Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Press Release - Unofficial translation
Helena Gustavsson
Press Officer
08-405 57 31
Carl-Magnus Eriksson
Desk Officer
08-405 54 23
According to a Government decision today, Sweden will send a further ten civilian police officers to the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).
This decision means that Sweden will contribute a total of 60 civilian police officers to Kosovo, of whom 50 will be engaged in traditional police duties within the UN police force (UNMIK Police) and 10 will work with training activities at the OSCE Kosovo Police Service School.
There is currently an acute shortage of civilian police officers in Kosovo. The police activities, within the framework of UNMIK, are intended as an interim solution until a new police service has been developed in Kosovo. At present UNMIK Police has a force of approximately 2400 police officers. The training staff at the OSCE Kosovo Police Service School consists of some 160 international police officers.
The UN Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK) is responsible for the overall administration of the international civilian presence in Kosovo. UNMIK's activities are based on four pillars, divided among different international organisations:
- the UN for civil administration
- the UNHCR for humanitarian issues
- the OSCE for matters relating to democracy and human rights
- the EU for reconstruction.