-Ethnicity and
Outreach Unit as part of the Office of the Strategy Coordinator
(STRATCO) in its efforts to help Kosovo society attain a better
life in line with European and international standards.
This includes bringing to
the forefront the role the majority population plays in integrating
minorities in the province where Albanians outnumber Serbs and
others by 9 to 1, with an emphasis on the so-called Standards,
eight targets that include building democratic institutions,
enforcing minority rights, creating a functioning economy and
setting up an impartial legal system.
“By coordinating the
efforts to promote Standards implementation and in the outreach
process for minorities, UNMIK has analyzed, evaluated and offered
guidance on ways to ensure that Kosovo becomes a vibrant multiethnic
society,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special
Representative Joachim Rücker said.
The meetings come as Mr. Ban’s
Special Envoy for the status process Martti Ahtisaari continues
discussions with Serbia and the province’s ethnic Albanian-led
government on a plan he presented earlier this year, which would
give Kosovo the right to govern itself and conclude international
agreements, including membership in international bodies, under
international civilian and military supervision to help to ensure
peace and stability.
The plan does not specifically
mention independence, which Serbia rejects but which many ethnic
Albanians seek, and Mr. Ahtisaari reported last week that the
sides remain “diametrically opposed” on his proposals.
Following further talks he plans to present a further version
to the Security Council by the end of the month.
Asked last month whether
he would characterize his proposals as independence in all but
name, he said both sides were interpreting them as meaning independence
supervised by the international community, but he would make
“a very clear statement on that” when he presents
the final version.
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New commissioner takes over as head of UN
police in Kosovo
6 March 2007 – A veteran British police officer with wide
experience in international law enforcement has taken over as
the new United Nations police commissioner in Kosovo after his
predecessor was asked to resign following the deaths of two
people in a clash with pro-independence demonstrators in the
Albanian-majority Serbian province.
Richard Monk, first Director
and Senior Police Adviser to the Secretary General of the Organization
for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) from 2002 to
2006, was appointed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to replace
Stephen J. Curtis, who stepped down last month.
Mr. Ban’s Special Representative
in Kosovo Joachim Rücker asked for Mr. Curtis’s resignation
after police used rubber bullets against pro-independence demonstrators
in the province, which the UN has run ever since North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO) forces drove out Yugoslav troops
in 1999 amid brutal ethnic fighting.
The demonstration followed
the unveiling of UN proposals for the future status of the province,
where Albanians outnumber Serbs and others by 9 to 1. The provisional
plan, drawn up by Mr. Ban’s Special Envoy for the status
process Martti Ahtisaari, calls for Kosovo to have the right
to govern itself and conclude international agreements, including
membership in international bodies, with an international civilian
and military presence supervising the new arrangements.
But it does not specifically
mention independence, which Serbia rejects and which many ethnic
Albanians seek.
During his time at OSCE Mr.
Monk founded and was head of the Strategic Police Matters Unit
responsible for
capacity/institution-building, particularly in the former Soviet
republics in Central Asia and the Southern Caucasus. He also
carried out a ‘Study of Policing in Yugoslavia’
that forms the basis of international police aid to Serbia and
Montenegro.
As Commissioner of the UN
International Police Task Force (IPTF) in Bosnia during 1998-99,
he was responsible for rebuilding and reforming the police forces
of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2000, he was a member of the UN
Secretary-General’s Panel on Peace Operations, which reviewed
criticisms of past peacekeeping operations.
As a police officer
for 35 years in the United Kingdom, Mr. Monk served in several
senior positions including as Head of Scotland Yard Branches
dealing with Crime, Community Affairs and Crime Prevention and
as Assistant Chief Constable (Crime) for the Devon and Cornwall
Constabulary.
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Kosovo: Serbia, ethnic
Albanians remain ‘diametrically opposed’ on UN plan
for status
2 March 2007 – Serbia and the ethnic Albanian government
of Kosovo remain “diametrically opposed” following
week-long talks on United Nations proposals for the future status
of the Serbian province which the world body has run since Western
forces drove out Yugoslav troops in 1999 amid ethnic fighting,
the office of the senior UN envoy on the issue said today.
Serbia rejects independence,
a goal sought by many Albanians who outnumber Serbs and others
by 9 to 1 in the province.
Last month Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon’s Special Envoy for the future status process
Martti Ahtisaari proposed that Kosovo will have the right to
govern itself and conclude international agreements, including
membership in international bodies, with an international civilian
and military presence supervising the new arrangements and helping
to ensure peace and stability.
In a press release, the Special
Envoy’s Office said he would review the positions presented
by both sides during seven days of talks in Vienna, where he
has his headquarters, and prepare a revised proposal which will
be made available to the parties next week.
He has invited the parties
to attend a high-level meeting in Vienna on 10 March, to which
he has also invited the so-called Contact Group – the
United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and Russia
– which has been helping to seek a solution, the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) whose forces drove out Yugoslav
troops in 1999 and who now help to maintains security in the
province, and the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo
(UNMIK).
“The discussions reaffirmed that the parties remained
diametrically opposed on the future status of Kosovo,”
according to the press release. “These positions reflected
in the parties’ comments on and proposed changes to the
comprehensive settlement. The parties also continued to differ
on other key provisions of the Settlement, (e.g. constitutional
provisions, decentralization, and cultural and religious heritage.)”
When he presented his
proposals at the beginning of February, Mr. Ahtisaari said he
would deliver his final draft to the Security Council at the
end of March after consulting with parties.
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