SETimes.comKosovo Standards Implementation Review to Be Initiated This Summer
02/06/2005
Briefing the UN Security Council on developments in Kosovo, UNMIK chief Soren Jessen-Petersen said that a review of the province's progress in implementing UN-set standards would be launched this summer.
By Svetla Dimitrova for Southeast European Times in Sarajevo – 02/06/05
UNMIK chief Soren Jessen-Petersen said last week that a comprehensive review of Kosovo's progress in implementing UN-set democratic standards would begin this summer. A positive assessment would likely lead to the start of talks later this year to determine the province's future status.
Briefing the Security Council on UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's latest report on developments in Kosovo from 1 February to 30 April, Jessen-Petersen said Friday (May 27) that resolving the status issue would help speed progress on a range of issues, as well as benefit regional dialogue and co-operation.
Despite some problems during the reporting period, the UNMIK chief said, Kosovo continued to make progress in implementing the standards in most of the priority areas. These include democratic institutions, the rule of law, refugee returns, interethnic dialogue and economic growth.
One of the most challenging moments was in early March, when former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj resigned to face a war crimes indictment at the UN tribunal in The Hague, Jessen-Petersen said.
"During those difficult days and weeks, the political leaders and citizens of Kosovo managed a highly unusual situation with maturity and without any disorder or instability," he said. "The new government showed the same commitment to moving forward on standards and made continued progress on its programme during the months of April and May."
Security has improved, there have been "positive developments" in the area of Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, and some progress in refugee returns, despite disappointingly low numbers, Jessen-Petersen said. At the same time, he criticised Belgrade for urging Kosovo Serbs not to join the province's institutions.
"Progress in establishing a fully multiethnic Kosovo and integrating all communities will remain limited as long as one ethnic group is pressured to stay outside the political, economic, and social processes," Jessen-Petersen said. "Belgrade would help the Kosovo Serb community, and itself, by moving from reticence and delay to commitment and engagement."
The head of Serbia's Kosovo Co-ordination Centre, Nebojsa Covic, described the UNMIK chief's comments as "incorrect and unfair".
"Serbs are not against participation, but please do not ask them to participate in something which is not based on basic principle, an unprincipled approach that leads to the independence of Kosovo," he told reporters.
While voicing optimism about the upcoming review, Security Council President Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moller said its outcome was not a foregone conclusion. Kosovo's unresolved status created political insecurity, discouraged returns, fed extremist designs, scared off foreign investment and was not sustainable, he said. If, following the review, a decision is made to open status talks, its outcome should not be prejudged, Moller stressed.