LONDON, Jan 31 (Reuters) - The world's major powers reminded Belgrade on Tuesday that any agreement on the future status of Kosovo must be acceptable to the people living in the province, many of whom want full independence from Serbia.
In what appeared to be a toughening of its stance, the contact group on the future of Kosovo also called on all parties to do everything possible to reach such an agreement by the end of the year.
"Ministers look to Belgrade to bear in mind that the settlement needs ... to be acceptable to the people of Kosovo," the contact group said in a statement issued after talks in London.
"The disastrous policies of the past lie at the heart of the current problems," read the statement, issued jointly with the European Union presidency, NATO's Secretary-General and United Nations representatives including the U.N. special status envoy.
"Today, Belgrade's leaders bear important responsibilities in shaping what happens now and in the future."
New talks on the future of Kosovo -- the first under a U.N. mediation process launched last November -- had been due to start on Jan. 25 but were postponed due to the death of Kosovan President Ibrahim Rugova four days earlier.
A U.N. mediator was quoted on Tuesday as saying they could now take place in late February.
Kosovo has been run by the United Nations since 1999, when NATO drove out Serb forces accused of atrocities against ethnic Albanian civilians during a 2-year war with separatist guerrillas.
Ninety percent of Kosovo's population of two million people is made up of ethnic Albanians, most of whom demand nothing less than independence from Serbia.
Although Serbs oppose secession, Western diplomats say the final settlement on Kosovo will almost certainly meet the calls of the local population.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Serbian president, Kosovo opposition leader Thaci meet in Greek capital
[Announcer] Serbian President Boris Tadic and Democratic Party of Kosovo [PDK] leader Hashim Thaci met last night in Athens. There are still no details about the content of their talk, and we found out about their meeting from Greek sources. Tadic and Thaci attended a gathering of the Socialist International. Tadic attended as the chairman of the Democratic Party [DS], while Thaci attended as a guest. The pair of them met on an initiative of Greek Pasok [Panhellenic Socialist Movement - the PSK] leader Yeoryios Papandreou. They talked during a reception which Greek President Karolos Papoulias had organized for the participants of the gathering. During the course of the afternoon, Tadic and Thaci took part in a thematic discussion about the Balkans. The Serbian president advocated a compromise over Kosovo's status while Thaci advocated independence.
Source: Radio B92, Belgrade, in Serbian 0800 gmt 31 Jan 06
Source: Radio B92, Belgrade, in Serbian 0800 gmt 31 Jan 06
STATEMENT BY THE CONTACT GROUP ON THE FUTURE OF KOSOVO
Contact Group Ministers together with the EU High Representative, the EU Presidency, the European Commissioner for Enlargement, the NATO Secretary-General and UN representatives including the UN Special Status Envoy and SRSG met on 31 January in London. Ministers express their profound regret over the loss of President Ibrahim Rugova, who had won the world's respect for his principled advocacy of human rights and democracy.
Ministers emphasise the importance they attach to a lasting Kosovo status settlement that promotes a multi-ethnic society. This would immeasurably enhance regional stability, as well as the European and Euro-Atlantic perspectives of Serbia, Kosovo and of the region as a whole. Ministers recall that the character of the Kosovo problem, shaped by the disintegration of Yugoslavia and consequent conflicts, ethnic cleansing and the events of 1999, and the extended period of international administration under UNSCR 1244, must be fully taken into account in settling Kosovo's status. UNSCR 1244 remains the framework for the ongoing status process, with the Security Council and Contact Group continuing to play key roles.
Ministers believe that all possible efforts should be made to achieve a negotiated settlement in the course of 2006. To this end, Ministers strongly support the work of UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari. They call on Belgrade and Pristina to work constructively with him to find realistic solutions to the many difficult issues that need to be addressed. These should include, inter alia, freedom of movement, transparent and constructive links between local communities in Serbia and Kosovo, mechanisms for resolving the fate of missing persons and a specific package of measures for the protection of religious communities and sites. Arrangements for good relations between Belgrade and Pristina and within the region must also be part of a settlement.
Ministers stress that effective provisions for the decentralisation of government will be crucial to the status settlement. Decentralisation can ensure that minority communities remain a vital part of Kosovo's future and give impetus to the return of displaced persons who should be able to choose where they live in Kosovo. Ministers call on the parties to engage seriously on this issue.
The Provisional Institutions of Self-Government, alongside all communities in Kosovo, must do much more to ensure that the UN Security Council-endorsed Standards are implemented. Their commitment is crucial to the prospects for a sustainable status settlement that enables all communities to live and thrive in safety. Ministers also call on Kosovo's Serbs and other minority communities to seize the opportunity of the status process to ensure their concerns are fully addressed.
The Contact Group Guiding Principles of November 2005 make clear that there should be: no return of Kosovo to the pre-1999 situation, no partition of Kosovo, and no union of Kosovo with any or part of another country. Ministers re-state the international community's willingness to establish, for an interim period after a settlement, appropriate international civilian and military structures to help ensure compliance with the settlement's provisions. Day-to-day governance , which must be conducted on a multi-ethnic basis, should rest with Kosovo's duly-elected representatives. Ministers recall NATO's continuing commitment to maintain a safe and secure environment through KFOR.
Ministers look to Belgrade to bear in mind that the settlement needs, inter alia, to be acceptable to the people of Kosovo. The disastrous policies of the past lie at the heart of the current problems. Today, Belgrade's leaders bear important responsibilities in shaping what happens now and in the future. The Contact Group, the EU and NATO stand ready to support Serbian democratic forces in taking this opportunity to move Serbia forward. Ministers welcome the arrest of Jovo Djogo but reiterate that the leadership must fulfil their repeated pledges to co-operate fully with ICTY, notably in respect of Mladic and Karadzic. Ministers equally urge Pristina to recognise that a multi-ethnic settlement is the only workable option and that the more the vital interests of minorities are addressed the quicker a broadly acceptable agreement can be reached. Ministers warn those seeking to use violence that they will undermine their own cause.
Lastly, Ministers emphasise that a negotiated settlement is the best way forward. It will help to create the circumstances in which a settlement can be made to work for the benefit of all. Constructive engagement by the parties will also pave the way for a European and Euro-Atlantic future. Ministers urge leaders in Serbia and Kosovo to show the political courage and vision necessary to come forward with realistic and far-sighted proposals for the future of both Kosovo and Serbia. They have asked the Status Envoy and the SRSG to keep them updated on progress and undertake to return to the issue at their request or if the situation warrants.
Ministers emphasise the importance they attach to a lasting Kosovo status settlement that promotes a multi-ethnic society. This would immeasurably enhance regional stability, as well as the European and Euro-Atlantic perspectives of Serbia, Kosovo and of the region as a whole. Ministers recall that the character of the Kosovo problem, shaped by the disintegration of Yugoslavia and consequent conflicts, ethnic cleansing and the events of 1999, and the extended period of international administration under UNSCR 1244, must be fully taken into account in settling Kosovo's status. UNSCR 1244 remains the framework for the ongoing status process, with the Security Council and Contact Group continuing to play key roles.
Ministers believe that all possible efforts should be made to achieve a negotiated settlement in the course of 2006. To this end, Ministers strongly support the work of UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari. They call on Belgrade and Pristina to work constructively with him to find realistic solutions to the many difficult issues that need to be addressed. These should include, inter alia, freedom of movement, transparent and constructive links between local communities in Serbia and Kosovo, mechanisms for resolving the fate of missing persons and a specific package of measures for the protection of religious communities and sites. Arrangements for good relations between Belgrade and Pristina and within the region must also be part of a settlement.
Ministers stress that effective provisions for the decentralisation of government will be crucial to the status settlement. Decentralisation can ensure that minority communities remain a vital part of Kosovo's future and give impetus to the return of displaced persons who should be able to choose where they live in Kosovo. Ministers call on the parties to engage seriously on this issue.
The Provisional Institutions of Self-Government, alongside all communities in Kosovo, must do much more to ensure that the UN Security Council-endorsed Standards are implemented. Their commitment is crucial to the prospects for a sustainable status settlement that enables all communities to live and thrive in safety. Ministers also call on Kosovo's Serbs and other minority communities to seize the opportunity of the status process to ensure their concerns are fully addressed.
The Contact Group Guiding Principles of November 2005 make clear that there should be: no return of Kosovo to the pre-1999 situation, no partition of Kosovo, and no union of Kosovo with any or part of another country. Ministers re-state the international community's willingness to establish, for an interim period after a settlement, appropriate international civilian and military structures to help ensure compliance with the settlement's provisions. Day-to-day governance , which must be conducted on a multi-ethnic basis, should rest with Kosovo's duly-elected representatives. Ministers recall NATO's continuing commitment to maintain a safe and secure environment through KFOR.
Ministers look to Belgrade to bear in mind that the settlement needs, inter alia, to be acceptable to the people of Kosovo. The disastrous policies of the past lie at the heart of the current problems. Today, Belgrade's leaders bear important responsibilities in shaping what happens now and in the future. The Contact Group, the EU and NATO stand ready to support Serbian democratic forces in taking this opportunity to move Serbia forward. Ministers welcome the arrest of Jovo Djogo but reiterate that the leadership must fulfil their repeated pledges to co-operate fully with ICTY, notably in respect of Mladic and Karadzic. Ministers equally urge Pristina to recognise that a multi-ethnic settlement is the only workable option and that the more the vital interests of minorities are addressed the quicker a broadly acceptable agreement can be reached. Ministers warn those seeking to use violence that they will undermine their own cause.
Lastly, Ministers emphasise that a negotiated settlement is the best way forward. It will help to create the circumstances in which a settlement can be made to work for the benefit of all. Constructive engagement by the parties will also pave the way for a European and Euro-Atlantic future. Ministers urge leaders in Serbia and Kosovo to show the political courage and vision necessary to come forward with realistic and far-sighted proposals for the future of both Kosovo and Serbia. They have asked the Status Envoy and the SRSG to keep them updated on progress and undertake to return to the issue at their request or if the situation warrants.
Monday, January 30, 2006
Decision on Kosovo status should be applicable to other areas - Putin
MOSCOW. Jan 30 (Interfax) - President Vladimir Putin has said that the plan for settling the final status of Kosovo should be universal.
At a Monday meeting with Cabinet members he asked Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to made Russia's opinion known to all members of the contact group for Kosovo that will be meeting later this week in London.
"It is a crucial issue for us not only from the viewpoint of observing principles of international law, but the practical interests of former Soviet republics," Putin said.
"All options that the contact group will work out should be universal," he said.
"This is extremely important for the former Soviet Union because not all conflicts here have been settled. We cannot take a road on which some rules will apply in one case and others in another. One should remember that solutions should be universal," he said.
Fatmir Sejdiu to Replace Rugova as Kosovo President
The largest party in Kosovo, LDK, has decided that Fatmir Sejdiu who is the current General Secretary of the part and the head of its parliamentary caucus, will replace Ibrahim Rugova as the President of Kosovo. Kosovo news agency QIK, who was close to the late president, reports that there was a complete consensus in the meeting held today by the LDK.
Fatmir Sejdiu is considered to be a moderate within the party and an acceptable figure from the opposition. He is a realist and a lot less idealistic than the late President, which signifies a change in direction the largest party in Kosovo, will take. Major reforms within the party will be expected if Sejdiu gets the position.
Sejdiu is a doctor of History and a professor at the Law Faculty at the University of Prishtina. He comes from the Northeast city of Podujeva(Besjana). (source: Balkan Update)
Fatmir Sejdiu is considered to be a moderate within the party and an acceptable figure from the opposition. He is a realist and a lot less idealistic than the late President, which signifies a change in direction the largest party in Kosovo, will take. Major reforms within the party will be expected if Sejdiu gets the position.
Sejdiu is a doctor of History and a professor at the Law Faculty at the University of Prishtina. He comes from the Northeast city of Podujeva(Besjana). (source: Balkan Update)
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Iran, Serbia sign security agreement
Tehran -- Monday - Iranian First Vice President Parviz Davoudi on Sunday authorized temporary signing of an agreement on security cooperation between the governments of Iran and Serbia-Montenegro, according to Iranian news agency.
According to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), in response to the proposal of the Ministry of Interior, the secretariat of the government's council for dissemination of information and the cabinet authorized the Ministry of Information to proceed and temporarily ink such an agreement.
The move is in accordance with article 2 of Iran's by-law on drawing up and signing international contracts approved in 1992, reports IRNA.
According to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), in response to the proposal of the Ministry of Interior, the secretariat of the government's council for dissemination of information and the cabinet authorized the Ministry of Information to proceed and temporarily ink such an agreement.
The move is in accordance with article 2 of Iran's by-law on drawing up and signing international contracts approved in 1992, reports IRNA.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Sad farewell for 'Gandhi of Kosovo'
GARENTINA KRAJA IN PRISTINA, SERBIA-MONTENEGRO
TENS of thousands of ethnic Albanians threw flowers and wept as Ibrahim Rugova's flag-draped coffin made its way to his final resting place yesterday.
The Kosovo president who embodied ethnic Albanians' quest for an independent state was laid to rest in a white marble tomb, his name engraved in gold.
Mr Rugova's family, colleagues and dignitaries gathered at the grave, some bowing, others stroking the plaque or leaning to kiss it as they paid their last respects. Some cried, others hugged each other. The president's wife, Fana, clutched the flag that draped the coffin. A 21-gun salute was fired.
Mr Rugova died on Saturday of lung cancer at the age of 61 after 16 years as the leader of Kosovo's ethnic Albanians, who want independence from Serbia.
"You fulfilled your dream, you laid the foundation for Kosovo to become a free and independent state," the head of the province's parliament, Nexhat Daci, said.
With no-one in line to take over, Kosovo's political scene has been thrown into disarray as the province prepares for talks on its final status. The talks have been postponed.
"It is a cruel irony of history that he left at the moment he was most needed, the very moment he was expected to provide leadership in helping to settle the future status of Kosovo," Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, told the crowd.
Gani Shahini, 77, from the town of Shtimje, said Mr Rugova's death was "a great loss in these moments when we need him. He has built our path and now we need to finish what he has started."
Thousands of people lined the streets of Pristina as the coffin was driven to the tomb overlooking the capital at the Martyrs' Cemetery, initially dedicated to the victims of the Second World War.
It has since become a graveyard for members of the Kosovo Liberation Army, the rebel force that fought Serb troops in Kosovo's 1998-9 war.
Mr Rugova's grave is near his official residence, where he met western leaders and insisted they recognise the tiny province of two million as a state.
His peaceful way of confronting repression came to be seen as a rarity in the Balkans and earned him the nickname "Kosovo's Gandhi".
TENS of thousands of ethnic Albanians threw flowers and wept as Ibrahim Rugova's flag-draped coffin made its way to his final resting place yesterday.
The Kosovo president who embodied ethnic Albanians' quest for an independent state was laid to rest in a white marble tomb, his name engraved in gold.
Mr Rugova's family, colleagues and dignitaries gathered at the grave, some bowing, others stroking the plaque or leaning to kiss it as they paid their last respects. Some cried, others hugged each other. The president's wife, Fana, clutched the flag that draped the coffin. A 21-gun salute was fired.
Mr Rugova died on Saturday of lung cancer at the age of 61 after 16 years as the leader of Kosovo's ethnic Albanians, who want independence from Serbia.
"You fulfilled your dream, you laid the foundation for Kosovo to become a free and independent state," the head of the province's parliament, Nexhat Daci, said.
With no-one in line to take over, Kosovo's political scene has been thrown into disarray as the province prepares for talks on its final status. The talks have been postponed.
"It is a cruel irony of history that he left at the moment he was most needed, the very moment he was expected to provide leadership in helping to settle the future status of Kosovo," Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, told the crowd.
Gani Shahini, 77, from the town of Shtimje, said Mr Rugova's death was "a great loss in these moments when we need him. He has built our path and now we need to finish what he has started."
Thousands of people lined the streets of Pristina as the coffin was driven to the tomb overlooking the capital at the Martyrs' Cemetery, initially dedicated to the victims of the Second World War.
It has since become a graveyard for members of the Kosovo Liberation Army, the rebel force that fought Serb troops in Kosovo's 1998-9 war.
Mr Rugova's grave is near his official residence, where he met western leaders and insisted they recognise the tiny province of two million as a state.
His peaceful way of confronting repression came to be seen as a rarity in the Balkans and earned him the nickname "Kosovo's Gandhi".
Kosovars gather to mourn Rugova
By Nicholas Wood International Herald Tribune
FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2006
PRISTINA, Kosovo: Kosovo's Albanian majority gathered by the tens of thousands Thursday to bid a last farewell to their late president, Ibrahim Rugova, in a ceremony that had all the trappings of a state funeral.
For 16 years Rugova, a pacifist who struggled to gain the province's independence from Serbia, had been Kosovo's paramount leader. He died at age 61 of lung cancer Saturday, just days before talks were to open, under United Nations auspices, that are widely expected to result in a limited form of independence for Kosovo.
In death, his people gave him every honor that a state would lavish upon a president.
The city, Kosovo's regional capital, was brought to a halt for six hours for a ceremony that was attended by four presidents and representatives from more than 40 countries. Shops and schools were closed as the Albanian-dominated regional government had declared a national holiday.
Kosovo is officially a part of Serbia but has been administered by the United Nations since June 1999, when Serb security forces accused of committing atrocities against Albanians were forced to leave the province. Their departure was preceded by a NATO bombing campaign against the Serbs.
On Thursday, armed guards - recruited from the ranks of a now dispersed guerrilla army that fought Serbian security forces from 1997 to 1999 - escorted the funeral cortege. Rugova's flag-draped coffin was transported through the streets, with hundreds of Kosovo Albanian police lining the procession route.
There was little sign of the approximately 17,000 United Nations peacekeepers who are stationed in Kosovo and who usually patrol the capital.
Instead Kosovo's Protection Corps, which the UN defines as a civil disaster emergency response unit but Albanians widely view as the province's fledgling defense force, led the cortege.
"He was the president of our state," said 80-year-old Zymer Kastrati, who had traveled by bus with 10 members of his extended family from Peja in eastern Kosovo.
Rugova twice won the presidency of Kosovo's regional government, following parliamentary elections in 2001 and 2004.
Like Kastrati, many Albanians traveled from throughout Kosovo in freezing temperatures to attend the ceremony, which followed four-and-a-half days of official mourning. Many were members of the Democratic League of Kosovo, the movement that Rugova had helped to found in the late 1980s as a counterweight to the rise of Serbian nationalism.
Members of the Kosovo's extensive diaspora also had flown in for the ceremony, some coming from as far away as Australia and the United States.
"He was a very patient and peaceful man, ideal qualities since we Kosovars are a hot-blooded people," said Gresa Rexhepi, a 16-year-old high school student from Pristina. "I'm sure his goal will be achieved very soon."
Notably absent were members of Kosovo's Serb community, as well as members of the Serbian government from Belgrade.
President Boris Tadic of Serbia had asked to attend the funeral, but his request was rejected by Rugova's office as a reassertion of Serbia's claim to the province.
The president's office had requested that Tadic be allowed to go to "Kosovo, which is a part of Serbia's territorial integrity, and pay his respects to the political representative of the Albanian people." After the request was rejected, all but two of Kosovo's Serb representatives declined to attend the funeral.
Dignitaries paid tribute to Rugova before he was laid to rest at a memorial site for former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army.
The head of the UN mission in the province, Soren Jessen-Petersen, said Rugova had "remained dedicated exclusively to peaceful means, meeting violence with vision at a time and in a region where so many set their eyes upon the past."
Jessen-Petersen also suggested that Rugova's desire for Kosovo's independence may not be far from becoming a reality.
"President Rugova has left a void behind him but he has also left a vision to guide Kosovo forward," Jessen-Petersen said.
"It is a vision whose fulfillment he did not live to see, but whose realization will be achieved through the unity and commitment of those who follow him."
FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2006
PRISTINA, Kosovo: Kosovo's Albanian majority gathered by the tens of thousands Thursday to bid a last farewell to their late president, Ibrahim Rugova, in a ceremony that had all the trappings of a state funeral.
For 16 years Rugova, a pacifist who struggled to gain the province's independence from Serbia, had been Kosovo's paramount leader. He died at age 61 of lung cancer Saturday, just days before talks were to open, under United Nations auspices, that are widely expected to result in a limited form of independence for Kosovo.
In death, his people gave him every honor that a state would lavish upon a president.
The city, Kosovo's regional capital, was brought to a halt for six hours for a ceremony that was attended by four presidents and representatives from more than 40 countries. Shops and schools were closed as the Albanian-dominated regional government had declared a national holiday.
Kosovo is officially a part of Serbia but has been administered by the United Nations since June 1999, when Serb security forces accused of committing atrocities against Albanians were forced to leave the province. Their departure was preceded by a NATO bombing campaign against the Serbs.
On Thursday, armed guards - recruited from the ranks of a now dispersed guerrilla army that fought Serbian security forces from 1997 to 1999 - escorted the funeral cortege. Rugova's flag-draped coffin was transported through the streets, with hundreds of Kosovo Albanian police lining the procession route.
There was little sign of the approximately 17,000 United Nations peacekeepers who are stationed in Kosovo and who usually patrol the capital.
Instead Kosovo's Protection Corps, which the UN defines as a civil disaster emergency response unit but Albanians widely view as the province's fledgling defense force, led the cortege.
"He was the president of our state," said 80-year-old Zymer Kastrati, who had traveled by bus with 10 members of his extended family from Peja in eastern Kosovo.
Rugova twice won the presidency of Kosovo's regional government, following parliamentary elections in 2001 and 2004.
Like Kastrati, many Albanians traveled from throughout Kosovo in freezing temperatures to attend the ceremony, which followed four-and-a-half days of official mourning. Many were members of the Democratic League of Kosovo, the movement that Rugova had helped to found in the late 1980s as a counterweight to the rise of Serbian nationalism.
Members of the Kosovo's extensive diaspora also had flown in for the ceremony, some coming from as far away as Australia and the United States.
"He was a very patient and peaceful man, ideal qualities since we Kosovars are a hot-blooded people," said Gresa Rexhepi, a 16-year-old high school student from Pristina. "I'm sure his goal will be achieved very soon."
Notably absent were members of Kosovo's Serb community, as well as members of the Serbian government from Belgrade.
President Boris Tadic of Serbia had asked to attend the funeral, but his request was rejected by Rugova's office as a reassertion of Serbia's claim to the province.
The president's office had requested that Tadic be allowed to go to "Kosovo, which is a part of Serbia's territorial integrity, and pay his respects to the political representative of the Albanian people." After the request was rejected, all but two of Kosovo's Serb representatives declined to attend the funeral.
Dignitaries paid tribute to Rugova before he was laid to rest at a memorial site for former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army.
The head of the UN mission in the province, Soren Jessen-Petersen, said Rugova had "remained dedicated exclusively to peaceful means, meeting violence with vision at a time and in a region where so many set their eyes upon the past."
Jessen-Petersen also suggested that Rugova's desire for Kosovo's independence may not be far from becoming a reality.
"President Rugova has left a void behind him but he has also left a vision to guide Kosovo forward," Jessen-Petersen said.
"It is a vision whose fulfillment he did not live to see, but whose realization will be achieved through the unity and commitment of those who follow him."
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Kosovo Mourns the Loss of President Rugova
Rugova, icon of the ethnic Albanian drive to win independence from Serbia, died on Saturday, January 21, 2006. Rugova, 61, was diagnosed with lung cancer in September 2005 and had been undergoing treatment at his residence in Pristina. Picture taken October 21, 2004. REUTERS/Arben Celi/File
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
President Announces Secretary Jackson to Lead U.S. Delegation to Attend Funeral of Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova
President George W. Bush today announced the designation of a Presidential Delegation to Pristina, Kosovo to attend the Funeral of His Excellency Ibrahim Rugova, President of Kosovo, on January 26, 2006.
The Honorable Alphonso Jackson, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, will lead the delegation.
Members of the Presidential Delegation are:
The Honorable Philip S. Goldberg, Chief of Mission, Kosovo
The Honorable Frank Wisner, Ambassador, Special Representative of the Secretary of State to the Kosovo Status Talks
40 international delegations confirm arrival through Pristina Airport (Koha)
The paper quotes Pristina Airport Deputy Director, Afrim Haziri, as saying that over 40 delegations have booked their landing schedules in Pristina, adding that the staff has made all the necessary preparations to handle, what he called ‘special state delegations’.
According to Haziri, Pristina Airport has considered the possibility of diverting some of the commercial and military flights to Gjakovë/_akovica or Skopje respectively, says Koha Ditore.
The paper adds that the flux of citizens coming for the burial ceremony of former President Rugova is still increasing.
Lajm says that Gjakovë/_akovica and Skopje Airport are getting ready to receive flights
According to Haziri, Pristina Airport has considered the possibility of diverting some of the commercial and military flights to Gjakovë/_akovica or Skopje respectively, says Koha Ditore.
The paper adds that the flux of citizens coming for the burial ceremony of former President Rugova is still increasing.
Lajm says that Gjakovë/_akovica and Skopje Airport are getting ready to receive flights
Thousands of people pay homage to President Rugova’s body (Dailies)
The ceremony of paying homage in front of President Rugova’s body, who lies in repose at the Assembly hall, started early yesterday and thousands of people expressed condolences to his family. People have been waiting in line for hours to honour the President, dailies write.
Dailies also report that the Kosovo Protection Corps were the guards of honor. Despite very cold weather, apart from institutional leaders, local and international, thousands of people from all Albanian territories paid tribute to the President, writes Koha Ditore.
Dailies also report that the Kosovo Protection Corps were the guards of honor. Despite very cold weather, apart from institutional leaders, local and international, thousands of people from all Albanian territories paid tribute to the President, writes Koha Ditore.
Ibrahim Rugova Ethnic Albanian leader: the Gandhi of the Balkans
KOSOVO president Ibrahim Rugova, the ethnic Albanian leader who came to epitomise the province's long struggle for independence from Serbia, has died without seeing his dream fulfilled. He was 61.
Rugova - often called the Gandhi of the Balkans, in an allusion to the Indian leader's epic campaign for independence - died from lung cancer. He leaves a vacuum in the faction-ridden political scene at a crucial time. The province is embarking on the delicate process of negotiating a solution that its ethnic Albanian majority hopes will lead to full independence.
Though diagnosed with cancer last September, Rugova continued to lead the negotiating team for what he hoped would be the final countdown with Serbia. He met regularly with western politicians, insisting on recognition of the province's independence even as he struggled at times to catch his breath.
With his trademark scarf wrapped around his neck, Rugova had cult status among many ethnic Albanians. He was the living symbol of their demand for independence from Serbia since the early 1990s, when he led the nonviolent fight against Serbian repression under Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic.
It will be difficult for any other Kosovo politician to fill his shoes. Rugova won international respect through the peaceful nature of his opposition to Serb dominance, in contrast to other Kosovo Albanians now in positions of leadership, who were part of the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army that fought Serb troops in the 1998-99 war. While Serb forces are considered the main perpetrators of atrocities, several KLA leaders face trial by the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, including former Kosovo prime minister Ramush Haradinaj, an ex-rebel commander.
Rugova's path to prominence started in the late 1980s after he confronted Serb writers in Belgrade and urged equal time, chances and resources for the province and its ethnic Albanian majority.
Cracks were appearing in the old Yugoslavia and its ideal of ethnic co-existence, with nationalists of all ethnic groups starting to make their voices heard. The first shots of the wars that would start the final unravelling of the southern Slav federation would soon be fired.
He was elected head of the Kosovo Writers'Association in 1988, which became the main front of non-violent opposition to Serb rule. As Milosevic's grip on the province tightened, the Sorbonne-educated linguist, writer and professor of Albanian literature was chosen to lead the Democratic League of Kosovo. That put him at the helm of the largest movement espousing the dream of independence. He soon was the front man for ethnic Albanian aspirations of a breakwith Serbia.
Rugova wanted to be perceived as a modest leader. Still, his lifestyle drew criticism. He lived in a sprawling villa in one of Pristina's affluent neighbourhoods. For years he did not walk the streets of the capital, travelling instead in bulletproof cars and surrounded by dozens of bodyguards. Little was known of the process of decision-making within the party.
Rugova had many enemies.
He was despised by Serbs who want Kosovo to remain part of Serbia, and ethnic Albanian radicals - particularly former rebel fighters - held deep grudges against him for failing to support the rebel KLA.
Bombs were hurled at his residence and he escaped an apparent assassination attempt in March 2005 when a remotecontrolled bomb damaged his car but left him unscathed.
His popularity was shaken in 1998 when ethnic Albanians began an armed rebellion against Serb forces, triggering two years of fighting which left some 10,000 people dead. The war stopped when Nato air strikes forced Serbia to relinquish control over the province.
His appearance alongside Milosevic, urging an end to the bombing at the height of the conflict, during which ethnic cleansing forced about one million Albanians from their homes, dealt a huge blow to his image. His political opponents - mainly rebel leaders - accused him of treason. He stayed in Italy during the Nato bombing and did not return until the warwas over, leading to accusations of cowardice. Rugova later said Serb security forces had forced him to appear in public and denounce the Nato bombing campaign or face dire "consequences".
But those setbacks dented rather than destroyed his largerthan-life status. He shot back into the political scene after the end of the war, winning all the elections he contested.
Turning the tables on Milosevic three years after their joint television appearance, he testified against him at the UN war crimes tribunal in May 2002.
Beyond his commitment to Kosovo's independence, foreign visitors remembered the softspoken Rugova for his shy smile - and his love of minerals. He frequently presented heads of state and other dignitaries with a sparkling chunk with quartz orpyrite, mined in Kosovo and wrapped in a napkin with the province's presidential seal. Diplomats jokingly measured their popularity through the size of the rocks he gave them.
Though born a Muslim, Rugova showed great admiration for the Roman Catholic Church: a large photograph of him with late Pope John Paul II occupied pride of place on his wall. Rugova met the Pope five times and frequently asked for his blessings and prayers.
In August 2005, he laid the foundation stone for the only cathedral in Kosovo's capital that will bear the name of Mother Teresa, the beatified Albanian nun. It would be one of his last public appearances - and a controversial one in mostly Muslim Kosovo.
Rugova - often called the Gandhi of the Balkans, in an allusion to the Indian leader's epic campaign for independence - died from lung cancer. He leaves a vacuum in the faction-ridden political scene at a crucial time. The province is embarking on the delicate process of negotiating a solution that its ethnic Albanian majority hopes will lead to full independence.
Though diagnosed with cancer last September, Rugova continued to lead the negotiating team for what he hoped would be the final countdown with Serbia. He met regularly with western politicians, insisting on recognition of the province's independence even as he struggled at times to catch his breath.
With his trademark scarf wrapped around his neck, Rugova had cult status among many ethnic Albanians. He was the living symbol of their demand for independence from Serbia since the early 1990s, when he led the nonviolent fight against Serbian repression under Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic.
It will be difficult for any other Kosovo politician to fill his shoes. Rugova won international respect through the peaceful nature of his opposition to Serb dominance, in contrast to other Kosovo Albanians now in positions of leadership, who were part of the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army that fought Serb troops in the 1998-99 war. While Serb forces are considered the main perpetrators of atrocities, several KLA leaders face trial by the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, including former Kosovo prime minister Ramush Haradinaj, an ex-rebel commander.
Rugova's path to prominence started in the late 1980s after he confronted Serb writers in Belgrade and urged equal time, chances and resources for the province and its ethnic Albanian majority.
