In a front-page editorial, Zëri writes that the last week may well turn out to be the most crucial period for the “enlightening of Kosovo’s fate.”
This assessment is based on two events, the first “a long-awaited public event covered by hundreds of reporters”, while the second was “behind-the-curtain” event without anyone’s presence other than that of those who needed to sincerely talk to one another on what is expected to happen in the international engagement aspect, the paper writes.
With the public meeting, Zëri refers to the “elephants’” round of talks that gathered Kosovo and Serbian top officials. The paper writes that the chief negotiator Martti Ahtisaari and the Contact Group were greatly concerned on what the Belgrade Delegation led by PM Vojislav Kostunica and President Boris Tadic would do and on whether they might walk out of the meeting unhappy with the course of Ahtisaari’s mission. The paper also says that international community’s fear was supported by the gesture of the Serbian PM Kostunica who refused to lunch with his Austrian counterpart Wolfgang Schuessel and three Kosovo Delegation members - President Fatmir Sejdiu, PM Agim Çeku and PDK leader Hashim Thaçi.
The second event is the visit of the US Status Envoy Frank Wisner to Belgrade and the meeting he had with Serbian PM Kostunica. Even though the meeting was held far from the eyes of the media, “it was not difficult to deduce what was discussed in this dialogue”, which, according to diplomatic sources that the paper quotes, was the most difficult for the Serbian leader ever since the Kosovo status talks began. The sources said that Kostunica “as never before” realized that the stand of the USA and of other countries from the Contact Group is in favour of Kosovo’s independence.
According to the paper, not only PM Kostunica but also other Serbian officials have expected that the first round of direct talks in Vienna would bring improvement of Belgrade’s position with regards to Kosovo’s status and that the offer for “substantial autonomy” would even be considered by the Contact Group. However, “these expectations of the Serb side did not materialize”. In fact, Zëri notes, quite the opposite happened. There was never more talk, medially and politically, on independence of Kosovo in the days after the meeting in Vienna than in the last two months. “This approach was topped by Ambassador Wisner, with his unique clarity, in the meeting he had with Kostunica in Belgrade”, the paper adds.
Belgrade is now left with two paths, says Zëri. The first would include Serbia’s new engagement, in the six coming weeks of technical issue talks, where through cooperativeness with UNOSEK it would try to contribute good solutions for the Serb community in Kosovo. The second path makes use of the Serbs in the north of Kosovo to strengthen the resistance against international process for “building the state of Kosovo”. “This road is highly problematic and dangerous for Belgrade”, considers Zëri’s editorial.
Monday, July 31, 2006
Schook calls for framework for international mission in northern Kosovo (Zëri)
Zëri carries an extensive interview with PDSRSG Steven Schook, in which he calls for a framework for an international mission in northern Kosovo.
Following is the full translation of the interview.
The process of resolving the status of Kosovo is taking on a new drive. The situation in northern Kosovo cannot remain as it is. In this phase of the negotiations process, the situation in the northern part of Kosovo has gained a lot of importance in the table of the international community and cannot be left asides. The international community is considering the possibility of establishing an international mission that would be a body above the municipal leaders of the southern and northern part of Mitrovica and other municipalities in northern Kosovo. The mission would last 3-4 years with the aim of integrating the north of Kosovo, according to the agreement on final status. The framework that will define this issue will be worked in parallel with other negotiations on status. PDSRSG Steven Schook, who has raised this issue in meetings with the Contact Group, UNOSEK and Kosovar leaders, says that in the northern part there is a lot of political rhetoric coming from “appointed and irresponsible leaders” such as the Serb Coordination Centre for Kosovo and Milan Ivanovic. He says it is a terrible mistake that Serbs didn’t participate in the last elections to have legitimate leaders elected by the free vote that would speak and work for their interests.
In the interview for Zëri, the retired US General, who served in Kosovo for two years, tells how he “transformed” from a military officer into a diplomat and how he came back to Kosovo again.
Present at the meeting of “elephants” in Vienna, which he calls historic, he prefers the free debate from the “minds and hearts” of the leaders rather than reading speeches.
You have earlier served as general in Kosovo. How come you came back here, but now as a diplomat?
I have been in Kosovo for almost two years, and then I went to Sarajevo as commander of SFOR. And then I retired in November of 2005. I went to work in Washington DC for a private company. I was the senior vice president. And one day I got a telephone call from the State Department asking if I would consider them nominating me to the UN as the PDSRSG for UNMIK. And I think I thought about it for a split second and I said absolutely I’d be interested. And then I went through a series of interviews with the United Nations and here I am. I was here for two years. Obviously I became quite attached to the conditions and circumstances here and serving the people here. Given the opportunity to come back at this very critical junction for both the region and for Kosovo I was delighted to do that.
How do you find this transformation? You are working in Kosovo again, but now as a diplomat. Is it difficult?
Well, no, I hope not. I hope it is not too difficult. Quite frankly my last couple of jobs in the military were very close to what I am doing now: dealing with the political leaders, on political issues, trying to move things forward both in Kosovo and in Bosnia. I know there is a perception in the public of military versus being a diplomat, but very often the work that is done in the military, depending on the position you are in, are much related to diplomacy and not only strictly just guns and security. For example in Bosnia I worked in the reform of defence and moving beyond the Dayton Agreement. I met regularly meetings with the Tripartite Presidency of Bosnia, the Ministry of Defence, the Prime Minister, I went very often to Republika Srpska. And it was a huge decision when they (Serbs) agreed to give up from the Ministry of Defence and from creating an autonomous army in order to create the united army of Bosnia and Herzegovina. All these were political decisions that we were working. Therefore I don’t think that it has been a major transition.
You participated at the meeting in Vienna, the so-called elephant round and you heard the Pristina delegation. What is your impression of that meeting. You also had a speech there?
My impression was first of all it was a historical event. It was a historical event without a lot of tension in the air. It was noticeable that there was not a lot of tension in the air. It was conducted by both sides at the highest level of professionalism and diplomacy. And very responsible by both sides. My personal opinion is I thought the Kosovo Delegation is very well prepared, executed very well. And their best session was in the afternoon session. And I hesitate to say this but the reason I say that the best session was the afternoon session because they were not reading speeches, they were speaking from the head and the heart and they were speaking about things as they saw them, and the way we should go. So my message to the Team of Unity was don’t listen to the speechwriters too much, stay with your own instincts.
Ahead the meeting with the Contact Group after the “elephants’” round in Vienna, one of the issues I raised was that as final the status continues to build momentum on speed and nears the recommendation from UNOSEK, things in Kosovo that perhaps we haven’t moved as far along become more and more important – north of Ibar. That issue becomes more and more important of how it exists today versus few years ago.
As final status becomes closer, while the resolution of status is continuing, this status quo (in the north) is no longer satisfactory so I spent a lot of time with Deputy Prime Minister (Lutfi Haziri), the Contact Group and I think it is very important that we start to describe the framework whatever the result of the final status. This framework is a transitional period north of the Ibar, perhaps separate municipality mayors from north Mitrovica, south Mitrovica and then international community still sits on top of that for a short period of time, 3 to 4 years, so that this part becomes better integrated into results of final status.
So I think it is very important we start describing this in a very responsible way so that it counters the political rhetoric of some of the leaders from the north.
Do you think a special UN mission will be installed in the north?
I wouldn’t call it a special UN or EU mission but a generic international community mission. International community would sit on top of that for a period of time to transition it into the local institutions however that’s described in the final status. I’m very careful to say that way because I don’t know what the final status is going to be, it’s not my decision, I participated in it time to time. I don’t fully know how this whole thing will look like but everyone understands that north of Ibar is significantly different than the south of Ibar. It’s been different for several years, this is the reality. As we get closer to the recommendation or decision by UNOSEK, I think it is very important to address in a responsible way the future. We’ve done a lot of things up here recently. We have some high-impact projects that will be working in the both sides of Ibar. We need to fix some things that deal with infrastructure issues. We have many international police there, up to 500 international police north of Ibar. We’ve got a lot of Kosovo Serb KPS up there. We’re making some fundamental changes in two border points, Gate 1 and Gate 31. I’m paying attention to that part because I am very concerned over some very irresponsible statements made by some of the appointed leadership north of Ibar.
When you spoke about the possibility of a new mission in the north, is the Negotiations Team aware of this?
Yes. I spoke to the Deputy Prime Minister. We had a good conversation on that. Look, it is time to lay out a framework. I’m not going to go into details. But, the framework is this: there will be some international presence that will sit on top of Mitrovica, it will be there for a transitional period, definite period of time. This is an important message because whatever the final status is, there is not this huge, abrupt, immediate change with the present situation we have in the north.
When I was in a visit in the north what I said is that one of the most terrible decisions ever influenced by Belgrade was the non-participation in the elections and as a consequence there are no responsible elected political leaders that would represent all the people. This has been a terrible mistake. They not only did not take part in the current governing structures, but the biggest problem now is that it is difficult to influence changes there, because you will have to deal with appointed leaders, very irresponsible: CCK and Milan Ivanovic.
I would rather deal with elected officials, with their agendas, their wishes, who are there to serve the people in the northern part of Ibar, without personal benefits and without personal agendas.
The reason I mentioned my visit there is that the entire rhetoric and all the energy of the appointed leadership in the north has to do with things completely separate from the needs and wishes of the people living there. This is a mistake, irresponsibility, and it should be improved.
Are there Albanian KPS members in the northern part of Kosovo?
There are in the cross-border areas, but not much in the police patrolling. Police patrolling is mainly carried out by Serbian KPS officers. I discussed this also with some war veterans’ groups in Kosovo. I explained to them that for me it makes sense that one of the lessons learned in the history of policing is that the best police patrols are carried out when police officers belong to that community. For me this is not any problem.
In its statement after the meeting of the ‘elephants’ the Contact Group stated that they are concerned over the situation in the north, with increase of Serbian illegal security structures, are you too concerned with what is happening in the north?
I am not sure that something is increasing there. What I am sure about is that there is an increase in political rhetoric and that some positions are being taken. This is causing a big concern. In June there was a huge setback because of some poor politicians.
The bully tactics from some people to pull the municipality leaders and influence some of their decisions are irresponsible.
I was recently there. It was my second or third trip there. I will soon go there again when I am back from New York (UN) and US. When I was last there I made a tour and talked to the kids in the pools, old people, mother, grandmothers, sons and daughters, I talked to men working in Leposavic, Zvecan…I asked all those I met which was their main concern in the northern part beyond Ibar and the answers I got were; employment, economic development not good, problems with infrastructure, sewage, electricity…No one, not a single one told me it is security.
How is Belgrade behaving with Serbs at this time?
I think that Belgrade can do much more. I would put Belgrade in this category; in my opinion Belgrade has possibilities and responsibilities to find responsible leaders in the northern part and instruct them not to do what they are doing now and to return to the situation before June’s statements. I do not know if Belgrade stands behind these actions, but Belgrade can correct and improve these actions. Therefore, in my opinion, Belgrade is responsible for what is happening there.
Is the international presence in a position to face with the situation if these leaders call on people to go out on the street and protest, demonstrate because they are not happy with the status process? If they take action that leads towards internal division of Kosovo?
There are two kinds of answers about this. First, KFOR is still here to maintain security and stability. So if there are actions that stir the calm and safe environment it should be counted on KFOR to be part of the solution. Second, I am doing my best to encourage Belgrade to help with these appointed leaders. I have been there often and I will go often. I think that UNMIK is doing a lot for this not to happen.
Have you responded to the letter by Prime Minister asking for more competencies?
Yes, I gave the letter with UNMIK’s answers in Friday’s meeting.
What competencies are mentioned there?
I think you should ask Prime Minister Çeku. It was his request. We answered in a responsible way to these requests.
Did you answer positively?
For most of the things he asked we offered the way on how to move forward and what should be done. Most of the things in his request, with a few exceptions, are really budgetary and fiscal issues that need to be solved. As you know there is a fixed budget in the Kosovo Consolidated Budget, if we add new competencies, new requests, then we have to direct them to other sources. This will mean that there will be decisions taken at the highest level of Government as to the way to relocate the funds within the current budget. This means there should be the consent of IMF which still plays a key role in determining a responsible budget and the expenditure way. Therefore we have adopted steps to be taken to address some of their requests.
Following is the full translation of the interview.
The process of resolving the status of Kosovo is taking on a new drive. The situation in northern Kosovo cannot remain as it is. In this phase of the negotiations process, the situation in the northern part of Kosovo has gained a lot of importance in the table of the international community and cannot be left asides. The international community is considering the possibility of establishing an international mission that would be a body above the municipal leaders of the southern and northern part of Mitrovica and other municipalities in northern Kosovo. The mission would last 3-4 years with the aim of integrating the north of Kosovo, according to the agreement on final status. The framework that will define this issue will be worked in parallel with other negotiations on status. PDSRSG Steven Schook, who has raised this issue in meetings with the Contact Group, UNOSEK and Kosovar leaders, says that in the northern part there is a lot of political rhetoric coming from “appointed and irresponsible leaders” such as the Serb Coordination Centre for Kosovo and Milan Ivanovic. He says it is a terrible mistake that Serbs didn’t participate in the last elections to have legitimate leaders elected by the free vote that would speak and work for their interests.
In the interview for Zëri, the retired US General, who served in Kosovo for two years, tells how he “transformed” from a military officer into a diplomat and how he came back to Kosovo again.
Present at the meeting of “elephants” in Vienna, which he calls historic, he prefers the free debate from the “minds and hearts” of the leaders rather than reading speeches.
You have earlier served as general in Kosovo. How come you came back here, but now as a diplomat?
I have been in Kosovo for almost two years, and then I went to Sarajevo as commander of SFOR. And then I retired in November of 2005. I went to work in Washington DC for a private company. I was the senior vice president. And one day I got a telephone call from the State Department asking if I would consider them nominating me to the UN as the PDSRSG for UNMIK. And I think I thought about it for a split second and I said absolutely I’d be interested. And then I went through a series of interviews with the United Nations and here I am. I was here for two years. Obviously I became quite attached to the conditions and circumstances here and serving the people here. Given the opportunity to come back at this very critical junction for both the region and for Kosovo I was delighted to do that.
How do you find this transformation? You are working in Kosovo again, but now as a diplomat. Is it difficult?
Well, no, I hope not. I hope it is not too difficult. Quite frankly my last couple of jobs in the military were very close to what I am doing now: dealing with the political leaders, on political issues, trying to move things forward both in Kosovo and in Bosnia. I know there is a perception in the public of military versus being a diplomat, but very often the work that is done in the military, depending on the position you are in, are much related to diplomacy and not only strictly just guns and security. For example in Bosnia I worked in the reform of defence and moving beyond the Dayton Agreement. I met regularly meetings with the Tripartite Presidency of Bosnia, the Ministry of Defence, the Prime Minister, I went very often to Republika Srpska. And it was a huge decision when they (Serbs) agreed to give up from the Ministry of Defence and from creating an autonomous army in order to create the united army of Bosnia and Herzegovina. All these were political decisions that we were working. Therefore I don’t think that it has been a major transition.
You participated at the meeting in Vienna, the so-called elephant round and you heard the Pristina delegation. What is your impression of that meeting. You also had a speech there?
My impression was first of all it was a historical event. It was a historical event without a lot of tension in the air. It was noticeable that there was not a lot of tension in the air. It was conducted by both sides at the highest level of professionalism and diplomacy. And very responsible by both sides. My personal opinion is I thought the Kosovo Delegation is very well prepared, executed very well. And their best session was in the afternoon session. And I hesitate to say this but the reason I say that the best session was the afternoon session because they were not reading speeches, they were speaking from the head and the heart and they were speaking about things as they saw them, and the way we should go. So my message to the Team of Unity was don’t listen to the speechwriters too much, stay with your own instincts.
Ahead the meeting with the Contact Group after the “elephants’” round in Vienna, one of the issues I raised was that as final the status continues to build momentum on speed and nears the recommendation from UNOSEK, things in Kosovo that perhaps we haven’t moved as far along become more and more important – north of Ibar. That issue becomes more and more important of how it exists today versus few years ago.
As final status becomes closer, while the resolution of status is continuing, this status quo (in the north) is no longer satisfactory so I spent a lot of time with Deputy Prime Minister (Lutfi Haziri), the Contact Group and I think it is very important that we start to describe the framework whatever the result of the final status. This framework is a transitional period north of the Ibar, perhaps separate municipality mayors from north Mitrovica, south Mitrovica and then international community still sits on top of that for a short period of time, 3 to 4 years, so that this part becomes better integrated into results of final status.
So I think it is very important we start describing this in a very responsible way so that it counters the political rhetoric of some of the leaders from the north.
Do you think a special UN mission will be installed in the north?
I wouldn’t call it a special UN or EU mission but a generic international community mission. International community would sit on top of that for a period of time to transition it into the local institutions however that’s described in the final status. I’m very careful to say that way because I don’t know what the final status is going to be, it’s not my decision, I participated in it time to time. I don’t fully know how this whole thing will look like but everyone understands that north of Ibar is significantly different than the south of Ibar. It’s been different for several years, this is the reality. As we get closer to the recommendation or decision by UNOSEK, I think it is very important to address in a responsible way the future. We’ve done a lot of things up here recently. We have some high-impact projects that will be working in the both sides of Ibar. We need to fix some things that deal with infrastructure issues. We have many international police there, up to 500 international police north of Ibar. We’ve got a lot of Kosovo Serb KPS up there. We’re making some fundamental changes in two border points, Gate 1 and Gate 31. I’m paying attention to that part because I am very concerned over some very irresponsible statements made by some of the appointed leadership north of Ibar.
When you spoke about the possibility of a new mission in the north, is the Negotiations Team aware of this?
Yes. I spoke to the Deputy Prime Minister. We had a good conversation on that. Look, it is time to lay out a framework. I’m not going to go into details. But, the framework is this: there will be some international presence that will sit on top of Mitrovica, it will be there for a transitional period, definite period of time. This is an important message because whatever the final status is, there is not this huge, abrupt, immediate change with the present situation we have in the north.
When I was in a visit in the north what I said is that one of the most terrible decisions ever influenced by Belgrade was the non-participation in the elections and as a consequence there are no responsible elected political leaders that would represent all the people. This has been a terrible mistake. They not only did not take part in the current governing structures, but the biggest problem now is that it is difficult to influence changes there, because you will have to deal with appointed leaders, very irresponsible: CCK and Milan Ivanovic.
I would rather deal with elected officials, with their agendas, their wishes, who are there to serve the people in the northern part of Ibar, without personal benefits and without personal agendas.
The reason I mentioned my visit there is that the entire rhetoric and all the energy of the appointed leadership in the north has to do with things completely separate from the needs and wishes of the people living there. This is a mistake, irresponsibility, and it should be improved.
Are there Albanian KPS members in the northern part of Kosovo?
There are in the cross-border areas, but not much in the police patrolling. Police patrolling is mainly carried out by Serbian KPS officers. I discussed this also with some war veterans’ groups in Kosovo. I explained to them that for me it makes sense that one of the lessons learned in the history of policing is that the best police patrols are carried out when police officers belong to that community. For me this is not any problem.
In its statement after the meeting of the ‘elephants’ the Contact Group stated that they are concerned over the situation in the north, with increase of Serbian illegal security structures, are you too concerned with what is happening in the north?
I am not sure that something is increasing there. What I am sure about is that there is an increase in political rhetoric and that some positions are being taken. This is causing a big concern. In June there was a huge setback because of some poor politicians.
The bully tactics from some people to pull the municipality leaders and influence some of their decisions are irresponsible.
I was recently there. It was my second or third trip there. I will soon go there again when I am back from New York (UN) and US. When I was last there I made a tour and talked to the kids in the pools, old people, mother, grandmothers, sons and daughters, I talked to men working in Leposavic, Zvecan…I asked all those I met which was their main concern in the northern part beyond Ibar and the answers I got were; employment, economic development not good, problems with infrastructure, sewage, electricity…No one, not a single one told me it is security.
How is Belgrade behaving with Serbs at this time?
I think that Belgrade can do much more. I would put Belgrade in this category; in my opinion Belgrade has possibilities and responsibilities to find responsible leaders in the northern part and instruct them not to do what they are doing now and to return to the situation before June’s statements. I do not know if Belgrade stands behind these actions, but Belgrade can correct and improve these actions. Therefore, in my opinion, Belgrade is responsible for what is happening there.
Is the international presence in a position to face with the situation if these leaders call on people to go out on the street and protest, demonstrate because they are not happy with the status process? If they take action that leads towards internal division of Kosovo?
There are two kinds of answers about this. First, KFOR is still here to maintain security and stability. So if there are actions that stir the calm and safe environment it should be counted on KFOR to be part of the solution. Second, I am doing my best to encourage Belgrade to help with these appointed leaders. I have been there often and I will go often. I think that UNMIK is doing a lot for this not to happen.
Have you responded to the letter by Prime Minister asking for more competencies?
Yes, I gave the letter with UNMIK’s answers in Friday’s meeting.
What competencies are mentioned there?
I think you should ask Prime Minister Çeku. It was his request. We answered in a responsible way to these requests.
Did you answer positively?
For most of the things he asked we offered the way on how to move forward and what should be done. Most of the things in his request, with a few exceptions, are really budgetary and fiscal issues that need to be solved. As you know there is a fixed budget in the Kosovo Consolidated Budget, if we add new competencies, new requests, then we have to direct them to other sources. This will mean that there will be decisions taken at the highest level of Government as to the way to relocate the funds within the current budget. This means there should be the consent of IMF which still plays a key role in determining a responsible budget and the expenditure way. Therefore we have adopted steps to be taken to address some of their requests.
Kosovo's prime minister warns of economic difficulties ahead
PRISTINA, Serbia (AP) - Kosovo's prime minister warned Monday of social difficulties ahead in the economically depressed province even after its disputed status is resolved.
In his weekly radio address, Prime Minister Agim Ceku told Kosovo's citizens they should not believe that once the final status of the province -- which ethnic Albanians insist should be independence -- their economic worries will get solved.
"Problems will not be solved like with a magic wand," Ceku said. "It's important to be psychologically ready for the difficulties that will follow after the status has been resolved."
The province of 2 million has an estimated 50 percent unemployment rate and nearly as many living in poverty, making the province a potential social time-bomb.
The economy has mostly been kept afloat by international aid injected in different reconstruction projects, with Kosovo largely failing to attract foreign investment due to the unresolved political status and fears of instability.
The province is the poorest region in the Western Balkans with an annual gross domestic product per capita of around euro1,000 (US$1,300), according to European Union figures.
Formally part of Serbia, Kosovo has been under U.N. rule since mid-1999 when NATO's air war halted Serb forces crackdown on independence-seeking ethnic Albanians.
After over seven years of international administration, U.N.-brokered talks are under way to steer ethnic Albanian and Serbian leaders toward finding a solution to Kosovo's disputed status, which Western envoys hope to wrap up by the end of the year.
So far, the province has not been able to work with the international financial institutions because of its unresolved international status.
In his weekly radio address, Prime Minister Agim Ceku told Kosovo's citizens they should not believe that once the final status of the province -- which ethnic Albanians insist should be independence -- their economic worries will get solved.
"Problems will not be solved like with a magic wand," Ceku said. "It's important to be psychologically ready for the difficulties that will follow after the status has been resolved."
The province of 2 million has an estimated 50 percent unemployment rate and nearly as many living in poverty, making the province a potential social time-bomb.
The economy has mostly been kept afloat by international aid injected in different reconstruction projects, with Kosovo largely failing to attract foreign investment due to the unresolved political status and fears of instability.
The province is the poorest region in the Western Balkans with an annual gross domestic product per capita of around euro1,000 (US$1,300), according to European Union figures.
Formally part of Serbia, Kosovo has been under U.N. rule since mid-1999 when NATO's air war halted Serb forces crackdown on independence-seeking ethnic Albanians.
After over seven years of international administration, U.N.-brokered talks are under way to steer ethnic Albanian and Serbian leaders toward finding a solution to Kosovo's disputed status, which Western envoys hope to wrap up by the end of the year.
So far, the province has not been able to work with the international financial institutions because of its unresolved international status.
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Kosovo Must Have Own Army: International Crisis Group
Pristina/Belgrade/Brussels, 28 July 2006: Independent Kosovo should be permitted its own army, despite Serb reservations, but it should be small, concentrated on performing international peacekeeping and developed and managed under NATO supervision.
An Army for Kosovo?,* the latest International Crisis Group report, explains the security and political reasons why the sovereign Kosovo expected to result from final status negotiations by early 2007 should be allowed such a force, to channel the old insurgent tradition of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and existing informal armed structures into official channels where they will not endanger either the new state or its neighbours.
Existing security structures must be placed under the control of the new institutions of democratic government, and an army – built in part upon the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC), presently a civil emergency force but which incorporates much of the KLA legacy and is seen by Kosovo Albanians as an army-in-waiting – is an essential component. Paramilitary forces and those with links to organised crime must be closed down.
“If well managed, an army can help a new state develop a stable, multi-ethnic – or at least ethnically neutral – identity”, says Alex Anderson, Crisis Group’s Kosovo Project Director. “Every effort must be made to show Kosovo Serbs the new force is no threat to them and, over time to persuade them to join it in proportion to their numbers in society”.
Since NATO evicted Belgrade from the province in 1999, Kosovo has been run as a UN protectorate. When final status decisions are made in the next months, security needs, including the army question, are too sensitive to be excluded. NATO will provide fundamental protection for the new state for many years, but the accords should also specify its role in the army’s governance and a range of limitations on army numbers and capabilities – no more than 3,000 personnel, no tanks, heavy artillery, ground-to-ground missiles or attack aircraft.
The key members of the Contact Group guiding diplomacy, including the U.S., the UN Security Council and the UN’s Special Envoy, former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari should introduce a legally or politically binding undertaking into the Kosovo final status determination on development of a small Kosovo defence force. The aim should be to graduate Kosovo into NATO’s Partnership for Peace program, together with Serbia, at which time that undertaking should be superseded by new treaty arrangements.
NATO peacekeepers should develop a closer partnership with the KPC, deepening and standardising the training relationship, and Kosovo’s government should build up its security policy capacity and budget for the creation of a defence ministry through 2007-2008.
“If the security pillar is downplayed in Kosovo, the state will be weakened”, says Nicholas Whyte, Director of Crisis Group’s Europe Program. “Kosovo has enough institutional weaknesses militating against its success already. It doesn’t need another”.
An Army for Kosovo?,* the latest International Crisis Group report, explains the security and political reasons why the sovereign Kosovo expected to result from final status negotiations by early 2007 should be allowed such a force, to channel the old insurgent tradition of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and existing informal armed structures into official channels where they will not endanger either the new state or its neighbours.
Existing security structures must be placed under the control of the new institutions of democratic government, and an army – built in part upon the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC), presently a civil emergency force but which incorporates much of the KLA legacy and is seen by Kosovo Albanians as an army-in-waiting – is an essential component. Paramilitary forces and those with links to organised crime must be closed down.
“If well managed, an army can help a new state develop a stable, multi-ethnic – or at least ethnically neutral – identity”, says Alex Anderson, Crisis Group’s Kosovo Project Director. “Every effort must be made to show Kosovo Serbs the new force is no threat to them and, over time to persuade them to join it in proportion to their numbers in society”.
Since NATO evicted Belgrade from the province in 1999, Kosovo has been run as a UN protectorate. When final status decisions are made in the next months, security needs, including the army question, are too sensitive to be excluded. NATO will provide fundamental protection for the new state for many years, but the accords should also specify its role in the army’s governance and a range of limitations on army numbers and capabilities – no more than 3,000 personnel, no tanks, heavy artillery, ground-to-ground missiles or attack aircraft.
The key members of the Contact Group guiding diplomacy, including the U.S., the UN Security Council and the UN’s Special Envoy, former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari should introduce a legally or politically binding undertaking into the Kosovo final status determination on development of a small Kosovo defence force. The aim should be to graduate Kosovo into NATO’s Partnership for Peace program, together with Serbia, at which time that undertaking should be superseded by new treaty arrangements.
NATO peacekeepers should develop a closer partnership with the KPC, deepening and standardising the training relationship, and Kosovo’s government should build up its security policy capacity and budget for the creation of a defence ministry through 2007-2008.
“If the security pillar is downplayed in Kosovo, the state will be weakened”, says Nicholas Whyte, Director of Crisis Group’s Europe Program. “Kosovo has enough institutional weaknesses militating against its success already. It doesn’t need another”.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
KOSOVO: Going through the motions
Ian Traynor
July 27, 2006 12:58 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/ian_traynor/2006/07/going_through_the_kosovo_motio.html
The Contact Group is one of those blandly-titled, anonymous committees of international officials and diplomats whose members are invisible and whose utterances often inscrutable. They also have the power to change the world we live in.
Once established, such committees are difficult to dismantle. Almost by a process of inertia, they tend to subsist quietly just in case they are needed for problems related or unrelated to the crisis whence they originally sprang.
The group in question, comprising officials from Europe, the US, and Russia, was initially created to inject a note of consensus into the cacophonous shambles that passed for international diplomacy in the Bosnian emergency of the mid-90s.
In the past year or so the Contact Group has been resurrected to grapple with what is probably the last piece of the post-Yugoslav jigsaw - carving an independent state of Kosovo out of the depressed wreckage of modern Serbia.
Last Monday at a Habsburg-era palais in Vienna, the leaders of Serbia and the (Albanian) leaders of Kosovo met for the first time since the Kosovo war of 1998-99 to grapple with the dilemma of what is to be Kosovo's status.
Predictably, there was no meeting of minds. The meeting itself was the message. Simply getting the rival leaders around the same table was a success for the Finnish fixer, Martti Ahtisaari, the former president of Finland who is the special UN envoy for the Kosovo talks.
Sitting unobtrusively at the same table were several anonymous chaps from the Contact Group.
Of all the national and political conflicts that tore Yugoslavia apart, Kosovo is probably the simplest and most intractable. Everywhere else - in Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia, Montenegro, and Macedonia, the conflicts were among and between southern Slavs who shared a language and a culture and often inter-married.
The Serbian-Kosovar conflict, by contrast, is starkly ethnic, between two quite distinct cultures of Orthodox Slav Serbs and nominally Muslim Albanians who have no intention of living together.
That there was no agreement in Vienna was a racing certainty in advance. There probably never will be. Does it matter? To the extent that a negotiated settlement agreed by the parties is infinitely preferable to a "solution" imposed from outside, the answer has to be yes.
But will it make any difference in the long run to what happens to Kosovo? Not really. This is because the script for the Vienna talks has essentially been written in advance by the diplomats of the Contact Group. To all intents and purposes, the broad outlines of the new Kosovo dispensation were determined even before the negotiations started in February. The negotiations are about putting flesh on the bones of the Contact Group blueprint, filling in the details and taking account of some, but only some, of what the local players have to say.
This makes for a strange negotiation. In eight rounds of talks, there has not been a semblance of agreement by both sides on issues such as how to decentralise government in Kosovo, how many municipalities there should be, how many and in what way ancient Serbian Orthodox monasteries and monuments should be protected.
