UNMIK/PR/691
PRISTINA – Newly appointed Special Representative of the Secretary General for Kosovo, Michael Steiner, arrived in Pristina today to officially take up his duties. After touching down at the Pristina Airport Steiner came to UN Headquarters where he met briefly with members of the Kosovo and international press.
Declaring that Kosovo was in a “new phase,” Steiner explained that his work would differ from that of predecessors Kouchner and Haekkerup.
“Under Kouchner Kosovo was in an emergency phase,” he said. “Under Haekkerup, it was in an administrative and design phase. Today Kosovo is in a transfer phase. We will have to concentrate on the transfer of authority to the newly elected government. I am looking forward to a good cooperation with the people and the leaders in this regard.”
Steiner said he planned to concentrate on three priorities: the rule of law and the question of government building; the economy and jobs; and security within Kosovo and around Kosovo. “It is in everybody’s interest to feel safe in Kosovo,” he said.
Michael Steiner is the third SRSG to head the UN Mission in Kosovo. He replaces former Danish Defense Minister Hans Haekkerup, who spent a year as head of the mission.
Steiner takes over at a crucial time as Kosovo’s political leaders, elected in November, have so far failed to put together a governing coalition for the province. Other thorny issues Steiner is expected to face include the return of some of Kosovo’s displaced Serb population and organized crime and security issues.
The fifty-three-year old former foreign policy chief to Gerhard Schroeder brings significant Balkan experience to the Kosovo mission. In 1991 he served as Head of the Liaison Office for German Humanitarian Aid in Zagreb and in 1994 and 1995 he became Germany’s key negotiator during the turbulent break up of the former Yugoslavia.
Steiner also commented that Kosovars had to begin looking beyond Kosovo – at their surrounding neighborhood. “It matters what happens in Belgrade, Macedonia and The Hague,” he said. “So we have to take a broader look at things. Because in the end we must set Kosovo on the European track.”
He ended his talk with journalists saying he would spend his first weeks in Kosovo “mostly listening.”
