United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo UNMIK news No. 107
  
SRSG continues dialogue with Deputy PM Covic

SRSG Hans Haekkerup greets Dr. Covic (right)
The most recent meeting in the ongoing dialogue between the SRSG Hans Haekkerup and the President of the FRY/Serbian Joint Coordinating Centre for Kosovo and Serbian Deputy Prime inister Nebojsa Covic took place on Friday at the UN base close to the "Amortizer I Prishtines" shock absorber factory on the outskirts of Pristina. The talks, which began at 11:45 in the morning and lasted until half past six in the afternoon, were described by Mr Haekkerup as "long and constructive".

From the UNMIK perspective, the overall aim of all these discussions is to garner support from the Government in the FRY and Serbia for participation by Kosovo Serbs in November's Assembly elections and to address the problems of north Mitrovica. However, achieving this requires progress in a number of specific related areas, notably amongst others the fate of the missing and the question of detainees. These issues occupied the bulk of Friday's talks.

During the meeting, the SRSG and Dr. Covic met with representatives of the families of the missing from Gracanica and discussed ways that would help in establishing the truth about what had happened to those who were still missing from all communities. As Mr Haekkerup has said in the past, this is an issue that crosses the community divide, affecting individual families desperate to hear news of their relatives. Both agreed to do more to speed up the identification process.

On the detainees, Mr Haekkerup raised the question of those Kosovo Albanians still held in Serbia whilst Dr. Covic was concerned about Serbs held in detention in Kosovo. On those held in Kosovo the SRSG was clear in saying that if there were genuine grounds for reviewing any of these cases, that would be done in accordance with the normal judicial procedure.

The Civil Registration process was also a subject of some discussion during the meeting and both agreed that it was important to encourage a higher turnout amongst Kosovo Serbs and IDPs, and they talked about ways that this could be done.

At the end of the meeting, both Mr Haekkerup and Dr. Covic agreed to maintain their dialogue on all the issues discussed as well as others in the future.

Prominent Kosovo Serbs support voter registration

Bishop Artemije signs list of voters registration
A burgeoning number of Kosovo Serbs are registering, and thus able to cast their vote in the general election on 17 November. Many make clear in doing so, however, that any decision actually to vote is still wide open-for both those entitled to register and those to whom they look for guidance in Serbia.

UNMIK urges all Kosovo residents and those displaced elsewhere to both register and vote. Only thus will they exercise their right, through their elected representatives in the future Assembly and their ethnic compatriots in the new Government, to shape and monitor the administration of Kosovo under self-government. According to the Constitutional Framework, at least ten seats of the 120-seat Assembly will go to Kosovo Serb representatives. If Serb parties take part in the election campaign and gain sufficient support, Kosovo's Serb community could double this, UNMIK estimates. If united, the views of one sixth of the house could not be ignored, officials point out.

However, in the run up to the 8 September deadline for voter registration, Kosovo Serb leaders like Bishop Artemje emphasize its civic dimensions: "I think registration is your civil duty," he announced to his community while registering himself last week, "because of the fact that FRY and Serbia have decided that the registration is necessary and we have to know how many Serbs are there in Kosovo."

Serb KTC representative, Dragan Velic, who also registered recently in Gracanica, clearly distinguishes civil registration from voting at the elections: AI appeal to all the citizens of Gracanica and the whole region to register...but contesting the elections depends upon several more factors which the international community must provide in order to have free and democratic elections. And registration doesn't mean contesting the elections."
Another KTC representative Randjel Nojkic believes that Serbs will now register in greater numbers.

Nenad Radosavljevic who has headed the Leposavic Municipality since the UN took over the administration in Kosovo, also registered last week-with a great number of journalists in attendance. Within Kosovo, Leposavic has so far been the most enthusiastic towards registration. "Serbs must realize that registration is in their interest," he urges.Why is he registering? "Because I respect my country, FRY, which by signing confirmed that international community has temporary administration in a part of Serbian territory. By respecting international community I show respect for my own country. Because I want to create better conditions for my family's existence. It won't be achieved by ignoring international community's institutions, but by active participating in ongoing processes."

For others in Leposavic, like Natasha Vuckovic, registration is important for the displaced Kosovo Serbs in Serbia proper, "because it confirms that they have lived here... that they can come back in order to ensure their rights concerning property, which they have not had in exile".
Briefs . . .

Three more political entities-Bosniac Party of Democratic Action of Kosovo, New Initiative for a Democratic Kosovo, and United Roma Party of Kosovo-have been certified by the Central Election Commission (CEC). This brings to 18 the total number of entities certified. The CEC also decided against certifying one political party for irregularities and problems associated with signatures given by persons in support of that party. It was clear to the CEC that in attempting to present what appeared to be fraudulent signatures, the Code of Conduct had been violated. All political parties, coalitions and citizens' initiatives that were certified have been issued candidate registration forms. Political entities will have until September 10 to draw up their candidates' lists and submit them to the OSCE to be verified.

