Thursday, August 11, 2005

Kosovo Serb leader sees "progress" in government's Plan B on decentralization

Text of report in English by independent internet news agency KosovaLive

Prishtina [Pristina], 11 August: The head of the Serb List for Kosova [Kosovo] and Metohija [SLKM], Oliver Ivanovic, told KosovaLive today that Serbs did not reject yet Plan B of the Kosova government's decentralization plan.

"We have not rejected this plan yet," Ivanovic said.

According to our sources, Kosovar Serbs' leader during the course of the day had voiced against the new version of the decentralization plan, saying that it does not fulfil the demands of Kosovar Serbs.

The leader of the Kosova Serbs, Oliver Ivanovic, said that although this version has some deficiencies and does not meet Serb demands, there is a progress in this plan, however many things should change.

"Our stances on decentralization are not so far off," said Ivanovic, adding that in his future meeting with Local Self-government Minister Lutfi Haziri he will also discuss new issues, including the territory of the new municipalities.

According to some statements, Serbs still insist that new municipalities should consist of several cadastral units, should have the same authorisations as current municipalities do and that the additional authorisations should be clarified.

Whereas, the Serbian government evaluated that Plan B of the government's decentralization plan is unacceptable because it does not provide even minimum guarantees for improvement of the Serb and other non-Albanian communities' position, the Serbian government says that decentralization should be taken more seriously and completely different from the current initiatives.

Source: KosovaLive website, Pristina, in English 11 Aug 05

No comments: