UNMIK chief expects Kosovo to fulfill standards

Prishtina, June 13, 2005 – UNMIK chief Soren Jessen-Petersen said in Pristina on June 13 that he expected Kosovo institutions to fulfill the U.N.-set standards, primarily those supposed to improve the status of minorities in the province.

Jessen-Petersen was speaking at a regional two-day conference, “Belgrade-Pristina – Steps to Confidence Building and Understanding,” organized by the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, with the support of the U.S. Institute of Peace.

The Civic Alliance of Serbia leader, Natasa Micic, said that Kosovo Albanians, as the majority population, were fully responsible for other nations in the province. She went on to say that that Serbs didn’t feel safe there, and that the existing living conditions made it impossible for them to plan their future.

The leaders of the Liberal Democratic Faction, Cedomir Jovanovic and Branislav Lecic, also attended the conference, together with president of the Social Democratic Union Zarko Korac and NGO representatives. Also attending were Kosovo officials, a few Kosovo Serb representatives, Montenegrin Foreign Minister Miodrag Vlahovic and delegates from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Macedonia.

ECIKS / KosovaLive