Press Releases

UNMIK/PR/742 PRISTINA – SRSG Michael Steiner and head of the FRY Coordination Centre for Kosovo Nebojsa Covic met today and discussed the issues of Mitrovica and returns. Dr. Covic had requested the meeting. SRSG Michael Steiner conveyed to Dr. Covic what he sees as the necessary conditions to…

UNMIK/PR/741 On 26 May 2002, six prisoners of Serbian ethnicity were transferred from Mitrovica Detention Center to detention facilities in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, outside Kosovo. These transfers are pursuant to the Agreement on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons between UNMIK and the…

By the powers vested in me by Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999) and the Constitutional Framework I hereby declare null and void the “resolution on the protection of the territorial integrity of Kosovo” adopted by the Assembly of Kosovo today. Michael Steiner Special Representative of the…

On 26 March 2002, the last known Kosovo Albanians held in Serbia since Yugoslav forces moved approximately 2,000 prisoners from Kosovo to other facilities in Serbia in June 1999, were transferred back to Kosovo. Following the transfer, 80 of those prisoners were released, based on a review of their…

UNMIK/PR/738 SRSG Michael Steiner, during a visit today to the homes of recently–returned Kosovo Ashkali families, launched his Concept Paper on the Right to Sustainable Returns. The Concept paper lays out the basic principles that are to guide returns of displaced persons and refugees to Kosovo in…

UNMIK/PR/737 In response to media questions regarding today’s decision by the Presidency to present to the Assembly of Kosovo a draft resolution on the FRY/FYROM Border Agreement and the situation in North Kosovo, the SRSG Michael Steiner draws attention to article 9.1.26 (a) of the Constitutional…

UNMIK/PR/736 SRSG Michael Steiner noted today that on the first anniversary of its promulgation, the Constitutional Framework for Provisional Self-government in Kosovo has been “a great success.” “We have had elections; we have an Assembly, provisional institutions and a Government. None of this…

UNMIK/PR/735 Media coverage of remarks apparently made by the Kosovo Ombudsman, Marek Nowicki, in Serbia has created a distorted picture of the environment for return of Serbs to Kosovo. Mr. Nowicki is free to reach his own conclusions. However, the view from UNMIK as well as UNHCR is that he is not…

UNMIK/PR/733 Today SRSG Michael Steiner visited the site of an archaeological dig near Brenica, outside of Pristina, where he examined 5,500-year-old dwarf terracotta figures recently discovered in a remarkable state of preservation. The artifacts were unearthed two weeks ago, as a lime pit was…

UNMIK/PR/733 Pristina – Representatives from countries across South-East Europe joined Kosovo’s SRSG Michael Steiner in Pristina today to define a strategy for combating cigarette smuggling in the region. The representatives were from the governments of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Romania…