UNMIK-OSCE-EU-UNHCR Press Briefing, 30 August 2001

UNMIK Spokeswoman Susan Manuel
OSCE Spokesman Sven Lindholm
EU Spokesman Mike Todd
UNHCR Spokesman Philippo Papaphilippou

Susan Manuel
UNMIK Spokeswoman

Death of Staff Member

On Tuesday  a young staff member of UNMIK died while para-gliding near Prizren. Ms. Kati Heinonen, 29, joined UNMIK in April 2000 and worked as a Program Officer with the Dept. of Sports in Prizren and Pristina.  Kati leaves behind her husband Matthias Nygren who works with OSCE and has family in Sweden. A memorial service will be held for her today at 16.00 hours in the UNMIK Auditorium.  Kati was a United Nations Volunteer of which there are 245. These are highly skilled people who work without salary. We at UNMIK would like to extend our deepest condolences to her family and friends. She will be sorely missed here.

Water

Two weeks ago, I mentioned the problems with illegal water connections of villages along the transmission pipe from the Albanic water treatment plant. These villages have established illegal connections and are taking water destined for Pristina. Water shortages are and will occur here. The water pressure is weakened by the illegal connections.  Police have been instructed to disconnect the 12 villages this week. Incidentally, I mentioned previously that by watering the street, the street does not grow. Yet, I still see people out watering the street, as if it might turn into a garden. This doesn't work. Nor has it made Pristina any cleaner.

Train

Yesterday, SRSG Hans Haekkerup, Police Commissioner Albiston and KFOR commander Skiaker had planned to take a symbolic trip on the FOM train, from Lipjan to Kosovo Polje. however due to the fact the train malfunctioned, the trip was never made. We were highly amused by the articles in today's press which said the train trip had actually happened.

Police Report

From the police, as part of a spate of violent incidents against minorities, a grenade exploded in the house of a Kosovo Ashkalia woman and her child, both of whom were hospitalized with injuries. Police arrested three K. Albanian males in connection with the crime which occurred two days ago.

Police are seeking a  suspect in the murder of Selim Behrami , who was shot in the middle of the day on  Tuesday in Pristina while selling phone cards. An arrest warrant has been issued for Avni Brahinaj, age 24.

Yesterday the body of a Kosovo Serb man was found in the Shar mountains riddled with bullets. He disappeared  while picking blueberries. No motive or suspects have been determined in the case. He was Stanojko Stankovic, 53, who had been missing from his home in Vrbesnica for the past week.

Another drowning-in the Germija pool: yesterday at 6:30 p.m. the body of a young man, Dalip Maloku,  was recovered.

Registration

The endorsements by President Kostunica and Serb Prime Minster Djindjic seem to have had some effect: as the registration rate of Kosovo Serbs is rising.

There are now 7400 new registrants from non-Albanian communities in Kosovo, in Serbia, 35,500 Kosovo Serbs have registered, while in Montenegro, only 735 have registered. 14,600 new registrations all together in Kosovo.

UNICEF

UNICEF along with the Co heads of Education and Sciences, Naim Rrustemi and Michael Daxner will present the new General Curriculum Framework for the first time for public discussion tomorrow at 10 a.m.  in the Faik Konica school in Pristina. This new curriculum framework has been developed by the curriculum core team established in the fall of 2000 by the Department of Education and Science in cooperation with UNIECF.  This curriculum framework aims at providing the basis for a comprehensive curriculum  reform in the Kosovo educational system for preschool, primary school and secondary school.

Just to correct some misconceptions in the community here, the General Curriculum under preparation which will be guided by this framework is for all children of Kosovo. While there will be teaching in different languages, the overall curriculum, designed by the Dept of Education with UNICEF and following public consultation and debate, will be a unified one.

I'd like to welcome Philippo Papaphilipppou, UNHCR program officer, who will update you on the refugee situation after the other pillars make their presentation.

