UN official in Kosovo urges approval of draft on inter-ethnic property sales

A top United Nations official in Kosovo today stressed the need to adopt a draft regulation seeking to limit the flow of minorities from mixed neighbourhoods as well as the forced sale of minority properties.

Tom Koenigs, the acting head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), urged the Kosovo Interim Administrative Council to approve the draft regulation, which he said would introduce a review mechanism to monitor inter-ethnic sales in areas where minorities are most vulnerable.

The regulation would allow the head of UNMIK to designate specific areas -- particularly in multi-ethnic locales -- where people selling property would be required to register any contract with the municipal administrator's office before it could be validated by the municipal court.

The aim, Mr. Koenigs stressed, is to ensure that irregular sales that are detrimental to minority rights or the multi-ethnic character of Kosovo are not registered or validated by the courts.

The Council will study the draft regulation, which will be discussed at its meeting next week.