UNMIK/PR/581
PRISTINA – Following this morning’s meeting with the Interim Administrative Council, SRSG Hans Haekkerup signed the Constitutional Framework on Interim Self-government.
Mr. Haekkerup had announced yesterday that general elections for the Assembly defined in the Constitutional Framework will take place on 17 November 2001.
Today, flanked by the Kosovo Albanian members of the IAC, he made official the regulation on the Constitutional Framework, which he has called the most important piece of legislation since UNMIK arrived two years ago.
“It is a significant step forward: It does not address the final political solution but it’s a very important stepping stone for reaching final agreement at some stage,” Mr. Haekkerup told media during the signing ceremony.
While all three Kosovo Albanian members said they would participate in the processes outlined by the Constitutional Framework, two of them—Ibrahim Rugova and Ramush Haradinaj—also expressed their support for the document which they noted would transfer considerable responsibilities to Kosovo’s people and elected leaders. They said that after seven weeks of work and negotiation, the final document represented a fair compromise, despite the exclusion of certain key requests, such as a referendum, which they would continue to pursue.
PDK President Hashim Thaci was more critical: “this document will hold hostage the aim of the people of Kosovo, which is political independence,” he told media.
Kosovo Serb IAC member Rada Trajkovic, who participated in today’s IAC meeting, did not attend the signing ceremony which took place in front of Kosovo media in the UNMIK auditorium.
Also in today’s IAC meeting, members discussed the draft regulation on a Value-Added Tax, which will go into effect on 1 July, unless any IAC member objects over the next 24 hours.
The value-added tax will replace the current 15 percent sales tax; it should not affect prices to consumers and it should make taxes paid by businesses more equitable, said Andy Bearpark, DSRSG and head of UNMIK’s Pillar for Reconstruction and Economic Development.
Also on the agenda was a draft regulation, which would outlaw border and boundary crossings at any sites other than authorized crossing points. An information campaign will create public awareness on the crossing points to be designated in an upcoming administrative directive. Crossing at unofficial locales will result in fines of 500 DM or a one-year jail sentence, at minimum.
“This is an important tool to improve the security environment in Kosovo,” UNMIK Legal Adviser Alexander Borg-Olivier told the IAC.