UNMIK/PR/428

PRESS RELEASE - 23rd November 2000

SRSG Sets Up Council of Ministers

PRISTINA - SRSG today established a Council of Ministers, as a vital player in Kosovo's interim administration.

The Council of Ministers will be comprised of the Kosovo and international co-heads of the 20 departments which make up the Joint Interim Administrative Structure (JIAS).  It will be chaired by the SRSG, Dr Bernard Kouchner, and its secretariat will be run from the offices of the DSRSG, Civil Administration, Tom Koenigs.

It will be a foum to discuss policy decisions from a departmental basis and also regulations as they are developing.

"I want to meet with you on a regular basis and engage in a constructive dialogue that will move Kosovo's state of preparedness forward," Dr Kouchner told the co-heads.

"I want to look on you as my Council of Ministers, hopefully a wise council, which can offer prudent advice, not only to me but also among yourselves."

The SRSG urged that the Council not to be a place to do battle but rather to have informed and reasoned debate.

The Council of Ministers will supplement the work of the more politically based Interim Administrative Council and the Kosovo Transitional Council.

The move was warmly welcomed by both Kosovo and international co-heads who see it as a way to ensure that policy develops in a strategic and coherent manner.

The Council of Ministers will meet bi-weekly, starting on Thursday 7th December.