Secretary-General appeals to Members States to help cement rule of law in Kosovo
MARCH 3 -- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appealed to Members States to provide, "as a matter of urgency", the necessary number of police, judges, prosecutors and penal experts to the cement rule of law and build on the achievements so far made by the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).In a report to the Security Council released today, the Secretary-General says UNMIK has achieved much, most notably in engaging the population in the interim administration of Kosovo, but Mr. Annan warns progress is "not yet irreversible" and the potential for further violence, including a spill-over effect in southern Serbia "remain a real possibility." The head of UNMIK, Dr. Bernard Kouchner and the Commander of the international peacekeeping force in Kosovo (KFOR), General Klaus Reinhardt, will jointly brief the Council on Kosovo on Monday.
In his report, the Secretary-General says the recent events in Mitrovica serve to remind us that ethnic tensions can still trigger dramatic cycles of violence and urges all Kosovo leaders and ordinary people to bring violence, intimidation and harassment to an end.
Warning that the perpetuation of impunity could undermine the current efforts to create a secure environment in Kosovo, the Secretary-General calls for the "entire chain of justice" to be built-up and reinforced. To assist in this, Member States must accelerate the deployment of police officers and special police units for Kosovo, he says.
Mr. Annan urges Member States to continue to participate in the longer-term reconstruction and rehabilitation of the economy of Kosovo and the realization of pledges of support "in a timely manner."
The Secretary-General also urges Kosovo Serbs to take up their representation in the Joint Interim Administrative Structure (JIAS), which he argues marks an important step towards the establishment of substantial autonomy and self-government in Kosovo.
He urges Member States to support the concerted efforts of UNMIK, and especially of its institution building component, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, to hold municipal elections as early as possible, which will ensure that representatives of the population will participate in the administration of "every village, town and city in Kosovo." (click here for progress report on UNMIK's first nine months)
Security Council expresses regret over the killing of a Russian soldier in Kosovo
MARCH 3 -- The UN Security Council today expressed regret over the killing of a Russian soldier of the international peacekeeping force in Kosovo (KFOR), who was shot on Tuesday in the town of Srbica.Council President, Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury of Bangladesh, said two British soldiers were also wounded in another incident close by.
Private Igor Korshunov died of gunshot wounds yesterday. He is the first peacekeeper to die as a result of a deliberate attack by the local people, KFOR Commander, General Klaus Reinhardt said yesterday.
The head of UNMIK, Dr. Bernard Kouchner today paid his respects to the Russian contingent over the death of Private Korshunov who was shot while driving his commanding officer to a meeting in Srbica.
Dr. Kouchner said he was shocked and saddened at this cowardly act of violence and expressed his condolences to the family of the soldier who was 31 years old and had a wife and daughter in Russia.
General Reinhardt, who yesterday led his headquarters staff in a moment of, said he found it difficult to understand "why those whom we have come here to help should turn their guns on us."
He added that KFOR would not be deterred by a few terrorists who are attempting to destroy the democratic and peaceful future that the vast majority of Kosovars desire.
UN officials in Kosovo assist Albanians to return to their homes in northern Mitrovica
MARCH 3 -- Nearly 40 Kosovo Albanians returned to their homes in the northern part of Mitrovica today despite protests from local Serbs.UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) officials, including Regional Administrator Mario Morcone, successfully installed 38 Albanians in their flats in three apartment blocks on the north side of the Ibar River under a military escort provided by the international peacekeeping force (KFOR). KFOR troops had to use tear gas to disperse demonstrating Serbs apparently opposed to the return.
The returning families are among the more than 2,000 Albanians displaced from the north of the city during the violence of the past month.
On Thursday, a group of Albanians had crossed the Ibar River to inspect their homes before returning. Although there were no incidents at that time, a crowd of approximately 250 Serbs threw stones at other Albanians visiting later.
The head of UNMIK, Dr. Bernard Kouchner, laid the groundwork for today's return when he visited Mitrovica yesterday to meet with UNMIK and KFOR officials, as well Kosovo Serb leader Oliver Ivanovic and Albanian leader Bajram Rexhepi, to discuss the strategic plan for Mitrovica, which envisages establishing a unified city.
The return of the Albanian families took place during continuing tension in the Mitrovica region. UNMIK has temporarily suspended the train service from Kosovo Pojle to northern Kosovo following attacks by Serbs apparently looking for Albanians on board. A bomb threat had also been received.
