WEEK IN REVIEW

By Birol Urcan

 

 

Hello and welcome, this is UNMIK On air and here is our week in review.

 

The headlines:

 

·        Security Council backs the start of status talks

 

·        Officials from Serbia and Kosovo have different stands concerning the decision of the security council 

 

·        Thousands of teachers protest in front of the government building.

 

·        No budget sustainability. No raise for salaries of the teachers says IMF.

 

·        Nine persons related with war crimes in Kosovo arrested in Serbia.

 

 

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UN Security Council supported on Monday the recommendation of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan for beginning of talks for Kosovo’s future, and requested from him to appoint a special envoy for this process.

 

Right after the session, Annan said that he will appoint the special envoy within this week, whereas he mentioned former Finnish President Marti Ahtisari as the “likely” candidate for this position.

 

UN Special Envoy for Evaluation of Standards in Kosovo, Kai Eide said during the session that the time has come for initiation of status process. “The process should not be interrupted, as any prolongation of political status does not lead to progress,” said Eide, adding that Kosovo should continue to work for full implementation of standards.

 

 

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Kosovar officials gave positive comments on the decision of the Security Council.

 

Kosovar government in a press release issued on Tuesday proclaimed that the decision of UN Security Council for launching talks for Kosovo’s future opens the final chapter of defining the status of full independence.

 

The same press release reported that :”Evaluating that the upcoming period is very important, the Government considers that in order to conclude it successfully,  it is required more commitment of governmental and political leaders, of civil society representatives and of citizens in general”

 

On the other hand Serb officials were more pessimistic than Kosovar ones, after the council meeting. "We must be realistic, which means that our position is very difficult, but not hopeless, and we must fight for our interests, while respecting the rules of negotiation between democratic states," Serbian president Boris Tadic told reporters in his office on Tuesday.

 

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Thousand of teachers protested in front of the government building on Tuesday as a continuation of they’re ongoing strike for salary rise on education sector. The protest ended peacefully.

 

The trade union of the teachers SBASHK issued a press release saying that the government has done nothing on improving the situation, and gave an ultimatum to the government that if their requests are not fulfilled than they are going to organize more massive protest on the 28th of October, which will include also the parents

 

On the other hand Deputy Prime Minister Adem Salihaj told to the press that the government is in between two fires.

 

He claimed that “the government has offered all possibilities, but has budget difficulties and that the government is in double pressure from teachers and from IMF who is asking to cut budget expenditures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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On Monday IMF officials had a meeting with Kosovar government representatives regarding the crises with strike of teachers.

IMF representative in Kosovo Marc Auboin after the meeting told to reporters that he is “aware with the fact that teachers need rise on the salaries, but for the moment there is not enough money on budget to do this”  

 

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This week, nine former members of the Serbian Interior Ministry were brought in front of the investigating judge of the War Crimes Chamber, suspected of having committed war crimes in Kosovo.

 

According to the statement of the District Court of Belgrade, they are suspected of executing 48 Albanians in Kosovar town of SuhaReka, in March 1999.

 

War crimes court representative Bruno Vekaric said that among the nine suspects, six are current employees of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs.

 

The war crimes investigation stems from the mass grave site uncovered in Batajnica in which the remains of murdered civilians from the Kosovo were found.

 

The chairwoman of the Helsinki Human Rights Committee, Sonja Biserko, said “this was an important step of the Serbian government for the future negotiations on the status of Kosovo” and added that "the operation is quite late and should have been done much earlier."

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This was all for today from our week in review, thank you for listening and have pleasant weekend.