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UNMIK-KFOR-OSCE-EU-UNHCR Press Briefing, 28 June 2001 UNMIK Spokeswoman Susan Manuel UN Spokeswoman Susan Manuel NAC We were pleased to have received broad support at the North Atlantic Council meeting for the UNMIK and KFOR 's general ideas on the way ahead in Mitrovica. The NAC gave UNMIK the authority to produce plans with KFOR on how to replace the current parallel security structures in northern Mitrovica with an internationally acceptable security structure, involving KFOR, UNMIK Police and the Kosovo police service, using Kosovo Serb officers. With an improved security climate, the prospects for economic investment should improve and the abilities for all communities to join the joint governing institutions should be enhanced. However, contrary to how some media have reported the discussions in Brussels, there was no timeline or deadline for any plans to be made or implemented. This was a high-level, NAC endorsement for basic principles which will guide the way ahead, including the encouragement of Kosovo Serb participation in existing joint institutions, the elections and the institutions they will produce.. Arrests UNMIK Police with KPS have made some significant arrests lately. Our policy is not to give a suspect's name until charges are filed. However, as you know some names are already well known by the press and public. Yesterday police arrested a member of the Serb National Council in Leposovic, in connection with a riot against the Leposavic police station in December. The man is also suspected to have beaten up a Kosovo Police Service member a few weeks ago. Following the arrest, the suspect's father came to the police station and threatened to kill a police officer if his son was not released. UNMIK police arrested the father and then searched his house, finding three AK 47 rifles and assorted ammunition. Special Police Units have been deployed in Leposavic and Mitrovica north in case of related disturbances. Also in North Kosovo, police arrested a suspect in the stabbing death of a Serb who had been working on his field in Zvecan and was found on Saturday . Three men were in custody. Two were released. The suspect is a Kosovo Albanian from a nearby village in Zvecan. Drini suspect On 25 June, police arrested a Lausa village man in Srbica, connection with the killing of Ekrem Rexha, or commander Drini. This is the fourth suspect, probably not the last, but an important one as he is suspected in connection with the actual shooting. How did police manage to catch the man they have been seeking for some months? He applied to join the Kosovo Police Service and was quickly recognized during the screening process. He is being held in detention in Prizren. Yeterday in Urosevac town, a masked man emerged from bushes along a road and shot a Kosovo Albanian man driving his car. A passenger was wounded. The unknown suspect fled the scene and a police investigation is underway. KFOR Spokesman Sqdrn. Ldr. Roy Brown NAC in Brussels COMKFOR visited Brussels on Wednesday, with Mr Hans Haekkerup, the SRSG. In his address, COMKFOR talked about the delicate problems that exist in Mitrovica and the need to address those problems, recognizing that there has been little real progress in the past two years. He identified what we consider some of the problem areas to be and outlined his objectives, which included reasserting full authority, under UNSCR 1244, over the whole of Kosovo, the maintenance of law and order and a safe and secure environment throughout Kosovo, and encouragement of participation in the elections by the Serb communities. COMKFOR sought, and received, the NAC and the international community's support to give new impetus to addressing the problems of Mitrovica. No specific plans were discussed nor were any timetables set, although there was general consensus that the process should begin before the November elections. Weapons Smuggling In the past few days KFOR has increased its efforts to prevent the
smuggling of weapons through Kosovo to the extremists operating in
northern FYROM. In addition to the patrols in the border area, that
continue to thwart illegal border crossings (a further five were detained
yesterday and the night before), we have started a comprehensive Kosovo
wide operation to stop and search vehicles that could be used to transport
large quantities of weapons. The lack of any major find, at this stage, suggests that our frame work operations and our robust efforts to secure the border with the FYROM, are being substantially effective and that the troubles in that country are not being fuelled from Kosovo to the extent some claim. Our framework operations have also continued: Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams have dealt with a number of incidents, safely removing or destroying explosives, vehicle checks have identified suspect individuals and various searches have recovered small quantities of weapons and ammunition. OSCE Spokeswoman Claire Trevena CEC The Central Election Commission meets this afternoon for the 6th time. It's going to be discussing the rule on voter information, which will require broadcasters to give a certain amount of air time to carry public information on the elections. It is also going to be looking at the geographic requirement for political parties which aims to ensure that political parties have representation from across Kosovo on their party lists. PPCF The Political Party Consultative Forum, which brings together a cross section of political parties, is meeting tomorrow at 2.30 at the Political Party Services Centre in Pristina. They will be getting an update on political party certification and be discussing training activities. Youth Congress Tomorrow also sees the close of the Youth Congress which has been held at the OSCE run Kosovo Police Services School. Ambassador Daan Everts will be there to give the closing address. The Youth Congress has brought together young people from across Kosovo to discuss a wide variety of issues, including methods of conflict resolution. It has also allowed young people from different ethnicities to meet in a social as well as a work environment. Municipal Training The OSCE in Gjakova/Djakovica tomorrow is beginning a training series for municipal politicians and civil servants. The aim is to help them understand their role and the role of their counterparts in municipal government. It will focus on democratic processes and structures, issues of human rights, practical advocacy and monitoring skills, and active participation by citizen's groups. Training sessions for members of the Muncipal Assembly and civil administration and representatives of civil society in Gjakova/Djakovica will go throughout the summer months. To compliment the programme, three public debates will be held on specific aspects of public participation in local government. Kosovo Law Centre The KLC is hosting on Monday a conference on human rights and legal protection in Kosovo, for judges, lawyers and human rights NGOs. It is at the Hotel Illiria and will be open to the media. There will be a press release on this tomorrow. EU Spokesman Mike