PRISTINA, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Italian diplomat Lamberto Zanniertook office on Friday as the new chief of the UN mission in Kosovo(UNMIK) soon after his appointment by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York.

    Zannier arrived in Pristina on Friday afternoon, stressing that his position on Kosovo's status issue as head of UNMIK is going to be neutral.

    "The work that I will carry out will be a work that will be no status related," said Zannier at his first press conference in Pristina, a few minutes after he assumed the role of Special Representative of UN Secretary-General (SRSG) in Kosovo.

    Zanier said the last days he spent in New York involved discussions with UN officials, including Ban, his duty as UNMIK chief.

    "These ideas and suggestions for reconfiguring of UNMIK in the ground will be my key guiders," he said.

    The Italian diplomat was optimistic to get closer Serb and Albanian communities which remains divided especially after the unilateral declaration of independence on Feb. 17.

    "I see UN, especially in this phase, as key facilitator, as an organization with good possibilities with having access to everybody, and I would like to make full use of that," said Zannier.

    During the session for Kosovo in the UN Security Council on Friday, Ban said he "intends to appoint Mr. Lamberto Zannier of Italy to be my Special Representative" in Kosovo.

    Speaking for his new special representative, Ban said Zannier "will help to carry forward the vision I have presented in my report, and to lead a new phase of dialogue, and he will be scrupulously balanced in his approach."

    Zannier is the seventh SRSG for Kosovo, replacing German Joachim Rucker, who will leave Kosovo by Saturday. Zannier is a diplomat who has worked on political and social matters, and in particular on security cooperation, arms control and peacekeeping.

    Last week Russian Foreign Ministry condemned the performance of Rucker as UNMIK chief and demanded his removal arguing that "he took arbitrary steps to reduce the administration of the UN in Kosovo."

    Russia backs Serbia in vehemently opposing the independence of Kosovo and is against replacing the UN mission with a European Union-led law and order mission (EULEX).

    On June 15, Kosovo's constitution came into force, a move that saw more powers transferred from the UN mission to Kosovo authorities.

    The appointment of a new head of UN mission was announced last week, when UN Secretary-General Ban told Kosovo and Serbia's authorities that he intended to appoint a new special representative for Kosovo, as part of his proposed arrangements to reconfigure the UN mission in Kosovo.