Press Briefing Notes, 28 January 2003

UNMIK Spokesperson Sunil Narula
KFOR Spokesperson Wing Commander Anthony Adams
UNMIK Police Spokesperson Derek Chappell
OSCE Spokesperson Poul Smidt
EU Spokeswoman Monique De Groot

UNMIK Spokesperson Sunil Narula

SRSG’s Speech at the LSE

SRSG Michael Steiner yesterday delivered a speech at the London School of Economics. The speech is available on our website unmikonline.org

He is now traveling to Brussels, where he has meetings scheduled with British minister for European affairs Mr. Denis MacShane and Mr. Javier Solana, followed by a dinner hosted by the Stability Pact Coordinator Mr. Busek.

Press Conference

Jose Pablo Baraybar, head of Office of Missing Persons and Forensics, will give a press conference on where we stand with the missing on Monday, 3 February, at 11 a.m. in this room.

There is going to be an exhibit of clothes and personal effects this on 1 and 2 February 2003 at Gate 3 from the bodies from Prizren Orthodox cemetery. From 11 a.m. to 1700 hrs on Saturday and Sunday.

KFOR Spokesman Wing Commander Anthony Adams

Incorrect reports in the Press

Medical Monitoring of Hungarian Troops

Yesterday the Serbian News Agency Danas reported that the Hungarian newspaper ‘Nepsabadsag’ stated that “Hungarian KFOR had discovered material with a high level of radio activity in the soil of their camp and that examination of soldiers had started”. This article is incorrect.

The facts are that in October 2002 a Hungarian Medical Team was in Kosovo to carry out routine medical monitoring and checked among other things the back ground radiation level. The survey showed no sign of high radiation and therefore there is no risk to the local population or to KFOR soldiers.
KFOR underlines that all contributing nations are committed to provide constant medical care to their personnel and we will continue to carry out such routine monitoring.

Russian Troops in KFOR

There have recently been many reports in the press that the Russian KFOR troops are soon to leave Kosovo. This is incorrect.

Both at the highest civilian levels of the Russian Defense Ministry and the Chief of the Russian Military himself have both reiterated that there are currently no plans to withdraw the Russian military forces from Kosovo.

Administrative Change

Purely for administrative reasons MNB (NORTH) has been renamed MNB (NORTH EAST). All telephone numbers organisation and command structure remain unchanged.

UNMIK Police Spokesperson Derek Chappell

Murders

On 24/01/03 in Peja/Pec town, a K-Albanian man was shot inside his vehicle and later died at hospital. Police have arrested one suspect and are seeking a second man. The motive is believed to involve a dispute.

On 21/01/03 in a rural area of Prizren Region, a K-Albanian man was found inside a vehicle, dead from multiple gunshot wounds. The victim had recently returned from Switzerland with a large amount of cash and the motive is suspected to involve robbery.

Murder Arrest

Police in Prizren Region have arrested a suspect in the 31/12/02 murder of a K-Goran man. The suspect, a 31 year-old K-Albanian man, was caught as he crossed from Albania into Kosovo while using forged documents.

Illegal Weapon arrests

On 27/01/03 in Peja/Pec Region, police arrested a K-Albanian man when illegal weapons were found in his car at a vehicle checkpoint. Confiscated were an M-80 rocket launcher, two RPG-7 type grenade launchers, and a 60mm mortar. On 25/01/03, a machine pistol and two semi-automatic handguns were confiscated at other vehicle checkpoints in Peja/Pec Region.

Across Kosovo police have established intensive random road blocks on most of the roads throughout the day and the night. We are committed to ensuring that there is no freedom of movement for criminals and for people who transport weapons throughout Kosovo.

Arrests for Assault on Police

I would like to congratulate Kosovo Police Service for some excellent police work in Gnjilan. On 27/01/03 in Gnjilane town, police were on patrol in the market area when they briefly detained a known burglar for questioning. The person was released and left the area. He apparently gathered a group of his friends and returned to the market. The group then attacked the two officers, who overpowered and arrested them. Three men are in custody.

Please contact the appropriate Regional Press Officer for additional information concerning these incidents.

Boundary Handover

On Monday, 03/02/03, responsibility for security at the fixed crossing points between Serbia and Kosovo will be transferred to the UNMIK Border & Boundary Police. Both international and KPS officers will be stationed at the crossing points. The first handover will take place at Gate 1 in Mitrovica Region. The news media is invited to attend and the Border Police Press Officer can provide details.

