UNMIK-KFOR-UNHCR-OSCE-EU Press Briefing: 1 December 2000

UNMIK Spokeswoman Claire Trevena
KFOR Spokesman Fl. Lt. Mark Whitty
UNHCR Spokeswoman Astrid van Genderen Stort
OSCE Spokesman Sven Lindholm
EU Spokesman Reinhold Brender

UNMIK Spokeswoman Claire Trevena

Attack on LDK leader

The director of finance of Podujevo municipality was injured when shots were fired on his vehicle by people in another vehicle. Ejup Visoka, an LDK member who's 40, was driving a car belonging to the municipality, north of podujevo. He had surgery at Pristina hospital and is not in a life threatening condition.

There have been a number of threats against the LDK. Threats have been made to LDK politicians in pristina and prizren over the last week; 2 LDK members resigned from Glogovac municipality - citing family and health reasons.

The cell on political violence is working closely with political parties and with police and Kfor to try reduce people's vulnerability. This includes providing increased protection to LDK members

Accident
 
An accident in Gracanica has left an 88-year-old Serb man dead. He was hit by a car going through the village. The driver of the car later turned himself in to the police in Pristina.

NGO robbed

There has been another armed robbery of an NGO. The latest subjecject was HIP - al Haramain Humanitarian foundation. Four armed men entered the building, tied up security guards and ransacked the offices. It is not certain what was stolen because of the damage done during the robbery.
 
SRSG Bernard Kouchner in Athens

The SRSG Dr Bernard Kouchner is today in Athens participating in the conference: Albanians as Majorities and Minorities, A Regional Dialogue. It's sponsored by the Project on Ethnic Relations from Princeton New Jersey. Kosovo leaders will be participating along with representatives of all the countries in the region. Dr Kouchner will return to Pristina on Sunday.

UNHCR Spokeswoman Astrid van Genderen Stort

An update on the situation in Presevo valley.

The number of persons crossing seeking refuge increased on Wednesday. During the day, over 1000 persons crossed. At least 250 persons fled Trnovac and many people said it was their first opportunity to leave the village by the main road. The blockade of the road was lifted by the Serbian police as they had taken control of the road around Lucane. People prevented from travelling took an alternative mountain routes north of Gate 5. For the first time, the FO team was approached by individuals crossing the border on foot. These included three families comprising 28 persons. These families requested assistance for transportation and accommodation.  They originated from the Presevo area, from Bujanovac area and from Veliki Trnovac/Tėrnovc i Madh.  They got to the border point on a taxi from Presevo and continued on foot.  None of these individuals reported any direct harassment by Serb military forces.  Their departure was instigated by last night's arrival of additional security forces (in the Bujanovac area) and by the increasing presence of police and military force

On Thursday however there was a decrease in arrivals of persons seeking refuge in Kosovo. There was practically no movement from Gate 5. UNHCR estimates an additional 200 persons entered Kosovo. The estimated total since 20 November is 4,600 IDPs. 

The movement at Gate 5 was calm all day. The Serb police control the access from villages around Bujanovac except for Konculj near the boundary. Three persons arrived from Ternovc i Madh/Veliki Trnovac, at around 0800, through village Lucane.  According to the three, there is military build up around village Ternovc i Madh/Veliki Trnovc.

The HCR field team interviewed some of the persons crossing the border: they were visitors coming from Konculj and they were heading to their relatives in the Gnjilane region.  According to them, the situation in Konculj is quiet, no reports of military activity.  Reportedly, all of the young population and children has departed from Konculj. The interviewees stated they were concerned about the situation in Lucane village, as they were unable to have any contact with the village. 

According to persons from Konculj, the stock of essential food items in Konculj has significantly decreased. They were concerned about their access to food - they cannot access markets in Bujanovac and they have to rely on their contacts with Kosovo.

At Mucibaba

According to the UNHCR monitoring team and KFOR, not more than 125 personal vehicles crossed into Kosovo today as well as four buses.  Sixty to seventy per cent of all the travellers were men, which is a significant change since yesterday.  On the buses, there were more women and children.

Outgoing traffic: there were not more than 100 vehicles including two KFOR escorted convoys (of 25 and 7 vehicles each) of Serbs returning to their homes in Serbia after they were stuck in Kosovo, and three almost empty buses.

Four individuals from Bujanovac and Turija in the Bujanovac area crossed today on foot.
All of the interviewees from the Bujanovac area indicated that they were departing because of a massive military build-up. The HCR team interviewed several people from Veliki Trnovac/ Ternovc i Madh who indicated that the situation in the village remains extremely tense yet calm.