And yet the UN mediators betray no sense of panic, no sense of urgency, no mood of desperation that things are going badly, no banging of heads and tables to try to force a deal.
This is because in many ways it is a phony negotiation, a going through the motions to try to avoid the unseemly impression that Kosovo's fate is being or already has been decided elsewhere.
The Contact Group's own papers and statements tell the story.
Before the negotiations started in Vienna in February, the group issued a binding set of "guiding principles" for the talks. Firstly, the negotiations could not be blocked and had to be concluded. That means that if the Serbs walk out, as they still could, no one will blink.
The future Kosovo will be multi-ethnic, with extensive rights and self-government for the Serbian minority. "There will be no changes in the current territory of Kosovo" and no partition, as the Serbs would like. That means the Serbs can't take a slice of Kosovo and it also banishes the romance of a so-called Greater Albania, with the Albanians of Kosovo merging with neighbouring Albania proper or with the Albanian majority in neighbouring western Macedonia.
And for the foreseeable future, Kosovo will need to remain an international trusteeship. On the military side, that task falls to Nato. On the civilian and policing side, the UN (running Kosovo since 1999) is to be supplanted by the EU. Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, adds Kosovo to his expanding Balkan protectorate. In Brussels, that script too has already been written.
In January, also before the negotiations opened, a Contact Group statement declared that Kosovo would not return to the status of before March 1999 (ie before Nato's air war against Serbia) and warned Serbia that the settlement had "to be acceptable to the people of Kosovo".
Since 90 per cent of Kosovars are demanding nothing but independence, the outcome is pre-ordained. The Serbian leadership is aghast, crying foul at every opportunity, but has been slow to adapt to the new reality.
It is offering extensive home rule to Kosovo. This amounts to a bit more than what obtained in Kosovo under Tito's communist 1974 constitution until Slobodan Milosevic abolished these rights and liberties in the 1980s. In current circumstances, the Serbian offer is a non-starter. If ownership is nine-tenths of the law, the Kosovar Albanians (90% of the population) are home and dry.
In the January statement, the Contact Group said a negotiated settlement was "the best way forward". Implicit here is that it is not the only way forward.
In the absence of an agreement (almost certain), the agreement will be made for them; indeed, it already has been.
Albert Rohan, the retired Austrian diplomat who has been running the Vienna negotiations, said the other day that he did not expect the parties to reach a deal.
"In the autumn we will report to the UN security council on the result of the negotiations and then it's up to the security council to decide what to do."
Mr Rohan sounded quite unruffled. The Serbs, by contrast, were exciteable, demanding he be sacked and also hinting that the entire Ahtisaari mediation should be closed down.
What happens next? The likeliest scenario is that the talks remain deadlocked. Mr Ahtisaari pronounces this sad state of affairs to the security council in September.
The Contact Group then recommends that given the failure of the parties Mr Ahtisaari draw up "a comprehensive proposal for a status settlement" and the Finnish fixer redraws the map of the Balkans, establishing the first ever independent state of Kosovo, albeit an independence hedged with conditions and subject to international supervision.
The security council then rubberstamps the settlement. Last Monday the Contact Group reiterated that all this should be accomplished by the end of the year. "The process must be brought to a close."
Any agreement in Vienna will be a bonus, but not essential to the outcome. The negotiations are more about dotting the i's and crossing the t's on a script written by the Contact Group and Mr Ahtisaari.
July 27, 2006 12:58 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/ian_traynor/2006/07/going_through_the_kosovo_motio.html
The Contact Group is one of those blandly-titled, anonymous committees of international officials and diplomats whose members are invisible and whose utterances often inscrutable. They also have the power to change the world we live in.
Once established, such committees are difficult to dismantle. Almost by a process of inertia, they tend to subsist quietly just in case they are needed for problems related or unrelated to the crisis whence they originally sprang.
The group in question, comprising officials from Europe, the US, and Russia, was initially created to inject a note of consensus into the cacophonous shambles that passed for international diplomacy in the Bosnian emergency of the mid-90s.
In the past year or so the Contact Group has been resurrected to grapple with what is probably the last piece of the post-Yugoslav jigsaw - carving an independent state of Kosovo out of the depressed wreckage of modern Serbia.
Last Monday at a Habsburg-era palais in Vienna, the leaders of Serbia and the (Albanian) leaders of Kosovo met for the first time since the Kosovo war of 1998-99 to grapple with the dilemma of what is to be Kosovo's status.
Predictably, there was no meeting of minds. The meeting itself was the message. Simply getting the rival leaders around the same table was a success for the Finnish fixer, Martti Ahtisaari, the former president of Finland who is the special UN envoy for the Kosovo talks.
Sitting unobtrusively at the same table were several anonymous chaps from the Contact Group.
Of all the national and political conflicts that tore Yugoslavia apart, Kosovo is probably the simplest and most intractable. Everywhere else - in Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia, Montenegro, and Macedonia, the conflicts were among and between southern Slavs who shared a language and a culture and often inter-married.
The Serbian-Kosovar conflict, by contrast, is starkly ethnic, between two quite distinct cultures of Orthodox Slav Serbs and nominally Muslim Albanians who have no intention of living together.
That there was no agreement in Vienna was a racing certainty in advance. There probably never will be. Does it matter? To the extent that a negotiated settlement agreed by the parties is infinitely preferable to a "solution" imposed from outside, the answer has to be yes.
But will it make any difference in the long run to what happens to Kosovo? Not really. This is because the script for the Vienna talks has essentially been written in advance by the diplomats of the Contact Group. To all intents and purposes, the broad outlines of the new Kosovo dispensation were determined even before the negotiations started in February. The negotiations are about putting flesh on the bones of the Contact Group blueprint, filling in the details and taking account of some, but only some, of what the local players have to say.
This makes for a strange negotiation. In eight rounds of talks, there has not been a semblance of agreement by both sides on issues such as how to decentralise government in Kosovo, how many municipalities there should be, how many and in what way ancient Serbian Orthodox monasteries and monuments should be protected.
And yet the UN mediators betray no sense of panic, no sense of urgency, no mood of desperation that things are going badly, no banging of heads and tables to try to force a deal.
This is because in many ways it is a phony negotiation, a going through the motions to try to avoid the unseemly impression that Kosovo's fate is being or already has been decided elsewhere.
The Contact Group's own papers and statements tell the story.
Before the negotiations started in Vienna in February, the group issued a binding set of "guiding principles" for the talks. Firstly, the negotiations could not be blocked and had to be concluded. That means that if the Serbs walk out, as they still could, no one will blink.
The future Kosovo will be multi-ethnic, with extensive rights and self-government for the Serbian minority. "There will be no changes in the current territory of Kosovo" and no partition, as the Serbs would like. That means the Serbs can't take a slice of Kosovo and it also banishes the romance of a so-called Greater Albania, with the Albanians of Kosovo merging with neighbouring Albania proper or with the Albanian majority in neighbouring western Macedonia.
And for the foreseeable future, Kosovo will need to remain an international trusteeship. On the military side, that task falls to Nato. On the civilian and policing side, the UN (running Kosovo since 1999) is to be supplanted by the EU. Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, adds Kosovo to his expanding Balkan protectorate. In Brussels, that script too has already been written.
In January, also before the negotiations opened, a Contact Group statement declared that Kosovo would not return to the status of before March 1999 (ie before Nato's air war against Serbia) and warned Serbia that the settlement had "to be acceptable to the people of Kosovo".
Since 90 per cent of Kosovars are demanding nothing but independence, the outcome is pre-ordained. The Serbian leadership is aghast, crying foul at every opportunity, but has been slow to adapt to the new reality.
It is offering extensive home rule to Kosovo. This amounts to a bit more than what obtained in Kosovo under Tito's communist 1974 constitution until Slobodan Milosevic abolished these rights and liberties in the 1980s. In current circumstances, the Serbian offer is a non-starter. If ownership is nine-tenths of the law, the Kosovar Albanians (90% of the population) are home and dry.
In the January statement, the Contact Group said a negotiated settlement was "the best way forward". Implicit here is that it is not the only way forward.
In the absence of an agreement (almost certain), the agreement will be made for them; indeed, it already has been.
Albert Rohan, the retired Austrian diplomat who has been running the Vienna negotiations, said the other day that he did not expect the parties to reach a deal.
"In the autumn we will report to the UN security council on the result of the negotiations and then it's up to the security council to decide what to do."
Mr Rohan sounded quite unruffled. The Serbs, by contrast, were exciteable, demanding he be sacked and also hinting that the entire Ahtisaari mediation should be closed down.
What happens next? The likeliest scenario is that the talks remain deadlocked. Mr Ahtisaari pronounces this sad state of affairs to the security council in September.
The Contact Group then recommends that given the failure of the parties Mr Ahtisaari draw up "a comprehensive proposal for a status settlement" and the Finnish fixer redraws the map of the Balkans, establishing the first ever independent state of Kosovo, albeit an independence hedged with conditions and subject to international supervision.
The security council then rubberstamps the settlement. Last Monday the Contact Group reiterated that all this should be accomplished by the end of the year. "The process must be brought to a close."
Any agreement in Vienna will be a bonus, but not essential to the outcome. The negotiations are more about dotting the i's and crossing the t's on a script written by the Contact Group and Mr Ahtisaari.
Future Status of Kosovo - Frank G. Wisner
Ambassador Frank G. Wisner, U.S. Special Representative for Kosovo Status Talks
Press Availability with Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu
Kosovo Assembly Building
July 27, 2006
President Fatmir Sejdiu (translated from Albanian): We had an outstanding meeting with Ambassador Wisner and the new leader of the USOP, Ms. Tina Kaidanow, whom I salute on the occasion. We talked about all the latest developments in the negotiation process, and especially about the last meeting in Vienna. And it was a joint estimation that the meeting was very important. We have often discussed our position on the future status of Kosovo, of course, in the presence of the international community and in the presence of both delegations. I thanked the U.S. for their engagement, and especially Mr. Wisner and the USOP, who continually support our work speeding up the process and helping keep it on the right track. We also hope that 2006 will be the year when our aspirations will come true. In this aspect, we as Kosovo's representatives will fully engage to be as constructive as possible, and negotiate for the status that is in the best interests of the citizens of Kosovo.
Ambassador Frank Wisner: Mr. President, thank you very much and my appreciation as well to the members of the unity team for the reception you gave me this morning. I also would like to join you and express my admiration for you Mr. President and to the entire unity team for the conduct of the discussions in Vienna. I believe they were successful, it was an historic occasion, a moment in history has been passed and the Albanian side was frank, respectful and restrained. I also have noted to my friends in Belgrade that they behaved and conducted these talks in a dignified manner. Now the busy time lies ahead, Mr. President and I know that the United States and your team will work closely together with President Ahtisaari, who has our full support to put in place the remaining issues that have to be settled so that a final status agreement can be reached before the end of 2006. That remains the goal of the United States Mr. President, as I assured your colleagues on the Unity Team, the political leaders of Kosovo and of you Sir yourself. But I would be wrong if I did not also underscore the commitment of the United States to one of the guiding principles of the Contact Group of Nations, articulated at the beginning of the negotiations. And that is the principle of Kosovo as an integral community and area, the principle of no partition of Kosovo, no change in the properly understood borders. That principle was articulated and will continue to guide the work of the Contact Group in the weeks and months ahead. It is a principle that is both respected in international practice of law, and is a political principle important to all nations in this western Balkan area. It is a principle that deals directly with the capability to maintain stability and peace and therefore is precious to us. Mr. President, with those brief remarks I want to thank you again for you hospitality and I am pleased today to be joined by my colleague, the Chief of our Mission, Ms. Kaidanow and we will all be working together in the common effort in the time ahead. Thank you sir.
Press Availability with Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu
Kosovo Assembly Building
July 27, 2006
President Fatmir Sejdiu (translated from Albanian): We had an outstanding meeting with Ambassador Wisner and the new leader of the USOP, Ms. Tina Kaidanow, whom I salute on the occasion. We talked about all the latest developments in the negotiation process, and especially about the last meeting in Vienna. And it was a joint estimation that the meeting was very important. We have often discussed our position on the future status of Kosovo, of course, in the presence of the international community and in the presence of both delegations. I thanked the U.S. for their engagement, and especially Mr. Wisner and the USOP, who continually support our work speeding up the process and helping keep it on the right track. We also hope that 2006 will be the year when our aspirations will come true. In this aspect, we as Kosovo's representatives will fully engage to be as constructive as possible, and negotiate for the status that is in the best interests of the citizens of Kosovo.
Ambassador Frank Wisner: Mr. President, thank you very much and my appreciation as well to the members of the unity team for the reception you gave me this morning. I also would like to join you and express my admiration for you Mr. President and to the entire unity team for the conduct of the discussions in Vienna. I believe they were successful, it was an historic occasion, a moment in history has been passed and the Albanian side was frank, respectful and restrained. I also have noted to my friends in Belgrade that they behaved and conducted these talks in a dignified manner. Now the busy time lies ahead, Mr. President and I know that the United States and your team will work closely together with President Ahtisaari, who has our full support to put in place the remaining issues that have to be settled so that a final status agreement can be reached before the end of 2006. That remains the goal of the United States Mr. President, as I assured your colleagues on the Unity Team, the political leaders of Kosovo and of you Sir yourself. But I would be wrong if I did not also underscore the commitment of the United States to one of the guiding principles of the Contact Group of Nations, articulated at the beginning of the negotiations. And that is the principle of Kosovo as an integral community and area, the principle of no partition of Kosovo, no change in the properly understood borders. That principle was articulated and will continue to guide the work of the Contact Group in the weeks and months ahead. It is a principle that is both respected in international practice of law, and is a political principle important to all nations in this western Balkan area. It is a principle that deals directly with the capability to maintain stability and peace and therefore is precious to us. Mr. President, with those brief remarks I want to thank you again for you hospitality and I am pleased today to be joined by my colleague, the Chief of our Mission, Ms. Kaidanow and we will all be working together in the common effort in the time ahead. Thank you sir.
Serbia's Ultranationalists Say Will Fight For Kosovo
BELGRADE (AP)--Serbia's ultranationalists warned Thursday they will "fight for Kosovo" in case the contested province gains independence at ongoing U.N.-brokered talks.
Tomislav Nikolic, the leader of the increasingly popular Serbian Radical Party, said no leader in Serbia will accept Kosovo's independence.
"The whole world must know that," Nikolic declared. "Serbia will fight for Kosovo." He didn't elaborate.
Serbian and ethnic Albanian officials weren't immediately available for comment.
Kosovo is formally part of Serbia, but the province has been run by the U.N. since a 1999 North Atlantic Treaty Organization air war forced Belgrade to stop attacks against ethnic Albanian separatists and pull out of the region.
The talks to decide Kosovo's future status started early this year. Most analysts have predicted Kosovo might gain some form of independence, despite Serbia's opposition.
Nikolic acknowledged "if they want to take away Kosovo...from us," Belgrade cannot prevent that. He added "Serbia will be peaceful and stable as long as the talks are going on," but could explode in unrest in case of Kosovo independence.
Serbia's President Boris Tadic and Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica took part early this week in a face-to-face meeting with ethnic Albanian leaders in Vienna, Austria, as part of U.N.-brokered negotiations.
Both face a mounting challenge from the Radicals, who ruled together with late ex-nationalist leader, Slobodan Milosevic, in the next election in Serbia in 2007.
Also this week, the U.S. envoy for Kosovo talks, Frank Wisner, urged both Serbia and the ethnic Albanians to be more flexible and work together to find a compromise on Kosovo. [ 27-07-06 1557GMT ]
Tomislav Nikolic, the leader of the increasingly popular Serbian Radical Party, said no leader in Serbia will accept Kosovo's independence.
"The whole world must know that," Nikolic declared. "Serbia will fight for Kosovo." He didn't elaborate.
Serbian and ethnic Albanian officials weren't immediately available for comment.
Kosovo is formally part of Serbia, but the province has been run by the U.N. since a 1999 North Atlantic Treaty Organization air war forced Belgrade to stop attacks against ethnic Albanian separatists and pull out of the region.
The talks to decide Kosovo's future status started early this year. Most analysts have predicted Kosovo might gain some form of independence, despite Serbia's opposition.
Nikolic acknowledged "if they want to take away Kosovo...from us," Belgrade cannot prevent that. He added "Serbia will be peaceful and stable as long as the talks are going on," but could explode in unrest in case of Kosovo independence.
Serbia's President Boris Tadic and Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica took part early this week in a face-to-face meeting with ethnic Albanian leaders in Vienna, Austria, as part of U.N.-brokered negotiations.
Both face a mounting challenge from the Radicals, who ruled together with late ex-nationalist leader, Slobodan Milosevic, in the next election in Serbia in 2007.
Also this week, the U.S. envoy for Kosovo talks, Frank Wisner, urged both Serbia and the ethnic Albanians to be more flexible and work together to find a compromise on Kosovo. [ 27-07-06 1557GMT ]
UNSC reportedly to vote on conditional independence for Kosovo
Text of report by Radio-Television Kosovo TV on 26 July
[Announcer] The UN Security Council will vote on special conditional independence [for Kosovo] in November this year, international sources have told RTK. UN special envoy for Kosovo status talks Martti Ahtisaari will recommend to the UN Security Council an imposed solution for Kosova [Kosovo], justifying this with the fact that the sides cannot reach a compromise on anything, the source said.
[Reporter] After the meeting of the top Pristina and Belgrade officials in Vienna, it is clear to the international community as to when and how Kosova's status will be solved. The source briefed RTK on the five point agenda for solving the Kosova issue.
1. Several high level meetings are foreseen in August and September. In September there will be another meeting of the elephants [Kosovo and Serbian leaders].
2. In November 2006 at a regular session of the United Nations, UN special envoy for Kosovo status talks Martti Ahtisaari will give his recommendation for Kosova's future status. Specifically, it is expected that sui generis independence will be proposed, or a special case which is expected to be approved by the members of the UN Security Council. However, this does not mean that the resolution will have immediate effect.
3. It is expected that after this UNMIK will enter the transitory phase to the international civilian mission. This phase will last at least six months, which means that the European Union will place its mission under the mandate of the United Nations, especially in the filed of justice, minorities and economy. During this time the finalizing of Kosova's new constitution is expected.
4. After this comes "Status Day" or the day UNMIK and Resolution 1244 expire and the implementation of the new status and new resolution start.
5. After this it is expected that elections will be announced and several basic laws changed.
According to the source, UN special envoy for Kosovo status talks Martti Ahtisaari has achieved its aim of bringing Albanians and Serbs into the game with the top meeting in Vienna. Ahtisaari will now recommend to the UN Security Council an imposed solution for Kosova, explaining that the sides cannot reach a compromise on anything.
Source: RTK TV, Pristina, in Albanian 1730 gmt 26 Jul 06
[Announcer] The UN Security Council will vote on special conditional independence [for Kosovo] in November this year, international sources have told RTK. UN special envoy for Kosovo status talks Martti Ahtisaari will recommend to the UN Security Council an imposed solution for Kosova [Kosovo], justifying this with the fact that the sides cannot reach a compromise on anything, the source said.
[Reporter] After the meeting of the top Pristina and Belgrade officials in Vienna, it is clear to the international community as to when and how Kosova's status will be solved. The source briefed RTK on the five point agenda for solving the Kosova issue.
1. Several high level meetings are foreseen in August and September. In September there will be another meeting of the elephants [Kosovo and Serbian leaders].
2. In November 2006 at a regular session of the United Nations, UN special envoy for Kosovo status talks Martti Ahtisaari will give his recommendation for Kosova's future status. Specifically, it is expected that sui generis independence will be proposed, or a special case which is expected to be approved by the members of the UN Security Council. However, this does not mean that the resolution will have immediate effect.
3. It is expected that after this UNMIK will enter the transitory phase to the international civilian mission. This phase will last at least six months, which means that the European Union will place its mission under the mandate of the United Nations, especially in the filed of justice, minorities and economy. During this time the finalizing of Kosova's new constitution is expected.
4. After this comes "Status Day" or the day UNMIK and Resolution 1244 expire and the implementation of the new status and new resolution start.
5. After this it is expected that elections will be announced and several basic laws changed.
According to the source, UN special envoy for Kosovo status talks Martti Ahtisaari has achieved its aim of bringing Albanians and Serbs into the game with the top meeting in Vienna. Ahtisaari will now recommend to the UN Security Council an imposed solution for Kosova, explaining that the sides cannot reach a compromise on anything.
Source: RTK TV, Pristina, in Albanian 1730 gmt 26 Jul 06
Kosovo: International prosecutor dismisses Mitrovica bridge incident case
Text of report by Radio-Television Kosovo TV website on 26 July
The international prosecutor launched a full investigation into the case of the injuring of the Kosova [Kosovo] Serb juvenile Miroslav Ilincic in an incident at the bridge in Mitrovica in 28 March 2006.
The prosecutor has now dismissed the case for lack of sufficient evidence to support the charges and the investigation will be dropped, said UNMIK spokesperson Neeraj Singh. The victim had been summoned and he refused to testify or participate in any way in the criminal investigation. None of the witnesses could offer reliable testimony and the only important eyewitness to the incident also refused to testify. Many attempts were made to encourage the witness and the victim to testify, Singh added. The only other evidence was the tape made by the video camera of the traffic police on the bridge, which was of poor quality and did not show anything that could help with the reconstruction of the incident, said Singh.
The Coordination Centre for Kosova has reacted to the prosecutor's decision to dismiss the case and has described it as scandalous.
If there is anything scandalous about the whole affair, it is the complete disregard of judicial principles, failure to cooperate in the investigation and then the outrageous attribution of various motives to the prosecutor's decision to dismiss the case. Justice is driven by evidence and unless people come forward and testify, justice cannot be delivered, Singh said. Not justice for Kosova, but anywhere in the world, UNMIK spokesperson Neeraj Singh concluded.
Source: RTK TV website, Pristina, in Albanian 26 Jul 06
The international prosecutor launched a full investigation into the case of the injuring of the Kosova [Kosovo] Serb juvenile Miroslav Ilincic in an incident at the bridge in Mitrovica in 28 March 2006.
The prosecutor has now dismissed the case for lack of sufficient evidence to support the charges and the investigation will be dropped, said UNMIK spokesperson Neeraj Singh. The victim had been summoned and he refused to testify or participate in any way in the criminal investigation. None of the witnesses could offer reliable testimony and the only important eyewitness to the incident also refused to testify. Many attempts were made to encourage the witness and the victim to testify, Singh added. The only other evidence was the tape made by the video camera of the traffic police on the bridge, which was of poor quality and did not show anything that could help with the reconstruction of the incident, said Singh.
The Coordination Centre for Kosova has reacted to the prosecutor's decision to dismiss the case and has described it as scandalous.
If there is anything scandalous about the whole affair, it is the complete disregard of judicial principles, failure to cooperate in the investigation and then the outrageous attribution of various motives to the prosecutor's decision to dismiss the case. Justice is driven by evidence and unless people come forward and testify, justice cannot be delivered, Singh said. Not justice for Kosova, but anywhere in the world, UNMIK spokesperson Neeraj Singh concluded.
Source: RTK TV website, Pristina, in Albanian 26 Jul 06
U.S. envoy tells ethnic Albanians, Serbs to improve minority rights in Kosovo
PRISTINA, Serbia (AP) - The U.S. envoy to the Kosovo status talks on Thursday urged ethnic Albanian and Serbian leaders to intensify efforts to improve the rights of the province's Serb minority.
During a visit to Kosovo, U.S. diplomat Frank Wisner said the two former foes need "to put in place a common vision, a practical and a realistic solution to the way forward for Kosovo."
Wisner met with the province's ethnic Albanian leaders a day after he appealed to Serbia's leadership for flexibility and compromise in resolving the dispute over the breakaway province.
Ethnic Albanian and Serbian leaders met in Vienna, Austria, on Monday for the first face-to-face talks over Kosovo's status.
There was no breakthrough in those talks, with both sides entrenched in their positions -- the Serbs want Kosovo to remain within its borders, while the ethnic Albanians insist on independence.
"The job ahead of us today is to put in place the necessary elements of a final status package before we define the package," Wisner said. "That means realistic solutions to the outstanding issues of municipalities, churches, minorities and economics."
He also reiterated that Western countries supervising the process aim to resolve the province's status by the end of the year.
Most of the discussions since talks began have failed to produce a concensus.
The next round of talks is Aug. 7-8 and will deal with local reform and minority rights, a U.N. official said.
Kosovo has been run by United Nations and patrolled by NATO since mid-1999 when alliance's air war halted a Serb crackdown on separatist ethnic Albanians and forced Serbia to relinquish control over it.
Some form of independence for Kosovo is the most likely outcome of the talks, but Western envoys are trying to steer the two sides toward improving the rights of the province's Serb minority, who live in guarded enclaves.
During a visit to Kosovo, U.S. diplomat Frank Wisner said the two former foes need "to put in place a common vision, a practical and a realistic solution to the way forward for Kosovo."
Wisner met with the province's ethnic Albanian leaders a day after he appealed to Serbia's leadership for flexibility and compromise in resolving the dispute over the breakaway province.
Ethnic Albanian and Serbian leaders met in Vienna, Austria, on Monday for the first face-to-face talks over Kosovo's status.
There was no breakthrough in those talks, with both sides entrenched in their positions -- the Serbs want Kosovo to remain within its borders, while the ethnic Albanians insist on independence.
"The job ahead of us today is to put in place the necessary elements of a final status package before we define the package," Wisner said. "That means realistic solutions to the outstanding issues of municipalities, churches, minorities and economics."
He also reiterated that Western countries supervising the process aim to resolve the province's status by the end of the year.
Most of the discussions since talks began have failed to produce a concensus.
The next round of talks is Aug. 7-8 and will deal with local reform and minority rights, a U.N. official said.
Kosovo has been run by United Nations and patrolled by NATO since mid-1999 when alliance's air war halted a Serb crackdown on separatist ethnic Albanians and forced Serbia to relinquish control over it.
Some form of independence for Kosovo is the most likely outcome of the talks, but Western envoys are trying to steer the two sides toward improving the rights of the province's Serb minority, who live in guarded enclaves.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Balkan Choice
Morton Abramowitz, Mark Schneider, Wall Street Journal, 7/25/2006
At yesterday's negotiations between Serbian and Kosovo Albanian leaders, Kosovars made clear that their goal is independence. Serbian President Vojislav Kostunica, earlier this month at the United Nations, spelled out his firm opposition. He needs to get a firm reply from the international community that Serbia can chose the past or the future. It can't have both.
Mr. Kostunica is carrying the late Slobodan Milosevic's message that Kosovo must remain a subordinate province of Serbia. But Milosevic is dead, the clock will not be turned back to 1999, and Serbia will have to accept an international consensus on Kosovo's final status.
The current Serbian leader needs to hear that if he continues to embrace the nationalism of Milosevic, he and his country will become international pariahs. If, however, he accepts the outcome of current negotiations—likely to be an independent nation limited largely by international guarantees to protect Serb minority rights—Serbia will have a future as part of the European Union and NATO.
During the past six years, a U.N. Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) has been administering the province after the NATO-led intervention ended Milosevic's ethnic cleansing. Now, day-to-day administration is largely in the hands of an elected provisional government. Working on meeting governance standards set by the UN—with the strong input of a Contact Group including the U.S., U.K., Russia, France, Italy and Germany—the government under Prime Minister Agim Ceku, once a feared Albanian underground military chief, has made progress.
Of course, Kosovar Albanians could help their own cause by reaching out even more to Kosovo's Serbs on issues of decentralization, protection for monasteries and refugee return. However, they met enough of the standards to get U.N. Security Council endorsement of final status negotiations led by U.N. special envoy and former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari.
After nine months of shuttling in the region from his base in Vienna, Mr. Ahtisaari yesterday put the issues and options before the Serbian and Kosovo presidents and prime ministers. The talks made little progress. Another summit meeting is likely in September. It would be nice, but no one really expects Mr. Kostunica to actually embrace the separation of Kosovo and Serbia. It may be difficult—emotionally and politically—but the experience of the past 10 years, including Milosevic's attempted ethnic cleansing, have made anything less than independence totally unacceptable to the people of Kosovo.
The U.S. and other Contact Group countries are expected to endorse Mr. Ahtisaari's final proposal before the end of the year. It almost surely will be independence with continued NATO military presence and international guarantees to Kosovo's Serb minorities. Even if Mr. Kostunica continues to stonewall, it is likely that the Security Council will adopt it. While Russia is his strongest supporter, Moscow's main concern relates less to Serbia than to the Caucasus. They see the Kosovo status settlement as setting a precedent. Though Russia wants to hold on to rebellious Chechnya, it also wants a tool to slice Abkhazia and South Ossetia away from Georgia. Russia is trying to set down a marker, unacceptable to the West, that if Serbia is forced to give up a former province, Georgia can be made to suffer similar provincial surgery, even if no historical parallel exists.
Serbia's reactions to the negotiating process thus far have gone well past the point of passive resistance. Mr. Kostunica strongly opposed independence for Montenegro which took place last month. Belgrade has pumped up the return-to-Serbia movements in the northern three Kosovo municipalities and in the adjoining divided city of Mitrovica, where 40% of Kosovo's Serbs live. Serbia has obliged Kosovo Serbs to boycott the U.N.-backed provisional government, recently making all teachers and health workers tear up their government contracts. Instead, Serbia finances parallel structures of government, through which the northern municipalities have begun raising a paramilitary force. Serbia also maintains plainclothes police in Kosovo, in defiance of the 1999 Security Council Resolution that introduced U.N. administration into Kosovo.
Belgrade's separatist support seeks to present a de facto partition on the ground to the final status negotiators, despite the Contact Group principles endorsed by the U.N. of a unified, multi-ethnic Kosovo with no partition, no boundary changes, no return to pre-1999.
The international community, particularly the leaders of the Contact Group countries, must make it clear to Serb leaders that obstructionist tactics are unacceptable. NATO forces will stay to guarantee the final status outcome, and there will be international monitoring to assure human rights are protected.
Serbia will be better off "in Europe," living in peace with a new Kosovo than futilely inciting Kosovo Serbs to challenge the final status outcome. The world's message to Mr. Kostunica should be simple: choose the future, and allow Kosovo and Serbia to join Europe.
Mr. Abramowitz is a senior fellow at the Century Foundation and a trustee of the International Crisis Group, where Mr. Schneider is senior vice president. This article originally appeared in the Wall Street Journal-Europe on July 25, 2006.
At yesterday's negotiations between Serbian and Kosovo Albanian leaders, Kosovars made clear that their goal is independence. Serbian President Vojislav Kostunica, earlier this month at the United Nations, spelled out his firm opposition. He needs to get a firm reply from the international community that Serbia can chose the past or the future. It can't have both.
Mr. Kostunica is carrying the late Slobodan Milosevic's message that Kosovo must remain a subordinate province of Serbia. But Milosevic is dead, the clock will not be turned back to 1999, and Serbia will have to accept an international consensus on Kosovo's final status.
