NEW YORK -- Friday – A KFOR report submitted to the UN Security Council forecasts a summer crime boom for Kosovo.
In particular, the Kosovo force predicts increases in smuggling and illegal border crossings, as well as the appearance of large quantities of drugs and counterfeit money.
The report notes several ethnically-motivated incidents in May, but insists that the overall security situation in the province was mainly stable. The report reads:
"The number of murders, kidnappings and rapes increased compared to last month, but the number of thefts dropped, while the total number of incidents is less than in May 2002".
KFOR draw attention to ethnic tensions evident in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, highlighting the as yet unsolved murders of two Serbs in the Klokot region, near Vitina. The international force also notes 27 attempted illegal border crossings in May – a two-fold increase on the previous month.
Turning to local forces, KFOR added that state union's security forces continue to honour provisions and conditions stipulated in the Military-Technical Agreement, while the Kosovo Protection Corps is under investigation for ties to extremist[s] and terrorist organisations.
[B92]