Sven Lindholm
OSCE Spokesman

Voter Services

We are now near the end of the fifth week of the voter services procedure, the updating of the voters' list.  There has been a steady increase in the number of people visiting Voter Service Centres, whether they are new registrants or those requiring additional services,
such as being assigned a polling centre or simply confirming personal information.   Through yesterday over 50,000 persons had visited the Centres, of this over 35,000 have taken the 5 minutes to check their personal information on where to vote and saving time waiting for hours in line on election day. The OSCE is also pleased to note that the Serbian community, both in and outside Kosovo, are registering in increasingly significant numbers.  By taking this concrete step, they are demonstrating that they are an integral part of Kosovo and are interested in taking part in future democratic developments of Kosovo.

UNMiK/OSCE mobile registration teams continue to visit communities across Kosovo to ensure that all potential voters are registered and will be able to vote on November 17.

Voting Out of Kosovo

An important note related to Out of Kosovo Voting.  The Out of Kosovo programme is not for "convenience" absentee voting.  It is for those who were displaced and not for people who have re-established residence in Kosovo.  This means that if a person is civilly registered in Kosovo, though currently living outside of Kosovo, he/she cannot get a ballot and vote by mail.  Instead, information will be received by mail about where and how to vote in Kosovo.

CEC

The Central Election Commission (CEC) will meet tomorrow to discuss the appointment and responsibilities of Polling Station Committees and further certification of political entities.

Tomorrow a series of training workshops begins for potential women candidates for the Kosovo Assembly election.  The aim of these sessions are to familiarize women candidates with the skills required to run an effective political campaign and hold office.  It also presents an opportunity for women to strengthen their contribution as decision-makers in both the political and social spheres of society.  A press advisory was distributed earlier this week with the dates and locations of the sessions.

Two reminders to political entities as they prepare candidate lists. The deadline for submission of lists is September 10th.   Each list must comply with the gender requirement which states that in the top 2/3 of a candidate list, at least 1/3 must be of a different gender, with one candidate from each gender included at least once in each group of three candidates.

Two Publications

The OSCE and the Kosovar Civil Society Foundation are launching two publications.  First a donor manual for local NGOs.  It contains a glossary of donor terms, guidelines for project planning, and profiles of a number of donors supporting local NGOs in Kosovo.  Second is a
report identifying common priorities and key challenges facing the NGO sector.  These conclusions were drawn from the First Forum of Kosovar NGOs.  Both publications are English, Albanian, Serbian, and Turkish languages.  A reception to launch these publications will take place at the Grand Hotel on Monday, September 3rd at 18:00 hrs.

Mike Todd
EU Spokesman

UNMIK Customs Service  - 2 Yrs

Tomorrow marks the second anniversary of the establishment of the UNMIK customs service. It was the first public service body to be set up in Kosovo after the conflict. The Customs service has been universally recognised as one of Kosovo's major success stories and its effectiveness continues to improve.

By the end of July this year, collection rates had already passed 200m DM, while at the same time last year the figure was around 95m. We are also seeing the development of a more inclusive service, with nearly 300 hundred applications being received from the Serbian community for vacancies in the North. We have also witnessed a normalisation of tax collection with compliance rates of commercial traffic entering through Gates One and Hen, now well over 90%.

The UNMIK Customs Service is supported directly by the European Union through a customs assistance missions funded by the European Commission. As part of this mission, EU customs officers work together with their local counterparts to enhance the efficiency of local customs and fiscal administrations. Customs  assistance missions are also at work in South Eastern Europe in  Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Customs Assistance Mission in Kosovo (CAM-K), in line with all the customs  assistance missions,  is supporting the modernisation of the UNMIK Customs Service and the establishment of practices in line with those of the European Union.

A press briefing is planned for the beginning of next week on the achievements of the Customs service so far and the challenges that lie ahead. More details will follow.

Fuel Supervisory Board

The Fuel Supervisory Board of the Department of Trade and Industry will meet with all registered fuel importers tomorrow to open discussions on forthcoming licensing procedures.

