UNMIK/PR/30

PRESS RELEASE

20 August, 1999

SRSG briefed on Gnjilane situation

PRISTINA-The Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Dr Bernard Kouchner, met with the US military top commander, General Peterson, and his team at the US military basis of Gnjilane for an hour’s briefing about the situation in the region and KFOR’s actions to create a safe and secure environment yesterday. The SRSG visited  Gnjilane and Ferizaj (Urosevac) for a personal assessment of these two regions.

There are 9,000 soldiers based in Gnjilane of which 6,000 are American and 3,000 are from Poland, Greece and Russia.

The military officials told him they were looking forward to the coming of the United Nations International Police.  At the moment, Gnjilane has only 13 unarmed (came from Bosnia) and 12 armed policemen (American).  Dr Kouchner assured them that of the 200 international police officers that would arrive in week’s time some would be sent to Gnjilane.

The SRSG and the military officials also discussed the "schools" issue. Gnjilane area has 240 schools of which 60 to 90 are being sponsored for refurbishment. The SRSG also told the military officials that UNMIK was going to pay the teachers ad-hoc payments for an emergency period of 3 to 4 months till arrangements were made for their  salaries.

Dr Kouchner told General Peterson that the emergency period would last for less than one year. "The emergency period should be 3 to 4 months, not more, because after that, with a real budget (with customs, taxes"), the Kosovars have to run the country themselves." he said.

The SRSG visited the hospital/medical facility set up there by the US Army and invited the chief doctor to come to Pristina on Sunday to attend the 250 Healthworkers’meeting which will take place at 3 pm to form a working group on health services.

AT FERIZAJ/UROSEVAC - The SRSG met with different representatives of the local community, the communal council and the political parties to talk about the future of their town and the future of Kosovo. The UCK, the LDK and the LBD were represented. The UNMIK’s regional administrator, Mr. Richard Heaslip, the US top commander, General Peterson, and the UNHCR’s local representative attended the meeting, which lasted almost two hours.

Among the participants was Dr Besim Oja, a surgeon. Dr Kouchner congratulated Dr Oja for his courageous work in the 3 months of war up in the caves near the town. He called him a "real hero" and offered to make him to be an honorary member of the 2 French non-governmental organizations he founded, Doctors Without Borders and Doctors of the World. He also invited him to attend the 250 healthworkers meeting on  Sunday in Pristina.
 
Dr Kouchner told them he would take lessons from the communal council they had set up and hoped he could set one up in Pristina. "My deep need and wish, in the period going to elections, is to offer to the people of Kosovo, not only a consultative but an executive board because this is their country and they have to decide. We must be together in that executive board".

He told his hosts : "You may have heard bad things about the  UN and even about me.  I have already made some mistakes but I don’t want to rule the country."  Dr Kouchner insisted that his main concern was to take decisions in accordance with the people of Kosovo, he stressed the need to involve them in any decision-making process. "Consulting them is not enough," he said, "my goal is to help them get a consensus in all kinds of fields."

The SRSG announced that his plan was to go to the field once a week to meet with the local communities across Kosovo and stay overnight wherever he goes.