USGPKO Press Briefing, 3 April 2001

Jean-Marie Guehenno, Under-secretary General of Peacekeeping Operations

I arrived on Saturday.  On Sunday, I already had some meetings with the Police Commissioner, visited the boundary of the Presevo Valley, the border near Macedonia with KFOR, and had a meeting with General Cabigiosu.  Yesterday and today I had several meetings, both with the Mission and with the leaders of Kosovo, the various communities in Kosovo, both the Albanian and Serbian.  I couldn't see all the communities but I had meetings with some of the key leaders and I attended an IAC session. 

I think what I believe that is very important for this mission is the way, in a unique fashion, it has been able to bring together the international community.  The fact that I could, in the same visit, have very important discussions with the head of so called Pillar IV, the European Union, I just met with Daan Everts whom I have known for a while, from the OSCE, KFOR, not in the mission but in close working cooperation, very satisfactory cooperation with the mission and the mission itself.  I think this bears witness to the kind of commitment that the international community is making in Kosovo and I think that is very encouraging. 

The other very encouraging factor is the attitude that I found with the leaders both on the Albanian side and on the Serb side.  I think that there is willingness to move things forward.   We know that we need to move quickly on the legal framework.  I was pleased to see that work is quite advanced and that will make, I am sure, the elections possible this year.  That is the goal, that is what we should do. It is very important that there be elected officials in Kosovo. 

Self government is at the core of our mandate, the mandate set up by Resolution 1244 and I think self government will be a very important moment for Kosovo because it will bring the communities together to manage the affairs of Kosovo. That is the path to reconciliation and peace and we need to focus on the issues at hand.  So, I am very pleased to see that the work is moving forward.  There is still a lot of work to be done because it is a very ambitious endeavor, but for me and for Hans Haekkerup, it is a top priority and we need the commitment of all the Kosovars because, as I told them, at the end of the day, the future of Kosovo is with the people of Kosovo. 

We can help, we can support, but we need the full engagement of all of the people of Kosovo.  And that is why I also told the Serb intellectuals, with whom I met, that I think it is important that Kosovo Serbs participate in the discussions.  Self government is a self explanatory word.  To step aside is not in the best interest of the Serb community in Kosovo.  It is important that the Serb community understand that it is important that the Albanians give the measure of reassurance and confidence that will make the two communities more trusting of each other .  I think we have to work on this confidence building measure.  This is a gradual process, you cannot brush off history and years of distrust and tragedies.  This cannot happen overnight.  This has to be very progressive.  But there are issues on which the communities have to work together.  The issue of the missing persons, which I know is a very emotional and very difficult of course, here.  This is something on which I think the communities working together to identify the issues and to make progress may be warranted.  I think that the outside participants can also contribute.  We were happy to see that there was an amnesty law and that detainees were freed.  There are still detainees in Serbia proper.  I hope that soon they will be released.  I think that will also help bring the kind of confidence that is needed for Kosovo.  So, I think everybody has to make an effort, as the international community shows its commitment for the future of Kosovo, for a peaceful future of Kosovo, but I don't want to speak for too long.  I am willing to take your questions if you have any.  Thank you.

Questions

Q: Do you have a clear overall solution for this region, not just for Kosovo, but for all of the Balkans?

A: Well your question is a very good one.  It is a fundamental one and the way I would answer it would be that each situation has its specificities that have to be recognized, but everything must be linked to everything.  At the same time there have to be some common principles which are part of an overall solution for the Balkans.  The core principle is about human rights and the respect of minorities and certain definitions of democracy, which is not just the rule of the majority but the respect of the minority.  That is true for any country and has been difficult to achieve for all democracies and I think today all of the people of the Balkans understand that it is their future.  I don't know if indirectly you were alluding to the situation at the border in Macedonia.  I will be very frank, I think that indeed the Macedonian government has a legitimate right to assert the authority of the government of the FYROM throughout its territory and armed action in the territory of FYROM is certainly not acceptable.  I noticed that the FYROM has managed to stay away from the tragedies of the Balkans in the last 10 years because it is committed to being a multi-ethnic state.  I understand that the government of FYROM has renewed its commitment to multi-ethnicity and that is very encouraging.  I think that this political objective of multi ethnicity, that making sure each community feels assured of its place in a country, is the key to peace in all the countries of the Balkans and that is really the plan if you want to use that working plan.  The plan is to unite the action of the international community throughout the Balkans and I am pleased to see that in the United Nations and in NATO, and in the OSCE, the EU there is really a meeting of the minds on that issue.  There is agreement that it is the fundamental principle on which peace can be consolidated in the Balkans.

Q:  Is the United Nations planning any sort of mission in Macedonia?

A: We have a special envoy in the Balkans, as you know, who has traveled to Skopje, who is in touch with all the key players, who has been here a few times.  We are not at this stage planning a specific mission in FYROM.  I think all the international organizations are in contact with the government of FYROM and are ready to give whatever support that that government would like to have in addressing the political situation.  But I am confident that what has been announced by the government of the FYROM will indeed make this situation more and more stable in FYROM.

Q: How long should the peacekeeping mission stay in Kosovo?

