SRSG Hans Haekkerup outlines his priorities:legal framework before commitment to elections

SRSG Hans Haekkerup spent his first week in office explaining-to UNMIK and international representatives as well as political leaders-his priorities for Kosovo's political and economic development.
   
His top priority will be establishing a legal framework for provisional self-government. This would define-strictly within the guidelines set out in Security Council resolution 1244-the role and powers of a new asembly and executive before the Administration's commitment to a Kosovo-wide election. "When the framework is ready, probably in the form of a regulation, I will set a date for the elections." But violence would have to subside, he warned.
   
Beyond this, the new SRSG told the KTC members that he intends to pursue other high-priority issues simultaneously: complete the establishment of an effective law enforcement and judicial system-with closer operational linkages between the Department of Judicial Affairs, UNMIK Police and Kosovo Police Service; create more links with Belgrade, including an UNMIK Office there with representatives of all Pillars; follow up the urgent question of detainees and missing persons in Serbia; and resolve the property, legal and other issues in order to facilitate more accountable local public administration and economic development.
 
Speaking to reporters about the purpose of the Belgrade liaison office, Mr Haekkerup pointed out that UNMIK already had offices in Tirana and Skopje. "It's simply to have the necessary context to solve practical problems that will make Kosovo function better. It will not change our policy towards Belgrade. It's a question of taking practical steps," he emphasized.
   
On the question of prisoners, the SRSG said that the FRY Government had presented an Amnesty Law to Parliament, and he would wait for the parliamentary decision before making any concrete statement. UNMIK would, however, continue to push for the release of all prisoners in Yugoslav jails, as it had been doing previously. He later told reporters that ensuring the return of Kosovo Albanians in Serbian prisons was the most urgent problem facing his administration.
   
On minorities, Mr Haekkerup stressed that the maintenance of law and order was not only an UNMIK concern, but was also the responsibility of all Kosovars, including their leaders.
   
Regarding the economy, he said that the international community hoped that Kosovo would become self-sustainable over the long term, and that in the near future most of the revenues for running Kosovo would be locally generated.

Special Envoy Carl Bildt urges regional integration and co-operation

After the recent changes in Southeastern Europe, primarily in Serbia, the Balkans now have the best possibilities for regional stability, integration and co-operation, Carl Bildt, Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for the Balkans, told the press in Pristina on 21 January.
   
The international community expects that there will be a true commitment to true co-operation by all the parties of all the countries in the region. "This is the role that at the end of the day leads to full participation in the integration of Europe. But friendship always begins at home," Mr Bildt  said.
   
He recalled a number of positive steps within the past few weeks, such as the establishment of diplomatic relations between Albania and the FRY, consultations between Albania and the FYROM, the "opening up of embassies between the FRY and Bosnia and Herzegovina". There will be further meetings on the high level at the World Economic Forum in Davos, which will be attended by the Presidents of Albania, Croatia, the FRY and the FYROM, among others. Then the Presidents of the Balkan countries will meet in Skopje in February.
   
"So, we are developing a climate, a culture of integration and co-operation in the region," the Special Envoy stated. "There is no place in this region that can exist over time without being integrated with the rest of the region," he stressed.
   
Mr Bildt also said that all the countries and parties in the Balkans "should focus much more on the structure for integration than on the separation if they are truly committed to making good life here in the future". This was his vision of the region in which the future of Kosovo will be shaped.

UNMIK made 'impressive progress', Security Council told

UNMIK's achievements over the past 18 months encompassed many spheres. These included progress in establishing the rule of law in Kosovo, reconstructing homes and schools, and strengthening the local police, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guéhenno told the UN Security Council in New York on 19 January.
   
The Mission had continued to work to create inclusive local administrative structures, he said. At the provincial level, the Kosovo Transitional Council (KTC) had been partially expanded, with further enlargement planned for the future.
   
In the economic sphere, UNMIK had shifted its focus from emergency reconstruction to development and private sector enterprise development.
   
The representative of the United States stressed that the new SRSG should focus on two vital issues-the convening of Kosovo-wide elections as early as possible, and, in the post-election period, the final status of Kosovo should be resolved.
   
The representative of the Russian Federation said the new SRSG must strictly respect the sovereignty principle and the territorial integrity of the FRY enshrined in resolution 1244.

Depleted Uranium Update: Experts Begin Work

As four WHO experts begin work this week on assessing the public health aspects of depleted uranium (DU) residues at sites where DU-tipped weapons were used during the bombing campaign in 1999, officials are downplaying reports from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) that scientists working for its Depleted Uranium Assessment Group found tiny amounts (0.0028 per cent) of the U-236 isotope in DU bullets. U-236 is always man-made and its presence means that the DU originated in nuclear reactors rather than uranium enrichment plants as previously thought.
   
