PRISTINA, Jan 19 (Hina) - In the course of 2005, 13,000 people, mostlySerbs, returned to their homes in Kosovo, and the return of all whowish to return remains a priority of all Kosovo institutions, membersof the task force in charge
of implementation of internationalstandards in Kosovo said at a meeting in Pristina on Thursday.
PRISTINA, Jan 19 (Hina) - In the course of 2005, 13,000 people,
mostly Serbs, returned to their homes in Kosovo, and the return of all who wish
to return remains a priority of all Kosovo institutions, members of the task
force in charge of implementation of international standards in Kosovo said at
a meeting in Pristina on Thursday. The chairman of the task force,
Lufti Haziri, who is minister of local administration, said that Kosovo was
lagging behind in efforts to enable the permanent return of refugees. He blamed
this on the authorities in Belgrade, commending cooperation with Montenegro
and Macedonia.
Haziri said that the government in Belgrade was not encouraging Kosovo
Serb refugees who fled to Serbia to return to Kosovo.
A senior official of the UN Mission in Kosovo, Killian Kleinschmit,
said that the permanent return of displaced people and freedom movement were
priorities in 2006.
Kleinschmit too said that Belgrade's refusal to cooperate was a serious
problem.