PRESS BRIEFING BY HEAD OF UNITED NATIONS INTERIM ADMINISTRATION IN KOSOVO

Press Briefing

PRESS BRIEFING BY HEAD OF UNITED NATIONS INTERIM ADMINISTRATION IN KOSOVO

Modest progress had been made in Kosovo since the establishment of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) a year ago, Bernard Kouchner, Special Representative of the Secretary-General, said at a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon.

Mr. Kouchner, who is also head of UNMIK, said he and his able staff would endeavour to ensure that substantial autonomy was established, and that the people of Kosovo themselves shouldered their responsibilities. “The rest would be for history and the international community to decide”, he said.

He also said much had been done in the past year and that a lot of ground had been covered. However, there had not been enough change in the hearts of people. The problems of Kosovo were centuries old and it would take years to change people’s minds. History would record that the United Nations administration had not been the worst period for Serbians.

Responding to a question, he said that it was not true that Belgrade was cooperating with UNMIK in the search for missing persons -- both Serbians and Albanians. No information had been received in response to queries about their whereabouts. “We don’t have the slightest idea about what occurred. We have tried, with a great deal of persistence through all diplomatic means, but have received nothing.”

He told another correspondent that a number of channels were already being used to get ethnic minorities, such as gypsies, Turks and Egyptians, to return.

Responding to questions about the forthcoming municipal elections, he said about 5,000 persons had registered as of now. He hoped a number of the disputed cases would have been resolved by the time of the July elections. A few thousand Serbs had registered and he hoped the Belgrade authorities would understand that Serbs must participate if they wanted to be involved in the leadership of the region. Seats would be reserved for them.

He told another correspondent that the mission was getting better in terms of the provision of public utilities such as electricity and water, as well as in administration and involvement of the Serbs. But not enough progress had been made in changing the behaviour of the people in a year, considering the 13 centuries of confrontation between the people of the Balkans and in Kosovo.

On the question of disposal of property, he said it was a very difficult issue in a place where “public property, State property, corporate property and private investment were together”. He would not “de-nationalize, or renationalize” property. It was no longer the way to improve the economy of Kosovo. There was a plan to set up a new perspective for employment and for the future of the economy of Kosovo, he said.

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