A: The key objective for any peacekeeping mission around the world is to help the people build their own capacities and so I think that our objective is very clear.  The local police have to be built up and I must say I am very pleased with the splendid work that has been done in building up and developing the police school in Kosovo.  That has been very helpful.  The Police Commissioner has told me that there has been a lot of progress made in developing local, multi-ethnic police in Kosovo.  I believe that at this stage the process of reconciliation in Kosovo has not yet reached a point where the law and order situation can be addressed without an international presence.  I think I cannot give you a specific timetable because there are too many variables.  One key variable is the political process whereby through self government the communities begin this work of reconciliation that will make the maintenance of law and order in Kosovo something  easier than it is today.  I believe that the consolidation of law and order is a top priority here, and when I say law and order, I mean order and law, that is justice.  If one wants to break the cycle of violence, it is very important that every community trusts the role of the judiciary.  There are remarkable judges in Kosovo who are doing a splendid job, but this process has to be consolidated.  When it is consolidated, then we will see that everything becomes easier and that is why I have put law and order, the consolidation of justice, as one of the top priorities of the mission.

Q: Do you think UNMIK is doing enough to incorporate the people of Kosovo into the structure in order to engage them in the management of the future of Kosovo?

A: It is a key issue and my objective with UNMIK is to transfer as many powers as possible to the people of Kosovo.  You take the example of the municipal elections, I am very pleased that they could happen so quickly and it is really a tribute to the hard work put out by the mission and to the hard work of the OSCE.  I think some of the difficulties  that we have met, to be very frank, in some of the municipalities is sometimes that the elected officials have a hard time working with each other and have a hard time de-politicizing the administration.  I think we must walk the extra mile to empower the people.  I think the more responsibilities the people have, the more responsibly they will behave.  So I think there is a virtuous circle to be created there and we have to trust as much our interlocuters and that we have to release a number of powers.  We have to keep the power to reform, because it was UN Resolution 1244 that decided, and I think it can help all communities because sometimes considering the tragedies that have happened, considering the lack of trust still exists, lets be frank about it, sometimes a third party has the advantage and disadvantage of distance, so to speak, and can help in that reconciliation process.  That is particularly true in  the judiciary area.  With that being said, I agree with you.  We must move forward in transferring powers because it is in the daily exercise of practical responsibilities that the process of reconciliation will consolidate itself.

Q: Do you see the future of Kosovo as a party of Serbia or as an independent country?

A: This is not a decision that I will make.  This is a decision that belongs to the international community, to the Security Council.  What is my responsibility, at the moment, is to keep options open and through self government, to establish solid ground for reconciliation. Because whatever is the future of Kosovo, if it is a future of division and absence of reconciliation, it will not be a good future.  So the political status of Kosovo, the final settlement, is indeed a very important question.  But in a way, the most important question is the quality of the relations that will be established between the communities of Kosovo and that is our role in the UN mission, to lay the ground for a relation of trust between the various communities of Kosovo.  I think if we have built that foundation, then deciding on the final status of Kosovo will be an important decision.  But maybe it will have less importance than it has now because a foundation will be established for a peaceful relationship between the various communities.  So. I don't want to prejudge what the final settlement will be.  It is not my decision.  What I want to do is lay a ground for a future of tolerance and peace and democracy and then we will see what political framework addresses, in a democratic way, those aspirations in the best possible way.  I am pleased to say that the mission, under the leadership of Hans Haekkerup and with the support of the OSCE, of the EU, of KFOR, are all working very hard to bring that future along, without in any way replacing the Kosovar people.  Just supporting the process, but it has to be a democratic process.  That is why I find it so important to have an institutional framework in place as soon as possible and to move on with elections and to have elected officials to take responsibility who decide on all the political issues of the management of Kosovo and I think that will happen by the end of this year. If we can manage that, I think it will be a major step forward for peace in Kosovo.

Q: Who do you think should decide the future of Kosovo?

A: There are different phases.  Resolution 1244 has established that it is the responsibility of the UN to organize self government in Kosovo and that is precisely what we are doing.  We could have done it with some legal experts in New York and discussing it in the mission.  We think that it is very essential to involve the leaders of the communities of Kosovo.  That is what Bernard Kouchner did when he arrived and that is what Hans Haekkerup is doing now.  We think it is essential to engage the leaders of Kosovo, but at the end of the day, I am very frank, this is a UN responsibility to devise a framework for self government.  That is what has been entrusted to us by the Security Council and we are not at liberty not to exercise that responsibility, but we want to exercise responsibility in close cooperation with the leaders of Kosovo and that is precisely what we are doing at the moment and what we will continue to do.  There are several ideas, but I had the discussion with the group working on the legal framework yesterday and I was pleased to see that there are still issues that are debated but really I would say that there 90% is basically now in agreement with what is put on the table.  This is a very cooperative process and what is that this should be.

Q: Is your visit linked in any way with the recent events in Macedonia and if so, how would you assess the role of the peacekeeping operation here in preventing or stopping the conflict there?

A:  I had planned my visit for a while.  I thought with the work on the legal framework moving forward and with the importance of this mission among our peacekeeping operations, I wanted to come to Kosovo as soon as possible when I took up my duties in New York.  I would have like to come sooner but this was not allowed by my schedule.  So it was not linked to the events at the Macedonian border.  That being said, of course I took advantage of this visit to look at what is going on there and I think the international community and the government of FYROM now are in agreement.  There is a coherent strategy where everyone is doing his share.  I think I saw how KFOR is monitoring  and patrolling the border.  It is a difficult task but KFOR is doing everything it can do.  As you have noticed UNMIK and the leaders of the Albanian communities have been in touch and have issued a very helpful statement calling for peaceful solutions to the issues at hand.  And as I said earlier, I am very pleased to see that the government in Skopje addressing in a political manner the issues now.  I think that there are political issues that have to be dealt with, FYROM has been an example of a multi ethnic state and it is very encouraging to see the leader of FYROM reasserting his commitment for a multi-ethnic state in the FYROM.  I am sure that in that policy that FYROM will get the support, not only of the UN, but all of the international organization that are involved in the region.