Tuesday, June 14, 2005

UN envoy starts comprehensive review of standards in Kosovo

PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro, June 13 (AFP) - The special envoy of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Kai Eide, arrived on Monday in Kosovo to carry out a comprehensive review of UN set standards, whic h might lead to talks on the province's final status.

"My report will not focus only on the standards implementation but also the general political situation in the place," Eide said upon his arrival. Eide, who is Norway's ambassador to NATO and has an in-depth knowledge of the Balkans, met the UN mission (UNMIK) chief Soren Jessen-Petersen on arrival. Jessen-Petersen said the UN envoy's recommendations to the UN secretary general would be very important but added that "the outcome is to the very last extent now up to the performance of the authorities."

Ahead of the visit Kosovo newspapers on Monday called Eide "a standards inspector," adding that he was considered to be completely independent even from the UN authorities in the province. The UN Security Council decided in May to review this summer Kosovo's implementation of internationally- set democratic standards that are a condition for the opening of final negotiations on the province's status between Belgrade and Pristina.

Talks on Kosovo's final status are expected to start in September at the earliest if the province meets benchmarks in areas such as multi-ethnic democracy, respect for human rights and security.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

However, France and Germany are able to maintain economically stable, democratic countries that abide by the rule of law. Giving Kosova its independence prematurely surely wouldn't have the same result.

Anonymous said...

Germany and France were under the Marshal plan, after a very undemocratic, and disturbing part of European history. A few years before that France was playing with its colonies (very undemocratic, and where is the rule of law? in French hands, not in Algerian), while Germany was preparing for war.

We need a chance to grow into a stable and democratic country, we never had this chance in Kosova. It's the first time its own inhabitants will be able to rule themselves after Greeks, Romans, Turks, Slavs.

Anonymous said...

Agreed...

It was Teuta among the Illyrians, a Queen, same with the Celts.