UNMIK/PR/1362
PRISTINA - SRSG Søren Jessen-Petersen today met Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Jovan Manasijevski at UNMIK’s headquarters in Pristina. The SRSG briefed Minister Manasijevski, who is paying a one-day visit to Kosovo, on recent developments, including the Technical Assessment of Standards implementation that will be part of the Secretary-General's quarterly report on Kosovo which will be discussed by the UN Security Council at the end of the month.
"Over the past three months we have seen progress in several areas and, given that we've gone through a difficult period, especially in March, it is remarkable to see that Standards implementation continued on track. At the same time, there are still challenges, and a lot of work still remains to be done", said the SRSG.
They then discussed bi-lateral issues. With regard to UNMIK Regulation 2005/16 on the Movement of People into and out of Kosovo, the SRSG and the Deputy Prime Minister agreed on the need for the public in Kosovo and neighbouring countries to be kept informed of the operational procedures relating to the implementation of the Regulation so that there is full understanding of the new procedures . "We will ensure that the procedures do not represent any burden on the legitimate movement people", said the SRSG.
They also discussed the need for continued progress in the Free Trade Agreement negotiations. "It's important that we reach an agreement that is fair and equitable to both sides because it is the interest of both Pristina and Skopje to help ensure that the Kosovan economy is fully integrated into the regional market", said the SRSG, adding that "Pristina is ready to negotiate, and I hope that Skopje will soon propose a date so that we can continue negotiations".