UNMIK/FR/005/01
FEATURE RELEASE - 19 January, 2001
SRSG Hans Haekkerup: No stranger to Kosovo, nor to
government and administration
UNMIK
To take over as head of UNMIK this week, Denmark's Hans Haekkerup had to resign
as NATO's longest serving-and, in the view of many, one of the most
effective-Defence Ministers of the last decade.
But the new Special Representative of the Secretary-General comes to Pristina
not only as a respected former minister. He has direct personal experience
of parliament, civil service administration and the military. An
economist by training, a linguist by inclination and a human rights supporter
by conviction, Mr. Haekkerup has also built a solid reputation of being a very
competent manager.
Born in Copenhagen in 1945, Kosovo's new SRSG began his professional career in the Danish military in 1964 as a language officer specializing in Russian. Promoted to first lieutenant in 1972, he took a Master of Arts in Economics from the University of Copenhagen a year later. Next joining the civil service, he was Secretary, then Head of Section, at the Danish Ministry of Social Affairs until 1976. He further broadened his social sector experience as Head of Section in the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Labour-before entering politics in 1979.
Hans Haekkerup comes from a political family. His father was foreign minister, his mother a Member of Parliament. One brother and a nephew are Members today. His own interest in politics goes back at least until 1960 when he was an active member of the Social Democratic Youth Organization. He became Chairman of the Party District Ostbanekredsen in 1972, and served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Social Democratic Party from 1974 to1979.
First elected as a member of the Danish Parliament in 1979, Haekkerup served on parliamentary committees for Security Policy, Greenlandic Affairs, Foreign Policy and Defence. He was an appointed member of the Danish Defence Commission in 1988 and served as Chairman of the Defence Committee from 1991 to 1993.
Along the way, he became a member of the Board of the Danish Centre of Human
Rights (1987-1993) worked as an economist at Denmark's Civil Servants
Organisation and taught at the Danish School of Administration-experience that
today furnish SRSG Haekkerup with a strong background for helping Kosovars
establish their own civil administration structure and taking responsibility
for Kosovo's governance.
In fact, Hans Haekkerup is no stranger to the Balkans. In early 1998, while
world attention was focused elsewhere, he was warning EU and NATO leaders that
Kosovo was building up to "a crisis that could set the whole Balkans
aflame again." In July of 1999, he was clear on the military commitment in
Kosovo: " I think we have to be there for quite a long time and we are
prepared to do that." Now, one-and-a-half-years later, and with three sons
having served in the Balkans as peacekeepers (two in Kosovo), the Hans
Haekkerup that takes over as the head of United Nations administration in
Kosovo, is prepared to stay for several years. That commitment is evident in
his domestic arrangements: he brought his wife and youngest son with
him.
Already familiar with top officials in Europe and around the world from his
eight years as Minister of Defence, Mr Haekkerup used the time between his
appointment in December and officially taking on the role this week to consult
the governments of Security Council countries. His visits included Moscow,
where Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said he was hoping for a successful working
relationship with the UN Administration in Kosovo. SRSG Haekkerup's fluent
Russian should help in forging even more constructive ties with Russia.
Commenting his appointment, Mr Haekkerup is on record as wanting "to
contribute with the international community to bring back security to the
region, re-establish the rule of law and put Kosovo on the right path." As
an acknowledged expert on security, he is expected to work closely with KFOR to
make Kosovo safer for all of its inhabitants-not least through strengthened law
enforcement.
On general elections, Haekkerup insists that for elections to make sense, we
have to know what kind of powers such a legislature would receive. He feels the
top priority is to draft the legal framework for provisional self-government in
Kosovo. This will define the role and powers of the Assembly to be elected in
Kosovo-wide elections, and of the Executive.
SRSG Haekkerup has meanwhile expressed his intention to have Kosovo-wide elections as soon as possible, pending finalisation of the legal framework. He is planning a low-key tour of Kosovo to discuss this with the parties involved. Mr Haekkerup also feels that more direct contacts need to be made with Belgrade, including the possible establishment of an UNMIK office there.
Contact: D. Kahrmann
(038) 504 604 Ext. 6295
E-mail: karhman@un.org
UNMIK