The UN envoy for Kosovo is urging the parties to a power-sharing agreement to speedily form a new government, saying six months of political squabbling following elections in June has damaged the country.
Farid Zarif told the UN Security Council yesterday that the standoff has also led to increased public dissatisfaction with political leaders and further delays in achieving needed reforms and resuming a European Union-facilitated dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia.
Kosovo came under UN and NATO administration after a 1999 NATO-led air war halted a crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists. The Security Council resolution that established the interim UN administration left the final status of Kosovo, a province of Serbia, in question.
Kosovo's predominantly ethnic Albanian leadership declared independence in February 2008 but Serbia rejects its secession.