Cracks were appearing in the old Yugoslavia and its ideal of ethnic co-existence, with nationalists of all ethnic groups starting to make their voices heard. The first shots of the wars that would start the final unravelling of the southern Slav federation would soon be fired.
He was elected head of the Kosovo Writers'Association in 1988, which became the main front of non-violent opposition to Serb rule. As Milosevic's grip on the province tightened, the Sorbonne-educated linguist, writer and professor of Albanian literature was chosen to lead the Democratic League of Kosovo. That put him at the helm of the largest movement espousing the dream of independence. He soon was the front man for ethnic Albanian aspirations of a breakwith Serbia.
Rugova wanted to be perceived as a modest leader. Still, his lifestyle drew criticism. He lived in a sprawling villa in one of Pristina's affluent neighbourhoods. For years he did not walk the streets of the capital, travelling instead in bulletproof cars and surrounded by dozens of bodyguards. Little was known of the process of decision-making within the party.
Rugova had many enemies.
He was despised by Serbs who want Kosovo to remain part of Serbia, and ethnic Albanian radicals - particularly former rebel fighters - held deep grudges against him for failing to support the rebel KLA.
Bombs were hurled at his residence and he escaped an apparent assassination attempt in March 2005 when a remotecontrolled bomb damaged his car but left him unscathed.
His popularity was shaken in 1998 when ethnic Albanians began an armed rebellion against Serb forces, triggering two years of fighting which left some 10,000 people dead. The war stopped when Nato air strikes forced Serbia to relinquish control over the province.
His appearance alongside Milosevic, urging an end to the bombing at the height of the conflict, during which ethnic cleansing forced about one million Albanians from their homes, dealt a huge blow to his image. His political opponents - mainly rebel leaders - accused him of treason. He stayed in Italy during the Nato bombing and did not return until the warwas over, leading to accusations of cowardice. Rugova later said Serb security forces had forced him to appear in public and denounce the Nato bombing campaign or face dire "consequences".
But those setbacks dented rather than destroyed his largerthan-life status. He shot back into the political scene after the end of the war, winning all the elections he contested.
Turning the tables on Milosevic three years after their joint television appearance, he testified against him at the UN war crimes tribunal in May 2002.
Beyond his commitment to Kosovo's independence, foreign visitors remembered the softspoken Rugova for his shy smile - and his love of minerals. He frequently presented heads of state and other dignitaries with a sparkling chunk with quartz orpyrite, mined in Kosovo and wrapped in a napkin with the province's presidential seal. Diplomats jokingly measured their popularity through the size of the rocks he gave them.
Though born a Muslim, Rugova showed great admiration for the Roman Catholic Church: a large photograph of him with late Pope John Paul II occupied pride of place on his wall. Rugova met the Pope five times and frequently asked for his blessings and prayers.
In August 2005, he laid the foundation stone for the only cathedral in Kosovo's capital that will bear the name of Mother Teresa, the beatified Albanian nun. It would be one of his last public appearances - and a controversial one in mostly Muslim Kosovo.
Serbian president not welcome at Rugova funeral
PRISTINA, Serbia and Montenegro, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Kosovo on Tuesday rejected a request from the Serbian president to attend the funeral of president Ibrahim Rugova, icon of the Albanian majority's struggle for independence from Serbia.
"(President Boris) Tadic is not welcome at the funeral, especially after his last comments," a senior government official told Reuters.
Tadic made the request on Monday, saying it would only be proper for the Serbian president to go to Kosovo, "which is part of Serbia's territorial integrity, and pay his respects to the political representative of the Albanian people".
The statement touched a nerve in Kosovo, where thousands of Albanians queued for a second day in temperatures as low as minus 15 Celsius (5 Fahrenheit) for a glimpse of Rugova's flag-draped coffin. The funeral will be held on Thursday.
Serbia has not had formal control over its southern province since 1999, when NATO bombs drove out Serb forces accused of atrocities against Albanian civilians in a two-year war with separatist guerrillas.
Under U.N. control ever since, the 90-percent ethnic Albanian majority is pushing for independence in direct negotiations that were due to begin this week. They were postponed until February after Rugova died of lung cancer on Saturday aged 61.
Newspaper Kosova Sot described Tadic's statement as a provocation. "Serbia's president has not chosen the right moment to express the ambitions of his state towards Kosovo."
Another newspaper, Zeri, quoted a government source as saying no official from Belgrade would be welcome at the funeral.
Tadic's attendance would pose a security headache for the NATO-led peace force. During his first and only visit last year Tadic's convoy was stoned and pelted with eggs in Albanian areas.
Serbia says independence for Kosovo, considered by many Serbs as the cradle of their nation, is out of the question.
But the Albanian majority rejects any return to Serb rule after years of discrimination and often violent repression.
A father-figure to many Kosovo Albanians, Rugova led a decade of passive resistance to Serb domination in the 1990s, creating an underground system of schools and healthcare.
His tactics were eclipsed by the guerrilla Kosovo Liberation Army in 1998-99, but he regained the political ascendancy after the war and was twice elected president.
His death left a political vacuum in Kosovo. Diplomats fear a messy power struggle within his fractious party could delay U.N.-led talks which are seen to be leading to independence.
"(President Boris) Tadic is not welcome at the funeral, especially after his last comments," a senior government official told Reuters.
Tadic made the request on Monday, saying it would only be proper for the Serbian president to go to Kosovo, "which is part of Serbia's territorial integrity, and pay his respects to the political representative of the Albanian people".
The statement touched a nerve in Kosovo, where thousands of Albanians queued for a second day in temperatures as low as minus 15 Celsius (5 Fahrenheit) for a glimpse of Rugova's flag-draped coffin. The funeral will be held on Thursday.
Serbia has not had formal control over its southern province since 1999, when NATO bombs drove out Serb forces accused of atrocities against Albanian civilians in a two-year war with separatist guerrillas.
Under U.N. control ever since, the 90-percent ethnic Albanian majority is pushing for independence in direct negotiations that were due to begin this week. They were postponed until February after Rugova died of lung cancer on Saturday aged 61.
Newspaper Kosova Sot described Tadic's statement as a provocation. "Serbia's president has not chosen the right moment to express the ambitions of his state towards Kosovo."
Another newspaper, Zeri, quoted a government source as saying no official from Belgrade would be welcome at the funeral.
Tadic's attendance would pose a security headache for the NATO-led peace force. During his first and only visit last year Tadic's convoy was stoned and pelted with eggs in Albanian areas.
Serbia says independence for Kosovo, considered by many Serbs as the cradle of their nation, is out of the question.
But the Albanian majority rejects any return to Serb rule after years of discrimination and often violent repression.
A father-figure to many Kosovo Albanians, Rugova led a decade of passive resistance to Serb domination in the 1990s, creating an underground system of schools and healthcare.
His tactics were eclipsed by the guerrilla Kosovo Liberation Army in 1998-99, but he regained the political ascendancy after the war and was twice elected president.
His death left a political vacuum in Kosovo. Diplomats fear a messy power struggle within his fractious party could delay U.N.-led talks which are seen to be leading to independence.
Pope extends his condolences for Rugova's death, praises his 'solid civic virtues'
VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Benedict XVI expressed his condolences Tuesday for the death of Ibrahim Rugova, praising the late Kosovo president's "solid civic virtues" and "generous service" to his fellow citizens.
Rugova died from lung cancer on Saturday at age 61.
In a telegram, the pope extended his "heartfelt condolences for the loss that has hit the Kosovo people and administration, while assuring spiritual closeness in this hour of test."
The pope praised Rugova for "the solid civic virtues that inspired his life and the generous service" to his fellow citizens, said the telegram that Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican's secretary of state, sent on behalf of the pontiff.
Rugova died from lung cancer on Saturday at age 61.
In a telegram, the pope extended his "heartfelt condolences for the loss that has hit the Kosovo people and administration, while assuring spiritual closeness in this hour of test."
The pope praised Rugova for "the solid civic virtues that inspired his life and the generous service" to his fellow citizens, said the telegram that Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican's secretary of state, sent on behalf of the pontiff.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Letter to President Rugova's Family and the People of Kosovo from the President of the United States
The White House
I was deeply saddened by the news of President Ibrahim Rugova's death. For many years, President Rugova led the campaign for peace and democracy in Kosovo, and he earned the world's respect for his principled stand against violence.
The United States has lost a true friend. Throughout years of conflict, Ibrahim Rugova was the voice of reason and moderation that helped Kosovo's people lay the groundwork for a peaceful future. The loss of that voice at this decisive time for Kosovo is particularly tragic. Let me assure you that the United States remains committed to working with all the people of Kosovo to build a future that is stable, democratic and prosperous.
On behalf of the people of the United States , Laura and I extend our condolences to President Rugova's family and to all the people of Kosovo.
Sincerely,
George W. Bush
I was deeply saddened by the news of President Ibrahim Rugova's death. For many years, President Rugova led the campaign for peace and democracy in Kosovo, and he earned the world's respect for his principled stand against violence.
The United States has lost a true friend. Throughout years of conflict, Ibrahim Rugova was the voice of reason and moderation that helped Kosovo's people lay the groundwork for a peaceful future. The loss of that voice at this decisive time for Kosovo is particularly tragic. Let me assure you that the United States remains committed to working with all the people of Kosovo to build a future that is stable, democratic and prosperous.
On behalf of the people of the United States , Laura and I extend our condolences to President Rugova's family and to all the people of Kosovo.
Sincerely,
George W. Bush
U.S. Office ceremony to lower the American flag to half staff, in tribute to the late Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova
President's Statement on Death of President Ibrahim Rugova of Kosovo
I am deeply saddened by the death of President Ibrahim Rugova. For many years, President Rugova led the campaign for peace and democracy in Kosovo. He was a friend of the United States, and he earned the world's respect for his principled stand against violence. Throughout years of conflict, he was a voice of reason and moderation that helped Kosovo's people lay the groundwork for a peaceful future. The United States remains committed to working with the people of Kosovo to build a future that is stable, democratic, and prosperous. On behalf of the people of the United States, Laura and I extend our condolences to President Rugova's family and to the people of Kosovo.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Press mulls Rugova death
Newspapers in Kosovo, Serbia and neighbouring Albania reveal markedly different attitudes towards the death of Kosovo Pesident Ibrahim Rugova.
In Kosovo itself, newspapers carry large front-page pictures of their 61-year-old leader who died from lung cancer on Saturday, and headlines reflect their deep sorrow.
The close affinity of Albania with the ethnic Albanians of Kosovo is reflected in the press there, with headlines echoing their Kosovo counterparts and eulogising the dead president.
In Serbia, which eventually lost control over Kosovo after years of conflict with the ethnic Albanians, newspapers are either critical of Rugova and his people or are more concerned with pragmatic issues like who will be his successor and the move towards independence.
Kosovo's Bota Sot carries a headline: "President Rugova is no more, the Albanian nation is orphaned."
Koha Ditore hails "Ibrahim Rugova - an icon of independence". Another headline proclaims "Kosovo lost its President in the final run-up to Independence".
Express believes the past years have proved to be "Rugova's Epoch". It bids farewell with the headline, "Goodbye Marathon-runner". Lajm calls him simply "The statesman".
In Albania, Ballkan hails Rugova as the "Albanian icon who created an independent Kosovo".
A commentator in the same paper calls him "the last of the Renaissance figures".
Another independent Albanian daily, Gazeta 55, carries the headline: "Rugova was God's gift for Albanians."
Other headlines include: "Rugova, embodiment of noble aspirations for independence" and "Death of a symbol".
The renowned Albanian writer Ismail Kadare is quoted as designating Rugova "one of the leaders of the entire Albanian people".
Two other papers lament that he failed to live to see Kosovo's full independence. "Death separates President of Kosovo Rugova from independence," says Sunday's Albania .
"Independence without Rugova," runs a headline in Gazeta Shqiptare.
In Serbia, the Belgrade daily Glas javnosti carries the headline: "War starts between Albanians".
"The last representative of the moderate Albanian wing has gone. His party has been torn apart by a war involving three factions," says a commentary in the paper.
"The Balkan Ghandi or Kosovo Havel, as he was called by the foreign media, had not been prominent in the attempts to protect the Serbs after the arrival of the UN administration," it concludes.
Vecernje novosti asks "Who will Succeed Rugova". "The richest Albanian, Bexhet Pacoli who is based in Switzerland, has already said that he wants to take over at the helm and take the Kosovo ship to the port of independence."
The Belgrade daily Politika notes that the "Kosovo talks, scheduled to start on 25 January, could be postponed because of the death of Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova".
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/europe/4636646.stm
In Kosovo itself, newspapers carry large front-page pictures of their 61-year-old leader who died from lung cancer on Saturday, and headlines reflect their deep sorrow.
The close affinity of Albania with the ethnic Albanians of Kosovo is reflected in the press there, with headlines echoing their Kosovo counterparts and eulogising the dead president.
In Serbia, which eventually lost control over Kosovo after years of conflict with the ethnic Albanians, newspapers are either critical of Rugova and his people or are more concerned with pragmatic issues like who will be his successor and the move towards independence.
Kosovo's Bota Sot carries a headline: "President Rugova is no more, the Albanian nation is orphaned."
Koha Ditore hails "Ibrahim Rugova - an icon of independence". Another headline proclaims "Kosovo lost its President in the final run-up to Independence".
Express believes the past years have proved to be "Rugova's Epoch". It bids farewell with the headline, "Goodbye Marathon-runner". Lajm calls him simply "The statesman".
In Albania, Ballkan hails Rugova as the "Albanian icon who created an independent Kosovo".
A commentator in the same paper calls him "the last of the Renaissance figures".
Another independent Albanian daily, Gazeta 55, carries the headline: "Rugova was God's gift for Albanians."
Other headlines include: "Rugova, embodiment of noble aspirations for independence" and "Death of a symbol".
The renowned Albanian writer Ismail Kadare is quoted as designating Rugova "one of the leaders of the entire Albanian people".
Two other papers lament that he failed to live to see Kosovo's full independence. "Death separates President of Kosovo Rugova from independence," says Sunday's Albania .
"Independence without Rugova," runs a headline in Gazeta Shqiptare.
In Serbia, the Belgrade daily Glas javnosti carries the headline: "War starts between Albanians".
"The last representative of the moderate Albanian wing has gone. His party has been torn apart by a war involving three factions," says a commentary in the paper.
"The Balkan Ghandi or Kosovo Havel, as he was called by the foreign media, had not been prominent in the attempts to protect the Serbs after the arrival of the UN administration," it concludes.
Vecernje novosti asks "Who will Succeed Rugova". "The richest Albanian, Bexhet Pacoli who is based in Switzerland, has already said that he wants to take over at the helm and take the Kosovo ship to the port of independence."
The Belgrade daily Politika notes that the "Kosovo talks, scheduled to start on 25 January, could be postponed because of the death of Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova".
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/europe/4636646.stm
Saturday, January 21, 2006
Rice Expresses Condolences on Death of Kosovo President Rugova
Secretary of state pledges United States will keep helping Kosovo build democracy
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed her condolences on the death of President Ibrahim Rugova of Kosovo, saying the people of Kosovo have lost a great leader, and the United States a great friend.
Rugova died of lung cancer at his Pristina home on January 21.
In her statement issued later the same day, Rice pledged that the United States would continue to work with the people of Kosovo to build a democratic society as the nation enters "a political process to determine its future."
Direct negotiations were to have started January 25 to decide whether Kosovo, with its ethnic Albanian majority, would win independence or remain part of Serbia. (See related article.)
The Kosovo province of Serbia-Montenegro has been administered by the United Nations since NATO’s 1999 air war drove out Yugoslav Serb forces following widespread human-rights abuses. On October 24, 2005, the U.N. Security Council endorsed final-status talks, which could lead either to independence or greater autonomy for Kosovo, according to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
With Rugova’s funeral now scheduled for January 25, the Reuters news agency quoted United Nations special envoy Martti Ahtisaari as saying those talks in Vienna, Austria, would be rescheduled for early February.
Following is the State Department text of Rice’s statement:
STATEMENT BY SECRETARY OF STATE CONDOLEEZZA RICEDeath of Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova
I wish to express my condolences to the people of Kosovo upon the death of President Ibrahim Rugova. President Rugova led his people through challenging times and earned the world's respect for his advocacy of democracy and peace. Even while battling his final illness, President Rugova worked to bring unity to Kosovo's leaders and hope to its people. The United States has lost a great friend today. The people of Kosovo have lost a great leader.
President Rugova's death comes just as Kosovo enters a political process to determine its future. Despite the loss of his leadership, this process will go on. The United States will continue to work with all the people of Kosovo to build a society based upon the principles of democracy, human rights and inter-ethnic tolerance that President Rugova valued so deeply.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
Annan: Call for unity after leader's death
UN chief Kofi Annan called on political leaders of Kosovo to maintain unity after the death of President Ibrahim Rugova at a "crucial moment" for the province.
"Mr. Rugova passed away at a crucial moment of final preparations for the talks on Kosovo's future status. The secretary general trusts in the maturity of Kosovo's institutions and believes that the loss of Kosovo's president will not disrupt this process," said a statement issued by Annan's spokesman here.
"The secretary general calls upon the Kosovo political leaders to maintain their unity and continue extending their full cooperation to the secretary general's special envoy, Mr Martti Ahtisaari, and his special representative, Mr Soren Jessen-Petersen," it said.
The statement said Annan "shares the grief of the people of Kosovo," and it praised Rugova, who died Saturday at the age of 61 from lung cancer, as a true leader who advocated a peaceful solution for Kosovo.
Rugova's disappearance from the political scene comes at a crucial time for disputed Kosovo's Albanian majority, as it prepares for crucial talks on the future status of the UN-run Serbian territory.
The talks, planned for next week, were postponed following Rugova's death on Saturday.
Kosovo has been run by the United Nations and NATO since June 1999, when the alliance's airstrikes led Serbian forces under Slobodan Milosevic to withdraw from the province, where they had been cracking down on separatist guerrillas.
While the Albanians, representing 90 percent of the population, are demanding independence, Belgrade is only offering broad autonomy for Kosovo, which has deep cultural and historical significance for the Serbs.
"Mr. Rugova passed away at a crucial moment of final preparations for the talks on Kosovo's future status. The secretary general trusts in the maturity of Kosovo's institutions and believes that the loss of Kosovo's president will not disrupt this process," said a statement issued by Annan's spokesman here.
"The secretary general calls upon the Kosovo political leaders to maintain their unity and continue extending their full cooperation to the secretary general's special envoy, Mr Martti Ahtisaari, and his special representative, Mr Soren Jessen-Petersen," it said.
The statement said Annan "shares the grief of the people of Kosovo," and it praised Rugova, who died Saturday at the age of 61 from lung cancer, as a true leader who advocated a peaceful solution for Kosovo.
Rugova's disappearance from the political scene comes at a crucial time for disputed Kosovo's Albanian majority, as it prepares for crucial talks on the future status of the UN-run Serbian territory.
The talks, planned for next week, were postponed following Rugova's death on Saturday.
Kosovo has been run by the United Nations and NATO since June 1999, when the alliance's airstrikes led Serbian forces under Slobodan Milosevic to withdraw from the province, where they had been cracking down on separatist guerrillas.
While the Albanians, representing 90 percent of the population, are demanding independence, Belgrade is only offering broad autonomy for Kosovo, which has deep cultural and historical significance for the Serbs.
Joint statement by SRSG Søren Jessen-Petersen, Assembly Speaker Nexhat Daci, Prime Minister Bajram Kosumi, PDK leader Hashim Thaci, ORA leader
PRISTINA - SRSG Søren Jessen-Petersen, Assembly Speaker Nexhat Daci, Prime Minister Bajram Kosumi, PDK leader Hashim Thaci, ORA leader Veton Surroi, and Co-ordinator of Status Working Groups Blerim Shala met early this evening at UNMIK’s Headquarters in Pristina. Afterwards, they issued the following statement:
“We were all terribly saddened to hear the news that the President passed away this morning. Today, we mourn President Rugova, and we want to express our condolences to his family. Together with the people of Kosovo we are united in our grief and sorrow. Together with the people we are united in our determination to see Kosovo continue on its path towards a peaceful and prosperous future.”
“We were all terribly saddened to hear the news that the President passed away this morning. Today, we mourn President Rugova, and we want to express our condolences to his family. Together with the people of Kosovo we are united in our grief and sorrow. Together with the people we are united in our determination to see Kosovo continue on its path towards a peaceful and prosperous future.”
A Kosovo police officer stands guard at President Ibrahim Rugova's residence as officials arrive to express their condolences in Pristina on Saturday, Jan 21, 2006. Rugova who had been suffering from lung cancer, died on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2006 according to officials. Rugova had been at the forefront of ethnic Albanian demand for independence from Serbia since the early 1990s, when he started leading a nonviolent movement against the policies of Slobodan Milosevic, then president of Yugoslavia. (AP Photo / Visar Kryeziu)
Statement by NATO Secretary General on the death of President Rugova
On behalf of the NATO Alliance, I wish to express my profound condolences at the death of President Ibrahim Rugova of Kosovo after his long illness.
President Rugova will be remembered as a man committed to the idea of a fully democratic, peaceful and multi-ethnic Kosovo. Mr. Rugova’s opposition to violence, including during the difficult years that deset the former Yugoslavia, was both brave and remarkable.
Until the very end, he served the people of Kosovo with conviction. He played a key role in helping Kosovo down the long and often painful road towards reconciliation, lasting peace and stability. I am confident that his example will continue to guide the people of Kosovo at this important time, and into the future.
Source : NATO
President Rugova will be remembered as a man committed to the idea of a fully democratic, peaceful and multi-ethnic Kosovo. Mr. Rugova’s opposition to violence, including during the difficult years that deset the former Yugoslavia, was both brave and remarkable.
Until the very end, he served the people of Kosovo with conviction. He played a key role in helping Kosovo down the long and often painful road towards reconciliation, lasting peace and stability. I am confident that his example will continue to guide the people of Kosovo at this important time, and into the future.
Source : NATO
Statement by Martti Ahtisaari, Special Envoy for the Future status process
"It is with deep regret and sadness that I learned of the passing of President Ibrahim Rugova. I wish first of all to extend my heartfelt condolences and sympathy to President Rugova's family and to the people of Kosovo.
Kosovo has lost a historic leader at this crucial time, as the negotiations on Kosovo's status have entered an important phase. He was the symbol of the aspirations of Kosovo 's people and devoted his life to promoting the rights of the people of Kosovo through peaceful means.
I was very impressed by his vision for the future, his determination to work for a better Kosovo, and his leadership of the negotiation team. I have fond memories of our meeting in Pristina during my first trip to Kosovo after being appointed Special Envoy.
I expect the momentum generated by President Rugova to be sustained, and
that Kosovo's political leaders assume the responsibility to remain unified and actively support our common efforts to realize Kosovo's status.
I reiterate my commitment to leading the status process to culminate in a political settlement that determines the future status of Kosovo."
Kosovo has lost a historic leader at this crucial time, as the negotiations on Kosovo's status have entered an important phase. He was the symbol of the aspirations of Kosovo 's people and devoted his life to promoting the rights of the people of Kosovo through peaceful means.
I was very impressed by his vision for the future, his determination to work for a better Kosovo, and his leadership of the negotiation team. I have fond memories of our meeting in Pristina during my first trip to Kosovo after being appointed Special Envoy.
I expect the momentum generated by President Rugova to be sustained, and
that Kosovo's political leaders assume the responsibility to remain unified and actively support our common efforts to realize Kosovo's status.
I reiterate my commitment to leading the status process to culminate in a political settlement that determines the future status of Kosovo."
Profile of President Ibrahim Rugova
Dr. Ibrahim Rugova was born in Cerce in western Kosovo in 1944, the son of a shopkeeper who was executed after World War II by the advancing Yugoslav Communists.
Nevertheless the son prospered, going on to study linguistics at the Sorbonne in Paris, before becoming a writer and professor of Albanian literature.
He boasts a passion for poetry, mineral rock samples and Sar mountain dogs from the southern Kosovo border area. Rarely seen without a trademark silk scarf, he cuts a distinctive figure.
He was drawn into politics in 1989 after being elected as head of the Kosovo Writers' Union, which became a breeding ground for opposition to the Serbian authorities.
This activism hardened after Belgrade stripped Kosovo of its autonomy later that year, and led to the establishment of Mr Rugova's LDK.
Throughout the 1990s Mr Rugova was seen as the moderate, intellectual face of Albanian opposition to Slobodan Milosevic's Belgrade regime.
His ambivalent attitude and eventual political support for the Albanian guerrillas of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) went largely unquestioned as support grew in the West for military action against Serbia's brutal rule in Kosovo.
But his involuntary appearance alongside Mr Milosevic at the height of the conflict virtually ruined his reputation in Kosovo. Many felt the man who for years had called for Western intervention was now urging Nato to stop the bombing.
Most Albanians were furious, with some accusing him of treason. When the Serb authorities allowed him out of house arrest during the conflict Mr Rugova left the Balkans for Italy, his political career apparently over.
Back in charge
But the man sometimes known as "the Gandhi of the Balkans" returned home and used his experience and pedigree as a proponent of Kosovan nationalism to win the presidency in 2002.
Long before the KLA arrived on the scene in the mid 1990s, Mr Rugova led the parallel government which the Albanians declared at the start of Mr. Milosevic's brutal crackdown.
The LDK was as much a party as a popular social movement. He built the loyalty and trust of the people, which lasted the course.
Ibrahim Rugova campaigned on a pledge to push ahead with demands for full independence from Serbia; members of Kosovo's legislative assembly believed him and voted him into office.
Just a day after the vote, Mr Rugova declared that his first priority as the leader of the victorious party would be to press as fast as possible for sovereignty, and then attend to the economic reconstruction of a province still shattered by war.
He duelled with Mr Milosevic, his old enemy, when called to the stand during the former Yugoslav president's war crimes trial in The Hague.
His home and car have been attacked by bombers, although he has escaped unharmed from each assault.
Nevertheless the son prospered, going on to study linguistics at the Sorbonne in Paris, before becoming a writer and professor of Albanian literature.
He boasts a passion for poetry, mineral rock samples and Sar mountain dogs from the southern Kosovo border area. Rarely seen without a trademark silk scarf, he cuts a distinctive figure.
He was drawn into politics in 1989 after being elected as head of the Kosovo Writers' Union, which became a breeding ground for opposition to the Serbian authorities.
This activism hardened after Belgrade stripped Kosovo of its autonomy later that year, and led to the establishment of Mr Rugova's LDK.
Throughout the 1990s Mr Rugova was seen as the moderate, intellectual face of Albanian opposition to Slobodan Milosevic's Belgrade regime.
His ambivalent attitude and eventual political support for the Albanian guerrillas of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) went largely unquestioned as support grew in the West for military action against Serbia's brutal rule in Kosovo.
But his involuntary appearance alongside Mr Milosevic at the height of the conflict virtually ruined his reputation in Kosovo. Many felt the man who for years had called for Western intervention was now urging Nato to stop the bombing.
Most Albanians were furious, with some accusing him of treason. When the Serb authorities allowed him out of house arrest during the conflict Mr Rugova left the Balkans for Italy, his political career apparently over.
Back in charge
But the man sometimes known as "the Gandhi of the Balkans" returned home and used his experience and pedigree as a proponent of Kosovan nationalism to win the presidency in 2002.
Long before the KLA arrived on the scene in the mid 1990s, Mr Rugova led the parallel government which the Albanians declared at the start of Mr. Milosevic's brutal crackdown.
The LDK was as much a party as a popular social movement. He built the loyalty and trust of the people, which lasted the course.
Ibrahim Rugova campaigned on a pledge to push ahead with demands for full independence from Serbia; members of Kosovo's legislative assembly believed him and voted him into office.
Just a day after the vote, Mr Rugova declared that his first priority as the leader of the victorious party would be to press as fast as possible for sovereignty, and then attend to the economic reconstruction of a province still shattered by war.
He duelled with Mr Milosevic, his old enemy, when called to the stand during the former Yugoslav president's war crimes trial in The Hague.
His home and car have been attacked by bombers, although he has escaped unharmed from each assault.
Croatian president says Rugova's death deprives Kosovo of wise leader
Text of report in English by Croatian news agency HINA
Zagreb, 21 January: The death of President Ibrahim Rugova has deprived Kosovo and Kosovo Albanians of a political leader whose political wisdom and composure would certainly be necessary in a key period which Kosovo is entering, Croatian President Stjepan Mesic has said, expressing his condolence at the death of the 61-year-old president.
I hope and believe that legitimate representatives of Kosovo Albanians will be able to follow the course of action on which Rugova embarked, strongly promoting rights of the Albanian population in Kosovo and at the same time avoiding any extremism that might undermine efforts aimed at the accomplishment of their efforts, Mesic said in a statement which his office released on Saturday [21 January] afternoon.
"Ibrahim Rugova will be remembered not only as a regional politician but also as an unavoidable protagonist in events which took place in the area of the former Yugoslavia in the years after its disintegration. He will be also remembered as a man on whom the international community had every reason to rely while seeking an acceptable solution to the Kosovo issue," Mesic said.
Rugova died in his residence in Pristina on Saturday. Several months ago, he was diagnosed with lung cancer.
Zagreb, 21 January: The death of President Ibrahim Rugova has deprived Kosovo and Kosovo Albanians of a political leader whose political wisdom and composure would certainly be necessary in a key period which Kosovo is entering, Croatian President Stjepan Mesic has said, expressing his condolence at the death of the 61-year-old president.
I hope and believe that legitimate representatives of Kosovo Albanians will be able to follow the course of action on which Rugova embarked, strongly promoting rights of the Albanian population in Kosovo and at the same time avoiding any extremism that might undermine efforts aimed at the accomplishment of their efforts, Mesic said in a statement which his office released on Saturday [21 January] afternoon.
"Ibrahim Rugova will be remembered not only as a regional politician but also as an unavoidable protagonist in events which took place in the area of the former Yugoslavia in the years after its disintegration. He will be also remembered as a man on whom the international community had every reason to rely while seeking an acceptable solution to the Kosovo issue," Mesic said.
Rugova died in his residence in Pristina on Saturday. Several months ago, he was diagnosed with lung cancer.
EU calls for 'unity and responsibility' in Kosovo after Rugova's death
BRUSSELS (AFP) - EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana called on the leaders of Kosovo to show "unity and responsibility" following the death of the province's president, Ibrahim Rugova.
"The loss of President Rugova comes at a particularly challenging time," Solana said in a statement.
"His wisdom and authority will be greatly missed. At this difficult moment I call on all leaders of Kosovo to show unity and responsibility," he added.
Rugova died Saturday of lung cancer, aged 61, only days ahead of the start of talks Wednesday in Vienna on the final status of the province.
The leadership of the charismatic Kosovo leader was considered crucial for the UN-mediated negotiations.
"With him Kosovo has lost a historic leader who devoted his life to protecting and promoting the rights of the people of Kosovo," Solana said.
"President Rugova was a man of peace, firm in the face of oppression, but deeply committed to the ideals of non-violence," he added.
The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, also paid tribute to Rugova, saying in a statement that it "appreciated his work for a peaceful solution to the problems of Kosovo, and encourages all leaders to continue to work in this spirit."
"The loss of President Rugova comes at a particularly challenging time," Solana said in a statement.
"His wisdom and authority will be greatly missed. At this difficult moment I call on all leaders of Kosovo to show unity and responsibility," he added.
Rugova died Saturday of lung cancer, aged 61, only days ahead of the start of talks Wednesday in Vienna on the final status of the province.
The leadership of the charismatic Kosovo leader was considered crucial for the UN-mediated negotiations.