SRSG Hans Haekkerup has signed Regulation 2001/17, "On the Registration of Contracts for the Sale of Real Property in Specific Geographic Areas of Kosovo", which aims to stem the flow of minorities from vulnerable mixed communities in Kosovo and to protect the rights of all who wish to live there. The regulation will ensure that proposed contracts for inter-ethnic property sales in such areas receive a thorough review by the local municipal administrator before being approved by the local court. It will not ban or stop such sales but introduces a review mechanism to monitor inter-ethnic sales in areas where minorities have been leaving under pressure of strategic targeting by property buyers or by threats. The new edict will deter only those involved in criminal or coercive activities, UNMIK says. The SRSG will review effects of the regulation every six months to see if it is still needed.

The Department of Environmental Protection has drafted a comprehensive Environmental Protection Act to regulate the protection of Kosovo's natural and living environment, biodiversity and ecosystems. The draft would provide for environmental impact assessments that are required for project development, and set up the Kosovo Environmental Protection Agency and the Environmental Inspectorate which will be responsible for inspecting and monitoring environmental strains, pollution and the overall state of the environment. The new act, to be promulgated before the end of the year, foresees substantial changes in all environment-related policies and envisages to gradually bring Kosovo closer to EU environmental standards.

The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development, and the Department of Health and Social Welfare have taken over all sanitary, veterinary and phytosanitary control activities from Kosovo Control. The latter is a private company which was provisionally subcontracted by UNMIK to carry out all safety and quality control checks on live animals, plants and their products, including food, entering Kosovo. The controls consisted in border documentation verification, samples analysis and physical inspection of goods. Given the increased capacity of the JIAS departments, the temporary subcontract for animal, plant and food inspection has been revoked, and the tasks assigned exclusively to the appropriate departments. Starting from 22 August, Kosovo Control inspection stamps have ceased to carry any legal recognition. All relevant inspection stamps have now been replaced by those of the two departments.

There will be interruptions in the water supply to Pristina on 27 August, the Department of Public Utilities announced. The disruption is due to tests being carried out on the main transmission pipe from the Albanic Water Treatment Plant to Pristina City. The tests are essential to maximize the flow of treated water to customers, but reservoir levels will have to be lowered in order to carry them out. Normal services will be resumed as soon as possible.

The Department of Education and Science has launched a Public Awareness Information Campaign on Education, which will run until the end of August. The aim is to inform all people involved in the sector, as well as local politicians, media and the general public, of the achievements, goals and challenges in the field of education through a series of relevant programmes. Kosovo has made great strides in improving the quality of its education, but much remains to be done to bring it up to European standards. The campaign will include a briefing to the KTC and IAC.

As part of the establishment of District Health Authorities, the Department of Health and Social Welfare has appointed District Sanitary Inspectors in all Kosovo's six health districts. While the Department will continue to provide support and supervision of all health-related activities at the municipal level, much of the actual sanitary inspection in the field will be a municipal responsibility and carried out by municipal and district sanitary inspectors. Immediately after their appointment, the inspectors took part in the first training course aimed at preparing them for their future tasks.

The epidemic of Congo-Crimean haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is fully under control, says the Department of Health and Social Welfare, with no additional cases of CCHF reported since 8 July 2001. Overall, 107 cases have been investigated, of which 30 were confirmed positive, 72 negative and 6 are under investigation at the Infectious Diseases Unit of the Pristina University Hospital. Seven people died from the disease during the outbreak.

The six-month nursing training project, supported by the Government of Finland, has been completed. A total of 34 Kosovo Albanian and four Kosovo Serb nurses graduated from the course to start the training of their colleagues. The Albanian-language training has already started, and the training in Serbian will begin in September. The programme will share eight specifically built and equipped training centres with the doctors' training programme in family medicine. Besides Finland, CordAid, Swiss, Belgian and French Red Cross, and HealthNet are supporting the programme.

The damaged Charlie taxiway of Pristina Airport has been repaired by Carta Isnardo, and the new Ambulance Station of the airport has also become operational. The Saudi Joint Relief Committee has provided medical equipment and DM 3,000 per month for medical staff and maintenance. Construction of the cargo building is expected to be completed by the end of October.

The BPK has licensed new bank branches that will be established in Gjilan/Gnjilane (BRK), Ferizaj/Urosevac (BRK), Gjakove/Dakovica (BRK) and Prizren (BPB). This brings the total number of bank branches operating in Kosovo to twelve.

Xhemajl Hasani has been appointed General Manager of the Youth, Sports and Cultural Centre, effective 3 September, for a period of one year. Mr Hasani has an extensive professional experience as President of Kosovo Youth Association, as well as journalist and editor for Pristina TV.

UNMIK News is a publication of the Division of Public Information, UNMIK Pristina - Tel: (381.38) 501.395-402 Ext. 5610, email: ellwood@un.org