UN and partners agree to focus on Kosovo's economy, security and Belgrade ties

Seeking to bring stability to Kosovo, officials from Europe, the United Nations and NATO meeting at the UN have agreed on the need to focus on the troubled province's economy, security, relations with Belgrade and Serb participation in the reform process, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today.

In a statement issued on Monday's talks, Mr. Annan said there was "broad agreement" among participants on what should be done to help Kosovo chart its way forward.

The Secretary-General, his Special Representative Søren Jessen-Petersen and Norwegian Ambassador Kai Eide - who conducted a UN probe of the political implications of the violence in March - spoke with officials from the European Union (EU), NATO, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and key countries.

In his statement, Mr. Annan stressed the importance of the "standards process," a scheme supervised by the UN requiring Kosovo to meet certain goals - such as holding free and fair elections, and establishing an impartial legal system - before a decision can be made on its final status.

The UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) has moved to transfer some responsibilities to the presidency, the government and the Kosovo Assembly, which collectively form the provisional institutions of self-government.

Mr. Annan said he would work with UNMIK to identify further areas of responsibility that can be transferred, but the provisional institutions needed to be more accountable and more consistent.

At least 19 people were killed and hundreds of homes and cultural or religious sites were damaged or destroyed in mid-March during violent attacks targeted at Kosovo's minority communities, especially the Serbs.

Kosovo has been under UNMIK administration since June 1999 after members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization drove Yugoslav troops out amid fighting between the province's Albanian and Serbian communities.