If you’re like me, you have trouble remembering the names and affiliations of the many people and organizations who are involved in determining Kosovo’s fate. I’ve created a little cheat sheet to help you (me) with the basics on who’s who:

Kosovar Albanians:

Kosovo’s Prime Minister:
Agim Ceku – since 3/06
(no party affiliation)

Kosovo’s President (3-yr term):
Fatmir Sejdiu – since 2/06
(party affiliation: LDK)

Kosovo’s Assembly Chair:
Kole Berisha – since 3/06
(party affiliation: LDK)

Serbians:

Serbian President:
Boris Tadic – since 7/04

Serbian Foreign Minister:
Vuk Jeremic

United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK):
(http://www.unmikonline.org)
The United Nations has “administered” the province since 1999. There are four pillars around which UNMIK directs work here. Pillar One is Police and Justice (directly under UN mandate); Pillar Two is Civil Administration (directly under UN mandate); Pillar Three is Democratization and Institution Building (managed by the OSCE – see below); and Pillar Four is Reconstruction and Economic Development (managed by the EU).

Special Rep. of Secretary Gen’l (SRSG):
Joachim Rucker (German) – since 9/06

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE):(http://www.osce.org/kosovo/) 

Head of Mission:
Tim Guldimann (Swiss) – since 10/07

Troika:
Three reps from the EU, US and Russia charged with mediating discussions between Serbians and Kosovar Albanians regarding the future status of Kosovo.

E.U. representative:
Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger (German)

Russian representative:
Ambassador Alexander Botsan-Kharshenko

U.S. representative:
Ambassador Frank Wisner

Kosovo Contact Group:
Was created in the early 90’s (around the time of the Bosnian war) and is typically idenfied as simply an “informal grouping” of countries with significant interest in the future of the Balkans. Most of the five participating countries are also members of the UN Security Council. Participating countries are the USA, UK, France, Germany, Italy and Russia. When they meet, they are usually joined by reps from the EU and NATO.

Nato/Kosovo Force (KFOR)
(http://www.nato.int/kfor/):

KFOR Commander:
Lieutenant Gen’l Xavier de Marnhac (French) – since 8/07

United Nations Office of the Special Envoy to Kosovo (UNOSEK):
(http://www.unosek.org)
Organization established by the UN to move Kosovo’s “status” process to the next level.

Special Envoy:
Martti Ahtisaari – since 11/05
(former President of Finland)