The President I shall now give the floor to Mr. Jessen Petersen to respond to the comments.

I should like to thank the Secretary General for his report and Mr. Jessen Petersen for his briefing, and to thank Mr. Covic for his introduction.

We also welcome at this important meeting the presence of the Special Representative of the Secretary General, Mr. Søren Jessen Petersen, and we thank him for his comprehensive briefing on the latest developments in Kosovo.

Mr. Jessen Petersen Allow me first to thank the members of the Security Council for their observations and their very strong statements of support for the ongoing process in Kosovo and in the region.

I would also like to thank the Special Representative of the Secretary General, Mr. Søren Jessen Petersen, for his informative and, I must say, encouraging briefing, and to welcome the report of the Secretary General (S 2005 335).

On behalf of my Government, I would like to commend and thank Mr. Jessen Petersen for his leadership and foresight at the head of UNMIK and for his active diplomacy in promoting a fruitful partnership of Kosovo's institutions with the various regional and international stakeholders.

In accordance with the understanding reached in the Council's prior consultations, the President, with the consent of the Council, extended an invitation under rule 39 of the Council's provisional rules of procedure to Søren Jessen Petersen, Special Representative of the Secretary General and Head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo.