PRISTINA, April 9 (Hina) - UN mission chief Harri Holkeri said on Friday that the future of Kosovo lay in further democratisation and implementation of the set standards and that the international community was ready to help in the
effort.
PRISTINA, April 9 (Hina) - UN mission chief Harri Holkeri said on
Friday that the future of Kosovo lay in further democratisation and
implementation of the set standards and that the international
community was ready to help in the effort.#L#
Despite disturbances that occurred on March 17 and 18, Kosovo still
has friends in the international community, who are ready to assist in
attaining the standards and integrating Kosovo with the world, and the
only way to go forward is to work together, Holkeri said in his
address to the Kosovo Assembly.
Speaking of the recent violence in the province, Holkeri said it had
been caused by a small number of people and that the perpetrators had
to be brought to justice. He warned that some of the Kosovo
politicians had also supported the violence.
The UN civil administrator recalled that the implementation of the set
standards would be evaluated in 2005, after which talks on the status
of Kosovo would start.
He said that 19 people had been killed in the riots, about a hundred
homes and 29 churches and monasteries had been destroyed or damaged,
and that nearly 4,000 people had been displaced.
The Assembly session was boycotted by representatives of the Serb
coalition "Povratak" (Return), who have not been attending sessions
for nearly three months because three paintings with scenes from
Albanian history were installed in the lobby of the Assembly building.
The paintings were covered in the meantime, but Serb representatives
refuse to attend, citing security reasons.
(Hina) vm sb