UNMIK/PR/1680
PRISTINA – Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Kosovo (SRSG) Joachim Rücker met today with local residents in Osojan/e village, despite some village leaders’ boycott of a town hall meeting there which Mr.Rücker was scheduled to attend. The SRSG was accompanied by the Head of the Russian Federation Office Andrei Dronov, Minister of Communities and Returns Branislav Grbic and KFOR Multinational Task Force West Commander, Brig.-Gen. Antonio Venci.
After being given a tour of Osojan/e by the Istog/k Municipal Assembly President Fadil Ferati, the SRSG and the other officials met with local residents in a café.
“We wanted to make sure that we were present here to talk to people,” the SRSG said after the meeting. “We discussed the status issue, but we also discussed more concrete issues which are important to people here.” Key topics discussed at the informal meeting were housing for people returning to the community and ongoing efforts to improve Osojan/e’s water supply.
The SRSG stressed that representatives of UNMIK, the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government and the Contact Group have been conducting outreach trips all across Kovoso to listen to the concerns of all communities.
“We all agreed [at the meeting] that Osojan/e is not an island,” the SRSG said. “This is an important part of Kosovo and we have an important segment of the society here. Residents should feel not only safe and secure, but at home in the new Kosovo.”
