UN'S KOSOVA CHIEF URGES UN TO HURRY

The head of the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Joachim Ruecker, on July 9 asked the UN Security Council to provide "a roadmap, a timetable, to assure Kosovo's 2 million inhabitants of where they are headed," the UNMIK press office reported on July 9. Ruecker was speaking at a closed session of the UN Security Council at the same time that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon unveiled a regular report in which he warned that "any further delay will have a very negative impact on peace and security, not only in Kosovo" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," July 9, 2007). Ruecker stressed the "considerable" progress that UNMIK has "put in place very firmly" since entering the "complete security vacuum" left by the 1998-99 conflict, and he argued that "we have reached a critical point where further progress on the ground depends on ensuring clarity on Kosovo's status." As in previous reports to the Security Council, Ruecker said the foundations are in place for "a functioning democracy, a functioning rule-of-law sector and a functioning market economy" in Kosova. Ruecker praised the Kosovars as "remarkably patient" but said that "they fear that the status process is losing momentum and what had appeared to have been an imminent resolution of Kosovo's status will unravel." Ban too expressed the fear that the progress in Kosova could "unravel" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," July 9, 2007). Ban underscored the point at a news conference in Brussels on July 10, where he met with Kosovar President Fatmir Sejdiu. AG