Out of the 673 individuals who declared themselves as IDPs to KFOR yesterday, 32 per cent  were from Bujanovac town,18 per cent from Presevo, 11 per cent from Lucane,7 per cent from the Rajince village and 4 per cent from Somoljica village both between Bujanovac and Presevo.

Yesterday's top five destinations in Kosovo were: 67 per cent to Gnjilane, 18 per cent to Pristina (+2 per cent Fushe Kosova / Kosovo Polje), 4 per cent to Ferizaj/Urosevac and 2 per cent Kamenica.

At one point today the Gnjilane dormitory was filled. By the afternoon, 12 families were moved to by ARC to host families. Presently 99 people are sheltered at the dormitory and seven rooms are available. As I mentioned before Sports Complex is available to receive people in case more come.

There are some more announcements.

Eric Morris to be in Belgrade

The UNHCR Special Envoy will be visiting FRY this weekend. He will be meeting with various government officials in Belgrade and pay a visit to Southern Serbia. Part of the aim of the visit is to discuss the situation in southern Serbia . The UNHCR wants to emphaise to all parties involved that there are certain humanitarian standards for all parties to adhere to for the protection of civilians in potential conflict situations. The UNHCR has been discussing and will be discussing the establishment of humanitarian access in either direction and is embarking on these trip to assess what political risks there are for people in the region, what the possibilities are for future displacement as well as potential return to the places of origin. The UNHCR deems it important to assume its role of being a witness to any potential threat or any potential situation that could prevent people from returning home.

Appeal for Kosovo

On Wednesday  the consolidated appeal for Kosovo was launched. This year agencies are appealing for approximately US $120 million, down from some US $250 million this year. The humanitarian needs that still exist in Kosovo should not be underestimated as well as the pivotal position of Kosovo in maintaining peace in the region.

The Kosovo appeal is part of the Southeastern Europe regional appeal and was launched today in Brussels by Mr. Sergio Viera de Melo with the participation of Mr Steven Allen, Humanitarian Coordinator for FRY and Special Representative of UNICEF for the Balkans and Mr. Eric Morris, Humanitarian Coordinator for Kosovo and Special Envoy of the High Commissioner of UNHCR.

The overall theme for the launch the appeal this year is women and war.  This theme was chosen to acknowledge the specific situation of women in times of conflict.

In Kosovo, the agencies have set their goals in four areas for the 2001 consolidated appeal:

· the promotion of human rights, and the establishment of a secure environment for everyone in Kosovo

· the phase out of direct humanitarian assistance and the transition to the interim administration

· the capacity building of the Kosovar population to ensure adequate public services, and

· the standardisation of information, including reliable indicators for planning purpose.

OSCE Spokesman Sven Lindholm

The Central Election Commission met to deal with some cases referred by some cases by the Elections Complaints and Appeals sub-commission. In the first case, a municipal election commission president from Vuctri/Vucitrn was removed from his position for his activities on the polling day. In two other cases polling station committee persons who were accused of irregularities will not be allowed to serve on any polling stations in the future.

The CEC also decided to refund the certification fee to those political entities that had competed in the election.  Each political party, coalition, citizens' initiative, or independent candidate was required to submit 100 DM for each municipality in which they wished to contest the election.  Electoral Rule No. 2000/3 provides for this fee to be refunded where entities won a mandate or if the certification application was rejected.  The CEC determined that the certification fees would be returned for the municipalities that were not recommended for certification. The OSCE began disbursing these funds this week.

An update on the post-elections municipal assembly seminars. Just a few comments from the trainers who reported that they were impressed with the level of engagement shown by the municipal assembly members. But also in some cases the newly elected members were pleased with these as they needed more information on how to solve the practical problems in any municipality.

EU Spokesman Reinhold Brender

Department of Reconstruction (DOR)

Assessment of Funding needs - from Reconstruction to Growth (2001 - 2003)
The Department of Reconstruction has issued a document called "Kosovo 2001-2003: from Reconstruction to Growth". Copies in English are available outside - local language versions will be available very soon. The document is a preliminary assessment of the investment needed over the next three years to put Kosovo beyond the reconstruction phase and on the way to growth. It underlines that donor support is needed now as much as ever and that the international community needs to reaffirm its commitment to Kosovo.
The DOR will be lobbying donors intensively in the coming weeks to make sure that Kosovo gets the resources it needs.  The Co-Heads of the DOR will give a briefing to the press next week - we'll publish details well in advance.

