PRISTINA (AFP) — Italian diplomat Lamberto Zannier, the new chief of the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), said Friday his goal was to find a right balance between all sides in the newly declared independent state.
"I see the UN especially in this phase as a facilitator, but as the key facilitator," Zannier told reporters a few hours after taking over UNMIK from his predecessor, German diplomat Joachim Ruecker.
Zannier envisioned his mission as "paving the way for the new actors to play their own role."
"I am looking forward to find the right balance in the relationship with all relevant factors... in full respect of (the mission's) own mandate and its own role," he said.
A new constitution went into force last week in Kosovo, an ethnic Albanian majority Balkan territory that unilaterally declared independence from Serbia on February 17.
The United States and major European countries have recognised Kosovo, but its declaration of independence is disputed by Serbia and its main ally on the global stage, Russia.
The new constitution paved the way for the introduction of EULEX, a 2,000-strong European Union police and justice mission.
UNMIK, which has run Kosovo under Resolution 1244 since a NATO bombing campaign in 1999 ousted Serbian forces then waging a brutal crackdown on separatist ethnic Albanians, has also transferred some powers to Kosovar authorities.
Zannier said he would follow UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon's recommendations, saying: "His ideas and his suggestions for reconfiguring the presence of UNMIK on the ground will be my key guidance."
Earlier Friday, Ban told the UN Security Council that the European Union would take on "increasing operational responsibilities in the areas of international policing, justice and customs, within a reconfigured UNMIK".
This would occur "within the mandate established by Resolution 1244" and under an umbrella headed by Zannier, he said.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
