Kouchner meets top Albanian officials to discuss reconstruction of Kosovo.
DECEMBER 3 -- The Head of the Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Dr. Bernard Kouchner, yesterday met with high-level Albanian Government officials in Tirana to discuss the reconstruction of Kosovo.

The officials included President Rexhep Meidani, Prime Minster Ilir Meta, and Deputy Foreign Minister Ben Blushi, a press statement issued by UNMIK in Pristina today said.

The Albanian officials expressed their support for democracy and tolerance in Kosovo, the statement said. The question of fighting illegal trafficking and other crimes was also discussed, the statement added.

Dr Kouchner agreed with the Albanian officials on the need for a regular exchange of visits by UNMIK economic advisers, police and other technical experts.

Prime Minister Meta raised the issue of opening a representational office in Pristina, staffed by experts in education, law and finance, to support the work of UNMIK.

Dr Kouchner discussed with President Meidani the situation in Mitrovica, the importance of holding local elections as soon as possible, and the fate of missing Kosovars and detainees.

Following his meeting with the Prime Minister, Dr Kouchner told journalists UNMIK was doing its best to re-establish confidence between the Serbs and ethnic Albanians in Mitrovica.

"Our challenge in Mitrovica is to establish, step by step, multi-ethnic initiatives and to try to build confidence between Serbs and Albanian Kosovars," he said.

Humanitarian agencies distribute "massive" materials to help Kosovars through winter.
DECEMBER 3 -- UN and other aid agencies have distributed "massive" materials including shelter and food to help Kosovars through the winter.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and its main shelter partners, ECHO and USAID, have distributed enough shelter kits to provide a dry room for some 350,000 Kosovars through the winter months. This is possibly the largest such programme anywhere in the world, UNHCR spokesman Peter Kessler told journalists in Pristina today.

"The scale of materials distributed in Kosovo is massive -- enough plastic sheeting alone to wrap Pristina several times over -- and it's still coming into the region," he said.

The World Food Programme and USAID's Food for Peace programme have distributed food to some 900,000 vulnerable families across the province, who receive some 15,000 tonnes of food per month. "Well over half of the population of Kosovo is getting food aid, " said Mr. Kessler.

In addition to shelter kits, some 20,000 wood stoves have been distributed and more than 8,000 families have received three cubic feet of firewood each. The total firewood distribution across Kosovo will be some 93,000 cubic metres, he said.

Clothing is also being distributed to thousands of women and children, with some 65,000 boots, 750,000 blankets and 380,000 mattresses already distributed.

Kouchner meets Macedonia's top officials on strengthening economic cooperation between Kosovo and FYROM, leaves for Albania for talks.
DECEMBER 2 -- Head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) Bernard Kouchner this morning held talks with Prime Minister of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Ljubco Georgievski, on re-establishing and strengthening economic ties between Kosovo and Macedonia.

The talks in Skopje, also attended by Macedonia's Ministers of Interior and Urban Planning, focussed on the possibility of enlarging the highway around the border crossing between the two countries and finalizing work on the opening of a second border crossing near Tetovo. Both sides agreed to meet more regularly and frequently to exchange information and deal with any problems that may arise.

At a working luncheon, Dr Kouchner explored with Deputy Foreign Minister and President-designate Boris Trajkovski ways to encourage private investments for the whole region. Mr. Trajkovski also raised the issue of the remaining 21,000 Kosovo refugees in Macedonia and their possible repatriation in the spring of next year. He offered his country's cooperation in the reconstruction of Kosovo.

Talking to the press, Dr Kouchner praised Macedonia as a model of tolerance and multi-ethnic harmony, which should be followed in Kosovo.

Following the talks, Dr Kouchner left Skopje for Tirana where he was scheduled to meet this evening with the President, the Prime Minster and other high-level officials in Albania.

Kosovo Transitional Council condemns brutal attack on Serb family.
DECEMBER 1 -- The Kosovo Transitional Council today condemned the attack early Monday morning on a Serb family in which a man was shot to death and his wife and mother-in-law brutally assaulted by a crowd celebrating a Kosovar Albanian holiday.

The Head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Dr. Bernard Kouchner, issued the statement today in Pristina on behalf of the Council, as he laid a bouquet of flowers at the scene of the attack in Pristina's Dardania neighbourhood. The Council is the highest-level advisory body of Kosovars.

The brutal attack "is a grave misuse of the liberty" awarded to the people of Kosovo by UNMIK and the international peacekeeping force, KFOR, to peacefully celebrate the Albanian Flag Day, the statement said.

"The Kosovo Transitional Council calls again on all people of Kosovo to have tolerance for each other and thus lay the foundations for the establishment of a genuine multi-ethnic society," the statement continued.

According to UNMIK Police, a crowd attacked the family while on its way to the hospital to seek treatment for the mother-in-law, who had also been assaulted a month ago, reportedly due to her ethnicity. UNMIK Police and KFOR tried to approach the scene but were prevented from intervening on behalf of the victims by the crowd.

Second group of police cadets start training in Kosovo.
DECEMBER 1 -- An intensive nine-week training for a second group of 175 police officers has started in Kosovo with students drawn from all over the province and representing Albanians, Serbs and other minorities.

A statement issued by UNMIK in Pristina today said about 76 per cent of the students are Kosovo Albanians, 15 per cent Kosovo Serbs, 8 per cent from other minorities, and 17 per cent are women.

More than 130 international police instructors from 13 countries and local legal specialists provide the training at the Kosovo Police Service School in Vucitm, 20 kilometres north of Pristina.

