UNMIK/PR/473
Hans Haekkerup, the third Special Representative of the Secretary General to head the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo, arrived at his UNMIK Government Building office early this morning for his first day on the job.
He led his first executive meeting with senior UNMIK staff and the heads of the three UNMIK “pillars.” He then addressed a packed house of UNMIK staff in the mission’s auditorium. Later he was to meet with the three Kosovo members of the Interim Administrative Council—Dr. Ibrahim Rugova, Mr. Hashim Thaci and Dr. Rada Trajkovic.
At the staff meeting, SRSG Haekkerup outlined some of his personal past—recalling that he had trained as an economist, then entered the Danish civil service working in the fields of social welfare, labor and education. He was elected to the Danish Parliament in 1979, and was also involved in energy policy. In 1985, he became engaged in defense policy, and in 1993, he was named Minister of Defense, a position he has held longer than any defense minister in Europe. Previously, he was also a founder and member of the Human Rights Board of Denmark.
SRSG Haekkerup noted that Denmark has been very involved in the Balkans, with between 1,000 and 1,700 peacekeeping troops serving at any one time in the various UN missions. His three eldest sons had all served as peacekeepers in the former Yugoslavia, and his wife, who has accompanied him to Kosovo with their infant son, is a career diplomat with extensive knowledge of the Balkans.
SRSG Haekkerup noted that he had been to Kosovo several times since December 1999 and had observed many changes and achievements in which the UNMIK staff could take pride. He said he would be continuing the work—albeit in a style somewhat different from his predecessor-- in a job he said he chose because he knew it would not be easy.
He also discussed in general his priorities, which evolve from the mandate of Security Council Resolution 1244 to establish the conditions for provisional self-government in Kosovo. One of the first major tasks will be to create the legal framework within which to schedule general elections, which he said would be “as early as possible.”
“We have to know what powers an elected assembly and provisional government should have before we call the elections,” Mr. Haekkerup said. “Work is already ongoing, but we need to speed it up….”
A second major priority will be to concentrate on making law enforcement as effective as possible. He told media today that he would try to create a secure environment to enable the returns of Kosovo Serbs, acknowledging that doing so might take some time. Likewise he will concentrate efforts on another long-term challenge--combatting organized crime.