UNMIK/PR/1610
PRISTINA – Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Kosovo (SRSG) Joachim Rücker, in talks with senior German government officials, positively assessed the progress of Standards implementation and called for early determination of Kosovo’s status. Mr. Rücker and the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina Christian Schwarz-Schilling were together on a two day visit to Berlin on the invitation of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German Bundestag.
Besides briefing the Foreign Affairs Committee, the SRSG had separate meetings with the Federal Minister of the Interior Wolfgang Schäuble, Foreign Office State Secretary Reinhard Silberberg and Chancellor Merkel´s Foreign Policy Advisor Christoph Heusgen, among others.
“Standards implementation is well on track…my next report to the UN Security Council will therefore be a positive one,” the SRSG said, and added: “There remains a lot to be done, but the Kosovo leadership shows a high degree of determination and commitment to achieving further results.” The SRSG also briefed his interlocutors on the political and security situation in Kosovo in light of the status process.
"Kosovo´s Team of Unity deserves respect and support for its coherent strategy during the Vienna process,” Mr. Rücker said, “I expect the Unity Team to remain united until a status solution has been achieved."
The SRSG reiterated his hope for a swift solution of the status issue and said: “Kosovo and the region need clarity. Further delays bear serious political and economic costs. At the same time, it is important that all parties refrain from unilateral actions as the Contact Group has repeatedly stressed. Kosovo´s leaders are well aware of this necessity."
Mr. Rücker noted that Kosovo’s minorities still feel a high degree of uncertainty regarding their future. It is therefore imperative that the Kosovo Albanians continue and intensify their outreach campaign. “But confidence building is a two way street,” he said, “Members of the minority communities in Kosovo, especially the Kosovo Serbs, must be willing to take the extended hand."
The SRSG’s meeting with Minister Schäuble focused on the issue of refugee returns from Germany to Kosovo.