The WHO team was invited by UNMIK to examine all existing information from a health and environment perspective and make recommendations accordingly. In the light of the latest UNEP finding, it will now have to consider any potential ill effects from the possible presence of plutonium as well as uranium isotopes. No traces of plutonium have yet been discovered. However, isotope testing on soil and water samples is not yet complete.
   
Engineers say it is very likely plutonium will be present because no nuclear fuel reprocessing method is 100 per cent effective. Also, differing reprocessing centres have differing degrees of cleanliness. If the DU came from plants where re-processing was very clean, the plutonium would only be present in such minute quantities that it would have a negligible effect on the amount of radiation emitted by DU bullets or dust. UNEP tests have revealed only slightly higher than normal radiation readings while plutonium was in more than miniscule amounts. Even U-236 would be expected to cause radiation readings that are considerably higher than normal.
   
The Swiss weapons-testing laboratory that found the U-236 asserts that if some traces of plutonium are present, the "amounts would be so small as not to matter". Similar reassurances have come from Finnish specialists and the Nuclear Energy Agency in Paris.
  
Pekka Haavisto, Chairman of UNEP's Kosovo DU Assessment Team, sees no danger for people passing through DU sites. Any risk, if one exists at all, may be in water wells close to DU sites, he says.
   
If plutonium is indeed present, it will be confirmed by further testing.

Briefs . . . .

TThe Institute of Public Health, supported by WHO and ICRC, has tested drinking water samples from various parts of Kosovo and carried out their bacteriological and chemical analyses. On the average, about 20 per cent of both analyses showed contamination. The situation differed drastically between Pristina and rural areas in terms of bacteriological and chemical contamination: 9 and 3 per cent against 69 and 37 per cent, respectively.

UNMIK Police has formed an organized crime intelligence unit. Composed of some 40 police officers, the unit will co-ordinate, assess and analyze information from a wide variety of sources to identify for arrest and prosecution individuals who are engaged in organized criminal activity. Various UNMIK Police and KFOR units have been investigating organized crime on a continuous basis and suspects have been arrested. However, the new unit will attack organized crime throughout the province in a systematic centrally coordinated manner. KFOR has offered full support for the new unit, whose offices will be located at a KFOR base to improve operational security. The unit's investigators will have access to KFOR technical facilities and expertise.

To help raise the level of security at all international border crossings through the detection of explosives, weapons, drugs and the apprehension of people trying to cross the border illegally, a special police canine unit has arrived from Ukraine. The unit consists of 25 dogs: 10 narcotics-detecting, 5 explosives-detecting and 10 patrol dogs. The new unit is unique in the sense that it is not assigned to a specific region or task, and will be utilized throughout the mission area in support of numerous police functions.

Kosovo's 30 newly-elected Municipal Assembly Presidents are being trained in special seminars designed by the OSCE. Organized by the OSCE's Institute for Civil Administration, the first one focused on conflict resolution and the promotion of tolerance, and was moderated by Dr. Johan Galtung, a Norwegian conflict-resolution specialist, who had helped mediate in over 40 conflicts around the world, including those in the Balkans. Three more seminars-focusing on economic development, citizens' participation in local government, and the role of the opposition in the new assemblies-will be held later this year.

Final authorization has been made for the opening of S.O.S. Kinderdorf-a centre for short- and medium-term placement of abandoned children awaiting adoption. The maximum stay will be six months. The facility's operation will be co-ordinated by a team of experts from the NGO S.O.S. Kinderdorf, the Department of Health and Social Welfare, the Pristina Centre for Social Work, and the Institute for Social Policy.

Integration of the existing Serb employment offices in the Mitrovica region is now complete. These offices  considered themselves to be part of Serbia's labour market services and, until recently, refused to co-operate with the Department of Labour and Employment. However, after the political changes in Belgrade, contacts were resumed, and Serbs showed a willingness to be employed through the Department. Of 30 applicants, 23 were issued contracts for work in Northern Mitrovica, Zvecan, Zubin Potok, Leposaviq/Leposavic, Vushtrri/Vucitrn and Skenderaj/Srbica, starting 1 January 2001.

Eleven Serbs in Kamenicė/Kamenica have agreed to participate in the Municipal Assembly, alongside with the elected members. Earlier such appointments were accepted by Serbs in Rahovec/Orahovac, Novobėrdė/Novo Brdo and Skenderaj/Srbica.

UNMIK is considering downsizing its presence at the regional level in order to concentrate on strengthening its resources at the municipal level. A draft paper prepared by a working group of the Department of Local Administration proposes streamlining of the regional structures to this end.