The Fuel Supervisory Board is responsible for the regulation of Kosovo's petroleum based fuel market. This involves the development of increased controls over imports, including the prevention of smuggling and the creation of an open market for petroleum based fuels.

Water, Waste and Finance Directors Meeting

The Public Utilities Department (PUD) monthly meeting for all Water and Waste Directors of Public Utility Service Providers (PUSPs), is taking place today.   Presentations will be given on dumpsite remediation and landfill construction, and the Irrigation Rehabilitation Project. Mr. Richard Lacey, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Batllava will discuss debt collection and disconnection policy. 

Euro Working Group

The Euro working group, chaired by DSRSG Bearpark, will meet this afternoon. The working group is meeting to discuss the developments that have taken place so far and the issues that still need to be addressed, to ensure as smooth a transition as possible to the new currency. The meeting also marks the beginning of a re-intensification of the effort to inform the people of Kosovo about the Euro's arrival.The event takes place at 3.00pm, this afternoon at the BPK headquarters here in Pristina, all media are invited to attend.

Philippo Papaphilippou
UNHCR Spokesman

Figures

Total Number of Arrivals Since the Beginning of the Conflict: 81,484
This figure includes those persons who may have fled for a second or third time after having returned to fYRoM temporarily.

Estimated number of returnees  approximately  33,189
This includes persons who may have returned to fYRoM several times to check out the situation without having returned for good.

Estimated Total remaining  48,295

FYROM

The rate of refugee returns has increased since the beginning on Monday of NATO's arms collection program. More than 3,000 refugees went back to fYROM the past three days, bringing to more than 32.600 the number of returns since the movement began in July. Another 48.800 refugees are estimated to remain in Kosovo.

UNHCR is assisting returnees in fYROM but is concerned about returns in areas which remain unstable. UNHCR is worried that the presence of NATO is creating a false sense of security. NATOs presence in fYROM is temporary as NATO itself has stressed repeatedly.  Many of the refugees appear to be heading to villages in the Tetovo region.

Yesterday, UNHCR visited the villages of Neprosten, Lesok, Tearce and Dobroste to look into the situation of Macedonians who are in the minority in these villages. A few Macedonians who remained in Dobroste said the situation was fairly satisfactory. In the three villages the atmosphere was tense. People said there was no freedom of movement.
UNHCR believes that the movement of displaced Macedonians back to their villages where they are in the minority is crucial in confidence building and durable returns.

Questions:

Q: How long will this situation with electricity continue in Kosovo? Can you give us the brief about the investment into the power plant in Obeliq since 1999
MT: There have been millions of DM invested into the power plant. I can't remember exactly the number, but we know it has been a significant amount.  The current situation has improved slightly since unit A came back on line last week. But the power cuts we see in this moment is largely to the B unit which should be completed next month. And when it is hopefully the situation will improve.  In fact then Kosovo will be able to have some energy spare to export. And export contracts have been negotiated at the moment. So hopefully the power problems that we are having at this moment are short-term compared to the winter.

Q: I know that KEK is blaming the people of Kosovo for not paying electricity bills. I know that there were some troubles within the KEK board. But I would like to know about the corruption within the KEK, corruption within the EU in Kosovo. What about the money which has been invested in this power plant and the other plants in Kosovo?
MT: I think the point has been made before that the European taxpayer is certainly the one who would suffer the most here, having invested a major amount of money into Kosovo to see that the actual situation improves. If there is anyone who can be held accountable with regard to the misuse of funds, it should be done. I know of no evidence of corruption among EU officials, and similarly any allegations of corruption raised, are investigated thoroughly.    

Q: For UNHCR - How do these people go back into Macedonia? Do they use official border crossing or do they use mountains?
PP: Most of them have gone back through Globocica crossing point. Some have gone back through the mountains, especially in the area of Prizren. They  go through the mountains to the villages which are in general pretty close to the areas where they are settling in Kosovo.

