Statement on Kosovo

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

We would also like to join others in welcoming the first appearance of UN Special Representative to the Secretary General (SRSG) Michael Steiner to the Permanent Council and thank him for his commitment to serve as SRSG to Kosovo.

Given his reputation and experience and listening to his intervention this morning, we are confident that under his leadership there will be continued success in Kosovo. Mr. Steiner, thank you for the wide-ranging and informative briefing this morning. I would like to reply to several of the important issues you raised.

First, the United States welcomes the Security Council approved benchmarks, which provide a guiding set of standards that clearly articulate our expectations for Kosovo's development as a peaceful, multiethnic democracy. They also provide for a better division of labor between the pillars.

We urge further cooperation between UNMIK and OMIK and hope that the benchmarks will offer more clarity of institutional responsibility to allow for better cooperation between all pillars in the future.

On the topic of returns, we support your prioritization of voluntary, sustainable returns. We hope to see the OSCE mission and OMIK's field offices play a leading role in supporting returns at the local level. We understand from UNHCR that there has been an increase in the rate of minority returns to Kosovo this year, and that the balance between returns and departures is stabilizing. These are positive developments; we look forward to seeing this progress maintained through the efforts of the international community, UNMIK and the Provisional Institutions for Self-Government (PISGs).

We continue to support OMIK's assistance to the UN on this vital priority. We would like to hear from you and Ambassador Fieschi in more detail, now or later as appropriate, about specific work the OSCE Mission will pursue in the area of ethnic reconciliation at the local level that will support the returns process.

We applaud the Kosovo Assembly for its progress and current activity. The taking office of a democratic, multiethnic government was truly a historic milestone for Kosovo and the entire region. We welcome the energy that the Assembly members are bringing to that institution. The Assembly passed its first piece of real legislation, on pension entitlement, on July 4. However, we also do not want to become overconfident. The Assembly has still to establish a regular calendar for sessions, and training and resources for that purpose are lacking.

We welcome your remarks on the Kosovo Institute for Public Administration (KIPA) and hope that the valuable role the OSCE mission can continue to play in training will be fully utilized. We are also interested in knowing how the OMIK training will be integrated into the Kosovo Institute of Public Administration's curriculum, or whether these efforts will remain distinct.

Speaking of training, we want to reiterate our strong support for full funding of the OSCE-run Kosovo Police School. We look forward to increased cadet graduation numbers and the ongoing transitional hand over of law and order responsibilities to the local police. The KPS continues to be one of the success stories of the Balkans, and an indication that the people of Kosovo are taking more responsibility for their lives every day. We look forward to hearing more from the UN as soon as possible about plans for the UN Civilian Police's ongoing hand over of responsibility to Kosovar police.

The success of the KPS will only take Kosovo so far without corresponding success in the areas of judicial and prosecutorial development and gradual hand over of competencies to local judges and prosecutors from the international community. We look forward to hearing from you UNMIK's plans for the justice sector. For our part, we will continue to encourage the Kosovar Police school to take whatever additional steps it can to increase the number of qualified minority recruits from throughout Kosovo, and in particular from the north and the Mitrovica area.

On the topic of Mitrovica, we welcome your views, and agree with the priority you place on resolving this complicated issue. Foremost, we agree on the need to dismantle parallel security structures. We are aware of Belgrade's concerns about the need to resolve the Mitrovica problem peacefully and prudently. We also recognize that Belgrade must play an important and constructive role in the resolution of this problem.

While uncoordinated or precipitous action is not the answer, we do hope that the international community will proceed quickly and effectively to integrate Mitrovica, and the other northern municipalities into daily Kosovar life. In this regard, we welcome your emphasis on the devolution of some functions to the local level and look forward to concrete steps to implement this.

On a related matter, we do not support redistricting of municipalities for the upcoming elections. We believe that the future of Kosovo depends on the successful integration of its multiethnic municipalities and enclaves, within the context of devolution to the local level where possible.

On the important topic of elections, we welcome your full support for the OSCE mission's hard work to prepare for the October 26 municipal elections. Our election experts as always have a difficult challenge ahead of them. This council did its best to fund election preparations fully. We are confident that, from a technical standpoint, the elections will build on the success of the 2000 and 2001 elections and will meet international standards. We anticipate that the elections will be free, fair, peaceful and representative. To be truly representative, however, we need Belgrade's support and commitment.

The international community is making the best faith effort it can on behalf of all Kosovo's ethnicities to support their full integration. But it is particularly the process of their participation in elections that is the most visible indicator of their own commitment to integrating into Kosovo life. In our view, it is in the clear self-interest of all Kosovo's residents and those outside of Kosovo eligible to vote to participate, and we believe it is in Belgrade's clear interest as well that all eligible Kosovo voters take part. We urge Belgrade to send an early and clearest possible signal of support to Kosovar Serbs to participate in these elections.

Finally, Mr. Steiner, we hope to see you return to the Permanent Council in the future. You have already begun to establish a lasting legacy of success and the United States fully supports your continued positive efforts in Kosovo.

Thank you.