October 9, 2000
The head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Dr. Bernard Kouchner, today urged the international community to continue its military presence and economic assistance in Kosovo, regardless of the events in Belgrade. "We have to maintain the same military commitment and the same economic engagement for some time to come," Dr. Kouchner told a meeting of the General Affairs Council of the European Union in Luxembourg.
He told the 15 foreign ministers of the European Union it would be wrong to assume that with the victory of the opposition in Serbia, the inter-ethnic conflict in Kosovo would come to an end and the situation in the province would improve from one day to the next. "Much will depend on the attitude of the new government in Belgrade," he said.
Dr. Kouchner said it was his intention to establish direct contacts with the new Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica, who has invited Kouchner to meet him. He cautioned that Kosovo remains a society in crisis, with deep inter-ethnic hatred, driven in part by the fate of thousands of missing persons and detainees. In his view, Dr. Kouchner said the lifting of sanctions on Serbia should be linked to concrete progress on this issue. "We need a gesture from the new democratic government. We want dozens of illegally detained prisoners to be released, and [human rights activist] Vlora Brovina to be freed," he said.
Dr. Kouchner also said that it was no secret that Albanians wanted independence. Therefore, he warned, to try to solve the final status of Kosovo now could lead anew to open conflict. "This is why I am convinced we… have to accelerate the process of defining substantial autonomy for Kosovo and developing institutions of self-government, with the Kosovars sharing more and more responsibilities in the administration of Kosovo."
He said with this in mind, he had proposed a "pact" to the people of Kosovo, starting with the municipal elections on 28 October, followed by the start of a discussion on developing central institutions of self-government.