The current Serbian leader needs to hear that if he continues to embrace the nationalism of Milosevic, he and his country will become international pariahs. If, however, he accepts the outcome of current negotiations—likely to be an independent nation limited largely by international guarantees to protect Serb minority rights—Serbia will have a future as part of the European Union and NATO.
During the past six years, a U.N. Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) has been administering the province after the NATO-led intervention ended Milosevic's ethnic cleansing. Now, day-to-day administration is largely in the hands of an elected provisional government. Working on meeting governance standards set by the UN—with the strong input of a Contact Group including the U.S., U.K., Russia, France, Italy and Germany—the government under Prime Minister Agim Ceku, once a feared Albanian underground military chief, has made progress.
Of course, Kosovar Albanians could help their own cause by reaching out even more to Kosovo's Serbs on issues of decentralization, protection for monasteries and refugee return. However, they met enough of the standards to get U.N. Security Council endorsement of final status negotiations led by U.N. special envoy and former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari.
After nine months of shuttling in the region from his base in Vienna, Mr. Ahtisaari yesterday put the issues and options before the Serbian and Kosovo presidents and prime ministers. The talks made little progress. Another summit meeting is likely in September. It would be nice, but no one really expects Mr. Kostunica to actually embrace the separation of Kosovo and Serbia. It may be difficult—emotionally and politically—but the experience of the past 10 years, including Milosevic's attempted ethnic cleansing, have made anything less than independence totally unacceptable to the people of Kosovo.
The U.S. and other Contact Group countries are expected to endorse Mr. Ahtisaari's final proposal before the end of the year. It almost surely will be independence with continued NATO military presence and international guarantees to Kosovo's Serb minorities. Even if Mr. Kostunica continues to stonewall, it is likely that the Security Council will adopt it. While Russia is his strongest supporter, Moscow's main concern relates less to Serbia than to the Caucasus. They see the Kosovo status settlement as setting a precedent. Though Russia wants to hold on to rebellious Chechnya, it also wants a tool to slice Abkhazia and South Ossetia away from Georgia. Russia is trying to set down a marker, unacceptable to the West, that if Serbia is forced to give up a former province, Georgia can be made to suffer similar provincial surgery, even if no historical parallel exists.
Serbia's reactions to the negotiating process thus far have gone well past the point of passive resistance. Mr. Kostunica strongly opposed independence for Montenegro which took place last month. Belgrade has pumped up the return-to-Serbia movements in the northern three Kosovo municipalities and in the adjoining divided city of Mitrovica, where 40% of Kosovo's Serbs live. Serbia has obliged Kosovo Serbs to boycott the U.N.-backed provisional government, recently making all teachers and health workers tear up their government contracts. Instead, Serbia finances parallel structures of government, through which the northern municipalities have begun raising a paramilitary force. Serbia also maintains plainclothes police in Kosovo, in defiance of the 1999 Security Council Resolution that introduced U.N. administration into Kosovo.
Belgrade's separatist support seeks to present a de facto partition on the ground to the final status negotiators, despite the Contact Group principles endorsed by the U.N. of a unified, multi-ethnic Kosovo with no partition, no boundary changes, no return to pre-1999.
The international community, particularly the leaders of the Contact Group countries, must make it clear to Serb leaders that obstructionist tactics are unacceptable. NATO forces will stay to guarantee the final status outcome, and there will be international monitoring to assure human rights are protected.
Serbia will be better off "in Europe," living in peace with a new Kosovo than futilely inciting Kosovo Serbs to challenge the final status outcome. The world's message to Mr. Kostunica should be simple: choose the future, and allow Kosovo and Serbia to join Europe.
Mr. Abramowitz is a senior fellow at the Century Foundation and a trustee of the International Crisis Group, where Mr. Schneider is senior vice president. This article originally appeared in the Wall Street Journal-Europe on July 25, 2006.
US envoy says Kosovo solution may not be acceptable to both Belgrade, Pristina
Text of report by Serbian independent news agency FoNet
Belgrade, 26 July: Special US envoy for Kosovo negotiations Frank Wisner said today that the solution for Kosovo's future status may not be acceptable for both Belgrade and Pristina, but he added that the protection of Serbs and other minorities was of key importance during this process.
Wisner described the talks between the most prominent Belgrade and Pristina representatives in Vienna on Monday [24 July] as a historic event, expressing the hope that the decision on Kosovo's final status would be made by the end of the year.
Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 0923 gmt 26 Jul 06
Belgrade, 26 July: Special US envoy for Kosovo negotiations Frank Wisner said today that the solution for Kosovo's future status may not be acceptable for both Belgrade and Pristina, but he added that the protection of Serbs and other minorities was of key importance during this process.
Wisner described the talks between the most prominent Belgrade and Pristina representatives in Vienna on Monday [24 July] as a historic event, expressing the hope that the decision on Kosovo's final status would be made by the end of the year.
Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 0923 gmt 26 Jul 06
U.S. envoy optimistic over Kosovo talks
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) - The U.S. envoy for Kosovo status talks said Wednesday he was optimistic that a solution can be found for the troubled province at ongoing U.N.-brokered talks.
U.S. diplomat Frank Wisner urged the Serb and ethnic Albanian delegations in the negotiations to be flexible.
"Both the Serbian side and the Kosovo Albanian side should look toward future negotiations, be flexible and work toward a compromise in order to be able to reach a realistic solution," Wisner said at the end of his visit to Belgrade.
The negotiations to determine the future status of Kosovo began early this year, under U.N. mediation. The province's ethnic Albanians insist on independence from Serbia, while Belgrade wants to keep the province within the republic's boundaries.
On Monday, the presidents and prime ministers of Serbia and Kosovo met face-to-face for the first time since the start of the negotiations. The meeting was considered crucial, although the two sides remained entrenched in their positions.
Wisner described the top-level meeting in Vienna as a "historic event ... of tremendous importance for all of us who seek a solution for the future of Kosovo."
He added he had received assurances from both Serbia's President, Boris Tadic, and Prime Minister, Vojislav Kostunica, that they will attend the future meetings as well.
"It is important that any solution (for Kosovo) provide protection for Serbs and other minorities, and fall within the context of a successful, progressive and democratic Kosovo," he said.
U.S. diplomat Frank Wisner urged the Serb and ethnic Albanian delegations in the negotiations to be flexible.
"Both the Serbian side and the Kosovo Albanian side should look toward future negotiations, be flexible and work toward a compromise in order to be able to reach a realistic solution," Wisner said at the end of his visit to Belgrade.
The negotiations to determine the future status of Kosovo began early this year, under U.N. mediation. The province's ethnic Albanians insist on independence from Serbia, while Belgrade wants to keep the province within the republic's boundaries.
On Monday, the presidents and prime ministers of Serbia and Kosovo met face-to-face for the first time since the start of the negotiations. The meeting was considered crucial, although the two sides remained entrenched in their positions.
Wisner described the top-level meeting in Vienna as a "historic event ... of tremendous importance for all of us who seek a solution for the future of Kosovo."
He added he had received assurances from both Serbia's President, Boris Tadic, and Prime Minister, Vojislav Kostunica, that they will attend the future meetings as well.
"It is important that any solution (for Kosovo) provide protection for Serbs and other minorities, and fall within the context of a successful, progressive and democratic Kosovo," he said.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Serbia without Kosovo
All material copyright Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. or its licensors. All rights reserved.
Serbia is feeling aggrieved, and with good reason. When North Atlantic Treaty Organization jets bombed the country in 1999, Western leaders insisted they were not taking the side of the Kosovo rebels in the ethnic conflict between Kosovo Albanians and Serbs. They were merely trying to halt the ethnic cleansing being carried out by Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic. Seven years later, though, most Western governments argue that Kosovo's independence is a fait accompli. Serbia, they argue, should get on with life and let Kosovo go its own way. They may not have bombed Serbia to back Kosovo separatism, but that has been the result of their intervention.
Serbia's feelings are easy to understand. It has seen its predominance in the former Yugoslavia erased and its own territory whittled away, most recently by the decision of Montenegro to declare independence. Kosovo forms 15 per cent of its remaining territory. To Serb nationalists, it is sacred ground, the birthplace of Serbian nationhood and the site of scores of historic Orthodox monasteries. About 100,000 Serbs still live there, an embattled minority in a population of two million, 90 per cent of which is Albanian. As Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica bluntly puts it, “Kosovo is part of Serbia.” He is willing to offer only autonomy. Independence, he insists, would be “illegal and worthless.”
But whatever the force of Serbian feeling or strength of its attachment to Kosovo, things have moved on. In the real world, Kosovo is no longer part of Serbia. Serbian troops left in 1999, forced out at the end of the NATO bombing campaign. Something like 10,000 Albanians were killed in the fighting that year and 800,000 forced to flee their homes. The Albanians of Kosovo are close to unanimous in their determination never to live under Belgrade's yoke again. It is impossible to imagine them accepting a return to Serbian control even under the most generous form of autonomy.
So Mr. Kostunica has a choice to make. If he insists on pursuing the impossible dream of retaking Kosovo, his country will remain isolated in Europe. If he agrees to move on, Serbia would be welcomed onto the path of membership in the European Union, as would Kosovo, which has lived in an unworkable limbo since 1999. Granting Kosovo its independence would allow it to emerge from its uncomfortable status as a United Nations protectorate and build a new nation. In return for recognizing that status, Serbia would be within its rights to demand maximum protection for the Serb minority and for Serb cultural sites.
Whatever the rights and wrongs of the matter — and Serbia has the right to feel wronged — Kosovo is gone. Belgrade has no choice but to accept it.
Serbia is feeling aggrieved, and with good reason. When North Atlantic Treaty Organization jets bombed the country in 1999, Western leaders insisted they were not taking the side of the Kosovo rebels in the ethnic conflict between Kosovo Albanians and Serbs. They were merely trying to halt the ethnic cleansing being carried out by Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic. Seven years later, though, most Western governments argue that Kosovo's independence is a fait accompli. Serbia, they argue, should get on with life and let Kosovo go its own way. They may not have bombed Serbia to back Kosovo separatism, but that has been the result of their intervention.
Serbia's feelings are easy to understand. It has seen its predominance in the former Yugoslavia erased and its own territory whittled away, most recently by the decision of Montenegro to declare independence. Kosovo forms 15 per cent of its remaining territory. To Serb nationalists, it is sacred ground, the birthplace of Serbian nationhood and the site of scores of historic Orthodox monasteries. About 100,000 Serbs still live there, an embattled minority in a population of two million, 90 per cent of which is Albanian. As Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica bluntly puts it, “Kosovo is part of Serbia.” He is willing to offer only autonomy. Independence, he insists, would be “illegal and worthless.”
But whatever the force of Serbian feeling or strength of its attachment to Kosovo, things have moved on. In the real world, Kosovo is no longer part of Serbia. Serbian troops left in 1999, forced out at the end of the NATO bombing campaign. Something like 10,000 Albanians were killed in the fighting that year and 800,000 forced to flee their homes. The Albanians of Kosovo are close to unanimous in their determination never to live under Belgrade's yoke again. It is impossible to imagine them accepting a return to Serbian control even under the most generous form of autonomy.
So Mr. Kostunica has a choice to make. If he insists on pursuing the impossible dream of retaking Kosovo, his country will remain isolated in Europe. If he agrees to move on, Serbia would be welcomed onto the path of membership in the European Union, as would Kosovo, which has lived in an unworkable limbo since 1999. Granting Kosovo its independence would allow it to emerge from its uncomfortable status as a United Nations protectorate and build a new nation. In return for recognizing that status, Serbia would be within its rights to demand maximum protection for the Serb minority and for Serb cultural sites.
Whatever the rights and wrongs of the matter — and Serbia has the right to feel wronged — Kosovo is gone. Belgrade has no choice but to accept it.
U.S. envoy urges Serbian officials to be more flexible in Kosovo talks
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) - A U.S. envoy for Kosovo status talks on Tuesday urged Serbian officials to be more flexible in negotiations over the future of the breakaway province, officials said.
Frank Wisner also said that U.N.-brokered negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina over the contested region, should "continue and intensify," according to a statement issued by Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's office.
Wisner visited Belgrade a day after top ethnic Albanian and Serbian leaders met in Vienna, Austria, for the first face-to-face talks over Kosovo's status.
During the talks, both sides remained entrenched in their opposing positions: the Serbs want Kosovo to remain within its borders, while the Kosovo Albanians only want independence.
In his meetings with Serbian officials, Wisner urged "Belgrade to play a constructive role in the ongoing negotiations to ensure a peaceful, democratic Kosovo that protects the rights of all its residents," a U.S. Embassy statement said.
Kostunica reiterated that Serbia "would not allow that a new Albanian state be created on 15 percent of its territory," the statement from the premier's office said.
It quoted Kostunica as praising the "readiness to talk," and insisting that Serbia was ready to grant a "truly substantial autonomy" for Kosovo.
Wisner was expected to relay a similar message to ethnic Albanian negotiators when he visits Kosovo. A date has not been announced, but he will probably visit the province within the next couple of days.
Western envoys hope to finish the negotiations by the end of 2006.
The most likely outcome of the talks is some form of independence for Kosovo -- on the condition Kosovo can protect Serbs and other minorities in the ethnic Albanian majority province.
Serbia has no authority over the province it considers the cradle of its statehood and religion. The United Nations has administered Kosovo since a 1999 NATO air war to halt a Serb crackdown on separatist Albanians.
Frank Wisner also said that U.N.-brokered negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina over the contested region, should "continue and intensify," according to a statement issued by Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's office.
Wisner visited Belgrade a day after top ethnic Albanian and Serbian leaders met in Vienna, Austria, for the first face-to-face talks over Kosovo's status.
During the talks, both sides remained entrenched in their opposing positions: the Serbs want Kosovo to remain within its borders, while the Kosovo Albanians only want independence.
In his meetings with Serbian officials, Wisner urged "Belgrade to play a constructive role in the ongoing negotiations to ensure a peaceful, democratic Kosovo that protects the rights of all its residents," a U.S. Embassy statement said.
Kostunica reiterated that Serbia "would not allow that a new Albanian state be created on 15 percent of its territory," the statement from the premier's office said.
It quoted Kostunica as praising the "readiness to talk," and insisting that Serbia was ready to grant a "truly substantial autonomy" for Kosovo.
Wisner was expected to relay a similar message to ethnic Albanian negotiators when he visits Kosovo. A date has not been announced, but he will probably visit the province within the next couple of days.
Western envoys hope to finish the negotiations by the end of 2006.
The most likely outcome of the talks is some form of independence for Kosovo -- on the condition Kosovo can protect Serbs and other minorities in the ethnic Albanian majority province.
Serbia has no authority over the province it considers the cradle of its statehood and religion. The United Nations has administered Kosovo since a 1999 NATO air war to halt a Serb crackdown on separatist Albanians.
Kosovo president says guarantees for Serbs offered at Vienna meeting
Text of interview with Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu broadcast by Radio-Television Kosovo TV on 24 July
[Announcer] We have our special reporter Nebi Qena live from Vienna interviewing Kosova [Kosovo] President Fatmir Sejdiu. Nebi, what is the news from Vienna?
[RTK special reporter Nebi Qena] The meeting happened today, it has been called by international and local people the meeting of elephants because elephants are animals that move with difficulty. They move from their position with difficulty just as the Kosovar and Serbian delegations did today. With me here is Kosova President Fatmir Sejdiu who led today's meeting for the Kosova side. Mr President, thank you for being here today. You were the head of the Kosova negotiation team at today's first meeting between the top Kosovar and Serbian officials. During the press conference there was a conviction that the meeting did not bring any movement of position and it is not expected that there will be any breakthrough between the two sides.
[President Sejdiu] I believe that the stances are very clear. We said in Prishtina [Pristina], and are saying it here today, that the Kosovar delegation has one mandate that was given to it by the Kosova Assembly and the political will of the people of Kosova for the independence of Kosova, and naturally any other option or variation of this opposes the will of the people and is absolutely unacceptable to us. We have offered our vision before the international community with the Serbian delegation present, where we argued our points why Kosova has to be independent, starting from the first point: that Kosova has a right to self-determination, which is a constitutional right and an international right, taking into consideration all the other developments that happened earlier in Kosova, and the ones that have been happening over the last few years. We want to build a Kosova with a vision for the future, a Kosova ruled by law, a democratic country based on democratic principles, a state where all citizens will be equal, including all the minorities. We offered here our guarantees for the Serb minority, but also for other minorities that want to be part of everyday life and be integrated in Kosova.
[Reporter] The Serbian side said that the arguments of the Kosovar side are not sustainable and they insist that the best solution is substantial autonomy for Kosova.
[Sejdiu] These are options or visions that we have already heard in the past; this is clear and can be deciphered with one answer. The Serbian side insists that they rule and govern over us, while we insist that we rule ourselves. We have placed these arguments before the international community and we have to see the weight of these arguments.
[Reporter] When we talk about governing Kosova, governing over the Serb minority is also understood, which is the main worry of the international community. What are the guarantees of the Kosova delegation for ensuring the rights of the Serb minority?
[Sejdiu] I firstly would like to say that we have had our test during the previous Vienna meetings. Some issues were initiated by the international community and were agreed on by both sides. One was reform in local government, the second was cultural heritage, and some economic aspects that I would call the normal succession of a country. In this respect, as you know, the vision we have offered involves an affirmative approach towards the Serb minority, with a possibility of decision-making at the local level, but without bringing up the issue of intercommunications that would in a way bring about the formation of third parallel structures or the exclusion of Kosova institutions in this direction. Our approach is that we truly want an affirmative integration of the Serb community in the central institutions. This takes into consideration that our initiative and the work we have done in Kosova and the current acts that have been passed since the war in forming the institutions based on the vote of the people of Kosova are based on international standards which will be under the supervision of the international community, for which we have instead to have a light presence of the international community on our future path.
[Reporter] How long will this period be, given the fact that there have been suggestions that the resolution of Kosova's status will be left until next year? Do you agree with this, do the people of Kosova agree with this?
[Sejdiu] Absolutely not, any delay would be dangerous. We have received support from the conclusions of the Contact Group and the countries that have immense influence in the UN Security Council, where it has been insisted that 2006 will be the year of defining the status of Kosova, which will result in independence for Kosova. In this respect I would like to say that any delay would only prolong, or better said it would be an approach that would only have negative effects in Kosova, but also in the region. We truly want to contribute to this process to prove that we are an important regional factor of stability.
[Reporter] Mr President, thank you very much.
Source: RTK TV, Pristina, in Albanian 1730 gmt 24 Jul 06
[Announcer] We have our special reporter Nebi Qena live from Vienna interviewing Kosova [Kosovo] President Fatmir Sejdiu. Nebi, what is the news from Vienna?
[RTK special reporter Nebi Qena] The meeting happened today, it has been called by international and local people the meeting of elephants because elephants are animals that move with difficulty. They move from their position with difficulty just as the Kosovar and Serbian delegations did today. With me here is Kosova President Fatmir Sejdiu who led today's meeting for the Kosova side. Mr President, thank you for being here today. You were the head of the Kosova negotiation team at today's first meeting between the top Kosovar and Serbian officials. During the press conference there was a conviction that the meeting did not bring any movement of position and it is not expected that there will be any breakthrough between the two sides.
[President Sejdiu] I believe that the stances are very clear. We said in Prishtina [Pristina], and are saying it here today, that the Kosovar delegation has one mandate that was given to it by the Kosova Assembly and the political will of the people of Kosova for the independence of Kosova, and naturally any other option or variation of this opposes the will of the people and is absolutely unacceptable to us. We have offered our vision before the international community with the Serbian delegation present, where we argued our points why Kosova has to be independent, starting from the first point: that Kosova has a right to self-determination, which is a constitutional right and an international right, taking into consideration all the other developments that happened earlier in Kosova, and the ones that have been happening over the last few years. We want to build a Kosova with a vision for the future, a Kosova ruled by law, a democratic country based on democratic principles, a state where all citizens will be equal, including all the minorities. We offered here our guarantees for the Serb minority, but also for other minorities that want to be part of everyday life and be integrated in Kosova.
[Reporter] The Serbian side said that the arguments of the Kosovar side are not sustainable and they insist that the best solution is substantial autonomy for Kosova.
[Sejdiu] These are options or visions that we have already heard in the past; this is clear and can be deciphered with one answer. The Serbian side insists that they rule and govern over us, while we insist that we rule ourselves. We have placed these arguments before the international community and we have to see the weight of these arguments.
[Reporter] When we talk about governing Kosova, governing over the Serb minority is also understood, which is the main worry of the international community. What are the guarantees of the Kosova delegation for ensuring the rights of the Serb minority?
[Sejdiu] I firstly would like to say that we have had our test during the previous Vienna meetings. Some issues were initiated by the international community and were agreed on by both sides. One was reform in local government, the second was cultural heritage, and some economic aspects that I would call the normal succession of a country. In this respect, as you know, the vision we have offered involves an affirmative approach towards the Serb minority, with a possibility of decision-making at the local level, but without bringing up the issue of intercommunications that would in a way bring about the formation of third parallel structures or the exclusion of Kosova institutions in this direction. Our approach is that we truly want an affirmative integration of the Serb community in the central institutions. This takes into consideration that our initiative and the work we have done in Kosova and the current acts that have been passed since the war in forming the institutions based on the vote of the people of Kosova are based on international standards which will be under the supervision of the international community, for which we have instead to have a light presence of the international community on our future path.
[Reporter] How long will this period be, given the fact that there have been suggestions that the resolution of Kosova's status will be left until next year? Do you agree with this, do the people of Kosova agree with this?
[Sejdiu] Absolutely not, any delay would be dangerous. We have received support from the conclusions of the Contact Group and the countries that have immense influence in the UN Security Council, where it has been insisted that 2006 will be the year of defining the status of Kosova, which will result in independence for Kosova. In this respect I would like to say that any delay would only prolong, or better said it would be an approach that would only have negative effects in Kosova, but also in the region. We truly want to contribute to this process to prove that we are an important regional factor of stability.
[Reporter] Mr President, thank you very much.
Source: RTK TV, Pristina, in Albanian 1730 gmt 24 Jul 06
Monday, July 24, 2006
Picture of the Day: Kosovo Marching Towards Independence
Kosovo's President Fatmir Sejdiu (left front), leader of the opposition Hashim Thaci (right front), Jetemir Balaj, member of the delegation (back left) and Muhamet Hamit (back right) arrive for a high level meeting of representatives of Serbia and Kosovo, on Monday, July 24, 2006, in Vienna.
Contact Group statement on Kosovo
The Contact Group, EU and NATO observed the first round of direct talks on Kosovo’s status in Vienna on 24 July 2006, under the auspices of UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari. President Boris Tadic and Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica represented Belgrade; the Team of Unity, led by President Fatmir Sejdiu, represented Pristina. Today’s meeting was an important step in the process of resolving this key issue.
The Contact Group reaffirms its commitment to the status process envisaged in UNSCR 1244, to the Guiding Principles and to the position set out in the 31 January Ministerial Statement. The Contact Group thanks President Ahtisaari and his team for their commitment to and leadership of the status process, and supports his decision to move to this next important phase, which we believe should lead to the development of a comprehensive proposal for a status settlement. We commend both parties for their willingness to discuss directly the key status issue, and look forward to constructive engagement, flexibility and willingness on both sides to reach realistic compromise-based solutions. We welcome the continuation, in parallel with the status talks, of negotiations on the protection of religious heritage sites, decentralisation and economic issues, and underline the importance of broadening the agenda to other key issues such as community protection measures.
The Contact Group commends the UN Special Envoy’s efforts to develop proposals which would provide a strong basis for a democratic, multi-ethnic Kosovo in which the rights of all citizens are fully protected. It is in the interests of both Belgrade and Pristina to listen thoughtfully to each other’s proposals and find realistic common ground. In this context the Contact Group shares President Ahtisaari's view that both sides need to do more in all aspects of the process in order to achieve this goal.
The Contact Group notes that Pristina has shown flexibility in the decentralisation talks. However, Pristina will need to be even more forthcoming on many issues before the status process can be brought to a successful conclusion. We also emphasise the need for further progress in implementing standards.
Belgrade needs to demonstrate much greater flexibility in the talks than it has done so far. Belgrade needs to begin considering reasonable and workable compromises for many of the issues under discussion, particularly decentralisation. The Contact Group renews its call on Belgrade to cease obstruction of Kosovo-Serb participation in Kosovo's institutions, in which Kosovo-Serbs can most effectively advocate their interests; to reverse the directive on salaries; and to hand over cadastral records.
One of the central aims of the international community is to create conditions in Kosovo where all communities can live in a multi-ethnic society. In order to be able to create these conditions, the full support of Serbia is of vital importance. The Contact Group notes with concern the situation in northern Kosovo, in particular the move in three municipalities to break ties with the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government (PISG), and reports of personnel increases in illegal parallel security structures. We call upon both communities to exercise restraint and mutual understanding at this sensitive stage of the negotiations and to cooperate fully with UNMIK, KFOR and the Kosovo Police Service (KPS) in their work to provide a secure environment in all parts of Kosovo. In this context we welcome NATO’s deployment of additional forces into northern Kosovo. There will be no partition of Kosovo or other arrangements that would create new divisions.
The Contact Group reaffirms that all possible efforts should be made to achieve a negotiated settlement in the course of 2006 that is, inter alia, acceptable to the people of Kosovo and promotes a multi-ethnic society with a future for all of its citizens. As set out in the Guiding Principles, once negotiations are underway, they can not be allowed to be blocked. The process must be brought to a close, not least to minimise the destabilising political and economic effects of continuing uncertainty over Kosovo’s future status. The Contact Group will monitor the extent of constructive engagement on the part of both parties, and will draw conclusions accordingly.
We firmly believe that a status settlement in Kosovo will enhance regional stability and pave the way for the European and Euro-Atlantic perspectives for Serbia, Kosovo and the region as a whole. We reaffirm the international community’s willingness to establish appropriate international structures, to be endorsed by the UN Security Council, in order to help ensure implementation of and compliance with the status settlement’s provisions in a safe and secure environment. The Contact Group stands ready to assist with the implementation of a new international office that would be responsible for supporting and supervising the implementation of the status settlement. We welcome initial planning underway within NATO for the continuation of the international military presence in Kosovo following a status settlement. Equally, we welcome planning activities underway within the EU to determine the EU’s role after the status settlement, in particular through a robust policing and rule of law mission, and the practical means to realise Kosovo’s European perspective.
The Contact Group reaffirms its commitment to the status process envisaged in UNSCR 1244, to the Guiding Principles and to the position set out in the 31 January Ministerial Statement. The Contact Group thanks President Ahtisaari and his team for their commitment to and leadership of the status process, and supports his decision to move to this next important phase, which we believe should lead to the development of a comprehensive proposal for a status settlement. We commend both parties for their willingness to discuss directly the key status issue, and look forward to constructive engagement, flexibility and willingness on both sides to reach realistic compromise-based solutions. We welcome the continuation, in parallel with the status talks, of negotiations on the protection of religious heritage sites, decentralisation and economic issues, and underline the importance of broadening the agenda to other key issues such as community protection measures.
The Contact Group commends the UN Special Envoy’s efforts to develop proposals which would provide a strong basis for a democratic, multi-ethnic Kosovo in which the rights of all citizens are fully protected. It is in the interests of both Belgrade and Pristina to listen thoughtfully to each other’s proposals and find realistic common ground. In this context the Contact Group shares President Ahtisaari's view that both sides need to do more in all aspects of the process in order to achieve this goal.
The Contact Group notes that Pristina has shown flexibility in the decentralisation talks. However, Pristina will need to be even more forthcoming on many issues before the status process can be brought to a successful conclusion. We also emphasise the need for further progress in implementing standards.
Belgrade needs to demonstrate much greater flexibility in the talks than it has done so far. Belgrade needs to begin considering reasonable and workable compromises for many of the issues under discussion, particularly decentralisation. The Contact Group renews its call on Belgrade to cease obstruction of Kosovo-Serb participation in Kosovo's institutions, in which Kosovo-Serbs can most effectively advocate their interests; to reverse the directive on salaries; and to hand over cadastral records.
One of the central aims of the international community is to create conditions in Kosovo where all communities can live in a multi-ethnic society. In order to be able to create these conditions, the full support of Serbia is of vital importance. The Contact Group notes with concern the situation in northern Kosovo, in particular the move in three municipalities to break ties with the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government (PISG), and reports of personnel increases in illegal parallel security structures. We call upon both communities to exercise restraint and mutual understanding at this sensitive stage of the negotiations and to cooperate fully with UNMIK, KFOR and the Kosovo Police Service (KPS) in their work to provide a secure environment in all parts of Kosovo. In this context we welcome NATO’s deployment of additional forces into northern Kosovo. There will be no partition of Kosovo or other arrangements that would create new divisions.
The Contact Group reaffirms that all possible efforts should be made to achieve a negotiated settlement in the course of 2006 that is, inter alia, acceptable to the people of Kosovo and promotes a multi-ethnic society with a future for all of its citizens. As set out in the Guiding Principles, once negotiations are underway, they can not be allowed to be blocked. The process must be brought to a close, not least to minimise the destabilising political and economic effects of continuing uncertainty over Kosovo’s future status. The Contact Group will monitor the extent of constructive engagement on the part of both parties, and will draw conclusions accordingly.
We firmly believe that a status settlement in Kosovo will enhance regional stability and pave the way for the European and Euro-Atlantic perspectives for Serbia, Kosovo and the region as a whole. We reaffirm the international community’s willingness to establish appropriate international structures, to be endorsed by the UN Security Council, in order to help ensure implementation of and compliance with the status settlement’s provisions in a safe and secure environment. The Contact Group stands ready to assist with the implementation of a new international office that would be responsible for supporting and supervising the implementation of the status settlement. We welcome initial planning underway within NATO for the continuation of the international military presence in Kosovo following a status settlement. Equally, we welcome planning activities underway within the EU to determine the EU’s role after the status settlement, in particular through a robust policing and rule of law mission, and the practical means to realise Kosovo’s European perspective.
Serbia's Intransigence - The Washington Post
Rather than join the Europe of the 21st century, the country's leaders cling to a failed nationalism.
Monday, July 24, 2006; A18
SEVEN YEARS after a U.S.-led NATO military campaign freed the Balkan province of Kosovo from the oppressive rule of Serbia, a firm Western consensus has formed about its future: It should be granted independence before the end of this year, perhaps under an international trusteeship. Both Kosovo and Serbia, along with adjacent republics of the former Yugoslavia, would then be guided toward full membership in the European Union. That way, the ethnic Albanians who make up 90 percent of Kosovo's population would never again be ruled from Belgrade, which conducted a campaign of ethnic cleansing against them in 1999; but Serbs who regard Kosovo as part of their national heritage could expect to be reunited with it under a European umbrella, while consolidating a liberal democracy in their own country.