"With him Kosovo has lost a historic leader who devoted his life to protecting and promoting the rights of the people of Kosovo," Solana said.
"President Rugova was a man of peace, firm in the face of oppression, but deeply committed to the ideals of non-violence," he added.
The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, also paid tribute to Rugova, saying in a statement that it "appreciated his work for a peaceful solution to the problems of Kosovo, and encourages all leaders to continue to work in this spirit."
Jacques Chirac Expresses Condolences over Rugova’s Death
French President Jacques Chirac expressed his condolences over the death of the Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova, who died today at the age of 61, Nouvel Observateur reported. “The loss in a moment when the final status of the Serbian province is being discussed, is more than a tragedy”, Chirac said.
“Today, France, which supported Kosovo in the 1990s, expresses its sorrow and condolences over the historical role and the political courage, which inspired Rugova to defend the Kosovo people’s democratic rights for peace in the region”, the French President says in a telegram to Kosovo Parliament Speaker Nexhat Daci.
“Today, France, which supported Kosovo in the 1990s, expresses its sorrow and condolences over the historical role and the political courage, which inspired Rugova to defend the Kosovo people’s democratic rights for peace in the region”, the French President says in a telegram to Kosovo Parliament Speaker Nexhat Daci.
Micheline Calmy-Rey: Why Kosovo should be independent (Koha Ditore)
The paper carries an editorial of Swiss Federal Chancellor where she states the unresolved status of Kosovo represents a huge burden to the region and that the more this lasts the higher will be the risk of situation getting destabilized.
According to Calmy-Rey, around 10 percent of Kosovo’s population lives in Switzerland and ‘as long as status remains undefined, property and legal problems cannot be solved. As long as there is no legal authority or order, no one will want to invest in Kosovo.’
Further Calmy-Rey says that Kosovo, with its current status, cannot afford to borrow money, because it cannot offer guarantees that the money would be returned. People remain unemployed, half of Kosovo youth is so, she said.
She also said that Switzerland stated before the UNSC, that it upholds the idea of immediate status talks on Kosovo, and that putting Kosovo under the sovereignty of Serbia was unimaginable and unwanted.
Speaking on minorities, Calmy-Rey said that her country expects that the majority would respect the rights of Serbs and other communities and that standards should be constantly implemented without any timeframe. Swiss prefers the formula ‘Standards beyond status’ to ‘Standards before status’, ascertained Calmy-Rey.
According to Calmy-Rey, around 10 percent of Kosovo’s population lives in Switzerland and ‘as long as status remains undefined, property and legal problems cannot be solved. As long as there is no legal authority or order, no one will want to invest in Kosovo.’
Further Calmy-Rey says that Kosovo, with its current status, cannot afford to borrow money, because it cannot offer guarantees that the money would be returned. People remain unemployed, half of Kosovo youth is so, she said.
She also said that Switzerland stated before the UNSC, that it upholds the idea of immediate status talks on Kosovo, and that putting Kosovo under the sovereignty of Serbia was unimaginable and unwanted.
Speaking on minorities, Calmy-Rey said that her country expects that the majority would respect the rights of Serbs and other communities and that standards should be constantly implemented without any timeframe. Swiss prefers the formula ‘Standards beyond status’ to ‘Standards before status’, ascertained Calmy-Rey.
STATEMENT BY THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT ON THE DEATH OF PRESIDENT IBRAHIM RUGOVA OF KOSOVO
Following the death of President Ibrahim Rugova of Kosovo, the Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said:
'I want to express my deep sympathy and condolences to all the people of Kosovo on the death of President Ibrahim Rugova. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this difficult time.
'President Rugova was one of the most popular figures in Kosovo. He created an international awareness of, and concern for, the plight of the Kosovo people. In so doing, he always pursued his goals through peaceful means.
'His death comes as a process to determine Kosovo's future status has just begun. This is something that President Rugova long wanted and argued hard for. All the people of Kosovo should continue to work for a stable and multi-ethnic society where all people, regardless of ethnic background, race or religion, are free to live in peace and security. This would be a fitting legacy for President Rugova.'
'I want to express my deep sympathy and condolences to all the people of Kosovo on the death of President Ibrahim Rugova. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this difficult time.
'President Rugova was one of the most popular figures in Kosovo. He created an international awareness of, and concern for, the plight of the Kosovo people. In so doing, he always pursued his goals through peaceful means.
'His death comes as a process to determine Kosovo's future status has just begun. This is something that President Rugova long wanted and argued hard for. All the people of Kosovo should continue to work for a stable and multi-ethnic society where all people, regardless of ethnic background, race or religion, are free to live in peace and security. This would be a fitting legacy for President Rugova.'
Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha reacts as he expresses condolences for the death of Kosovo's President Ibrahim Rugova in Tirana, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2006. Rugova, the ethnic Albanian leader who came to epitomize the province's decades-long struggle for total independence from Serbia, died Saturday without seeing his dream fulfilled. He was 61.(AP Photo/Hektor Pustina)
A Kosovo police guard salutes as Kosovo Prime Minister Bajram Kosumi arrives at President Ibrahim Rugova's residence to express his condolences in Kosovo's capital Pristina on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2006. Rugova who had been suffering from lung cancer, died on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2006 according to officials. Rugova had been at the forefront of ethnic Albanian demand for independence from Serbia since the early 1990s, when he started leading a nonviolent movement against the policies of Slobodan Milosevic, then president of Yugoslavia. (AP Photo / Visar Kryeziu)
Flags fly at half staff on top of Kosovo's President Ibrahim Rugova's residence as Kosovo Police officers guard the building in Kosovo's capital Pristina on Saturday, Jan 21, 2006. Rugova, who had been suffering from lung cancer, died on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2006 according to officials. Rugova had been at the forefront of ethnic Albanian demand for independence from Serbia since the early 1990s, when he started leading a nonviolent movement against the policies of Slobodan Milosevic, then president of Yugoslavia. (AP Photo / Visar Kryeziu)
U.S. army medics who were treating the late cancer striken Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova stand guard at his residence in Kosovo's capital Pristina on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2006. Rugova who had been suffering from lung cancer, died on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2006 according to officials. Rugova had been at the forefront of ethnic Albanian demand for independence from Serbia since the early 1990s, when he started leading a nonviolent movement against the policies of Slobodan Milosevic, then president of Yugoslavia. (AP Photo / Visar Kryeziu)
Breaking News: Talks On Kosovo's Future Status Postponed Until Feb -UN
PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro (AP)--The start of U.N.-mediated talks to determine the future status of Kosovo have been postponed until February following the death of Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova, the spokeswoman for the chief U.N. negotiator said Saturday.
Hua Jiag said face-to-face talks planned for Wednesday in Vienna were postponed "due to the mourning period." The negotiations between Serbs and ethnic Albanians aim to determine whether Kosovo will become independent or remain part of Serbia-Montenegro.
Hua Jiag said face-to-face talks planned for Wednesday in Vienna were postponed "due to the mourning period." The negotiations between Serbs and ethnic Albanians aim to determine whether Kosovo will become independent or remain part of Serbia-Montenegro.
SRSG statement on the passing of President Ibrahim Rugova
PRISTINA - SRSG Søren Jessen-Petersen issued the following statement upon learning of the passing of President Ibrahim Rugova:
“This is a moment of profound sorrow for Kosovo and I share your sadness and grief.
I wish first of all to extend my heartfelt condolences, in my own name and on behalf of all of UNMIK, to President Rugova’s family – may you find strength and comfort in each other and in your faith to see you through this very painful moment.
I also want to extend my condolences to the people of Kosovo and the PISG. President Rugova’s unwavering belief in his vision for Kosovo, which he pursued so determinedly throughout his life, earned him the respect of not only the people of Kosovo but also the wider international community.
I have had the pleasure and privilege of meeting the President very frequently. I will always remember him as a wise, thoughtful, committed and warm person.
It is particularly tragic that President Rugova should leave us at this very decisive moment for the future of Kosovo.
The best tribute we can pay to President Rugova and his legacy is to stay united during the coming months.
Indeed, this is the moment for all the people and political leaders of Kosovo to pull together and show the maturity and wisdom that would serve Kosovo well now and in the future.
President Rugova was a unifying force, a talented and highly-committed leader who continued to work tirelessly for Kosovo until his last days.
He leaves behind a legacy of determination and perseverance, and dialogue.
He will always have a unique place in the history of Kosovo.”
“This is a moment of profound sorrow for Kosovo and I share your sadness and grief.
I wish first of all to extend my heartfelt condolences, in my own name and on behalf of all of UNMIK, to President Rugova’s family – may you find strength and comfort in each other and in your faith to see you through this very painful moment.
I also want to extend my condolences to the people of Kosovo and the PISG. President Rugova’s unwavering belief in his vision for Kosovo, which he pursued so determinedly throughout his life, earned him the respect of not only the people of Kosovo but also the wider international community.
I have had the pleasure and privilege of meeting the President very frequently. I will always remember him as a wise, thoughtful, committed and warm person.
It is particularly tragic that President Rugova should leave us at this very decisive moment for the future of Kosovo.
The best tribute we can pay to President Rugova and his legacy is to stay united during the coming months.
Indeed, this is the moment for all the people and political leaders of Kosovo to pull together and show the maturity and wisdom that would serve Kosovo well now and in the future.
President Rugova was a unifying force, a talented and highly-committed leader who continued to work tirelessly for Kosovo until his last days.
He leaves behind a legacy of determination and perseverance, and dialogue.
He will always have a unique place in the history of Kosovo.”
Kosovo leader Ibrahim Rugova dies
Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova has died after losing a battle with lung cancer, officials have announced.
Mr Rugova, 61, regarded as a moderate ethnic Albanian, came to prominence in the 1990s as leader of the ethnic Albanian resistance against Serbia.
Kosovo has been under UN administration since 1999 when a Nato bombing campaign stopped Serb forces expelling ethnic Albanians during a separatist war.
Rugova's death will complicate talks on the future of Kosovo, observers say.
Friday, January 20, 2006
Kosovars Mourn Slovak NATO Peacekeepers
Kosovo Albanians light candles in the capital Pristina in memory of Slovak soldiers who served in the NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Kosovo on Friday, Jan. 20, 2006. A Slovak military plane crashed into a mountain in eastern Hungary on Thursday night, killing 42 people, mostly peacekeepers returning from the NATO mission in Kosovo. Around 100 Slovak are based in the province as part of the NATO-led peace force. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)
Kosovo leaders regret loss of Slovakian peacekeepers
PRISTINA, Jan 20, 2006 (AFP) -
Senior political and military leaders in Kosovo expressed condolences Friday to Bratislava over the loss of Slovak peacekeepers in an airplane crash in Hungary.
Bajram Kosumi, the prime minister of Kosovo where the peacekeepers were serving, said his government and people were "deeply sorry for the tragic death of Slovakian soldiers while they were returning to their families from their honourable mission in building peace in Kosovo".
"We will honor the memory of the lost soldiers and their professionalism by continuing to operate with the same vigour and enthusiasm they displayed," said Italian General Giuseppe Valotto, commander of NATO-led forces in Kosovo (KFOR).
KFOR has about 17,000 troops from 35 nations.
The soldiers are in charge of establishing and maintaining a secure environment in the province, including public safety and aiding the UN mission in Kosovo.
Kosovo is technically part of Serbia but has been a UN protectorate since NATO intervened in 1999 to end clashes between Serbian forces and separatist guerrillas.
Since their mission started, more than 110 international peacekeepers have lost their lives in Kosovo in various accidents.
Senior political and military leaders in Kosovo expressed condolences Friday to Bratislava over the loss of Slovak peacekeepers in an airplane crash in Hungary.
Bajram Kosumi, the prime minister of Kosovo where the peacekeepers were serving, said his government and people were "deeply sorry for the tragic death of Slovakian soldiers while they were returning to their families from their honourable mission in building peace in Kosovo".
"We will honor the memory of the lost soldiers and their professionalism by continuing to operate with the same vigour and enthusiasm they displayed," said Italian General Giuseppe Valotto, commander of NATO-led forces in Kosovo (KFOR).
KFOR has about 17,000 troops from 35 nations.
The soldiers are in charge of establishing and maintaining a secure environment in the province, including public safety and aiding the UN mission in Kosovo.
Kosovo is technically part of Serbia but has been a UN protectorate since NATO intervened in 1999 to end clashes between Serbian forces and separatist guerrillas.
Since their mission started, more than 110 international peacekeepers have lost their lives in Kosovo in various accidents.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Kosovo's future: Independent thinking
From The Economist print edition
Jan 19th 2006
IF YOU were to assess the future of Kosovo only from the local media, you might think that megaphone diplomacy was all that was happening. Kosovo will be Serbian forever, trumpet Serbia's leaders. The province's Albanian majority retort that nothing less than full independence will do for Kosovo's 2m people, more than 90% of whom are ethnic Albanians. It seems an impasse.
Yet behind the megaphones, tough negotiation has already taken place—albeit not between Serbs and Albanians. Since the end of the Kosovo war in 1999, Serbia's southern province has been under the jurisdiction of the UN, which last November appointed Martti Ahtisaari, a former Finnish president, to start talks on Kosovo's future status. The Serbs and Kosovo Albanians have assembled negotiating teams that are due to meet for the first time next week in Vienna.
But much of the hard bargaining has already happened, among interested outside powers: Britain, France, America and Russia. Given these countries' foreign-policy differences, the degree of consensus on Kosovo is surprising. Even Russian diplomats, who insist publicly that they will back the Serbs, say the opposite in private. The four powers all agree that Kosovo should have “conditional independence”, code for full independence after a transitional period, but with certain safeguards for Kosovo's remaining Serbs.
The only dispute is over tactics. At present, all are pretending that the future of Kosovo is to be settled in Mr Ahtisaari's talks. But in private it is accepted that, since the two sides will never agree, the decisions will have to be taken for them. British diplomats argue that the sooner an explicit guarantee is given to the Kosovo Albanians that independence in some form is coming, the greater the concessions they will be ready to make to Kosovo's 100,000-odd remaining Serbs. The French are more cautious, fearing that going public too soon may mean that the Serbs refuse to engage in any talks at all.
If the outcome is already agreed, what is the point of Mr Ahtisaari's negotiations? The answer, in the words of one diplomat, is that they “are not about the status of Kosovo...[but about] negotiating the status of the Serbs in Kosovo.” The Serbian government may still insist that Kosovo belongs to Serbia under international law, but such a position needs outside backing if it is to be credible. Realising that Russia's support is uncertain, the Serbs appealed last month to France. The French replied that they would support Serbia's legitimate interests, but only if they were realistic—and keeping Kosovo was not that.
A disappointed Boris Tadic, Serbia's president, is now preparing a fallback position. If Kosovo's independence cannot be prevented, he is putting out feelers to see if Serbia can, at least, stop the Kosovo Albanians having their own army and, for the foreseeable future, a separate seat at the UN. The Serbs give warning that, if Kosovo is lost completely, radical nationalists may come to power. A recent poll showed support for the nationalists holding up better than for other parties.
Yet this threat may not be that worrying, either. What would happen if the nationalists were to take control? Not much, shrugs one diplomat. Serbia's choice is, he says, “Belarus or Brussels”—isolation or Europe. As with Hobson's choice, it is really no choice at all.
Jan 19th 2006
IF YOU were to assess the future of Kosovo only from the local media, you might think that megaphone diplomacy was all that was happening. Kosovo will be Serbian forever, trumpet Serbia's leaders. The province's Albanian majority retort that nothing less than full independence will do for Kosovo's 2m people, more than 90% of whom are ethnic Albanians. It seems an impasse.
Yet behind the megaphones, tough negotiation has already taken place—albeit not between Serbs and Albanians. Since the end of the Kosovo war in 1999, Serbia's southern province has been under the jurisdiction of the UN, which last November appointed Martti Ahtisaari, a former Finnish president, to start talks on Kosovo's future status. The Serbs and Kosovo Albanians have assembled negotiating teams that are due to meet for the first time next week in Vienna.
But much of the hard bargaining has already happened, among interested outside powers: Britain, France, America and Russia. Given these countries' foreign-policy differences, the degree of consensus on Kosovo is surprising. Even Russian diplomats, who insist publicly that they will back the Serbs, say the opposite in private. The four powers all agree that Kosovo should have “conditional independence”, code for full independence after a transitional period, but with certain safeguards for Kosovo's remaining Serbs.
The only dispute is over tactics. At present, all are pretending that the future of Kosovo is to be settled in Mr Ahtisaari's talks. But in private it is accepted that, since the two sides will never agree, the decisions will have to be taken for them. British diplomats argue that the sooner an explicit guarantee is given to the Kosovo Albanians that independence in some form is coming, the greater the concessions they will be ready to make to Kosovo's 100,000-odd remaining Serbs. The French are more cautious, fearing that going public too soon may mean that the Serbs refuse to engage in any talks at all.
If the outcome is already agreed, what is the point of Mr Ahtisaari's negotiations? The answer, in the words of one diplomat, is that they “are not about the status of Kosovo...[but about] negotiating the status of the Serbs in Kosovo.” The Serbian government may still insist that Kosovo belongs to Serbia under international law, but such a position needs outside backing if it is to be credible. Realising that Russia's support is uncertain, the Serbs appealed last month to France. The French replied that they would support Serbia's legitimate interests, but only if they were realistic—and keeping Kosovo was not that.
A disappointed Boris Tadic, Serbia's president, is now preparing a fallback position. If Kosovo's independence cannot be prevented, he is putting out feelers to see if Serbia can, at least, stop the Kosovo Albanians having their own army and, for the foreseeable future, a separate seat at the UN. The Serbs give warning that, if Kosovo is lost completely, radical nationalists may come to power. A recent poll showed support for the nationalists holding up better than for other parties.
Yet this threat may not be that worrying, either. What would happen if the nationalists were to take control? Not much, shrugs one diplomat. Serbia's choice is, he says, “Belarus or Brussels”—isolation or Europe. As with Hobson's choice, it is really no choice at all.
EU warns Serbia over Mladic hunt
The EU has warned Serbia that moves towards eventual EU membership may be halted if Belgrade fails to hand over top war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic.
The former Bosnian Serb wartime general has been on the run since 1995. He has been charged with genocide and other crimes related to the Bosnian war.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said suspending negotiations was an option if Belgrade did not co-operate.
The UN's chief war crimes prosecutor said Gen Mladic was hiding in Serbia.
Carla del Ponte accused elements in the Serbian army of sheltering him.
"Mladic is in Serbia, and as you know, Mladic is protected with power of the army," she said after a meeting with Mr Rehn.
She had urged Belgrade to hand over Gen Mladic to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague in 2005.
The former Bosnian Serb political leader, Radovan Karadzic, also tops the list of suspects most wanted by the tribunal.
Belgrade's choice
Mr Rehn warned it would be extremely difficult for the EU to conclude an association agreement with Belgrade unless Gen Mladic and other wanted war crimes suspects were handed over.
An association agreement would be the first step on the road to EU membership for Serbia.
"I hope Belgrade takes this message very seriously and starts acting accordingly," Mr Rehn said.
"The suspension of negotiations is certainly one alternative... Serbia has to choose now between the nationalist past and a European future. I hope they choose the European future."
Ms del Ponte said she wanted to put Gen Mladic in the dock in July, along with the other suspects indicted for the killing of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica - the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II.
The Serbia-Montenegro Defence Minister, Zoran Stankovic, insisted that Belgrade was still looking for Gen Mladic, the Associated Press reported.
He said he had recently met Gen Mladic's wife and son.
"The operation to catch Mladic is under way... All available army personnel are engaged in this," he said.
Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/4629174.stm
The former Bosnian Serb wartime general has been on the run since 1995. He has been charged with genocide and other crimes related to the Bosnian war.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said suspending negotiations was an option if Belgrade did not co-operate.
The UN's chief war crimes prosecutor said Gen Mladic was hiding in Serbia.
Carla del Ponte accused elements in the Serbian army of sheltering him.
"Mladic is in Serbia, and as you know, Mladic is protected with power of the army," she said after a meeting with Mr Rehn.
She had urged Belgrade to hand over Gen Mladic to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague in 2005.
The former Bosnian Serb political leader, Radovan Karadzic, also tops the list of suspects most wanted by the tribunal.
Belgrade's choice
Mr Rehn warned it would be extremely difficult for the EU to conclude an association agreement with Belgrade unless Gen Mladic and other wanted war crimes suspects were handed over.
An association agreement would be the first step on the road to EU membership for Serbia.
"I hope Belgrade takes this message very seriously and starts acting accordingly," Mr Rehn said.
"The suspension of negotiations is certainly one alternative... Serbia has to choose now between the nationalist past and a European future. I hope they choose the European future."
Ms del Ponte said she wanted to put Gen Mladic in the dock in July, along with the other suspects indicted for the killing of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica - the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II.
The Serbia-Montenegro Defence Minister, Zoran Stankovic, insisted that Belgrade was still looking for Gen Mladic, the Associated Press reported.
He said he had recently met Gen Mladic's wife and son.
"The operation to catch Mladic is under way... All available army personnel are engaged in this," he said.
Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/4629174.stm
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Here Comes Montenegro - The Wall Street Journal
By Janusz Bugajski
18 January 2006
(Copyright (c) 2006, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)
It's decision-time in the Western Balkans. As the final status of Kosovo will be determined over the coming months, Serbia and Montenegro are approaching a formal divorce once the smaller of the remaining Yugoslav republics holds a referendum on independence in April.
International involvement is needed to help these three quasi-states resolve all this peacefully and successfully. Attempts to prevent democratic choices for national self-determination would exacerbate conflicts in the years ahead. The alternative to establishing legitimate states is growing nationalist resentments that will be increasingly directed against the EU, NATO and others on the ground in the Balkans.
Although the status of Kosovo took center stage last year with the appointment of former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari as the UN mediator, it is tempting but wrong to link this issue to Montenegro, the mountainous coastal republic of less than a million people, where no international mediation is necessary. Unlike Kosovo, Montenegro was a federal republic in the defunct Yugoslavia with the same right to independence as all countries emerging from this failed state, including Slovenia, now an EU and NATO member.
Montenegro postponed its independence vote three years ago after EU representatives pressured the government in Podgorica to temporarily sacrifice the republic's national aspirations in the hope of pacifying Serbia. But the Serbia-Montenegro Union has proved to be a dysfunctional and expensive arrangement that has worsened relations between the two capitals and slowed down their reform programs.
Some EU diplomats calculate that pressing Montenegro to annul its planned referendum on statehood will compensate Serbia for the loss of Kosovo. But manipulating the destiny of Montenegro will not assuage regional nationalisms. It is likely to further embolden radicals in Serbia and distract attention from the country's internal reforms. It will also generate resentment among the pro-European and pro-American portion of the Montenegrin population that supports independence. Although a narrow majority is in favor of statehood, opinion polls show this to be the most educated, reformist and entrepreneurial part of the population that sees Montenegro's future in the EU and NATO.
Montenegro's governing coalition, led by Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, includes post-communist reformers, social democrats and representatives of the Albanian minority who seek to build a multi-ethnic state based on civic principles rather than ethno-national identity. However, the reform process has been stalled because of Montenegro's isolation from Western institutions and its continuing links with an even less reformed Serbia. Additionally, Belgrade has sought to discredit the independence movement by charging the Montenegrin authorities with criminal connections.
During the Milosevic era, Podgorica kept itself afloat by bypassing international sanctions on ex-Yugoslavia and building its own state institutions in opposition to Milosevic. Montenegro's independence will help to make the government more transparent and its aspirations to join the EU will enable it to meet the required international standards for good governance.
Montenegro's plan to hold a democratic referendum was legitimized by the EU when it established the current State Union. The arrangement stipulated that either republic had the right to hold an independence referendum after three years, and this period expires in February. The EU troika also acknowledged Montenegro's right to a plebiscite once the recommendations of the Venice Commission on voting principles were issued in December. Having validated its compliance with international standards, Podgorica is planning to announce the date of the referendum in the coming weeks.
Paradoxically, one of the longest existing states in the Balkans is poised to be one of the last to restore its independence. While the rest of the peninsula was under Ottoman control for almost 500 years, Montenegro preserved its sovereignty and its royal family was linked by marriage to almost every European monarchy. Serbia deposed the Montenegrin king when it gained control of Montenegro after World War I and manipulated the close ethnic affinity and common language of the two nations to claim that Montenegro was simply a province of Serbia.
Montenegrin officials point out that a reaffirmation of statehood will serve to improve relations with Serbia by removing fears of domination and assimilation. At the same time, borders will become increasingly redundant as both states move toward membership in Europe's institutions.
The greatest benefit to Serbia from casting off Kosovo and Montenegro will be its own independence, which has been thwarted by three failed Yugoslavias. Freed from incessant disputes with Podgorica and Pristina over state structures, administrative responsibilities and financial obligations, Belgrade will finally be in a position to build a strong Serbia, pursue more rigorous structural and economic reforms, and move forward on NATO and EU membership.
The surest path to international integration is through legitimate statehood. Only sovereign countries can enter NATO and the EU, not unstable entities, joint states or international dependencies. If the EU disqualifies any legitimate Balkan state from the European project, it will lose credibility and effectiveness as a democratic bloc. Delaying the status question would increase opportunities for cross-border criminal networks, encourage depopulation as locals escape to the richer EU countries and radicalize a younger generation with diminished prospects for employment. It would be less costly and less disruptive to accept three new countries that commit themselves to a process of Europeanization.
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Mr. Bugajski, director of the New European Democracies project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, is co-author with Ilona Teleki of the "Atlantic Bridges: America's New European Allies," forthcoming from Rowan and Littlefield.
18 January 2006
(Copyright (c) 2006, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)
It's decision-time in the Western Balkans. As the final status of Kosovo will be determined over the coming months, Serbia and Montenegro are approaching a formal divorce once the smaller of the remaining Yugoslav republics holds a referendum on independence in April.
International involvement is needed to help these three quasi-states resolve all this peacefully and successfully. Attempts to prevent democratic choices for national self-determination would exacerbate conflicts in the years ahead. The alternative to establishing legitimate states is growing nationalist resentments that will be increasingly directed against the EU, NATO and others on the ground in the Balkans.
Although the status of Kosovo took center stage last year with the appointment of former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari as the UN mediator, it is tempting but wrong to link this issue to Montenegro, the mountainous coastal republic of less than a million people, where no international mediation is necessary. Unlike Kosovo, Montenegro was a federal republic in the defunct Yugoslavia with the same right to independence as all countries emerging from this failed state, including Slovenia, now an EU and NATO member.
Montenegro postponed its independence vote three years ago after EU representatives pressured the government in Podgorica to temporarily sacrifice the republic's national aspirations in the hope of pacifying Serbia. But the Serbia-Montenegro Union has proved to be a dysfunctional and expensive arrangement that has worsened relations between the two capitals and slowed down their reform programs.
Some EU diplomats calculate that pressing Montenegro to annul its planned referendum on statehood will compensate Serbia for the loss of Kosovo. But manipulating the destiny of Montenegro will not assuage regional nationalisms. It is likely to further embolden radicals in Serbia and distract attention from the country's internal reforms. It will also generate resentment among the pro-European and pro-American portion of the Montenegrin population that supports independence. Although a narrow majority is in favor of statehood, opinion polls show this to be the most educated, reformist and entrepreneurial part of the population that sees Montenegro's future in the EU and NATO.
Montenegro's governing coalition, led by Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, includes post-communist reformers, social democrats and representatives of the Albanian minority who seek to build a multi-ethnic state based on civic principles rather than ethno-national identity. However, the reform process has been stalled because of Montenegro's isolation from Western institutions and its continuing links with an even less reformed Serbia. Additionally, Belgrade has sought to discredit the independence movement by charging the Montenegrin authorities with criminal connections.
During the Milosevic era, Podgorica kept itself afloat by bypassing international sanctions on ex-Yugoslavia and building its own state institutions in opposition to Milosevic. Montenegro's independence will help to make the government more transparent and its aspirations to join the EU will enable it to meet the required international standards for good governance.
Montenegro's plan to hold a democratic referendum was legitimized by the EU when it established the current State Union. The arrangement stipulated that either republic had the right to hold an independence referendum after three years, and this period expires in February. The EU troika also acknowledged Montenegro's right to a plebiscite once the recommendations of the Venice Commission on voting principles were issued in December. Having validated its compliance with international standards, Podgorica is planning to announce the date of the referendum in the coming weeks.
Paradoxically, one of the longest existing states in the Balkans is poised to be one of the last to restore its independence. While the rest of the peninsula was under Ottoman control for almost 500 years, Montenegro preserved its sovereignty and its royal family was linked by marriage to almost every European monarchy. Serbia deposed the Montenegrin king when it gained control of Montenegro after World War I and manipulated the close ethnic affinity and common language of the two nations to claim that Montenegro was simply a province of Serbia.
Montenegrin officials point out that a reaffirmation of statehood will serve to improve relations with Serbia by removing fears of domination and assimilation. At the same time, borders will become increasingly redundant as both states move toward membership in Europe's institutions.
The greatest benefit to Serbia from casting off Kosovo and Montenegro will be its own independence, which has been thwarted by three failed Yugoslavias. Freed from incessant disputes with Podgorica and Pristina over state structures, administrative responsibilities and financial obligations, Belgrade will finally be in a position to build a strong Serbia, pursue more rigorous structural and economic reforms, and move forward on NATO and EU membership.
The surest path to international integration is through legitimate statehood. Only sovereign countries can enter NATO and the EU, not unstable entities, joint states or international dependencies. If the EU disqualifies any legitimate Balkan state from the European project, it will lose credibility and effectiveness as a democratic bloc. Delaying the status question would increase opportunities for cross-border criminal networks, encourage depopulation as locals escape to the richer EU countries and radicalize a younger generation with diminished prospects for employment. It would be less costly and less disruptive to accept three new countries that commit themselves to a process of Europeanization.
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Mr. Bugajski, director of the New European Democracies project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, is co-author with Ilona Teleki of the "Atlantic Bridges: America's New European Allies," forthcoming from Rowan and Littlefield.
Montenegro breakaway vote to be fixed in February
PODGORICA, Serbia and Montenegro, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Montenegro President Filip Vujanovic called for a special February 7 session of parliament on Wednesday to schedule a referendum by the end of April on independence from Serbia.
Vujanovic made the request in a letter to parliamentary speaker Ranko Krivokapic and the speaker promptly complied.
A minimum of 45 days must elapse between setting a date and holding a vote, and the vote must take place before local elections due at the end of April, Vujnaovic's office said.
That leaves a five-week period in which the date can be set.
Montenegro's ruling coalition is intent on holding an independence vote this year to break away from the loose union it formed with Serbia in 2003 under European Union pressure, replacing what was left of Yugoslavia.
The EU would rather not see Montenegro become independent, in order to avoid further messy fragmentation of the Balkans. It has grudgingly acknowledged the Adriatic republic's right to hold the plebiscite, but wants clear, internationally accepted rules so there is no dispute about the outcome. Brussels has appointed Miroslav Lajcak of Slovakia as special envoy to help negotiate the terms of the vote with the Montenegrin government and opposition, which favours preserving the union with Serbia.
The staunchly pro-independence government is certain the result of the vote would be a majority "Yes" for breaking up the state union, despite polls which suggest the republic is split almost down the middle on the issue.
Serbia's 7.5 million people have separate laws and currency from Montenegro's 650,000 and the EU is negotiating separate economic terms for an association agreement, although it says a final deal would be signed with one country - Serbia-Montenegro.
