UNMIK/PR/1327
PRISTINA – SRSG Søren Jessen-Petersen today toured the Peje/Pec, Decan/Decani, Gjakove/Djakovica and Suhareke/Suva Reka municipalities where he met members of the respective Municipal Assemblies, village leaders, community representatives, student and youth leaders. The Acting Prime Minister Adem Salihaj joined the SRSG for part of the tour.
During these meetings the SRSG listened to the concerns of those present and addressed their questions.
The SRSG said that these are difficult days for Kosovo and added that “while the departure of Ramush Haradinaj has clearly left a gap, on the other hand, the way in which Ramush Haradinaj responded to the indictment and the dignified response of the citizens throughout Kosovo and in Decani in particular means that Kosovo has taken a giant step forward towards status talks beginning in September”.
The SRSG stressed that it is now important for everybody to heed the appeal Ramush Haradinaj made when he stepped down for people to stay calm and continue working on Standards implementation. “He has made a sacrifice and the best way to pay tribute and honour his sacrifice is to continue the hard work he began and move forward on implementing the Standards”, said the SRSG.
Asked by the media whether UNMIK would act as a guarantor so that Mr Haradinaj could defend himself on conditional release, the SRSG said that “if we are asked to provide guarantees for a conditional release we will give those guarantees”.
He was also asked about his future plans following reports that his name has been put forward for UNHCR’s top job. “I am here to do a job in Kosovo. I think I consider this job more important than ever and I am absolutely committed to it”, said the SRSG, adding that he was flattered by the nomination but he was here “to do a job working with the institutions, working with the Presidents of the municipalities and, above all, following up on what Ramush Haradinaj started”.
During his visit to Decan/Decani the SRSG paid a courtesy visit to Decani Monastery.