This forward-looking vision seems to have a powerful appeal in the region. Polls show it is supported by an overwhelming majority of Kosovo Albanians. A survey reported by the Belgrade press last week showed that Serbs would vote for E.U. membership by 59 to 12 percent, while a plurality believe independence is the most realistic solution for Kosovo. Only 21 percent of Serbs say Kosovo is their most pressing concern. The problem, as so often during the past 20 years, is Serbia's political leadership, which remains addicted to the poisonous nationalism that drove the country into a series of disastrous wars during the 1990s.
Deaf to the increasingly blunt messages of Western governments and to his own public opinion, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica continues to stubbornly campaign for continued Serbian sovereignty over Kosovo. "Kosovo is part of Serbia," he declared during a visit to Washington this month, sounding disturbingly like Slobodan Milosevic, who used that slogan to found his nationalist regime in the late 1980s. Mr. Kostunica has been telling Western leaders that he wants his country to join the European Union and NATO, but he has repeatedly failed to meet a critical condition for moving forward, which is the arrest of Serbian war criminal Ratko Mladic, a former general who is a hero to extreme nationalists.
Boris Tadic, the more liberal-minded president, has taken a somewhat softer line, agreeing last week to participate in face-to-face U.N.-sponsored talks with Kosovo's leaders in Vienna today. But Mr. Tadic has resorted to repeating veiled threats that independence for Kosovo could cause demands for border changes elsewhere in Europe -- beginning in neighboring Bosnia, where ethnic Serbs dream of adding territories they control to Serbia. That gambit has been embraced by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has threatened to use the example of Kosovo to legitimize Moscow-backed separatist regimes in Georgia and Moldova.
All of this means that the West's attempt to resolve the legacy of the Balkan wars of the 1990s and position the region inside the liberal Europe of the 21st century is in jeopardy of being defeated by Serbia's 20th-century-style nationalism and Russia's 19th-century game of power politics. If so, the main victims will be not the Albanians of Kosovo -- who in any case will never again be subject to Serbia -- but the Serbs, who could find themselves isolated in Europe and dependent on the patronage of an autocratic and imperialistic Russia. The country remains, at least, a democracy: There remains the hope that, if its leaders cannot adjust, its people will eventually choose better leaders.
Monday, July 24, 2006; A18
SEVEN YEARS after a U.S.-led NATO military campaign freed the Balkan province of Kosovo from the oppressive rule of Serbia, a firm Western consensus has formed about its future: It should be granted independence before the end of this year, perhaps under an international trusteeship. Both Kosovo and Serbia, along with adjacent republics of the former Yugoslavia, would then be guided toward full membership in the European Union. That way, the ethnic Albanians who make up 90 percent of Kosovo's population would never again be ruled from Belgrade, which conducted a campaign of ethnic cleansing against them in 1999; but Serbs who regard Kosovo as part of their national heritage could expect to be reunited with it under a European umbrella, while consolidating a liberal democracy in their own country.
This forward-looking vision seems to have a powerful appeal in the region. Polls show it is supported by an overwhelming majority of Kosovo Albanians. A survey reported by the Belgrade press last week showed that Serbs would vote for E.U. membership by 59 to 12 percent, while a plurality believe independence is the most realistic solution for Kosovo. Only 21 percent of Serbs say Kosovo is their most pressing concern. The problem, as so often during the past 20 years, is Serbia's political leadership, which remains addicted to the poisonous nationalism that drove the country into a series of disastrous wars during the 1990s.
Deaf to the increasingly blunt messages of Western governments and to his own public opinion, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica continues to stubbornly campaign for continued Serbian sovereignty over Kosovo. "Kosovo is part of Serbia," he declared during a visit to Washington this month, sounding disturbingly like Slobodan Milosevic, who used that slogan to found his nationalist regime in the late 1980s. Mr. Kostunica has been telling Western leaders that he wants his country to join the European Union and NATO, but he has repeatedly failed to meet a critical condition for moving forward, which is the arrest of Serbian war criminal Ratko Mladic, a former general who is a hero to extreme nationalists.
Boris Tadic, the more liberal-minded president, has taken a somewhat softer line, agreeing last week to participate in face-to-face U.N.-sponsored talks with Kosovo's leaders in Vienna today. But Mr. Tadic has resorted to repeating veiled threats that independence for Kosovo could cause demands for border changes elsewhere in Europe -- beginning in neighboring Bosnia, where ethnic Serbs dream of adding territories they control to Serbia. That gambit has been embraced by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has threatened to use the example of Kosovo to legitimize Moscow-backed separatist regimes in Georgia and Moldova.
All of this means that the West's attempt to resolve the legacy of the Balkan wars of the 1990s and position the region inside the liberal Europe of the 21st century is in jeopardy of being defeated by Serbia's 20th-century-style nationalism and Russia's 19th-century game of power politics. If so, the main victims will be not the Albanians of Kosovo -- who in any case will never again be subject to Serbia -- but the Serbs, who could find themselves isolated in Europe and dependent on the patronage of an autocratic and imperialistic Russia. The country remains, at least, a democracy: There remains the hope that, if its leaders cannot adjust, its people will eventually choose better leaders.
Kosovo independence inevitable, says EU stability pact chief
BERLIN, July 24, 2006 (AFP) -
Kosovo's ethnic Albanians will win their bid for independence of the province, the special coordinator of the stability pact for the Balkans, Erhard Busek, said on Monday.
"It is without doubt a long-term process, but at the end it will lead to independence," Busek told Der Tagesspiegel newspaper.
Serbian and Kosovo Albanian leaders met in Vienna on Monday for their first face-to-face talks since NATO aerial bombing drove Serbian forces from the province in 1999.
Busek said: "It is a success that this meeting is taking place at all."
Ethnic Albanians, who make up the majority of the province, want independence but Belgrade and Kosovo's minority Serb community say the region is the cradle of the Serb nation and cannot be allowed to break away.
In a separate interview with Bayerischer Rundfunk radio, Busek said the Serb position "did not reflect the realities of today".
"The ethnic Albanians of Kosovo believe independence is already a reality. But on the Serb side they are defending the not very realistic viewpoint that things can continue as they were before," Busek said.
The stability pact was created by the European Union in 1999 to reinforce the stability in the Balkans after the conflicts of the 1990s.
Kosovo's ethnic Albanians will win their bid for independence of the province, the special coordinator of the stability pact for the Balkans, Erhard Busek, said on Monday.
"It is without doubt a long-term process, but at the end it will lead to independence," Busek told Der Tagesspiegel newspaper.
Serbian and Kosovo Albanian leaders met in Vienna on Monday for their first face-to-face talks since NATO aerial bombing drove Serbian forces from the province in 1999.
Busek said: "It is a success that this meeting is taking place at all."
Ethnic Albanians, who make up the majority of the province, want independence but Belgrade and Kosovo's minority Serb community say the region is the cradle of the Serb nation and cannot be allowed to break away.
In a separate interview with Bayerischer Rundfunk radio, Busek said the Serb position "did not reflect the realities of today".
"The ethnic Albanians of Kosovo believe independence is already a reality. But on the Serb side they are defending the not very realistic viewpoint that things can continue as they were before," Busek said.
The stability pact was created by the European Union in 1999 to reinforce the stability in the Balkans after the conflicts of the 1990s.
Kosovo premier reiterates independence demand
Text of report by Belgrade-based B-92 TV on 24 July
[Presenter] Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu has said that independence is the alpha and omega, i.e., the beginning and end of everything, which Prime Minister Agim Ceku has confirmed.
[Ceku, speaking in Serbian] Independence, full independence, full sovereignty, but for all citizens. For all the citizens of Kosovo.
[Reporter] Is that possible?
[Ceku] It is certainly possible. Just let us do this, and we will make it happen.
Source: B92 TV, Belgrade, in Serbian 1400 gmt 24 Jul 06
[Presenter] Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu has said that independence is the alpha and omega, i.e., the beginning and end of everything, which Prime Minister Agim Ceku has confirmed.
[Ceku, speaking in Serbian] Independence, full independence, full sovereignty, but for all citizens. For all the citizens of Kosovo.
[Reporter] Is that possible?
[Ceku] It is certainly possible. Just let us do this, and we will make it happen.
Source: B92 TV, Belgrade, in Serbian 1400 gmt 24 Jul 06
Ethnic Albanians, Serb leaders far apart on Kosovo's future
VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Top ethnic Albanian and Serbian leaders were divided as ever Monday during their first face-to-face talks over Kosovo's future.
Ethnic Albanians arrived at the unprecedented talks, held in a Vienna palace, insisting that their tiny province be independent. Serbs said they were we ready to offer broad autonomy, but wanted to keep Kosovo within Serbian borders.
"It is evident that the positions of the parties remain far apart," U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari told a news conference. "Belgrade would agree to almost anything but independence, whereas Pristina would accept nothing but full independence."
Ahtisaari, a former Finnish president, said he saw no signs of a breakthrough in the daylong meeting, but also had not expected one.
"This is the first meeting of this kind," he said. "The idea of this meeting was to give the parties an opportunity to present their case."
The delegations provided their well-known arguments to reporters after the closed-door meeting.
Serbia's Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica told the meeting that his country would not accept another state to be created on 15 percent of its territory. Serbia claims Kosovo is the heart of its kingdom, and the medieval cradle of their statehood.
Kosovo's President Fatmir Sejdiu countered that independence was "the beginning and end of our position," and that the will of the province's ethnic Albanian majority could not be negotiated. Kosovo has said Serbia lost its right to govern the province after its former leadership sparked a war in which an estimated 10,000 ethnic Albanians died.
Kosovo's status was last formally discussed in 1999 at the height of the war that pitted Serbian troops loyal to former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic against ethnic Albanian separatists.
Those talks, held in France, ended with no results, after which a 78 days of NATO air attacks that forced an end to the Serb crackdown and put Kosovo under U.N. administration for the past seven years.
While violence has ebbed, the ethnic Albanian majority -- 90 percent of the province's 2 million population -- and its Serbian minority remain deeply divided over the future.
The U.N.-brokered talks are aimed at steering both sides toward a solution by year's end. Before Monday, the talks were held at experts' level, with proposals tabled on enhancing Serb minority rights.
Serbia's President Boris Tadic told the news conference after the meeting that the two sides' differences were substantial.
"We are flexible and we are for a compromise, but the compromise does not include independence," Tadic said, but added that Serbia not resort to violence in defending its interest.
Kostunica told reporters that independence for Kosovo would violate the U.N. charter that guarantees the sovereignty of states. "If that piece of paper is violated, things all over the world will be destabilized," he said.
Kosovo's Sejdiu said independence was key for Kosovo's future, given its past.
"We had a bitter past with bad solutions that culminated into a war, which had tragic consequences for our people and those of the region," he told reporters. "The future of Kosovo is its full independence, which is the majority's will."
Ethnic Albanian leader Veton Surroi said it was "fairly improbable that there will be a negotiated solution," given the intransigence of both sides.
The six-nation Contact Group -- the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Russia -- supervising the process urged both sides to engage constructively and show flexibility and willingness to reach "realistic compromised-based solutions."
The group has set guidelines for the talks, however, including rejections of the province's return to Belgrade's control or of its partition or unification with other regional countries. It also has said the solution should be acceptable to Kosovo's people.
Ethnic Albanians arrived at the unprecedented talks, held in a Vienna palace, insisting that their tiny province be independent. Serbs said they were we ready to offer broad autonomy, but wanted to keep Kosovo within Serbian borders.
"It is evident that the positions of the parties remain far apart," U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari told a news conference. "Belgrade would agree to almost anything but independence, whereas Pristina would accept nothing but full independence."
Ahtisaari, a former Finnish president, said he saw no signs of a breakthrough in the daylong meeting, but also had not expected one.
"This is the first meeting of this kind," he said. "The idea of this meeting was to give the parties an opportunity to present their case."
The delegations provided their well-known arguments to reporters after the closed-door meeting.
Serbia's Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica told the meeting that his country would not accept another state to be created on 15 percent of its territory. Serbia claims Kosovo is the heart of its kingdom, and the medieval cradle of their statehood.
Kosovo's President Fatmir Sejdiu countered that independence was "the beginning and end of our position," and that the will of the province's ethnic Albanian majority could not be negotiated. Kosovo has said Serbia lost its right to govern the province after its former leadership sparked a war in which an estimated 10,000 ethnic Albanians died.
Kosovo's status was last formally discussed in 1999 at the height of the war that pitted Serbian troops loyal to former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic against ethnic Albanian separatists.
Those talks, held in France, ended with no results, after which a 78 days of NATO air attacks that forced an end to the Serb crackdown and put Kosovo under U.N. administration for the past seven years.
While violence has ebbed, the ethnic Albanian majority -- 90 percent of the province's 2 million population -- and its Serbian minority remain deeply divided over the future.
The U.N.-brokered talks are aimed at steering both sides toward a solution by year's end. Before Monday, the talks were held at experts' level, with proposals tabled on enhancing Serb minority rights.
Serbia's President Boris Tadic told the news conference after the meeting that the two sides' differences were substantial.
"We are flexible and we are for a compromise, but the compromise does not include independence," Tadic said, but added that Serbia not resort to violence in defending its interest.
Kostunica told reporters that independence for Kosovo would violate the U.N. charter that guarantees the sovereignty of states. "If that piece of paper is violated, things all over the world will be destabilized," he said.
Kosovo's Sejdiu said independence was key for Kosovo's future, given its past.
"We had a bitter past with bad solutions that culminated into a war, which had tragic consequences for our people and those of the region," he told reporters. "The future of Kosovo is its full independence, which is the majority's will."
Ethnic Albanian leader Veton Surroi said it was "fairly improbable that there will be a negotiated solution," given the intransigence of both sides.
The six-nation Contact Group -- the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Russia -- supervising the process urged both sides to engage constructively and show flexibility and willingness to reach "realistic compromised-based solutions."
The group has set guidelines for the talks, however, including rejections of the province's return to Belgrade's control or of its partition or unification with other regional countries. It also has said the solution should be acceptable to Kosovo's people.
Albanian premier hails Pristina-Belgrade talks
Text of report in English by Albanian news agency ATA
Tirana, 24 July: Prime Minister Sali Berisha greeted on Monday [24 July] the top level meeting between Prishtina [Pristina] and Belgrade as an important event for these two countries and the region.
According to a statement by the Press Office of the Council of Ministers, Berisha expressed the conviction that there exist all the possibilities for a solution observing the rights of the citizens of Kosova [Kosovo] as well as the rights and freedoms of the minorities as well.
Source: ATA news agency, Tirana, in English 1723 gmt 24 Jul 06
Tirana, 24 July: Prime Minister Sali Berisha greeted on Monday [24 July] the top level meeting between Prishtina [Pristina] and Belgrade as an important event for these two countries and the region.
According to a statement by the Press Office of the Council of Ministers, Berisha expressed the conviction that there exist all the possibilities for a solution observing the rights of the citizens of Kosova [Kosovo] as well as the rights and freedoms of the minorities as well.
Source: ATA news agency, Tirana, in English 1723 gmt 24 Jul 06
Kosovo bids for independence; talks deadlocked
VIENNA, July 24 (Reuters) - Kosovo formally made its pitch for independence face-to-face with Serbia on Monday at their first top-level talks on the issue since NATO bombs drove out Serb forces in 1999.
The one-day meeting in Vienna placed the Albanian majority's demand for independence on the agenda of a U.N.-led mediation process that began in February, seven years since the West intervened to halt a wave of ethnic cleansing and the United Nations took control.
U.N. mediators conceded the two sides remained "far apart".
Kosovo's ethnic Albanian President Fatmir Sejdiu said independence was "the beginning and end of our position." "The will for independence cannot be ignored or negotiated away."
Serb leaders again offered "substantial autonomy".
It was the first time the presidents and prime ministers of both sides had held direct talks since Serbia's 1998-99 war with ethnic Albanian guerrillas. Some 10,000 Albanian civilians died and 800,000 fled, marking the culmination of a decade of Serb repression under late strongman Slobodan Milosevic.
Seven turbulent years later, the West says Kosovo's economic and political limbo is unsustainable. It wants a settlement within the year, which diplomats say will likely bring some form of independence with or without Serbian consent.
"Belgrade would agree to anything but independence," U.N. chief mediator Martti Ahtisaari told a news conference after the meeting. "Pristina would accept nothing but independence."
There were no handshakes, and Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica opted out of a joint lunch with the Kosovo delegation, which included two former guerrillas.
"It was business-like," one U.N. official said of the talks.
GOING ITS OWN WAY
Ahtisaari had played down hopes of a breakthrough, given what diplomats say is an unbridgeable chasm between the two sides. Some 90 percent of Kosovo's 2 million people are Albanians who reject any return to Serb rule.
But Serbia sees Kosovo as its "Jerusalem", the cradle of Serbdom and home to scores of centuries-old Orthodox churches.
Kostunica, who says independence would drive Serbian voters into the arms of ultranationalists, said Belgrade "cannot accept the creation of a new state from 15 percent of its territory."
Too late, argued Kosovo negotiator Veton Surroi. "After everything we've been through, it is unrealistic to discuss modalities of autonomy. Kosovo will go its own way."
Ahtisaari opened lower-level direct talks in February on the rights of 100,000 Serbs still in Kosovo, with little success.
Diplomats say the major powers see little alternative to independence. Despite the deadlock, the European Union is going ahead with plans to take on a policing and supervising role.
The United States is pushing hard for a deal in 2006, concerned that delay could spark fresh violence in a territory patrolled by 17,000 NATO soldiers. Russia, a veto holder in the U.N. Security Council and traditional ally of Serbia, has cautioned against any "artificial timetable".
Half the Serb population fled a wave of revenge attacks in 1999. Many who stayed live in isolated enclaves, and view the prospect of independence from Serbia with increasing trepidation. The mainly Serb north has threatened partition.
The one-day meeting in Vienna placed the Albanian majority's demand for independence on the agenda of a U.N.-led mediation process that began in February, seven years since the West intervened to halt a wave of ethnic cleansing and the United Nations took control.
U.N. mediators conceded the two sides remained "far apart".
Kosovo's ethnic Albanian President Fatmir Sejdiu said independence was "the beginning and end of our position." "The will for independence cannot be ignored or negotiated away."
Serb leaders again offered "substantial autonomy".
It was the first time the presidents and prime ministers of both sides had held direct talks since Serbia's 1998-99 war with ethnic Albanian guerrillas. Some 10,000 Albanian civilians died and 800,000 fled, marking the culmination of a decade of Serb repression under late strongman Slobodan Milosevic.
Seven turbulent years later, the West says Kosovo's economic and political limbo is unsustainable. It wants a settlement within the year, which diplomats say will likely bring some form of independence with or without Serbian consent.
"Belgrade would agree to anything but independence," U.N. chief mediator Martti Ahtisaari told a news conference after the meeting. "Pristina would accept nothing but independence."
There were no handshakes, and Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica opted out of a joint lunch with the Kosovo delegation, which included two former guerrillas.
"It was business-like," one U.N. official said of the talks.
GOING ITS OWN WAY
Ahtisaari had played down hopes of a breakthrough, given what diplomats say is an unbridgeable chasm between the two sides. Some 90 percent of Kosovo's 2 million people are Albanians who reject any return to Serb rule.
But Serbia sees Kosovo as its "Jerusalem", the cradle of Serbdom and home to scores of centuries-old Orthodox churches.
Kostunica, who says independence would drive Serbian voters into the arms of ultranationalists, said Belgrade "cannot accept the creation of a new state from 15 percent of its territory."
Too late, argued Kosovo negotiator Veton Surroi. "After everything we've been through, it is unrealistic to discuss modalities of autonomy. Kosovo will go its own way."
Ahtisaari opened lower-level direct talks in February on the rights of 100,000 Serbs still in Kosovo, with little success.
Diplomats say the major powers see little alternative to independence. Despite the deadlock, the European Union is going ahead with plans to take on a policing and supervising role.
The United States is pushing hard for a deal in 2006, concerned that delay could spark fresh violence in a territory patrolled by 17,000 NATO soldiers. Russia, a veto holder in the U.N. Security Council and traditional ally of Serbia, has cautioned against any "artificial timetable".
Half the Serb population fled a wave of revenge attacks in 1999. Many who stayed live in isolated enclaves, and view the prospect of independence from Serbia with increasing trepidation. The mainly Serb north has threatened partition.
Hundreds rally in Kosovo capital against talks on final status in Vienna
Text of report in English by independent internet news agency KosovaLive
Prishtina [Pristina], 24 July: At the time when the Kosova [Kosovo] representatives were meeting with their Serbian counterparts in Vienna, hundreds of Kosova citizens protested today in Prishtina, saying that there is nothing to be negotiated with Serbia, because of the crimes it has committed in Kosova.
They also said that the decision of the Negotiating Team to go to Vienna is not in accordance with the will of the Kosovar people.
The protest was organized by the Self-Determination Movement, UCK [Kosovo Liberation Army] War Association, LPK [Kosovo Popular Movement], LKCK [National Movement for the Liberation of Kosovo], "Mothers' Calls" Association, 26 March 1999 Organization, and Llap [Lab] Civic Initiative.
Self-Determination Movement Leader Albin Kurti said that the difference between the Albanian politicians that are taking part in these talks is that "some of them are lying [to] us for 17 years and some of them are lying us for seven".
"Their lie is the same that the independence is coming, the independence is inevitable, and that we just have to wait and to be patient, whereas they do not care that this patience is dehumanization, degradation for us," said Kurti.
He criticized the Kosova delegation for going to Vienna, adding that there are many elements which show whether Kosova has won its independence or not.
Kurti said that as the first element is that Kosova does not have an army, adding that if you do not have an army and talk to the enemy, then you are asking for mercy.
"Our politicians are asking for this mercy from the enemy, while the international mediators are disguising this begging," said Kurti.
According to him, the status talks in Vienna are dividing Kosova's territory, adding that the Kosovar politicians are not aware of this.
Meanwhile, activist Adem Demaci also attended today's protest, calling on the citizens to raise their voice against these misleading negotiations.
Source: KosovaLive website, Pristina, in English 24 Jul 06
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Prishtina [Pristina], 24 July: At the time when the Kosova [Kosovo] representatives were meeting with their Serbian counterparts in Vienna, hundreds of Kosova citizens protested today in Prishtina, saying that there is nothing to be negotiated with Serbia, because of the crimes it has committed in Kosova.
They also said that the decision of the Negotiating Team to go to Vienna is not in accordance with the will of the Kosovar people.
The protest was organized by the Self-Determination Movement, UCK [Kosovo Liberation Army] War Association, LPK [Kosovo Popular Movement], LKCK [National Movement for the Liberation of Kosovo], "Mothers' Calls" Association, 26 March 1999 Organization, and Llap [Lab] Civic Initiative.
Self-Determination Movement Leader Albin Kurti said that the difference between the Albanian politicians that are taking part in these talks is that "some of them are lying [to] us for 17 years and some of them are lying us for seven".
"Their lie is the same that the independence is coming, the independence is inevitable, and that we just have to wait and to be patient, whereas they do not care that this patience is dehumanization, degradation for us," said Kurti.
He criticized the Kosova delegation for going to Vienna, adding that there are many elements which show whether Kosova has won its independence or not.
Kurti said that as the first element is that Kosova does not have an army, adding that if you do not have an army and talk to the enemy, then you are asking for mercy.
"Our politicians are asking for this mercy from the enemy, while the international mediators are disguising this begging," said Kurti.
According to him, the status talks in Vienna are dividing Kosova's territory, adding that the Kosovar politicians are not aware of this.
Meanwhile, activist Adem Demaci also attended today's protest, calling on the citizens to raise their voice against these misleading negotiations.
Source: KosovaLive website, Pristina, in English 24 Jul 06
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Sunday, July 23, 2006
Kosovo to seek independence in top-level talks
By Beti Bilandzic
VIENNA (Reuters) - Kosovo stakes its claim to independence on Monday at top-level talks between Serbs and ethnic Albanians, the first since NATO's 1999 air war wrested control of the province from Serbia.
The one-day meeting in Vienna formally puts the international status of the majority Albanian province -- independence or autonomy -- on the agenda of a U.N.-led mediation process that began in February.
The presidents and prime ministers of both sides will talk face-to-face for the first time since the West intervened to drive out Serb forces accused of ethnic cleansing and the United Nations took control.
Concrete results are unlikely, given what diplomats say is an unbridgeable chasm between the two sides. Ninety percent of Kosovo's 2 million people are Albanians who reject any return to Serb rule, while Serbia sees Kosovo as for ever its "Jerusalem".
U.N. chief mediator Martti Ahtisaari has played down hopes of a breakthrough on Monday. He is working to a year-end deadline set by the West for proposing a settlement, but six months of lower-level direct talks on the rights of the 100,000 Serbs still in Kosovo have produced few signs of compromise.
Ahtisaari's spokeswoman, Hua Jiang, said the meeting would give both sides the chance to "formally present and clarify their positions."
"We all know what the positions are, and they are far, far apart," said Jiang. A second round at this level is uncertain.
Diplomats say the major powers see little alternative to independence, supervised for years by the European Union.
The United States is pushing hard for a deal in 2006, concerned that delay could spark fresh violence in a territory patrolled by 17,000 NATO soldiers. Russia, a veto holder in the U.N. Security Council and traditional ally of Serbia, has cautioned against any "artificial timetable".
NATO bombed the Serbs for 78 days in 1999 to halt civilian killings and ethnic cleansing by forces under late Serb strongman Slobodan Milosevic in a two-year war with separatist guerrillas. Some 10,000 Albanians died, 800,000 were expelled.
But Serbs consider Kosovo the cradle of Serbdom, home to scores of centuries-old Orthodox churches. Belgrade is offering autonomy. "The sooner the dangerous idea of creating a new state on Serbian territory is forgotten the better for all," Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said on Saturday.
Half of Kosovo's Serb population fled a wave of revenge attacks after the war and many of those who stayed live on the margins of society, targeted by sporadic violence.
The mainly Serb north of Kosovo has threatened partition, but the West fears this would revive territorial ambitions among Albanians in neighboring southern Serbia and Macedonia.
VIENNA (Reuters) - Kosovo stakes its claim to independence on Monday at top-level talks between Serbs and ethnic Albanians, the first since NATO's 1999 air war wrested control of the province from Serbia.
The one-day meeting in Vienna formally puts the international status of the majority Albanian province -- independence or autonomy -- on the agenda of a U.N.-led mediation process that began in February.
The presidents and prime ministers of both sides will talk face-to-face for the first time since the West intervened to drive out Serb forces accused of ethnic cleansing and the United Nations took control.
Concrete results are unlikely, given what diplomats say is an unbridgeable chasm between the two sides. Ninety percent of Kosovo's 2 million people are Albanians who reject any return to Serb rule, while Serbia sees Kosovo as for ever its "Jerusalem".
U.N. chief mediator Martti Ahtisaari has played down hopes of a breakthrough on Monday. He is working to a year-end deadline set by the West for proposing a settlement, but six months of lower-level direct talks on the rights of the 100,000 Serbs still in Kosovo have produced few signs of compromise.
Ahtisaari's spokeswoman, Hua Jiang, said the meeting would give both sides the chance to "formally present and clarify their positions."
"We all know what the positions are, and they are far, far apart," said Jiang. A second round at this level is uncertain.
Diplomats say the major powers see little alternative to independence, supervised for years by the European Union.
The United States is pushing hard for a deal in 2006, concerned that delay could spark fresh violence in a territory patrolled by 17,000 NATO soldiers. Russia, a veto holder in the U.N. Security Council and traditional ally of Serbia, has cautioned against any "artificial timetable".
NATO bombed the Serbs for 78 days in 1999 to halt civilian killings and ethnic cleansing by forces under late Serb strongman Slobodan Milosevic in a two-year war with separatist guerrillas. Some 10,000 Albanians died, 800,000 were expelled.
But Serbs consider Kosovo the cradle of Serbdom, home to scores of centuries-old Orthodox churches. Belgrade is offering autonomy. "The sooner the dangerous idea of creating a new state on Serbian territory is forgotten the better for all," Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said on Saturday.
Half of Kosovo's Serb population fled a wave of revenge attacks after the war and many of those who stayed live on the margins of society, targeted by sporadic violence.
The mainly Serb north of Kosovo has threatened partition, but the West fears this would revive territorial ambitions among Albanians in neighboring southern Serbia and Macedonia.
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Kosovo UN force to boost northern presence
Text of report by Radio-Television Kosovo TV website on 21 July
According to Kfor Kosovo Un Force], a 650-strong battalion of the German army that is part of the NATO Operational Reserve Force is on the way to Kosova [Kosovo] as part of the operation that will demonstrate decisiveness and dedication of the NATO mission in Kosova. Kfor has also announced that it will boost its presence in northern Kosova, to ensure the people of Kosova on the dedication that NATO has to ensure security and stability in the region. Disembarkation of troops in Kosova confirms NATO's ability to strengthen its troops on the field within a short time period. The German battalion - ORF are mission ready and are logistically self sustained, they will also be ready to very quickly get acquainted with the terrain and the environment.
Source: RTK TV website, Pristina, in Albanian 1044 gmt 21 Jul 06
According to Kfor Kosovo Un Force], a 650-strong battalion of the German army that is part of the NATO Operational Reserve Force is on the way to Kosova [Kosovo] as part of the operation that will demonstrate decisiveness and dedication of the NATO mission in Kosova. Kfor has also announced that it will boost its presence in northern Kosova, to ensure the people of Kosova on the dedication that NATO has to ensure security and stability in the region. Disembarkation of troops in Kosova confirms NATO's ability to strengthen its troops on the field within a short time period. The German battalion - ORF are mission ready and are logistically self sustained, they will also be ready to very quickly get acquainted with the terrain and the environment.
Source: RTK TV website, Pristina, in Albanian 1044 gmt 21 Jul 06
UN, NATO must isolate north Kosovo from Serbia: PM
PRISTINA, Serbia, July 22, 2006 (AFP) -
The prime minister of Kosovo on Saturday called on the province's UN administration to increase security on its northern border to isolate it from Serbia proper.
"KFOR (NATO peacekeepers) and (the UN administration) UNMIK have to undertake measures in order to isolate this part (of Kosovo) from Serbia, politically and practically, and establish such measures on the border which are the same as on the rest of the Kosovo borders," PM Agim Ceku said.
He was speaking before attending UN-sponsored talks between the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders in Vienna on Monday, the first such meeting since the 1998-1999 Kosovo war.
The one-day meeting in Vienna, chaired by UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari of Finland, is expected to tackle for the first time the core issue of Kosovo's future status and the ethnic Albanians' demands for full independence.
Ceku said the border between Kosovo and the rest of Serbia was so "soft" that visitors did not believe that it was a border at all, believing instead that the border is on the Ibar river, which runs through the volatile and ethnicly-divided town Kosovska Mitrovica.
The river separates and marks the boundary between the biggest Serb-populated area in northern Kosovo with about 60,000 inhabitants and about two million ethnic Albanians in the rest of the UN-administered Serbian province.
