UNMIK/PR/525
PRISTINA--- The Kosovo Transitional Council today had a thorough discussion on the situation with the border to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The Deputy COMKFOR, General Georges Ladeveze briefed the Council on the latest incidents in the north of FYROM, where three soldiers have been killed and a KFOR aeroplane shot at. Ladeveze said that KFOR did everything in its means to prevent a spill-over of the conflict over the border and into Kosovo, by utilising aerial recognisance assets and by engaging in close co-operation with the FYROM authorities.
The KTC members raised several questions on the situation on the FYROM border. Some asked why the Kosovo Albanian members of the Interim Administrative Council (IAC) had not accompanied the SRSG and COMKFOR on their visit to Skopje. The SRSG, Hans Hakkerup replied that the IAC is defined by UN SCR 1244, and that it has no role in questions like these. He further said that he did not want to give the impression that the problems in FYROM are of Kosovo origin.
Several of the members also requested the reopening of the border crossing points to FYROM, something in which they got full support from UNMIK. The lack of fuel and other commodities can cause problems for government, businesses and civilians in only a few days. Mr. Haekkerup said that the FYROM authorities assured him that they would open the borders as soon as the security situation allowed it, and that he disagreed with their interpretation of the present situation.
There was some confusion regarding the statements of NATO on the reduction of the Ground Safety Zone on the border to Serbia. The SRSG said that the Ground Safety Zone on the border between Serbia and FYROM would be removed, so that the zone could not be used by anybody to infiltrate into FYROM from Serbia. The removal of the other parts of the zone was part of a political process and a negotiated solution for the Presevo valley.
One member suggested that the Kosovo Protection Corps could be deployed at the FYROM border to deal with the situation. The SRSG was very firm in his reply, saying that this is not the role of the KPC according to SCR 1244 and the Military Technical Agreement, and that the only approved security forces in Kosovo are KFOR, UNMIK Police and the Kosovo Police Service.
Maria Elena Andreotti, from the UNMIK Office of Human Rights and Community Affairs, reported that they were expecting today the release of 25 Albanian prisoners from jails in Serbia. Information from the International Red Cross indicated that 20 prisoners would be released on the grounds of the new FRY amnesty law; two on the Serbian amnesty law; and three others because they had finished their sentence. Ms. Andreotti expected that between 108 and 170 further Albanian prisoners in Serbia could be released as a result of the new FRY amnesty law.
The members reiterated the demand that all Albanian prisoners should be released, and received the full support from Mr. Haekkerup. He stressed the signals from the FRY representative on his meetings in Brussels and Vienna - that the minister of justice could deal with the prisoners that were not covered by the amnesty laws.
The SRSG also reported son his meetings with the EU foreign ministers and the permanent councils of NATO and OSCE last week, which he described as productive and encouraging. He said he had tried to keep the international community’s interest in Kosovo, which ‘is not in any way granted any longer’, he said.
He then went on to inform on the establishment of the working group on the legal framework, which will be responsible for drafting the regulations that will lead to Kosovo-wide elections. He emphasised that this would not be a constitution for Kosovo, and that the working group would not be involved in anything that would prejudice the final status of Kosovo.