20,000 houses rebuilt or under construction

20,000 houses were rebuilt or are under construction in 2000, with the support of the International Donor Community. The UNMIK EU Pillar intends to celebrate this event on Wednesday, 6 December, with the participation of the major donors, among them the European Agency for Reconstruction. On Monday, the media will be informed about the details of this event.

Launching of a Programme

UNMIK and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) signed a Memorandum of Understanding for a US $40 million IDB programme for the reconstruction of Kosovo. Ten million dolars of this have been given for the reconstruction of 17 schools.

Information Meeting

On the request from local media, the DOR is holding an informal background briefing at NAPOLI Restaurant on Monday, 4th December from 15:45 - 17:30 hrs. The purpose is to give background information on the DOR, the work of the EU Pillar in Kosovo, it's function in the JIAS structure, and last but not least, the functioning of the Donor funding system in Kosovo. The information will be given in Albanian language

Public Utilities Department
Restarting Power Unit B2

Domestic power generation was steady throughout the week, with unit A3 of Kosovo A producing 100 MW and unit B2 of Kosovo B producing 200-250 MW. On Friday last week a leak had occurred which caused A3 to cease operation. Further leaks have since developed and repair work is ongoing. B2 is being commissioned and should be at full generating capacity (250 MW) at the beginning of next week.

For the restart of unit B2 of  Kosovo B, a media event will be organized on Tuesday, 5 December at unit B2, with the participation of the European Agency for Reconstrustion, which is the donor. The press will be informed about the details before long.

In addition, Unit A4 of Kosovo A will be restarted on Monday after refurbishment.  Energy imports continue to be brought from Bulgaria (up to 240 MW) and Montenegro (50 MW). Extra imports having been contracted to cover the commissioning period of unit B2. An annex to the agreement with Bulgaria has been signed that will allow additional imports to be requested at short notice during the rest of the winter season.

Survey of Waste Disposal Sites Completed

Two teams of technical experts commissioned by the European Agency for Reconstruction have completed a Kosovo-wide assessment of municipal waste disposal sites.

The objectives were:
first, to define and propose concrete measures to ameliorate existing municipal dumpsites and, where possible, to expand their life expectancy by two or more years; and
second, to identify sites suitable for the construction of new sanitary landfills that could serve for the next one to two decades.

The results of the survey will form the basis for the contracting in early 2001 of remedial works to improve the present.

Central Fiscal Authority

2001 Budget Preparations Continued
CFA continued the meetings with Co-Heads of Departments to prepare the 2001 Budget. The Department also reviewed commitment and expenditure data for 2000 and implementing arrangements for the end-of-year activities, including priorities for the spending of remaining funds.

Questions

Q: I would like to know what are the security measures taken for the LDK leaders. Also who is getting the protection, is it the important leaders or those who have received threats. Finally did the LDK member who was injured yesterday have any special bodyguard or special protection?

CT: Starting on the last first. He didn't have any bodyguard of special protection. He was a regular LDK member. There are various levels of security for various people. We wouldn't specify who is getting what security because that would be breach of security. But it ranges from having patrols going past their place of work and their homes to actually having close security. This is being done in negotiations between UNMIK, the police and the LDK and KFOR. We have had many meetings with them on how best to offer some protection. It does range from essentially being around and aware that there may be a security risk to having close protection.

Q: There are more than 8000 troops in MNB (east). Why are the British forces needed to be deployed alongside Presevo valley? Are there not enough troops in MNB (east)?

MW: Given the nature of the terrain in MNB (east), and the size of the area it covers there are never enough troops to provide watertight security. What we are doing is by deploying our operational reserves, increasing the number of troops on the ground, therefore increasing the security.

Q: This is for EU. Have you paid the debts of the Serb electric company, the several million DM for electricity that you owe them?

RB: UNMIK/EU does not owe any money to the Serb company. The debt is owed by KEK, which it has to repay. There are negotiations going on and agreement will be reached before long.

Q: Do you know what percentage of population from the Presevo valley has fled. Your stories (sic) suggest that the Serbian police is forcing them out.

AvGS: My stories don't suggest anything. I am reporting what information we are getting from the IDPs. They have reported that they have fled out of fear of military buildup and out of fear of possible fighting. Now, as I said yesterday there was a big decrease in people entering Kosovo and whether that mean that the situation is quite calm, I can't say anything about it. The number of people who have fled is approximately 6.2 per cent.