After an hour-long discussion with SRSG Hans Haekkerup, the leaders of Kosovo's three main political parties urged extremists to stop the violence in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).

The declaration signed by Ibrahim Rugova, Hashim Thaci and Ramush Haradinaj read: "We, the leaders of political parties in Kosovo, call on the extremist groups which have taken up arms on the territory of Macedonia to lay them down immediately, and to return to their homes peacefully. We urge the Macedonian Government to show restraint and to address and resolve the grievances through peaceful and democratic means."

The day before, the three leaders had met with a European Union delegation which had come to Kosovo after meetings with the FYROM government. Consisting of Javier Solana (High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy for the European Union), Christopher Patten (EU Commissioner for External Relations), Anna Lindh (Foreign Minister of Sweden-holder of the EU presidency) and Louis Michel (Foreign Minister of Belgium), the group came to Kosovo explicitly seeking a clear commitment from Kosovo Albanian leaders to urge an end to the actions of ethnic Albanian extremists in FYROM.

After the meeting, Mr Patten said he hoped to hear from the Albanian leaders of Kosovo "not just once, but regularly, condemnations of violence and condemnations of those who seek to resolve political arguments through extremism, through bullets and bombs rather than through the democratic process and dialogue." Mr Patten, who has visited Kosovo eight times now and is very familiar with the situation, said that the international community wanted to help the people of Kosovo to build a democratic, free and prosperous society. To that end, the EU had committed and spent a large part of over 1.5 billion DM on reconstruction for Kosovo.

The people of Kosovo, however, needed to realise that this help comes through a social "contract" with the population, he said. Kosovars must show the world through their actions and words that they are committed to the principles that UNMIK is here to support, or else the world will stop commmiting its resources, he concluded.

Javier Solana articulated the strong feelings of the EU that nothing in the region would be allowed to be obtained through violence. "Everything has to be obtained through democratic means." he said. Ms. Lindh said that Sweden will send 200 more troops to Kosovo to help increase security.

SRSG Haekkerup added that Kosovo was being judged by the international society on how it responded to events in FYROM. It was essential for the people of Kosovo to distance themselves from extremist activities and to support the efforts to find a political settlement for what was going on, he urged.

Recommendation gives guidelines for employment

The Department of Labour and Employment's new Recommendation No 1/2001, On Employment Relationship and Terms of Employment provides much needed guidelines for employer-employee relations.

Local and international trade unions, as well as employers, have been pushing UNMIK to issue a labour law that is suitable to conditions in Kosovo. The terms of  the previous Labour Law of 1984 in Kosovo were not workable because the economic and political realities were quite different in Yugoslavia at the time it was drafted, points out Lajos Hethy, international co-head of the Department. As such, both employees and employers, as well as potential international investors, wanted to have a clear framework defining terms of employment.

In September 2000, the Department submitted a draft labour regulation for promulgation. The draft was prepared by international experts, in consultation with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Kosovo Trade Unions, Kosovo employers and JIAS Departments. Deemed not affordable at this time, that draft is now being modified for re-submission in April. Some employers in Kosovo, eager for guidelines, decided nevertheless to begin implementing the terms of the draft regulation. The draft Regulation, though not binding, at least provided both sides with something to refer to when negotiating over employment  issues.

Recommendation No 1/2001 is intended to fill the gap until the time when the Regulation comes into force. The Recommendation provides orientation for employers and employees regarding their employment relationship, including its establishment and termination and terms of employment, the form of a labour contract, minimum wage levels, working times, annual leave, holidays, maternity leave and sick leave.

The Recommendation, though, has no legal binding force, which is why an UNMIK Regulation still needs to be approved. The Regulation under preparation will comply with the minimum ILO standards and European and regional labour laws are being taken into consideration.

When the UNMIK Regulation comes into force it will include the basic principles and rights at work, it will define employment relations in terms of employment and will include the enforcement mechanisms, including sanctions for violations.

To help trade unions and employers to understand their rights and responsibilities, the Department is planning a series of informative seminars.

Both sides here are uncomfortable without legislation, said Mr Hethy. Also, while there are many obstacles for foreign investors, the passage of clear regulations dictating labour relations will remove at least one obstacle.

Briefs...

The Joint Working Group on the Legal Framework agreed to a skeleton structure as the basic model for discussion. Discussions have begun on various areas in which powers and responsibility could be transferred to the provisional self-government. An OSCE team briefed the members on the various objectives an electoral system should be designed to achieve. The Group also reviewed some of the key elements to be decided within the next few weeks in order for the SRSG to be able to call for elections this year. The group was asked by SRSG to put aside until the future discussions on the title of the document.