Press Release Secretary-General United Nations Department of Public Information - News Coverage and Accreditation Service - New York

SG/SM/6992 14 May 1999

SSCRETARY-QENBRAL ADDRESSES HIGH-LEVEL MEETING ON BALKANS

GENEVA, 14 May (UN Information Service) -- This is the prepared text of the opening statement by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the second part of the High-Level Meeting on the crisis in the Balkans, held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva today:

First, I would like to introduce my Special Envoys for the Balkans, Mr. Carl Bildt and Mr. Eduard Kukan.

Let me continue by thanking you for joining us today for this important meeting. Today, we must focus, frankly and constructively, on how we together -- the Uni'ted Nations system, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and"you, our partners in the non-governmental organization (NGO) community -- can enhance and improve our response to the humanitarian crisis in the Balkans.

Before I share with you the conclusions of the working meeting of the United Nations system on Kosovo yesterday, I wish to make clear the root of the crisis before us. Before there was a humanitarian catastrophe in Kosovo, there was a human rights catastrophe. Before there was a human rights catastrophe in Kosovo, there was a political catastrophe: the deliberate, systematic and violent disenfranchisement of the Kosovar Albanian people.

In Kosovo, the world is looking to us to manage the humanitarian consequences of crimes against humanity: let us never forget this fact, as we seek to alleviate the suffering of civilians throughout, the former Yugoslavia and the region at large. •

At our meeting1yesterday, there was a broad sense that the refugee crisis, serious as it is, may only be the tip of the iceberg. The stability of the neighbouring countries is threatened, their infrastructure^ has been taxed, and the development process has been set back considerably. The magnitude and depth of the Kosovo crisis transcends the ability and scope of any one United Nations agency or organization.

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We must all act as one -- united and coordinated -- if we are to manage this crisis successfully. To ensure that our efforts will achieve this end, I have decided to appoint Martin Griffiths as Regional Coordinator for United Nations Assistance in the Balkans.

I am pleased to say that my decision was welcomed by ail the participants. His responsibilities will include ensuring effective linkages between different sectors of assistance; coordinating the overall United Nations system operational response to the crisis; identifying gaps in assistance and ensuring they are covered; and looking ahead to ensure that we are prepared not only for the immediate needs, but for medium-term developments. He will be based in Skopje, and I am also pleased to say that other United Nations agencies are also considering basing their operations out of Skopje.

An immediate concern is winterization of the camps. This is necessary whether we find a speedy political solution or not. It is my hope that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' (UNHCR) efforts in this area will be complemented by its partners in the NGO community whose experience is invaluable.

The issue of citizenship and property rights of the lefugees and internally displaced persons was also highlighted as one of the major issues of return, given the systematic attempt not only to evict the ethnic Albanians from Kosovo, but to render them stateless, as well. UNHCR's registration efforts are central to our success in reversing this policy.

The meeting also discussed in depth the longer-term developmental and reconstruction challenges posed by the crisis in Kosovo. It is clear that the United Nations development agencies, the Bretton Woods institutions and NGOs must pool their efforts to offer the kind of advanced planning needed to lift the region out of its present dismal state. Any rehabilitation plan has to focus on the long term, at least five years, and should strive towards integration of the regional economies into the European markets.

Finally, yesterday, we received a fresh briefing from Mary Robinson, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, on the human rights roots and consequences of the crisis. Critical to the United Nations human rights response will be the documentation of the crimes against humanity and abuses of human rights in and around Kosovo; the effort to lay the foundation for future peace in present-day tolerance, freedom and pluralism; and the increase in human rights capacity-building throughout the region.

Let me also brief you on the political developments and prospects. Yesterday, we were joined at the humanitarian meeting by my two Special Envoys for the Balkans, Mr. Carl Bildt and Mr. Eduard Kukan.

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They will seek out links with the other efforts underway in this crisis, including those of the Contact Group, the G-8 countries, and Mr. Chernomyrdin, the Special Envoy of President Yeltsin. I am in close contact with all the heads of State and government involved, and with other leading players, including NATO Secretary-General Solana. There is general agreement that all diplomatic efforts must be carried out within the framework of the statement issued by the G-8 last week in Bonn.

My two Envoys, Mr. Bildt and Mr. Kukan, are not intended to supplant any of these efforts, but rather to facilitate them. The overall goal is to try to work out an approach that could receive the support of the Security Council.

It is clear that any future international civilian presence in Kosovo will need to concern itself with human rights, humanitarian demands, reconstruction, institution-building and police matters. Whatever emerges, we would hope to see an integrated operation, with efficient military-civilian coordination. We roust not repeat the mistakes of Bosnia.

It is equally clear that an international military force which is credible and will be able to show force in order not to use it is the condition for the safe, unconditional and complete return of every man, woman and child expelled from Kosovo. Only with such a force on the ground can we expect the Kosovars to return to their homes, in safety, dignity and peace.

Finally and perhaps most critically at this time are the efforts to protect and assist the civilian population in Kosovo, which numbers over half a million civilians unable to reach safety, incapable of defending themselves, and utterly deprived of their most basic rights to life, liberty and security. I was, therefore, very pleased to note the strong support for my humanitarian assessment mission.which will depart for the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on Saturday.

They have a delicate and difficult task ahead of them, but I am confident that if they receive the support of all sides, they will be able to give us a fresh and frank report on the humanitarian consequences of the crisis in Kosovo, and throughout the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

All of us who are engaged in the effort to provide relief and refuge to the victims of the war, and to return them to their homes, have already learned many lessons in this short time. It is my hope that this meeting will prove a testing ground for those lessons, so that we all may leave with new ideas for how to make our efforts on behalf of the victims of the conflict more coherent and more effective.

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