The EU warns that a split would inevitably interrupt Stabilisation and Association Agreement talks on eventual EU membership, a first phase that is supposed to be concluded by the end of the year.
The EU also worries that a divorce between Serbia and Montenegro could complicate talks on the status of United Nations-run Kosovo province, formally a part of Serbia, which started late last year and are expected to end this year.
Vujanovic made the request in a letter to parliamentary speaker Ranko Krivokapic and the speaker promptly complied.
A minimum of 45 days must elapse between setting a date and holding a vote, and the vote must take place before local elections due at the end of April, Vujnaovic's office said.
That leaves a five-week period in which the date can be set.
Montenegro's ruling coalition is intent on holding an independence vote this year to break away from the loose union it formed with Serbia in 2003 under European Union pressure, replacing what was left of Yugoslavia.
The EU would rather not see Montenegro become independent, in order to avoid further messy fragmentation of the Balkans. It has grudgingly acknowledged the Adriatic republic's right to hold the plebiscite, but wants clear, internationally accepted rules so there is no dispute about the outcome. Brussels has appointed Miroslav Lajcak of Slovakia as special envoy to help negotiate the terms of the vote with the Montenegrin government and opposition, which favours preserving the union with Serbia.
The staunchly pro-independence government is certain the result of the vote would be a majority "Yes" for breaking up the state union, despite polls which suggest the republic is split almost down the middle on the issue.
Serbia's 7.5 million people have separate laws and currency from Montenegro's 650,000 and the EU is negotiating separate economic terms for an association agreement, although it says a final deal would be signed with one country - Serbia-Montenegro.
The EU warns that a split would inevitably interrupt Stabilisation and Association Agreement talks on eventual EU membership, a first phase that is supposed to be concluded by the end of the year.
The EU also worries that a divorce between Serbia and Montenegro could complicate talks on the status of United Nations-run Kosovo province, formally a part of Serbia, which started late last year and are expected to end this year.
Anti-UN Protesters In Kosovo Clash With Police; 4 Injured
PRISTINA (AP)--Activists painting anti-U.N. slogans in Kosovo clashed with police Wednesday, slightly injuring four officers, officials said.
The fight was triggered when police moved in to arrest one of the demonstrators in the tense northern town of Kosovska Mitrovica, police spokesman Larry Miller said.
Three people were detained before being released, Miller said.
But Albin Kurti, the leader of the protest group, said two of its members were arrested and beaten inside the police station before being released.
The protesters were from a group calling itself "Self-Determination," which has staged regular protests to demand that the U.N. leave Kosovo and painted slogans opposing the upcoming talks on Kosovo's future.
The group was painting the slogans on U.N. offices in the town, which has been divided for more than six years between an ethnic Albanian south and a Serb-dominated north.
Kosovo has been administered by the U.N. since a 1999 NATO air war halted the Serb offensive.
The ethnic Albanian majority wants independence, while Serbs living in Kosovo demand that it remain part of Serbia. Talks to discuss Kosovo's future are expected to begin next week in the Austrian capital, Vienna. [ 18-01-06 1451GMT ]
The fight was triggered when police moved in to arrest one of the demonstrators in the tense northern town of Kosovska Mitrovica, police spokesman Larry Miller said.
Three people were detained before being released, Miller said.
But Albin Kurti, the leader of the protest group, said two of its members were arrested and beaten inside the police station before being released.
The protesters were from a group calling itself "Self-Determination," which has staged regular protests to demand that the U.N. leave Kosovo and painted slogans opposing the upcoming talks on Kosovo's future.
The group was painting the slogans on U.N. offices in the town, which has been divided for more than six years between an ethnic Albanian south and a Serb-dominated north.
Kosovo has been administered by the U.N. since a 1999 NATO air war halted the Serb offensive.
The ethnic Albanian majority wants independence, while Serbs living in Kosovo demand that it remain part of Serbia. Talks to discuss Kosovo's future are expected to begin next week in the Austrian capital, Vienna. [ 18-01-06 1451GMT ]
Kosovo leader discusses future of contested province with U.N. mediator
VIENNA, Austria (AP) - The leader of Kosovo's largest opposition group, Hashim Thaci, said Wednesday he was optimistic about the outcome of the negotiations on the future of the contested province.
"I am very optimistic about the negotiations process, because what we stand for is something that the Kosovars want," Thaci told reporters in Vienna.
He made the remarks after meeting with the U.N. mediator on Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari, with whom he had discussed the agenda of status talks set to begin Jan. 25.
The talks will focus on the decentralization of Kosovo's administration and the protection of minorities and cultural objects in the contested province.
Ethnic Albanians, who make up 90 percent of Kosovo's 2 million people, want nothing short of full independence. They argue that Serbia lost the right to govern the province following the war that left an estimated 10,000 ethnic Albanians dead.
"What we want is full independence and not autonomy," Thaci said, adding that Kosovo was not the property of Belgrade. "All people of Kosovo will benefit from independence, not just the ethnic Albanians."
Serb leaders, however, insist on keeping at least some formal control over the troubled province -- a place many Serbs consider the heart of their nation.
U.N. officials have said reforming the local government -- with a focus on the rights of Serbs and other minorities in the province -- will be a key factor in determining Kosovo's future status. They see it as a way to forestall the division of the province along ethnic lines.
Ethnic Albanian leaders insist the process is an internal matter for Kosovo and should not be a subject of negotiations with Serbia.
However, they did not oppose the possibility of a meeting to discuss the issue in Vienna.
According to Thaci, the process will start with a one-day meeting on Jan. 25, where both sides will table their positions. On Jan. 31, the foreign ministers of the Contact Group on Kosovo will meet in London with Ahtisaari.
Belgrade and the province's Serbs demand broad autonomy in areas where they constitute a majority. Kosovo's government has put forward a plan that envisages new municipalities run by Serbs, albeit in smaller units than they demanded earlier.
Ahtisaari, a former Finish president, has dealt with Kosovo in the past.
In 1999, he negotiated a deal with then-Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic that put an end to the NATO bombing of Serb forces -- a campaign aimed at stopping the crackdown on independence-seeking ethnic Albanians.
That deal put Kosovo under U.N. administration but left its status unresolved.
"I am very optimistic about the negotiations process, because what we stand for is something that the Kosovars want," Thaci told reporters in Vienna.
He made the remarks after meeting with the U.N. mediator on Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari, with whom he had discussed the agenda of status talks set to begin Jan. 25.
The talks will focus on the decentralization of Kosovo's administration and the protection of minorities and cultural objects in the contested province.
Ethnic Albanians, who make up 90 percent of Kosovo's 2 million people, want nothing short of full independence. They argue that Serbia lost the right to govern the province following the war that left an estimated 10,000 ethnic Albanians dead.
"What we want is full independence and not autonomy," Thaci said, adding that Kosovo was not the property of Belgrade. "All people of Kosovo will benefit from independence, not just the ethnic Albanians."
Serb leaders, however, insist on keeping at least some formal control over the troubled province -- a place many Serbs consider the heart of their nation.
U.N. officials have said reforming the local government -- with a focus on the rights of Serbs and other minorities in the province -- will be a key factor in determining Kosovo's future status. They see it as a way to forestall the division of the province along ethnic lines.
Ethnic Albanian leaders insist the process is an internal matter for Kosovo and should not be a subject of negotiations with Serbia.
However, they did not oppose the possibility of a meeting to discuss the issue in Vienna.
According to Thaci, the process will start with a one-day meeting on Jan. 25, where both sides will table their positions. On Jan. 31, the foreign ministers of the Contact Group on Kosovo will meet in London with Ahtisaari.
Belgrade and the province's Serbs demand broad autonomy in areas where they constitute a majority. Kosovo's government has put forward a plan that envisages new municipalities run by Serbs, albeit in smaller units than they demanded earlier.
Ahtisaari, a former Finish president, has dealt with Kosovo in the past.
In 1999, he negotiated a deal with then-Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic that put an end to the NATO bombing of Serb forces -- a campaign aimed at stopping the crackdown on independence-seeking ethnic Albanians.
That deal put Kosovo under U.N. administration but left its status unresolved.
Czech Republic to send diplomat to U.N. mission in Kosovo
PRAGUE, Jan 18 (CTK) - The Czech Republic intends to open a diplomatic office at the U.N. mission in Kosovo in the next few months, Deputy Foreign Minister Tomas Pojar told CTK today.
The Czech representative who will cooperate with his Slovak counterpart would inform the ministry about developments in the south Serbian province of Kosovo at a time when talks on its future are beginning, Pojar said.
He said that a concrete candidate had not yet been discussed.
"It should be a person who has monitored the developments in the Balkans and Kosovo for a long time and could be either from Prague or a member of the Czech embassy in the region," Pojar said.
At present, the Foreign Ministry receives information from Kosovo from the Czech embassy in Belgrade. Most European Union countries have their representatives in Kosovo, he added.
Regarding the Czech Republic's position on Kosovo, Pojar again stressed that Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek's (senior governing Social Democrats, CSSD) last year's proposal to divide the region along the ethnic lines is not the Czech Republic's official position.
vv/dr/pv
The Czech representative who will cooperate with his Slovak counterpart would inform the ministry about developments in the south Serbian province of Kosovo at a time when talks on its future are beginning, Pojar said.
He said that a concrete candidate had not yet been discussed.
"It should be a person who has monitored the developments in the Balkans and Kosovo for a long time and could be either from Prague or a member of the Czech embassy in the region," Pojar said.
At present, the Foreign Ministry receives information from Kosovo from the Czech embassy in Belgrade. Most European Union countries have their representatives in Kosovo, he added.
Regarding the Czech Republic's position on Kosovo, Pojar again stressed that Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek's (senior governing Social Democrats, CSSD) last year's proposal to divide the region along the ethnic lines is not the Czech Republic's official position.
vv/dr/pv
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Talks near on Kosovo's future - Granting Independence for Kosovo
By Nicholas Wood The New York Times
TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2006
BABIN MOST, Kosovo The concrete barrier that encircles this Serbian village is supposed to prevent anyone traveling on one of the main roads of Kosovo from taking a potshot at any of its 1,000 inhabitants.
The last attack was in 2000 when two Kosovo Albanian gunmen shot and killed a local Serb shopkeeper and the wall, 4 meters, or more than 12 feet, high was built as a defense.
Its continued existence is a reminder of the deep divisions remaining despite six and half years of international supervision of Kosovo, a province of Serbia that is populated chiefly by separatist ethnic Albanians.
On Jan. 25, talks are to start in Vienna that both Serb and Albanian leaders hope will lead to the removal of the barrier in Babin Most and others like it.
Interethnic violence has bubbled up ever since Kosovo was placed under the authority of the United Nations in June 1999. At the time Serb-led security forces, accused of widespread atrocities in the province, were forced to leave under the weight of a NATO bombing campaign. To this day, Serb and Albanian communities live overwhelmingly separate lives.
International officials say that without an agreement on the province's future, there is little chance of reconciliation.
The negotiations chaired by Martti Ahtissari, a former Finnish president and a veteran negotiator, were approved by the UN in October and ultimately will determine whether Kosovo becomes an independent state, the goal desired by the ethnic Albanian majority, or remains a part of Serbia.
That core issue is one of the most intractable problems left over from the breakup of Yugoslavia, a process that began with the wars of the 1990s.
Serbs regard Kosovo as intrinsically linked with their religion, history and identity. But Albanians make up more than 90 percent of the population and after brutal repression during the 1990s are adamantly opposed to a return to Serbian rule.
Officials in the Serbian capital, Belgrade, rule out independence for Kosovo but, speaking practically, they concede that they cannot regain control over the province. They have ruled out direct rule from Belgrade, and acknowledge that a return of Serbian forces could provoke a new conflict.
"We don't want to have troops that could be seen as an occupying force," said Alexander Simic, an adviser to the Serbian prime minister, Vojislav Kostunica, and the Serbian negotiating team. "We don't want to provoke the future instability of the region."
Still there are many problems.
The negotiations, which are expected to last at least throughout the summer, are to cover the protection of Serb patrimonial and cultural sights in Kosovo, the freedom of movement of minorities and the protection of minority rights in a new constitution.
Both sides agree that the key to reconciliation lies in giving those Serbs living in Kosovo more say in running their affairs. By this, both the UN and the Albanian majority tacitly agree that the current government in Kosovo has failed to meet the needs of the Serbs.
"If I get a traffic ticket I have to go to Pristina to pay it," said Zlatibor Ristic, a Serb living in Babin Most, referring to the provincial capital. "But in order to go to Pristina, I have to have a police escort, because it is too dangerous for Serbs to travel alone there."
The Serb government in Belgrade wants to establish municipalities in areas with Serbian majorities so they can elect and appoint Serbs to the police, the judiciary and to health and education postings.
These issues will quickly touch on matters of sovereignty, where there seems to be little room for compromise.
Albanian negotiators say they may be willing to grant a degree of autonomy to Serb-dominated localities provided that they are linked to the government in Pristina in a Kosovo that is independent. But the Serbs refuse to countenance discussions of Kosovo's independence from Belgrade.
Albanians also worry that the Serbs will try to link the municipalities into "entities" linked to Belgrade. That, the Albanians fear, could lead to new divisions and undercut an independent Kosovo.
"This is code for partition," said Blerim Shala, technical coordinator for the Kosovo Albanian team. "Even the smell of partition is problematic for Albanians and also for the international community."
Other hurdles exist away from the negotiation room.
In Belgrade, the government has a slim working majority in Parliament and may call elections this spring. That could delay the completion of talks by several months.
Also, the head of the Albanian team, Ibrahim Rugova, the president of Kosovo, is being treated for cancer and is not expected to see the end of negotiating process. His death could provoke a fierce dispute over his successor as the leader of Kosovo's largest ethnic Albanian party, the Democratic League of Kosovo.
Western diplomats do not want the negotiations to drag out, fearing that if they do, extremist sentiment could revive.
At a certain point, according to these diplomats in the region and Western capitals, a solution might have to be imposed by the West, granting independence for Kosovo and certain rights for the Serbs living there.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2006
BABIN MOST, Kosovo The concrete barrier that encircles this Serbian village is supposed to prevent anyone traveling on one of the main roads of Kosovo from taking a potshot at any of its 1,000 inhabitants.
The last attack was in 2000 when two Kosovo Albanian gunmen shot and killed a local Serb shopkeeper and the wall, 4 meters, or more than 12 feet, high was built as a defense.
Its continued existence is a reminder of the deep divisions remaining despite six and half years of international supervision of Kosovo, a province of Serbia that is populated chiefly by separatist ethnic Albanians.
On Jan. 25, talks are to start in Vienna that both Serb and Albanian leaders hope will lead to the removal of the barrier in Babin Most and others like it.
Interethnic violence has bubbled up ever since Kosovo was placed under the authority of the United Nations in June 1999. At the time Serb-led security forces, accused of widespread atrocities in the province, were forced to leave under the weight of a NATO bombing campaign. To this day, Serb and Albanian communities live overwhelmingly separate lives.
International officials say that without an agreement on the province's future, there is little chance of reconciliation.
The negotiations chaired by Martti Ahtissari, a former Finnish president and a veteran negotiator, were approved by the UN in October and ultimately will determine whether Kosovo becomes an independent state, the goal desired by the ethnic Albanian majority, or remains a part of Serbia.
That core issue is one of the most intractable problems left over from the breakup of Yugoslavia, a process that began with the wars of the 1990s.
Serbs regard Kosovo as intrinsically linked with their religion, history and identity. But Albanians make up more than 90 percent of the population and after brutal repression during the 1990s are adamantly opposed to a return to Serbian rule.
Officials in the Serbian capital, Belgrade, rule out independence for Kosovo but, speaking practically, they concede that they cannot regain control over the province. They have ruled out direct rule from Belgrade, and acknowledge that a return of Serbian forces could provoke a new conflict.
"We don't want to have troops that could be seen as an occupying force," said Alexander Simic, an adviser to the Serbian prime minister, Vojislav Kostunica, and the Serbian negotiating team. "We don't want to provoke the future instability of the region."
Still there are many problems.
The negotiations, which are expected to last at least throughout the summer, are to cover the protection of Serb patrimonial and cultural sights in Kosovo, the freedom of movement of minorities and the protection of minority rights in a new constitution.
Both sides agree that the key to reconciliation lies in giving those Serbs living in Kosovo more say in running their affairs. By this, both the UN and the Albanian majority tacitly agree that the current government in Kosovo has failed to meet the needs of the Serbs.
"If I get a traffic ticket I have to go to Pristina to pay it," said Zlatibor Ristic, a Serb living in Babin Most, referring to the provincial capital. "But in order to go to Pristina, I have to have a police escort, because it is too dangerous for Serbs to travel alone there."
The Serb government in Belgrade wants to establish municipalities in areas with Serbian majorities so they can elect and appoint Serbs to the police, the judiciary and to health and education postings.
These issues will quickly touch on matters of sovereignty, where there seems to be little room for compromise.
Albanian negotiators say they may be willing to grant a degree of autonomy to Serb-dominated localities provided that they are linked to the government in Pristina in a Kosovo that is independent. But the Serbs refuse to countenance discussions of Kosovo's independence from Belgrade.
Albanians also worry that the Serbs will try to link the municipalities into "entities" linked to Belgrade. That, the Albanians fear, could lead to new divisions and undercut an independent Kosovo.
"This is code for partition," said Blerim Shala, technical coordinator for the Kosovo Albanian team. "Even the smell of partition is problematic for Albanians and also for the international community."
Other hurdles exist away from the negotiation room.
In Belgrade, the government has a slim working majority in Parliament and may call elections this spring. That could delay the completion of talks by several months.
Also, the head of the Albanian team, Ibrahim Rugova, the president of Kosovo, is being treated for cancer and is not expected to see the end of negotiating process. His death could provoke a fierce dispute over his successor as the leader of Kosovo's largest ethnic Albanian party, the Democratic League of Kosovo.
Western diplomats do not want the negotiations to drag out, fearing that if they do, extremist sentiment could revive.
At a certain point, according to these diplomats in the region and Western capitals, a solution might have to be imposed by the West, granting independence for Kosovo and certain rights for the Serbs living there.
Serbs In Kosovo Demand Separation From Ethnic Albanians
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Serbia-Montenegro (AP)--Kosovo Serbs on Tuesday demanded autonomy for their dwindling community, and called for a "decentralization" of the troubled province that would effectively keep them apart from Kosovo's dominant ethnic Albanians.
Anticipating that upcoming international talks on Kosovo's future may meet the ethnic Albanian demands for Kosovo's independence from Serbia, the Association of Serb Communities in Kosovo issued a proclamation saying that "whatever the ( ethnic) Albanians are given in relation to Belgrade, (Kosovo) Serbs must get the same from Pristina."
Pristina is the capital of Kosovo, the southern province that has been a U.N. and NATO protectorate since the 1998-1999 war between Serbs and ethnic Albanians.
NATO bombing in 1999 forced Serbia to relinquish control over its southern province, the final status of which is to be decided this year under the auspices of the U.S., Russia, the U.K., France, Germany and Italy.
About 200,000 Serbs fled Kosovo in 1999, and the remaining 100,000 mostly live in scattered enclaves, under occasional attacks by ethnic Albanian militants.
The leader of the Association of Serb Communities in Kosovo, Marko Jaksic, said that "if (ethnic) Albanians do not wish that Belgrade rules over them, there is no reason for Pristina to rule over Serbs" in Kosovo.
He described the decentralization as allowing self-rule to the Serb enclaves in Kosovo, where ethnic Albanians make up about 90% of the population.
"Decentralization is the key factor for our survival and the possible return of Serb refugees" to their Kosovo homes, he said.
Anticipating that upcoming international talks on Kosovo's future may meet the ethnic Albanian demands for Kosovo's independence from Serbia, the Association of Serb Communities in Kosovo issued a proclamation saying that "whatever the ( ethnic) Albanians are given in relation to Belgrade, (Kosovo) Serbs must get the same from Pristina."
Pristina is the capital of Kosovo, the southern province that has been a U.N. and NATO protectorate since the 1998-1999 war between Serbs and ethnic Albanians.
NATO bombing in 1999 forced Serbia to relinquish control over its southern province, the final status of which is to be decided this year under the auspices of the U.S., Russia, the U.K., France, Germany and Italy.
About 200,000 Serbs fled Kosovo in 1999, and the remaining 100,000 mostly live in scattered enclaves, under occasional attacks by ethnic Albanian militants.
The leader of the Association of Serb Communities in Kosovo, Marko Jaksic, said that "if (ethnic) Albanians do not wish that Belgrade rules over them, there is no reason for Pristina to rule over Serbs" in Kosovo.
He described the decentralization as allowing self-rule to the Serb enclaves in Kosovo, where ethnic Albanians make up about 90% of the population.
"Decentralization is the key factor for our survival and the possible return of Serb refugees" to their Kosovo homes, he said.
Not-So-Great Pretender
By Stephen Schwartz
The Weekly Standard
23 January 2006
Weekly Standard
Volume 11 Issue 18
English
Copyright (c) 2006, News Corporation, Weekly Standard. All Rights Reserved
The Successor
by Ismail Kadare
Arcade, 216 pp., $24
ISMAIL KADARE IS THE ONLY Albanian intellectual well known outside the lands where that language is spoken. The Successor, originally published in 2003, is his most recent novel rendered in English. The word "translation" does not really apply here because David Bellos, a Princeton professor of French, does not know Albanian, and reworked this version, and his earlier such efforts with Kadare's writings, from French editions.
Kadare's novels fall into two categories. Volumes like Doruntine, published here in 1990, The Three-Arched Bridge (1997), Broken April (1998), and Spring Flowers, Spring Frost (2002) revive ancient Balkan legends. They sometimes center on a woeful but enduring tradition, the blood feud, which remains a serious problem in northern Albania.
These titles have been successful with Western readers thanks to their exoticism, an occasional air of menace and suspense, and touches of romance. The other stream of Kadare narratives is political: The General of the Dead Army, published here in 1990, and The Concert (1998). They reproduce the ideological issues and convoluted relationships in Communist Albania under the dictatorship created by Enver Hoxha, who ruled the country from 1944 until his death in 1985.
The common element in all of Kadare's fiction is stylistic detachment. The landscape of the Albanian lands is diverse and sometimes spectacular: the high, stunningly lonely peaks known as "the Accursed Mountains," and other impressive ranges, as well as immense lakes and the green fields of Kosovo. Greek, Roman, Slav, Venetian, and Ottoman architectural gems are numerous. But Kadare does not excel at description, and seems a stranger in his native country, even as his stories, which transpire mainly in the minds of his characters, incorporate many an obscure note. These include references to the Kanun, or Albanian customary law, which must be incomprehensible to foreigners. Anyone who has traveled among the Albanians cannot but wonder what impression Kadare's tales make on those who have not. Still, their disengaged temper and insubstantial tissue, set in a fantasy land best called Kadaria, appeal to Western European readers, who take them as simple, undemanding fables perfect for beach reading.
The Successor stands among Kadare's works with overtly political themes, but its indeterminate and formulaic style serves as a thin shroud for its subject: The very real death, in December 1981, in the capital of Tirana, of Mehmet Shehu, the 68-year-old second-in-command to Hoxha. This book may be called a roman à clef--but only barely, since its dust jacket and other publicity matter explicitly identify it with Shehu's demise. It never names the two main figures, Hoxha and Shehu, except as the Guide and (eponymously) the Successor. Yet an introductory note by Kadare states that the resemblance of the characters and circumstances in the book to real individuals and events is "inevitable." As will be seen, it is genuinely fictional, but in a way destined to be overlooked by most non-Albanians.
Kadare presents the death of Shehu as a mystery, and the primary enigma is whether Shehu killed himself or was murdered. A number of potential suspects are introduced, ranging from the dictator to the dead man's wife, and from a potential successor to the Successor to an architect working on the Successor's residence. Much of the plot is taken up with speculation, and even dreams, about these figures. It is also revealed, in passing, that the Successor's daughter Suzana has been involved with a man whose family has roots in the pre-Communist epoch and who is, therefore, politically suspect. In Kadare's quotation from the rhetoric of the time, the Successor "had pushed his daughter into the enemy's clutches."
But finally, The Successor's recounting of the Shehu case is evanescent, ending in confusion. Phrases in Hungarian and Mongolian are gratuitously introduced, apparently to heighten the sense of the bizarre. The final chapter is a monologue by the dead Shehu, which leaves the "mystery" unresolved.
And now, the backstory. In reality, there is little that is puzzling about the death of Mehmet Shehu, aside from whether he was simply killed outright or forced to commit "suicide." From the moment of his death, everybody in Albania and abroad understood that Hoxha, dominated by paranoia, had eliminated a rival--by no means the first, or the only one, whose liquidation was arbitrary and brutal. Mehmet Shehu, an adventurer and soldier, had always excited jealousy in the feckless and effete Hoxha, who affected expensive Italian suits and boutique footwear, and preferred party offices to army fortresses.
By contrast, Shehu was a veteran of the International Brigades in the Spanish civil war, where, like other Albanians, he refused assignment to a battalion under Yugoslav Communist officers. The Albanians preferred to fight alongside the Italian antifascists, which appears logical since Mussolini sent mercenaries to Spain while pursuing imperialist designs on the small Balkan land. (More important, the Albanians feared and distrusted all Serbs, including Communists.) Shehu was a battlefield commander of Albanian partisans during World War II, and became a notably cruel Communist boss in his own right. When Albania sided with China against Russia at the beginning of the 1960s, Shehu was said by Anastas Mikoyan to have declared, "Anyone who disagrees with our leadership on any point will get spit in the face, a blow on his chin, and, if necessary, a bullet in his head."
The immediate pretext for Shehu's downfall has long been known--the seemingly trivial romantic alliance of his child with a member of an anti-Communist family, as mentioned in The Successor without serious elaboration. In the real incident, a wedding engagement linked a son of Shehu, rather than a daughter, with a relative of Arshi Pipa, a dissident author and scholar. Pipa defected to the United States in 1958 and died in Washington in 1997. Although Muslim, Pipa was a strong defender of the Catholic minority in Albania, a particular bête noire of Hoxha. After Shehu's death, Hoxha produced a thick book entitled The Titoites, portraying Shehu as a traitor beginning with his service in Spain, and specifically condemning him for letting a member of his tribe consort with the clan of Pipa.
Ismail Kadare, a long-serving functionary of the Democratic Front, the Albanian ruling authority under communism, does not come to the Shehu-Pipa case with clean hands. In 1990, while the Albanian Communists still enjoyed absolute power, the future author of The Successor published a book titled Invitation to the Studio. (He then left for France, where sales of his writing in translation had provided him with a respectable bank account.) In Invitation to the Studio, Kadare denounced Pipa as "diabolical; to his misfortune mediocre; a snitch; absolutely a spy; an old hyena; a new Salieri." Kadare referred to this Muslim opponent of dictatorship by the Serbian name Pipitch, which he compared to the sound of urination. Kadare himself thus contributed to the original and unmysterious mystification about the death of Shehu. If anyone alive knows the truth of how Shehu perished, it is Ismail Kadare--but he has chosen not to disclose it.
The Successor is, then, truly fictional in its intentional blurring of the facts in the Shehu case--not for literary purposes, but to shield Kadare himself. Since his departure from Albania, Kadare has made an extraordinary effort to present himself as an anti-Hoxha dissident when, in fact, he was a figurehead for the most tyrannical order in Balkan history, and a persecutor of intellectual dissidents. Kadare has been fairly successful at this game among non-Albanians; earlier this year he was awarded the first Man Booker International Prize by clueless judges who treated him as a champion of creative freedom. But this led to numerous protests by Albanians and their friends, as well as by experts on Albanian culture and history, who are not fooled. It has also led, in response, to loud, defensive squeals from Professor Bellos at Princeton, who has made the promotion of Kadare his main résumé item.
Such is the state of literature today. A Communist hack reinvents himself as a martyr to liberty; his books, in a little-known language, are introduced to American readers by a man "translating" at second hand, missing references and nuances present in a foreign idiom. Prizes are awarded, and the chests of bien-pensants swell with pride.
Kadare has tried for years to get the Nobel Prize. Given the recent record of the Swedish Academy in presenting that honor to such charlatans as last year's recipient, Harold Pinter, Kadare should not have much longer to wait. But Albanians have enduring memories--strong enough to recall the case of Mehmet Shehu without help from an obfuscating novelist--and should Kadare get the Nobel Prize, Albanians and their genuine friends will not be fooled.
Stephen Schwartz has published three books in Albanian, including a recent translation of The Two Faces of Islam.
The Weekly Standard
23 January 2006
Weekly Standard
Volume 11 Issue 18
English
Copyright (c) 2006, News Corporation, Weekly Standard. All Rights Reserved
The Successor
by Ismail Kadare
Arcade, 216 pp., $24
ISMAIL KADARE IS THE ONLY Albanian intellectual well known outside the lands where that language is spoken. The Successor, originally published in 2003, is his most recent novel rendered in English. The word "translation" does not really apply here because David Bellos, a Princeton professor of French, does not know Albanian, and reworked this version, and his earlier such efforts with Kadare's writings, from French editions.
Kadare's novels fall into two categories. Volumes like Doruntine, published here in 1990, The Three-Arched Bridge (1997), Broken April (1998), and Spring Flowers, Spring Frost (2002) revive ancient Balkan legends. They sometimes center on a woeful but enduring tradition, the blood feud, which remains a serious problem in northern Albania.
These titles have been successful with Western readers thanks to their exoticism, an occasional air of menace and suspense, and touches of romance. The other stream of Kadare narratives is political: The General of the Dead Army, published here in 1990, and The Concert (1998). They reproduce the ideological issues and convoluted relationships in Communist Albania under the dictatorship created by Enver Hoxha, who ruled the country from 1944 until his death in 1985.
The common element in all of Kadare's fiction is stylistic detachment. The landscape of the Albanian lands is diverse and sometimes spectacular: the high, stunningly lonely peaks known as "the Accursed Mountains," and other impressive ranges, as well as immense lakes and the green fields of Kosovo. Greek, Roman, Slav, Venetian, and Ottoman architectural gems are numerous. But Kadare does not excel at description, and seems a stranger in his native country, even as his stories, which transpire mainly in the minds of his characters, incorporate many an obscure note. These include references to the Kanun, or Albanian customary law, which must be incomprehensible to foreigners. Anyone who has traveled among the Albanians cannot but wonder what impression Kadare's tales make on those who have not. Still, their disengaged temper and insubstantial tissue, set in a fantasy land best called Kadaria, appeal to Western European readers, who take them as simple, undemanding fables perfect for beach reading.
The Successor stands among Kadare's works with overtly political themes, but its indeterminate and formulaic style serves as a thin shroud for its subject: The very real death, in December 1981, in the capital of Tirana, of Mehmet Shehu, the 68-year-old second-in-command to Hoxha. This book may be called a roman à clef--but only barely, since its dust jacket and other publicity matter explicitly identify it with Shehu's demise. It never names the two main figures, Hoxha and Shehu, except as the Guide and (eponymously) the Successor. Yet an introductory note by Kadare states that the resemblance of the characters and circumstances in the book to real individuals and events is "inevitable." As will be seen, it is genuinely fictional, but in a way destined to be overlooked by most non-Albanians.
Kadare presents the death of Shehu as a mystery, and the primary enigma is whether Shehu killed himself or was murdered. A number of potential suspects are introduced, ranging from the dictator to the dead man's wife, and from a potential successor to the Successor to an architect working on the Successor's residence. Much of the plot is taken up with speculation, and even dreams, about these figures. It is also revealed, in passing, that the Successor's daughter Suzana has been involved with a man whose family has roots in the pre-Communist epoch and who is, therefore, politically suspect. In Kadare's quotation from the rhetoric of the time, the Successor "had pushed his daughter into the enemy's clutches."
