Kosovo: UN envoy to attend meeting on regional cooperation for Balkans

The head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) is scheduled to meet with senior officials dealing with the Balkans region to look into strengthening regional cooperation, the Mission announced today.

UNMIK chief Michael Steiner is expected to meet on Saturday in Salzburg with Paddy Ashdown, the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Eberhard Busek, the Head of the European Union's Special Coordinator Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, to discuss long-term stability and economic growth in the Balkans.

Among the issues for review are trade liberalization, the fight against organized crime, energy, the return of internally displaced persons and media developments, according to UNMIK.

Mr. Steiner is also expected to follow-up on the results of the recent conference on cigarette smuggling that took place in Kosovo as well as the creation in April of a privatization process management body for enterprises that were formerly owned by the state.