The training, which consists of democratic policing and other aspects of police training, is organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Mission in Kosovo. The OSCE is expected to train approximately 3,500 locally recruited police in 18 months.

Meanwhile, the UN Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK) yesterday officially assumed full responsibility for its first prison, in Prizren. This is "the final link" in the emergency judiciary set up by UNMIK, a statement issued in Pristina today said.

The statement said 60 experienced local staff have been hired and trained and the first class of correctional service cadets began training on Monday at the OSCE police academy in Vucitm.

The prison, a pre-trial detention facility overseen by three international staff, currently holds only 43 prisoners. This is expected to rise to 100 as other prisoners are transferred there.

UNMIK will take responsibility for the entire correctional system, including the main penitentiary at Iskok, next year.

Kouchner marks the start of vehicle registration in Kosovo.
NOVEMBER 30 -- Head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) Bernard Kouchner today marked the start of the registration for motor vehicles in Kosovo by adjusting a new licence plate to the first vehicle at the registration centre in Pristina.

"This is the most visible sign of law and order in Kosovo. With the return of regular license plates it will be safer on the roads of Kosovo", he said in a press statement.

The temporary vehicle registration will not establish ownership but will create a database on vehicles and their holders. "We must be sure that the cars and their holders have some kind of relation," said Dr. Kouchner, stressing the importance of the temporary registration in fighting and preventing car theft.

Six more registration centres will soon open throughout Kosovo and motorists have until 31 March 2000 to register their vehicles. After that date, UNMIK Police will penalize drivers of unregistered vehicles.

For the moment, drivers are only receiving their registration plates. Registration certificates will be issued in a few days when insurance companies will have met UNMIK's requirements to sell insurance in Kosovo.

Netherlands gives $15 million for the Kosovo budget.
NOVEMBER 30 -- The Dutch government today gave $15 million to support the Kosovo budget for 1999, which will be used to pay for public services and stipends for needy Kosovars.

Presenting the donation, the Head of the Netherlands Office in Pristina, Mr. Robert Van Lanschot said the money would cover 25 to 30 per cent of the Kosovo Consolidated Budget.

"It's a very considerable amount for keeping this place running as far as the normal public sector is concerned like medical care, education and the judicial system," he said in a statement issued by the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).

Head of UNMIK Bernard Kouchner said the money "will spread out to over approximately 50,000 Kosovars in the health and education systems and other sectors".

Dr. Kouchner said the Dutch Government's contribution would be an integral part of the UNMIK's rebuilding effort in Kosovo and would help foster the economic recovery process in the province.

UNMIK and KFOR strongly condemn attack on Serb family in Kosovo.
NOVEMBER 29 -- Head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) Bernard Kouchner today described as "outrageous and cowardly" the attack on three Serb residents of Pristina in the early hours of this morning, which left a 62-year-old man dead and his wife and mother-in-law severely beaten.

The incident, which happened as thousands of ethnic Albanians were celebrating their "Flag Day", involved a crowd of mainly young people who surrounded, overturned and burned the car of the three Pristina residents. The man was shot to death.

Commander of the Kosovo Force (KFOR) General Klaus Reinhardt said he was appalled by the incident. "It unveils a basic lack of humanity and a rare degree of cowardliness and intolerance on the side of the attackers and their supporters," he was quoted as saying by KFOR spokesman Major Roland Lavoie.

"It is totally unacceptable that such a celebration result in an outbreak of hatred and violence, " Major Lavoie said, while stressing that generally the celebrations were "peaceful and joyful". "The dignity of the celebrations was an encouraging sign for the people of Kosovo and the rest of the world," he added.

UNMIK police reported that over the past 24 hours there were three murders, one in Pristina and two in Gnjilane.

Pristina central heating goes into operation, pumping heat into hospitals, schools and homes.
NOVEMBER 29 -- Pristina's central heating plant has been started up four days ahead of schedule, following the early completion of repairs, and is pumping heat into hospitals, schools and homes in the city.

Smaller district heating plants in Djakovo and Mitrovica are scheduled to begin operating on Tuesday, the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) said today in a press statement issued in Pristina.

Head of UNMIK Bernard Kouchner switched on the central heating on Saturday, saying the plant will help keep 400,000 residents warm this winter.

He said the plant had not been maintained in 10 years and the repair teams had a difficult race and challenge. The repairs were completed with assistance from the European Union, Canada, Ireland and Sweden.

Heating from the Pristina plant should reduce the demand in the city on electrical power by 40 per cent. Meanwhile, the first unit of the Kosovo B electrical plant has been repaired and the second unit will be operational by mid-December, UNMIK said.

UN Envoy says humanitarian situation in Kosovo and Serbia remains daunting, five months after the war.
NOVEMBER 29 -- The Secretary-General's Envoy to the Balkans, Mr. Carl Bildt, today said the humanitarian situation in Kosovo and Serbia remained a daunting issue, five months after the end of the war.

"We anticipate that the distress of the large numbers of refugees will be intensified with the approach of winter," he said in a press briefing in Geneva today.

He said in the past five months in Kosovo represented no more than the start for the efforts to establish the interim administration. He emphasized the magnitude of the task, saying the force of disintegration in the region were still substantially stronger than the forces of integration.

He said any long-term strategy for stability and peace in the region was dependent on a policy based on three "Rs" -- political and economic reform, reintegration of the region and reconciliation between all of the states and nations in the region.

He said these three Rs were the pillars of any long-term strategy for stability and peace in the region. "The big issue in the region has been, remains and will be for quite some time, the issue of integration versus disintegration," he said.