But finally, The Successor's recounting of the Shehu case is evanescent, ending in confusion. Phrases in Hungarian and Mongolian are gratuitously introduced, apparently to heighten the sense of the bizarre. The final chapter is a monologue by the dead Shehu, which leaves the "mystery" unresolved.
And now, the backstory. In reality, there is little that is puzzling about the death of Mehmet Shehu, aside from whether he was simply killed outright or forced to commit "suicide." From the moment of his death, everybody in Albania and abroad understood that Hoxha, dominated by paranoia, had eliminated a rival--by no means the first, or the only one, whose liquidation was arbitrary and brutal. Mehmet Shehu, an adventurer and soldier, had always excited jealousy in the feckless and effete Hoxha, who affected expensive Italian suits and boutique footwear, and preferred party offices to army fortresses.
By contrast, Shehu was a veteran of the International Brigades in the Spanish civil war, where, like other Albanians, he refused assignment to a battalion under Yugoslav Communist officers. The Albanians preferred to fight alongside the Italian antifascists, which appears logical since Mussolini sent mercenaries to Spain while pursuing imperialist designs on the small Balkan land. (More important, the Albanians feared and distrusted all Serbs, including Communists.) Shehu was a battlefield commander of Albanian partisans during World War II, and became a notably cruel Communist boss in his own right. When Albania sided with China against Russia at the beginning of the 1960s, Shehu was said by Anastas Mikoyan to have declared, "Anyone who disagrees with our leadership on any point will get spit in the face, a blow on his chin, and, if necessary, a bullet in his head."
The immediate pretext for Shehu's downfall has long been known--the seemingly trivial romantic alliance of his child with a member of an anti-Communist family, as mentioned in The Successor without serious elaboration. In the real incident, a wedding engagement linked a son of Shehu, rather than a daughter, with a relative of Arshi Pipa, a dissident author and scholar. Pipa defected to the United States in 1958 and died in Washington in 1997. Although Muslim, Pipa was a strong defender of the Catholic minority in Albania, a particular bête noire of Hoxha. After Shehu's death, Hoxha produced a thick book entitled The Titoites, portraying Shehu as a traitor beginning with his service in Spain, and specifically condemning him for letting a member of his tribe consort with the clan of Pipa.
Ismail Kadare, a long-serving functionary of the Democratic Front, the Albanian ruling authority under communism, does not come to the Shehu-Pipa case with clean hands. In 1990, while the Albanian Communists still enjoyed absolute power, the future author of The Successor published a book titled Invitation to the Studio. (He then left for France, where sales of his writing in translation had provided him with a respectable bank account.) In Invitation to the Studio, Kadare denounced Pipa as "diabolical; to his misfortune mediocre; a snitch; absolutely a spy; an old hyena; a new Salieri." Kadare referred to this Muslim opponent of dictatorship by the Serbian name Pipitch, which he compared to the sound of urination. Kadare himself thus contributed to the original and unmysterious mystification about the death of Shehu. If anyone alive knows the truth of how Shehu perished, it is Ismail Kadare--but he has chosen not to disclose it.
The Successor is, then, truly fictional in its intentional blurring of the facts in the Shehu case--not for literary purposes, but to shield Kadare himself. Since his departure from Albania, Kadare has made an extraordinary effort to present himself as an anti-Hoxha dissident when, in fact, he was a figurehead for the most tyrannical order in Balkan history, and a persecutor of intellectual dissidents. Kadare has been fairly successful at this game among non-Albanians; earlier this year he was awarded the first Man Booker International Prize by clueless judges who treated him as a champion of creative freedom. But this led to numerous protests by Albanians and their friends, as well as by experts on Albanian culture and history, who are not fooled. It has also led, in response, to loud, defensive squeals from Professor Bellos at Princeton, who has made the promotion of Kadare his main résumé item.
Such is the state of literature today. A Communist hack reinvents himself as a martyr to liberty; his books, in a little-known language, are introduced to American readers by a man "translating" at second hand, missing references and nuances present in a foreign idiom. Prizes are awarded, and the chests of bien-pensants swell with pride.
Kadare has tried for years to get the Nobel Prize. Given the recent record of the Swedish Academy in presenting that honor to such charlatans as last year's recipient, Harold Pinter, Kadare should not have much longer to wait. But Albanians have enduring memories--strong enough to recall the case of Mehmet Shehu without help from an obfuscating novelist--and should Kadare get the Nobel Prize, Albanians and their genuine friends will not be fooled.
Stephen Schwartz has published three books in Albanian, including a recent translation of The Two Faces of Islam.
EU Envoy To Visit Kosovo For Talks On Status, Future Role
PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP)--The European Union envoy for Kosovo was to arrive in the province Kosovo Tuesday to discuss the E.U.'s role in the province's status process, an official said.
Stefan Lehne, who will represent the E.U. in the upcoming U.N.-mediated talks, will meet with Kosovo's leaders and U.N. officials, said Torbjorn Sohlstrom, an E.U. official in the province.
The two-day visit will include discussions on the status talks process but also on the E.U.'s future role in Kosovo, in fields such as justice and policing, after its status is decided, Sohlstrom said.
Lehne was appointed last year as the E.U.'s representative to help former Finnish President Martii Ahtisaari, who will lead those discussions. He currently serves as director for southeastern Europe at E.U. headquarters and is a senior adviser to E.U. foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
E.U. officials recommended late last year the bloc take over policing duties in Kosovo from the U.N., which has been administering the province since 1999, adding the E.U. had a responsibility to help rebuild the troubled Balkan province.
A report drafted by Solana and E.U. Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn suggested the E.U. prepare for a police mission, which would be deployed after Kosovo's future status has been decided.
Although still technically a province within the loose union of Serbia and Montenegro, Kosovo has been administered by the U.N. since a 1999 NATO bombing campaign halted ex-president Slobodan Milosevic's crackdown against ethnic Albanian separatists.
Serbian leaders want Kosovo to be split administratively between its majority Albanians and minority Serbs, granting Albanians self-government while keeping the province part of Serbia. Ethnic Albanians are pressing for complete independence from Belgrade.
U.N.-sponsored final status discussions for Kosovo are expected to begin next week in Vienna, Austria.
Stefan Lehne, who will represent the E.U. in the upcoming U.N.-mediated talks, will meet with Kosovo's leaders and U.N. officials, said Torbjorn Sohlstrom, an E.U. official in the province.
The two-day visit will include discussions on the status talks process but also on the E.U.'s future role in Kosovo, in fields such as justice and policing, after its status is decided, Sohlstrom said.
Lehne was appointed last year as the E.U.'s representative to help former Finnish President Martii Ahtisaari, who will lead those discussions. He currently serves as director for southeastern Europe at E.U. headquarters and is a senior adviser to E.U. foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
E.U. officials recommended late last year the bloc take over policing duties in Kosovo from the U.N., which has been administering the province since 1999, adding the E.U. had a responsibility to help rebuild the troubled Balkan province.
A report drafted by Solana and E.U. Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn suggested the E.U. prepare for a police mission, which would be deployed after Kosovo's future status has been decided.
Although still technically a province within the loose union of Serbia and Montenegro, Kosovo has been administered by the U.N. since a 1999 NATO bombing campaign halted ex-president Slobodan Milosevic's crackdown against ethnic Albanian separatists.
Serbian leaders want Kosovo to be split administratively between its majority Albanians and minority Serbs, granting Albanians self-government while keeping the province part of Serbia. Ethnic Albanians are pressing for complete independence from Belgrade.
U.N.-sponsored final status discussions for Kosovo are expected to begin next week in Vienna, Austria.
Kosovo's ex-fighters disgusted by talks with Serbia
By Matthew Robinson
PRISTINA, Serbia and Montenegro (Reuters) - Veterans of the Kosovo Albanian guerrilla army expressed disgust on Tuesday at the idea of negotiating with Serbia on the future of the province, and said protests were possible.
"Based on the blood that was shed ... on the historic, political and legal arguments, these talks are imposed and unjust," said Sherif Krasniqi, head of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) veterans.
"We're afraid the aim of these talks on status is to convince the people of Kosovo to accept whatever is served up to them. Kosovo Albanians want only recognition of their right to self-determination, to decide their own future," he told Reuters in his rundown office in Pristina's "KLA" street.
Serbian and Kosovo Albanian officials hold direct talks next week in Vienna, the first since the United Nations launched a mission late last year to decide the fate of Serbia's southern province, a U.N. protectorate for almost seven years.
Two million Kosovo Albanians, roughly 90 percent of the population, say independence is non-negotiable. Serbia insists Kosovo is the sacred cradle of the Serb nation and can never become a separate state.
The KLA emerged in 1997 as Kosovo Albanians grew tired of a policy of passive resistance to Serb repression. Its guerrilla war drew a brutal response by Serb forces, accused of killing 10,000 Albanian civilians and expelling 800,000 more.
"We talked with Serbia through the war we fought," said Krasniqi, who was based in the hardline Drenica region.
SACRIFICE
Lords of their own manor since NATO bombs drove out Serb troops in 1999, Kosovo Albanians are in no mood to compromise. They look on the U.N.-led process of negotiation with Belgrade with deep suspicion and distaste.
"From the promises of the local and international politicians ... we don't believe the status of Kosovo will match what the people fought for," said Krasniqi, a small, grey-haired man in a brown striped suit.
He said the possibility of protests "cannot be excluded". Asked if Kosovo's U.N. overseers should be concerned about the veterans, he replied: "They should be. Our members have sacrificed the most and deserve to be respected".
The major powers have not publicly stated their intentions, but Western diplomats say Kosovo will almost certainly win independence by the end of 2006.
But there will be strings attached, including significant concessions and guarantees for the beleaguered Serb minority and some form of continued international supervision.
Keeping a lid on the frustrations and fears felt by Krasniqi and others like him will be key. Diplomats say a repeat of Albanian mob riots against Serbs in March 2004, in which 19 people died, could derail the entire process.
(Additional reporting by Shaban Buza)
PRISTINA, Serbia and Montenegro (Reuters) - Veterans of the Kosovo Albanian guerrilla army expressed disgust on Tuesday at the idea of negotiating with Serbia on the future of the province, and said protests were possible.
"Based on the blood that was shed ... on the historic, political and legal arguments, these talks are imposed and unjust," said Sherif Krasniqi, head of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) veterans.
"We're afraid the aim of these talks on status is to convince the people of Kosovo to accept whatever is served up to them. Kosovo Albanians want only recognition of their right to self-determination, to decide their own future," he told Reuters in his rundown office in Pristina's "KLA" street.
Serbian and Kosovo Albanian officials hold direct talks next week in Vienna, the first since the United Nations launched a mission late last year to decide the fate of Serbia's southern province, a U.N. protectorate for almost seven years.
Two million Kosovo Albanians, roughly 90 percent of the population, say independence is non-negotiable. Serbia insists Kosovo is the sacred cradle of the Serb nation and can never become a separate state.
The KLA emerged in 1997 as Kosovo Albanians grew tired of a policy of passive resistance to Serb repression. Its guerrilla war drew a brutal response by Serb forces, accused of killing 10,000 Albanian civilians and expelling 800,000 more.
"We talked with Serbia through the war we fought," said Krasniqi, who was based in the hardline Drenica region.
SACRIFICE
Lords of their own manor since NATO bombs drove out Serb troops in 1999, Kosovo Albanians are in no mood to compromise. They look on the U.N.-led process of negotiation with Belgrade with deep suspicion and distaste.
"From the promises of the local and international politicians ... we don't believe the status of Kosovo will match what the people fought for," said Krasniqi, a small, grey-haired man in a brown striped suit.
He said the possibility of protests "cannot be excluded". Asked if Kosovo's U.N. overseers should be concerned about the veterans, he replied: "They should be. Our members have sacrificed the most and deserve to be respected".
The major powers have not publicly stated their intentions, but Western diplomats say Kosovo will almost certainly win independence by the end of 2006.
But there will be strings attached, including significant concessions and guarantees for the beleaguered Serb minority and some form of continued international supervision.
Keeping a lid on the frustrations and fears felt by Krasniqi and others like him will be key. Diplomats say a repeat of Albanian mob riots against Serbs in March 2004, in which 19 people died, could derail the entire process.
(Additional reporting by Shaban Buza)
Monday, January 16, 2006
"No alternative to Kosovo indenpendence" - OSCE Official
Text of report by "jdc" entitled "According to unofficial sources, Kosovo will gain independence" carried by Belgian newspaper De Standaard website on 16 January
Nobody wanted to give an official confirmation at last week's OSCE conference in Vienna, but unofficial well-informed observers are saying with surprising firmness that "we have no alternative to Kosovo's independence".
The issue is very sensitive. Officially, Kosovo is still a province of Serbia that the United Nations has been governing since the 1999 war. By the middle of this year, however, a decision on its "definitive status" is due. The Kosovo Albanians, i.e. 90 per cent of the population, want independence. The Kosovo Serbs, the remaining 10 per cent who live mainly in the north, want to stay with Belgrade.
Last Friday [13 January] in Vienna, [Belgian Foreign] Minister [and OSCE Duty President] De Gucht met former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, the UN envoy who is leading the status talks. After the meeting, De Gucht declined to confirm or deny that independence - which will most likely be restricted in the initial stage - is the most plausible option because of the overly sensitive nature of the issue.
"Whatever happens, we will have to strive laboriously for a balanced solution," De Gucht said. "There are many minorities; we will have to maintain close contacts with Belgrade; and we will have to conduct the talks on the possible decentralization of power in Kosovo."
"Not all proposals are equally valuable. A Greek professor suggested granting Kosovo's minorities the same status as Mount Athos (a republic of monks in Greece - De Standaard editor's note), including their own legal system. In my opinion, this would be unfeasible in Kosovo."
In addition, the fear exists that the Kosovo Serbs will want to annex their part of the country to Serbia.
Nobody wanted to give an official confirmation at last week's OSCE conference in Vienna, but unofficial well-informed observers are saying with surprising firmness that "we have no alternative to Kosovo's independence".
The issue is very sensitive. Officially, Kosovo is still a province of Serbia that the United Nations has been governing since the 1999 war. By the middle of this year, however, a decision on its "definitive status" is due. The Kosovo Albanians, i.e. 90 per cent of the population, want independence. The Kosovo Serbs, the remaining 10 per cent who live mainly in the north, want to stay with Belgrade.
Last Friday [13 January] in Vienna, [Belgian Foreign] Minister [and OSCE Duty President] De Gucht met former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, the UN envoy who is leading the status talks. After the meeting, De Gucht declined to confirm or deny that independence - which will most likely be restricted in the initial stage - is the most plausible option because of the overly sensitive nature of the issue.
"Whatever happens, we will have to strive laboriously for a balanced solution," De Gucht said. "There are many minorities; we will have to maintain close contacts with Belgrade; and we will have to conduct the talks on the possible decentralization of power in Kosovo."
"Not all proposals are equally valuable. A Greek professor suggested granting Kosovo's minorities the same status as Mount Athos (a republic of monks in Greece - De Standaard editor's note), including their own legal system. In my opinion, this would be unfeasible in Kosovo."
In addition, the fear exists that the Kosovo Serbs will want to annex their part of the country to Serbia.
Italy Supports Conditional Independence for Kosova
Gianfranco Fini International Herald Tribune
MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2006
ROME The coming year promises to be marked by delicate phases that could be decisive for the future of the Balkans. On an official visit to the area a few weeks ago, I registered concerns of a possible flare-up in tensions that are anything but dormant, together with sincere, widespread hopes that the painful experiences of the past can be consigned, once and for all, to history.
The main road to a lasting settlement in the Balkans passes through Kosovo. The start-up of the Kosovo status negotiations, thanks to the UN secretary general's appointment of a special envoy, was brought about by a reality that the international community could no longer afford to ignore: that the post-conflict status quo is unsustainable and the "standards before status" formula is impracticable.
This does not mean, however, that its terms can be freely reversed. Tangible progress in these negotiations is inconceivable unless progress is made in the area of standards, particularly in connection with security, the return of refugees, respect for multi-ethnicity, and the protection of sacred places, which are a cultural heritage for the world and a sine qua non for the Serbian community.
Kosovars of Albanian ethnicity would thus be wrong to take the outcome of the negotiations for granted. But so would the Serbs, in both Pristina and Belgrade, were they to spurn them by refusing to come up with coherent, realistic and constructive proposals.
The linchpin of any new status is the prospect of integrating Kosovo into the European Union in the context of a gradual stabilization of the region. The moment will come when, in parallel to shuttle diplomacy, it will be opportune for Belgrade and Pristina to engage in direct dialogue, with the full involvement of the Kosovar Serbs.
In short, Pristina's European aspirations may be the most attractive way for the Kosovars themselves to give substance to a transition that promises to be lengthy. Its status could be based on a form of conditional independence within the framework of a European guarantee, while awaiting integration into the EU institutions.
A strong international military and administrative presence will of course have to be maintained to safeguard the specific mechanisms of economic support.
The same criterion holds true for Belgrade, which is grappling with the unknown of a referendum on the secession of Montenegro. Only a Serbia confident in its ability to achieve the goal of integration into the EU - and into NATO through the Partnership for Peace - will have sufficient incentives to contribute to the stabilization of the region.
In truth, the door of the EU should remain open for all the Balkan countries, through modalities to be established on a case-by-case basis. This is the best way to guarantee the success of the international community's endeavors.
A certain optimism is warranted in view of recent European Union measures long advocated by the Italian government. I am referring to the decisions to start negotiations on an EU association agreement with Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro, as well as to recognize the accession candidacy status of Macedonia. These negotiations represent further starting points that will hopefully lead to positive conclusions of their own.
Europe has a specific imperative: to contribute substantially toward finding the best solution for the future of this region.
"In the Balkans the hour of Europe has come." So spoke the foreign minister of Luxembourg in the summer of 1991. We know all too well what came after this ambitious declaration: a decade of Balkan conflicts and of dismal European inertia.
Fifteen years later, Europe would be well advised to keep a safe distance from a rhetoric that is as loud as it is content-free and instead to take concrete steps toward offering real integration prospects to a region that is European in every way.
On the strength of its age-old friendship with the countries of the region and its significant involvement in the Balkans through policing actions, military presence and economic support, Italy is ready to do its part.
(Gianfranco Fini is the foreign minister of Italy.)
MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2006
ROME The coming year promises to be marked by delicate phases that could be decisive for the future of the Balkans. On an official visit to the area a few weeks ago, I registered concerns of a possible flare-up in tensions that are anything but dormant, together with sincere, widespread hopes that the painful experiences of the past can be consigned, once and for all, to history.
The main road to a lasting settlement in the Balkans passes through Kosovo. The start-up of the Kosovo status negotiations, thanks to the UN secretary general's appointment of a special envoy, was brought about by a reality that the international community could no longer afford to ignore: that the post-conflict status quo is unsustainable and the "standards before status" formula is impracticable.
This does not mean, however, that its terms can be freely reversed. Tangible progress in these negotiations is inconceivable unless progress is made in the area of standards, particularly in connection with security, the return of refugees, respect for multi-ethnicity, and the protection of sacred places, which are a cultural heritage for the world and a sine qua non for the Serbian community.
Kosovars of Albanian ethnicity would thus be wrong to take the outcome of the negotiations for granted. But so would the Serbs, in both Pristina and Belgrade, were they to spurn them by refusing to come up with coherent, realistic and constructive proposals.
The linchpin of any new status is the prospect of integrating Kosovo into the European Union in the context of a gradual stabilization of the region. The moment will come when, in parallel to shuttle diplomacy, it will be opportune for Belgrade and Pristina to engage in direct dialogue, with the full involvement of the Kosovar Serbs.
In short, Pristina's European aspirations may be the most attractive way for the Kosovars themselves to give substance to a transition that promises to be lengthy. Its status could be based on a form of conditional independence within the framework of a European guarantee, while awaiting integration into the EU institutions.
A strong international military and administrative presence will of course have to be maintained to safeguard the specific mechanisms of economic support.
The same criterion holds true for Belgrade, which is grappling with the unknown of a referendum on the secession of Montenegro. Only a Serbia confident in its ability to achieve the goal of integration into the EU - and into NATO through the Partnership for Peace - will have sufficient incentives to contribute to the stabilization of the region.
In truth, the door of the EU should remain open for all the Balkan countries, through modalities to be established on a case-by-case basis. This is the best way to guarantee the success of the international community's endeavors.
A certain optimism is warranted in view of recent European Union measures long advocated by the Italian government. I am referring to the decisions to start negotiations on an EU association agreement with Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro, as well as to recognize the accession candidacy status of Macedonia. These negotiations represent further starting points that will hopefully lead to positive conclusions of their own.
Europe has a specific imperative: to contribute substantially toward finding the best solution for the future of this region.
"In the Balkans the hour of Europe has come." So spoke the foreign minister of Luxembourg in the summer of 1991. We know all too well what came after this ambitious declaration: a decade of Balkan conflicts and of dismal European inertia.
Fifteen years later, Europe would be well advised to keep a safe distance from a rhetoric that is as loud as it is content-free and instead to take concrete steps toward offering real integration prospects to a region that is European in every way.
On the strength of its age-old friendship with the countries of the region and its significant involvement in the Balkans through policing actions, military presence and economic support, Italy is ready to do its part.
(Gianfranco Fini is the foreign minister of Italy.)
UN mediation with Kosovo and Serbia begins in late January
VIENNA, Jan 16, 2006 (AFP) -
The first formal meeting between UN mediators, led by former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, and representatives of Serbia-Montenegro and Kosovo over the future status of Kosovo will take place in Vienna on January 25, a spokesperson told AFP Monday.
Ahtisaari attended Monday a meeting of the Contact Group of six countries (Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the United States) to discuss the future status of Kosovo, which is now an autonomous province in Serbia-Montenegro, the envoy's spokeswoman Hua Tiang said.
The ethnic Albanian majority in the UN-administered Serbian province is seeking independence.
The UN representative to Kosovo, Soeren Jessen-Petersen, also took part in the meeting held behind closed doors at the German embassy in Vienna, the embassy said.
"The (January 25) meeting will be focussing on (the) decentralisation" of Kosovo, said Hua.
The two governments are expected "to choose their representatives and hand over their papers" (on decentralisation), Hua said.
The European Union, NATO and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe are expected to send observers.
Ahtisaari, a former president of Finland who helped negotiate peace in Bosnia-Hercegovina after the war there from 1992-1995, was appointed UN special envoy for the future status process for Kosovo in late 2005.
The first formal meeting between UN mediators, led by former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, and representatives of Serbia-Montenegro and Kosovo over the future status of Kosovo will take place in Vienna on January 25, a spokesperson told AFP Monday.
Ahtisaari attended Monday a meeting of the Contact Group of six countries (Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the United States) to discuss the future status of Kosovo, which is now an autonomous province in Serbia-Montenegro, the envoy's spokeswoman Hua Tiang said.
The ethnic Albanian majority in the UN-administered Serbian province is seeking independence.
The UN representative to Kosovo, Soeren Jessen-Petersen, also took part in the meeting held behind closed doors at the German embassy in Vienna, the embassy said.
"The (January 25) meeting will be focussing on (the) decentralisation" of Kosovo, said Hua.
The two governments are expected "to choose their representatives and hand over their papers" (on decentralisation), Hua said.
The European Union, NATO and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe are expected to send observers.
Ahtisaari, a former president of Finland who helped negotiate peace in Bosnia-Hercegovina after the war there from 1992-1995, was appointed UN special envoy for the future status process for Kosovo in late 2005.
Cardinal Angelo Scola of Venice meets Kosovo officials
PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) - Cardinal Angelo Scola, the patriarch of Venice, met with Kosovo's prime minister and other officials Monday.
Scola will also meet the deputy head of the U.N. mission in Kosovo, Larry Rossin, a U.N. statement said.
The cardinal came to the disputed province to attend the funeral last week of Bishop Mark Sopi, the head of the Catholic Church in Kosovo, who died of a heart attack.
Sopi, 67, was buried Saturday in the central Kosovo village of Bince, where he was born.
Sopi, an ethnic Albanian, was appointed Kosovo's bishop in 1996.
The late bishop was very close to Kosovo's ailing President Ibrahim Rugova, who is suffering from lung cancer.
Pope Benedict XVI named Zef Gashi, the Archbishop of Bar, a town in neighboring Montenegro, as the acting head of the Roman Catholic Church in Kosovo, a senior church official said Monday.
Gashi, who was born in Kosovo, immediately took on the duty of running the province's church, said Don Shan Zefi.
Kosovo is predominantly Muslim. But some 4 percent of its people are ethnic Albanian Catholics.
Kosovo, which officially remains a province of Serbia-Montenegro, has been administered by the United Nations since 1999. Talks to determine its future status will start later this year.
Scola will also meet the deputy head of the U.N. mission in Kosovo, Larry Rossin, a U.N. statement said.
The cardinal came to the disputed province to attend the funeral last week of Bishop Mark Sopi, the head of the Catholic Church in Kosovo, who died of a heart attack.
Sopi, 67, was buried Saturday in the central Kosovo village of Bince, where he was born.
Sopi, an ethnic Albanian, was appointed Kosovo's bishop in 1996.
The late bishop was very close to Kosovo's ailing President Ibrahim Rugova, who is suffering from lung cancer.
Pope Benedict XVI named Zef Gashi, the Archbishop of Bar, a town in neighboring Montenegro, as the acting head of the Roman Catholic Church in Kosovo, a senior church official said Monday.
Gashi, who was born in Kosovo, immediately took on the duty of running the province's church, said Don Shan Zefi.
Kosovo is predominantly Muslim. But some 4 percent of its people are ethnic Albanian Catholics.
Kosovo, which officially remains a province of Serbia-Montenegro, has been administered by the United Nations since 1999. Talks to determine its future status will start later this year.
Bosnian Serb entity cannot be Serbia's compensation for Kosovo - Muslim leader
Text of report by Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA
Sarajevo, 16 January: There is no question of Bosnia-Hercegovina being involved in plans for compensation for Kosovo, president of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) and Bosnia-Hercegovina Presidency member Suljeman Tihic told FENA today.
He said this while commenting on the statement by international law professor Francis Boyle who said that the objective of the reforms of the former first deputy High Representative Donald Hays was "to consolidate the [Bosnian] Serb Republic and pave the way for it to eventually join Serbia".
Boyle recalled that the talks on Kosovo's status were expected to open soon, and that certain international officials had already openly proposed that Serbia-Montenegro should be forced to give up Kosovo, while receiving the Serb Republic as compensation.
"This will not happen, nor is there any political strength for such a thing in Bosnia-Hercegovina," Tihic told FENA today, adding that Bosnia-Hercegovina politicians would never allow that.
Source: SRNA news agency, Bijeljina, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 1237 gmt 16 Jan 06
Sarajevo, 16 January: There is no question of Bosnia-Hercegovina being involved in plans for compensation for Kosovo, president of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) and Bosnia-Hercegovina Presidency member Suljeman Tihic told FENA today.
He said this while commenting on the statement by international law professor Francis Boyle who said that the objective of the reforms of the former first deputy High Representative Donald Hays was "to consolidate the [Bosnian] Serb Republic and pave the way for it to eventually join Serbia".
Boyle recalled that the talks on Kosovo's status were expected to open soon, and that certain international officials had already openly proposed that Serbia-Montenegro should be forced to give up Kosovo, while receiving the Serb Republic as compensation.
"This will not happen, nor is there any political strength for such a thing in Bosnia-Hercegovina," Tihic told FENA today, adding that Bosnia-Hercegovina politicians would never allow that.
Source: SRNA news agency, Bijeljina, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 1237 gmt 16 Jan 06
Albanian premier to visit Kosovo
TIRANA, Albania (AP) - Albania's prime minister planned to visit Kosovo later this month in an effort to increase bilateral ties and contribute to regional peace and stability, his press office said Monday.
Prime Minister Sali Berisha was invited Kosovo Prime Minister Bajram Kosumi and Soren Jessen-Petersen, top U.N. official in the disputed province, to visit Jan. 26-27.
"Regional consultation and cooperation will have a positive impact, not only on the future status determination process, but also on the improvement of social and economic condition of the inhabitants of Kosovo," the invitation said, according to Berisha's press office.
U.N.-mediated talks on Kosovo's future status are to begin Jan. 25, when Serb and ethnic Albanian representatives meet for a first round of talks in Vienna, Austria.
Kosovo, though officially a province of Serbia-Montenegro, has been administered by the United Nations since a 1999 NATO bombing campaign halted the Serbian crackdown on independence-seeking ethnic Albanians.
The province's ethnic Albanian majority insists on independence, while Serbia wants to retain at least formal control over the region.
Tirana has said an independent Kosovo would bring peace and stability to the Balkans, and it has appealed to its ethnic Albanians to help create conditions to provide the province's Serb minority a normal life.
Albania has said it has no territorial claims on Kosovo. It also said Kosovo needs a continuing NATO presence to maintain peace and stability.
7
Prime Minister Sali Berisha was invited Kosovo Prime Minister Bajram Kosumi and Soren Jessen-Petersen, top U.N. official in the disputed province, to visit Jan. 26-27.
"Regional consultation and cooperation will have a positive impact, not only on the future status determination process, but also on the improvement of social and economic condition of the inhabitants of Kosovo," the invitation said, according to Berisha's press office.
U.N.-mediated talks on Kosovo's future status are to begin Jan. 25, when Serb and ethnic Albanian representatives meet for a first round of talks in Vienna, Austria.
Kosovo, though officially a province of Serbia-Montenegro, has been administered by the United Nations since a 1999 NATO bombing campaign halted the Serbian crackdown on independence-seeking ethnic Albanians.
The province's ethnic Albanian majority insists on independence, while Serbia wants to retain at least formal control over the region.
Tirana has said an independent Kosovo would bring peace and stability to the Balkans, and it has appealed to its ethnic Albanians to help create conditions to provide the province's Serb minority a normal life.
Albania has said it has no territorial claims on Kosovo. It also said Kosovo needs a continuing NATO presence to maintain peace and stability.
7
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Missing persons to be discussed at Kosovo status talks, says negotiator
Text of report by Radio-Television Kosovo TV on 13 January
[Announcer] One of the prime issues in talks on Kosova's [Kosovo's] status is going to be missing persons issues, says member of the Kosova negotiation team Veton Surroi. He met the chairman of the government committee for the missing.
[Reporter] Shedding light on missing persons has to be discussed with the UN special envoy and deputy envoy for Kosova status talks, Martti Ahtisaari and Albert Rohan, which is expected to take place in the coming weeks.
[Veton Surroi] Kosova status belongs to family members and all those missing who sacrificed their lives so Kosova can be independent. I have raised this issue with the Kosova negotiation team and I will raise it at the next meeting again.
[Reporter] The issue of the missing has to be solved by more pressure being applied by the international community on the Serbian government, emphasized Nysrete Kumnova. She called for greater engagement by the negotiation team on the issue of missing persons.
[Representative of the government committee for missing persons Nysrete Kumnova] This issue has to be raised at the highest levels of international and local governments. Light must be shed on all the missing and all mortal remains of our loved ones returned.
[Reporter] It has been evaluated that shedding light on missing persons is a moral and political obligation of the Kosova institutions and the negotiation team.