Hunting & Recreational Weapons Registration

Starting on 01/02/03, police will begin registering hunting and recreational weapons across Kosovo. Effective 01/05/03, hunting and recreational weapons must be registered or possession of such weapons will be illegal. This registration of such weapons represents another step in the process of normalization for Kosovo. However, hunting and shooting remain illegal in Kosovo. Neither hunting associations nor Municipal institutions have the authority to authorize hunting or shooting at the present time.

In general, the affected weapons are HUNTING shotguns and rifles that cannot hold more than 3 rounds of ammunition, and single-shot TARGET rifles and pistols (including air-guns).

Individuals who possess hunting and/or recreational weapons should visit their local police station with the following:

A. Official photo identification (driving license, UNMIK ID card, passport, UNMIK travel document, etc.)
B. Two (2) passport-size color photographs taken within the last six (6) months.
C. The complete information on each weapon to be registered (manufacturer, model, type, serial number, caliber, and barrel length).

No weapons should be brought to a police station without prior authorization

Upon receipt of the information for legitimate hunting & recreational weapons, the police station will issue a temporary registration document. Also, an appointment will be scheduled for the owner to return to the police station with the actual weapons. On the date of the appointment, the weapon(s) will be examined and compared with the information provided on the owner’s first visit. Upon approval, a permanent Weapon Registration Card will then be issued to the owner. At this time, the permits will only allow the owner to possess the weapon(s) inside their own home. Registered weapons found outside the owner’s home will be confiscated.

This is the only legal and official weapons registration process for Kosovo. All weapons must be registered and NO previously issued registration cards are valid. There is no fee for registering weapons.

OSCE Spokesman Poul Smidt

The only message I have today on behalf of the OSCE mission is an appeal to those of you in the media who are still aggressively attacking individuals, individual fellow Albanians with violent verbal language that could stir up dangerous tensions and I appeal to those media to find another way of delivering their messages. This is to repeat that violence with words, hate speeches has no place in responsible media or in a civilized society. But at the same time I want to emphasise that the main rule is that a lot of journalists, a lot of media is doing a fine job of meeting the benchmark standards of being professional and being responsible. So I was talking today about the exception, not the rule of media behaviour in Kosovo.

EU Spokeswoman Monique De Groot

Last Friday, 24 January, the BPK signed an MOU with the National Insurance Bureau of Macedonia on mutual recognition of motor vehicle insurance cooperation. You might remember that a similar MOU was signed with the Albanian Insurance Bureau in September last year.

Questions

Q: A question for KFOR and UNMIK. Yesterday we read in the newspapers your comments on the statements of Serbian officials about the return of Serbian forces in Kosovo.

SN: OK. I will repeat what we have said because this has been asked several times that nothing has changed, the situation remains exactly the same. UNMIK and KFOR are in-charge for security in Kosovo. I have nothing more to add to that.

AA: I have nothing to add to what Sunil has said.

Q: What is your comment to the passing of the Constitutional Charter by the Serbian parliament?

SN: As far as we are concerned in Kosovo, UN Security Council resolution 1244 is the main document, the defining on Kosovo and the sole authority to decide on Kosovo’s future status is the UN Security Council.

Q: In the last few days Serbs in Caglavica have blocked the road. We have information that the police did nothing to expel these people from the road. Do they have the right to do such things because they do not want to pay for electricity that everyone pays and why is the police doing nothing to stop them from blocking the road?

DC: I am not going to talk about the reason for the protest. I will talk strictly about the legality. People are allowed to have a demonstration or a protest providing they give the police appropriate notice and there have been many occasions in many cities and towns across Kosovo, in which demonstrations and protests have been held on public roads by a variety of different organizations for a variety of different reasons. We have been notified about these protests in advance. Obviously they disrupt traffic because it is a main road, so there is a degree of discretion involved. They are controlled in so much as the length of the protest is a matter of agreement. If ever there is a danger to public security, for example if an ambulance or an emergency vehicle has to get through, I am sure we will escort it through. But this is a legal protest, it has been notified to us in advance and it is being held in controlled conditions as we have allowed many groups to hold demonstrations throughout Kosovo.