UNMIK/PR/1571
PRISTINA – Principal Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Kosovo (PDSRSG) Steven Schook yesterday undertook an impromptu tour of the northern municipalities of Mitrovica to meet the people ‘in the streets and cafes’ of Zvecan/Zvečan and Leposavic.
“I was there to see the people of the region as they went about their daily life,” the PDSRSG said, “I otherwise only get to see leaders or talk to the public in town hall meetings where the spontaneity of the interaction is lost. It is important to meet people in more informal settings. Just walking and talking to all the people, I got a better sense of life in these municipalities and I am very encouraged by what I saw and heard.”
Among the issues the PDSRSG discussed with the people and with some local officials were employment opportunities, different social issues and life in Kosovo post status.
“I am amazed that whenever I talk to the leaders in the North all they focus on is lack of security, that’s it. I understand that the concerns of the citizens are of a different nature: jobs, lack of electricity and water, a poor healthcare system. Not one of the dozens of residents I chatted with mentioned security.”
“The Kosovo Serb leaders should focus more on the day-to-day needs of their constituents and should stop politicizing criminal incidents that often are not even related to the ethnicity of the victim or the perpetrator,” added the PDSRSG.