Source: RTK TV, Pristina, in Albanian 1830 gmt 13 Jan 06
[Announcer] One of the prime issues in talks on Kosova's [Kosovo's] status is going to be missing persons issues, says member of the Kosova negotiation team Veton Surroi. He met the chairman of the government committee for the missing.
[Reporter] Shedding light on missing persons has to be discussed with the UN special envoy and deputy envoy for Kosova status talks, Martti Ahtisaari and Albert Rohan, which is expected to take place in the coming weeks.
[Veton Surroi] Kosova status belongs to family members and all those missing who sacrificed their lives so Kosova can be independent. I have raised this issue with the Kosova negotiation team and I will raise it at the next meeting again.
[Reporter] The issue of the missing has to be solved by more pressure being applied by the international community on the Serbian government, emphasized Nysrete Kumnova. She called for greater engagement by the negotiation team on the issue of missing persons.
[Representative of the government committee for missing persons Nysrete Kumnova] This issue has to be raised at the highest levels of international and local governments. Light must be shed on all the missing and all mortal remains of our loved ones returned.
[Reporter] It has been evaluated that shedding light on missing persons is a moral and political obligation of the Kosova institutions and the negotiation team.
Source: RTK TV, Pristina, in Albanian 1830 gmt 13 Jan 06
Albanians from the Presevo Valley demand special status
PRESEVO, Serbia and Montenegro, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Albanians in Serbia's restive south on Saturday demanded devolution from Belgrade and the withdrawal of Serbian troops in a move seen as posturing ahead of talks on the future of Kosovo.
A 6-month ethnic Albanian insurgency in the Presevo Valley ended in 2001 in a NATO-backed deal giving Albanians greater rights. But dissatisfaction is widespread and locals say the Serbian government remains indifferent to the lack of jobs or economic development.
Albanians in the region are now trying to press their case by positioning themselves as a third party in U.N.-led talks on Kosovo, the province west of Presevo where the 90-percent ethnic Albanian majority wants independence from Serbia.
But diplomats say the strategy has won little support among Western powers content to grapple this year with Kosovo, run by the United Nations since NATO bombing forced the pullout of Serb forces in 1999.
A declaration adopted by three mainly Albanian municipalities in southern Serbia called for the region to be granted special status, with control over courts, police, schools and economic development.
They demanded the right to use Albanian as an official language in public bodies and to display the Albanian flag.
"At a time when Kosovo is entering its most significant phase ... Albanians in the Presevo Valley see the need to take concrete and coordinated steps to resolve the question of Albanians in this region," the declaration said.
It demanded "special ties" with Kosovo and warned that should Serbia try to partition the province and snatch the mainly Serb north, Presevo would join Kosovo -- something the West says is impossible.
Kosovo's Western backers are confident tension in the Presevo Valley will remain in check as U.N.-led negotiations on Kosovo's "final status" climax, probably in late 2006.
Legally part of Serbia, Kosovo has been run by the United Nations since 1999, when NATO bombing drove out Serb forces accused of the "ethnic cleansing" of Albanian civilians in a two-year war with separatist guerrillas.
A senior Western official said Kosovo's Albanian leaders had been warned against stoking tensions among their ethnic kin in Presevo. "I think they'll accept that what we're discussing here is Kosovo," he told Reuters. "Serbia has to reach its own solution" for Presevo.
A 6-month ethnic Albanian insurgency in the Presevo Valley ended in 2001 in a NATO-backed deal giving Albanians greater rights. But dissatisfaction is widespread and locals say the Serbian government remains indifferent to the lack of jobs or economic development.
Albanians in the region are now trying to press their case by positioning themselves as a third party in U.N.-led talks on Kosovo, the province west of Presevo where the 90-percent ethnic Albanian majority wants independence from Serbia.
But diplomats say the strategy has won little support among Western powers content to grapple this year with Kosovo, run by the United Nations since NATO bombing forced the pullout of Serb forces in 1999.
A declaration adopted by three mainly Albanian municipalities in southern Serbia called for the region to be granted special status, with control over courts, police, schools and economic development.
They demanded the right to use Albanian as an official language in public bodies and to display the Albanian flag.
"At a time when Kosovo is entering its most significant phase ... Albanians in the Presevo Valley see the need to take concrete and coordinated steps to resolve the question of Albanians in this region," the declaration said.
It demanded "special ties" with Kosovo and warned that should Serbia try to partition the province and snatch the mainly Serb north, Presevo would join Kosovo -- something the West says is impossible.
Kosovo's Western backers are confident tension in the Presevo Valley will remain in check as U.N.-led negotiations on Kosovo's "final status" climax, probably in late 2006.
Legally part of Serbia, Kosovo has been run by the United Nations since 1999, when NATO bombing drove out Serb forces accused of the "ethnic cleansing" of Albanian civilians in a two-year war with separatist guerrillas.
A senior Western official said Kosovo's Albanian leaders had been warned against stoking tensions among their ethnic kin in Presevo. "I think they'll accept that what we're discussing here is Kosovo," he told Reuters. "Serbia has to reach its own solution" for Presevo.
Friday, January 13, 2006
Bush, Merkel discuss Kosovo at their first Oval Office meeting
Press Briefing by Scott McClellan
James S. Brady Briefing Room
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
January 13, 2006
Q Scott, did President Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel today discuss the Kosovo issue due to the upcoming talks of January 25th in Geneva?
MR. McCLELLAN: I know that they talked about Kosovo and they addressed that; they talked about Afghanistan, Kosovo and they talked about a number of important areas around the globe. I think that they may have talked in a little bit more detail when they were in the Oval Office, just the two of them. They only touched on it briefly in the discussion with the full delegation.
Q Do they agree at least on this issue?
MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry?
Q Do they agree --
MR. McCLELLAN: On which issue?
Q On Kosovo issue.
MR. McCLELLAN: We're all working together on these issues.
James S. Brady Briefing Room
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
January 13, 2006
Q Scott, did President Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel today discuss the Kosovo issue due to the upcoming talks of January 25th in Geneva?
MR. McCLELLAN: I know that they talked about Kosovo and they addressed that; they talked about Afghanistan, Kosovo and they talked about a number of important areas around the globe. I think that they may have talked in a little bit more detail when they were in the Oval Office, just the two of them. They only touched on it briefly in the discussion with the full delegation.
Q Do they agree at least on this issue?
MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry?
Q Do they agree --
MR. McCLELLAN: On which issue?
Q On Kosovo issue.
MR. McCLELLAN: We're all working together on these issues.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Third time lucky? Charlemagne - The Economist
The European Union and the Balkans
The European Union has stumbled twice in the Balkans. Now it has a chance to make amends
EVEN as European Union leaders yammer about resurrecting their constitution, their attention this year may end up focusing instead on the Balkans. Twice in the past 15 years, the region has tested the EU's claims to have ended wars on the continent: in 1991-92, when EU members split over backing independence for Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia, and in 1998 when they stood by as Serbs and Albanians slaughtered each other in Kosovo. Now three events are coming together to turn the first half of 2006 into a third chance for the EU—and perhaps the trickiest period in the Balkans for some years.
The first is a referendum on independence in Montenegro. If passed, it would take yet another slice off Serbia (with which Montenegro exists in uneasy union). Next, talks on the independence of Kosovo (also nominally part of Serbia) could result in an offer of conditional independence, meaning that the rights of the Serb minority in Kosovo are protected by international guarantee. And third, the European Commission will rule in May on whether Romania and Bulgaria have met the conditions for EU membership. Had this ruling been made last year, say commission officials, the answer would have been no. That would make headlines, even if its effects prove less obviously dramatic than the break-up of the former Yugoslavia. (If the ruling is no, the two countries will merely join in 2008, instead of 2007.)
What the three events have in common is that they will change the Balkans' fragile status quo (with luck for the better, but it would be foolish to count on that). All are also reminders of the importance of the EU's role. Only Brussels can promise local politicians that their future lies in integration with Europe, not with their historical grievances and inward-looking nationalism. EU countries have promised to help Montenegro if it plumps for independence. And although Kosovo's future is being hammered out under the auspices of the United Nations, it will in practice be the EU that will have to look after the place.
On the face of it, the Europeans have been making good on past promises of help. Last year saw a flurry of negotiations in which nearly every Balkan country started some form of talks with Brussels. Croatia began full membership talks in October (at the same time as Turkey). Bosnia and Serbia began the preliminary stage that should lead to talks. In December, the EU gave Macedonia formal status as a candidate (a step up from Serbia and Bosnia, a step below Croatia). Talks to get Albania to the preliminary stage continue. And three economic deals have been done between the Balkans and the EU.
Yet even all these may add up to no more than a good start. Ultimately, the EU's powers of persuasion rest on the lure of full membership. Now the onset of “enlargement fatigue” risks undermining that promise. Recently, the disease has broken out even in that bulwark of expansion, the European Commission. One commissioner has said that the EU should let in Romania and Bulgaria, but then close its doors. Enlargement fatigue may not only reduce the EU's appeal. It could also make it harder to dole out interim benefits that go with membership talks, such as aid for new roads or help with agricultural reform. Last month's budget deal has already cut the money earmarked for Balkan reconstruction by about a fifth.
The Balkans will anyway not respond to the EU's gravitational pull in the same way as did the central and eastern Europeans. The Balkan people are further removed than the Czechs and Poles were from EU standards of democracy and free markets. They have to set up functioning governments before they can become functioning democracies. This means that much of the Balkans will have to wait for membership even longer than did the central and eastern Europeans. And it is no longer clear how long accession can retain its allure, or how attractive the “pre-accession” phase can be made.
At worst, there is a risk that the EU could end up dividing the Balkans, rather than modernising it—splitting the region into countries on the road to membership (Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Macedonia) and the ghetto of the rest, whose status would be uncertain and whose “pre-accession” limbo might be made worse by cuts in aid. For Bosnians and Serbs, there is a danger of EU membership becoming like an old Soviet joke: we pretend to prepare for membership, they pretend to be ready to give it to us.
The virtues of Austro-Hungarian imperialism
Doubts over the EU's influence in the Balkans will be either allayed or confirmed over the next six months. At minimum, it must avoid the divisions and passivity that bedevilled previous episodes in ex-Yugoslavia. But it could do better. And by happy accident, the EU presidency—usually a silly arrangement for each country to set the agenda for six months—has fallen at this critical juncture to the largest single investor in the Balkans and one of the strongest supporters of EU membership for Balkan countries: Austria. The Austrians may be notoriously hostile to Turkey's membership aspirations, but they have said that the Balkans are their top foreign-policy priority. What is less clear is whether they are ready to spend political capital to get reluctant partners to do things to give the rhetoric substance.
Michael Emerson of the Centre for European Policy Studies, a think-tank in Brussels, suggests that Balkan countries might be given membership of the customs union between the EU and Turkey, replacing a tangle of 31 regional trade agreements. He also proposes that the EU should encourage Balkan countries to set up visa-free travel among themselves, to avert travel restrictions that would otherwise arise as some countries join. These are good ideas in themselves, but more important is the message they would send: that the Balkans matter even when blood is not being shed, and that the EU wants to improve the entire region, not just (to borrow a phrase from the constitutional debate) to cherry-pick the bits it likes best.
The European Union has stumbled twice in the Balkans. Now it has a chance to make amends
EVEN as European Union leaders yammer about resurrecting their constitution, their attention this year may end up focusing instead on the Balkans. Twice in the past 15 years, the region has tested the EU's claims to have ended wars on the continent: in 1991-92, when EU members split over backing independence for Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia, and in 1998 when they stood by as Serbs and Albanians slaughtered each other in Kosovo. Now three events are coming together to turn the first half of 2006 into a third chance for the EU—and perhaps the trickiest period in the Balkans for some years.
The first is a referendum on independence in Montenegro. If passed, it would take yet another slice off Serbia (with which Montenegro exists in uneasy union). Next, talks on the independence of Kosovo (also nominally part of Serbia) could result in an offer of conditional independence, meaning that the rights of the Serb minority in Kosovo are protected by international guarantee. And third, the European Commission will rule in May on whether Romania and Bulgaria have met the conditions for EU membership. Had this ruling been made last year, say commission officials, the answer would have been no. That would make headlines, even if its effects prove less obviously dramatic than the break-up of the former Yugoslavia. (If the ruling is no, the two countries will merely join in 2008, instead of 2007.)
What the three events have in common is that they will change the Balkans' fragile status quo (with luck for the better, but it would be foolish to count on that). All are also reminders of the importance of the EU's role. Only Brussels can promise local politicians that their future lies in integration with Europe, not with their historical grievances and inward-looking nationalism. EU countries have promised to help Montenegro if it plumps for independence. And although Kosovo's future is being hammered out under the auspices of the United Nations, it will in practice be the EU that will have to look after the place.
On the face of it, the Europeans have been making good on past promises of help. Last year saw a flurry of negotiations in which nearly every Balkan country started some form of talks with Brussels. Croatia began full membership talks in October (at the same time as Turkey). Bosnia and Serbia began the preliminary stage that should lead to talks. In December, the EU gave Macedonia formal status as a candidate (a step up from Serbia and Bosnia, a step below Croatia). Talks to get Albania to the preliminary stage continue. And three economic deals have been done between the Balkans and the EU.
Yet even all these may add up to no more than a good start. Ultimately, the EU's powers of persuasion rest on the lure of full membership. Now the onset of “enlargement fatigue” risks undermining that promise. Recently, the disease has broken out even in that bulwark of expansion, the European Commission. One commissioner has said that the EU should let in Romania and Bulgaria, but then close its doors. Enlargement fatigue may not only reduce the EU's appeal. It could also make it harder to dole out interim benefits that go with membership talks, such as aid for new roads or help with agricultural reform. Last month's budget deal has already cut the money earmarked for Balkan reconstruction by about a fifth.
The Balkans will anyway not respond to the EU's gravitational pull in the same way as did the central and eastern Europeans. The Balkan people are further removed than the Czechs and Poles were from EU standards of democracy and free markets. They have to set up functioning governments before they can become functioning democracies. This means that much of the Balkans will have to wait for membership even longer than did the central and eastern Europeans. And it is no longer clear how long accession can retain its allure, or how attractive the “pre-accession” phase can be made.
At worst, there is a risk that the EU could end up dividing the Balkans, rather than modernising it—splitting the region into countries on the road to membership (Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Macedonia) and the ghetto of the rest, whose status would be uncertain and whose “pre-accession” limbo might be made worse by cuts in aid. For Bosnians and Serbs, there is a danger of EU membership becoming like an old Soviet joke: we pretend to prepare for membership, they pretend to be ready to give it to us.
The virtues of Austro-Hungarian imperialism
Doubts over the EU's influence in the Balkans will be either allayed or confirmed over the next six months. At minimum, it must avoid the divisions and passivity that bedevilled previous episodes in ex-Yugoslavia. But it could do better. And by happy accident, the EU presidency—usually a silly arrangement for each country to set the agenda for six months—has fallen at this critical juncture to the largest single investor in the Balkans and one of the strongest supporters of EU membership for Balkan countries: Austria. The Austrians may be notoriously hostile to Turkey's membership aspirations, but they have said that the Balkans are their top foreign-policy priority. What is less clear is whether they are ready to spend political capital to get reluctant partners to do things to give the rhetoric substance.
Michael Emerson of the Centre for European Policy Studies, a think-tank in Brussels, suggests that Balkan countries might be given membership of the customs union between the EU and Turkey, replacing a tangle of 31 regional trade agreements. He also proposes that the EU should encourage Balkan countries to set up visa-free travel among themselves, to avert travel restrictions that would otherwise arise as some countries join. These are good ideas in themselves, but more important is the message they would send: that the Balkans matter even when blood is not being shed, and that the EU wants to improve the entire region, not just (to borrow a phrase from the constitutional debate) to cherry-pick the bits it likes best.
Kosovo Premier Expects Independence In June - Report
TIRANA (AP)--Kosovo Prime Minister Bajram Kosumi said he is convinced the province will gain independence by June, an Albanian newspaper reported Thursday.
"There are always stages in the creation of a state. For us it is important that in June 2006 we should make Kosovo a state. I am convinced we shall do that," Kosumi was quoted as saying in an interview with the daily Tema.
Kosovo remains officially part of Serbia, the dominant republic in the Serbia-Montenegro union that replaced Yugoslavia. But it has been administered by the U.N. and NATO since the alliance's 1999 air war halted former President Slobodan Milosevic's crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists and expelled Serb troops from the province.
Kosovo, which has an ethnic Albanian majority and Serb minority, is to enter talks this year on its future political status, which are likely to increase tensions in the deeply polarized region.
Kosovo's leadership has insisted on full independence, while Belgrade wants to give it wide autonomy but have it remain within its territory.
In a rare interview with Belgrade newspaper Vecernije Novosti earlier this month, Kosumi said ethnic Albanians would not negotiate directly with Serbian officials about Kosovo's future status.
Kosumi said that "the existing processes are not in favor of creating ethnic states."
"Time has come for a new process -that of creating civic states." he added. "Different ethnicities may live together in a state provided this state guarantees the economic, national, religious and cultural development of everyone."
"There are always stages in the creation of a state. For us it is important that in June 2006 we should make Kosovo a state. I am convinced we shall do that," Kosumi was quoted as saying in an interview with the daily Tema.
Kosovo remains officially part of Serbia, the dominant republic in the Serbia-Montenegro union that replaced Yugoslavia. But it has been administered by the U.N. and NATO since the alliance's 1999 air war halted former President Slobodan Milosevic's crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists and expelled Serb troops from the province.
Kosovo, which has an ethnic Albanian majority and Serb minority, is to enter talks this year on its future political status, which are likely to increase tensions in the deeply polarized region.
Kosovo's leadership has insisted on full independence, while Belgrade wants to give it wide autonomy but have it remain within its territory.
In a rare interview with Belgrade newspaper Vecernije Novosti earlier this month, Kosumi said ethnic Albanians would not negotiate directly with Serbian officials about Kosovo's future status.
Kosumi said that "the existing processes are not in favor of creating ethnic states."
"Time has come for a new process -that of creating civic states." he added. "Different ethnicities may live together in a state provided this state guarantees the economic, national, religious and cultural development of everyone."
Nato denies misuse of Kosovo camp
Nato has denied that one of its Kosovo detention centres has been used by the US to interrogate militant Islamist suspects under its rendition programme.
Nato official James Appathurai told the BBC the alliance had nothing to hide.
He said all former detainees had been held for their activities in Kosovo, adding that there were no longer detainees at Camp Bondsteel.
European democracy watchdog the Council of Europe has urged Nato to allow investigators into the camp.
"If there is nothing to hide, the Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture should be given immediate and unlimited access," said Council of Europe chairman Terry Davis.
The Council of Europe, which has unlimited access to all prisons run by the UN in Kosovo, has been trying to reach agreement with Nato for more than a year to enable anti-torture investigators to inspect the camp.
"If there are skeletons in the K-For cupboard, the eve of the talks on the future status of Kosovo provides a last-minute opportunity to get them out," Mr Davis said.
Talks on the final status of Kosovo are due to begin later this month.
Nato official James Appathurai told the BBC the alliance had nothing to hide.
He said all former detainees had been held for their activities in Kosovo, adding that there were no longer detainees at Camp Bondsteel.
European democracy watchdog the Council of Europe has urged Nato to allow investigators into the camp.
"If there is nothing to hide, the Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture should be given immediate and unlimited access," said Council of Europe chairman Terry Davis.
The Council of Europe, which has unlimited access to all prisons run by the UN in Kosovo, has been trying to reach agreement with Nato for more than a year to enable anti-torture investigators to inspect the camp.
"If there are skeletons in the K-For cupboard, the eve of the talks on the future status of Kosovo provides a last-minute opportunity to get them out," Mr Davis said.
Talks on the final status of Kosovo are due to begin later this month.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Argentina orders extradition of Serbian war crimes suspect
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) - An Argentine judge on Wednesday ordered the extradition of a Serbian war crimes suspect charged with a string of notorious killings during the Bosnian War.
A spokesman for federal Judge Jorge Urso told The Associated Press that Milan Lukic, 38, will be extradited to the Hague, Netherlands, where he was indicted in 2000 by a U.N. war crimes tribunal.
Lukic is charged in the U.N. indictment with organizing a paramilitary group that executed at least 135 Bosnian Muslims in the territory of Visegrad and elsewhere in Bosnian Serb-controlled areas between May 1992 and October 1994.
In July 2005, a Serbian court sentenced Lukic in absentia to 20 years in prison for his role in the torture and execution of 16 Muslims who were abducted from a bus in eastern Serbia in 1992 and taken to Bosnia. Their bodies were dumped in the Drina River.
Lukic was arrested last August in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, after being on the run since the late 1990s.
He acknowledged being the person sought by the international tribunal but denied the charges against him.
In May 2005, Argentine authorities arrested another Serbian war crimes suspect, Nebojsa Minic, the alleged commander of the notorious "Lightning" unit that operated in the Serbian province of Kosovo during the 1998-99 war. Minic died in October at a hospital in western Argentina.
A spokesman for federal Judge Jorge Urso told The Associated Press that Milan Lukic, 38, will be extradited to the Hague, Netherlands, where he was indicted in 2000 by a U.N. war crimes tribunal.
Lukic is charged in the U.N. indictment with organizing a paramilitary group that executed at least 135 Bosnian Muslims in the territory of Visegrad and elsewhere in Bosnian Serb-controlled areas between May 1992 and October 1994.
In July 2005, a Serbian court sentenced Lukic in absentia to 20 years in prison for his role in the torture and execution of 16 Muslims who were abducted from a bus in eastern Serbia in 1992 and taken to Bosnia. Their bodies were dumped in the Drina River.
Lukic was arrested last August in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, after being on the run since the late 1990s.
He acknowledged being the person sought by the international tribunal but denied the charges against him.
In May 2005, Argentine authorities arrested another Serbian war crimes suspect, Nebojsa Minic, the alleged commander of the notorious "Lightning" unit that operated in the Serbian province of Kosovo during the 1998-99 war. Minic died in October at a hospital in western Argentina.
UNMIK chief, Speaker rule out Kosovo partition
Text of report in English by independent internet news agency KosovaLive
Prishtina [Pristina], 11 January: UNMIK [UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo] chief Soeren Jessen-Petersen and Kosova [Kosovo] Assembly Chairman Nexhat Daci said today that there will be no creation of entities and there will be no partition of Kosova.
Jessen-Petersen and Daci made these remarks today following their first meting this year, where they discussed the negotiation process and the work that awaits the parliament this year.
Speaking about the decentralization and Belgrade's demand for creation of entities in Kosova, Jessen-Petersen said that he thinks that there should be no demands, but positions, "because the word demand is not something that [UN special envoy Martti] Ahtisaari would like."
"As far as the issue of entities, I am still not aware of any detail. But if entities in any way smell like partition, then that is not on the agenda. It is absolutely clear that partition of Kosovo is not on the agenda."
While, Daci said that anything that may signalize partition or division into ethnic lines cannot be implemented. "I continue to make it clear that after independence, a substantial decentralization for Kosova citizens shall take place, a decentralization that would be governed with the laws for local administration, local finances, justice, education and so on. So, it shall be a decentralization only for Kosovars," Daci said.
He also said that the responsibilities and obligations to the citizens lie with Kosova institutions "and not with Belgrade, which of course can be interested for cultural heritage, human rights."
While, Jessen-Petersen said that UNMIK is in Kosova to support the negotiation process, a process which is in the interest of all citizens.
"I have made it clear from the beginning that I believe it is important that we now move on to the status, that the status issue be resolved. I am confident that it will be resolved in the course of this year. And I think this will be the best way to move forward on European issues. We have to get status clarified and move forward with the better assurances to the minorities; to move forward on economy, which is of concern to all citizens of Kosovo, and to move forward in getting the minorities together. Clarity will help and that is why the status is so important," Jessen-Petersen said.
Jessen-Petersen said that negotiations are the top priority and called on the Negotiating Team to meet on regular bases and get prepared for very difficult talks.
Daci said that he is confident that the Negotiating Team will meet more frequently. He said that there is information that the health of Kosova's President Ibrahim Rugova is improving continuously, but added that "other modalities" for functioning of the Negotiating Team will also be considered.
Source: KosovaLive website, Pristina, in English 11 Jan 06
Prishtina [Pristina], 11 January: UNMIK [UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo] chief Soeren Jessen-Petersen and Kosova [Kosovo] Assembly Chairman Nexhat Daci said today that there will be no creation of entities and there will be no partition of Kosova.
Jessen-Petersen and Daci made these remarks today following their first meting this year, where they discussed the negotiation process and the work that awaits the parliament this year.
Speaking about the decentralization and Belgrade's demand for creation of entities in Kosova, Jessen-Petersen said that he thinks that there should be no demands, but positions, "because the word demand is not something that [UN special envoy Martti] Ahtisaari would like."
"As far as the issue of entities, I am still not aware of any detail. But if entities in any way smell like partition, then that is not on the agenda. It is absolutely clear that partition of Kosovo is not on the agenda."
While, Daci said that anything that may signalize partition or division into ethnic lines cannot be implemented. "I continue to make it clear that after independence, a substantial decentralization for Kosova citizens shall take place, a decentralization that would be governed with the laws for local administration, local finances, justice, education and so on. So, it shall be a decentralization only for Kosovars," Daci said.
He also said that the responsibilities and obligations to the citizens lie with Kosova institutions "and not with Belgrade, which of course can be interested for cultural heritage, human rights."
While, Jessen-Petersen said that UNMIK is in Kosova to support the negotiation process, a process which is in the interest of all citizens.
"I have made it clear from the beginning that I believe it is important that we now move on to the status, that the status issue be resolved. I am confident that it will be resolved in the course of this year. And I think this will be the best way to move forward on European issues. We have to get status clarified and move forward with the better assurances to the minorities; to move forward on economy, which is of concern to all citizens of Kosovo, and to move forward in getting the minorities together. Clarity will help and that is why the status is so important," Jessen-Petersen said.
Jessen-Petersen said that negotiations are the top priority and called on the Negotiating Team to meet on regular bases and get prepared for very difficult talks.
Daci said that he is confident that the Negotiating Team will meet more frequently. He said that there is information that the health of Kosova's President Ibrahim Rugova is improving continuously, but added that "other modalities" for functioning of the Negotiating Team will also be considered.
Source: KosovaLive website, Pristina, in English 11 Jan 06
Kosovo assembly speaker flatly rejects formation of Serb entity
Pristina/Belgrade_(dpa) _ Kosovo assembly speaker Nexhat Daci on Wednesday completely rejected any possibility of creating a Serb entity in Serbia's breakaway province.
"Everything that has a tendency to physically segregate Kosovo, on the basis of ethnicity or entities, will not succeed," Daci said after a meeting with Soren Jessen-Petersen, head of the U.N. Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).
Belgrade's platform for talks on the future status of Kosovo proposes the creation of a Serb entity in the province, which would include all areas where Serbs live in significant numbers, as well as Serbian Orthodox religious centres.
U.N.-mediated talks on the status of Kosovo began last November, while late January will see the start of direct negotiations between delegations from Belgrade and Pristina, to be held in Vienna.
Formally still a province of Serbia, Kosovo has been administered by the U.N. since mid-1999, when NATO expelled Serbian forces from the province.
The majority ethnic Albanians in Kosovo demand quick independence for the province, while Serbia refuses to give up sovereignty and offers wide autonomy instead.
"Everything that has a tendency to physically segregate Kosovo, on the basis of ethnicity or entities, will not succeed," Daci said after a meeting with Soren Jessen-Petersen, head of the U.N. Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).
Belgrade's platform for talks on the future status of Kosovo proposes the creation of a Serb entity in the province, which would include all areas where Serbs live in significant numbers, as well as Serbian Orthodox religious centres.
U.N.-mediated talks on the status of Kosovo began last November, while late January will see the start of direct negotiations between delegations from Belgrade and Pristina, to be held in Vienna.
Formally still a province of Serbia, Kosovo has been administered by the U.N. since mid-1999, when NATO expelled Serbian forces from the province.
The majority ethnic Albanians in Kosovo demand quick independence for the province, while Serbia refuses to give up sovereignty and offers wide autonomy instead.
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Vlahovic: All Nationalities Favour Independence of Montenegro
Ljubljana, 10 January (STA) - Speaking to the press during his Tuesday
visit to Slovenia, Montenegro FM Miodrag Vlahovic said the referendum on
the future status of Montenegro would surely take place.
The terms of the referendum would be the result of an agreement among all
political forces in the state, he added.
According to Vlahovic, independence is favoured by all nationalities and
religious groups in Montenegro. This shows, he said, that the population
does not fear it would have to pay the terrible price other former
Yugoslav republics had to pay for independence.
Vlahovic confirmed that 16 January will see the beginning of talks between
the Montenegrin government and the opposition, which should determine the
details of the referendum probably to take place in April.
The minister also expressed his conviction that Montenegro's potential
independence would have absolutely no impact on the situation in Kosovo,
saying these were two separate issues.
visit to Slovenia, Montenegro FM Miodrag Vlahovic said the referendum on
the future status of Montenegro would surely take place.
The terms of the referendum would be the result of an agreement among all
political forces in the state, he added.
According to Vlahovic, independence is favoured by all nationalities and
religious groups in Montenegro. This shows, he said, that the population
does not fear it would have to pay the terrible price other former
Yugoslav republics had to pay for independence.
Vlahovic confirmed that 16 January will see the beginning of talks between
the Montenegrin government and the opposition, which should determine the
details of the referendum probably to take place in April.
The minister also expressed his conviction that Montenegro's potential
independence would have absolutely no impact on the situation in Kosovo,
saying these were two separate issues.
Mining and agriculture - two main potentials for development in Kosovo
Pristina, January 9, 2006 – One year ago when we have carried out a study on the potentials for economic development of Kosovo, it was clear that the mineral resources along with the agriculture are the main potentials for development of Kosovo, Orsalia Kalantzopoulos from the World Bank told the Radio Free Europe.
Along with the EU, World Bank has made a study on energy resources in Southeastern Europe, a region which needs larger amount of electricity. The study indicated that lignite sources of Kosovo are on the top of the list. “If Kosovo uses properly its many mineral resources and invest those income in education and health, then Kosovo would be sustainable and a developed country and provide good living conditions for its citizens,” Kalantzopoulos said.
She evaluated that the unresolved status is a big obstacle for economic development, as the private investors dare not make investments in a place, which does not know what its status will be. “But the things are moving in the right direction. The status talks have started. I am sure that a solution will be found, what will allow a larger presence of private sector in economy,” she said.
Along with the EU, World Bank has made a study on energy resources in Southeastern Europe, a region which needs larger amount of electricity. The study indicated that lignite sources of Kosovo are on the top of the list. “If Kosovo uses properly its many mineral resources and invest those income in education and health, then Kosovo would be sustainable and a developed country and provide good living conditions for its citizens,” Kalantzopoulos said.
She evaluated that the unresolved status is a big obstacle for economic development, as the private investors dare not make investments in a place, which does not know what its status will be. “But the things are moving in the right direction. The status talks have started. I am sure that a solution will be found, what will allow a larger presence of private sector in economy,” she said.
Monday, January 09, 2006
Kosovo mayor injured, assistant dies in a car crash
PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) - A Kosovo mayor was seriously injured and his assistant died in a traffic accident in neighboring Macedonia, an official said Monday.
Aqif Shehu, the mayor of the southwest town of Djakovica, and his assistant were involved in the accident Saturday while driving back from Turkey in a Macedonian highway, municipality official Zef Komani said.
Shehu, 52, was being treated in a hospital in Macedonia. Komani said his injuries were serious, but reported his condition as stable.