UNMIK police today begun escorting Serbian children to school in northern Mitrovica, after their driver reported yesterday they had been attacked and stoned by Albanians. Elsewhere in Kosovo, UNMIK police reported two grenade attacks on Serb-owned property in Lipljan and Obilic.
Kosovo's Administrative Council endorses setting up of two more departments
MARCH 3 -- Kosovo's Interim Administrative Council (IAC) today endorsed draft regulations setting up the departments of Justice and Public Services, which will become operational once the regulations are signed by the head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).In a statement issued after the IAC meeting, UNMIK said the Council also discussed in detail two draft regulations dealing with preparations for the municipal elections due later this year -- one on the registration of political parties and the other on creation of a central election commission.
These regulations will be the subjects of continuing work and discussions, said Mr. Jock Covey, Principal Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, following the IAC meeting.
The IAC was briefed on the situation in Mitrovica and the efforts to return quickly those people who were displaced during the recent disturbances in the city. Members also discussed the draft joint strategy for Mitrovica and its implementation.
The IAC also agreed on its internal rules of procedure for its work.
UN refugee agency voices alarm at rising ethnic tensions in southern Serbia
MARCH 2 -- The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today expressed alarm over reports of rising tensions between Serbs and minority ethnic Albanians living in southern Serbia, resulting in an increase in displaced people arriving in neighbouring Kosovo.In a statement issued in Geneva, UNHCR said between 5,000 and 6,000 ethnic Albanians are believed to have fled the Presevo-Bujanovac-Mevedja area of southern Serbia since last June, many of them entering nearby Kosovo. After a lull, UNHCR field officers are again reporting increasing numbers of new arrivals.
The new arrivals report an increase in Serb military and police presence in the area and give consistent accounts of harassment, beatings, confiscation of houses and apartments, forced conscription, rape threats and demands for money, UNHCR says. An estimated 60,000 to 70,000 ethnic Albanians still live in the area along southern Serbia's provincial border with Kosovo.
The Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs in Kosovo, Mr. Dennis McNamara, who is also the UNHCR Special Envoy, said the increasing harassment of the Albanians in southern Serbia may also be linked to recent ethnic unrest in the northern city of Mitrovica. At the same time, he said, there has been an upsurge in attacks on non-Albanians -- Serbs and Roma -- across Kosovo.
"Coming on the heels of the recent disturbances in Mitrovica, it may be no accident that the Albanian minority in southern Serbia is now feeling under increasing pressure," Mr. McNamara said.
More than 50 recruits join Kosovo Customs Service
MARCH 2 -- More than 50 recruits, nearly 30 per cent of them women, have joined the Kosovo Customs Service, bringing the number of trained customs officials working throughout Kosovo to approximately 100, the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) said today.The recruits took part in a graduation ceremony on Sunday, marking their successful completion of a rigorous, two-week training. In addition, candidates are given on-the-job training.
Mr. Ian Fletcher, Director General of Customs of Kosovo, told the graduates that their work was crucial to the collection of revenue to support basic public services for the people of Kosovo. Customs revenues account for the bulk of income of the Kosovo Consolidated Fund of the Kosovo Budget.
UNMIK Customs operates two border-crossing points with Albania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and a tax collection point at the border between Montenegro and Kosovo.
Recruiting local customs officers began last October when the first job announcements resulted in over 1,100 applications, from which only 25 candidates were selected. The second recruitment began in January in anticipation of an increase in the number of tax collection points, and 28 candidates were selected.
International administrator takes up duties at Pristina University
MARCH 2 -- Prof. Michael Daxner of Germany today took up his duties as the international administrator for the Pristina University system, which consists of seven campuses and some 1,500 faculty and administrators.Prof. Daxner, who will work on fund-raising, administrative and legislative matters, said one of his goals is to implement the European strategy of building a "European Space of Higher Education" in Kosovo, and that Kosovo could be a model for sustainable and accountable reforms for the region.
He said he would work to help make the university "a central institution in the emerging new society."
Shooting of UN staffer called a mistake
MARCH 1 -- A group of armed and uniformed men who wounded a UN member of staff yesterday in southeastern Serbia, near the Kosovo border, have said that the shooting was "a mistake."The men were apologetic after recognizing that they had attacked a UN vehicle, saying it was a case of mistaken identity, UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said today in New York.
