UNMIK/PR/772
Wednesday, 10 July 2002

FINISHING THE JOB

Address to the Austrian Diplomatic Academy

by Michael Steiner
Special Representative of the Secretary-General

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I speak here today as someone who works on the ground. My everyday work in Kosovo deals with the basics.

In UNMIK, we are working to build a functioning modern administration for Kosovo. We train police to investigate crimes. We set up courts. We crack down on cigarette smuggling in order to generate revenues for schools and hospitals. We work on privatization. Fundamental to our work is respect for the rule of law.

The high politics in capitals may sometimes seem far from these ground realities. But we feel the repercussions. It may be a commonplace to say that the world is interlinked. Still, I would like to reflect today on the concrete impact of international politics on the realities I work with on the ground.

The international community intervened in Kosovo to defend fundamental human rights. When we came in we represented a consensus on international standards and the international rule of law. This is both the basis and goal of our mission. Before we leave, before we can say that we have finished our job, we need to instill those standards and values in Kosovo society.

For this I need to have the strong and steady backing of those who sent me there. My work in Kosovo can only succeed if I have behind me an international community that is consistent about the fundamentals.

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The people in Kosovo are tired of crime and violence. There is a powerful argument that they can all understand. The argument is: no one is above the law.

When I first arrived in Pristina, there were demonstrations taking place over the arrest of three former KLA members. Thousands had gone to the streets of Pristina demanding that those arrested be freed. There had been violence: people injured and windows smashed.

The initial reaction of the Kosovars was that the arrest of former KLA fighters was something against all of them. But they also knew that I was right when I said that anyone who was suspected of committing crimes should be arrested and tried. It was for the courts to decide their innocence or guilt, on the basis of evidence.

In the last couple of weeks, we have had two new arrest operations. In these operations, fourteen men were arrested, again including former KLA members. Some of them quite prominent. This time demonstrations have remained small, peaceful, and with marginal popular support.

The difference is that ordinary people have accepted the key argument: no one is above the law.

We have said that we will arrest anyone who has committed crimes. We do not make exceptions for former fighters, for politicians, or based on ethnicity or nationality. In Belgrade, Foreign Minister Svilanovic has supported the need to act against criminals in Northern Kosovo where Serbs are the majority.

We convince people by making the arrest of criminals a judicial, not a political issue. We convince people, above all, by being consistent.

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In Kosovo, we will continue this policy. The arrest of those whom some consider to be war heroes or protectors will always be controversial. Yet we will go ahead. We will carry out arrests even when we are at the limits of what the traffic can bear.

But our approach will be undermined if the standards are not also consistently applied beyond Kosovo. We, as the international community, will only be credible if we are consistent. If we also apply the same standards to ourselves. We must practice what we preach.

If the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague issues an arrest warrant within Kosovo, we need to be able to say credibly that no one is above the law.

But what if the international consensus is under a question mark? How should we argue that we have to deliver Kosovans to an international court if we are not ready to accept this principle ourselves?

I am afraid that inconsistent standards of justice anywhere undermine the credibility of the rule of law everywhere.

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We have achieved a great deal in addressing the material and security needs of post-conflict Kosovo.

The EU alone has invested over two billion euro in Kosovo. The benefits of this investment can be seen in all areas of life.

If before Kosovo-Albanian students studied in private homes, there are now some 420,000 children attending 1,200 schools. 15,000 young people are pursuing a higher education. We have issued 220,000 travel documents. More than 300,000 phones in Kosovo are now connected to the whole world – where three years ago they could only make local calls.

Democratic elections last November led to the creation of a Provisional Assembly and Government with nine ministries. Together, UNMIK and Kosovo’s provisional institutions are focusing on creating functioning democratic institutions.

We have 365 judges and prosecutors. These will now be joined by more Kosovo Serbs to make the judiciary truly multi-ethnic. In the Kosovo Police Service, 15% are minorities. It is one multi-ethnic police force. The murder rate has gone down steadily: from 245 murders in 2000 to 118 in 2001. In the first six months of this year, there have been 34 murders, 32 of them Kosovo-Albanians.

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The institutions of justice and the rule of law are the basis for a functioning society.

No amount of physical infrastructure or political institutions will make Kosovo a fair and respected society until the people there have absorbed core values of the international community.

We intervened in Kosovo for those core values. We intervened in Afghanistan for the same values.

Now we need to finish the job. The challenge is peacekeeping – not only in the field but also in the minds of people. We need to overcome the mentality of war. We need to ensure that justice is done. For this we – the international community – must be consistent.

This is the basis on which we can finish the job. But we are not there yet. Kosovo is not yet self-sustainable. The core values have not yet fully taken root. But if we have a consistent, credible international community backing us, the job can be done.

Thank you.