Shehu is an official from the Democratic League of Kosovo, the province's largest party, which until recently was headed by the ailing President Ibrahim Rugova, who is suffering from cancer.
Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations and patrolled by NATO-led peacekeepers since 1999, following the alliance's bombing of Serb forces, a campaign aimed at stopping their crackdown on independence seeking ethnic Albanians.
Aqif Shehu, the mayor of the southwest town of Djakovica, and his assistant were involved in the accident Saturday while driving back from Turkey in a Macedonian highway, municipality official Zef Komani said.
Shehu, 52, was being treated in a hospital in Macedonia. Komani said his injuries were serious, but reported his condition as stable.
Shehu is an official from the Democratic League of Kosovo, the province's largest party, which until recently was headed by the ailing President Ibrahim Rugova, who is suffering from cancer.
Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations and patrolled by NATO-led peacekeepers since 1999, following the alliance's bombing of Serb forces, a campaign aimed at stopping their crackdown on independence seeking ethnic Albanians.
UNMIK starts moving Kosovo Roma to safer Mitrovica locality
Text of report by Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA
Kosovska Mitrovica, 9 January: UNMIK [UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo] and the UNHCR today started moving 125 Roma families from the settlements of Zitkovac, Kablar and Cesmin Lug, which are polluted by lead dust, to the abandoned French camp Osterode near Kosovska Mitrovica.
UNMIK spokesman Gyorgy Kakuk has said the Roma families would be relocated to camp Osterode from their previous places of residence within the next three days because of the presence of excessive quantities of lead dust, which presents a health hazard.
"The decision on the relocation of the Roma to the camp was made on the basis of a request by the Roma community following extensive tests on the presence of lead dust in zones populated by Roma," Kakuk said.
He said that the Roma would be accommodated at the French camp until the completion of construction of two high-rises in the Romska Mahala area in south Kosovska Mitrovica.
The Roma, who were expelled from their settlement in south Kosovska Mitrovica in 1999, are temporarily residing in a housing district used until the early 90s by miners of the Trepca mines.
Source: SRNA news agency, Bijeljina, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 1240 gmt 9 Jan 06
Kosovska Mitrovica, 9 January: UNMIK [UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo] and the UNHCR today started moving 125 Roma families from the settlements of Zitkovac, Kablar and Cesmin Lug, which are polluted by lead dust, to the abandoned French camp Osterode near Kosovska Mitrovica.
UNMIK spokesman Gyorgy Kakuk has said the Roma families would be relocated to camp Osterode from their previous places of residence within the next three days because of the presence of excessive quantities of lead dust, which presents a health hazard.
"The decision on the relocation of the Roma to the camp was made on the basis of a request by the Roma community following extensive tests on the presence of lead dust in zones populated by Roma," Kakuk said.
He said that the Roma would be accommodated at the French camp until the completion of construction of two high-rises in the Romska Mahala area in south Kosovska Mitrovica.
The Roma, who were expelled from their settlement in south Kosovska Mitrovica in 1999, are temporarily residing in a housing district used until the early 90s by miners of the Trepca mines.
Source: SRNA news agency, Bijeljina, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 1240 gmt 9 Jan 06
Belgrade calls for ties between Serb municipalities in Kosovo
BELGRADE, Jan 9 (AFP) -
Belgrade believes Serb-populated areas in Kosovo should be allowed to band togther to form institutions to guarantee their rights, according to a news agency report Monday.
Serb-populated municipalities should be established in the areas of Kosovo where the community makes up a majority of the inhabitants, the Beta agency said, quoting the position, or platform, adopted at a meeting of the Serbian negotiating team last week.
Kosovo is overwhelmingly inhabited by ethnic Albanians, who make up 90 percent of the population of two million. About 80,000 Serbs live in the province, 30,000 of them in enclaves in the central part of Kosovo, protected by the NATO-led peace keeping force.
The province, legally still a part of Serbia, has been administered by the United Nations since a NATO bombing campaign ousted Belgrade-controlled forces in 1999 to end a Serbian crackdown against separatist Albanian rebels.
Negotiating teams representing Belgrade and Pristina are to begin direct talks on Kosovo in late January, under the supervision of the UN special envoy for Kosovo, former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari.
Municipalities with Serb majorities "would not make up a compact territory ... but would represent an institutional framework for normal life and the safe survival of the Serb community in the province," the Serbian team's negotiating position said.
They should be able to form joint committees and have "guaranteed direct institutional relations with Belgrade," the platform said.
"Through decentralisation, living conditions for Serbs in Kosovo can be normalised. Full protection of their rights demands institutional guarantees... above all, in the parliament of Kosovo," the platform said.
Formation of Serb municipalities should provide constitutional guarantees and legal protection for the Serb community be able to survive in the province, it added.
"The legal and constitutional position of the Serb community in Kosovo must be determined in a way that the Albanian majority will have no legal basis to treat Serbs as a minority that can be forced to accept solutions contrary to its vital interests," the platform said.
Ethnic tensions remain high as Albanians want to break away from Belgrade which considers the province as a cradle of Serbian culture and history.
"Such guarantees could easily be introduced through a process of decentralisation which should enable local municipalities to get a series of concrete competences and authorities" such as full cultural, financial and economic autonomy as well as local police and legal control, it said.
According to Belgrade, more than 200,000 Kosovo Serbs have fled the province fearing reprisals from ethnic Albanian extremists since the UN took control in June 1999.
Belgrade believes Serb-populated areas in Kosovo should be allowed to band togther to form institutions to guarantee their rights, according to a news agency report Monday.
Serb-populated municipalities should be established in the areas of Kosovo where the community makes up a majority of the inhabitants, the Beta agency said, quoting the position, or platform, adopted at a meeting of the Serbian negotiating team last week.
Kosovo is overwhelmingly inhabited by ethnic Albanians, who make up 90 percent of the population of two million. About 80,000 Serbs live in the province, 30,000 of them in enclaves in the central part of Kosovo, protected by the NATO-led peace keeping force.
The province, legally still a part of Serbia, has been administered by the United Nations since a NATO bombing campaign ousted Belgrade-controlled forces in 1999 to end a Serbian crackdown against separatist Albanian rebels.
Negotiating teams representing Belgrade and Pristina are to begin direct talks on Kosovo in late January, under the supervision of the UN special envoy for Kosovo, former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari.
Municipalities with Serb majorities "would not make up a compact territory ... but would represent an institutional framework for normal life and the safe survival of the Serb community in the province," the Serbian team's negotiating position said.
They should be able to form joint committees and have "guaranteed direct institutional relations with Belgrade," the platform said.
"Through decentralisation, living conditions for Serbs in Kosovo can be normalised. Full protection of their rights demands institutional guarantees... above all, in the parliament of Kosovo," the platform said.
Formation of Serb municipalities should provide constitutional guarantees and legal protection for the Serb community be able to survive in the province, it added.
"The legal and constitutional position of the Serb community in Kosovo must be determined in a way that the Albanian majority will have no legal basis to treat Serbs as a minority that can be forced to accept solutions contrary to its vital interests," the platform said.
Ethnic tensions remain high as Albanians want to break away from Belgrade which considers the province as a cradle of Serbian culture and history.
"Such guarantees could easily be introduced through a process of decentralisation which should enable local municipalities to get a series of concrete competences and authorities" such as full cultural, financial and economic autonomy as well as local police and legal control, it said.
According to Belgrade, more than 200,000 Kosovo Serbs have fled the province fearing reprisals from ethnic Albanian extremists since the UN took control in June 1999.
Sunday, January 08, 2006
Kosovo leaders wish Merry Christmas to Orthodox faithful
ZAGREB, Jan 7 (Hina) - Kosovo President and Prime Minister, Ibrahim Rugova and Bajram Kosumi, leaders of local Albanian parties as well as the UN Civilian Administrator, Soren Jessen-Petersen, on Saturday offered their best wishes to the Serb Orthodox faithful on the occasion of Christmas which they celebrate according to the Julian calendar on 7 January.
In his note, President Rugova described Christmas as "a day of understanding" and voiced hope that Kosovo would soon achieve full peace and stability.
Prime Minister Kosumi wished that this great day might help deepen the relations between all residents in the province.
Celebrations of Christmas were held in Kosovo in a peaceful atmosphere. Services were performed in monasteries and churches during which the message of the primate in the Serb Orthodox Church, Patriarch Pavle was read out.
In his note, President Rugova described Christmas as "a day of understanding" and voiced hope that Kosovo would soon achieve full peace and stability.
Prime Minister Kosumi wished that this great day might help deepen the relations between all residents in the province.
Celebrations of Christmas were held in Kosovo in a peaceful atmosphere. Services were performed in monasteries and churches during which the message of the primate in the Serb Orthodox Church, Patriarch Pavle was read out.
Kosovo parliament speaker says Rugova's condition won't jeopardise talks on Kosovo status
PRISTINA, Jan 8 (Hina) - Kosovo parliament speaker Nexhat Daci has said that the process of defining Kosovo's status will not be jeopardised by the poor health of President Ibrahim Rugova and that Kosovo leaders will not accept anything less than independence.
In an interview with an Albanian-language programme of the Voice of America on Sunday, Daci said that Rugova could not be replaced by anyone at the moment.
"We expect a dream which all Albanians have been dreaming for years to come true this year," Daci said, adding that "stalling the settlement of the Kosovo issue could have negative consequences for Kosovo and the region".
Commenting on the option of conditional independence for the UN-administered province, Daci said that independence was non-negotiable and that nobody in Kosovo's negotiating team had the mandate to negotiate about anything less than full independence.
He added that Kosovo leaders would do everything so that international commitments were met.
"One of a society's democratic standards is its treatment of minorities and we are committed to meeting our obligations. The Kosovo Serbs have a history in Kosovo, they have property here, they are always welcome as Kosovo residents, but there will be no cantons or physical connections with anyone outside Kosovo. Serbs and all other minorities in Kosovo will enjoy all the rights they are entitled to," Daci said.
In an interview with an Albanian-language programme of the Voice of America on Sunday, Daci said that Rugova could not be replaced by anyone at the moment.
"We expect a dream which all Albanians have been dreaming for years to come true this year," Daci said, adding that "stalling the settlement of the Kosovo issue could have negative consequences for Kosovo and the region".
Commenting on the option of conditional independence for the UN-administered province, Daci said that independence was non-negotiable and that nobody in Kosovo's negotiating team had the mandate to negotiate about anything less than full independence.
He added that Kosovo leaders would do everything so that international commitments were met.
"One of a society's democratic standards is its treatment of minorities and we are committed to meeting our obligations. The Kosovo Serbs have a history in Kosovo, they have property here, they are always welcome as Kosovo residents, but there will be no cantons or physical connections with anyone outside Kosovo. Serbs and all other minorities in Kosovo will enjoy all the rights they are entitled to," Daci said.
Friday, January 06, 2006
Kosovo citizens in Urosevac forcibly close down bars frequented by prostitutes
Text of report by Radio-Television Kosovo TV on 5 January
[Announcer] A group of Ferizaj [Urosevac] citizens have organized themselves and used force to close a dozen bars. They say that prostitutes were working in the bars and the owners were dealing in human trafficking.
[Reporter] Residents of a Ferizaj neighbourhood closed down ten bars, saying that prostitution was being conducted there. They had sent a petition to the Kosovo Police Service and municipal officials, but according to the residents nothing was undertaken. On 1 January the residents organized themselves and used force to close down all these bars.
[Resident of the neighbourhood, Vigan Hoxha] It is a straightforward matter, there was prostitution. In a lot of these bars women were working, and I as a resident of this neighbourhood together with all the other residents were forced to act. We simply evicted them.
[Reporter] The bars are owned by some of the residents living in the neighbourhood and as of January they will not receive their rent money from the shops, but according to them it is better not to get any money than for their neighbourhood to turn into a place where there is human trafficking.
[Another inhabitant of the neighbourhood] The young people of the neighbourhood got together and we reached a consensus to stop these things from happening in our neighbourhood regardless of the economic consequences. In time we believe that the good image of this neighbourhood will return.
[Reporter] Director of Municipal Inspectors Jahja Emini says that residents in the neighbourhood took the law into their own hands.
[Jahja Emini] If this has really happened, then in a sense the citizens have taken the law into their own hands, which is totally illegal. They should have notified us and we would then have passed on the information to the Kosovo Police Service. If we did not react, or do anything about this issue, they would have the right to request legal action through normal procedures.
[Reporter] The owners of these bars were citizens, of Kosovo, Albania, Bulgaria and other countries. The neighbourhood has been raided by police several times, but the bars would re-open as soon as the police left.
Ferizaj Municipality temporarily closed down five bars. This was not done because of the illegal activity of prostitution but because they did not fulfil hygiene standards.
Source: RTK TV, Pristina, in Albanian 1830 gmt 5 Jan 06
[Announcer] A group of Ferizaj [Urosevac] citizens have organized themselves and used force to close a dozen bars. They say that prostitutes were working in the bars and the owners were dealing in human trafficking.
[Reporter] Residents of a Ferizaj neighbourhood closed down ten bars, saying that prostitution was being conducted there. They had sent a petition to the Kosovo Police Service and municipal officials, but according to the residents nothing was undertaken. On 1 January the residents organized themselves and used force to close down all these bars.
[Resident of the neighbourhood, Vigan Hoxha] It is a straightforward matter, there was prostitution. In a lot of these bars women were working, and I as a resident of this neighbourhood together with all the other residents were forced to act. We simply evicted them.
[Reporter] The bars are owned by some of the residents living in the neighbourhood and as of January they will not receive their rent money from the shops, but according to them it is better not to get any money than for their neighbourhood to turn into a place where there is human trafficking.
[Another inhabitant of the neighbourhood] The young people of the neighbourhood got together and we reached a consensus to stop these things from happening in our neighbourhood regardless of the economic consequences. In time we believe that the good image of this neighbourhood will return.
[Reporter] Director of Municipal Inspectors Jahja Emini says that residents in the neighbourhood took the law into their own hands.
[Jahja Emini] If this has really happened, then in a sense the citizens have taken the law into their own hands, which is totally illegal. They should have notified us and we would then have passed on the information to the Kosovo Police Service. If we did not react, or do anything about this issue, they would have the right to request legal action through normal procedures.
[Reporter] The owners of these bars were citizens, of Kosovo, Albania, Bulgaria and other countries. The neighbourhood has been raided by police several times, but the bars would re-open as soon as the police left.
Ferizaj Municipality temporarily closed down five bars. This was not done because of the illegal activity of prostitution but because they did not fulfil hygiene standards.
Source: RTK TV, Pristina, in Albanian 1830 gmt 5 Jan 06
Albania PM:Independent Kosovo Will Bring Peace,Stability
TIRANA (AP)--Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha said Thursday an independent Kosovo would bring peace and stability to the Balkans and appealed to the province's ethnic Albanians to create conditions that allow the Serb minority to live a normal life.
In a television talk show, Berisha suggested the Kosovo parliament declare an amnesty "as an act to show that any Serb may return to Kosovo."
"I stand with the idea of respecting the Kosovo Serbs' rights and freedom...as well as defending the view that independence is the only solution that produces peace and stability," Berisha said.
He also stressed the importance of continuing dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia.
Kosovo remains officially part of Serbia, the dominant republic in the Serbia-Montenegro union that replaced Yugoslavia. But it has been administered by the United Nations and NATO since the alliance's 1999 air war halted former President Slobodan Milosevic's crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists and expelled Serb troops from the province.
Kosovo, which has an ethnic Albanian majority and Serb minority, is to enter talks this year on its future political status, which are likely to increase tensions in the deeply polarized region.
The ethnic Albanians want complete independence, while Serbia wants to retain some formal control over its southern province.
Albania has declared it has no territorial claims on Kosovo and that no one should fear Albania could join with the province. It has also said that Kosovo needs a continuing NATO presence.
Berisha said he was in continuous contact with Kosovo Albanian leaders. But "I have never been paternalist," he said. [ 06-01-06 0945GMT ]
In a television talk show, Berisha suggested the Kosovo parliament declare an amnesty "as an act to show that any Serb may return to Kosovo."
"I stand with the idea of respecting the Kosovo Serbs' rights and freedom...as well as defending the view that independence is the only solution that produces peace and stability," Berisha said.
He also stressed the importance of continuing dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia.
Kosovo remains officially part of Serbia, the dominant republic in the Serbia-Montenegro union that replaced Yugoslavia. But it has been administered by the United Nations and NATO since the alliance's 1999 air war halted former President Slobodan Milosevic's crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists and expelled Serb troops from the province.
Kosovo, which has an ethnic Albanian majority and Serb minority, is to enter talks this year on its future political status, which are likely to increase tensions in the deeply polarized region.
The ethnic Albanians want complete independence, while Serbia wants to retain some formal control over its southern province.
Albania has declared it has no territorial claims on Kosovo and that no one should fear Albania could join with the province. It has also said that Kosovo needs a continuing NATO presence.
Berisha said he was in continuous contact with Kosovo Albanian leaders. But "I have never been paternalist," he said. [ 06-01-06 0945GMT ]
Kosovo PM toasts Christmas in rare visit to Serbs
By Matthew Robinson
PRISTINA, Serbia and Montenegro (Reuters) - Kosovo's ethnic Albanian prime minister handed out sweets and sipped the local firewater with Serbs on Friday in a rare visit to the dwindling Serb community on Orthodox Christmas Eve.
Pursued by jostling reporters, Bajram Kosumi and his black-suited entourage squeezed into the Raskovic home in a gray apartment block housing Pristina's six remaining Serb families.
"I came here to see how you're doing, how you live, and to wish you a Happy New Year and Merry Christmas," Kosumi said as aides carried in bags of sweets and chocolate for the children.
"I came to hear about the problems you're facing."
Serbs celebrate Orthodox Christmas on Saturday, January 7.
Kosovo's leaders are under intense pressure to offer the Serb minority a viable future in Serbia's disputed province, where the 90-percent mainly Muslim Albanian majority is pushing for independence from Belgrade in negotiations this year.
Perched on the living room sofa, Kosumi said his government was considering setting up a classroom in the estate for Serb children, who otherwise go to school in a nearby Serb enclave.
His host, Mirko Raskovic, said he planned to stay on the estate, which was attacked in March 2004 by Albanian mobs in a two-day orgy of rioting across Kosovo. "We have friends here and we all get along," he said.
His wife poured a glass of rakija, a type of brandy, for the prime minister as the couple's three daughters hid in the kitchen.
Kosumi spoke in Albanian for the cameras but briefly shared a joke in Serbian with his host.
Kosovo, a Serbian province of 2 million people, has been run by the United Nations since NATO bombing in 1999 drove out Serb forces accused of atrocities against Albanian civilians in a two-year war with separatist guerrillas.
Marginalized and targeted for revenge after the war, 100,000 Serbs remained when as many fled for Serbia proper. Tens of thousands moved out of Pristina alone, fearing an Albanian population bitter at years of repression.
Signs of reconciliation are rare and Kosovo's Western backers look kindly on any effort to preserve what's left of the province's multi-ethnicity as they weigh up Albanian demands for independence and Serbia's insistence they respect its sovereignty.
"It's harder than it used to be," said Dragana Savic, one of the Raskovic's Serb neighbors. Asked if the prime minister's visit meant something to them, she replied: "Honestly, not much."
(Additional reporting by Shaban Buza)
PRISTINA, Serbia and Montenegro (Reuters) - Kosovo's ethnic Albanian prime minister handed out sweets and sipped the local firewater with Serbs on Friday in a rare visit to the dwindling Serb community on Orthodox Christmas Eve.
Pursued by jostling reporters, Bajram Kosumi and his black-suited entourage squeezed into the Raskovic home in a gray apartment block housing Pristina's six remaining Serb families.
"I came here to see how you're doing, how you live, and to wish you a Happy New Year and Merry Christmas," Kosumi said as aides carried in bags of sweets and chocolate for the children.
"I came to hear about the problems you're facing."
Serbs celebrate Orthodox Christmas on Saturday, January 7.
Kosovo's leaders are under intense pressure to offer the Serb minority a viable future in Serbia's disputed province, where the 90-percent mainly Muslim Albanian majority is pushing for independence from Belgrade in negotiations this year.
Perched on the living room sofa, Kosumi said his government was considering setting up a classroom in the estate for Serb children, who otherwise go to school in a nearby Serb enclave.
His host, Mirko Raskovic, said he planned to stay on the estate, which was attacked in March 2004 by Albanian mobs in a two-day orgy of rioting across Kosovo. "We have friends here and we all get along," he said.
His wife poured a glass of rakija, a type of brandy, for the prime minister as the couple's three daughters hid in the kitchen.
Kosumi spoke in Albanian for the cameras but briefly shared a joke in Serbian with his host.
Kosovo, a Serbian province of 2 million people, has been run by the United Nations since NATO bombing in 1999 drove out Serb forces accused of atrocities against Albanian civilians in a two-year war with separatist guerrillas.
Marginalized and targeted for revenge after the war, 100,000 Serbs remained when as many fled for Serbia proper. Tens of thousands moved out of Pristina alone, fearing an Albanian population bitter at years of repression.
Signs of reconciliation are rare and Kosovo's Western backers look kindly on any effort to preserve what's left of the province's multi-ethnicity as they weigh up Albanian demands for independence and Serbia's insistence they respect its sovereignty.
"It's harder than it used to be," said Dragana Savic, one of the Raskovic's Serb neighbors. Asked if the prime minister's visit meant something to them, she replied: "Honestly, not much."
(Additional reporting by Shaban Buza)
Serbian President: Will Never Accept Independence For Kosovo
RADE (AP)--Serbian President Boris Tadic said in an interview published Friday that he will never accept independence for Kosovo.
"As far as I am concerned, I will never sign any decision granting independence to Kosovo," Tadic told Glas daily.
Kosovo is formally part of Serbia, although the province has been an international protectorate since 1999, when a NATO bombing campaign halted Belgrade's crackdown against ethnic Albanian rebels.
Talks to determine Kosovo's future status are expected to start later this year under mediation by the United Nations. Kosovo's ethnic Albanians are seeking independence, but Belgrade officials want to keep the region within Serbia's borders.
Resolving the issue is considered crucial for stability in the Balkans, a region still recovering from the wars of the 1990s.
Tadic said the solution for Kosovo should be the result of a compromise. He added that the Belgrade delegation at the negotiations will seek to defend " Serbia's national interests."
"We will use all political and diplomatic means to defend them," Tadic was quoted as saying.
Thursday, the Serb negotiating team agreed on its platform for the talks, but revealed no details publicly.
Also Thursday, the leader of Serbia's Orthodox Church, Patriarch Pavle, called for a solution that would be acceptable to both sides.
The Serbs view Kosovo - the medieval seat of the Serbian state - as the cradle of their history, culture and statehood. Kosovo's ethnic Albanians, who make up a majority of the province's population, insist the region should become independent from Serbia.
"As far as I am concerned, I will never sign any decision granting independence to Kosovo," Tadic told Glas daily.
Kosovo is formally part of Serbia, although the province has been an international protectorate since 1999, when a NATO bombing campaign halted Belgrade's crackdown against ethnic Albanian rebels.
Talks to determine Kosovo's future status are expected to start later this year under mediation by the United Nations. Kosovo's ethnic Albanians are seeking independence, but Belgrade officials want to keep the region within Serbia's borders.
Resolving the issue is considered crucial for stability in the Balkans, a region still recovering from the wars of the 1990s.
Tadic said the solution for Kosovo should be the result of a compromise. He added that the Belgrade delegation at the negotiations will seek to defend " Serbia's national interests."
"We will use all political and diplomatic means to defend them," Tadic was quoted as saying.
Thursday, the Serb negotiating team agreed on its platform for the talks, but revealed no details publicly.
Also Thursday, the leader of Serbia's Orthodox Church, Patriarch Pavle, called for a solution that would be acceptable to both sides.
The Serbs view Kosovo - the medieval seat of the Serbian state - as the cradle of their history, culture and statehood. Kosovo's ethnic Albanians, who make up a majority of the province's population, insist the region should become independent from Serbia.
Thursday, January 05, 2006
U.N. Envoy Predicts Kosovo Status Talks Will Conclude in 2006
Decision could bring stability to Balkans region, former U.S. diplomat says
By Vince Crawley
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- The United Nations envoy to Kosovo says 2006 will likely prove crucial in determining whether the province gains independence from Serbia, and a former senior U.S. diplomat says the decision would help stabilize the entire Balkans region.
“We are at the end of one momentous year for Kosovo and the beginning of another,” Soren Jessen-Peterson, the U.N.’s special representative to Kosovo, said in a New Year’s message. With the opening of U.N.-mediated talks on the final status of Kosovo, “the coming year will more likely see the end of that process,” Jessen-Peterson said.
Jessen-Peterson is the U.N. administrator for Kosovo, which has been under international protection since the 1999 NATO-led war to halt oppression and human-rights violations by Yugoslav Serbs. Ethnic Albanians, who seek independence from Serbia and Montenegro, made up 90 percent of the province’s prewar population. Tens of thousands of minority Serbs since then have fled, in part because of periodic outbreaks of violence by the Albanian majority. About 1,700 U.S. troops continue to serve in Kosovo as part of a NATO-led international force.
On October 24, 2005, the U.N. Security Council endorsed the start of final-status talks for Kosovo. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan posed two possible outcomes: independence or some form of autonomy while formally remaining a part of Serbia. (See related story.)
Kosovo’s international status in 1999 was left undecided on purpose, says a former U.S. diplomat.
At the end of the war that drove Yugoslav-Serb forces out of the province, “we did not define Kosovo’s endpoint,” Ambassador James Dobbins said during a January 4 talk at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative policy research institute. Dobbins, a career State Department diplomat, has served as ambassador to the European Union and was the Clinton administration’s special envoy for Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia and Kosovo. He then became President Bush’s first envoy to post-Taliban Afghanistan. He is now director of the International Security and Defense Policy Center for the Rand Corporation, a policy research institute.
Postponing Kosovo’s international status was “a conscious decision, a rational decision at the time,” Dobbins said at the Heritage Foundation talk.
“In 1999 … an effort to decide the final status of Kosovo would have [had] profoundly destabilizing effects on other very tenuous and volatile issues in the Balkans,” Dobbins said. For example, he said, neighboring Macedonia was struggling to avoid an outbreak of ethnic violence with its significant Albanian minority population. In what was still called Yugoslavia, the republic of Montenegro was in danger of violent secession. And Bosnia’s three ethnic groups still were struggling to forge a viable single country just four years after the end of the Bosnian war.
“It was felt in 1999 that, with 50,000 NATO troops, Kosovo was under control,” Dobbins said. “These other situations were less under control, more volatile, and therefore one had to make progress on them before returning to the issue of Kosovo’s final status. I think that was a reasonable gamble.” At the time, he said, the international community was putting enough money and manpower into Kosovo “to keep a lid on it for a few years.”
In the meantime, Dobbins said, “we did have a chance to ameliorate these other situations. And I think we have significantly ameliorated them.” Tensions have not vanished in Bosnia or Macedonia, he said, but they have cooled down greatly as those countries seek closer ties with the European Union. There also appears to be a distinct possibility that Montenegro will vote for independence in early 2006, Dobbins said, but that would likely not be accompanied by violence.
The region’s tensions “all still exist,” Dobbins said. “But the chances of them blowing up in 2004, 2005, 2006 are a lot less than they were in 1999,” he added.
“Whereas in 1999 it was prudent to say that Kosovo was adequately under control and one needed to tend to these other issues, it’s now reasonable to say these other issues are adequately under control, and Kosovo has become the most volatile flashpoint in the area,” Dobbins said. International troop levels and monetary aid are declining, he said. Also, there is a “natural impatience” on the part of the people of Kosovo as well as the international community to resolve the province’s international status.
By Vince Crawley
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- The United Nations envoy to Kosovo says 2006 will likely prove crucial in determining whether the province gains independence from Serbia, and a former senior U.S. diplomat says the decision would help stabilize the entire Balkans region.
“We are at the end of one momentous year for Kosovo and the beginning of another,” Soren Jessen-Peterson, the U.N.’s special representative to Kosovo, said in a New Year’s message. With the opening of U.N.-mediated talks on the final status of Kosovo, “the coming year will more likely see the end of that process,” Jessen-Peterson said.
Jessen-Peterson is the U.N. administrator for Kosovo, which has been under international protection since the 1999 NATO-led war to halt oppression and human-rights violations by Yugoslav Serbs. Ethnic Albanians, who seek independence from Serbia and Montenegro, made up 90 percent of the province’s prewar population. Tens of thousands of minority Serbs since then have fled, in part because of periodic outbreaks of violence by the Albanian majority. About 1,700 U.S. troops continue to serve in Kosovo as part of a NATO-led international force.
On October 24, 2005, the U.N. Security Council endorsed the start of final-status talks for Kosovo. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan posed two possible outcomes: independence or some form of autonomy while formally remaining a part of Serbia. (See related story.)
Kosovo’s international status in 1999 was left undecided on purpose, says a former U.S. diplomat.
At the end of the war that drove Yugoslav-Serb forces out of the province, “we did not define Kosovo’s endpoint,” Ambassador James Dobbins said during a January 4 talk at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative policy research institute. Dobbins, a career State Department diplomat, has served as ambassador to the European Union and was the Clinton administration’s special envoy for Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia and Kosovo. He then became President Bush’s first envoy to post-Taliban Afghanistan. He is now director of the International Security and Defense Policy Center for the Rand Corporation, a policy research institute.
Postponing Kosovo’s international status was “a conscious decision, a rational decision at the time,” Dobbins said at the Heritage Foundation talk.
“In 1999 … an effort to decide the final status of Kosovo would have [had] profoundly destabilizing effects on other very tenuous and volatile issues in the Balkans,” Dobbins said. For example, he said, neighboring Macedonia was struggling to avoid an outbreak of ethnic violence with its significant Albanian minority population. In what was still called Yugoslavia, the republic of Montenegro was in danger of violent secession. And Bosnia’s three ethnic groups still were struggling to forge a viable single country just four years after the end of the Bosnian war.
“It was felt in 1999 that, with 50,000 NATO troops, Kosovo was under control,” Dobbins said. “These other situations were less under control, more volatile, and therefore one had to make progress on them before returning to the issue of Kosovo’s final status. I think that was a reasonable gamble.” At the time, he said, the international community was putting enough money and manpower into Kosovo “to keep a lid on it for a few years.”
In the meantime, Dobbins said, “we did have a chance to ameliorate these other situations. And I think we have significantly ameliorated them.” Tensions have not vanished in Bosnia or Macedonia, he said, but they have cooled down greatly as those countries seek closer ties with the European Union. There also appears to be a distinct possibility that Montenegro will vote for independence in early 2006, Dobbins said, but that would likely not be accompanied by violence.
The region’s tensions “all still exist,” Dobbins said. “But the chances of them blowing up in 2004, 2005, 2006 are a lot less than they were in 1999,” he added.
“Whereas in 1999 it was prudent to say that Kosovo was adequately under control and one needed to tend to these other issues, it’s now reasonable to say these other issues are adequately under control, and Kosovo has become the most volatile flashpoint in the area,” Dobbins said. International troop levels and monetary aid are declining, he said. Also, there is a “natural impatience” on the part of the people of Kosovo as well as the international community to resolve the province’s international status.
Independence only viable outcome for Kosovo province: analysts
WASHINGTON, Jan 5 (AFP) -
Formal talks set to get underway in earnest later this month on the final status of Kosovo will almost certainly lead to independence for the mainly ethnic Albanian Serb province, analysts say.
