UNMIK/PR/384

PRESS RELEASE - 7 October 2000

SRSG reassures people in Pec/Peja on the current events in Belgrade

PRISTINA--SRSG Bernard Kouchner told a crowd of people gathered in the Sport Hall in Pec/Peja city that the changes in Belgrade should be seen as democracy coming from the ballot.

 “That is the voice of the people of Serbia”, he said. “It is a good opportunity that we have been looking for and that will allow a dialogue on Kosovo issues such as the detained and missing persons … The international community will pursue the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1244, to help Kosovo to get substantial autonomy. We are confidence that we will be able to have an open dialogue with the new authorities in Belgrade … We have to give confidence a chance, we have to give hope a chance.”

Dr Kouchner told people attending the town hall meeting that this would be possible only if Kosovo people succeed in the upcoming municipal elections, which is crucial considering what just happened in Serbia.

“ If Kosovo people are not able to offer to the world a free, fair and democratic election without violence, the international community might think that investment in Kosovo is not worth it,” he said. “The message we are getting from all the countries in the world about the success of democracy in Serbia is very clear. People of Kosovo should show their goodwill and their commitment to democracy.”

Dr. Kouchner said he was going to travel to Luxembourg this weekend where he will meet with the European Union’s Ministers of Foreign Affairs to advocate for more funds to help reconstruction in Kosovo.

People in the audience expressed their suspicion of the new government in Belgrade, and about what might happen to Kosovo vis-à-vis rebuilding its economy and its future status.

 “Democracy is a beautiful word, but it’s very hard to believe it, at least for us Kosovars, after a long totalitarianism like the one we have seen in Belgrade, after the pain it caused us”, said a local politician from Pec/Peja.

SRSG received a Youth Manifesto for tolerance and no-violence, part of the activities ongoing during Kosovo’s Youth Week. The manifesto is a vision statement of hope and tolerance for Kosovo, and it called for peaceful, democratic elections and respect of the results. Dr. Kouchner invited the numerous young people present, whose age might not allow them to vote, to carry his message to their parents to conduct a peaceful election on 28 October.

Earlier, SRSG had visited a school for blind children, the only one in Kosovo which counts 40 children today. It is funded by NGO from Europe, USA and Canada. He also visited an ethnic Albanian graphic art museum that opened few months and the vehicle Registration Center of the city.
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