PRISTINA - SRSG.- Michael Steiner
visited Strpce today. He met with senior local and international officials
of the municipality, visited the returns site in Donja Batini, talked to
the Serb IDPs and participated in the hand over of the Strpce police station
from UNMIK Police to the Kosovo Police Service.
"Strpce is a special municipality",
said Mr. Steiner. "It has a different atmosphere - here you can see
how Serbs and Albanians can live successfully together."
After his arrival, SRSG Michael Steiner first stopped at the village of Donja Batini, where he met with Albanian families whose houses are being rebuilt at present. From there he visited the office of the Strpce municipality. There he met and spoke to the mayor Sladjan Illic as well as the vice-mayor Hamdi Aliu.
In his meeting with the Serb IDPs, they informed SRSG Michael Steiner about their concerns.
From there he went to the police station, the first in Gjilani/Gnjilane region to have been handed over to the Kosovo Police Service. The station has both Serbian and Albanian officers. The SRSG commended the cooperation with which officers from both ethnicities work in this station.