Ban: Brussels agreement "historic achievement"

NEW YORK UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the agreement between Belgrade and Pristina, calling it a historic achievement. In his report on Kosovo, covering the period between January 16 and April 22, which has been delivered to UN Security Council member countries, the secretary-general states that the agreement provides for the establishment of an association/community of Serb municipalities with a statute and range of competences. Ban: Brussels agreement "historic achievement" Ban urges both sides to "maintain open channels of communication as the process moves to its next phase.” He also commends the political leadership in Belgrade and Pristina, as well as the EU for the role it played in the dialogue. ”The same spirit of determination, compromise and good will should guide the implementation of the agreement. The international community should give its active and full support to the parties in this regard,” writes Ban. In the report, he criticizes unsolved crimes in Kosovo, noting they remain of concern. Ban also comments on the investigation into organ trafficking handled by the Special Investigative Task Force, noting that the team continued to consolidate and analyse information obtained from institutional sources. The UN secretary-general also commends Serbia’s War Crimes Prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic, while justifying the international prosecutors who do not discuss publicly any of their findings saying that their investigation is “very intricate.” Ban says the lead prosecutor of the Special Investigative Task Force Clint Williamson traveled to London, Berlin, Paris and Madrid to talk about the need to further strengthen the Task Force's capabilities and to discuss how these countries can further support its work. In the quarterly report, Ban says progress was achieved on exchanging liaison officers, which should should help facilitate more normalized communication between the two parties. Ban also notes that as talks proceeded in Brussels, Serbs residing in northern Kosovo continually expressed their anxiety about the substance of the negotiations, and their determination to resist implementation of any agreements which would fail to meet their interests or minimum conditions. In the section related to the security situation in Kosovo, the UN head says it remained generally calm during the past three months, with occasional tensions in ethnically-mixed areas, as well as in northern Kosovska Mitrovica. There were five serious incidents of shootings and explosions in northern Kosovo, adds the report. Throughout Kosovo, the most common incidents affecting minority communities continued to be thefts, property damage, illegal occupation of houses, arson of uninhabited houses, and minor assaults. The Kosovo police continue to undertake efforts to investigate these incidents, according to the report. A total of 1,754 individuals remain missing and on April 9, EULEX exhumed the remains of seven presumed missing persons in the Muslim cemetery of northern Mitrovica. Tanjug

Ban: Brussels agreement "historic achievement"

Ban urges both sides to "maintain open channels of communication as the process moves to its next phase.”

He also commends the political leadership in Belgrade and Priština, as well as the EU for the role it played in the dialogue.

”The same spirit of determination, compromise and good will should guide the implementation of the agreement. The international community should give its active and full support to the parties in this regard,” writes Ban.

In the report, he criticizes unsolved crimes in Kosovo, noting they remain of concern.

Ban also comments on the investigation into organ trafficking handled by the Special Investigative Task Force, noting that the team continued to consolidate and analyse information obtained from institutional sources.

The UN secretary-general also commends Serbia’s War Crimes Prosecutor Vladimir Vukčević, while justifying the international prosecutors who do not discuss publicly any of their findings saying that their investigation is “very intricate.”

Ban says the lead prosecutor of the Special Investigative Task Force Clint Williamson traveled to London, Berlin, Paris and Madrid to talk about the need to further strengthen the Task Force's capabilities and to discuss how these countries can further support its work.

In the quarterly report, Ban says progress was achieved on exchanging liaison officers, which should should help facilitate more normalized communication between the two parties.

Ban also notes that as talks proceeded in Brussels, Serbs residing in northern Kosovo continually expressed their anxiety about the substance of the negotiations, and their determination to resist implementation of any agreements which would fail to meet their interests or minimum conditions.

In the section related to the security situation in Kosovo, the UN head says it remained generally calm during the past three months, with occasional tensions in ethnically-mixed areas, as well as in northern Kosovska Mitrovica.

There were five serious incidents of shootings and explosions in northern Kosovo, adds the report.

Throughout Kosovo, the most common incidents affecting minority communities continued to be thefts, property damage, illegal occupation of houses, arson of uninhabited houses, and minor assaults.

The Kosovo police continue to undertake efforts to investigate these incidents, according to the report.

A total of 1,754 individuals remain missing and on April 9, EULEX exhumed the remains of seven presumed missing persons in the Muslim cemetery of northern Mitrovica.