UNMIK/PR/526
PRISTINA--- The UNMIK Council of Co-heads was today briefed by Mr. Jurgen Voss from the European Union on the international donor’s conference recently held in Pristina. The donor organisations had emphasised the importance of capacity building in Kosovo, so that people increase their competence to rebuild and govern the territory as powers are transferred to them.
Furthermore, the donors had mentioned the need to establish a basic legal framework for the activities in the private economic sector in Kosovo, and to shift the focus from criminal law to civil law as the situation improved. They expressed the importance of social protection for those individuals left out when a market economy is created, such as a labour law and a social safety net. The donors also emphasised the development of institutions for a credit market in Kosovo.
The signals of continued commitment though, were followed by statements from the EU and USA that the recent violence against Kosovo Serbs was unacceptable, and they indicated that it could be politically difficult to sustain the level of donations if this trend were to continue.
The Council again brought up the issue of downsizing the UNMIK Regional Offices before they are eventually removed altogether. With the holding of general elections and the establishment of a central government, the level between the government in Pristina and the municipalities will no longer be needed.
When the handing over of powers and responsibilities has been completed, only the oversight with UNMIK staff and the co-ordination of returns and security will remain on the regional level (also see press release 508).
Some of the co-heads warned of the possibility that responsibilities would remain on both the central and municipal level, thereby leaving unclarity and a redundancy in work. DSRSG, Tom Koenigs said it was important to avoid such ‘double structures’, and asked the co-heads to prepare inputs on this subject before the next meeting.
The SRSG, Hans Haekkerup briefed the members on the political situation in the region, and the talks he had with the EU foreign ministers and the permanent councils of NATO and OSCE last week. Some of the local co-heads brought up the reduction of the Ground Safety Zone inside Serbia proper on the border to Kosovo. Mr. Haekkerup explained that this does not mean the return of FRY military troops to Kosovo, and that NATO has announced that the reduction will happen in a transparent and gradual way.
On the subject of FYROM, he said we needed to avoid a “Kosovarisation” of the problems in FYROM – to avoid the impression that the unrest there is of Kosovo origin.