UNMIK/PR/855
Wednesday, 23 October 2002

SRSG receives Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's support for Seven Point Plan

Pristina - SRSG Michael Steiner today received a letter of support for the Mitrovica Seven Point Plan from the Italian Foreign Ministry. The letter was sent by Roberto Antonione, Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs. The contents are reprinted below.

"I wish to thank you on behalf of the Prime Minister and acting Minister of Foreign Affairs (Silvio Berlusconi) for your letter regarding the Plan which you have proposed to improve the situation for inter-ethnic coexistence in the municipality of Mitrovica.

Italy welcomes your initiative, which points in the right direction, which is to seek to meet the concerns of the Serb minority while preserving the unity of the municipality under the supreme authority of UNMIK.

Mitrovica is a test case for the international community's capacity to create a climate of trust and cooperation between the two ethnic groups, and between them and the international community, which is the main precondition upon which any future discussion on the future status of Kosovo will depend. This is why the principles set out in your Plan may certainly, if implemented, have positive fallout throughout the whole of Kosovo and the region as a whole.

It is the hope of the Italian government that the prospects opened up by your Plan for Mitrovica and more in general, by your initiative on decentralization, can also attract full and strong participation by the Serb minority in the municipal elections on 26 October. If the election were to be boycotted by the Serbs, that would send out a negative signal to everyone. The Italian government is doing all it can to support the efforts of the international community to persuade the Serbs to take part in the election, in their own interests.

The Italian government considers the establishment of a democratic and multi-ethnic Kosovo to be one of the main priorities for the Balkans region.