"507 UNMIK personnel to remain"

UNMIK spokesman Alexander Ivanko said that the new budget of the mission enables the UN Kosovo mission to retain 507 people. “UNMIK is going through a reconfiguration process since last year, and the new budget, which is being debated by the General Assembly, calls for the presence of 507 people. This number includes international and local officials in Kosovo, and the offices in Belgrade and Skopje,” Ivanko to KiM Radio on Monday. "507 UNMIK personnel to remain" The UN mission had about 5,000 people when it arrived to Kosovo in 1999. Ivanko said that the number of personnel has been decreased by instructions from the UN secretary-general "based on his June 12 report". “Previously, our main components were police and courts, since we are no longer working on them, we do not need a large number of personnel. The mission will be political, it already is, we have no operative functions, we will deal with political reports and monitoring, for communities and foreign officials in Kosovo,” Ivanko said. He added that he is pleased with the work UNMIK has done over the last ten years, and that all of the tasks according to the mandate of Resolution 1244 have mostly been finalized, "excluding the return question". “The only thing we think we could have dome more about is the return question. A very small number of people have returned to Kosovo, but also, the return depends on their will, and more than 10 years have passed. But, the rest of the tasks of the mission were mostly done,” Ivanko said. By the end of this month, another 300 UN mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, personnel will leave, according to Albanian language media in Pristina. These articles state that as of July, only 500 UNMIK staff will remain in Kosovo. The mission, established in June 1999, has been decreasing is size since the Kosovo Albanians unilaterally declared independence in February of last year, and since the start of deployment in the province of the EU mission, EULEX. Although significantly reduced, UNMIK will remain in Kosovo for as long as UNSCR 1244 is in force, the missions' representatives have stated.

"507 UNMIK personnel to remain"

The UN mission had about 5,000 people when it arrived to Kosovo in 1999.

Ivanko said that the number of personnel has been decreased by instructions from the UN secretary-general "based on his June 12 report".

“Previously, our main components were police and courts, since we are no longer working on them, we do not need a large number of personnel. The mission will be political, it already is, we have no operative functions, we will deal with political reports and monitoring, for communities and foreign officials in Kosovo,” Ivanko said.

He added that he is pleased with the work UNMIK has done over the last ten years, and that all of the tasks according to the mandate of Resolution 1244 have mostly been finalized, "excluding the return question".

“The only thing we think we could have dome more about is the return question. A very small number of people have returned to Kosovo, but also, the return depends on their will, and more than 10 years have passed. But, the rest of the tasks of the mission were mostly done,” Ivanko said.

By the end of this month, another 300 UN mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, personnel will leave, according to Albanian language media in Priština.

These articles state that as of July, only 500 UNMIK staff will remain in Kosovo.

The mission, established in June 1999, has been decreasing is size since the Kosovo Albanians unilaterally declared independence in February of last year, and since the start of deployment in the province of the EU mission, EULEX.

Although significantly reduced, UNMIK will remain in Kosovo for as long as UNSCR 1244 is in force, the missions' representatives have stated.