One of the toughest issues at the talks is the issue of northern Kosovo,
where Serbs have been calling for the partition of the province.
Serbs warn that this region along the border with Serbia proper would secede if independence was granted to Pristina.
In June, Serbs in the north proclaimed a "state of emergency", cutting off their relations with the Kosovo institutions, a move considered to be a first step towards the partition of the province.
The decision, strongly opposed by the Kosovo Albanian and UN authorities, came after a series of small-scale attacks against Serbs, including a murder of a young Serb man.
Kosovo, legally still a province of Serbia, has been run by the UN and NATO since mid-1999, when the military alliance's air war drove out forces loyal to then Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic over a crackdown against the province's separatist ethnic Albanian majority.
The international mission in Kosovo has failed to enforce its mandate in the Serb-dominated north and to sever Belgrade's influence.
The prime minister of Kosovo on Saturday called on the province's UN administration to increase security on its northern border to isolate it from Serbia proper.
"KFOR (NATO peacekeepers) and (the UN administration) UNMIK have to undertake measures in order to isolate this part (of Kosovo) from Serbia, politically and practically, and establish such measures on the border which are the same as on the rest of the Kosovo borders," PM Agim Ceku said.
He was speaking before attending UN-sponsored talks between the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders in Vienna on Monday, the first such meeting since the 1998-1999 Kosovo war.
The one-day meeting in Vienna, chaired by UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari of Finland, is expected to tackle for the first time the core issue of Kosovo's future status and the ethnic Albanians' demands for full independence.
Ceku said the border between Kosovo and the rest of Serbia was so "soft" that visitors did not believe that it was a border at all, believing instead that the border is on the Ibar river, which runs through the volatile and ethnicly-divided town Kosovska Mitrovica.
The river separates and marks the boundary between the biggest Serb-populated area in northern Kosovo with about 60,000 inhabitants and about two million ethnic Albanians in the rest of the UN-administered Serbian province.
One of the toughest issues at the talks is the issue of northern Kosovo,
where Serbs have been calling for the partition of the province.
Serbs warn that this region along the border with Serbia proper would secede if independence was granted to Pristina.
In June, Serbs in the north proclaimed a "state of emergency", cutting off their relations with the Kosovo institutions, a move considered to be a first step towards the partition of the province.
The decision, strongly opposed by the Kosovo Albanian and UN authorities, came after a series of small-scale attacks against Serbs, including a murder of a young Serb man.
Kosovo, legally still a province of Serbia, has been run by the UN and NATO since mid-1999, when the military alliance's air war drove out forces loyal to then Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic over a crackdown against the province's separatist ethnic Albanian majority.
The international mission in Kosovo has failed to enforce its mandate in the Serb-dominated north and to sever Belgrade's influence.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
UNSC set to break Kosovo status quo
With talks between Belgrade and Pristina over Kosovo's final status set to fail, the UNSC is ready to make the decision itself by the year's end, a diplomat says.
By Ekrem Krasniqi in Brussels for ISN Security Watch (20/07/06)
If Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders and the authorities in Belgrade fail to reach an agreement over the status of Serbia's UN-administered province of Kosovo by the end of the year, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will make the decision on its own, an EU diplomat told ISN Security Watch.
And Kosovo's independence looks like a done deal, especially with Russia seemingly on board at the UNSC, though not without its own game plan.
UN-mediated Kosovo status talks between Belgrade and Pristina are expected to take place later this month, but EU diplomats in Brussels have said that if the two sides failed to reach an agreement, the UNSC would step in and make it for them.
"The Contact Group prefers an agreed solution," but if that does not happen, "then the Security Council will have to take up its responsibilities," a European diplomat told ISN Security Watch on condition of anonymity.
UN special envoy for Kosovo talks, former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, is trying to organize the first high-level meeting between Kosovo and Serb leaders in Vienna on 24 July, hoping to bring in Serbian President Boris Tadic, who has already agreed to attend, and Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, who has not net responded, and their counterparts from Kosovo, Fatmir Sejdiu and Agim Ceku.
The meeting in Vienna would open the second phase of the talks on the future of Kosovo.
Since the beginning of the year, negotiations on decentralization (the creation of more municipalities for the Serbian minority and the shift of power from the central government to municipal authorities), the economy (the privatization of Kosovo's enterprises, property rights, citizens savings, pensions, etc) and culture (ensuring the cultural heritage and religious sites of Serbs) failed to bring about any significant results.
But even if partial agreement could be reached on some of these issues, there is little chance that Pristina and Belgrade would agree on dueling status proposals, and there are not any new options on the table: Kosovo's ethnic Albanians will settle for nothing less than independence, while Belgrade insists that independence is not an option and is willing to go only as far as granting the province greater autonomy.
What is most likely to happen is that the Vienna meeting will serve only as a confirmation of the failed status talks, which will allow the "Kosovo File" to be sent directly to the UNSC to decide on how best to end the status quo.
The US and Britain are pushing for the independence, with US President George W Bush saying that the solution should reflect the demand of the majority, but must also respect the rights of the minorities.
Washington says the Kosovo status chapter must be closed as soon as possible, as the status quo can no longer be maintained and any further delays keep the economy in limbo and could lead to renewed unrest among ethnic Albanians.
Implications for Belgrade
But handing the decision over to the UNSC - which is likely to result in a declaration of independence for Kosovo later this year or early next year - could be problematic.
One question Western leaders will have to answer is how to sell Kosovo's independence to the Serbian people to avoid internal instability. This comes at a time when radicals are leading the polls with a 40 percent popularity rating. Declaring an independent Kosovo would certainly give radicals a further boost and could be the downfall of the current government.
The Serbian leadership is hoping to convince the UNSC to delay its decision by a few months, at least until after elections, which are tentatively planned for the end of this year.
Serbian President Tadic, a moderate who on several occasions has acknowledged that Kosovo was moving toward independence, said after meeting with top EU officials Tuesday in Brussels that he would prefer extraordinary elections in Serbia before Kosovo's status was decided.
But over all, what Belgrade really wants is a temporary solution for Kosovo, such as "essential autonomy" inside Serbia, and a postponement of final status for up to 20 years - an idea that already has been categorically rejected by Western governments.
The question of Russia
For the West, the political implications for Belgrade seem to hold less importance than Russia's demands, however. After all, elections will come and go in Serbia and regardless, Belgrade will have to make a touch decision between holding on to Kosovo and pursuing its path of Euro-Atlantic integration.
Russia, on the other hand, would use Kosovo independence to win the backing of Western governments for independence for Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and Moldova's breakaway region of Transdneistria.
Russian authorities have been quite vocal about the precedent Kosovo's independence could set.
At least for now, Britain and the US have maintained that a comparison cannot be drawn between Kosovo and Georgia and Moldova, but that could change as Kosovo's independence would require Russia's vote on the UNSC - a vote it is not likely to give without some assurance of a similar deal for South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Transdneistria.
In Brussels, the ISN Security Watch's EU source echoed sentiments in London and Washington, saying that "all issues should be resolved according to their specifications," but he said he doubted Russia would move to bloc the UNSC vote on Kosovo's final status.
Russia's apparent readiness to accept Kosovo’s independence in light of the precedent it would set represents a marked change in Moscow's position.
Earlier, Russia had rejected the idea of independence for Kosovo as it feared it would strengthen the case for the independence of its Northern Caucasus republic of Chechnya.
But now, diplomats are cautiously optimistic that Russia will not abandon Contact Group statements saying that the solution for Kosovo "must be acceptable to Kosovo people” - a statement Western diplomats interpret as meaning "acceptable to the ethnic Albanian majority," or independence.
Observers also believe that with Russia on board - though it is not clear if Moscow's demands will be met - Kosovo independence is a done deal.
“The Russians believe that Kosovo’s independence will help their case in the three regions,” Nicholas Whyte from the International Crisis Group (ICG) told ISN Security Watch.
There have been diplomatic rumblings in Brussels that the UNSC was planning to "invite" member nations to recognize Kosovo's independence in the fall, though this has not been independently confirmed.
But if the West fails to agree on Russia's hoped-for concessions, complications could erupt at the UNSC, he suggested.
Since Moscow's change in position, the Serbian leadership has been lobbying other Contact Group members, including China, to vote against Kosovo independence. But so far, those lobbying efforts seem to have made little headway.
Regional implications
Since Montenegro's declaration of independence from the state union with Serbia in May, Bosnian Serbs have stepped up their calls for a similar right to self-determination - a call that has been categorically rejected by Western officials. The Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia split the country into two administrative entities, the Bosniak- and Croat-dominated Federation entity and the Bosnian Serb-dominated Republika Srpska entity.
The Serbian government has repeatedly warned that a declaration of independence for Kosovo could threaten regional stability in the western Balkans.
But EU and US officials have remained adamant that whatever the solution for Kosovo, the borders of Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot be changed.
Some also have warned of potential consequences for Serbia's internal borders, with Serbs in northern Kosovo threatening partition, which could in turn provoke the ethnic Albanian majority in the south of Serbia (Presevo Valley) to seek to join a newly independent Kosovo. Others warn that it could also incite new tensions in Macedonia (the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), where the Albanian minority forms a quarter of the population.
The Contact Group has made it clear that an independent Kosovo could not join any parts or countries in the region, referring to northwestern Macedonia, southern Serbia and Albania.
EU boosts Kosovo independence hopes
On Monday, Kosovo's independence was boosted further when EU officials released a report to member states' foreign ministers signaled the bloc would begin to treat Kosovo as an independent state.
The report says Kosovo is to move toward the EU as an independent country from Serbia by building bilateral relations as Brussels does with other aspiring countries of the western Balkans region.
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, and Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said the 25-nation bloc expected Kosovo authorities to work hard on meeting the criteria set for accession. They also said Brussels should be ready to grant to Kosovo all contractual relations for this purpose.
Once the final status has been decided the EU will take over the mandate of the United Nation's Mission (UNMIK) and is to supervise Kosovo's "limited" independence, while NATO will continue to run the security mission, but with reduced troop numbers.
As such, EU member states will assume the main role in Kosovo, with a European police mission that is expected to help local authorities provide security guarantees for minorities.
Ekrem Krasniqi is ISN Security Watch’s senior correspondent at the EU, UN, and NATO in Brussels, where he has been based since 1992. Has has worked for the Kosovo weekly magazine Zeri and the daily Zëri i Ditës. Krasniqi is the founder of DTT-NET.COM press agency and serves as the outlet’s editor-in-chief.
By Ekrem Krasniqi in Brussels for ISN Security Watch (20/07/06)
If Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders and the authorities in Belgrade fail to reach an agreement over the status of Serbia's UN-administered province of Kosovo by the end of the year, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will make the decision on its own, an EU diplomat told ISN Security Watch.
And Kosovo's independence looks like a done deal, especially with Russia seemingly on board at the UNSC, though not without its own game plan.
UN-mediated Kosovo status talks between Belgrade and Pristina are expected to take place later this month, but EU diplomats in Brussels have said that if the two sides failed to reach an agreement, the UNSC would step in and make it for them.
"The Contact Group prefers an agreed solution," but if that does not happen, "then the Security Council will have to take up its responsibilities," a European diplomat told ISN Security Watch on condition of anonymity.
UN special envoy for Kosovo talks, former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, is trying to organize the first high-level meeting between Kosovo and Serb leaders in Vienna on 24 July, hoping to bring in Serbian President Boris Tadic, who has already agreed to attend, and Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, who has not net responded, and their counterparts from Kosovo, Fatmir Sejdiu and Agim Ceku.
The meeting in Vienna would open the second phase of the talks on the future of Kosovo.
Since the beginning of the year, negotiations on decentralization (the creation of more municipalities for the Serbian minority and the shift of power from the central government to municipal authorities), the economy (the privatization of Kosovo's enterprises, property rights, citizens savings, pensions, etc) and culture (ensuring the cultural heritage and religious sites of Serbs) failed to bring about any significant results.
But even if partial agreement could be reached on some of these issues, there is little chance that Pristina and Belgrade would agree on dueling status proposals, and there are not any new options on the table: Kosovo's ethnic Albanians will settle for nothing less than independence, while Belgrade insists that independence is not an option and is willing to go only as far as granting the province greater autonomy.
What is most likely to happen is that the Vienna meeting will serve only as a confirmation of the failed status talks, which will allow the "Kosovo File" to be sent directly to the UNSC to decide on how best to end the status quo.
The US and Britain are pushing for the independence, with US President George W Bush saying that the solution should reflect the demand of the majority, but must also respect the rights of the minorities.
Washington says the Kosovo status chapter must be closed as soon as possible, as the status quo can no longer be maintained and any further delays keep the economy in limbo and could lead to renewed unrest among ethnic Albanians.
Implications for Belgrade
But handing the decision over to the UNSC - which is likely to result in a declaration of independence for Kosovo later this year or early next year - could be problematic.
One question Western leaders will have to answer is how to sell Kosovo's independence to the Serbian people to avoid internal instability. This comes at a time when radicals are leading the polls with a 40 percent popularity rating. Declaring an independent Kosovo would certainly give radicals a further boost and could be the downfall of the current government.
The Serbian leadership is hoping to convince the UNSC to delay its decision by a few months, at least until after elections, which are tentatively planned for the end of this year.
Serbian President Tadic, a moderate who on several occasions has acknowledged that Kosovo was moving toward independence, said after meeting with top EU officials Tuesday in Brussels that he would prefer extraordinary elections in Serbia before Kosovo's status was decided.
But over all, what Belgrade really wants is a temporary solution for Kosovo, such as "essential autonomy" inside Serbia, and a postponement of final status for up to 20 years - an idea that already has been categorically rejected by Western governments.
The question of Russia
For the West, the political implications for Belgrade seem to hold less importance than Russia's demands, however. After all, elections will come and go in Serbia and regardless, Belgrade will have to make a touch decision between holding on to Kosovo and pursuing its path of Euro-Atlantic integration.
Russia, on the other hand, would use Kosovo independence to win the backing of Western governments for independence for Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and Moldova's breakaway region of Transdneistria.
Russian authorities have been quite vocal about the precedent Kosovo's independence could set.
At least for now, Britain and the US have maintained that a comparison cannot be drawn between Kosovo and Georgia and Moldova, but that could change as Kosovo's independence would require Russia's vote on the UNSC - a vote it is not likely to give without some assurance of a similar deal for South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Transdneistria.
In Brussels, the ISN Security Watch's EU source echoed sentiments in London and Washington, saying that "all issues should be resolved according to their specifications," but he said he doubted Russia would move to bloc the UNSC vote on Kosovo's final status.
Russia's apparent readiness to accept Kosovo’s independence in light of the precedent it would set represents a marked change in Moscow's position.
Earlier, Russia had rejected the idea of independence for Kosovo as it feared it would strengthen the case for the independence of its Northern Caucasus republic of Chechnya.
But now, diplomats are cautiously optimistic that Russia will not abandon Contact Group statements saying that the solution for Kosovo "must be acceptable to Kosovo people” - a statement Western diplomats interpret as meaning "acceptable to the ethnic Albanian majority," or independence.
Observers also believe that with Russia on board - though it is not clear if Moscow's demands will be met - Kosovo independence is a done deal.
“The Russians believe that Kosovo’s independence will help their case in the three regions,” Nicholas Whyte from the International Crisis Group (ICG) told ISN Security Watch.
There have been diplomatic rumblings in Brussels that the UNSC was planning to "invite" member nations to recognize Kosovo's independence in the fall, though this has not been independently confirmed.
But if the West fails to agree on Russia's hoped-for concessions, complications could erupt at the UNSC, he suggested.
Since Moscow's change in position, the Serbian leadership has been lobbying other Contact Group members, including China, to vote against Kosovo independence. But so far, those lobbying efforts seem to have made little headway.
Regional implications
Since Montenegro's declaration of independence from the state union with Serbia in May, Bosnian Serbs have stepped up their calls for a similar right to self-determination - a call that has been categorically rejected by Western officials. The Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia split the country into two administrative entities, the Bosniak- and Croat-dominated Federation entity and the Bosnian Serb-dominated Republika Srpska entity.
The Serbian government has repeatedly warned that a declaration of independence for Kosovo could threaten regional stability in the western Balkans.
But EU and US officials have remained adamant that whatever the solution for Kosovo, the borders of Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot be changed.
Some also have warned of potential consequences for Serbia's internal borders, with Serbs in northern Kosovo threatening partition, which could in turn provoke the ethnic Albanian majority in the south of Serbia (Presevo Valley) to seek to join a newly independent Kosovo. Others warn that it could also incite new tensions in Macedonia (the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), where the Albanian minority forms a quarter of the population.
The Contact Group has made it clear that an independent Kosovo could not join any parts or countries in the region, referring to northwestern Macedonia, southern Serbia and Albania.
EU boosts Kosovo independence hopes
On Monday, Kosovo's independence was boosted further when EU officials released a report to member states' foreign ministers signaled the bloc would begin to treat Kosovo as an independent state.
The report says Kosovo is to move toward the EU as an independent country from Serbia by building bilateral relations as Brussels does with other aspiring countries of the western Balkans region.
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, and Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said the 25-nation bloc expected Kosovo authorities to work hard on meeting the criteria set for accession. They also said Brussels should be ready to grant to Kosovo all contractual relations for this purpose.
Once the final status has been decided the EU will take over the mandate of the United Nation's Mission (UNMIK) and is to supervise Kosovo's "limited" independence, while NATO will continue to run the security mission, but with reduced troop numbers.
As such, EU member states will assume the main role in Kosovo, with a European police mission that is expected to help local authorities provide security guarantees for minorities.
Ekrem Krasniqi is ISN Security Watch’s senior correspondent at the EU, UN, and NATO in Brussels, where he has been based since 1992. Has has worked for the Kosovo weekly magazine Zeri and the daily Zëri i Ditës. Krasniqi is the founder of DTT-NET.COM press agency and serves as the outlet’s editor-in-chief.
Poll finds majority of Serbians willing to accept Kosovo independence
Excerpt from report by Kosovo Albanian television KohaVision TV on 19 July
[Announcer] Sixty-two per cent of Serbians are ready to accept a resolution of Kosova [Kosovo] status that satisfies the will of the majority of Kosova citizens, and that is independence. The Albanian and Serb populations of Kosova are ready to mobilize in order to protest against a status resolution that does not please them. These are some of the findings of a survey organized in Kosova and Serbia jointly by the Kosova Institute for Political Research and Development [KIPRED] and Strategic Marketing Research in Belgrade.
[Reporter Xhemajl Rexha] Serbia's citizens continue to become more flexible where future Kosova status is concerned. A survey organized by KIPRED and Strategic Marketing Research shows that 62 per cent of Serbians are willing to tolerate Kosova's independence. According to KIPRED officials, this contradicts Serbian politicians' claims that all of Serbia is unwilling to let Kosova go.
[Genc Krasniqi, KIPRED] As an example we could take the declarations by Serbian politicians that they cannot negotiate Kosova's independence because of Serbia's population, because of radical views in Serbia. This research shows that this is not true. The fact that 60 per cent of the Serbian population in Serbia is open to a resolution which may be viewed as pro-Albanian proves this.
[Reporter] On the other hand, the survey documents that 90 per cent of ethnic Albanians in Kosova view independence as the only possible option. The survey targeted the Kosova Albanian and Serb population, Serbians and displaced Serbs in Serbia. Mayor differences in opinion have been found between the Albanian and Serb populations of Kosova [Passage omitted]
Source: KohaVision TV, Pristina, in Albanian 1700 gmt 19 Jul 06
[Announcer] Sixty-two per cent of Serbians are ready to accept a resolution of Kosova [Kosovo] status that satisfies the will of the majority of Kosova citizens, and that is independence. The Albanian and Serb populations of Kosova are ready to mobilize in order to protest against a status resolution that does not please them. These are some of the findings of a survey organized in Kosova and Serbia jointly by the Kosova Institute for Political Research and Development [KIPRED] and Strategic Marketing Research in Belgrade.
[Reporter Xhemajl Rexha] Serbia's citizens continue to become more flexible where future Kosova status is concerned. A survey organized by KIPRED and Strategic Marketing Research shows that 62 per cent of Serbians are willing to tolerate Kosova's independence. According to KIPRED officials, this contradicts Serbian politicians' claims that all of Serbia is unwilling to let Kosova go.
[Genc Krasniqi, KIPRED] As an example we could take the declarations by Serbian politicians that they cannot negotiate Kosova's independence because of Serbia's population, because of radical views in Serbia. This research shows that this is not true. The fact that 60 per cent of the Serbian population in Serbia is open to a resolution which may be viewed as pro-Albanian proves this.
[Reporter] On the other hand, the survey documents that 90 per cent of ethnic Albanians in Kosova view independence as the only possible option. The survey targeted the Kosova Albanian and Serb population, Serbians and displaced Serbs in Serbia. Mayor differences in opinion have been found between the Albanian and Serb populations of Kosova [Passage omitted]
Source: KohaVision TV, Pristina, in Albanian 1700 gmt 19 Jul 06
Kosovo is already largely independent: Slovenian foreign minister
By DPA
Jul 20, 2006, 19:00 GMT
Ljulbjana - The breakaway Serbian province of Kosovo is already practically independent, Slovenia\'s Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said Thursday after meeting with Kosovo\'s Prime Minister Agim Ceku in Ljubljana.
Slovenia would work towards a quick conclusion to the ongoing negotiations over the future status of the predominantly ethnic- Albanian province, Rupel said.
Representatives of Kosovo\'s approximately 2 million ethnic Albanians have been negotiating for months with Serbia over the future status of the province that has been administered by the United Nations since 1999.
Kosovo\'s Albanians want independence from Serbia while Serbia is offering it wide-ranging autonomy instead.
UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari has invited top politicians from Pristina and Belgrade to a direct meeting in Vienna on Monday.
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Jul 20, 2006, 19:00 GMT
Ljulbjana - The breakaway Serbian province of Kosovo is already practically independent, Slovenia\'s Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said Thursday after meeting with Kosovo\'s Prime Minister Agim Ceku in Ljubljana.
Slovenia would work towards a quick conclusion to the ongoing negotiations over the future status of the predominantly ethnic- Albanian province, Rupel said.
Representatives of Kosovo\'s approximately 2 million ethnic Albanians have been negotiating for months with Serbia over the future status of the province that has been administered by the United Nations since 1999.
Kosovo\'s Albanians want independence from Serbia while Serbia is offering it wide-ranging autonomy instead.
UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari has invited top politicians from Pristina and Belgrade to a direct meeting in Vienna on Monday.
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Kosovo officials say Belgrade trying to avoid agreement on religious heritage
Excerpt from report by Beqe Cufaj entitled "Belgrade avoids agreement" published by Kosovo Albanian newspaper Koha Ditore on 19 July
Vienna, 18 July: Differences between Prishtina [Pristina] and Belgrade remained very big on the first day of the seventh round of talks in Vienna. At the second meeting on the protection of cultural and religious heritage, held in Vienna on Tuesday [18 July], the negotiators stayed true to their initial stances, although Prishtina's position seems to be closer to the demands of the international officials, while Belgrade has disappointed the expectations of Martti Ahtisaari [UN special envoy for Kosovo status talks].
As anticipated, the sources of disagreements on heritage issues were the protected zones and their number. The Serbs continue to insist on 40 such zones for 40 religious and cultural facilities, while the Kosovars expressed willingness to offer 14 protected zones. Another point of disagreement was the size of the zones. The Serbs have requested - both verbally and in writing - the rescinding of the decision on the seizure of the property of the Serb Orthodox Church in 1941. The international participants refused to include this issue on the agenda.
Petr Ivantsov, head of the Political Affairs Division in Martti Ahtisaari's office, who chaired the meeting on Tuesday, replacing Albert Rohan [Ahtisaari's deputy], who was said to have health problems, told a news conference that it had been planned to discuss several aspects of the agenda topics at the meeting, but they had focused on two of them: the protection zones around the religious sites and issues related to the mechanisms for the implementation of an agreement, and the return of the Kosova archives that were taken by Serbia.
Ivantsov explained that they succeeded in discussing only the issue of protection zones. This was done by means of UNOSEK [UN Office of the Special Envoy for Kosovo] presenting its draft proposals based on an agreement reached following the experts' visit to Kosova [Kosovo] 12-13 June and their visits to 15-16 zones.
"After this, Prishtina and Belgrade presented their proposals in response to our proposals," Ivantsov said, noting that "we can speak about differences between the three parties" on this topic. Without saying whether it was Belgrade or Prishtina that had moved further away from the proposals and the agreement reached in Decan [Decani], Ivantsov said, "It can be said that there is still room for other meetings" and that "UNOSEK experts will sit and discuss the proposals of the participating parties".
Meanwhile, Ylber Hysa, head of the Kosova delegation, told correspondents after the meeting that the Kosovar side had brought clear concepts that would provide for the protection of religious sites. According to Hysa, Prishtina is willing to offer a three-party - Prishtina, international community, and Kosova Serb - administration for the monitoring, protection and maintenance of religious sites.
On behalf of the Kosova delegation, Hysa advised that while the proposals of the international experts and UNOSEK and of the Prishtina delegation were close, the same could not be said about Belgrade's proposals.
"The Serbs tried to avoid agreement," Hysa said, adding: "With the proposals made today in Vienna, Belgrade will not help the Orthodox Church." [Passage omitted citing comments by Serbian delegation at the news conference after the meeting]
Source: Koha Ditore, Pristina, in Albanian 19 Jul 06
Vienna, 18 July: Differences between Prishtina [Pristina] and Belgrade remained very big on the first day of the seventh round of talks in Vienna. At the second meeting on the protection of cultural and religious heritage, held in Vienna on Tuesday [18 July], the negotiators stayed true to their initial stances, although Prishtina's position seems to be closer to the demands of the international officials, while Belgrade has disappointed the expectations of Martti Ahtisaari [UN special envoy for Kosovo status talks].
As anticipated, the sources of disagreements on heritage issues were the protected zones and their number. The Serbs continue to insist on 40 such zones for 40 religious and cultural facilities, while the Kosovars expressed willingness to offer 14 protected zones. Another point of disagreement was the size of the zones. The Serbs have requested - both verbally and in writing - the rescinding of the decision on the seizure of the property of the Serb Orthodox Church in 1941. The international participants refused to include this issue on the agenda.
Petr Ivantsov, head of the Political Affairs Division in Martti Ahtisaari's office, who chaired the meeting on Tuesday, replacing Albert Rohan [Ahtisaari's deputy], who was said to have health problems, told a news conference that it had been planned to discuss several aspects of the agenda topics at the meeting, but they had focused on two of them: the protection zones around the religious sites and issues related to the mechanisms for the implementation of an agreement, and the return of the Kosova archives that were taken by Serbia.
Ivantsov explained that they succeeded in discussing only the issue of protection zones. This was done by means of UNOSEK [UN Office of the Special Envoy for Kosovo] presenting its draft proposals based on an agreement reached following the experts' visit to Kosova [Kosovo] 12-13 June and their visits to 15-16 zones.
"After this, Prishtina and Belgrade presented their proposals in response to our proposals," Ivantsov said, noting that "we can speak about differences between the three parties" on this topic. Without saying whether it was Belgrade or Prishtina that had moved further away from the proposals and the agreement reached in Decan [Decani], Ivantsov said, "It can be said that there is still room for other meetings" and that "UNOSEK experts will sit and discuss the proposals of the participating parties".
Meanwhile, Ylber Hysa, head of the Kosova delegation, told correspondents after the meeting that the Kosovar side had brought clear concepts that would provide for the protection of religious sites. According to Hysa, Prishtina is willing to offer a three-party - Prishtina, international community, and Kosova Serb - administration for the monitoring, protection and maintenance of religious sites.
On behalf of the Kosova delegation, Hysa advised that while the proposals of the international experts and UNOSEK and of the Prishtina delegation were close, the same could not be said about Belgrade's proposals.
"The Serbs tried to avoid agreement," Hysa said, adding: "With the proposals made today in Vienna, Belgrade will not help the Orthodox Church." [Passage omitted citing comments by Serbian delegation at the news conference after the meeting]
Source: Koha Ditore, Pristina, in Albanian 19 Jul 06
Serbian president accused of meddling in Bosnia's internal affairs
Text of report by Bosnia-Hercegovina Federation News Agency FENA
Sarajevo, 20 July: Sejfudin Tokic, speaking for the SDU B-H [Social Democrat Union of Bosnia-Hercegovina] and on behalf of the Patriotic Bloc, has issued the following statement for the public in reaction to statements by Serbian leaders in connection with the status of Kosovo and the future of Bosnia-Hercegovina:
"Serbian President Boris Tadic's expose in Brussels which threatens that the possible independence of Kosovo could destabilize the situation in Bosnia-Hercegovina is a flagrant example of interference in the internal affairs of Bosnia-Hercegovina and warrants an immediate response from the State Presidency and Foreign Ministry of our country.
"The permanently passive way in which Presidency chairman [Sulejman] Tihic, [Council of Ministers chairman Adnan] Terzic and [Foreign Minister Mladen] Ivanic observe how politicians from Serbia openly link the status of Kosovo to the future of Bosnia-Hercegovina has encouraged nationalist structures in Serbia and the [Bosnian] Serb Republic to increasingly openly challenge the sovereignty of Bosnia-Hercegovina.
"All serious indicators point to the conclusion that Kosovo's independence is a reality which will happen in the coming months as a logical end result of the Belgrade regime's enduring chauvinistic and criminal policy and its attitude towards the Albanian population. Tadic and [Premier Vojislav] Kostunica are aware of this and they already know what the final status of Kosovo will be.
"That is why their statements forecasting trouble in Bosnia-Hercegovina in the event of Kosovo's independence require a sharp protest from the state of Bosnia-Hercegovina, as they represent an attempt to apply in practice the policy of the war criminals Milosevic and Karadzic towards Bosnia-Hercegovina".
Source: Federation News Agency, Sarajevo, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 0936 gmt 20 Jul 06
Sarajevo, 20 July: Sejfudin Tokic, speaking for the SDU B-H [Social Democrat Union of Bosnia-Hercegovina] and on behalf of the Patriotic Bloc, has issued the following statement for the public in reaction to statements by Serbian leaders in connection with the status of Kosovo and the future of Bosnia-Hercegovina:
"Serbian President Boris Tadic's expose in Brussels which threatens that the possible independence of Kosovo could destabilize the situation in Bosnia-Hercegovina is a flagrant example of interference in the internal affairs of Bosnia-Hercegovina and warrants an immediate response from the State Presidency and Foreign Ministry of our country.
"The permanently passive way in which Presidency chairman [Sulejman] Tihic, [Council of Ministers chairman Adnan] Terzic and [Foreign Minister Mladen] Ivanic observe how politicians from Serbia openly link the status of Kosovo to the future of Bosnia-Hercegovina has encouraged nationalist structures in Serbia and the [Bosnian] Serb Republic to increasingly openly challenge the sovereignty of Bosnia-Hercegovina.