Todd The Department of Trade and Industry has successfully completed its sixth commercialization deal. A ten year contract for the commercialization of the Beton Jerka factory in the Mitrovica region was signed on June 25th between Deputy Head of the EU Pillar Jurgen Voss and the Albanian 2k group. The Beton Jerka factory, which is equipped to manufacture concrete element, has not functioned properly since 1980 and was heavily damaged during the conflict. The promised investment of the 2k group of over 1m DM in the first year of operations will help revitalize the plant. Currently without any employees, the factory will advertise to employ 30 new workers at the factory. Commercialization, the tendering of long term leases on Socially Owned Enterprises, has a key role to play in ensuring the long term sustainability of Kosovo's economy and the creation of jobs. Commercialization does not in any way prevent future privatization. A press notice on the Beton Jerka deal will be issued this afternoon. VAT Registration Registration for businesses who should pay the new Value Added Tax is ongoing. All import/export companies and businesses with an annual turnover of 200,000 DM should register for the tax. The Central Fiscal Authority is encouraging all those who haven't registered to register immediately at their local tax office. Tax offices will be open at the weekend to allow business to register until the very last day. For all those businesses who fail to register by July 1, a fine of 250 DM will be imposed. After the July 1 known importers and exporters who do not prove their VAT registration to Kosovo's tax authorities will not be allowed to enter or exit Kosovo. Commercial Law Regulations Members of the press are invited to attend the ceremony to issue certificates to law students who have completed a semester of Commercial Law studies on, "Contemporary Business Transactions". The Commercial Law Development Group in the Department of Trade and Industry has been running courses based on the four new Commercial Laws: Foreign Investment, Business Organisation, Pledge and Contracts for the Sale of Goods. The purpose of these courses is to ensure that the new legal community
is fully up-to-date on the latest economic legislative processes and is in
a position to use and implement the new laws. Over 70 students
attended these courses and will be awarded certificates, based on their
merit at 4.00pm on Monday 2nd July at the University Law
Faculty. I Figures Total Number of Arrivals During May and June: 63,628 Total Number of Arrivals Since the Beginning of the
Conflict: 72,628 Overall
Situation
Many of the over 2,000 arrivals on Tuesday were from Skopje. They spoke of tension and confusion in town, with many ethnic Albanian families trying to decide whether or not to leave. More than 72,000 refugees have been registered in Kosovo since the beginning of the conflict, including over 50,000 arrivals in June alone. An additional 7,700 refugees from fYROM have been registered in southern Serbia, including Macedonians, Serbs and Muslims. Over 35,000 internally displaced people have been registered by the Macedonian Red Cross but it is estimated that many of them have crossed into Kosovo in the past week. Emergency Preparedness The heightened tensions in Skopje on Monday seem to have eased somewhat, but UNHCR and other aid agencies in the region remain alert. UNHCR is stepping up its emergency response capacity this week - senior-level staff began arriving this week to help in the management of refugee reception, stockpiles, aid delivery and other crucial areas which will become overloaded if we were to receive a large influx. The transit center in Kacanik is functioning smoothly, processing 500-600 arrivals per day since it opened on Sunday. To ease the congestion at the border, refugees are shuttled from the border by bus to Kacanic where they are registered and given assistance. Refugees are then transported to host families in different municipalities. The center is equipped with medical tent, play tent for children, as well as water and sanitation facilities. It can accommodate up to 300 people over night but can be expanded to accommodate up to 14,000 people if necessary. We are grateful to the people of Kosovo, who are generously helping the new arrivals and accommodating refugee families from fYROM. We are, however, concerned about further pressure put on host families and municipalities accommodating larger number of refugees. We need to be prepared not only for a large influx of refugees, but also for a need to protection refugees in Kosovo for an extended period of time depending on developments in fYROM. To strengthen the host family system, UNHCR has begun assessing the overall impact of refugees in different municipalities, including the need to improve the existing infrastructure (water, sanitation, electricity, etc.). To support the host families directly, UNHCR is planning to provide cash grants of 40DM/mos per refugee family to the local hosts. Some construction material will be distributed also if local houses require extensions to accommodate refugee families. The recent developments in fYROM have put UNHCR on high alert. We certainly hope that peaceful solutions will be found in fYROM, but meanwhile as an organization responsible for the protection of refugees, UNHCR must prepare for a worst case scenario. To continue working on building our emergency response capacity, additional funds are necessary. UNHCR has appealed to the donor community this week, requesting USD $ 17.5 million to care for the refugees over the next 6 months period. Returns to Southern Serbia An increasing number of people are returning to southern Serbia from Kosovo. UNHCR in southern Serbia reports about 3,000 people have now returned to villages near the former ground safety zone. Currently, we have more than 1,000 people expressing their wish to return to Bujanovac municipality. We hope to assist in the return of a fairly large group of them next week. UNHCR is organizing go-see visits as well as providing immediate assistance to returnees together with other aid agencies in southern Serbia. WFP is providing 1 months food ration to returnee families and ICRC is also distributing food in Presevo. In addition to distributing mattresses, blankets, kitchen sets and other basic items, UNHCR is looking into providing construction materials to repair about 1,000 damaged homes. ICRC, MSF and UNICEF are engaged in mine awareness campaigns, while Yugoslav Army is busy demining the region. Over 15,000 people have been displaced from Bujanovac, Medvedja, Presevo municipalities during the conflict in Kosovo and also during the stand-off between Albanian rebels and Serb forces beginning November 2000 until the abolition of the 5 kilometer buffer zone in May 2001. Some families have been displaced for over 2 years. Questions: Q: Was there an agreement between KFOR and the Macedonian Army to allow
the Macedonians into Haricinė after the NLA's removal? Q: Generally is it the policy of the police to always look for an
Albanian suspect when Serbs are injured or killed?
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