By Michael Steiner
Special Representative of the Secretary-General

1 October 2002

Citizens of Mitrovica,
Dear Friends,

Yesterday I visited the Serb communities in Kamenica and in Orahovac. Today we are here in the North. There are Serb communities all across Kosovo. That’s how it must be.

But this also means that we have to take care of the concerns and needs of all of them. And we have to make return possible for those who want to come back to their homes. All across Kosovo. Whether in the Zupa Valley or in Pristina. This is why UNMIK will present return as a top priority at the EU/World Bank donor conference in Brussels on 5 November.

My job is to take care of the legitimate interests of all in Kosovo. The Kosovo Albanians, the Kosovo Serbs, the Bosniaks, Turks, Gorani, Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians. They are all faced with difficulties. But today I want to address specifically the Serb community in the North of Mitrovica. I want to focus on the choice for Mitrovica. On the future of Mitrovica.

When you look at northern Mitrovica today, what do you see? Grey streets. Young people with no prospects. Cars double and triple parked. Disorder. Fear. A legal grey zone. No investment. No jobs. No future.

It’s time to do something. If we just leave things as they are, they will slide even further. We need to stop this slide.

I have a plan: to make Mitrovica a normal European town. A secure town. A town with a functioning administration. And with economic prospects. My plan is to replace fear with trust and confidence. This plan has seven points:

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First point: No incursion. To the people living in the North I give my solemn guarantee that there will be no incursion from the South. I don’t believe an incursion is likely. But we would prevent it in any case. UNMIK Police and KFOR shall watch the bridge.

Second point: Regular policing. Serbs from northern Mitrovica have started to join the Kosovo Police Service. They will provide full-time policing before the end of the year. And they will be reinforced by a larger number of Serb police school graduates in the spring. These will be your police. They will counter street crime. They will deal with the traffic problem. They will bring order to northern Mitrovica.

Third point: Co-governance. We need a new start for governing the whole of Mitrovica. In making this new start, it makes sense to take important decisions in the municipality jointly. We need safeguards against simple outvoting by the majority. Equally, the minority should not be able to block everything. To achieve this, I propose a coalition agreement after the elections, under my auspices, between Serb and Albanian political parties in the Municipal Assembly. That agreement would ensure that, irrespective of size, the communities would have their say on the municipal level.

Fourth point: Decentralisation. Common interests need to be decided jointly at the municipality level. But specific interests can be decided on a local level, in a municipal sub-unit. These sub-units will have a local council, administrative organs and a budget. They will be able to decide on issues of local importance: markets, public spaces, culture and sports, as well as managing schools and health centres. As everywhere in Europe, the idea is to bring government closer to the people. Thus decentralisation is for the whole of Kosovo, not just Mitrovica. The sequence has to be: first participation in elections, then decentralisation. You cannot decentralise without recognising the municipal centre. That’s not how democracy works. You cannot pick and choose. But if there is participation, I undertake to start the process for decentralisation immediately after the elections.

Fifth point: Quick economic boost. I am prepared to move an important part of the UNMIK administration to northern Mitrovica. The Kosovo Trust Agency would have its headquarters here. Placing the Agency in Mitrovica would have a quick economic impact on the town as a whole. It would increase the number of jobs and the demand for flats and services. The Kosovo Trust Agency is one of the most important institutions for Kosovo’s economic future. This also means that the security situation must be right. Therefore locating the Agency in Mitrovica would send a vitally important message to investors that now is the time to invest.

Sixth point: Mitrovica donor conference. Donors need legitimate partners and the conditions need to be right for investment to come. After successful elections, I am prepared to organise a conference of donors and potential investors specifically for Mitrovica.

This brings me to the Seventh and last point: Election participation. Let’s be clear: the prospects that I have outlined presuppose political participation. Without participation in the municipality, there can be no decentralisation. Without legitimate institutions, there will be no investment. Money will not come to a grey zone. Without participation in the elections now, the Serb community will have excluded itself from political life for the next four years.

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Dear Friends,

I want us to be partners. This is a time when the destiny of Mitrovica is being decided. Mitrovica is at a crossroads. And you, living in the North, are faced with a choice: stagnation or change. Leaving things as they are means continued lawlessness, insecurity, fear and political marginalisation. It means staying in the grey zone.

I have talked to mothers here in northern Mitrovica. Their main concern is for the future of their children.

You have the choice. But you are also deciding for your children. It is a choice on the destiny of Mitrovica.

In the past here in the Balkans, too much future has been stolen.

What I have outlined is the way to recover your future. It is about being able to take care of the legitimate interests of the Serb community. It is about trust and confidence. It is about having a dignified life in a normal European town. A town where every Mitrovica citizen feels safe and can be proud of northern Mitrovica, proud of southern Mitrovica, and proud of Mitrovica as a whole.