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Prishtina, 15 April 2004 – “Zëri” carries a front-page article saying that the opening of liaison offices marks the beginning of the transfer of mixed and reserved competencies from UNMIK to the local government. According to Zëri’s sources, government will open six liaising offices and the presidency will open one. It is still unknown whether the EU Pillar will agree with the opening of another office, that of Fiscal Policies.
“Zëri” reports that offices to be opened will be: an Advisory Office for Public Security, an Office of Energy, an Office of Coordination and Foreign Relations, an Office for European Integration, an Office for Planning and Political Strategy and an Office for Legal Issues. The Presidency will also open an Office for Foreign Relations. Kosovo government officials state that the reserved competencies in which the international administration was not very effective should be transferred to Kosovar institutions. Ilir Dugolli, political advisor to the Kosovo Prime Minister, states that the government has been planning for some time the transfer of reserved competencies from UNMIK. ‘We have expressed our view on receiving more competencies especially those where UNMIK was not very effective. We also expect to negotiate with UNMIK the transfer of several fields such as economy and other areas of responsibilities’, added Dugolli.
The head of UNMIK Information Department, Hua Jiang, says that the transfer of competencies could not be done by UNMIK but by the Security Council. She stressed SRSG’s view on a closer cooperation with Kosovo institutions. ‘We are working closely with the government on different issues, including the government’s request to open liaison offices’, stated Jiang.
ECIKS