Q: When Mr. Haekkerup met with Mr. Covic they talked for 7 hours but all we got was a very shaky line of what the subject was. What were the main issues? Only the issue of the missing? And if so, do you believe they could have solved it in 7 hours of discussion?
SM: I wasn't there. Two hours were spent with the Family Association of the Serb missing. I know they discussed the detainees both in Serbia and in Kosovo. … They discussed education in Kosovo …  That is as far as I know the broad outlined of what they talked about. They also talked about the FRY liaison offices. We think that the Pristina office should be the one official FRY liaison office in Kosovo, but I believe that Mr. Covic has proposed others. They still have one in Mitrovica. They probably discussed the Osojane valley return project and other returns. They discussed up-coming visits with Mr. Covic. 

Q:  When would you as the UN mission here expect a sort of clear position from Yugoslav Authorities regarding the elections. When would be a last day to know what we're expecting.
SM:  Well that's why we and Belgrade authorities are encouraging registration because that enables people to have the option to vote.
The problem is with the parties which so far have applied for certification but they are not yet certified. Other than that, individuals can decide to vote on the day of voting.
SL:  If anyone is registered to vote they can decide to vote up to the day of voting. But the message is that you have to be registered to vote on election day.

Q:  Susan is the 17th of November the date of the upcoming elections?
SM: Yes

Q: Are you going to change that?
SM:  No, that's the day. It's not going to change.

Q:  Susan did you have any information on Sami Lushtaku and any  reaction of TMK?
SM: Well there's really no new information to have. He was dismissed from the KPC, or KFOR and UNMIK asked that he be dismissed, because he violated the terms of his suspension by showing up at his HQ armed. I understand that the KPC issued a press release protesting the decision.

Q: Clarification on voting issues. One is the absentee voting. Where do people have to be, under what conditions can they vote from abroad? And I'm also interested in the gender balancing.  We're pretty clear that one in three candidates of the first two thirds of the candidate list have to be women.  What happens if once the election takes place, at that point individuals on the list decide that they can't take the seat? Can the party then substitute another gender, such as a man for a woman?
SL:  For absentee voting, this is specifically for the out of Kosovo voting.  There is one voter list being prepared, those inside Kosovo, and there's a list that IOM is preparing of those people who have registered through IOM. The kind of absentee voting I'm referring to here is a person who is registered in Kosovo, but may not have an UNMIK ID. If this person is in Germany, they can not receive a ballot from IOM. This person must return to Kosovo to vote. 

Q:  So someone who turned 18 since the last election and leaves the country to go study in the United States and leaves today, he can not vote?
SL:  That is a special case and I can clarify that for you later. But this is in general for those who are residents of Kosovo who may not be living here, well you can't take advantage of the out of Kosovo program unless you are a displaced person who has left Kosovo. In answer to your 2nd question about the gender requirement, yes there is a specific amount that are mandates won by any given political entity. If someone on that list who wins a mandate decides they can not, the next person on that list will have the mandate. There is a specific order in which the parties are submitting the candidates. If a person can not take a mandate for whatever reason, the next person on the list would receive the mandate. The only time a substitution on a list can happen is if there was a problem before the candidate was verified by the OSCE and then a name would have to be submitted in its place.

Q:  To follow up on the gender. So you go down the list and if a woman drops out and the next person on the list is a male then in the end there's no requirement that people who take the seats, a certain proportion have to be women?
SL:  No there's no requirement on who takes the final seat, but the parties have to have women on their lists to ensure that there is a greater representation of women in the assembly.

Q:  Can we expect soon new negotiations between SRSG Hans Haekkerup and Covic? And did you have some information from the village Vidomiriq, north of Mitrovica? An Albanian radio announced that two Albanians were arrested and that KFOR and UNMIK police searched the village.
SM:  Do the UNMIK police have anything? Albanians arrested in north Mitrovica? No, we'll have to check later.  Covic is coming to some Serb enclaves tomorrow and meets with SRSG Hans Haekkerup sometime next week.