"All serious indicators point to the conclusion that Kosovo's independence is a reality which will happen in the coming months as a logical end result of the Belgrade regime's enduring chauvinistic and criminal policy and its attitude towards the Albanian population. Tadic and [Premier Vojislav] Kostunica are aware of this and they already know what the final status of Kosovo will be.
"That is why their statements forecasting trouble in Bosnia-Hercegovina in the event of Kosovo's independence require a sharp protest from the state of Bosnia-Hercegovina, as they represent an attempt to apply in practice the policy of the war criminals Milosevic and Karadzic towards Bosnia-Hercegovina".
Source: Federation News Agency, Sarajevo, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 0936 gmt 20 Jul 06
Kosovo official welcomes return of Serbs to urban areas
xcerpt from report in English by independent internet news agency KosovaLive
Prishtina [Pristina], 20 July: Kosova [Kosovo] institution officials have presented the results from the freedom of movement improvement so that 306 citizens have returned. Of these, 53 are Serbs, 107 Romas, 123 Ashkali and Egyptians, four Bosniaks, and 19 are Gorani.
This was presented in the Labour Group meeting for Standard III and Standard IV - freedom of movement and permanent returns - where have participated local official and internationals, as well as, for the first time, senior officials from the Ministry of Return and Communities [MRC].
The deputy minister of return and communities (MRC), Nazmi Fejza, said that their engagement is not towards creation of new enclaves but permanent return of families in the way that they can face the challenges that citizens of Kosova face.
According to him the returns are daily and mainly individual. The good news in the process which Kosova faces is that there are a lot of urban returns, the thing that did not happen before.
The area with the most returns is Kline [Klina], then the region of Peje [Pec]. There is not exact number because returns are happening every day, even though not in the number planned by the government.
While the deputy minister of the local self-administration said that the return issue also depends on the Belgrade affection, which is additional obstacle for not having permanent returns of the refugees. [Passage omitted]
Source: KosovaLive website, Pristina, in English 20 Jul 06
Prishtina [Pristina], 20 July: Kosova [Kosovo] institution officials have presented the results from the freedom of movement improvement so that 306 citizens have returned. Of these, 53 are Serbs, 107 Romas, 123 Ashkali and Egyptians, four Bosniaks, and 19 are Gorani.
This was presented in the Labour Group meeting for Standard III and Standard IV - freedom of movement and permanent returns - where have participated local official and internationals, as well as, for the first time, senior officials from the Ministry of Return and Communities [MRC].
The deputy minister of return and communities (MRC), Nazmi Fejza, said that their engagement is not towards creation of new enclaves but permanent return of families in the way that they can face the challenges that citizens of Kosova face.
According to him the returns are daily and mainly individual. The good news in the process which Kosova faces is that there are a lot of urban returns, the thing that did not happen before.
The area with the most returns is Kline [Klina], then the region of Peje [Pec]. There is not exact number because returns are happening every day, even though not in the number planned by the government.
While the deputy minister of the local self-administration said that the return issue also depends on the Belgrade affection, which is additional obstacle for not having permanent returns of the refugees. [Passage omitted]
Source: KosovaLive website, Pristina, in English 20 Jul 06
Over 90 per cent of ethnic Albanians want independent Kosovo, poll shows
Excerpt from report by Serbian independent news agency FoNet
Belgrade, 19 July: It is of vital importance for 60 per cent of Serbs from central Serbia, almost 80 per cent of Serbs from Kosovo and two thirds of those Serbs who have moved out of the province that Kosovo remain within Serbia as a province with broad autonomy, while 90 per cent of Kosovo Albanians see such a solution as unacceptable.
On the other hand, around 90 per cent of Kosovo Albanians believe that the independence of Kosovo within its current borders is the best solution for the future status of the province, which is unacceptable for almost three quarters of Serbs from central Serbia and some 90 per cent of Serbs from Kosovo and those Serbs who have moved out of the province. These are the results of a poll carried out by the Belgrade-based Strategic Marketing Research and Pristina-based Institute for Political Research and Development.
The poll was carried out on the territory of central Serbia and Kosovo between 10 and 20 May, with the participation of almost 2,700 interviewees.
The results show that the "conditional independence" of Kosovo is unacceptable for over 90 per cent of Albanians, but also for over 80 per cent of Serbs from central Serbia and almost all the interviewed Serbs from Kosovo and those who have moved from the province.
[Passage omitted: more details]
Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1349 gmt 19 Jul 06
Belgrade, 19 July: It is of vital importance for 60 per cent of Serbs from central Serbia, almost 80 per cent of Serbs from Kosovo and two thirds of those Serbs who have moved out of the province that Kosovo remain within Serbia as a province with broad autonomy, while 90 per cent of Kosovo Albanians see such a solution as unacceptable.
On the other hand, around 90 per cent of Kosovo Albanians believe that the independence of Kosovo within its current borders is the best solution for the future status of the province, which is unacceptable for almost three quarters of Serbs from central Serbia and some 90 per cent of Serbs from Kosovo and those Serbs who have moved out of the province. These are the results of a poll carried out by the Belgrade-based Strategic Marketing Research and Pristina-based Institute for Political Research and Development.
The poll was carried out on the territory of central Serbia and Kosovo between 10 and 20 May, with the participation of almost 2,700 interviewees.
The results show that the "conditional independence" of Kosovo is unacceptable for over 90 per cent of Albanians, but also for over 80 per cent of Serbs from central Serbia and almost all the interviewed Serbs from Kosovo and those who have moved from the province.
[Passage omitted: more details]
Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1349 gmt 19 Jul 06
The nationalist backlash - Serbia at bay
English
(c) The Economist Newspaper Limited, London 2006. All rights reserved
Serbia's new nationalism
A nasty outbreak in the Balkans
IT HAS long been said that there are two Serbias. One is conservative, nationalist and backward-looking; the other liberal, modern and progressive. In today's politics, the first is on the offensive and the second on the defensive. Serbia faces crucial choices—and it may decide not to resume its path towards European integration.
Two weeks ago, tens of thousands of young Serbs converged on the city of Novi Sad for the Exit music festival, where big-name bands from all of Europe play. Exit is fascinating because it provides a glimpse of the Serbia that could be. It is well organised, peaceful, fun—and it attracts thousands of visitors from across former Yugoslavia. But ask young Serbs what the future holds and gloom descends. Visa restrictions mean they cannot travel out of their region. Disillusioned by politics since the fall of the Milosevic regime in October 2000, many say they will not vote any more. Indeed, an opinion poll in June found only 48% of Serbs would certainly turn out in the next election; and 36% of would-be voters said they would back the hardline nationalist Radical Party.
The government of Vojislav Kostunica has been playing this for all it is worth. Trying to forestall the almost inevitable independence of Kosovo (see box), it has been warning foreign governments that, if Kosovo's Albanians win their independence, Serbia will be lost to the Radicals. Some liberals doubt this. A get-out-the-vote campaign would surely stop the Radicals, they argue. But that is not certain, says one pollster, Srdjan Bogosavljevic. Indeed, a big turnout might help the Radicals. If they came to power, they could not start a new war, he says, but they clearly do not have enough well-trained, modern-minded people to run the country well.
The best moment to hold an election has now become a hot topic. The liberal president, Boris Tadic, would like an early vote. He assumes that, if the poll is held before Kosovo is lost, pro-European and democratic forces stand a better chance of winning, weathering the ensuing storm and then resuming talks with the European Union on a deal that should be a first step towards membership. (Talks were suspended in May, after Mr Kostunica failed to keep a pledge to arrest Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb ex-general wanted by the Hague war-crimes tribunal.)
But Ljiljana Smajlovic, editor of Politika, a daily, says that holding an election early would be a mistake. The democrats would have to run a campaign with an appeal that would implicitly amount to, “Vote for us and we will lose Kosovo for you.” Mr Kostunica, who perhaps realises that he cannot stop Kosovo's independence, is known to favour waiting at least until next year, probably the spring.
In the past few weeks Mr Kostunica has been spurred into an unusually energetic round of diplomacy. He has been to London, Washington and Brussels, where this week he presented an “action plan” meant to show that Serbia is genuinely trying to capture Mr Mladic—which not everybody believes. Officials in Brussels are also working on a set of incentives for Serbia to cushion the blow of what they see as the inevitable loss of Kosovo and, incidentally, to help beat off the Radical threat. But none of this may be enough to stop Serbia's slipping backwards.
(c) The Economist Newspaper Limited, London 2006. All rights reserved
Serbia's new nationalism
A nasty outbreak in the Balkans
IT HAS long been said that there are two Serbias. One is conservative, nationalist and backward-looking; the other liberal, modern and progressive. In today's politics, the first is on the offensive and the second on the defensive. Serbia faces crucial choices—and it may decide not to resume its path towards European integration.
Two weeks ago, tens of thousands of young Serbs converged on the city of Novi Sad for the Exit music festival, where big-name bands from all of Europe play. Exit is fascinating because it provides a glimpse of the Serbia that could be. It is well organised, peaceful, fun—and it attracts thousands of visitors from across former Yugoslavia. But ask young Serbs what the future holds and gloom descends. Visa restrictions mean they cannot travel out of their region. Disillusioned by politics since the fall of the Milosevic regime in October 2000, many say they will not vote any more. Indeed, an opinion poll in June found only 48% of Serbs would certainly turn out in the next election; and 36% of would-be voters said they would back the hardline nationalist Radical Party.
The government of Vojislav Kostunica has been playing this for all it is worth. Trying to forestall the almost inevitable independence of Kosovo (see box), it has been warning foreign governments that, if Kosovo's Albanians win their independence, Serbia will be lost to the Radicals. Some liberals doubt this. A get-out-the-vote campaign would surely stop the Radicals, they argue. But that is not certain, says one pollster, Srdjan Bogosavljevic. Indeed, a big turnout might help the Radicals. If they came to power, they could not start a new war, he says, but they clearly do not have enough well-trained, modern-minded people to run the country well.
The best moment to hold an election has now become a hot topic. The liberal president, Boris Tadic, would like an early vote. He assumes that, if the poll is held before Kosovo is lost, pro-European and democratic forces stand a better chance of winning, weathering the ensuing storm and then resuming talks with the European Union on a deal that should be a first step towards membership. (Talks were suspended in May, after Mr Kostunica failed to keep a pledge to arrest Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb ex-general wanted by the Hague war-crimes tribunal.)
But Ljiljana Smajlovic, editor of Politika, a daily, says that holding an election early would be a mistake. The democrats would have to run a campaign with an appeal that would implicitly amount to, “Vote for us and we will lose Kosovo for you.” Mr Kostunica, who perhaps realises that he cannot stop Kosovo's independence, is known to favour waiting at least until next year, probably the spring.
In the past few weeks Mr Kostunica has been spurred into an unusually energetic round of diplomacy. He has been to London, Washington and Brussels, where this week he presented an “action plan” meant to show that Serbia is genuinely trying to capture Mr Mladic—which not everybody believes. Officials in Brussels are also working on a set of incentives for Serbia to cushion the blow of what they see as the inevitable loss of Kosovo and, incidentally, to help beat off the Radical threat. But none of this may be enough to stop Serbia's slipping backwards.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Serbian, Kosovo Leaders To Meet for High Level Talks over Kosovo's Status
Serbian and Kosovo top officials were invited by the chief United Nations mediator in the U.N.-governed southern Serbian province of Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari, to meet on July 24, 2006 for the first high-level talks on the future of the Serbian province, it was reported on July 19, 2006.
Kosovo's President Fatmir Sejdiu and Serbia's President Boris Tadic agreed to take part in the high-level talks.
The talks, which started on technical level in February 2006, are to determine if Kosovo will remain a province of Serbia or become independent.
Between February and July 2006 seven technical rounds of the talks have taken place in Vienna, concerning economic, cultural, and administrative issues.
Kosovo's final status includes independence and autonomy as two main options. Currently Kosovo insists on full independence, while Serbia is inclined to award the province only broad autonomy.
According to analysts the most probable outcome is a form of independence for the province with clear European Union prospect both for Serbia and Kosovo.
Kosovo's President Fatmir Sejdiu and Serbia's President Boris Tadic agreed to take part in the high-level talks.
The talks, which started on technical level in February 2006, are to determine if Kosovo will remain a province of Serbia or become independent.
Between February and July 2006 seven technical rounds of the talks have taken place in Vienna, concerning economic, cultural, and administrative issues.
Kosovo's final status includes independence and autonomy as two main options. Currently Kosovo insists on full independence, while Serbia is inclined to award the province only broad autonomy.
According to analysts the most probable outcome is a form of independence for the province with clear European Union prospect both for Serbia and Kosovo.
Serbian premier's diplomatic drive may have come too late - commentary
Excerpt from commentary by Djordje Vukadinovic entitled "Turn of events or swan song" published by the Serbian newspaper Politika on 18 July
The next few days and months will show what kind of impact the Serbian government's most recent diplomatic campaign will have. But the agility with which Prime Minister Kostunica dashed through practically all the world's major capitals in just a few weeks and the determination that he demonstrated during his tour are surprising and rather at odds with the image that the prime minister and his party have had for years - not entirely justifiably but also obviously not without justification. A cynic might remark that perhaps things in Serbia and around it would have been much better if such a vigorous campaign had come earlier - and in connection with many other issues. But someone less familiar with the dimensions of our state and national defeat and our diplomacy's naturally resulting "reputation" could ask himself what kind of success it is if our officials and the arguments they presented at all those meetings were "listened to carefully" and why people here regard the expressed elementary diplomatic and civil courtesy as practically a cause for celebration.
Unfortunately, things are just about like that. While prior to the year 2000 attention has been paid to messages from Belgrade if for no other reason than so that they could be effectively parried, for years now no one has been paying any attention to what official Belgrade has been saying and thinking. Even though it has not become a "dull" country, in other words, a well organized and peaceful country as Vojislav Kostunica had promised during his election campaign, Serbia has managed to slide to the margins of the world's media focus and political attention, from where it was pulled out temporarily only over the deaths of Djindjic and Milosevic, the pogrom of the non-Albanian population on 17 March 2004, and during the recent Montenegrin referendum.
It is difficult now to say in advance whether this tour (Moscow, London, Rome, New York, Washington, Brussels ... [agency ellipses]) will turn out to be Kostunica's "crazy summer dance" [alludes to the title of a song] which could make a last-moment drastic change, reversing the unfavourable course of the Kosovo talks, or whether it will be the "last dance of the butterfly" [also alluding to the title of a song], in other words, a swan song for the Serbian prime minister, Serbia's diplomacy, and the Serbian state on the issue of the Kosovo cycle. (Realistically speaking, the chances of the latter are still incomparably greater) But regardless of the outcome, one thing is beyond doubt - and that is the basic issue and moral of this story. In politics, as in life, when you know clearly what you want or do not want, and when you say that with determination and when you present your arguments that are unequivocally in support of your views - then that cannot be ignored completely. Or rather, it can - but then that is simply a case of blatant rudeness which, in principle, is avoided in communication between civilized people and democratic nations.
Of course, this does not mean that you will necessarily always get what you want and possibly even deserve. The end result depends on the balance of power and a host of circumstances over which, more often than not, we have no control. But in order to even have something to cling to we first have to know what we want, and we need to have at least a general and realistic ("action") plan on how to achieve the desired goal. Regardless of the almost banal character of these beliefs, they represent a pipe dream and an unreachable strategic ideal when we consider the policy of Milosevic's Serbia and post-Milosevic Serbia.
We can only ask ourselves what would have happened if this already decisive diplomatic and political drive had been launched earlier, or rather when the time was right. For example, immediately after 5 October, or at the start of Bush's presidential term, before the international representatives transformed Kosovo from an international protectorate into practically an independent state, before our army was not in such shambles, and before the favourable foreign political effects of destroying Milosevic and even his controversial extradition, had been frittered away in the tussle for the best possible positions in the internal political struggle revolving around money and power.
[Passage omitted]
Source: Politika, Belgrade, in Serbian 18 Jul 06
The next few days and months will show what kind of impact the Serbian government's most recent diplomatic campaign will have. But the agility with which Prime Minister Kostunica dashed through practically all the world's major capitals in just a few weeks and the determination that he demonstrated during his tour are surprising and rather at odds with the image that the prime minister and his party have had for years - not entirely justifiably but also obviously not without justification. A cynic might remark that perhaps things in Serbia and around it would have been much better if such a vigorous campaign had come earlier - and in connection with many other issues. But someone less familiar with the dimensions of our state and national defeat and our diplomacy's naturally resulting "reputation" could ask himself what kind of success it is if our officials and the arguments they presented at all those meetings were "listened to carefully" and why people here regard the expressed elementary diplomatic and civil courtesy as practically a cause for celebration.
Unfortunately, things are just about like that. While prior to the year 2000 attention has been paid to messages from Belgrade if for no other reason than so that they could be effectively parried, for years now no one has been paying any attention to what official Belgrade has been saying and thinking. Even though it has not become a "dull" country, in other words, a well organized and peaceful country as Vojislav Kostunica had promised during his election campaign, Serbia has managed to slide to the margins of the world's media focus and political attention, from where it was pulled out temporarily only over the deaths of Djindjic and Milosevic, the pogrom of the non-Albanian population on 17 March 2004, and during the recent Montenegrin referendum.
It is difficult now to say in advance whether this tour (Moscow, London, Rome, New York, Washington, Brussels ... [agency ellipses]) will turn out to be Kostunica's "crazy summer dance" [alludes to the title of a song] which could make a last-moment drastic change, reversing the unfavourable course of the Kosovo talks, or whether it will be the "last dance of the butterfly" [also alluding to the title of a song], in other words, a swan song for the Serbian prime minister, Serbia's diplomacy, and the Serbian state on the issue of the Kosovo cycle. (Realistically speaking, the chances of the latter are still incomparably greater) But regardless of the outcome, one thing is beyond doubt - and that is the basic issue and moral of this story. In politics, as in life, when you know clearly what you want or do not want, and when you say that with determination and when you present your arguments that are unequivocally in support of your views - then that cannot be ignored completely. Or rather, it can - but then that is simply a case of blatant rudeness which, in principle, is avoided in communication between civilized people and democratic nations.
Of course, this does not mean that you will necessarily always get what you want and possibly even deserve. The end result depends on the balance of power and a host of circumstances over which, more often than not, we have no control. But in order to even have something to cling to we first have to know what we want, and we need to have at least a general and realistic ("action") plan on how to achieve the desired goal. Regardless of the almost banal character of these beliefs, they represent a pipe dream and an unreachable strategic ideal when we consider the policy of Milosevic's Serbia and post-Milosevic Serbia.
We can only ask ourselves what would have happened if this already decisive diplomatic and political drive had been launched earlier, or rather when the time was right. For example, immediately after 5 October, or at the start of Bush's presidential term, before the international representatives transformed Kosovo from an international protectorate into practically an independent state, before our army was not in such shambles, and before the favourable foreign political effects of destroying Milosevic and even his controversial extradition, had been frittered away in the tussle for the best possible positions in the internal political struggle revolving around money and power.
[Passage omitted]
Source: Politika, Belgrade, in Serbian 18 Jul 06
KOSOVO: Rehn and Solana say EU must be driving force of international presence once negotiations on status have ended
Brussels, 18/07/2006 (Agence Europe) - The EU High Representative for CFSP, Javier Solana, and Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn presented to the External Relations Council on 17 July their joint report on the role that the EU should play in Kosovo as soon as negotiations on the status of the province have been completed. The document, in the context of talks underway and the parallel implementation of international norms for Kosovo, above all stresses how important it is for Pristina to implement European standards on human rights, minority rights and rule of law in order to better protect all minorities in the province, including the Serbs. Whatever the outcome of the talks, the international community will remain committed in Kosovo for many a long year, mainly for overseeing implementation. It will therefore need “limited intervention powers”, the document states.
The international community will continue to provide support for institution building in Kosovo where the Commission will play a “leading role”. “The EU intends to become the driving force within the future international presence”, the paper goes on to state through: - a special representative who will also be the head of the international civilian presence; - a rule of law operation that will focus on the justice sector and the police and for which the EU has already sent an EU Planning Team to prepare the operation (see EUROPE 9171); - and an office that the Commission will establish in Pristina and which will “absorb” the functions of the EC Liaison Office and of the European Agency for Reconstruciton. Finally, depending on the democratic progress made and the degree of stability in the province, all instruments presently available for the Western Balkan region should be made available to Kosovo, “including the prospect of contractual relations with the EU”, the document states. Furthermore, in order to contribute to the socio-economic development and stability of the province, the Commission and the World Bank will be organising a donors' conference upon status settlement.
The international community will continue to provide support for institution building in Kosovo where the Commission will play a “leading role”. “The EU intends to become the driving force within the future international presence”, the paper goes on to state through: - a special representative who will also be the head of the international civilian presence; - a rule of law operation that will focus on the justice sector and the police and for which the EU has already sent an EU Planning Team to prepare the operation (see EUROPE 9171); - and an office that the Commission will establish in Pristina and which will “absorb” the functions of the EC Liaison Office and of the European Agency for Reconstruciton. Finally, depending on the democratic progress made and the degree of stability in the province, all instruments presently available for the Western Balkan region should be made available to Kosovo, “including the prospect of contractual relations with the EU”, the document states. Furthermore, in order to contribute to the socio-economic development and stability of the province, the Commission and the World Bank will be organising a donors' conference upon status settlement.
Kosovo PM Agim Ceku to Visit Slovenia (background)
Ljubljana, 19 July (STA) - Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku is to expected
to arrive to Slovenia on Wednesday and present his views on the future
status of Kosovo to his Slovenian counterpart Janez Jansa, Foreign
Minister Dimitrij Rupel and Parliament Speaker France Cukjati on Thursday.
According to the prime minister's office, Ceku and Jansa would discuss the
ongoing talks on the future status of the province as well as touch upon
Slovenia's contribution towards a stable development of the region and the
increasing economic cooperation.
The seventh and eighth round of talks on the future of the predominantly
ethnic Albanian province are taking place in Vienna. The talks are
currently focused on the devolution of powers and the preservation of
Serbian religious and cultural heritage.
The United Nations' special envoy for Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari, has
invited leading Serbian and Kosovo politicians to discuss the status of
the province for the first time next week.
Rupel said at a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday that conditions
for Kosovo's independence would only be fulfilled after Serbia joins the
EU, provided that the country meets European standards.
Slovenian views on the situation in the region also formed parts of talks
during Jansa's recent visit to the US. The prime minister said after
meeting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that any solution should
bring stability to the region.
That the status talks should end by 2006 was one of the key positions
agreed upon on 31 January by the Kosovo contact group, which consists of
the US, the UK, Russia, Italy, Germany and France.
This is not Ceku's first visit to Slovenia. He was arrested at the
Ljubljana Airport in October 2003 on an Interpol arrest warrant issued by
Serbia.
Ceku was apprehended for his role as commander of the Kosovo Protection
Corps, a civilian emergency organisation created after the disbanding of
the Kosovo Liberation Army, which Ceku led in 1999.
to arrive to Slovenia on Wednesday and present his views on the future
status of Kosovo to his Slovenian counterpart Janez Jansa, Foreign
Minister Dimitrij Rupel and Parliament Speaker France Cukjati on Thursday.
According to the prime minister's office, Ceku and Jansa would discuss the
ongoing talks on the future status of the province as well as touch upon
Slovenia's contribution towards a stable development of the region and the
increasing economic cooperation.
The seventh and eighth round of talks on the future of the predominantly
ethnic Albanian province are taking place in Vienna. The talks are
currently focused on the devolution of powers and the preservation of
Serbian religious and cultural heritage.
The United Nations' special envoy for Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari, has
invited leading Serbian and Kosovo politicians to discuss the status of
the province for the first time next week.
Rupel said at a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday that conditions
for Kosovo's independence would only be fulfilled after Serbia joins the
EU, provided that the country meets European standards.
Slovenian views on the situation in the region also formed parts of talks
during Jansa's recent visit to the US. The prime minister said after
meeting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that any solution should
bring stability to the region.
That the status talks should end by 2006 was one of the key positions
agreed upon on 31 January by the Kosovo contact group, which consists of
the US, the UK, Russia, Italy, Germany and France.
This is not Ceku's first visit to Slovenia. He was arrested at the
Ljubljana Airport in October 2003 on an Interpol arrest warrant issued by
Serbia.
Ceku was apprehended for his role as commander of the Kosovo Protection
Corps, a civilian emergency organisation created after the disbanding of
the Kosovo Liberation Army, which Ceku led in 1999.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Talks Between Serbs, Ethnic Albanians On Kosovo Fail
VIENNA (AP)--Ethnic Albanian and Serbian negotiators failed Tuesday to finalize an agreement on the protection of Serbian Orthodox religious sites in Kosovo, officials said.
It was the seventh time that both sides have met in Vienna this year for U.N.-mediated negotiations, which aim to determine whether Kosovo remains part of Serbia or becomes independent.
"We will sit with the experts to work on a compromise," a U.N.-appointed mediator, Petr Ivantsov, said after the meeting, which deadlocked over the protected perimeters around 39 Serbian Orthodox religious sites in Kosovo.
Albanian representatives suggested the Serbs were at fault. Ylber Hysa, the head of the ethnic Albanian delegation, said "the Serbian side was not at all open" to compromise.
Kosovo's minority Serbs, whose communities have been attacked by ethnic Albanians several times since the end of the war, want guarantees that their religious and cultural sites will be protected. They also want more say in running their own affairs.
Serbian negotiator Slobodan Samardzic was less critical. "We did not expect marvelous results ... this is a part of a process," he said.
Serbs consider Kosovo to be central to their history and culture, and important Serbian religious and historic sites are located there. In March 2004, more than 30 medieval churches and monasteries were destroyed or damaged in anti-Serb riots.
In late May, the two delegations reached a tentative agreement on the protection of Serbian Orthodox religious sites, leading to hopes that this round would be able to work out some details.
Under the deal, Serbian Orthodox dioceses in Kosovo would have the right to maintain special ties with the patriarchate in Belgrade and would also enjoy tax privileges, freedom of movement and the right to run other affairs. Ivantsov said that details about these issues were on the agenda, but that the negotiators focused on protected areas.
Tension between the two communities has remained high since the end of the war between Serb forces and ethnic Albanian separatists.
The province officially remains part of Serbia, although it has been run by a U.N. administration and patrolled by international peacekeepers since a 1999 NATO aerial bombardment halted the Serb military crackdown.
It was the seventh time that both sides have met in Vienna this year for U.N.-mediated negotiations, which aim to determine whether Kosovo remains part of Serbia or becomes independent.
"We will sit with the experts to work on a compromise," a U.N.-appointed mediator, Petr Ivantsov, said after the meeting, which deadlocked over the protected perimeters around 39 Serbian Orthodox religious sites in Kosovo.
Albanian representatives suggested the Serbs were at fault. Ylber Hysa, the head of the ethnic Albanian delegation, said "the Serbian side was not at all open" to compromise.
Kosovo's minority Serbs, whose communities have been attacked by ethnic Albanians several times since the end of the war, want guarantees that their religious and cultural sites will be protected. They also want more say in running their own affairs.
Serbian negotiator Slobodan Samardzic was less critical. "We did not expect marvelous results ... this is a part of a process," he said.
Serbs consider Kosovo to be central to their history and culture, and important Serbian religious and historic sites are located there. In March 2004, more than 30 medieval churches and monasteries were destroyed or damaged in anti-Serb riots.
In late May, the two delegations reached a tentative agreement on the protection of Serbian Orthodox religious sites, leading to hopes that this round would be able to work out some details.
Under the deal, Serbian Orthodox dioceses in Kosovo would have the right to maintain special ties with the patriarchate in Belgrade and would also enjoy tax privileges, freedom of movement and the right to run other affairs. Ivantsov said that details about these issues were on the agenda, but that the negotiators focused on protected areas.
Tension between the two communities has remained high since the end of the war between Serb forces and ethnic Albanian separatists.
The province officially remains part of Serbia, although it has been run by a U.N. administration and patrolled by international peacekeepers since a 1999 NATO aerial bombardment halted the Serb military crackdown.
Serbia says yet to decide on Kosovo status talks
BRUSSELS, July 18 (Reuters) - Serbia said on Tuesday it had yet to decide whether to take part in talks next week on the future status of Kosovo, adding that independence for the province would cause instability in the Balkans and beyond.
Serbian President Boris Tadic said Belgrade was waiting for U.N. mediator Martti Ahtisaari to outline details of the talks which are planned for July 24 in Vienna.
"After that we are going to decide. We are ready to participate, but we need some conditions on those talks," Tadic told a news briefing during a visit to Brussels.
"An independent Kosovo ... is going to be a problem for regional stability, not only for the Balkans but for other regions in the world," he added.
This highest-level meeting between the two sides since NATO drove out Serb forces from the province in 1999 would be the first to address Kosovo's final international status -- independence or autonomy -- since talks began in February.
Kosovo said on Monday it would demand independence from Serbia during the talks. Ninety percent of Kosovo's 2 million people are ethnic Albanians impatient for independence.
Serbia has offered wide autonomy for land it sees as the sacred cradle of the nation.
Serb negotiators want to see an agenda for the talks and an agreement on their format and structure before deciding whether Tadic and Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica would attend.
Tadic said Serbia sought a compromise "appreciating the legitimate interest of the Albanian nation in Kosovo" while defending Serbia's "territorial integrity and sovereignty".
Belgrade daily Blic said Kostunica was having second thoughts about talks with Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku, whom Serbia accuses of war crimes.
A no-show by Belgrade would be frowned on by Western powers, which want a deal within the year, concerned that a delay could spark fresh violence against the U.N. mission and Kosovo's 100,000 ghettoised Serbs.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said U.N. mediator Ahtisaari had not set out to impose a solution on Kosovo.
"I would wait for the outcome of his work and then we'll make a judgment on how to proceed," he told a news conference in Brussels.
Diplomats say Kosovo is heading for independence under EU supervision and secured by a NATO peace force, adding that if an agreement cannot be reached, the U.N. Security Council will have to make a decision on Kosovo's status. (Additional reporting by Matt Robinson in Pristina)
Serbian President Boris Tadic said Belgrade was waiting for U.N. mediator Martti Ahtisaari to outline details of the talks which are planned for July 24 in Vienna.
"After that we are going to decide. We are ready to participate, but we need some conditions on those talks," Tadic told a news briefing during a visit to Brussels.
"An independent Kosovo ... is going to be a problem for regional stability, not only for the Balkans but for other regions in the world," he added.
This highest-level meeting between the two sides since NATO drove out Serb forces from the province in 1999 would be the first to address Kosovo's final international status -- independence or autonomy -- since talks began in February.
Kosovo said on Monday it would demand independence from Serbia during the talks. Ninety percent of Kosovo's 2 million people are ethnic Albanians impatient for independence.
Serbia has offered wide autonomy for land it sees as the sacred cradle of the nation.
Serb negotiators want to see an agenda for the talks and an agreement on their format and structure before deciding whether Tadic and Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica would attend.
