UNMIK/PR/235
SRSG Bernard Kouchner today briefed the Kosovo Transitional Council about the visit of the Security Council delegation and the report it submitted to the Security Council in New York. He said that the delegation’s report reflects the major issues that the KTC and the Interim Administrative Council has been discussing. These were: the difficulty in building peace after the conflict, the inadequate security environment, the lack of freedom of movement, primarily for the Serb community, the return of internally displaced persons, the problem of detainees and missing persons and the lack of an unbiased rule of law in Kosovo.
Dr.Kouchner said the report also takes note of the progress made in Kosovo since last year. In particular, he said, it mentions the desire of all ethnic communities to live in peace together and the strong support of the different ethnic communities for the appointment of a special envoy for detainees and missing persons.
Dr. Kouchner said he hoped that the visit of the Security Council would speed up the appointment of the special envoy, which would help put pressure on Belgrade regarding those in Serbian prisons.
He reiterated that the issue of detainees and missing persons was of paramount importance, but cautioned that this issue could not be linked to the return of the Serbs to Kosovo. He said the newly formed Joint Committee on Serb Returns would not bring people back in a “chaotic manner”. He said he wanted people from all ethnic groups to return, but in a “proper way”.
He also welcomed the return of the Bosniak representatives to the KTC. However, he regretted the resignation of LKCK party representative Shukri Klinaku from the KTC, over the issue of the detained and missing. Dr. Kouchner said he had taken this issue very seriously, especially in his attempts to get a special envoy. He said he had also met the protestors led by Mr. Klinaku, twice, and had arranged a meeting between them and the Security Council mission last week.
The OSCE head of mission, Daan Everts, in briefing the KTC about civil registration, said the process was going well so far with 98 registration centres operating as of today, and 132 tomorrow. On average, 135 people were registering every day. Of the people who had registered, only 159 came without any documentation at all, or 3.5 per cent of the total cases, which he said was manageable and will be treated in a special review process. He said four Serbs, three in Orahovac and one in Mitrovica had also registered.
KFOR Major General Jean Philipe Wirth and UNMIK Police Deputy Commissioner, Uwe Schweifer briefed the council about the security situation in Kosovo. Major General Wirth expressed concern at the recent attacks on Russian KFOR soldiers and the frequency of mortar attacks in general. He said that the new SACEUR, General Ralston, will visit Kosovo at the end of this week.
In answer to a question from one of the KTC members, the SRSG said that there were 2,790 local employees working in UNMIK, with salaries ranging from $5,647 to $ 11,359 per year. The salaries are calculated on the same basis for all UN local staff around the world. He said he recognised this was creating problems in Kosovo, as there was an imbalance between UNMIK staff and public servants, including co-heads of administrative departments, who are paid from the Kosovo Consolidated Budget. He said that the UN was trying to sort out this problem.