Top EU officials support increasing funds to rehabilitate Kosovo.
OCTOBER 29 -- Top European Union officials have expressed strong support for increasing funding to rebuild Kosovo, the United Nations reported today.During a meeting yesterday with the United Nations mission in Kosovo, Javier Solana, the European Union's (EU) new representative for foreign policy, and Chris Patten, its commissioner for external relations, also pledged to cooperate closely with the UN Interim Administration Mission (UNMIK) on a budget for Kosovo.
"The fact they came on a joint visit illustrates the importance the European Union is giving to the rehabilitation of Kosovo," an UNMIK spokeswoman said today in the capital, Pristina.
The remarks of the EU officials had added significance in light of the forthcoming donor's conference to raise monies for Kosovo, to be convened in Brussels on 17 November, the spokeswoman said.
In a related development, UNMIK said today that $50 million has been committed and everything humanly possible was being done to fortify Kosovo's electricity supply system before the onset of winter. Only one of Kosovo's two power plants is presently functioning, with repairs of the second plan ongoing. However, decades of neglect and the unreliability of the regional electricity grid were complicating the work, the spokeswoman said.
UN in Kosovo condemns attack on relief convoy carrying Serbs.
OCTOBER 28 --The United Nations in Kosovo and the KFOR international security force have strongly condemned yesterday's brutal attack on a humanitarian convoy which left 10 to 15 Serbs injured.In a joint statement issued yesterday in the Kosovo capital, Pristina, the UN and KFOR pledged to bring to justice those responsible for the attack on the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) convoy carrying more than 150 Serbs. "KFOR and UNMIK cannot tolerate blockades that deny the citizens of Kosovo their fundamental and democratic rights of freedom of movement," they said.
The UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) reported that a portion of a convoy transporting Serbs from Orahovac to Montenegro was attacked in the centre of Pec after being separated from the rest of the vehicles. Eight cars separated from the convoy were surrounded by a crowd of some 1,500 Albanians, who attacked the occupants and subsequently set the vehicles on fire.
The Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Norway's Foreign Minister Knut Vollebaek, also strongly condemned the attack. Noting that sustainable development could not be achieved in Kosovo without reconciliation and peaceful coexistence, Mr. Vollebaek said today in Oslo that Kosovar Albanians held particular responsibility for safeguarding the rights of all inhabitants.
In a related development, OSCE human rights officers in the territory reported a pattern of increased murders, attacks and harassment against elderly Serbs. In a statement released in Pristina today, OSCE said the most frequent victims of attacks and intimidation are elderly Serbs singled out for property evictions or for helping other housebound friends.
"Many elderly Serbs tell human rights teams they are too afraid to leave their homes for fear of being attacked or evicted while they are out," the OSCE reported.
Secretary-General recommends increasing number of UN police in Kosovo.
OCTOBER 28 -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan has recommended that the Security Council increase the strength of the United Nations international civilian police force in Kosovo by more than 1,600 officers.Following recommendation by his Special Representative for Kosovo, Dr. Bernard Kouchner, to significantly increase the force size now set at a total of 3,110 officers, the Secretary General suggests that the force be expanded to 4,718.
This increase is intended to ensure that the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) has a fully functional international police service to both establish and maintain civil law and order throughout the territory, the Secretary-General says in a report issued on Tuesday.
The enhanced UNMIK police force would provide a broad spectrum of basic law enforcement services, including patrolling, crime prevention, border police functions and security for at-risk populations, Mr. Annan explains.
Currently there are more than 1,700 UNMIK police in Kosovo, with UN police units already responsible for full police functions in the Pristina and Prizren regions.
UN takes over police functions in Kosovo's Prizren region.
0CTOBER 27 -- United Nations civilian police in Kosovo today took over responsibility for maintaining law and order throughout the Prizren region.A force of 313 UN police have been deployed to the area of Prizren to assume authority from the KFOR international security force, a UN spokeswoman told the press in the capital, Pristina. UN police will continue to work closely with KFOR to monitor the security situation but will themselves carry out arrests, detentions and criminal investigations, the spokeswoman said.
Prizren is the second of the five Kosovo regions where the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) has taken over policing responsibilities. UNMIK police assumed those responsibilities in the capital and the surrounding region in late August.