Tadic said Serbia sought a compromise "appreciating the legitimate interest of the Albanian nation in Kosovo" while defending Serbia's "territorial integrity and sovereignty".
Belgrade daily Blic said Kostunica was having second thoughts about talks with Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku, whom Serbia accuses of war crimes.
A no-show by Belgrade would be frowned on by Western powers, which want a deal within the year, concerned that a delay could spark fresh violence against the U.N. mission and Kosovo's 100,000 ghettoised Serbs.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said U.N. mediator Ahtisaari had not set out to impose a solution on Kosovo.
"I would wait for the outcome of his work and then we'll make a judgment on how to proceed," he told a news conference in Brussels.
Diplomats say Kosovo is heading for independence under EU supervision and secured by a NATO peace force, adding that if an agreement cannot be reached, the U.N. Security Council will have to make a decision on Kosovo's status. (Additional reporting by Matt Robinson in Pristina)
Monday, July 17, 2006
EU hails Serbian plan to arrest war criminals, but pre-membership talks remain suspended
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - The European Union on Monday hailed Serbia's new plan to track down and arrest fugitive war crimes suspect Gen. Ratko Mladic, but stopped short of committing itself to resume crucial pre-membership negotiations suspended in May.
"For us the action plan provides a very good basis for our further work and cooperation," said Finland's Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomoija, whose country now holds the EU's rotating presidency.
Earlier in the evening, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica briefed EU leaders on the contents of the so-called Action Plan. Although no details of the three-page document were released, officials said it details measures to apprehend Mladic, who is wanted on charges of involvement in genocide during the 1992-95 Bosnian war.
"Obviously the plan is still to be developed further, but effective implementation of the action plan can and must begin immediately," Tuomoija told journalists at a joint news conference.
"This is now opening the way for the full cooperation with (the U.N. court), that the negotiations on a Stabilization and Association Agreement that we started with Serbia can be resumed and thus facilitates Serbia's way toward the European Union," he said.
But Tuomoija refrained from setting a firm date or making a specific commitment to restart the talks before Mladic is actually delivered to the court in The Hague.
Belgrade has been hoping the grouping will accept its assurances and restart negotiations even if Mladic remains at large.
Both EU and Serbian government officials have warned that Serbia's continued isolation could radicalize the electorate and result in a victory for a far-right party opposed to cooperation with the EU in next year's general elections.
An agreement on association with the EU is seen as a way of kick-starting economic reforms and avoiding defeat in the upcoming ballot.
"We should be more than optimistic," Kostunica said. "The action plan will enable firm cooperation with the (U.N. court) and will enable us to continue pre-accession talks with the EU."
He pointed out that Belgrade had extradited 16 indicted war criminals to the international court in the past year, and vowed to continue "transparent and full" cooperation with international prosecutors.
Kostunica's visit to Brussels is part of a major diplomatic offensive mounted to persuade the EU and the United States to lift the partial international isolation that has dealt a major blow to Kostunica's efforts at reform, following years of economic sanctions under ex-President Slobodan Milosevic.
On Tuesday, Serbian President Boris Tadic will follow Kostunica to Brussels, where he will meet top EU and NATO officials. Last week, Kostunica visited Washington and held talks with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
EU officials also have acknowledged that a victory for the far-right Radical Party -- already the most popular in Serbia -- in next year's elections could roll back much of the work done to stabilize the western Balkans following Yugoslavia's bloody breakup.
One of the issues the Radical Party has been capitalizing on are the talks on the future status of Kosovo, conducted in Vienna under former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari. They have threatened to declare Serbia's province of Kosovo -- which has been under U.N. administration and patrolled by NATO peacekeepers since 1999 -- an "occupied region."
On Monday, EU foreign ministers welcomed Ahtisaari's intention to move forward into direct political talks on the final status issue. Many see the political talks as the first move toward recognizing Kosovo, considered by Serbs as their nation's historical heartland, as an independent nation.
"For us the action plan provides a very good basis for our further work and cooperation," said Finland's Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomoija, whose country now holds the EU's rotating presidency.
Earlier in the evening, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica briefed EU leaders on the contents of the so-called Action Plan. Although no details of the three-page document were released, officials said it details measures to apprehend Mladic, who is wanted on charges of involvement in genocide during the 1992-95 Bosnian war.
"Obviously the plan is still to be developed further, but effective implementation of the action plan can and must begin immediately," Tuomoija told journalists at a joint news conference.
"This is now opening the way for the full cooperation with (the U.N. court), that the negotiations on a Stabilization and Association Agreement that we started with Serbia can be resumed and thus facilitates Serbia's way toward the European Union," he said.
But Tuomoija refrained from setting a firm date or making a specific commitment to restart the talks before Mladic is actually delivered to the court in The Hague.
Belgrade has been hoping the grouping will accept its assurances and restart negotiations even if Mladic remains at large.
Both EU and Serbian government officials have warned that Serbia's continued isolation could radicalize the electorate and result in a victory for a far-right party opposed to cooperation with the EU in next year's general elections.
An agreement on association with the EU is seen as a way of kick-starting economic reforms and avoiding defeat in the upcoming ballot.
"We should be more than optimistic," Kostunica said. "The action plan will enable firm cooperation with the (U.N. court) and will enable us to continue pre-accession talks with the EU."
He pointed out that Belgrade had extradited 16 indicted war criminals to the international court in the past year, and vowed to continue "transparent and full" cooperation with international prosecutors.
Kostunica's visit to Brussels is part of a major diplomatic offensive mounted to persuade the EU and the United States to lift the partial international isolation that has dealt a major blow to Kostunica's efforts at reform, following years of economic sanctions under ex-President Slobodan Milosevic.
On Tuesday, Serbian President Boris Tadic will follow Kostunica to Brussels, where he will meet top EU and NATO officials. Last week, Kostunica visited Washington and held talks with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
EU officials also have acknowledged that a victory for the far-right Radical Party -- already the most popular in Serbia -- in next year's elections could roll back much of the work done to stabilize the western Balkans following Yugoslavia's bloody breakup.
One of the issues the Radical Party has been capitalizing on are the talks on the future status of Kosovo, conducted in Vienna under former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari. They have threatened to declare Serbia's province of Kosovo -- which has been under U.N. administration and patrolled by NATO peacekeepers since 1999 -- an "occupied region."
On Monday, EU foreign ministers welcomed Ahtisaari's intention to move forward into direct political talks on the final status issue. Many see the political talks as the first move toward recognizing Kosovo, considered by Serbs as their nation's historical heartland, as an independent nation.
Kosovo ready to talk independence with Serbia
PRISTINA, Serbia, July 17 (Reuters) - Kosovo said on Monday it would demand independence from Serbia when the two sides meet this month for the highest-level talks between the two sides since NATO's 1999 air war drove out Serb forces.
U.N. mediators hope to bring together the presidents and prime ministers of Serbia and its United Nations-run, majority Albanian province in Vienna on July 24.
For the first time, Kosovo's international status -- independence or autonomy -- will top the agenda, after six months of lower-level talks on the rights and security of minority Serbs. The West wants a decision within the year.
"The Kosovo delegation will go to Vienna, not to negotiate but once more to argue its case that full independence and sovereignty for our country based on the will of the people ... is the vital solution that must be confirmed," Skender Hyseni, adviser to Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu, told reporters.
Serbia has yet to confirm its participation.
Legally part of Serbia, Kosovo has been run by the United Nations since 1999, when NATO bombed to drive out Serb forces accused by the West of civilian killings and ethnic cleansing during a two-year war with separatist guerrillas.
The meeting is not expected to yield any concrete results, the chasm between the two sides seemingly unbridgeable.
AID ONCE STATUS CLEAR
Ninety percent of Kosovo's 2 million people are ethnic Albanians impatient for independence. Serbia has offered wide autonomy for land seen as the sacred cradle of the nation.
But diplomats say Kosovo is heading for independence, under European Union supervision and secured by a NATO peace force that currently numbers 17,000.
In a report to EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said the bloc intended to be the driving force of the international presence, with the head of that mission also serving as EU Special Representative.
It would monitor the implementation of a status settlement, the rule of law and certain economic and fiscal matters.
"The international presence will need to have some limited intervention powers to ensure that the status settlement is implemented," Rehn wrote, according to a summary of his report, drafted with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
The West is pushing for a deal by the end of 2006, concerned that a delay could spark fresh violence against the U.N. mission and Kosovo's 100,000 remaining Serbs, a ghettoised minority.
The seven-year limbo is blamed for the lack of investment and deep poverty in Kosovo, where unemployment is 50 percent.
Rehn added that the EU and the World Bank would convene a donors' conference once status was settled and the EU would contribute to a "well-coordinated mix of grant assistance, macro-financial support and loans".
(Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom in Brussels)
U.N. mediators hope to bring together the presidents and prime ministers of Serbia and its United Nations-run, majority Albanian province in Vienna on July 24.
For the first time, Kosovo's international status -- independence or autonomy -- will top the agenda, after six months of lower-level talks on the rights and security of minority Serbs. The West wants a decision within the year.
"The Kosovo delegation will go to Vienna, not to negotiate but once more to argue its case that full independence and sovereignty for our country based on the will of the people ... is the vital solution that must be confirmed," Skender Hyseni, adviser to Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu, told reporters.
Serbia has yet to confirm its participation.
Legally part of Serbia, Kosovo has been run by the United Nations since 1999, when NATO bombed to drive out Serb forces accused by the West of civilian killings and ethnic cleansing during a two-year war with separatist guerrillas.
The meeting is not expected to yield any concrete results, the chasm between the two sides seemingly unbridgeable.
AID ONCE STATUS CLEAR
Ninety percent of Kosovo's 2 million people are ethnic Albanians impatient for independence. Serbia has offered wide autonomy for land seen as the sacred cradle of the nation.
But diplomats say Kosovo is heading for independence, under European Union supervision and secured by a NATO peace force that currently numbers 17,000.
In a report to EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said the bloc intended to be the driving force of the international presence, with the head of that mission also serving as EU Special Representative.
It would monitor the implementation of a status settlement, the rule of law and certain economic and fiscal matters.
"The international presence will need to have some limited intervention powers to ensure that the status settlement is implemented," Rehn wrote, according to a summary of his report, drafted with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
The West is pushing for a deal by the end of 2006, concerned that a delay could spark fresh violence against the U.N. mission and Kosovo's 100,000 remaining Serbs, a ghettoised minority.
The seven-year limbo is blamed for the lack of investment and deep poverty in Kosovo, where unemployment is 50 percent.
Rehn added that the EU and the World Bank would convene a donors' conference once status was settled and the EU would contribute to a "well-coordinated mix of grant assistance, macro-financial support and loans".
(Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom in Brussels)
No Breakthrough Seen At Next Wk's Kosovo Talks -UN Envoy
BRUSSELS (AP)--The U.N. mediator for Kosovo said Monday he didn't expect any breakthroughs at next week's unprecedented talks between the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo on the future status of the disputed territory.
The conference will be the first meeting between the presidents and prime ministers of Serbia and Kosovo, since the 1999 NATO bombing campaign that turned the province of two million people into a de facto international protectorate.
"It is the first occasion where high-level politicians will present their views," U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari said after meeting with E.U. foreign ministers.
Ahtisaari said he didn't expect the talks to generate any concrete results, adding that would likely have to wait until after the next U.N. General Assembly session in September.
An E.U. statement said the grouping intended to remain involved in the resolution of Kosovo's future status after the phasing out of the U.N. administration there at the end of this year.
Ethnic Albanians, who account for 90% of the impoverished region's population, want full independence, while Belgrade is insisting that Kosovo must formally remain part of Serbia, albeit with wide-ranging internal autonomy.
"The EU intends to become the driving force within the future international presence" after the phasing out of direct U.N. rule, said the statement released by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, and Olli Rehn, its commissioner for enlargement.
"Provided Kosovo reaches a sufficient degree of democratic and institutional stability ... the prospect of contractual relations with the E.U." should be made available to the territory," the statement said.
The conference will be the first meeting between the presidents and prime ministers of Serbia and Kosovo, since the 1999 NATO bombing campaign that turned the province of two million people into a de facto international protectorate.
"It is the first occasion where high-level politicians will present their views," U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari said after meeting with E.U. foreign ministers.
Ahtisaari said he didn't expect the talks to generate any concrete results, adding that would likely have to wait until after the next U.N. General Assembly session in September.
An E.U. statement said the grouping intended to remain involved in the resolution of Kosovo's future status after the phasing out of the U.N. administration there at the end of this year.
Ethnic Albanians, who account for 90% of the impoverished region's population, want full independence, while Belgrade is insisting that Kosovo must formally remain part of Serbia, albeit with wide-ranging internal autonomy.
"The EU intends to become the driving force within the future international presence" after the phasing out of direct U.N. rule, said the statement released by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, and Olli Rehn, its commissioner for enlargement.
"Provided Kosovo reaches a sufficient degree of democratic and institutional stability ... the prospect of contractual relations with the E.U." should be made available to the territory," the statement said.
Ethnic Albanian leaders to take part in top Kosovo status meeting
PRISTINA, Serbia, July 17, 2006 (AFP) -
Ethnic Albanian leaders in a Kosovo negotiating team on Monday accepted to join a top Albanian-Serb meeting about the province's future status, official said.
"The Kosovo negotiating team will go to Vienna on July 24, not to negotiate but to prove once more the view that Kosovo's independence and full sovereignty of the country ... are a vital solution, which should be confirmed by the international process for definition of the status," Skender Hyseni, the team's spokesperson, said.
"The Kosovo negotiating team will defend the position that Kosovo's independence is non negotiable."
The UN-sponsored talks on Kosovo's future status, which began in February, are taking place in Vienna but have produced no concrete results so far.
The UN special envoy for Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari, said last week he hoped to have the first high-level Serb-Albanian meeting on the territory's future status in Vienna before the end of the month.
Leaders of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority are pushing for independence, a demand the Serbian government firmly opposes, offering instead wide autonomy to its southern province.
Kosovo, legally still a province of Serbia, has been run by the United Nations and NATO since 1999, when the alliance's air strikes ended a crackdown by forces loyal to then Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic against Albanian separatists.
Ethnic Albanian leaders in a Kosovo negotiating team on Monday accepted to join a top Albanian-Serb meeting about the province's future status, official said.
"The Kosovo negotiating team will go to Vienna on July 24, not to negotiate but to prove once more the view that Kosovo's independence and full sovereignty of the country ... are a vital solution, which should be confirmed by the international process for definition of the status," Skender Hyseni, the team's spokesperson, said.
"The Kosovo negotiating team will defend the position that Kosovo's independence is non negotiable."
The UN-sponsored talks on Kosovo's future status, which began in February, are taking place in Vienna but have produced no concrete results so far.
The UN special envoy for Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari, said last week he hoped to have the first high-level Serb-Albanian meeting on the territory's future status in Vienna before the end of the month.
Leaders of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority are pushing for independence, a demand the Serbian government firmly opposes, offering instead wide autonomy to its southern province.
Kosovo, legally still a province of Serbia, has been run by the United Nations and NATO since 1999, when the alliance's air strikes ended a crackdown by forces loyal to then Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic against Albanian separatists.
Serb Municipalities In Kosovo May Raised - Official
PRISTINA, Serbia (AP)--Kosovo's ethnic Albanian negotiators will consider increasing the number of new Serb municipalities to give the province's minority more rights in running their affairs, an official said Monday.
Ethnic Albanian leaders will offer the creation of six Serb-run municipalities before the next round of talks with Serbian officials on local government reform, said Skender Hyseni, a spokesman for ethnic Albanian leaders participating in the discussions.
Both sides meet July 18-19 in Vienna, Austria to discuss reforms, as well as the protection of religious sites and their restoration in Kosovo.
There was no immediate reaction from Belgrade to the ethnic Albanian announcement. The Serb negotiating team, headed by Serbia's President Boris Tadic, met Monday as part of preparation for the upcoming talks, but no details about the Serb platform were released.
Initially, ethnic Albanian leaders offered four municipalities, while Serbian officials demanded the creation of 14. Ethnic Albanians make up about 90% of Kosovo's population of 2 million.
There has been pressure by U.N. envoys mediating the status process for more flexibility and compromise in the talks.
Up until now, Serbian and ethnic Albanian representatives have held six rounds of discussions - most of which have failed to produce agreements.
Over the weekend, U.N. special envoy Martti Ahtisaari invited the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo for talks to directly tackle the future status.
On Monday, E.U. foreign ministers welcomed Ahtisaari's intention to move forward into direct political talks on the final status issue. Many see the political talks as the first move toward recognizing Kosovo as an independent nation.
Hyseni said the ethnic Albanian leaders will participate in the high-level talks, scheduled for July 24.
The gathering, which will be chaired by Ahtisaari, would for the first time bring officials from either side to discuss face-to-face Kosovo's future status, with ethnic Albanian and Serbian leaders presenting their proposals.
The province officially remains part of Serbia, although it has been run by the U.N. and patrolled by international peacekeepers since a 1999 North Atlantic Treaty Organization aerial bombardment halted a crackdown by Serb forces on separatist ethnic Albanians.
Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority insists on full independence, but the Serb minority and Belgrade want to retain some control over the province.
Ethnic Albanian leaders will offer the creation of six Serb-run municipalities before the next round of talks with Serbian officials on local government reform, said Skender Hyseni, a spokesman for ethnic Albanian leaders participating in the discussions.
Both sides meet July 18-19 in Vienna, Austria to discuss reforms, as well as the protection of religious sites and their restoration in Kosovo.
There was no immediate reaction from Belgrade to the ethnic Albanian announcement. The Serb negotiating team, headed by Serbia's President Boris Tadic, met Monday as part of preparation for the upcoming talks, but no details about the Serb platform were released.
Initially, ethnic Albanian leaders offered four municipalities, while Serbian officials demanded the creation of 14. Ethnic Albanians make up about 90% of Kosovo's population of 2 million.
There has been pressure by U.N. envoys mediating the status process for more flexibility and compromise in the talks.
Up until now, Serbian and ethnic Albanian representatives have held six rounds of discussions - most of which have failed to produce agreements.
Over the weekend, U.N. special envoy Martti Ahtisaari invited the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo for talks to directly tackle the future status.
On Monday, E.U. foreign ministers welcomed Ahtisaari's intention to move forward into direct political talks on the final status issue. Many see the political talks as the first move toward recognizing Kosovo as an independent nation.
Hyseni said the ethnic Albanian leaders will participate in the high-level talks, scheduled for July 24.
The gathering, which will be chaired by Ahtisaari, would for the first time bring officials from either side to discuss face-to-face Kosovo's future status, with ethnic Albanian and Serbian leaders presenting their proposals.
The province officially remains part of Serbia, although it has been run by the U.N. and patrolled by international peacekeepers since a 1999 North Atlantic Treaty Organization aerial bombardment halted a crackdown by Serb forces on separatist ethnic Albanians.
Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority insists on full independence, but the Serb minority and Belgrade want to retain some control over the province.
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Kosovo policewoman bringing order to troublesome town
by Ismet HajdariSun Jul 16, 1:36 PM ET
Fighting prejudices as much as crime, Captain Teuta Nimanaj is running the 90-strong police force in this troublesome town with a wide smile and iron fist.
In an area dubbed the "Wild West" by its own residents, this slim blonde has managed in just nine months to achieve results which proved beyond many of her predecessors.
"There has not been a single high-profile crime or incident since I took the post over," the 30-year-old Nimanaj told AFP in her tidy office in Decane, 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of the Kosovo capital Pristina.
"There have been ordinary crime cases, but nothing special," she added, smiling.
The crime rate in Decane in the first five months of 2006 was 50 percent down on the same period last year, according to police data.
Nimanaj took up the post of the police commander in Decane, a town of some 60,000 residents, aware of the difficulties in a region still strongly attached to its traditional "clan" structure and conservative attitudes.
Kosovo has been under UN administration since the end of the 1998-1999 war between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanian separatists, when NATO's intervention drove out the forces of then Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic.
The 7,000-strong Kosovo Police Service (KPS) is considered one of the most successful projects of the international engagement in the province.
However situated near the borders with Montenegro and Albania, and with the added complication of the traditional customs and codes of behaviour of the family clans, the Decane region has long been a hotspot for the smuggling of weapons, cigarettes and drugs.
A prominent Western think-tank, the International Crisis Group, said in its May 2005 report that "Decane is a tinderbox isolated from the rest of Kosovo."
Nimanaj -- the first woman police commander in Kosovo -- says her recipe for success is a "focus on citizens."
"We had to show to the citizens that, first and foremost, the police respect the rules and expect the citizens to do the same," she said.
"It was necessary to invest much effort and explanation to convince them to cooperate."
One of her initiatives was to introduce patrols in the area "talking to the people and listening to their concerns," with units covering troublespots 24 hours per day.
A simple stroll through the town centre is enough to confirm Nimanaj's reputation.
"The police were too weak to deal with sophisticated gangs," said a local market trader.
In November 2003 two local police officers were shot dead near the town, during investigations into a high-profile murder, he recalled.
"But this woman seems to know her job. Police have never been more respected then nowadays, even by known troublemakers in the town," he added.
Police lieutenant Rasim Syla said his chief "very cleverly uses a new style towards the citizens."
"She comes to every possible dangerous site, talks directly to the people and listens to their concerns. And they have accepted her," Syla added.
Nimanaj feels that, despite longheld prejudices, she has not had a single problem because of her gender.
"It might be luck. But, with this job, you have no time to think about your gender," Nimanaj said.
The main goal for this policewoman is to "eliminate all prejudices in Decane."
"Now it is a calm town, where peace is in force."
She admits that the job has also changed her personally.
"You need to work so hard to address its challenges, to accept that you are on duty 24 hours a day, to find a common language with the citizens in order to have a calm and stable situation," she said.
Her job has had an impact at home, Nimanaj admits, but she insists it has not affected her new marriage.
"I am married to a police officer, that's probably why he understands my permanent preoccupation with the job," she explained with that broad smile.
Fighting prejudices as much as crime, Captain Teuta Nimanaj is running the 90-strong police force in this troublesome town with a wide smile and iron fist.
In an area dubbed the "Wild West" by its own residents, this slim blonde has managed in just nine months to achieve results which proved beyond many of her predecessors.
"There has not been a single high-profile crime or incident since I took the post over," the 30-year-old Nimanaj told AFP in her tidy office in Decane, 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of the Kosovo capital Pristina.
"There have been ordinary crime cases, but nothing special," she added, smiling.
The crime rate in Decane in the first five months of 2006 was 50 percent down on the same period last year, according to police data.
Nimanaj took up the post of the police commander in Decane, a town of some 60,000 residents, aware of the difficulties in a region still strongly attached to its traditional "clan" structure and conservative attitudes.
Kosovo has been under UN administration since the end of the 1998-1999 war between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanian separatists, when NATO's intervention drove out the forces of then Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic.
The 7,000-strong Kosovo Police Service (KPS) is considered one of the most successful projects of the international engagement in the province.
However situated near the borders with Montenegro and Albania, and with the added complication of the traditional customs and codes of behaviour of the family clans, the Decane region has long been a hotspot for the smuggling of weapons, cigarettes and drugs.
A prominent Western think-tank, the International Crisis Group, said in its May 2005 report that "Decane is a tinderbox isolated from the rest of Kosovo."
Nimanaj -- the first woman police commander in Kosovo -- says her recipe for success is a "focus on citizens."
"We had to show to the citizens that, first and foremost, the police respect the rules and expect the citizens to do the same," she said.
"It was necessary to invest much effort and explanation to convince them to cooperate."
One of her initiatives was to introduce patrols in the area "talking to the people and listening to their concerns," with units covering troublespots 24 hours per day.
A simple stroll through the town centre is enough to confirm Nimanaj's reputation.
"The police were too weak to deal with sophisticated gangs," said a local market trader.
In November 2003 two local police officers were shot dead near the town, during investigations into a high-profile murder, he recalled.
"But this woman seems to know her job. Police have never been more respected then nowadays, even by known troublemakers in the town," he added.
Police lieutenant Rasim Syla said his chief "very cleverly uses a new style towards the citizens."
"She comes to every possible dangerous site, talks directly to the people and listens to their concerns. And they have accepted her," Syla added.
Nimanaj feels that, despite longheld prejudices, she has not had a single problem because of her gender.
"It might be luck. But, with this job, you have no time to think about your gender," Nimanaj said.
The main goal for this policewoman is to "eliminate all prejudices in Decane."
"Now it is a calm town, where peace is in force."
She admits that the job has also changed her personally.
"You need to work so hard to address its challenges, to accept that you are on duty 24 hours a day, to find a common language with the citizens in order to have a calm and stable situation," she said.
Her job has had an impact at home, Nimanaj admits, but she insists it has not affected her new marriage.
"I am married to a police officer, that's probably why he understands my permanent preoccupation with the job," she explained with that broad smile.
Friday, July 14, 2006
Kosovo already lost to Serbia, despite PM Kostunica's efforts - Croatian paper
Text of commentary by Marko Barisic in "Above the Belt" column entitled "The Kosovo knot" published by the Croatian newspaper Vjesnik on 14 July
Even though it is already virtually certain in the foremost international circles that Kosovo is going to receive conditional or compete independence by the end of the year, Serbian official circles have launched a diplomatic offensive in recent days in order to prevent it.
Speaking in Washington after a meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said that "the independence of that province is out of the question". Kostunica did not pass up the opportunity to warn that an independent Kosovo would result in "serious instability in the region".
Even though he did not spell out in greater detail what kind of potential instability might ensue, it should not be doubted that, in that regard, he pointed with his finger for his US collocutors at Bosnia-Hercegovina, that is to say at the Serb Republic, whose authorities have already made threats about an independence referendum, and presumably also at Montenegro, in which those who supported the survival of the state union with Serbia make up almost half of the population (44.5 per cent), and at Serbia itself.
Some analysts have already warned that, in the event of Kosovo's independence, it will be hard to prevent the further radicalization of the political scene in that country, in which the strongest political force even today is the extremist Serbian Radical Party, which continues to support the plan for a great Serbian state.
As support for the standpoint that the independence of Kosovo is dangerous for the region, certain Belgrade circles also cite the situation in Macedonia. It is peaceful today, but relations between the Macedonian majority and the Albanian minority, which inhabits the northwestern parts of that state next to Kosovo and Albania, cannot exactly be called exemplary. Since for the Western countries, and thus also for the United States, the keyword in tailoring peace plans or the pacification of certain tremor zones is stability, it is obviously no coincidence that Kostunica has played precisely the card of potential instability in order to prevent Kosovo from gaining independence. The extent to which he is going to succeed in that is the question, however.
Namely, all the negotiations on the future status of that region have proceeded from the principle that there is no returning to the pre-1999 situation - when Kosovo was part of Serbia - and that, in the event of independence, that sovereign entity does not have the right to unification with Albania. The Serbian prime minister, in the meantime, is offering Kosovo broad autonomy but also existence within Serbia. The Kosovo Albanians, on the other hand, see their future only outside Serbia, and that as a completely independent entity. Since is it difficult to find a compromise between those two standpoints, it comes as no surprise that the negotiations between the two sides have been stalled for quite a long time already and have not been yielding any kind of results. Now, Belgrade and Pristina have finally agreed on the continuation of those talks. Most international observers, however, are convinced that their reaching a mutual agreement is impossible.
That is the alternative that those in Washington have evidently been figuring on as well, because, as the New York Times published not long ago, they have begun the preparation of a resolution on Kosovo that the UN Security Council would adopt by 15 November of this year at the latest. According to what has been announced, Russia would also support that resolution, and, according to that proposal, Kosovo would get its de facto independence.
By making threats about the potential destabilization of the region, Kostunica is now trying to prevent the separation from Serbia of that province, which Belgrade really lost back in 1999 in the war that Milosevic waged with NATO.
Source: Vjesnik, Zagreb in Croatian 14 Jul 06
Even though it is already virtually certain in the foremost international circles that Kosovo is going to receive conditional or compete independence by the end of the year, Serbian official circles have launched a diplomatic offensive in recent days in order to prevent it.
Speaking in Washington after a meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said that "the independence of that province is out of the question". Kostunica did not pass up the opportunity to warn that an independent Kosovo would result in "serious instability in the region".
Even though he did not spell out in greater detail what kind of potential instability might ensue, it should not be doubted that, in that regard, he pointed with his finger for his US collocutors at Bosnia-Hercegovina, that is to say at the Serb Republic, whose authorities have already made threats about an independence referendum, and presumably also at Montenegro, in which those who supported the survival of the state union with Serbia make up almost half of the population (44.5 per cent), and at Serbia itself.
Some analysts have already warned that, in the event of Kosovo's independence, it will be hard to prevent the further radicalization of the political scene in that country, in which the strongest political force even today is the extremist Serbian Radical Party, which continues to support the plan for a great Serbian state.
As support for the standpoint that the independence of Kosovo is dangerous for the region, certain Belgrade circles also cite the situation in Macedonia. It is peaceful today, but relations between the Macedonian majority and the Albanian minority, which inhabits the northwestern parts of that state next to Kosovo and Albania, cannot exactly be called exemplary. Since for the Western countries, and thus also for the United States, the keyword in tailoring peace plans or the pacification of certain tremor zones is stability, it is obviously no coincidence that Kostunica has played precisely the card of potential instability in order to prevent Kosovo from gaining independence. The extent to which he is going to succeed in that is the question, however.
Namely, all the negotiations on the future status of that region have proceeded from the principle that there is no returning to the pre-1999 situation - when Kosovo was part of Serbia - and that, in the event of independence, that sovereign entity does not have the right to unification with Albania. The Serbian prime minister, in the meantime, is offering Kosovo broad autonomy but also existence within Serbia. The Kosovo Albanians, on the other hand, see their future only outside Serbia, and that as a completely independent entity. Since is it difficult to find a compromise between those two standpoints, it comes as no surprise that the negotiations between the two sides have been stalled for quite a long time already and have not been yielding any kind of results. Now, Belgrade and Pristina have finally agreed on the continuation of those talks. Most international observers, however, are convinced that their reaching a mutual agreement is impossible.
That is the alternative that those in Washington have evidently been figuring on as well, because, as the New York Times published not long ago, they have begun the preparation of a resolution on Kosovo that the UN Security Council would adopt by 15 November of this year at the latest. According to what has been announced, Russia would also support that resolution, and, according to that proposal, Kosovo would get its de facto independence.
By making threats about the potential destabilization of the region, Kostunica is now trying to prevent the separation from Serbia of that province, which Belgrade really lost back in 1999 in the war that Milosevic waged with NATO.
Source: Vjesnik, Zagreb in Croatian 14 Jul 06
President Tadic undermining Serbia's Kosovo efforts - Serb National Council
Text of report by Serbia-Montenegrin radio Kontakt Plus on 14 July
[Announcer] Several dozen statements by Serbian President Boris Tadic regarding the fate of Kosmet [Kosovo-Metohija] cannot be described in any other terms but as unsustainable behaviour which undermines efforts by the Serbian state to keep its southern province, says a statement submitted to our radio by the Serb National Council [SNV] for Northern Kosmet [headed by Milan Ivanovic] and the Serb National Council for Kosovo-Metohija.
