Kosovo:
UN envoy on final status talks calls for more progress on key
goals
28 November 2005 – The United Nations
special envoy for the future status talks on Kosovo today called
for greater progress in meeting key goals that include building
democratic institutions and enforcing minority rights in the ethnically
divided Serbian province which the world body has administered
since 1999.
“Status has to go with Standards, and
more concrete progress is needed in the implementation of the
Standards,” Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari said
in a statement after his first visit to the region since his appointment,
referring to eight targets that also include creating a functioning
economy and setting an impartial legal system.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said options
could include independence or autonomy for Kosovo where Albanians
outnumber Serbs and others by 9 to 1, and which the UN has administered
ever since North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces drove
out Yugoslav troops amid grave rights abuses in ethnic fighting.
Serbia opposes independence.
During his visit from 21-27 November which took
him to the regional capitals of Pristina (Kosovo), Belgrade (Serbia),
Podgorica (Montenegro), Tirana (Albania) and Skopje (fromer Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia), Mr. Ahtisaari called for more progress
in the areas of decentralization, returns and freedom of movement.
These terms have been long-standing conditions
for progress. In a report in July, Mr. Annan's Special Representative
for Kosovo Søren Jessen-Petersen stressed the need for
stronger commitment by Kosovo’s Albanian leaders to move
forward on the return of Serbs who fled their homes during the
1990 fighting, as well as on freedom of movement.
“We need the action of the Kosovo Albanians,
but we also need the support of all the minority population groups
like the Serbs,” he said in regard to those issues at a
news conference in Belgrade on Friday.
In his statement today, he stressed that Serbia
must encourage Kosovo’s Serbs to participate in the talks
so that their interest can be protected.
He reiterated that there is no time frame or
deadline for his mission. “I will work as expeditiously
as I can and I don’t want to prolong the process one day
more than necessary,” he said.
Mr. Ahtisaari and his team have returned
to Vienna where his office will be based. He will travel to other
capitals for further consultations before he pays another visit
to the region early next year.
Kosovo: Annan's envoy on final status talks
meets with Serbia's leaders
25 November 2005 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special
envoy on the final status of Kosovo has met with Serbia's leaders
to discuss the future of the Serbian province, which the United
Nations has run since Western forces drove out Yugoslav troops
amid grave human rights abuses in fighting between majority Albanians
and Serbs in 1999.
Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, a
veteran UN trouble-shooter appointed earlier this month to lead
the talks on the future status, met with President Boris Tadic,
Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic
in the Serbian capital of Belgrade following two days of talks
in Kosovo with ethnic Albanian and Serb leaders.
Mr. Annan has said the status talks could include
the options of independence or autonomy for the province, where
Albanians outnumber Serbs and other minorities by 9 to 1, but
Serbian officials have already rejected the idea of independence.
"We have touched the issues of decentralization,
the return of the people who have left Kosovo for one reason or
another, their right to return back to Kosovo and also have the
right to settle wherever they find it convenient for themselves.
They have a right for that," Mr. Ahtisaari told a news conference
in Belgrade.
"I have emphasized that when we talk about
future status, we talk about status with standards," he said,
referring to a set of eight targets in such areas as building
democratic institutions, enforcing minority rights, creating a
functioning economy and establishing an impartial legal system.
"I have emphasized that, when we talk about
the standards in Kosovo, we need the action of the Kosovo Albanians,
but we also need the support of all the minority population groups
like the Serbs."
Mr. Annan's Special Representative for Kosovo,
Søren Jessen-Petersen, told a news conference earlier this
week it was clear Kosovo cannot be partitioned and cannot link
up in any kind of union with a neighbouring State. Greater moves
towards decentralization by Kosovo's Albanians were needed to
reassure minorities, he said.
Far too little had been done by Kosovo's Albanian
leaders in terms of reaching out to minorities and really showing
that Kosovo is strongly committed to being a multi-ethnic society,
he added. They needed to do much more.
In a report in July, Mr. Jessen-Petersen
stressed the need for stronger commitment by Kosovo Albanian leaders
to move forward on the return of Serbs who fled their homes during
the fighting in 1999, as well as on freedom of movement.
