United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo

Briefing Notes, 26 November 2002

UNMIK Spokesperson Simon Haselock
KFOR Spokesperson
UNMIK Police Spokesperson Barry Fletcher
OSCE Spokesperson Alexander Benz
EU Spokeswoman Betty Dawson

UNMIK Spokesperson Simon Haselock

Good morning everybody. I am afraid you’ll have my ugly mug for the time being as Susan has now departed, sadly, so I have to step into her ample shoes until we can find somebody else to do it, and of course not everybody is volunteering given the press coverage that Susan got recently, I can understand why.

Obviously, the news today is the news that was announced last night, yesterday evening that UNMIK Administration Mitrovica now has opened its office on the north side of the river. Michael Steiner is visiting the office this afternoon, or this morning, he is leaving shortly, to visit the office, to check on how things are going there and to follow on how things are developing. But I think it is important to note what Michael said yesterday that this is now a fact that UNMIK has extended its administrative authority throughout the whole territory of Kosovo and it is a big step towards the future vis-a –vis the situation in resolving of all of Mitrovica difficulties.

On another issue you will be aware that there is a conference in London at the moment on organized crime. The PDSRSG, Mr. Charles Brayshaw, is in attendance and I think it was held mainly yesterday and I think they are finishing with the conference today and we will have more to say about this when he returns.

A bit of breaking news before I hand over to my colleagues. It is my understanding, and I have to check the exact details on this one, I understand that the journalist Bojan Bozovic has been released form detention this morning. I am not entirely sure about the circumstances as of yet, but it my understanding that he has indeed been released, and we will probably have something further to say on that later on today.

Thank you very much.

KFOR Spokesperson

Good morning ladies and gentleman, there are no points form KFOR.

UNMIK Police Spokesperson Barry Fletcher

On 22/11/02 at about 19:15h in a village in Pristina Region, a K-Albanian man armed with an AK-47 rifle shot five other K-Albanian men. One of the victims died. The motive involved a dispute earlier in the day between the murder victim and the suspect. Police have arrested the suspect and recovered the weapon. The suspect’s father was also arrested as an accessory to the crime.

On 20/11/02 in a village in Pristina Region, a K-Albanian juvenile murdered his brother during a dispute. Police arrested the suspect and recovered the firearm used in the crime.

For additional information regarding these crimes, please call the Pristina Region Police Press office at 038 504 604 5110

EU Spokeswoman Betty Dawson

Today units 1, 2 and 3 are working and HPP Gazivode/Ujmani is working with one unit at hours of peak demand

The schedule, applied only at times of peak demand, remains at 4 hours with electricity and 2 hours without electricity.

The daily energy update report can now be found on the UNMIK web page:
http://www. unmikonline.org.

We continue to urge the citizens of Kosovo to save energy as much as possible and not to leave electric appliances switched on when not in use.

KTA

Audits being carried out on the POEs are due to be completed by 20 February 2003 when a full report will be released. Three different companies are completing the audit.

Civil Aviation Division

The first group of Kosovan Air Traffic Control (ATC) Personnel has recently completed their ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) course in Italy. This training course qualifies them to provide an Air Traffic Control Service under the supervision of a suitably qualified on the job training instructor in Pristina Airport. This is an important first step in the process of gradually handing over the airport control to Kosovans.

Questions:

Q: Simon, why UNMIK has waited three years and five months to make yesterdays move in north Mitrovica? Did UNMIK wait for the green light from Belgrade?

UNMIK: It is the obvious question. I think also the answer is obvious. You know well how the cycles have gone vis-à-vis the whole experience in Kosovo and in particular as far as Mitrovica is concerned. We have said for some time that we were dissatisfied with progress in Mitrovica. Since Michaels Steiner has come he has decided that he wants to have a very specific approach to the problems in Mitrovica and certainly in the last few months you have seen that demonstrated, beginning with the reinforcement of UNMIK Police on that side, the assistance in community terms to the community on the north side of the river, the whole launching of the Seven Point plan before the elections, and the consequence of elections itself presenting us with the fact that now there is a very distinct political vacuum on the north side of the river. And this is a method of filling that vacuum, and it is part of our deliberate plan on Mitrovica to make sure that this step is taken and I think that it is progression; the circumstances in the past were different and I think it is not the question of why it hasn’t been done it is a question of it has been done now, and it has been done successfully and I think that we are very pleased with the way the situation, at the moment, is penning out in Mitrovica.

Q: Did UNMIK wait for the green light from Belgrade?

UNMIK: No, I think the reverse is the case. We have basically taken the issue to them rather then them to us, as a way of describing it.

Q: What coordination is going to be between two UNMIK municipalities – administrative centers - we have now, one in the north and one in the south and when is UNMIK going to take over responsibility over hospital and other public services in the north side?

UNMIK: First of all, you had a slip of the tongue in the way you asked the question in the fist place suggesting that there were two municipalities. There is not and that is the whole point. There is not and will not be two municipalities in Mitrovica. This is an UNMIK administration on the north side of the river under direct supervision of municipal administrator for Mitrovica. The office on the north side, which is an extension of the office that was there anyway, in terms of having representation on the north side, is led by a deputy of the municipal administrator of Mitrovica. Is not a question of coordination, there doesn’t need to be no coordination in the sense that there are two separate centers, this is the same organization and he works for the municipal administrator, so coordination is implied in the fact that he is there, he just happens to be in the office on the other side of the river. There are other municipalities where there are more then one office controlled by the municipal administration, so it is not the question of coordination, it is the question of who is in charge and who works for whom, and is very clearly the deputy to the municipal administrator working for him directly. As far as the education and health is concerned we have said quite clearly that parallel structures need to cease. Certain things will happen more quickly then others but at some stage in a not to distant future we will be in control of all the functions on the other side of the river. But these things had to be done in a way that the services continue to be provided. We had to make sure that services for the health, for the education are provided and therefore anything that is done need to be organized and delivered in such way to make sure that there is no break in service. So I can’t give you a timing because I don’t know, but this is something that will have to be done gradually rather than like chopping it with the knife.

Q: Does that mean that these two centers, offices of UNMIK administration that are 200 meters air distance from each other will not be coordinated?

UNMIK: No, it is quite reverse. What I am saying is that when you are talking about coordination you imply that there are two separate things that need to be coordinated, two heads of the same organization that need to be coordinated. These aren’t two heads; the office on the north side is subordinated to the office on the south side controlled by the municipal administrator of UNMIK, so it is not the question of coordination. You don’t coordinate with your subordinates, you tell them what to do, and they tell you what they are doing. That is essentially what the situation is.

Q: Simon, can people from the south go to the north, if not today, when is this going to start?

UNMIK: That is a loaded question, and you know the answer before you ask the question. If you expect you are going to draw some statement out of me you are wrong. The situation is as well as you know it, very difficult, we want people to go across to the north side of the river and given the right circumstances they should. This is a step forward; we are getting to a point where people will be able to move more freely across the bridge. I think that situation on the bridge is much more relaxed that has been, but we will have to wait and see how things develop in not to distant future. Yes, I think they should be able to go, I think it is still difficult but the situation is improving