New U.N. overseer

last updated 8 January 2015

Pristina, Kosovo

Danish diplomat Soren Jessen-Petersen took over this week as U.N. administrator of Kosovo, the fifth such governor since the war between NATO and Serbia ended in 1999. Kosovo is still nominally a province of Serbia and Montenegro, but its affairs are run entirely by the U.N., and it is policed by NATO-led peacekeepers. The economy is completely dependent on foreign aid, and nearly two-thirds of the workforce is unemployed. Kosovar Albanians have been trying in recent years to gain more power for their legislature, but the U.N. says the Kosovars must demonstrate their commitment to democracy and to minority rights for the few remaining Serbs. Jessen-Petersen said Kosovo’s uncertain status—it is not quite independent, not quite part of Serbia—had been holding it back. He pledged to resolve the sovereignty issue by next year.