PRESS BRIEFING BY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR KOSOVO

The support of the international community and the Security Council for the work in Kosovo was impressive, Michael Steiner, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Kosovo, told correspondents today during the noon briefing at Headquarters.

Mr. Steiner was appointed on 23 January to replace Hans Haekkerup as head of the United Nations Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK).  An experienced diplomat and former Foreign and Security Policy Advisor to the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, he has also held posts in Prague, Sarajevo, Zagreb and at the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations in New York.

Mr. Steiner said the task ahead, which he would take up on 14 February, would be difficult, but there was one big asset:  the United Nations Mission in Kosovo.  "With such a team, even sometimes impossible tasks might be done in a reasonable way," he said.

The UNMIK could be described in different phases, Mr. Steiner continued. The first phase -- the "Bernard Kouchner era" -- could be described as the emergency phase, where the mission had to be built up and humanitarian aid had to be organized.  The Hans Haekkerup period was a designing phase, with accomplishments such as the constitutional framework, elections, and installation of the dialogue with Belgrade.  The coming era would be one of transfer of authority from UNMIK to the elected interim government, carefully and step by step.

In order to achieve that mission, one had to participate in the production of a decent living perspective for the Kosovars and participate in the production of stability and security in the region.  In the end, the region and Kosovo needed a perspective for integration with Europe.  The price for that was establishing the rule of law, functioning institutions, democratic political culture, a free press and a sound economy.

Among the immediate tasks, he said, was the establishment of provisional institutions of self-government, which was a job for the Kosovars themselves, with help of UNMIK.  A government was now urgently needed.  Out of respect for democratic processes, Mr. Steiner saw it as his task to first listen to the leaders on the ground before thinking about a solution for the current deadlock.

A second task was transfer of authority.  At first sight, one might think that less energy and less presence was needed if administration structures were changed to advising structures, which was true for the long run.  In the beginning, however, more efforts might be needed.  It might, therefore, take a while before the Mission could be reduced in size.  He warned that the local authorities would inevitably make mistakes.  That was a risk that had to be accepted.  It was also necessary to get the representatives of the provisional institution of self-government involved in the dialogue with Belgrade.  Providing security remained crucial, and pillar I –- police and justice, led by the United Nations -- could not be downsized.

Mr. Steiner said the final status question should not be addressed at this time.  Security Council resolution 1244 stipulated in that regard that the outcome was open.  The sooner Kosovars showed responsibilities in the areas of rule of law and institution-building, the sooner that question could be addressed.  Continued support of the international community and the Security Council was crucial to achieve the intended goals.

Asked how he could help to unify ideologies for various communities, he said he would not strive for a uniform ideology, but for a multi-ethnic Kosovo. All Kosovars must realize that, despite ethnic diversities, they had one common interest -- they all wanted to be part of Europe.  In order to convince them, one had to be open to people and not avoid mentioning difficulties.  In that way, credibility could be established.

Joining Europe could not be done immediately, because the economic divergence was too big, he added.  Concepts of rapprochement towards the European Union must be devised, strictly geared towards the specific region. Every situation was different, but it was important that people could see progress.  Intermediate steps could be taken.

In answer to another question, he said some of the obstacles were the presence of extremists on all sides and organized crime.  Fighting them would be difficult.  One obstacle that needed to be fought was not so much the hate-factor, but the "fear-factor".  As long as people feared that things that happened in the past might happen again, they were not able to free the energies necessary to build the area up.

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