UNMIK/PR/309
PRISTINA—The SRSG Dr. Bernard Kouchner today ended his meetings with the non-Albanian and non-Serbian communities, with an assurance that in future these meetings would be held once a month, either in the communities in which they live or in his office.
The first meeting was held with the Bosniac and Gorani representatives on Wednesday, the second with the Roma, Egyptian and Hashkali representatives on Thursday and the third with the Turkish community today.
The meetings helped the SRSG to gain first hand knowledge of the issues of concern to these communities with their representatives. Dr. Kouchner said these issues related to their concerns, among others, about security, freedom of movement, use of their language and education of their children. He said these communities have strong apprehensions on these subjects.
In order to address these concerns, it has been decided to take certain follow up steps. These include regular meetings at the political level with their leaders and strengthening of contact at the technical level with the JIAS structures. These contacts will seek to address specific issues like their security needs, education requirements, reconstruction needs, language issues, access to public services and employment in public sector and economic and social issues in general.