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UNMIK-OSCE-EU-UNHCR Press Briefing, 14 December 2001 UNMIK Spokeswoman Susan Manuel
SRSG met with UN Secretary General in Stockholm SRSG Hans Haekkerup met with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in Stockholm yesterday and Mr. Haekkerup has travelled on to Denmark. He is to return Monday which is a UN holiday. I'll wish you in advance, Eid Mubarak. Assembly I understand there has been dissatisfaction over the arrangements for media covering the Assembly. Please understand that the rules of access were established by the committee setting up the Assembly, which included security teams and the KPS. We were only given a very limited space in which media could be allowed. The high emphasis on security led to severe constraints on the media. We will be meeting with Mr. Daci, the President of the Assembly, to try to ensure greater access for the press by the time of the next meeting. But the focus for the first few days was on security, and we all had to comply. The High Level Working Group meets for the first time The High Level Working Group stipulated by the Common Document between Mr. Haekkerup and FRY Serbia Coordination Centre President Covic met for the first time yesterday. Mr. Charles Brayshaw, PDSRSG, chaired the meeting. The purpose was to establish the composition and procedures for the group, which will meet in alternate venues-between Pristina and Belgrade. We hope to have participation by appropriate members of the Provisional Self-government at the next meeting, sometime in January. There is a press release outside on this. Police Two double-deaths: On Wednesday night, it appears the male doctor shot a woman doctor in the head and then shot himself in the head. Yesterday, a young couple were found dead inside a car in a garage in Sunny Hill. It appears they were asphyxiated. Finally, the testing done in Switzerland on the contents of an envelope which were believed to have injured five UN mail staff revealed no chemical or biological hazard. UNMIK Security and Police are continuing to investigate what caused the physical reactions among the staff affected in the incident of last week, which included rashes and vomiting. OSCE Spokesman Sven Lindholm Conference on Protection of Journalists The OSCE will be holding on Saturday the first conference on the topic of protection of journalists. The gathering is meant to assess and address the threats journalists' face, especially in cases of investigative journalism. The conference is intended to start a process that pushes for freedom of access to information, to encourage transparency of institutions and their professional and democratic scrutiny by the media. The concerns voiced by journalists during the conference will be a springboard for specially designed training courses, which will be run next year by the OSCE in support on independent and professional journalism. All media are invited to attend the conference. Tonight at 17:30, there will be a free showing of this year's Italian Oscar nominated film, I Cento Passi, the story of a man who makes his own investigation into his family's Mafia history. The film will be shown at the ABC cinema on Friday 14 December at 17.30. If interested in attending, please contact Naile Selimaj on naile.selimaj@omik.org Second Kosovar NGO forum Today begins the second forum of NGOs in Kosovo. The aim of this two-day forum is to highlight the role of civil society and to enhance the self-empowerment of the NGO community. This includes stimulating dialogue and networking among NGOs, as well as the sharing of experiences and lessons learnt. The gathering also aims to facilitate shared priorities and help develop a common identity of the diverse and dynamic NGO community. Particular attention will be paid to work effectively as critical and supportive partners to the recently elected Assembly, as well as other institutions of governance. A more comprehensive understanding of the range of issues will aim to improve their capacity to play an increasingly active role. KPSS graduation On Saturday, the graduation of Class 17 of the Kosovo Police Service School will be held at the university sports centre this Saturday at 10:30. This class of 296 now brings the total of number of trainee police officers to 4392. Dr. Ibrahim Rugova will give the keynote speech. RTK The OSCE would like to thank Richard Lucas, who will be leaving his post of General Director of RTK, for his efforts and dedication to making RTK the independent public broadcaster for Kosovo. EU Spokesman Mike Todd Introduction of the Euro It is expected that by the end of today, procedures and locations will be finalised by the BPK for the changeover to the Euro in Kosovo's enclaves and remote areas. Extensive support has been provided on this issue by UNMIK Police and by KFOR. Special provisions are being put in place that will allow access to the new currency for all of Kosovo's population. With just over two weeks to go before the changeover to the new currency, the main issues that continue to be stressed are that people should know the exchange rate, which is almost exactly 2 DM to 1 Euro. People should know the exchange period, which runs from January 1 to Feb 28, and that opening a bank account is the easiest way to experience a trouble free changeover - with DMs becoming Euros automatically without fees. There will be a press briefing on the Euro's introduction next Wednesday in Mitrovica, which will address the issue of the changeover in areas without ready access to licensed banking facilities. A notice will be issued. Quarterly Report This week, the third quarterly report on donor activity in Kosovo was issued by the former Department of Reconstruction - the transitional Ministry of Finance and Economy. The report covers the period from July to September. Figures indicate that around 400m Euros have been spent in the Kosovo in the first nine months of this year, with the period of the report seeing around 50m Euros in new commitments. Areas where donor activity is positive include transport and social welfare; areas of concern regarding donor commitments made include the police and public services. The report will be issued on a wider basis next week and there are plans to present the findings to the press. Questions: Q: You mentioned the High Level Meeting between Mr. Brayshaw and Mr. Covic that took place yesterday, and that there will be another one most probably in January. Do you think that the Albanian leaders which will be elected in the Provisional Self Government will participate in this meeting in Belgrade as early as January next year? SM: First of all, we have to have Provisional Self-government in place and then I don't know what the composition of it will be in terms of Provisional Self-government representation. We certainly hope to have representation from the Provisional Self-government at that meeting, but it will depend on whether there is a Provisional Self-government and secondly, as you say, whether they will be willing to go, but that is up to them. I think they will, I think they want to take part in this. |