Nine years since UNMIK established itself in the center of Prishtina, Kosovo, it will hand over the building today to EULEX, the EU mission which is having a slow start.

By the end of today the UNMIK chief Lamberto Zannier and his staff will relocate to the periphery of Prishtina, unable to close their mission due to threats of Russian veto at the UN Security Council and relegated to irrelavance in an independent Kosovo.

This low key event marks a turning point for the mission, which along with OSCE and KFOR has held weekly conferences with journalists at the building. During the last of such events at the building originally occupied by the Yugoslav People's Army, UNMIK spokesperson Alexander Ivanko spoke about the achievements and failures of UNMIK. On justice, he said that UNMIK has not a achieved a perfect system but it has built a functional one.

The dislocation of the UNMIK chief from the building signifies the end of the second phase of UNMIK "reconfiguration", which dealt with the sharp reduction in UNMIK administration. The third phase will deal with the fate of UN policemen serving in Kosovo. 

Comments (5)

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Huh said:

	... @AKI I see your friends are not telling you the truth. K-Albanians and Serbs never asked for UN to come to Kosova. Albanians asked for NATO. Russia asked for UN. What exactly has been the contribution by the UN since about 2002 other than failure? If they have no function as you claim, then put the UN budget to buying food and AIDS medication for Africa and go home.
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October 24, 2008
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aki said:

	... @ Huh No, I dont work for UN, but I do have lots of friends who work there. I dont think they would like your comment. They came here because Albanians asked them to come. Now they want them out. Are you going to say the same thing about Eulex and ICO in few years???
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October 24, 2008
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Huh said:

	... @Aki I'll give you a hint: they are child molesters who are running away from corruption charges in their home countries. Are you one of those losing their job?
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October 24, 2008
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aki said:

	... I am always suspicious when I hear that Kosovars dont want the United Nations to be present in Kosovo. Why do they bother you? Why would you prefer them not to be present? They dont have any function or authority that ICO would not have in the future. Kosovo has its institutions and all atributes of an independent state, so in what way does UN threaten you?
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October 24, 2008
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Korab Krasniqi said:

	... UN need to leave Kosovo as soon as possible...we no longer need thier presence in Kosovo!
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October 17, 2008
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