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Kosovo: Annan's envoy on final status for
UN-run province meets with Serbs
23 November 2005 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special
envoy leading the process to decide the future status of Kosovo
today met with Serb political leaders in the Serbian province,
which the UN has run since Western forces drove out Yugoslav troops
amid grave human rights abuses in fighting between majority Albanians
and Serbs in 1999.
Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, a
veteran UN trouble-shooter appointed earlier this month to lead
the talks, which Mr. Annan has said could include the options
of independence or autonomy for Kosovo where Albanians outnumber
Serbs and others by 9 to 1, met with ethnic Albanian leaders yesterday.
Tomorrow he will visit the Serbian capital of
Belgrade, where officials have declared their opposition to the
province's independence.
Mr. Ahtisaari told a news conference in Pristina,
Kosovo’s capital, that the pace of the status process would
depend on the parties, but would ultimately be determined by himself,
in consultation with the Secretary-General, adding that he had
asked all sides to come forward with position papers, detailing
their ideas on ways forward.
He stressed that he would be supporting
Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Kosovo, Søren
Jessen-Petersen, in the implementation of the standards, a set
of eight targets in such areas as building democratic institutions,
enforcing minority rights, creating a functioning economy and
establishing an impartial legal system.
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Kosovo: Annan's envoy arrives to start
final status process for UN-run province
22 November 2005 – Secretary-General
Kofi Annan's special envoy today began the process of deciding
the future status of Kosovo as the United Nations administrator
of the Serbian province, where ethnic Albanians outnumber Serbs
and others by 9 to 1, voiced caution over possible provocations
from "crazies" on all sides.
Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, a
veteran UN trouble-shooter, was appointed earlier this month to
lead the talks, which Mr. Annan has said could include the options
of independence or autonomy for Kosovo, run by the UN since the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) drove out Yugoslav troops
amid grave human rights abuses in fighting between Albanians and
Serbs in 1999.
Mr. Ahtisaari met in Pristina, the province's
capital, with Albanian leaders and in Decani with Serbian Orthodox
Church figures. Tomorrow he will meet with Kosovo Serb representatives
and leaders of other minority communities before going on Thursday
to the Serbian capital of Belgrade, where officials have declared
their opposition to the province's independence.
Mr. Annan's Special Representative for Kosovo,
Søren Jessen-Petersen, told a news conference yesterday
the situation was relatively stable, but "there are crazy
people out there on all sides. There are crazy people who believe
that they can accelerate the status decision through violence.
In fact it would have the opposite effect.
"And there are those who believe that they
can block or delay the way forward by provoking violence. They
are wrong and they will not be rewarded. But, we know that there
will be provocations. We know that there are crazy people out
there," he added.
Referring to Mr. Ahtisaari's task as resolving
the last piece of the puzzle in a unique situation, he said it
was clear that Kosovo cannot be partitioned and cannot link up
in any kind of union with a neighbouring State. Greater moves
towards decentralization by Kosovo's Albanians are also needed
to reassure minorities.
Asked whether it would be good to have a clear
deadline on the end of the negotiations, he said he did not think
it would help
"But on the other hand, the very fact that
the two sides are so far apart and in my opinion will remain quite
far apart for a long time would also suggest that prolonging this
process would certainly not serve to bring the parties closer,"
he added. "It would only maintain the status quo and we have
already agreed that the status quo is unsustainable.
"So, the deadline would be more set by
the recognition of the fact that the status quo is unsustainable,
the two sides are far apart – will remain far apart –
let us now see how that gap can be narrowed and then take a decision."
He saw a European dimension in the solution
and the need for strong involvement by the European Union (EU)
after the status decision.
Mr. Jessen-Petersen said there had been far
too little done by Kosovo's Albanian leaders in terms of reaching
out to the minorities and really showing that Kosovo is strongly
committed to being a multi-ethnic society. They needed to do much
more.
"But, equally, on the side of Belgrade,
one very often gets the impression that it is not the fate, the
conditions, the future of the Kosovo Serbs that seem to be most
important," he added.
