UNITED NATIONS, May 24 (UPI) -- Ethnically motivated crimes against the Serbian minority are declining in Kosovo, says the top U.N. envoy in Pristina.
But misinformation about the security of Serbs in the Albanian-majority Serbian province, which has been a U.N. protectorate since the NATO military intervention in 1999 amid fierce ethnic fighting, has led to a perception of insecurity among Kosovo Serbs, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Representative Soren Jessen-Petersen said Wednesday.
At a time when direct talks are underway to determine the final status of the province, where ethnic Albanians outnumber all other groups by nine to one, he said, rumors of violence threaten to aggravate inter-ethnic tensions.
"I have noted with concern periodic statements from certain quarters that risk creating a climate of fear and insecurity among the Kosovo Serbs," Jessen-Petersen said. "All too often ethnic motive is alleged for crimes merely because the victims happen to be from the Kosovo Serb community.
"Whereas we always deplore any attack on any citizen, statements of a misleading nature are not helpful and are in fact contrary to the interests of the Kosovo Serbs. This kind of misinformation not only erodes their confidence level, but has a cascading negative impact on inter-ethnic relations," Jessen-Petersen added.
Crime statistics for the first quarter of this year reveal a marked decline in crimes where the possibility of an ethnic motive has not yet been ruled out. As compared to 72 incidents recorded during January to March 2005, there were only 19 such incidents during the same period this year. Of these, 12 involved Kosovo Serb victims, six Kosovo Albanians and one a Kosovo Croatian.
