Albanians in

Albanians in “tacit boycott of UNMIK”
Beta - September 8, 2003

PRISTINA -- Monday – Kosovo Albanian politicians do not accept the UN protectorate in the province and are seeking a resolution of its status in agreements with the EU and the US, the chairman of the Serbian Parliament’s Kosovo Committee, Momcilo Trajkovic, said today.

He claimed that Albanian political leaders were distancing themselves form UNMIK chief Harri Holkeri and the whole UN administration in Kosovo.

The sidelining of UNMIK is demonstrated, said Trajkovic, in the insistence of Albanian politicians on a US presence in any dialogue on the final status of Kosovo.

“No dialogue without US presence”
Beta - September 8, 2003

PRISTINA -- Monday – The president of the Kosovo Assembly, Nedzat Daci, said today that dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina could not succeed without the presence of the United States.

Daci emphasised that the Kosovo Government is ready for discussions with Belgrade at any time and in any place, provided the US is present.

He was speaking after meeting the former head of the 1999 Kosovo Monitoring Mission, US diplomat William Walker, who has said that the OSCE will assist in setting up talks between Pristina and Belgrade.

The UN mission in Kosovo will be represented in the Pristina delegation, mission representative Isabella Karlovic said today, adding that the actual role taken by UNMIK will be clarified by governor Harri Holkeri in talks with both sides and international representatives.

Holkeri was scheduled today to his predecessor, Michael Steiner, in Geneva and will have talks with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana in Brussels tomorrow.