After the incident, the attackers directed the UN staff to a KFOR checkpoint west of the site of the ambush from where Mr. Marcel Grogan, an Irish national working for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, was evacuated to Bondsteel military base in Kosovo. He is in stable condition after treatment for gunshot wounds to a leg.
Mr. Eckhard said the area of Serbia in which the ambush took place has remained lawless since the end of the conflict last year and has seen increasing insecurity in recent months.
The perpetrators identified themselves as a splinter group from the Kosovo conflict, indigenous to the predominantly Albanian villages in that part of Serbia, he said.
Kosovo Transitional Council establishes secretariat
MARCH 1 -- The Kosovo Transitional Council (KTC) today established its secretariat -- a rotating group of five KTC members, which will prepare the work of the advisory body and coordinate its specialized working groups.A statement issued by the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) said the secretariat will consist of one representative from a political party in the Interim Administrative Council (IAC), two from political parties not in the IAC, one from civil society and one from a minority community.
The KTC Secretariat will be crucial in establishing and assisting the working groups, which will enable the KTC to bring to the attention of the IAC issues of concern to Kosovo communities, said the head of UNMIK, Dr. Bernard Kouchner.
"The KTC not only discusses matters, but it also acts as a so-called parliament, " he added.
From 1 March to 30 April 2000, the Secretariat members will be representatives of the PPDK (Peoples Democratic Party of Kosovo), PPK (Parliamentary Party of Kosovo) and PSHDKK (Albanian Christian Democratic Party of Kosovo), but they have yet to be named. The civil society will be represented by Ylber Hysa and the minority communities by Sonia Nikolic.
All businesses in Kosovo required to register
MARCH 1 -- All businesses in Kosovo must register with every municipality in which they are operating, UNMIK said today.UNMIK spokeswoman Susan Manuel said a business registration certificate will be required for a business to open a bank account or do business with foreign companies.
UNMIK estimates there are between 400,000 and 500,000 businesses to be registered.
Registering businesses was crucial in providing information for economic policy making for Kosovo, Ms. Manuel said adding that it will also be important for establishing Kosovo's tax base.
Registration will be undertaken over the next three months and full instructions will be available in the municipality buildings around Kosovo, Ms. Manuel said.
Wholesale and retail trades will be registered in March; agricultural enterprises, mines and quarries and manufacturers in April; hotels and restaurant, personal services, transport companies and telecommunications in May. More details will be released later this week.
UN staffer wounded in Kosovo border incident
FEBRUARY 29 -- A United Nations staff member was today shot in an ambush on the Serb side of the border with Kosovo, UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said in New York.Mr Eckhard said that according to preliminary information, Mr. Marcel Grogan of Ireland, a staff member of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, was wounded while on a humanitarian assessment mission.
He was shot while travelling in a UN marked vehicle near the town of Bujanovac, on the Serb side of the border with Kosovo.
Mr. Eckhard said several men stopped the vehicle and one of them opened fire, wounding Mr. Grogan in the leg.
Mr. Grogan was being treated at a US Army hospital.
Kosovo's Interim Administrative Council names heads for three more departments
FEBRUARY 29 -- Kosovo's Interim Administrative Council today appointed two women and a student activist to co-head three departments with UN officials, the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) reported today.The Council named Ms. Vjosa Dobruna, a political independent and human rights activist, co-head for the Department of Democratic Governance; Mrs. Edi Shukriu, co-head of the women's wing of the Kosovo Democratic League, co-head for the Department of Culture; and Mr. Driton Lajci, the acting president of the Pristina University Students Union, co-head for the Department of Youth.
The Council split the Department of Youth and Sport into two new entities so that there are now a total of 20 administrative departments in the Joint Interim Administrative Structure.
The Council asked the United Democratic Movement (LBD) to propose a candidate to co-head the Department of Sport. UNMIK has appointed Mr. Jean-Selim Kaanan, a reconstruction official, to co-head the department.
UNMIK said consultations continue on nominating co-heads for four departments -- Transport & Infrastructure, Environment, Agriculture, and Labour & Employment -- all of whom will come from minority communities.
The Council reviewed draft regulations on setting up Public Services and Justice, the next two departments to be officially established. It also discussed regulations on elections preparations and gave its approval to a pending regulation on civil registration.