Q:  Do you have more details or is it the same story for the agenda, kidnapping, missing persons, detainees?
SM:  I don't know what will be on the next agenda. Mitrovica will have to come up at some point. Detainees are still a live issue as is education.

Q:  For two weeks the Blace crossing is closed by a group called the Macedonian World Congress.  Also we heard yesterday that the border in Tabanauci is closed by the same organization. What is UNMIK doing to reopen Blace?
SM:  we don't really have a mandate for FYROM.  And the border is not officially closed, it's closed by a protest group. So we can only ask the Macedonian government to do something about the protesters. I don't think there's been a demarche to the Macedonian government.

Q:  Do you hope that this time in the meeting, Mr. Haekkerup will set the agenda?  I'm told that Mr. Covic set the agenda last time.
SM:  I don't know about last time but the agenda is agreed upon by both sides who submit agenda items ahead of time.

Q:  But these issues all seem to be proposed by Covic.
SM:  That's simply not true, it's not just a Serb agenda. They talk about the missing, the graves in Batanjica, forensics work, the detained Kosovo Albanians.

Q:  How do you see these meetings between SRSG Hans Haekkerup and Covic. As meetings, as negotiations, as ordinary, as dialogue?
SM:  I wouldn't call them negotiations. The purpose from our side is the unification of Mitrovica, the participation of Serbs in the elections and registration, but also in getting support from Belgrade on issues important to Kosovo and Kosovo Serbs.  Another important issue is the detained Albanians still in Serbia. This is why we sought a high level official to deal with. But negotiations is a big word. I think this is a dialogue and a discussion that UNMIK has with the Belgrade authorities.

Q: Maybe I should clarify, who has the advantage in this dialogue?
SM:  Nothing can occur in Kosovo outside of 1244. This sets the parameters for all discussions. The people of Kosovo have quite a few issues with which we think Mr. Covic can help.

Q:  Who has the advantage in this dialogue?  Mr. Haekkerup or Mr. Covic? And who will have the advantage from their next meeting?
A: Well, we are talking about anything in Kosovo and that which is outside of 1244, in a sense, sets the parameters for whatever talks go on.  But, we have and the people of Kosovo have quite a few issues that we think we can get their support on and I know I can give you - is not a contest, it is a discussions in order to gain a support and to workout technical, very technical agreements sometimes, and things that are of interest to the people and often to help with the livelihood of the Kosovo Serbs.  This is not a debate over the future of Kosovo.  The other important message that is always delivered is that we will not have any parallel administration going on here and I think that message has been quite successfully delivered, is something that is not well understood in many circles, particularly in Yugoslavia.

Q: Susan, you mentioned problems of administration, we have in Kosovo the problem of
identification cards, problem of passports, travel documents, problems of registration plates
and we are probably going to have a problem of university.  We had in the past the problem of
an educational system because we have schools in Kosovo which were paid by Serbia.  What
is the next step?  And who is going to pay the university?  Is it going to be part of the
university in Mitrovica or is it going to be paid by UNMIK or how is it going to work?  How
is the next institution going to be parallel?
A: When we talk about parallel institutions or administrations that we do not want, that means
administrations or institutions which are run by a parallel entity, as you said which may be
paid by a parallel entity.  That is what we are against but you can't just eliminate it in one day. 
We are trying to convince the Serbs through Mr. Covic that all education, for example, should
come under the administration of UNMIK.  But, that does not mean that all people would go to the same school because sadly, these schools are not open to minorities.  They are not providing a minority education so we will have to get Kosovo to educate its minorities.  But, all education and all identification should come under UNMIK or under the Kosovo administration, eventually.  As far as identification cards, there is no need for someone with a Yugoslavia identification card or passport to abandon that or to give it up.  We are establishing instead identification cards for Kosovo and the travel document, as you know well, was established for people who have no passports.  The education is a very difficult subject because we are in a very weak situation right now in which have no education to provide in terms of Serbian speaking or Bosniac speaking university students.  So, we have to work out some way to provide education for those people.

