Thursday, August 11, 2005

Premier hails UNMIK, international community for "great progress" in Kosovo

Prishtina [Pristina], 11 August: Kosova [Kosovo] Prime Minister Bajram Kosumi said today following his meeting with UNMIK [UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo] Deputy Chief for Civil Administration Francesco Bastagli that he has contributed a lot to the processes in the country.

Kosumi said that today's situation in Kosova is a merit of Kosovars, but at the same time it is a merit of many internationals that worked here, and Bastagli is one of them.

On behalf of the Kosovar people and the government, the prime minister acknowledged Bastagli's efforts and assistance given for our country.

Kosumi said that it is a joint conclusion of the government and Bastagli as well that a good civil administration has been established in Kosova.

"It is a new administration and difficulties are normal. It is a modern administration that aims at being a European administration and we hope to make it such," said Kosumi.

The chief of the Civil Administration said that he is leaving Kosova after three years that were important not only for Kosova, but for him as well in the professional aspect.

"I think that we have achieved a great progress. What we have seen is a physical handover of the reserved powers from UNMIK to Kosovar institutions, in ministries and in municipal level as well. A process that was initiated recently and was very successful, which means that Kosovar institutions are capable and ready to take more responsibility," Bastagli said.

He said that all this was not accomplished only by his mission but also by other partners that work in Kosova.

Bastagli also said that along with local institutions they have been working on the Standards implementation project and his assessment is that big progress has been made on this issue.

"Many normal standard procedures have been set in place and we have created local staff, capable of providing professional services. We have also prepared the staff working in the ministry that is ready to accomplish all the needed tasks," Bastagli said.

His last message for Kosova and its people was that future represents a challenging period to them, expressing his confidence that upcoming events will be positive.

Source: KosovaLive website, Pristina, in English 11 Aug 05

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