Week of 25 July through 31 July

Secretary-General Kofi Annan says regional approach can support lasting peace and stability in Balkans.
JULY 30 -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan told world leaders gathered in Sarajevo on Friday that the focus on regional roots of conflict in the Balkans would help create a framework for lasting peace and stability.    FULL STORY >>

UN interim administration is the only government in Kosovo says Bernard Kouchner.
JULY 30 -- The only government in Kosovo is the UN interim administration, not any other "so-called" government, Dr. Bernard Kouchner, head of the UN operation in the province, said on Friday.    FULL STORY >>

	UN mission has made real progress in restoring civilian life in Kosovo says top UN official. JULY 30 -- The United Nations Mission in Kosovo had achieved real progress in a relatively short period of time, Sergio Vieira de Mello, the man who set up UN operations in the province, said on Friday.    FULL STORY >>
Sergio Vieira de Mello

Kosovo Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova expected to return to province.
JULY 30 -- UNMIK announced that there were reports that Ibrahim Rugova, leader of the LDK, was back in Pristina today. "We welcome his return to Kosovo and look forward to his participation in the Council" said an UNMIK Spokesman.    FULL STORY >>

First repatriation flights to land directly at Pristina airport on Monday.
JULY 30 -- The UN High Commissioner for Refugees expects the first flights bringing back refugees directly to Pristina airport will land on 2 August. Most of the return flights will still be landing at Skopje airport, in view of Pristina's limited capacity. All of the returnees from abroad have so far been flown to Skopje and then taken by bus to Kosovo.    FULL STORY >>

Dialogue established between Serb and Albanian communities in town southwest of Pristina.
JULY 30 -- In an encouraging development at variance with reports from elsewhere in Kosovo, local Serb representatives from Orahovac have told the UN refugee agency that they are now keen to stay on since there have been significant changes in the environment there and a dialogue has been established with the Albanian community.    FULL STORY >>

Start-up of UN mission in Kosovo "moving along very well" -- US Secretary of State.
JULY 29 -- The head of the United Nations mission in Kosovo Dr. Bernard Kouchner met in Pristina today with visiting US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who said the start-up of the UN operation was proceeding very well.    FULL STORY >>

Head of UN Kosovo mission, Secretary-General's special envoys to attend Sarajevo summit on Balkans stability.
JULY 29 -- Secretary-General's Special Envoys for the Balkans and his Special Representative in Kosovo will take part in the Stability Pact Summit which opened this morning in Sarajevo, a UN spokesman announced on Thursday.    FULL STORY >>

General Assembly authorizes $200 million for financing of UN mission in Kosovo.
JULY 28 -- The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday authorized Secretary-General Kofi Annan to enter into commitments of up to $200 million to fund the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).    FULL STORY >>

UN officials outline cost of urgent humanitarian and reconstruction needs in Kosovo at donors conference.
JULY 28 -- Senior officials from the United Nations Mission in Kosovo outlined the cost of meeting urgent humanitarian and reconstruction needs in Kosovo at an international donors conference held on Wednesday in Brussels.    FULL STORY >>

At funeral of slain Serb civilians, top UN official in Kosovo calls for an end to cycle of violence.
JULY 28 -- Pledging to make every effort to find the perpetrators of what he called "a horrible and horrific crime," the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Kosovo, Dr. Bernard Kouchner, on Wednesday paid his condolences to the families of the 14 Serbs found shot dead in a field in Kosovo last Friday.    FULL STORY >>

Message by head of UN mission in Kosovo aired on Pristina radio in first broadcast since late June.
JULY 28 -- A message by the head of the United Nations mission in Kosovo was aired on Radio Television Pristina on Wednesday in a first broadcast since the radio station went out of operation at the end of June.    FULL STORY >>

	Stressing need for reconciliation, Secretary-General says UN will stay the course to build multi-ethnic Kosovo. JULY 27 -- Stressing that reconciliation was the United Nations' goal in Kosovo, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today that violence would not be allowed to undermine UN efforts to bring peace to the war-torn province.    FULL STORY >>
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan

	UN refugee agency releases new findings on destruction of housing in Kosovo villages. JULY 27 -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Tuesday released the latest results of its effort to assess the housing situation in the roughly 1,500 Kosovo villages damaged during the conflict.    FULL STORY >>
UNHCR Sadako Ogata

UN-led team of experts assesses environmental impact of Balkans crisis.
JULY 27 -- A team of international experts dispatched by the United Nations has just concluded the first review of damage to the environment and to human settlements following the Kosovo conflict.    FULL STORY >>

Security Council members condemn massacre of 14 Serb farmers in Kosovo.
JULY 26 -- Members of the Security Council condemned the killing of 14 Serb farmers in a Kosovo village last Friday.    FULL STORY >>

UN humanitarian agencies say over $400 million needed for Balkans this year.
JULY 26 -- Twelve United Nations humanitarian agencies and the International Organization for Migration today urged donors to continue funding humanitarian work in the countries of south-eastern Europe affected by the string of bloody conflicts which have devastated the region in the last decade of the twentieth century.    FULL STORY >>

UN officials condemn massacre of Serb farmers in Kosovo, pledge to bring perpetrators to justice.
JULY 26 -- The head of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo condemned as a "despicable crime" the killing of 14 Serb farmers in a field near the town of Lipijan capital and said, on behalf of Secretary-General Kofi Annan, that he expected an urgent and relentless investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice.    FULL STORY >>

"Mother of all regulations" spells out UN's executive, legislative authority in Kosovo.
JULY 26 -- The Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Kosovo issued his first regulation on Sunday outlining the legislative and executive authority of the United Nations mission in the province.    FULL STORY >>

UN refugee agency reports return of 4,500 Kosovars from neighbouring countries.
JULY 26 -- The United Nations refugee agency said on Monday that just 4,527 Kosovars returned home from neighbouring countries over the past three days, while returns from abroad gathered pace.    FULL STORY >>