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Email this citationCIAO DATE: 07/04
Waiting For UNMIK: Local Administration in Kosovo
October 18, 1999
Abstract
More than four months have passed since the start of the deployment of the United Nations in Kosovo. While first efforts were concentrated on the creation of a secure environment and the distribution of humanitarian aid, Civil Administration, the pillar of UNMIK which plays the role of a government, has been slow in reaching the local level.
It is in the municipalities that the normalisation of life and the reconstruction of Kosovo have to begin. The self-proclaimed interim government of Hashim Thai saw this at an early stage and even during the period of NATO bombing planned a swift takeover of political and administrative power in 27 of the 29 municipalities (all communes except those where Serbs are a majority). UNMIK has lagged behind and finds itself now in the situation where the mission has to deal with realities which it feels are inimical to its mandate.
