Secretary-General's press encounter before departure to Belgrade (unofficial transcript)

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. I have had a brief but a full visit but I must say my visit was very fruitful and it was good I came. I see this mission as a success. It's a successful operation and everybody is working well together –the military, civilian and the national staff. I think Kosovo has come a long way since my last visit two years ago. There has been a lot of progress. I have seen how the houses have been rebuilt, the roads have been rebuilt, and democratic institutions are being strengthened. And one of the key areas of my representative here is to continue strengthening these institutions so that we can pass on authorities to the institutions and to the local authorities and local administrators. But of course the construction of roads and houses is the easy part. But now we have the really difficult part in our efforts to build a multiethnic society which can only be done successfully by both communities.

The majority has a special responsibility –they have a special responsibility to make the minority people feel that this is their home too and that the laws apply equally to everyone. I would also ask the minority groups to join in and work with the institutions, to participate and to be able to gain the benefits that are being offered.

I would also want to say that one of the key things we are trying to do here is to develop a society based on the rule of law. And no one should be beyond the law. We need to respect the rights of individuals, the sanctity of human rights and treat everyone with dignity and tolerance. And I have had the chance to visit Mitrovica and to see things, as well as some of the villages in the countryside. As difficult as things are, there are hopeful signs that we will make further progress. But I think that each and every one of us has to accept that if we are going to make the kind of progress that we want, if we want our neighbors to treat us the way we want to be treated we should all become engaged. The incidents of last weekend where bombs were thrown in the churches is not anything anyone can condone. And those instances and incidents must stop. We should all try to work with the community to try to avoid those kinds of incidents. But I think as we move forward the challenge is for the society as a whole to try to put your painful history behind you and collectively move forward as one society that can be stable, democratic and prosper –a society that I hope in time will join modern Europe and the prosperity that it entails. Before I take your questions I would like to congratulate Mr. Steiner and his team, KFOR, the OSCE, the EU –we're all one family working here to help the people. They've done a great job and I've indicated they have made a success of it. We are proud of what they are doing. Now I will take your questions

Q: Koha Ditore daily newspaper. Because of its undetermined final status Kosovo has had a lot of troubles in its development from economic to sports. When will these obstacles be removed and final status be decided, especially because many of the standards to be achieved are unrealistic and very broad.

SG: I think we are making progress and as you know Mr. Steiner has come up with benchmarks that must be met and we are all working to meet these benchmarks. I had a chance to speak to Mr. Rrugova and the Prime Minister and the speaker of parliament and Ms Rada Trajkovic and we are moving forward and the fact that final status is not determined is not holding us back. We are taking the steps to move forward even though final status is not determined. It will be determined within Resolution 1244 and I can't tell you exactly when that will be done. But that should not prevent us from moving forward and if you move along the lines Mr. Steiner indicated with the benchmarks, which have been embraced –and we are going to monitor their implementation –we should be able to make good progress.

Q: Question from Serbian press in Serbian

SG: I think we all live in the real world and sometimes you run into problems and difficulties and when you do you take steps to ensure they don't happen again or to steer things right. The fact that the OSCE has been asked to do some monitoring is not something that should be seen as an imposition, but something that will help steer things right. And I would hope that all parties and all parliamentarians will cooperate. There is a minimum of décorum in parliaments and I think we have to respect that. The OSCE representative has a lot of experience and exposure to other parliaments and practices which will be useful here. We all learn from each other and so the Kosovo parliament can also have a good experience and learn how it works elsewhere.

Q: Reuters –Secretary General, Iraqi officials have expressed concern that they can't meet the reporting deadline. What would be the consequences of such a move and what would be your suggestions to the Iraqi government?

SG: First of all we luckily today have the chief inspector Mr. Blix and Mr. el-Baradei of the Atomic Agency in Iraq having discussions with the Iraqi authorities and I trust they will raise the issue you have cited here with Mr. Blix who will discuss it thoroughly with them and if he deems it necessary, report back to New York for us to assess what the situation is.

Q: Christian Jennings from The Economist. With particular regard to comments you made on a society based on the rule of law, the activity of parallel security structures in Mitrovica have been a consistent problem for UNMIK for three and a half years now. Is there any remaining way for UNMIK to establish central authority and rule of law in Mitrovica other than through imminent civil military initiatives to be carried out in conjunction with KFOR?

SG: I think measures have been taken to deal with that situation and it has not been satisfactory. We have not been entirely pleased and I think it is important for all citizens of this territory, Kosovo, to come and work with us and the institutions established and from the discussions I have had with Mr. Steiner specific and concrete measures have been taken to ensure that we redress the situation. I'm going of course to Belgrade where I will have the chance to discuss this with them. Now if Mr. Steiner would like to add a few words.

SRSG: Mr, Secretary General, you have said it all. We are convinced that we can also established, as we promised, legitimate structures in the north of Mitrovica, but I think it's not the time to speak. It's the time to prepare things.

Q: Reuters news agency. On the Cyprus situation, are you still optimistic that the deal is possible by December 12th in view of the strong doubts expressed by the parties?

SG: I'm still hopeful that we will have an agreement on Cyprus. There have been lots of dates that have been thrown around and deadlines that have been indicated. Let me say that I've put forward to the two parties a proposal that I believe could be a basis for comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem. My request was for them to give me their reactions by yesterday. I have got the reaction of Mr. Clerides and I'm awaiting the reaction of Mr. Denktash, who unfortunately, as you all know, is recovering from heart surgery in New York. My indication is once I've got this reaction we will determine how to proceed to the next phase. It is only 24 hours from the deadline and I am waiting to see what happens. The important thing is that I think the proposal is solid and it could help the parties. I think they should work with me to find a solution to this long standing conflict.