The Humpty Dumpty Institute Organizes a Congressional Staff Briefing on Kosovo, March 4th

 

Marco Bianchini, Senior Political Affairs Officer and Kosovo Team Leader, Department of Peacekeeping Operations

March 4th, 2008

The Humpty Dumpty Institute brought Marco Bianchini, KosovoTeam Leader, to brief House staffers on March 4th, 2008.   The event drew a record turnout of 80 congressional staffers representing 50 offices.  HDI was also honored by the attendance of Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) the ranking minority member of the International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight Subcommittees of the House Foreign Affairs Committees.  Mr. Bianchini was the third speaker in HDI’s 2008 U.N. to D.C.   program.

Mr. Bianchini discussed the U.N. Secretariat’s wide ranging activities and concerns in Kosovo since the Kosovo declaration of independence in February.   Mr. Bianchini fielded a range of questions from Congressional staffers on the procedures for Kosovo to be recognized by the United Nations, the details of the North-South divide in Kosovo, protections for the Serbian minority within Kosovo and others.  Following the House briefing, Mr. Bianchini met with aides to Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) to discuss the U.N.’s views on the potential for conflict between Serbia and Kosovo. 

Mr. Bianchini has worked with the U.N. on Kosovo issues since 1999 in various capacities including four years in Kosovo as a Municipal Affairs Officer with responsibility for relations with the Serbian minority.  In the United Nations Secretariat in New York,  Marco Bianchini  serves as the Political Affairs Officer for the Special Representative of the Secretary General, and Senior Political Officer for the Department of Peacekeeping Operations.

HDI’s “U.N. to D.C.” program is supported by the United Nations Foundation.

To learn more about this program and HDI, please contact

jonathan.landesman@thehdi.org.