"When you look at conditional independence it's probably the only game in town because the other alternatives are simply unattractive," said John Norris, head of the Washington office of the International Crisis Group, which monitors conflicts around the globe.
"Nobody wants to see Kosovo partitioned ..., there is no support for forming a greater Albania and certainly there is no sense that Kosovo can simply be shoehorned back into Serbia," added Norris, speaking at a conference here Wednesday on the future of Kosovo organized by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
He and other experts said the real challenge facing those taking part in the UN-mediated talks will be getting the Serbs and Albanians to stop bickering about an outcome that is considered a foregone conclusion and start tackling crucial issues.
For Kosovo's Albanians, who make up 90 percent of the province's two-million population, that means displaying efficient governance and working to better protect the rights of the Serb minority.
Nationalist Serb diehards for their part must face the inevitable and focus on the prospect of Belgrade eventually joining the European Union and NATO's Partnership for Peace Program.
"The Albanians and the Serbs could wreap a terrific windfall right now by standing up, pointing to concrete measures of how they can work together," Norris said. "The international community would shower money and opportunity on them if they did so."
Charles Kupchan, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, predicted that violence was likely to break out in the province if conditional independence was denied or delayed.
Conditional independence means that the province, which has been administered by the United Natons since a 1999 NATO bombing campaign halted a Serbian crackdown on ethnic Albanians, would cease to be part of Serbia-Montenegro but that restrictions on its independence would remain during a transitional period.
"If Kosovo is gonna make it it needs to get the institutions of governance up and running," Kupchan said, adding that much also needed to be done to protect Serb patrimonial sites and the estimated 100,000 Serbs who live in the province.
Kupchan also suggested that the controversial idea of partitioning Kosovo should not be excluded during the upcoming status talks.
"It may provide room for compromise, it may get Belgrade to say 'let us have northern Kosovo and we'll sign off'," Kupchan said. "And two, I don't think the international community should rule it out unless it is prepared to face the reality of what it means to reintegrate northern Kosovo into Kosovo proper.
"It means a lot of money and a lot of troop presence and I'm not sure the EU or the US has the stomach ... to see that through."
Partitioning Kosovo, however, has all but been excluded by the international community both in public statements made by senior diplomats and in behind the scenes talks that have taken place in recent weeks.
Joining those talks have been members of the Contact Group, set up to coordinate policy during the Balkan wars in the 1990s, and former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, who has been chosen by the UN to head the status negotiations on Kosovo.
Diplomats and experts say that there was general consensus during the talks that conditional independence was the best solution for the province.
The tough part, they say, will be getting the Serbs and Albanians to mutually agree to that.
"It's very important that this not be seen as a diktat on either side," said John Hulsman, an expert on European affairs at the Heritage Foundation. "The reality is if they don't wish to make peace on reasonable terms, that peace will not be made."
Formal talks set to get underway in earnest later this month on the final status of Kosovo will almost certainly lead to independence for the mainly ethnic Albanian Serb province, analysts say.
"When you look at conditional independence it's probably the only game in town because the other alternatives are simply unattractive," said John Norris, head of the Washington office of the International Crisis Group, which monitors conflicts around the globe.
"Nobody wants to see Kosovo partitioned ..., there is no support for forming a greater Albania and certainly there is no sense that Kosovo can simply be shoehorned back into Serbia," added Norris, speaking at a conference here Wednesday on the future of Kosovo organized by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
He and other experts said the real challenge facing those taking part in the UN-mediated talks will be getting the Serbs and Albanians to stop bickering about an outcome that is considered a foregone conclusion and start tackling crucial issues.
For Kosovo's Albanians, who make up 90 percent of the province's two-million population, that means displaying efficient governance and working to better protect the rights of the Serb minority.
Nationalist Serb diehards for their part must face the inevitable and focus on the prospect of Belgrade eventually joining the European Union and NATO's Partnership for Peace Program.
"The Albanians and the Serbs could wreap a terrific windfall right now by standing up, pointing to concrete measures of how they can work together," Norris said. "The international community would shower money and opportunity on them if they did so."
Charles Kupchan, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, predicted that violence was likely to break out in the province if conditional independence was denied or delayed.
Conditional independence means that the province, which has been administered by the United Natons since a 1999 NATO bombing campaign halted a Serbian crackdown on ethnic Albanians, would cease to be part of Serbia-Montenegro but that restrictions on its independence would remain during a transitional period.
"If Kosovo is gonna make it it needs to get the institutions of governance up and running," Kupchan said, adding that much also needed to be done to protect Serb patrimonial sites and the estimated 100,000 Serbs who live in the province.
Kupchan also suggested that the controversial idea of partitioning Kosovo should not be excluded during the upcoming status talks.
"It may provide room for compromise, it may get Belgrade to say 'let us have northern Kosovo and we'll sign off'," Kupchan said. "And two, I don't think the international community should rule it out unless it is prepared to face the reality of what it means to reintegrate northern Kosovo into Kosovo proper.
"It means a lot of money and a lot of troop presence and I'm not sure the EU or the US has the stomach ... to see that through."
Partitioning Kosovo, however, has all but been excluded by the international community both in public statements made by senior diplomats and in behind the scenes talks that have taken place in recent weeks.
Joining those talks have been members of the Contact Group, set up to coordinate policy during the Balkan wars in the 1990s, and former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, who has been chosen by the UN to head the status negotiations on Kosovo.
Diplomats and experts say that there was general consensus during the talks that conditional independence was the best solution for the province.
The tough part, they say, will be getting the Serbs and Albanians to mutually agree to that.
"It's very important that this not be seen as a diktat on either side," said John Hulsman, an expert on European affairs at the Heritage Foundation. "The reality is if they don't wish to make peace on reasonable terms, that peace will not be made."
Kosovo negotiators agree on legal justification for independence
Text of report by Radio-Television Kosovo TV on 4 January
[Announcer] The Kosova [Kosovo] strategic political group [KSPG] of the negotiation team continued its discussion on the preparation of the five basic documents that will be handed to the UN special envoy for Kosova status talks, Martti Ahtisaari, during the first half of January. The KSPG agreed today on two documents that have been labelled the most important tomes, the one on decentralization and reforms of the local government and the legal justification for Kosova's independence.
[Reporter] Minister of Local Government Lutfi Haziri prepared the first document and the new plan for reforms of local government. The coordinator of the working groups of the negotiation team for Kosova's status, Blerim Shala, said that this document will be ready next week. According to Shala the proposal of the Kosovar side regarding decentralization will not allow division inside or outside of Kosova.
[Blerim Shala] No one is interested in having another Bosnia. We are going to be persistent in our proposal. The international community, Ahtisaari's group and we have in common these red lines. There can be no division of Kosova, there can be no inner division with cantonization or the creation of a Serb entity and there will be no forming of a government that is not functional.
[Reporter] At today's meeting the KSPG also discussed the preparations for drawing up the document that will contain the legal justification for Kosova's independence. According to Shala the Kosovar delegation will be ready for the upcoming meeting with Martti Ahtisaari, expected to be held by the end of the month.
Source: RTK TV, Pristina, in Albanian 1830 gmt 4 Jan 06
[Announcer] The Kosova [Kosovo] strategic political group [KSPG] of the negotiation team continued its discussion on the preparation of the five basic documents that will be handed to the UN special envoy for Kosova status talks, Martti Ahtisaari, during the first half of January. The KSPG agreed today on two documents that have been labelled the most important tomes, the one on decentralization and reforms of the local government and the legal justification for Kosova's independence.
[Reporter] Minister of Local Government Lutfi Haziri prepared the first document and the new plan for reforms of local government. The coordinator of the working groups of the negotiation team for Kosova's status, Blerim Shala, said that this document will be ready next week. According to Shala the proposal of the Kosovar side regarding decentralization will not allow division inside or outside of Kosova.
[Blerim Shala] No one is interested in having another Bosnia. We are going to be persistent in our proposal. The international community, Ahtisaari's group and we have in common these red lines. There can be no division of Kosova, there can be no inner division with cantonization or the creation of a Serb entity and there will be no forming of a government that is not functional.
[Reporter] At today's meeting the KSPG also discussed the preparations for drawing up the document that will contain the legal justification for Kosova's independence. According to Shala the Kosovar delegation will be ready for the upcoming meeting with Martti Ahtisaari, expected to be held by the end of the month.
Source: RTK TV, Pristina, in Albanian 1830 gmt 4 Jan 06
Kosovo bus route targeted in second bomb attack
PRISTINA, Serbia and Montenegro, Jan 5 (Reuters) - A bomb was thrown at a moving bus in Kosovo on Wednesday night causing damage but no injuries to the 55 passengers aboard, a United Nations spokesman in the disputed Serbian province said.
It was the second attack in the past month on a bus from the remote town of Dragas to the Serbian capital, Belgrade. Kosovo's ethnic minorities often use the route, but members of Kosovo's 90 percent Albanian majority are also frequent passengers.
"An explosive device was thrown at the right rear end of the bus, causing some damage," U.N. spokesman Neeraj Singh told Reuters on Thursday. He said some of the passengers were ethnic members of various minority groups but most were Albanians.
The U.N. mission, fearing more ethnic violence by Kosovo Albanian extremists against Serbs and other minorities, stepped up security in December after a rocket-propelled grenade pierced the side of a bus but failed to explode.
The U.N took control of the province of 2 million people in 1999 after NATO bombs drove out Serb forces accused of atrocities against Albanian civilians in a two-year war with separatist guerrillas. Over 100,000 Serbs and other minorities stayed on after as many fled revenge attacks after the war.
Shootings and small bomb blasts, often targeting Serbs and other minorities, have increased over the past year as the West moves to address the "final status" of Kosovo.
They are blamed on Albanian extremists impatient for independence, who seek to warn Western powers against giving in to Serbia's demand that Kosovo -- seen as the cradle of the Serbian people -- remain within its borders.
Officials have warned of a possible upsurge in violence as negotiations on Kosovo's future status get under way, with the first direct meeting between Serbian and Kosovo Albanian politicians pencilled in for late January in Vienna.
It was the second attack in the past month on a bus from the remote town of Dragas to the Serbian capital, Belgrade. Kosovo's ethnic minorities often use the route, but members of Kosovo's 90 percent Albanian majority are also frequent passengers.
"An explosive device was thrown at the right rear end of the bus, causing some damage," U.N. spokesman Neeraj Singh told Reuters on Thursday. He said some of the passengers were ethnic members of various minority groups but most were Albanians.
The U.N. mission, fearing more ethnic violence by Kosovo Albanian extremists against Serbs and other minorities, stepped up security in December after a rocket-propelled grenade pierced the side of a bus but failed to explode.
The U.N took control of the province of 2 million people in 1999 after NATO bombs drove out Serb forces accused of atrocities against Albanian civilians in a two-year war with separatist guerrillas. Over 100,000 Serbs and other minorities stayed on after as many fled revenge attacks after the war.
Shootings and small bomb blasts, often targeting Serbs and other minorities, have increased over the past year as the West moves to address the "final status" of Kosovo.
They are blamed on Albanian extremists impatient for independence, who seek to warn Western powers against giving in to Serbia's demand that Kosovo -- seen as the cradle of the Serbian people -- remain within its borders.
Officials have warned of a possible upsurge in violence as negotiations on Kosovo's future status get under way, with the first direct meeting between Serbian and Kosovo Albanian politicians pencilled in for late January in Vienna.
Serbia, slowly facing its past, earns praise from prosecutors and critics
English
© 2006 International Herald Tribune. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights reserved.
Slowly, Serbia is prosecuting some of the war crimes committed during the Kosovo fighting of 1999, even while it has failed to deliver important suspects to the tribunal in The Hague.
Seven cases have been brought to trial, five in a war crimes court that has been partly financed by the U.S. government. Prosecutors and others say the trials suggest that the country is beginning, at least tentatively, to acknowledge its history.
These trials have highlighted some of the most brutal acts perpetrated by the Serb forces during wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo, in which they tried to carve out territory for ethnic Serbs. The crimes range from the executions in 1991 of 192 Croatian men taken from the hospital in which they were seeking refuge, in the town of Vukovar, to the massacre of an extended Albanian family in Kosovo in 1999, when 45 people, including 14 children, a pregnant mother and a 90-year-old woman, were blown up by grenades and then shot.
"It points to the readiness of the state and judiciary to face the past," said Dragoljub Stankovic, one of five deputy prosecutors assigned to Serbia's war crimes department, of the trials.
Despite such praise from prosecutors, as well as victims' families and human rights groups, there are major omissions in the legal process. While the tribunal in The Hague has indicted senior Serb police and army officers for crimes committed during the 1999 Kosovo conflict, the Serbian courts have focused on mid-ranking officers, according to human rights groups and diplomats here. As a result, they say, a large group of senior officers has not been challenged about its role in the war.
And a prominent case, involving the killings of three American brothers in 1999, appears to be stuck. "In my opinion, many commanders of police stations" were involved in or ordered killings in Kosovo, said Natasa Kandic, a lawyer and the director of the Humanitarian Law Center, a Belgrade-based human rights advocacy group.
A number of senior police and army officers accused by human rights groups of ordering the crimes, or failing to prevent them, have remained at their posts.
They include Goran Radosavljevic, who before becoming the commander of the Serbian Gendarmerie led Serbia's special units during the Kosovo campaign, and the senior police officer in charge of war crimes investigations, Vozdan Gagic. Gagic was a member of the joint police and army command during the Kosovo campaign, a position in which, Kandic said, he would have known about war crimes taking place.
"It was impossible for him not to know," Kandic said.
Radosavljevic and Gagic have denied any involvement in war crimes.
"The army and the police are powerful, and barely reformed, institutions," said Bogdan Ivanisevic, director of Human Rights Watch here. "Addressing the responsibility of the senior officers would be quite a bite for the prosecutors, something they could do only if they felt supported by the government." The case of the Americans involves the Bytyqi brothers, from New York State, who were found in a mass grave, their hands bound and bullet wounds to the backs of their heads. They were found in 2001 buried near a police training camp. The three brothers were ethnic Albanians who had gone to fight along with about 400 other Albanian Americans in the conflict in Kosovo.
Officials at the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade say they believe that the brothers were killed because they were American and members of the Kosovo Liberation Army. They say prosecutors have sufficient evidence to bring the case to trial. The U.S. under secretary of state for political affairs, Nicholas Burns, recently said that the outcome of the investigation would influence the U.S. government's view as to Serbia's willingness to handle domestic war crimes cases. "It is time to bring the perpetrators to justice," he said.
© 2006 International Herald Tribune. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights reserved.
Slowly, Serbia is prosecuting some of the war crimes committed during the Kosovo fighting of 1999, even while it has failed to deliver important suspects to the tribunal in The Hague.
Seven cases have been brought to trial, five in a war crimes court that has been partly financed by the U.S. government. Prosecutors and others say the trials suggest that the country is beginning, at least tentatively, to acknowledge its history.
These trials have highlighted some of the most brutal acts perpetrated by the Serb forces during wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo, in which they tried to carve out territory for ethnic Serbs. The crimes range from the executions in 1991 of 192 Croatian men taken from the hospital in which they were seeking refuge, in the town of Vukovar, to the massacre of an extended Albanian family in Kosovo in 1999, when 45 people, including 14 children, a pregnant mother and a 90-year-old woman, were blown up by grenades and then shot.
"It points to the readiness of the state and judiciary to face the past," said Dragoljub Stankovic, one of five deputy prosecutors assigned to Serbia's war crimes department, of the trials.
Despite such praise from prosecutors, as well as victims' families and human rights groups, there are major omissions in the legal process. While the tribunal in The Hague has indicted senior Serb police and army officers for crimes committed during the 1999 Kosovo conflict, the Serbian courts have focused on mid-ranking officers, according to human rights groups and diplomats here. As a result, they say, a large group of senior officers has not been challenged about its role in the war.
And a prominent case, involving the killings of three American brothers in 1999, appears to be stuck. "In my opinion, many commanders of police stations" were involved in or ordered killings in Kosovo, said Natasa Kandic, a lawyer and the director of the Humanitarian Law Center, a Belgrade-based human rights advocacy group.
A number of senior police and army officers accused by human rights groups of ordering the crimes, or failing to prevent them, have remained at their posts.
They include Goran Radosavljevic, who before becoming the commander of the Serbian Gendarmerie led Serbia's special units during the Kosovo campaign, and the senior police officer in charge of war crimes investigations, Vozdan Gagic. Gagic was a member of the joint police and army command during the Kosovo campaign, a position in which, Kandic said, he would have known about war crimes taking place.
"It was impossible for him not to know," Kandic said.
Radosavljevic and Gagic have denied any involvement in war crimes.
"The army and the police are powerful, and barely reformed, institutions," said Bogdan Ivanisevic, director of Human Rights Watch here. "Addressing the responsibility of the senior officers would be quite a bite for the prosecutors, something they could do only if they felt supported by the government." The case of the Americans involves the Bytyqi brothers, from New York State, who were found in a mass grave, their hands bound and bullet wounds to the backs of their heads. They were found in 2001 buried near a police training camp. The three brothers were ethnic Albanians who had gone to fight along with about 400 other Albanian Americans in the conflict in Kosovo.
Officials at the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade say they believe that the brothers were killed because they were American and members of the Kosovo Liberation Army. They say prosecutors have sufficient evidence to bring the case to trial. The U.S. under secretary of state for political affairs, Nicholas Burns, recently said that the outcome of the investigation would influence the U.S. government's view as to Serbia's willingness to handle domestic war crimes cases. "It is time to bring the perpetrators to justice," he said.
Ahtisaari and CG to meet on 16 January in Vienna and 31 January in London (Zëri)
Zëri carries an editorial as lead story on the front page and quotes Western diplomatic sources in Pristina as saying that the second half of January will be characterized by very dynamic work by Ahtisaari and his team.
It has been known since his arrival that January will be an important month for the process of solving Kosovo’s status. It seems that the key word of the Contact Group and Ahtisaari’s preoccupation is decentralization. And it is one of the issues that the Kosovo side is going to draft its offer.
Above all, says the article, on 16 January another meeting between the Contact Group and Martti Ahtisaari at the level of political directors is expected to take place in Vienna, to be followed by a meeting in London on 31 January at the level of diplomatic chiefs of the Contact Group member states.
In the meeting in Vienna Ahtisaari and the Contact Group representatives are expected to talk abut the initial materials prepared for the concrete issues and for bringing again face to face the local government ministers of Kosovo and Serbia, Lutfi Haziri and Zoran Loncar. This latter meeting expected to take place on 23rd of January.
It is known, says the article further, that the effort to meet these ministers in December did not succeed, because among other things, it was not properly explained as to who was supposed to be the host of the meeting: UNMIK with the Government of Austria, or Ahtisaari as UN envoy for Kosovo status. Now it is known that since decentralization has entered the package of talks, at least from the international perspective, Ahtisaari is the supreme authority.
It has been known since his arrival that January will be an important month for the process of solving Kosovo’s status. It seems that the key word of the Contact Group and Ahtisaari’s preoccupation is decentralization. And it is one of the issues that the Kosovo side is going to draft its offer.
Above all, says the article, on 16 January another meeting between the Contact Group and Martti Ahtisaari at the level of political directors is expected to take place in Vienna, to be followed by a meeting in London on 31 January at the level of diplomatic chiefs of the Contact Group member states.
In the meeting in Vienna Ahtisaari and the Contact Group representatives are expected to talk abut the initial materials prepared for the concrete issues and for bringing again face to face the local government ministers of Kosovo and Serbia, Lutfi Haziri and Zoran Loncar. This latter meeting expected to take place on 23rd of January.
It is known, says the article further, that the effort to meet these ministers in December did not succeed, because among other things, it was not properly explained as to who was supposed to be the host of the meeting: UNMIK with the Government of Austria, or Ahtisaari as UN envoy for Kosovo status. Now it is known that since decentralization has entered the package of talks, at least from the international perspective, Ahtisaari is the supreme authority.
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Ethnic Albanians Won't Talk To Serbs On Kosovo Status -PM
BELGRADE (AP)--Ethnic Albanians will not negotiate directly with Serbian officials about Kosovo's future status, the province's prime minister said in comments published Wednesday.
Bajram Kosumi made the comments in a rare interview with Belgrade newspaper Vecernije Novosti before this year's expected start to internationally sponsored talks on finding a solution for the southern province.
Kosovo was put under U.N. and NATO administration in 1999, though it formally remains part of Serbia.
"We won't even talk about Kosovo's status with Serbia," said Kosumi, an ethnic Albanian. Instead, a Kosovo delegation will talk to U.N. Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari or other foreign mediators.
Kosovo's leadership has insisted on full independence, while Belgrade wants to give it wide autonomy but have it remain within its territory.
"Kosovo has been de facto independent since June 1999 and will remain so," Kosumi was quoted as saying, referring to the month when NATO bombing forced Serbia to halt its crackdown on Kosovo' ethnic Albanian separatists.
"The international community has clearly said there won't be any return to the situation prior to 1999," Kosumi reportedly said.
Ethnic Albanians account for more than 90% of Kosovo's population. More than 200,000 Serbs fled the province in 1999, and the remaining 100,000 live mostly in enclaves occasionally targeted by ethnic Albanian militants.
Belgrade also wants Kosovo's government to be decentralized so its Serb enclaves can be governed from Serbia's capital, instead of by the ethnic Albanian leadership in Kosovo's capital, Pristina.
Kosumi insisted that even if Kosovo were decentralized to give Serb municipalities some autonomy, it should not amount to territorial division within the province.
He dismissed Belgrade's security concerns as an attempt to "manipulate" the talks.
"There are certain weaknesses, which we are aware of, and we are working to resolve that," he said.
Bajram Kosumi made the comments in a rare interview with Belgrade newspaper Vecernije Novosti before this year's expected start to internationally sponsored talks on finding a solution for the southern province.
Kosovo was put under U.N. and NATO administration in 1999, though it formally remains part of Serbia.
"We won't even talk about Kosovo's status with Serbia," said Kosumi, an ethnic Albanian. Instead, a Kosovo delegation will talk to U.N. Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari or other foreign mediators.
Kosovo's leadership has insisted on full independence, while Belgrade wants to give it wide autonomy but have it remain within its territory.
"Kosovo has been de facto independent since June 1999 and will remain so," Kosumi was quoted as saying, referring to the month when NATO bombing forced Serbia to halt its crackdown on Kosovo' ethnic Albanian separatists.
"The international community has clearly said there won't be any return to the situation prior to 1999," Kosumi reportedly said.
Ethnic Albanians account for more than 90% of Kosovo's population. More than 200,000 Serbs fled the province in 1999, and the remaining 100,000 live mostly in enclaves occasionally targeted by ethnic Albanian militants.
Belgrade also wants Kosovo's government to be decentralized so its Serb enclaves can be governed from Serbia's capital, instead of by the ethnic Albanian leadership in Kosovo's capital, Pristina.
Kosumi insisted that even if Kosovo were decentralized to give Serb municipalities some autonomy, it should not amount to territorial division within the province.
He dismissed Belgrade's security concerns as an attempt to "manipulate" the talks.
"There are certain weaknesses, which we are aware of, and we are working to resolve that," he said.
Ethnic Albanians Won't Talk To Serbs On Kosovo Status -PM
BELGRADE (AP)--Ethnic Albanians will not negotiate directly with Serbian officials about Kosovo's future status, the province's prime minister said in comments published Wednesday.
Bajram Kosumi made the comments in a rare interview with Belgrade newspaper Vecernije Novosti before this year's expected start to internationally sponsored talks on finding a solution for the southern province.
Kosovo was put under U.N. and NATO administration in 1999, though it formally remains part of Serbia.
"We won't even talk about Kosovo's status with Serbia," said Kosumi, an ethnic Albanian. Instead, a Kosovo delegation will talk to U.N. Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari or other foreign mediators.
Kosovo's leadership has insisted on full independence, while Belgrade wants to give it wide autonomy but have it remain within its territory.
"Kosovo has been de facto independent since June 1999 and will remain so," Kosumi was quoted as saying, referring to the month when NATO bombing forced Serbia to halt its crackdown on Kosovo' ethnic Albanian separatists.
"The international community has clearly said there won't be any return to the situation prior to 1999," Kosumi reportedly said.
Ethnic Albanians account for more than 90% of Kosovo's population. More than 200,000 Serbs fled the province in 1999, and the remaining 100,000 live mostly in enclaves occasionally targeted by ethnic Albanian militants.
Belgrade also wants Kosovo's government to be decentralized so its Serb enclaves can be governed from Serbia's capital, instead of by the ethnic Albanian leadership in Kosovo's capital, Pristina.
Kosumi insisted that even if Kosovo were decentralized to give Serb municipalities some autonomy, it should not amount to territorial division within the province.
He dismissed Belgrade's security concerns as an attempt to "manipulate" the talks.
"There are certain weaknesses, which we are aware of, and we are working to resolve that," he said.
Bajram Kosumi made the comments in a rare interview with Belgrade newspaper Vecernije Novosti before this year's expected start to internationally sponsored talks on finding a solution for the southern province.
Kosovo was put under U.N. and NATO administration in 1999, though it formally remains part of Serbia.
"We won't even talk about Kosovo's status with Serbia," said Kosumi, an ethnic Albanian. Instead, a Kosovo delegation will talk to U.N. Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari or other foreign mediators.
Kosovo's leadership has insisted on full independence, while Belgrade wants to give it wide autonomy but have it remain within its territory.
"Kosovo has been de facto independent since June 1999 and will remain so," Kosumi was quoted as saying, referring to the month when NATO bombing forced Serbia to halt its crackdown on Kosovo' ethnic Albanian separatists.
"The international community has clearly said there won't be any return to the situation prior to 1999," Kosumi reportedly said.
Ethnic Albanians account for more than 90% of Kosovo's population. More than 200,000 Serbs fled the province in 1999, and the remaining 100,000 live mostly in enclaves occasionally targeted by ethnic Albanian militants.
Belgrade also wants Kosovo's government to be decentralized so its Serb enclaves can be governed from Serbia's capital, instead of by the ethnic Albanian leadership in Kosovo's capital, Pristina.
Kosumi insisted that even if Kosovo were decentralized to give Serb municipalities some autonomy, it should not amount to territorial division within the province.
He dismissed Belgrade's security concerns as an attempt to "manipulate" the talks.
"There are certain weaknesses, which we are aware of, and we are working to resolve that," he said.
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Vietnamese most optimistic for 2006 - Kosovo on the 3rd Place
Section: Regional News - A Gallup International poll showed that Vietnam and China are the most optimistic of 66 countries polled in looking to the year ahead.
The poll showed that among surveyed residents in Vietnam and China, 75 percent said 2006 would be better than this year.
They were followed by Kosovo, 73 percent; Afghanistan, 69 percent; and the Dominican Republic, 66 percent.
Meanwhile, respondents in Greece and Bosnia-Herzegovinia were the most likely to believe that 2006 would be a worse year, with 54 percent, followed by Guatemala, 52 percent; the Philippines, 50 percent; and Serbia, 47 percent.
Vietnam has the highest economic expectations for 2006, with 69 percent expecting economic prosperity next year, followed by China with 64 percent, according to the survey. - VNA
The poll showed that among surveyed residents in Vietnam and China, 75 percent said 2006 would be better than this year.
They were followed by Kosovo, 73 percent; Afghanistan, 69 percent; and the Dominican Republic, 66 percent.
Meanwhile, respondents in Greece and Bosnia-Herzegovinia were the most likely to believe that 2006 would be a worse year, with 54 percent, followed by Guatemala, 52 percent; the Philippines, 50 percent; and Serbia, 47 percent.
Vietnam has the highest economic expectations for 2006, with 69 percent expecting economic prosperity next year, followed by China with 64 percent, according to the survey. - VNA
Monday, January 02, 2006
Serbia Police Search for Ex-Mobtel Exec
Monday January 2, 12:03 pm ET
Serbia Police Issue Search Warrant for Patrick Harpur, Former Mobtel Executive
BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) -- Police issued a search warrant Monday for a former executive of Serbia-Montenegro's main mobile phone provider, Mobtel, after he allegedly ignored an information request on a deal with a Kosovo telecommunications company.
Patrick Harpur, who was managing director from mid-2003 until May, had declined to give information to investigators about a 2003 agreement under which Mobtel sold its rights for Kosovo to a company in the province, police said.
The government last week revoked Mobtel's license over the allegedly illegal contract with the Kosovo company, Mobikos, and appointed rival and partly state-run mobile phone provider, Telekom, to manage Mobtel until the issues are resolved.
It declared the 2003 deal illegal, saying the Belgrade-based Mobtel had violated regulations and "jeopardized national security" by selling part of its license without asking for necessary government permission.
Harpur responded by sending a statement to Belgrade-based Beta news agency later Monday, saying he was "shocked" by the warrant.
Without specifying his current whereabouts of whether he would talk to the investigators, Harpur insisted that Mobtel never sold its license concerning Kosovo but "merely made an agreement on technical cooperation" to ensure normal operation in the southern province that has been an international protectorate since 1999.
The government's claim "is a blatant fabrication," said Harpur, adding that he left Mobtel in May 2005 after the company's founder, Serbia's millionaire Bogoljub Karic, sold his stake to an Austrian consortium.
Harpur added that Mobtel's license applied "to the whole territory of Serbia and, according to all international provisions, Kosovo is still Serbian territory -- unless the government thinks differently."
Kosovo has been run by United Nations and NATO since 1999, when Serbia's military campaign against ethnic Albanian separatists was halted by NATO bombing. Talks on a final status for Kosovo are expected this year.
Mobtel was co-founded by Karic and Serbia's state-run PTT telephone company. They are locked in a dispute over who owned the majority share, to be resolved through international arbitration in Switzerland.
Serbia Police Issue Search Warrant for Patrick Harpur, Former Mobtel Executive
BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) -- Police issued a search warrant Monday for a former executive of Serbia-Montenegro's main mobile phone provider, Mobtel, after he allegedly ignored an information request on a deal with a Kosovo telecommunications company.
Patrick Harpur, who was managing director from mid-2003 until May, had declined to give information to investigators about a 2003 agreement under which Mobtel sold its rights for Kosovo to a company in the province, police said.
The government last week revoked Mobtel's license over the allegedly illegal contract with the Kosovo company, Mobikos, and appointed rival and partly state-run mobile phone provider, Telekom, to manage Mobtel until the issues are resolved.
It declared the 2003 deal illegal, saying the Belgrade-based Mobtel had violated regulations and "jeopardized national security" by selling part of its license without asking for necessary government permission.
Harpur responded by sending a statement to Belgrade-based Beta news agency later Monday, saying he was "shocked" by the warrant.
Without specifying his current whereabouts of whether he would talk to the investigators, Harpur insisted that Mobtel never sold its license concerning Kosovo but "merely made an agreement on technical cooperation" to ensure normal operation in the southern province that has been an international protectorate since 1999.
The government's claim "is a blatant fabrication," said Harpur, adding that he left Mobtel in May 2005 after the company's founder, Serbia's millionaire Bogoljub Karic, sold his stake to an Austrian consortium.
Harpur added that Mobtel's license applied "to the whole territory of Serbia and, according to all international provisions, Kosovo is still Serbian territory -- unless the government thinks differently."
Kosovo has been run by United Nations and NATO since 1999, when Serbia's military campaign against ethnic Albanian separatists was halted by NATO bombing. Talks on a final status for Kosovo are expected this year.
Mobtel was co-founded by Karic and Serbia's state-run PTT telephone company. They are locked in a dispute over who owned the majority share, to be resolved through international arbitration in Switzerland.
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