Europe

Soren Jessen-Petersen addresses the Council

Council endorses start of status talks on Kosovo, top UN envoy calls this 'historic'

24 October 2005
The Security Council today endorsed the start of talks on the future status of ethnically-divided Kosovo, with the United Nations administrator of the Serbian province, which the world body has run for the past six years, calling it a very historic day.

Kosovo: Annan recommends starting future status talks now

21 October 2005
Although democratic progress in Kosovo has been uneven, talks should begin now on the future status of the UN-administered province of Serbia and Montenegro, Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the Security Council in a letter released today.

Georgia-Abkhaz sides should agree on non-resumption of hostilities, Annan says

21 October 2005
With peace talks between the Georgia Government and Abkhaz separatists restarted, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has voiced hope that both sides will be able to agree to a non-resumption of hostilities and the safe return of internally displaced persons and refugees.

Kosovo: UN war crimes court stays its decision to allow ex-premier to return to politics

14 October 2005
The United Nations court for former Yugoslavia has stayed its decision to allow former Kosovo Prime Minister and war crimes suspect Ramush Haradinaj to engage in politics and travel throughout Kosovo during his provisional release following an appeal from chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte.

UN war crimes court says Kosovo’s ex-Prime Minister can return to politics

13 October 2005
Following a two-to-one decision, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has chosen to allow former Kosovo Prime Minister and war crimes suspect Ramush Haradinaj to engage in politics and travel throughout Kosovo during his provisional release.

War crimes judge for former Yugoslavia urges full cooperation to seize fugitives

11 October 2005
The historic achievements of the United Nations war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia will be tarnished if seven senior-level accused still at large are not brought to justice, the court’s president has told the General Assembly.

UN Kosovo Envoy urges Serbian leadership to continue dialogue with Pristina

8 October 2005
Following Secretary-General Kofi Annan's announcement that final status talks on Kosovo should begin, the senior United Nations envoy to the province met with Serbian leaders to stress that dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade would be crucial as the political process enters its next phase.
Annan with President Schmid of Switzerland

Talks on Kosovo’s final status should begin now – Annan

7 October 2005
Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today talks should now begin on the final status of ethnically-divided Kosovo, which the United Nations has run ever since the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) drove out Yugoslav troops amid grave human rights abuses in fighting between the province’s Albanians and Serbs in 1999.
Carla Del Ponte

UN prosecutor for former Yugoslavia says investing in justice brings best dividends

7 October 2005
Investing in justice for victims of the Balkans wars will bring dividends by discouraging revenge, obliging the region's countries to improve their governance and replacing myths with facts in the collective memory, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) says.

Poverty, mental health greatest stumbling blocks for Chernobyl survivors, UN

6 October 2005
Among the hundreds of thousands who were exposed to radiation during the Chernobyl disaster 20 years ago, only about 4,000 people will die from acute radiation and cancer, but many more suffer from the lingering effects of poverty, and lack of information on how to live in the contaminated areas and on how to regain their livelihoods, according to a new United Nations report.