"Clarifying status will clear minds and
I believe will open up for the kind of progress that we need to
see. We are getting very little movement from the Kosovo Albanians
on decentralization because the concern is that decentralization
is a cover for the division of Kosovo," he said.
"And, we are getting very little cooperation
from the Kosovo Serbs because they have been told by Belgrade
not to engage and also, they are worried to engage at this stage
where they do not know what the future will be."
Once there is clarity on the future there
will be a much stronger engagement, on the part of Kosovo's Albanians,
in creating real decentralization that minorities need to feel
assured and on the part of the Serbs to take a decision that their
future lies in Kosovo.
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UN refugee
official sentenced to three years' jail for underage sex
1 November 2005 – A court in United
Nations-administered Kosovo, presided over by an international
judge but also involving two judges from the province, has sentenced
a UN refugee agency official to three years in prison on one count
of sexual abuse of persons under the age of sixteen and one count
of falsifying official documents.
According to the UN Interim Administration Mission
in Kosovo (UNMIK), yesterday's conviction and sentencing of Rashidoon
Khan demonstrates both its zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation
and abuse and the independence of the judiciary in Kosovo.
The Mission stressed that in any case of credible
allegations of criminal misconduct on the part of any UN staff,
immediate investigative and prosecutorial measures will be undertaken
in accordance with the applicable law in Kosovo.
The issue of sexual exploitation and abuse came
to fore last year with allegations against UN peacekeepers in
the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). At the time the UN
Office for Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) cited payments ranging
from two eggs to $5 per encounter. Some victims were abandoned
orphans who were often illiterate. Secretary-General Kofi immediately
instituted a policy of zero tolerance.
The UN has so far completed investigations of
221 peacekeeping personnel, repatriated 88 uniformed personnel
and fired 10 civilians. Criminal prosecutions have ensued in several
troop-contributing countries.
All peacekeepers now undergo training
on conduct. Agreements with troop-contributing countries are being
amended to forbid sexual misconduct. Managers and commanders are
on notice of their specific responsibilities, and those who fail
to take preventive measures will be dismissed.
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Kosovo:
Annan to name veteran trouble-shooter Ahtisaari to lead status
talks
1 November 2005 – Secretary-General
Kofi Annan has informed the Security Council of his intention
to appoint former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, a veteran
United Nations trouble-shooter, as his Special Envoy to lead the
political process to determine the future status of the ethnically
divided, UN-administered Serbian province of Kosovo.
"Mr. Ahtisaari's excellent negotiating
skills, proven leadership, previous experience with the United
Nations and knowledge of the Balkans make him the ideal person
for this endeavour," spokesman Stephane Dujarric told the
daily noon briefing of the former president, who led the UN operation
that oversaw Namibia's independence from South Africa in 1990.
The Security Council last week endorsed the
start of talks on the future status of the province where ethnic
Albanians outnumber others, mainly Serbs, by about nine to one,
and which the UN has run since the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) drove out Yugoslav troops amid grave human rights abuses
in fighting between Albanians and Serbs in 1999.
Mr. Annan has said status options could include
independence, a position rejected by Serbia, or autonomy, and
Mr. Annan's Special Representative for Kosovo, Søren Jessen-Petersen,
has warned of possible provocations from all sides during the
process.
Mr. Ahtisaari has most recently served as Mr.
Annan's Special Envoy for the Humanitarian Crisis in the Horn
of Africa. From 1977 to 1981 he served as UN Commissioner for
Namibia. In 1984 he became the Secretary-General's Special Representative
for Namibia and from 1989 to 1990 headed the UN Transition Assistance
Group (UNTAG) in the southern African country.
He was appointed Under-Secretary-General for
Administration and Management in 1987, a position he held until
1991. In 1993 he served as the Secretary-General's Special Representative
for the former Yugoslavia.
Mr. Ahtisaari has also served in crises positions
outside the UN, including inspection of Irish Republican Army
(IRA) arms dumps. He was chairman of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Working
Group of the International Conference on the former Yugoslavia
in 1992-93.
Mr. Ahtisaari, who was President of Finland
from 1994 to 2000, is chairman of the international board of the
War-Torn Societies Project.
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