"UNMIK reconfiguration to start soon"

A spokesman for the UN mission in Kosovo says that its reconfiguration will start soon. Russell Geekie told Radio Free Europe that consultations between New York and Brussels are under way on this issue, and that the process will be transparent. "UNMIK reconfiguration to start soon" UNMIK chief Lamberto Zannier told the last UN Security Council session dedicated to the situation in the province that this mission no longer had the role it used to have in the field, "since it was brought into question by the activities of the Kosovo institutions and the Serbs in the north". The Italian diplomat quoted this as the reason he advocated a reconfiguration. "The UN secretary-general has sent a message that he cooperates with EULEX to take over the rule of law under UN authority. There was a debate and we are moving toward practical issues, but are still not in a phase where a final agreement could be reached," Geekie revealed. At the same time, the Kosovo Albanian authorities expect this to end by October 15. "As far as the timeframe we are doing everything to make it happen as soon as possible. I think that October 15, in one way or another, will be the time when reconfiguration should finish. However, deadlines in Kosovo, due to some circumstances, cannot be easily determined," deputy premier in the government in Pristina Hajredin Kuci said yesterday. As for the EU mission in the province, EULEX, its officials are saying that "nothing has changed in regard to the deployment in the whole territory of Kosovo", Beta news agency reported on Tuesday. EULEX officials are awaiting for the UNMIK reconfiguration "to finish in a specific manner in the field", and are, according to reports, expecting that this will influence the expansion of the EU mission. However estimates say EULEX will encounter difficulties in the north of Kosovo, where local Serbs are rejecting this mission unless it comes with UN Security Council's approval. But Kuci believes that "things will move in the desired direction", and that "there will be no UNMIK at the end of the reconfiguration". "There is no doubt that EULEX will deploy in the whole territory of Kosovo. We must at no point give signals that UNMIK will act in one part of Kosovo, while EULEX will be in another. There will be one, unified legal order in Kosovo and of course, the rule of law in the true sense of the word," the ethnic Albanian official was quoted as saying.

"UNMIK reconfiguration to start soon"

UNMIK chief Lamberto Zannier told the last UN Security Council session dedicated to the situation in the province that this mission no longer had the role it used to have in the field, "since it was brought into question by the activities of the Kosovo institutions and the Serbs in the north".

The Italian diplomat quoted this as the reason he advocated a reconfiguration.

"The UN secretary-general has sent a message that he cooperates with EULEX to take over the rule of law under UN authority. There was a debate and we are moving toward practical issues, but are still not in a phase where a final agreement could be reached," Geekie revealed.

At the same time, the Kosovo Albanian authorities expect this to end by October 15.

"As far as the timeframe we are doing everything to make it happen as soon as possible. I think that October 15, in one way or another, will be the time when reconfiguration should finish. However, deadlines in Kosovo, due to some circumstances, cannot be easily determined," deputy premier in the government in Priština Hajredin Kuci said yesterday.

As for the EU mission in the province, EULEX, its officials are saying that "nothing has changed in regard to the deployment in the whole territory of Kosovo", Beta news agency reported on Tuesday.

EULEX officials are awaiting for the UNMIK reconfiguration "to finish in a specific manner in the field", and are, according to reports, expecting that this will influence the expansion of the EU mission.

However estimates say EULEX will encounter difficulties in the north of Kosovo, where local Serbs are rejecting this mission unless it comes with UN Security Council's approval.

But Kuci believes that "things will move in the desired direction", and that "there will be no UNMIK at the end of the reconfiguration".

"There is no doubt that EULEX will deploy in the whole territory of Kosovo. We must at no point give signals that UNMIK will act in one part of Kosovo, while EULEX will be in another. There will be one, unified legal order in Kosovo and of course, the rule of law in the true sense of the word," the ethnic Albanian official was quoted as saying.