Q: Is it going to be University of Pristina, in Serbian, Bosnian, Croatian languages - whatever,
or is it going to be a different university?
A:  Ideally, it should be University of Pristina but where is it?  Where is the Croatian, Serbian, Bosniac language classes?

Q: Yes, it is in Mitrovica
SM: In Mitrovica?

Q:  All the time, you know, universities and faculties worked in Mitrovica in Serbian language and also it is in Pristina in Law School there are classes with Muslim people, in military school?
A: Of course, there are elementary schools in Serbian language, there is no higher education provided by the University of Pristina in the Serbian and Bosniac languages.  We have to enable all students to be able study, that is our mandate and it is the mandate of the Department of Education of Kosovo. 

Q: Yesterday, the Turkish went through Blace boarder and went into Macedonia on the
Mission Essential Harvest and they were allowed to go through.  Do you have any
information how they did that?  UNHCR said that there were 3,000 more people who went
back and most of their houses are destroyed, do you have any information or does UNHCR
has a plan of reconstructing those houses so that people do not have to be outside in tents?
A: Yes, first of all, I would like to correct the statement - not most houses are destroyed but some houses.  Most of the people who have already gone back, have gone to urban areas where houses are still not really destroyed  Some of the people that went back in the last week or two, especially since the peace agreement were signed, may have gone back to some villages that some of the houses are definitely destroyed.  But, as yet because we do not have humanitarian access in FYROM and some of these areas, we are not able to assess the extent of the damage in some of these villages.  We are trying (by the way I do not normally mean only UNHCR, there are also other agencies like OSCE for instance) to go to some of these areas and assess the damage.  But, if you take as an example Kosovo in 99, many people came back when their houses were destroyed and they stayed  in general with friends and relatives.  They definitely found a solution.  I could assert at this moment that UNHCR has been appointed as a lead Agency for shelter and they are already in the process quite a detailed plans about shelter, to the extent that we know now what is the problem and what could the solutions be.  So, there is going to be rehabilitation plan and a major programme, hopefully, in many of these areas, but at this moment we do not know really the size of the problem.
 
Q: You said that you have a detailed programme of rehabilitation, can you tell me what is in
that detailed programme?  Just mention a few of them, and when will this programme start,
because it is now almost the end of August and in three months you have winter here?
A: Well, a detailed programme would involve the results of an assessment, as I said earlier we do not have, we have an outline of a programme and we are trying to fill in the details.  Because of the reason that you mentioned that we are relatively late - it is already end of August and there aren't too many weeks available for major reconstruction, the emphasis will have to be on providing a dry, warm and insulated room for families, where ever it is possible.  But, of course there will be more thorough rehabilitation plans that will be emerging in the next couple of weeks, I hope, for more extensive reconstruction but at this point we are not able to give you details in that one.

Q: What preventive measures are you taking for this transfer from Deutsche Mark to Euro that
prices will not increase?
A: Well, prices increases are individual decisions taken by traders and people who are actually involved in selling products but the best weapon we have is to educate people to explain what the exchange rate is and for people to understand that there should not be an increase in prices because of the introduction of the Euro.  In essence, we are already using the Euro because the exchange rate was sent at the end of 99 to the Deutsche Mark as a currency that was on the market cease to exist then, to the Deutsche Mark is already sub-unit of the Euro.  So, there should be no alteration of prices whatsoever.  In this prices should be more accurate because there have been more currency brought in when the Euro comes, I mean, we lack at the moment pfinings so people generally pay one Mark or 50 pfinings for goods that will allow more flexible marketing for businesses to thrive more competitively.     

Q: From 1st January of next year what will be the currency of Kosovo, the Euro or Yugoslava
dinar?
A: Well, as I think you probably know, the dinar at the moment remains legal tender but the fact of the matter is that the Deutsche Mark is the most used currency, is the currency accepted in all payments and transactions, so it is Kosovo's currency of choice, similarly.  As of January, as the Deutsche Mark cease to exist, the Euro will become the currency of choice.