"I have expected the government in Kosovo to be ready for that process, because those will be very difficult talks that require solid preparation. Time is passing and it would be a great misfortune if Kosovo leaders were not ready when the talks on the final status begin," Petersen said in an interview with the Albanian-language daily Zeri on Saturday.
Asked what he expected from a report to be presented by UN special envoy Kai Eide, Petersen said he expected "an objective evaluation of the real progress in the context of what has taken place in Kosovo in recent time."
The civil administrator warned of an increasing number of security threats as the final status talks approached, saying that "there are individuals who wrongly believe that violence is the way forward."
He, however, noted that a vast majority of Kosovars wanted peace, economic development, jobs, education and a European future, and expressed hope that after its status has been resolved Kosovo "will go towards its European goal."
"I would like to see Kosovo as a true multiethnic society and I hope that it will find its way to economic development," Petersen said, adding that an improved economy would be the best guarantee of better living conditions for the ethnic minorities in Kosovo.