Top UN official in Kosovo praises international security force

Speaking on the fourth anniversary of the arrival of the international security force in Kosovo (KFOR), the top United Nations official there today stressed the importance of continued good cooperation between the NATO-run force and the UN Mission in the province (UNIMIK).

Speaking on the fourth anniversary of the arrival of the international security force in Kosovo (KFOR), the top United Nations official there today stressed the importance of continued good cooperation between the NATO-run force and the UN Mission in the province (UNMIK).

UNMIK chief Michael Steiner noted improvements in the security situation over the past four years, but warned that it was still not normal, with the threat being more complicated and unconventional - largely internal, with organized crime and extremism.

"As we fight the enemy in its new forms, it is important that KFOR and UNMIK continue to work well together," Mr. Steiner declared. "After all, KFOR and UNMIK are two sides of one coin. Today is your anniversary, tomorrow is ours as we followed immediately in your footsteps four years ago.

"We are bound together. UNMIK can't do without KFOR and KFOR can't do without UNMIK. We are totally interdependent," he added, paying tribute to the 101 KFOR soldiers and 26 members of UNMIK who have been killed.