Kosovo's president says he is ready to co-operate with reshaped UN mission

18/06/2008

PRISTINA, Kosovo -- In a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday (June 17th), President Fatmir Sejdiu said Kosovo institutions appreciate the initiative to reconfigure the UNMIK into a smaller mission and will co-operate in all areas. "We understand that the UN will carry out its duties in a limited scope for a certain period of time until such a moment when the European Union is able to perform its operational role," Sejdiu said. However, he stressed that, whatever plans the UN has regarding security in Kosovo, officials in Pristina must play a role. "We appreciate your commitment to consult closely with us, because such arrangements are not possible without the participation and the approval of Kosovo's government."

Also Tuesday, an unnamed UN official told Reuters that Italian diplomat Lamberto Zannieri will be appointed as the new head of UNMIK this week. "The planned arrival is on Friday," the source added. Zannieri, a career diplomat and a former director of the OSCE's Conflict Prevention Centre in Vienna, would become the seventh special representative of the UN secretary-general in Kosovo, succeeding Joachim Ruecker in the post. (Koha Ditore, Zeri, Shqip - 18/06/08; RTK, Kohavision, Top Channel, Reuters, Deutsche Welle, B92 - 17/06/08)