UN and Macedonian officials agree to ease traffic congestion at Kosovo-Macedonia border.
NOVEMBER 26 -- The Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Economic Development and Reconstruction in Kosovo, Joly Dixon, this week met with Macedonian Trade Minister Nikola Gruevski to discuss measures to ease traffic congestion at the border crossing between Kosovo and Macedonia.The two officials agreed that the problems would be eased by spring when there will be less humanitarian traffic and more border crossing points with more customs officers deployed by the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).
A statement issued in Pristina today said they agreed on short-term measures to address the most acute problems. These included the opening of the KFOR bypass which may also be used by vehicles that do not need customs clearance, simplified controls of empty trucks leaving Kosovo and a 24-hour-day customs and border operation on both sides of the border at least for non-commercial traffic.
They also agreed to cooperate on traffic management, increase temporarily UNMIK customs officials to clear traffic backlog, upgrade facilities on both sides and create customs clearance areas away from the border.
In addition, Special Representative of the Secretary-General Bernard Kouchner is planning to visit Macedonia and Albania on 2-3 December.
Humanitarian agencies set up Task Force to help displaced Kosovars in Serbia.
NOVEMBER 26 -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other agencies have set up a Task Force to deal with a looming shortage of accommodation for displaced people from Kosovo in Serbia.The Task Force, composed of UNHCR, ECHO, OXFAM, International Rescue Committee and the Swiss Disaster Relief, supported by the Yugoslav Federal Minister for Refugees, will identify potential accommodation sites throughout Serbia to help people who have no other place to stay, UNHCR said in a statement issued today.
According to government figures, there are more than 200,000 displaced people from Kosovo in Serbia - most of them Serbs. They joined some 500,000 previous refugees from Croatia and Bosnia, bringing the total number of refugees and internally displaced persons to an estimated 700,000 or more.
"This huge number has led to an acute shortage of shelter and other assistance," UNHCR said. "Most of the displaced have been staying with host families, but many of those families can no longer afford to care for them."
UNHCR is also rushing to deliver winter supplies to refugees and displaced people throughout Serbia and Montenegro and has delivered 10,000 litres of heating oil to the sports centre in Vranje, where some 300 displaced people from Kosovo are accommodated.
Kouchner, Kosovo political parties and European parliamentarians discuss reconstruction of the Balkans.
NOVEMBER 24 -- Special Representative of the Secretary-General Bernard Kouchner and the heads of Kosovo's major political parties are in Paris today attending an all-day forum on the political and economic reconstruction of the Balkans.The forum, "The Balkans: From Stability to Reconstruction," includes roundtable discussions on efforts being made by Dr. Kouchner to establish a mixed administration in Kosovo, a statement issued in Pristina said.
Parliamentarians from the European Union, Central Europe and the Baltic countries, the Balkan states, the United States, Russia and Turkey are also participating in the forum, which is being held under the auspices of the French Nation Assembly.
UNMIK signs agreement with German bank to finance rehabilitation of water supply in Kosovo.
NOVEMBER 24 -- The UN Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK) will sign an agreement on Friday with the German reconstruction loan bank pledging 9.3 million deutsche marks (approximately $5 million) to rehabilitate water supply systems in five western Kosovo towns.The loan from Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW) will finance the first phase of the rehabilitation programme which involves repairs to damaged water and draining systems in the towns of Pec, Prizren, Djakova, Rahovac and Suva Reka, a statement released in Pristina today said.
Ultimately, the statement said, a private water company will be created and sewage and irrigation systems will be rehabilitated.
Meanwhile, rehabilitation of the territory's power system continues. One unit of the Kosovo B power plant went on line today, adding 250 megahertz to the 150 currently being produced by the two functioning units of Kosovo A, UNMIK announced. However, a coal feeder problem caused a failure shortly after start up. At the second unit of Kosovo B a part was found to be defective and the unit will now be restarted around 14 December, one week later than scheduled.
Repairs to the central heating plant in Pristina are also under way and should be completed in the first week of December, UNMIK said, with plans in preparation to repair smaller district heating plants in Mitrovica and Djakova.
In the meantime, UNMIK urged Kosovo residents to continue to conserve energy.
Kouchner discusses security, progress in Kosovo with US President.
NOVEMBER 23 -- The head of the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Dr. Bernard Kouchner, today met with United States President Bill Clinton at Pristina Airport to discuss the progress made by UNMIK and the problems that still remain.President Clinton, visiting Kosovo as part of a southern Europe tour, met privately with Dr. Kouchner and the Commander of the international peacekeeping force (KFOR), General Klaus Reinhardt.
Dr. Kouchner said in a press statement that they had discussed the "many positive changes" that UNMIK has implemented in Kosovo, including the rebuilding of homes, the renovation of schools and the repairs to power plants, as well as security issues, the protection of minorities and plans for elections.
Dr. Kouchner told journalists after the meeting that President Clinton was "very supportive" of the work UNMIK and KFOR were doing, and he stressed that things were getting better. "In five months, we have achieved more than in five years in Bosnia," Dr. Kouchner said.
"The UN is doing a good job under tough conditions," President Clinton later said in a public meeting with Kosovars at a sports pavilion in Urosevac. "The United Nations troops and international organizations that have come here to help will stand with you every step of the way, and the coming winter in Kosovo is going to be a lot better than the last winter was," he said amid applause.
In his speech, President Clinton also called for an end to the cycle of hatred in Kosovo. Dr. Kouchner said the President had urged the UN to help the people of Kosovo work towards a society where all members of the population can coexist peacefully. "We need to work on security, peace and co-existence. When we have coexistence, then multi-ethnicism and reconciliation will come, " Dr. Kouchner said.
"President Clinton wants us -- the Albanians, the Serbs, UNMIK and KFOR -- to work together in a co-administration," Dr. Kouchner said in the press statement. "We are encouraged and happy to receive his strength and the clear perspective he offered."