This was evident during a recent public interview on Serbia's national television [RTS] when President Tadic said that Kosovo was lost for Serbia, which was reported by all major US media precisely during the visit by Serbian prime minister [Vojislav Kostunica] to the United States.
The statement by the Serb National Council emphasizes that such statements by President Tadic will not help our delegation to successfully advocate our state's position on Kosmet in Washington and New York. As for Tadic's position that his predecessors were the main culprits for the fate of Kosovo-Metohija but also the responsibility of the current statesmen, the statement added, history will be the best judge of that.
Moreover, Tadic's ostentatiously jocular and numerous visits to independent Montenegro are very visible and they are not in line with the Serbian president's publicly declared advocacy of the preservation of the state union of Serbia and Montenegro, says the statement by the Serb National Council for Northern Kosmet and the Serb National Council for Kosovo-Metohija.
Source: Kontakt Plus, Kosovska Mitrovica, in Serbian 1400 gmt 14 Jul 06
[Announcer] Several dozen statements by Serbian President Boris Tadic regarding the fate of Kosmet [Kosovo-Metohija] cannot be described in any other terms but as unsustainable behaviour which undermines efforts by the Serbian state to keep its southern province, says a statement submitted to our radio by the Serb National Council [SNV] for Northern Kosmet [headed by Milan Ivanovic] and the Serb National Council for Kosovo-Metohija.
This was evident during a recent public interview on Serbia's national television [RTS] when President Tadic said that Kosovo was lost for Serbia, which was reported by all major US media precisely during the visit by Serbian prime minister [Vojislav Kostunica] to the United States.
The statement by the Serb National Council emphasizes that such statements by President Tadic will not help our delegation to successfully advocate our state's position on Kosmet in Washington and New York. As for Tadic's position that his predecessors were the main culprits for the fate of Kosovo-Metohija but also the responsibility of the current statesmen, the statement added, history will be the best judge of that.
Moreover, Tadic's ostentatiously jocular and numerous visits to independent Montenegro are very visible and they are not in line with the Serbian president's publicly declared advocacy of the preservation of the state union of Serbia and Montenegro, says the statement by the Serb National Council for Northern Kosmet and the Serb National Council for Kosovo-Metohija.
Source: Kontakt Plus, Kosovska Mitrovica, in Serbian 1400 gmt 14 Jul 06
US role in Kosovo processes "irreplaceable", PDK leader tells outgoing envoy
Text of report in English by independent internet news agency KosovaLive
Prishtina [Pristina], 14 July: Hashim Thaci, chairman of the Democratic Party of Kosova [Kosovo] [PDK], said yesterday in Prishtina that the role of the United States government in all the processes in Kosova is irreplaceable.
Thaci made these comments following a farewell meeting with the outgoing chief of the United States Office in Prishtina [USOP], Philip Goldberg.
"The role of the American government in the process of liberation, building of democracy and, in the settlement of Kosova political status is irreplaceable and very respected and honoured by the Kosovar citizens," said Thaci.
Talking about the achievements in Kosova, Thaci said that the progress that has been done until now is a merit of Kosovars and internationals, emphasizing that the US Government and the chief of the USOP have played an important role in this aspect.
"Kosova and its citizens are the most stable partners in the region to the United States and I believe that even in the future we will move together towards the fulfilling of the Standards and status settlement, which must be in full accordance with the will of the Kosovars," said Thaci.
Goldberg voiced his satisfaction with the work of the PDK in moving the processes forward.
"Many important things have happened in the recent years in Kosova, whereas Hashim Thaci and the PDK have had an important role in those events," said Goldberg, adding that they are also playing a responsible role as part of the unity team.
Source: KosovaLive website, Pristina, in English 14 Jul 06
Prishtina [Pristina], 14 July: Hashim Thaci, chairman of the Democratic Party of Kosova [Kosovo] [PDK], said yesterday in Prishtina that the role of the United States government in all the processes in Kosova is irreplaceable.
Thaci made these comments following a farewell meeting with the outgoing chief of the United States Office in Prishtina [USOP], Philip Goldberg.
"The role of the American government in the process of liberation, building of democracy and, in the settlement of Kosova political status is irreplaceable and very respected and honoured by the Kosovar citizens," said Thaci.
Talking about the achievements in Kosova, Thaci said that the progress that has been done until now is a merit of Kosovars and internationals, emphasizing that the US Government and the chief of the USOP have played an important role in this aspect.
"Kosova and its citizens are the most stable partners in the region to the United States and I believe that even in the future we will move together towards the fulfilling of the Standards and status settlement, which must be in full accordance with the will of the Kosovars," said Thaci.
Goldberg voiced his satisfaction with the work of the PDK in moving the processes forward.
"Many important things have happened in the recent years in Kosova, whereas Hashim Thaci and the PDK have had an important role in those events," said Goldberg, adding that they are also playing a responsible role as part of the unity team.
Source: KosovaLive website, Pristina, in English 14 Jul 06
UN plans top talks on Kosovo future
UNITED NATIONS, July 13, 2006 (AFP) -
The UN special envoy for Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari, said Thursday he would soon invite leaders of Serbia and Kosovo for the first high-level meeting on the territory's future status.
Speaking after briefing the Security Council on the latest developments in Kosovo, he said he hoped to have the high-level meeting in Vienna before the end of July.
He said that teams from both sides would be invited to present their positions on the status.
Leaders of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority are pushing for independence, a demand the Serbian government firmly opposes, offering instead wide autonomy to its southern province.
Russia backs its traditional ally Serbia, and its UN mbassador, Vitaly Churkin, spoke out against "imposing a solution" on Kosovo, saying he did not see any "legal, moral ground" for forcing Serbia to accept the territory's independence.
Churkin said that while a negotiated solution by the end of the year would be welcome, "we are against an artificial deadline."
The 15-member council also heard separately from Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and from Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu.
Sejdiu, the first Kosovo official to report to the council, pressed the council to back independence for the UN-run province.
In a letter published Wednesday in The Washington Post, Kostunica warned that an independent Kosovo would become "a hotbed of chronic tension in the region" because of the province's "economic inviability," widespread crime and the risk of setting a precedent for new territorial demands.
In order to keep Kosovo as an integral part of its territory, Kostunica said Serbia was "prepared to accept any form of compromise that does not entail independence," offering the Albanian majority "the greatest possible autonomy, including all legislative, executive and judicial powers."
The UN-sponsored talks on Kosovo's future status, which began in February, are taking place in Vienna but have produced no concrete results so far.
Kosovo has been run by the United Nations and NATO since June 1999 when the alliance's air strikes forced Serbian forces under ex-Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic to withdraw from the Albanian-dominated province.
The UN special envoy for Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari, said Thursday he would soon invite leaders of Serbia and Kosovo for the first high-level meeting on the territory's future status.
Speaking after briefing the Security Council on the latest developments in Kosovo, he said he hoped to have the high-level meeting in Vienna before the end of July.
He said that teams from both sides would be invited to present their positions on the status.
Leaders of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority are pushing for independence, a demand the Serbian government firmly opposes, offering instead wide autonomy to its southern province.
Russia backs its traditional ally Serbia, and its UN mbassador, Vitaly Churkin, spoke out against "imposing a solution" on Kosovo, saying he did not see any "legal, moral ground" for forcing Serbia to accept the territory's independence.
Churkin said that while a negotiated solution by the end of the year would be welcome, "we are against an artificial deadline."
The 15-member council also heard separately from Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and from Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu.
Sejdiu, the first Kosovo official to report to the council, pressed the council to back independence for the UN-run province.
In a letter published Wednesday in The Washington Post, Kostunica warned that an independent Kosovo would become "a hotbed of chronic tension in the region" because of the province's "economic inviability," widespread crime and the risk of setting a precedent for new territorial demands.
In order to keep Kosovo as an integral part of its territory, Kostunica said Serbia was "prepared to accept any form of compromise that does not entail independence," offering the Albanian majority "the greatest possible autonomy, including all legislative, executive and judicial powers."
The UN-sponsored talks on Kosovo's future status, which began in February, are taking place in Vienna but have produced no concrete results so far.
Kosovo has been run by the United Nations and NATO since June 1999 when the alliance's air strikes forced Serbian forces under ex-Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic to withdraw from the Albanian-dominated province.
Russia challenges UN power to impose Kosovo ruling
UNITED NATIONS, July 13 (Reuters) - Russia said on Thursday the United Nations had no authority to impose a solution on Serbia over the status of its breakaway Kosovo province and only a negotiated deal was acceptable.
The statement by Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin was significant as the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia have dug in their heels in the international talks aimed at determining whether Kosovo wins independence or remains a part of Serbia, making an imposed solution more likely.
"I stated today in the closed meeting of the Security Council that I do not believe that the international community has legal, political or moral ground to force Serbia into a solution on this issue," Churkin told reporters.
"There is plenty of opportunity for the sides to have their discussions, and the only stable solution, the only solution good for regional and global stability, would be a solution negotiated between the two sides," Churkin said.
Ethnic Albanians, 90 percent of the impoverished province's 2 million people, demand independence while Serbia insists Kosovo must remain within its borders, albeit with substantial autonomy.
Kosovo has been run by the United Nations since June 1999 when NATO bombs drove out Serb forces accused of atrocities against civilians while battling a guerrilla insurgency.
Martti Ahtisaari of Finland is leading the U.N.-backed process set up to determine Kosovo's eventual status. Direct talks on the fate of Kosovo began in February in Vienna, and he hopes for a result by the end of this year.
Churkin spoke after Ahtisaari briefed the council -- and then talked to reporters -- on his talks.
During the closed-door meeting, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica again ruled out independence and accused the international community of seeking to change Serbia's borders by force, diplomats attending the session said.
Ahtisaari, asked before Churkin spoke whether he thought a solution might have to be imposed because of Kostunica's hard line, said it was "entirely premature to start talking how the end result of this exercise is going to be."
But other council diplomats said an imposed solution would clearly be in order if a deal could not be negotiated.
Ahtisaari said he had strong council support for his work. "I think everyone is interested that we have a thorough process -- in the end of the day that we can say that we have done our utmost to try to find a negotiated settlement," he said.
The statement by Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin was significant as the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia have dug in their heels in the international talks aimed at determining whether Kosovo wins independence or remains a part of Serbia, making an imposed solution more likely.
"I stated today in the closed meeting of the Security Council that I do not believe that the international community has legal, political or moral ground to force Serbia into a solution on this issue," Churkin told reporters.
"There is plenty of opportunity for the sides to have their discussions, and the only stable solution, the only solution good for regional and global stability, would be a solution negotiated between the two sides," Churkin said.
Ethnic Albanians, 90 percent of the impoverished province's 2 million people, demand independence while Serbia insists Kosovo must remain within its borders, albeit with substantial autonomy.
Kosovo has been run by the United Nations since June 1999 when NATO bombs drove out Serb forces accused of atrocities against civilians while battling a guerrilla insurgency.
Martti Ahtisaari of Finland is leading the U.N.-backed process set up to determine Kosovo's eventual status. Direct talks on the fate of Kosovo began in February in Vienna, and he hopes for a result by the end of this year.
Churkin spoke after Ahtisaari briefed the council -- and then talked to reporters -- on his talks.
During the closed-door meeting, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica again ruled out independence and accused the international community of seeking to change Serbia's borders by force, diplomats attending the session said.
Ahtisaari, asked before Churkin spoke whether he thought a solution might have to be imposed because of Kostunica's hard line, said it was "entirely premature to start talking how the end result of this exercise is going to be."
But other council diplomats said an imposed solution would clearly be in order if a deal could not be negotiated.
Ahtisaari said he had strong council support for his work. "I think everyone is interested that we have a thorough process -- in the end of the day that we can say that we have done our utmost to try to find a negotiated settlement," he said.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
UN envoy "doing his job poorly" - member of Serbian negotiating team for Kosovo
Excerpt from interview with Aleksandar Simic, adviser to Serbian prime minister and member of Serbian negotiating team for Kosovo, by Biljana Mitrinovic in Belgrade entitled "Rohan's assessments do not stand" published by the Serbian newspaper Politika on 10 July
Albert Rohan, the deputy special UN envoy for Kosmet [Kosovo-Metohija], did not pay the announced visit to Belgrade last Friday [7 July]. So he had a meeting with President Tadic scheduled but not one with the prime minister?
"I do not want to go into whom the president of the republic receives. Ambassador Rohan was undoubtedly an important figure in the Austrian Foreign Ministry and is a diplomat with great international experience. However, I think that he has been doing his job poorly. He bears the greatest responsibility for the fact that the Vienna talks have not produced results to date," Aleksandar Simic, an adviser to the Serbian prime minister and a member of the [Serbian] negotiating team for Kosmet, has told Politika.
[Mitrinovic] What are your objections as far as the talks are concerned?
[Simic] They were poorly prepared, poorly conducted, the rules were not known, there are no minutes, it was not known when the next meeting would be held, what the obligations were. The assessment that the talks were unsuccessful was presented by Javier Solana, the EU foreign-policy and security representative, back in June, when he even said, in a talk with representatives of the Serbian government, that the Vienna process was dead as far as he was concerned. If we take it that Solana is a neutral observer in the talks, then that is not only my personal opinion.
[Mitrinovic] Does that have anything to do with Rohan's failure to show up in Belgrade?
[Simic] Regardless of the explanation that the health condition was the reason, it must be said that what he has achieved in terms of the so-called non-status topics so far is inadequate at this point.
[Mitrinovic] Rohan caused something of a scandal with his recent interview to Politika. How do you look on his mediation in that light?
[Simic] I, too, was surprised by the lack of tact shown by the deputy special envoy. I will not go into whether his possible exhaustion was the reason or the capability of the journalist to get answers to the questions that the interviewee would have rather avoided. In any case, it was not only that the assessments presented by Mr Rohan in that interview exceed his current mandate, but they profoundly do not stand. And, something potentially even more important, they will make the people in Serbia doubt whether the international negotiators truly and sincerely want to reach an agreement on the resolution of the Kosmet issue.
[Mitrinovic] No official invitation for the summit has arrived yet?
[Simic] As far as I know it has not. However, even the proposal that it be held in Vienna probably reflects that the special envoy himself likes his convenience, being that his Secretariat is in Vienna. Maybe the venue should be changed in view of the fact that Vienna has been a symbol of unsuccessful talks so far. Maybe the very change of venue could provide an additional motivation.
[Mitrinovic] Do you have any suggestion?
[Simic] The place is totally unimportant. It can be held in Belgrade. It can be held somewhere in Kosmet. Prime Minister Kostunica had proposed to the former prime minister of the provisional institutions in Kosmet that it take place in Prizren, Gnjilane, Pec. [Passage omitted]
[Mitrinovic] The United States and Russia have also exchanged diplomatic "volleys" that point to major differences in views in connection with Kosmet.
[Simic] The issue of negotiations on the status of Serbia's southern province is inseparably linked with the developments in international relations. One of the key reasons for Serbia's diplomatic tours is the wish that the key world factors get to understand us better and that we clearly say what we have to say, unambiguously, so that there would be no mistake later that Serbia had not said some things. I hope that we will all be guided by the existing international order, the same principles. If not, we will enter a state that could lead to greater anarchy in international relations than we have now, and anarchy is linked with instability. Instability equally does not suit the citizens of rich and poor countries, or of powerful and less powerful countries.
[Mitrinovic] The resolution of the status of Kosmet raises many questions as far as Serbia is concerned. How will the government respond to them?
[Simic] It is not just a legal and state issue. The issue is not just that 15 per cent of someone's territory is being seized and that that someone is a democratic, internationally recognized, and relatively respected country, but it is, at the same time, a matter of equal treatment. If the Serbs were treated differently when they, as Ambassador Rohan says, waged aggressive wars, how is it then possible that the treatment is the same when the Serbs not only do not wage aggressive wars but conduct an aggressive campaign for a compromise. It is simply unbelievable that you are punished the same when you pursue an aggressive campaign for a compromise as when you "waged aggressive wars."
[Mitrinovic] What concession do you expect of the Kosovo Albanians in terms of the decentralization?
[Simic] I think that it is hard to ask them for compromises at this point without more serious pressure from the international community, which has for years encouraged them that they will get something that is not rightfully theirs.
[Mitrinovic] How will then this situation be "unblocked?"
[Simic] It will be unblocked through great efforts that the negotiators will have to invest - of the kind that they have not invested so far - to find at least some points in common, like those that it was possible to find after the second round of the talks on decentralization when, in March, the Kosmet Albanians actually accepted the basic principles of our platform. Instead of making use of that for a triumph of the Vienna talks, Ambassador Rohan enlarged the decentralization list to such an extent that we started dealing with "technicalities," which we had suggested be dealt with by experts of the relevant ministries.
[Mitrinovic] Do you believe that there is a chance for the negotiators to be replaced?
[Simic] I would not go into that. However, bearing in mind the failure achieved by the deputy mediator, I think that it is up to the mediator and in his interest at least to change his deputy.
Source: Politika, Belgrade, in Serbian 10 Jul 06 pp 1, 7
Albert Rohan, the deputy special UN envoy for Kosmet [Kosovo-Metohija], did not pay the announced visit to Belgrade last Friday [7 July]. So he had a meeting with President Tadic scheduled but not one with the prime minister?
"I do not want to go into whom the president of the republic receives. Ambassador Rohan was undoubtedly an important figure in the Austrian Foreign Ministry and is a diplomat with great international experience. However, I think that he has been doing his job poorly. He bears the greatest responsibility for the fact that the Vienna talks have not produced results to date," Aleksandar Simic, an adviser to the Serbian prime minister and a member of the [Serbian] negotiating team for Kosmet, has told Politika.
[Mitrinovic] What are your objections as far as the talks are concerned?
[Simic] They were poorly prepared, poorly conducted, the rules were not known, there are no minutes, it was not known when the next meeting would be held, what the obligations were. The assessment that the talks were unsuccessful was presented by Javier Solana, the EU foreign-policy and security representative, back in June, when he even said, in a talk with representatives of the Serbian government, that the Vienna process was dead as far as he was concerned. If we take it that Solana is a neutral observer in the talks, then that is not only my personal opinion.
[Mitrinovic] Does that have anything to do with Rohan's failure to show up in Belgrade?
[Simic] Regardless of the explanation that the health condition was the reason, it must be said that what he has achieved in terms of the so-called non-status topics so far is inadequate at this point.
[Mitrinovic] Rohan caused something of a scandal with his recent interview to Politika. How do you look on his mediation in that light?
[Simic] I, too, was surprised by the lack of tact shown by the deputy special envoy. I will not go into whether his possible exhaustion was the reason or the capability of the journalist to get answers to the questions that the interviewee would have rather avoided. In any case, it was not only that the assessments presented by Mr Rohan in that interview exceed his current mandate, but they profoundly do not stand. And, something potentially even more important, they will make the people in Serbia doubt whether the international negotiators truly and sincerely want to reach an agreement on the resolution of the Kosmet issue.
[Mitrinovic] No official invitation for the summit has arrived yet?
[Simic] As far as I know it has not. However, even the proposal that it be held in Vienna probably reflects that the special envoy himself likes his convenience, being that his Secretariat is in Vienna. Maybe the venue should be changed in view of the fact that Vienna has been a symbol of unsuccessful talks so far. Maybe the very change of venue could provide an additional motivation.
[Mitrinovic] Do you have any suggestion?
[Simic] The place is totally unimportant. It can be held in Belgrade. It can be held somewhere in Kosmet. Prime Minister Kostunica had proposed to the former prime minister of the provisional institutions in Kosmet that it take place in Prizren, Gnjilane, Pec. [Passage omitted]
[Mitrinovic] The United States and Russia have also exchanged diplomatic "volleys" that point to major differences in views in connection with Kosmet.
[Simic] The issue of negotiations on the status of Serbia's southern province is inseparably linked with the developments in international relations. One of the key reasons for Serbia's diplomatic tours is the wish that the key world factors get to understand us better and that we clearly say what we have to say, unambiguously, so that there would be no mistake later that Serbia had not said some things. I hope that we will all be guided by the existing international order, the same principles. If not, we will enter a state that could lead to greater anarchy in international relations than we have now, and anarchy is linked with instability. Instability equally does not suit the citizens of rich and poor countries, or of powerful and less powerful countries.
[Mitrinovic] The resolution of the status of Kosmet raises many questions as far as Serbia is concerned. How will the government respond to them?
[Simic] It is not just a legal and state issue. The issue is not just that 15 per cent of someone's territory is being seized and that that someone is a democratic, internationally recognized, and relatively respected country, but it is, at the same time, a matter of equal treatment. If the Serbs were treated differently when they, as Ambassador Rohan says, waged aggressive wars, how is it then possible that the treatment is the same when the Serbs not only do not wage aggressive wars but conduct an aggressive campaign for a compromise. It is simply unbelievable that you are punished the same when you pursue an aggressive campaign for a compromise as when you "waged aggressive wars."
[Mitrinovic] What concession do you expect of the Kosovo Albanians in terms of the decentralization?
[Simic] I think that it is hard to ask them for compromises at this point without more serious pressure from the international community, which has for years encouraged them that they will get something that is not rightfully theirs.
[Mitrinovic] How will then this situation be "unblocked?"
[Simic] It will be unblocked through great efforts that the negotiators will have to invest - of the kind that they have not invested so far - to find at least some points in common, like those that it was possible to find after the second round of the talks on decentralization when, in March, the Kosmet Albanians actually accepted the basic principles of our platform. Instead of making use of that for a triumph of the Vienna talks, Ambassador Rohan enlarged the decentralization list to such an extent that we started dealing with "technicalities," which we had suggested be dealt with by experts of the relevant ministries.
[Mitrinovic] Do you believe that there is a chance for the negotiators to be replaced?
[Simic] I would not go into that. However, bearing in mind the failure achieved by the deputy mediator, I think that it is up to the mediator and in his interest at least to change his deputy.
Source: Politika, Belgrade, in Serbian 10 Jul 06 pp 1, 7
EU: Serbia Talks To Restart On Compliance With UN Court
HELSINKI (AP)--The European Union Thursday said talks on forging closer ties with Serbia could resume immediately if Serbia cooperates fully with the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
"We are able to restart the negotiations for Serbia's association agreement even on the same day if we find that Serbia is fully cooperating with the Hague court," E.U. Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said.
Talks on an association agreement - the first step toward eventual E.U. membership - were broken off in May after Serbia failed to arrest and hand over Gen. Ratko Mladic, wanted by the U.N. court on charges of genocide in the 1992-95 war in Bosnia.
Rehn told reporters in Helsinki that the E.U. presidency would meet Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica on Monday, who will present an "action plan" designed to ensure full cooperation with the tribunal, including the arrest and extradition of Mladic to The Hague.
"More important than the plan, which in itself is a good tool, is what happens in practice. The ball is in the Serbian court," Rehn said.
"On its part, the E.U. will strive to support democratic development in Serbia," Rehn said. "The country at the moment is politically pretty much on a knife's edge and I trust that the Serbian nation and leaders will choose a European future rather than a nationalistic past," he said, referring to the growing popularity of the far-right Radical Party which is opposed to cooperation with the war crimes court.
Rehn said the E.U. will start association negotiations with the newly independent Montenegro when it gets a mandate from E.U. member states. Earlier, he said a mandate was possible by September, after which the pre-entry deal could be concluded.
The small Balkan nation became independent from Serbia after a referendum in May.
Finland took over the E.U.'s rotating, six-month presidency on July 1, and says the Balkans will be a priority issue during its turn at the helm.
The other big issue in the region is the U.N.-mediated effort to settle Kosovo's postwar status - negotiations that Rehn said the E.U. is supporting. The U.N.-administered province remains part of Serbia, but its ethnic-Albanian population wants independence.
"We are able to restart the negotiations for Serbia's association agreement even on the same day if we find that Serbia is fully cooperating with the Hague court," E.U. Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said.
Talks on an association agreement - the first step toward eventual E.U. membership - were broken off in May after Serbia failed to arrest and hand over Gen. Ratko Mladic, wanted by the U.N. court on charges of genocide in the 1992-95 war in Bosnia.
Rehn told reporters in Helsinki that the E.U. presidency would meet Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica on Monday, who will present an "action plan" designed to ensure full cooperation with the tribunal, including the arrest and extradition of Mladic to The Hague.
"More important than the plan, which in itself is a good tool, is what happens in practice. The ball is in the Serbian court," Rehn said.
"On its part, the E.U. will strive to support democratic development in Serbia," Rehn said. "The country at the moment is politically pretty much on a knife's edge and I trust that the Serbian nation and leaders will choose a European future rather than a nationalistic past," he said, referring to the growing popularity of the far-right Radical Party which is opposed to cooperation with the war crimes court.
Rehn said the E.U. will start association negotiations with the newly independent Montenegro when it gets a mandate from E.U. member states. Earlier, he said a mandate was possible by September, after which the pre-entry deal could be concluded.
The small Balkan nation became independent from Serbia after a referendum in May.
Finland took over the E.U.'s rotating, six-month presidency on July 1, and says the Balkans will be a priority issue during its turn at the helm.
The other big issue in the region is the U.N.-mediated effort to settle Kosovo's postwar status - negotiations that Rehn said the E.U. is supporting. The U.N.-administered province remains part of Serbia, but its ethnic-Albanian population wants independence.
EU has responsibilty for Balkan stability: minister
HELSINKI, July 13, 2006 (AFP) -
The European Union (EU) has a special responsibility for the stabilisation of the Balkans, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said on Thursday.
"The EU has a particular responsibility for democracy and stability in the western Balkans and Kosovo," Rehn told reporters in Helsinki.
"We cannot have an exit strategy (from the Balkans), we must have an entry strategy," Rehn added.
The Finnish commissioner welcomed Albania's signing of an association and stabilisation agreement with the EU in June, the first step to membership of the bloc.
Rehn called on Tirana to implement the accord and respect its commitments to fight corruption and organised crime.
The EU will also have a responsibility towards Kosovo once its status is agreed and accepted, Rehn said.
"Our fundamental interest is that peace will prevail and stability will be strengthened in Kosovo," he said.
Rehn called on Pristina and Belgrade to constructively negotiate Kosovo's disputed status.
An agreement on Kosovo's status is set for the end of 2006. Leaders of Kosovo's 90 percent ethnic Albanian majority, backed by Tirana, are pushing for independence, a demand the Serbian government firmly opposes, offering instead wide autonomy for the province.
Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations and NATO since 1999, when bombing by the latter drove out forces loyal to former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic involved in a crackdown against separatist ethnic Albanian rebels.
Five former Yugoslav republics, Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, as well as Albania are currently in accession talks with the EU.
The European Union (EU) has a special responsibility for the stabilisation of the Balkans, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said on Thursday.
"The EU has a particular responsibility for democracy and stability in the western Balkans and Kosovo," Rehn told reporters in Helsinki.
"We cannot have an exit strategy (from the Balkans), we must have an entry strategy," Rehn added.
The Finnish commissioner welcomed Albania's signing of an association and stabilisation agreement with the EU in June, the first step to membership of the bloc.
Rehn called on Tirana to implement the accord and respect its commitments to fight corruption and organised crime.
The EU will also have a responsibility towards Kosovo once its status is agreed and accepted, Rehn said.
"Our fundamental interest is that peace will prevail and stability will be strengthened in Kosovo," he said.
Rehn called on Pristina and Belgrade to constructively negotiate Kosovo's disputed status.
An agreement on Kosovo's status is set for the end of 2006. Leaders of Kosovo's 90 percent ethnic Albanian majority, backed by Tirana, are pushing for independence, a demand the Serbian government firmly opposes, offering instead wide autonomy for the province.
Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations and NATO since 1999, when bombing by the latter drove out forces loyal to former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic involved in a crackdown against separatist ethnic Albanian rebels.
Five former Yugoslav republics, Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, as well as Albania are currently in accession talks with the EU.
Six new Serb municipalities to be proposed - Kosovo website
Text of report by Radio-Television Kosovo TV website on 12 July
The [Kosovo status] Negotiation Team is closer to a realistic solution in that Belgrade and Prishtina [Pristina] will be offered a maximum of six new Serb municipalities and an expansion of the current one.
The idea is to merge the villages of Lipan [Lipljan] and Gracanica, to form a municipality in Obiliq [Obilic], and new municipalities in Gjilan [Gnjilane], Kamenica, Viti [Vitina] and in Northern Mitrovica and also expanding the municipality of Novobrdo.
This solution would be a compromise of the diametrically opposed stances that Belgrade and Prishtina have, but it also allows for an agreement on the borders of the new municipalities. According to evaluations, this solution would include more than 75 per cent of the Serb population in Kosova.
Source: RTK TV website, Pristina, in Albanian 12 Jul 06
The [Kosovo status] Negotiation Team is closer to a realistic solution in that Belgrade and Prishtina [Pristina] will be offered a maximum of six new Serb municipalities and an expansion of the current one.
The idea is to merge the villages of Lipan [Lipljan] and Gracanica, to form a municipality in Obiliq [Obilic], and new municipalities in Gjilan [Gnjilane], Kamenica, Viti [Vitina] and in Northern Mitrovica and also expanding the municipality of Novobrdo.
This solution would be a compromise of the diametrically opposed stances that Belgrade and Prishtina have, but it also allows for an agreement on the borders of the new municipalities. According to evaluations, this solution would include more than 75 per cent of the Serb population in Kosova.
Source: RTK TV website, Pristina, in Albanian 12 Jul 06
Kosovo government earmarks funds for minority media
Text of report by Radio-Television Kosovo TV website on 12 July
The commission for managing funds for the support of the minority and multiethnic media today allocated grants totalling 50,000 euros with the aim of supporting media run by minorities in Kosova [Kosovo].
In the ceremony to hand over the grants, Kosova Prime Minister Agim Ceku said that the Kosova government would continue its sincere support for all communities in Kosova so that they can have a better approach to information. He also stressed that these grants aim to improve the quality of the information received and to ensure that the information reaches all communities in their mother tongue, Kosova Prime Minister Agim Ceku said.
Source: RTK TV website, Pristina, in Albanian 12 Jul 06
The commission for managing funds for the support of the minority and multiethnic media today allocated grants totalling 50,000 euros with the aim of supporting media run by minorities in Kosova [Kosovo].
In the ceremony to hand over the grants, Kosova Prime Minister Agim Ceku said that the Kosova government would continue its sincere support for all communities in Kosova so that they can have a better approach to information. He also stressed that these grants aim to improve the quality of the information received and to ensure that the information reaches all communities in their mother tongue, Kosova Prime Minister Agim Ceku said.
Source: RTK TV website, Pristina, in Albanian 12 Jul 06
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
European Parliament's Pack satisfied with course of Macedonia elections
Text of report in English by Macedonian state news agency MIA
Skopje, 12 July: In an interview with radio Deutsche Welle - Programme in Macedonian Language, Head of the European Parliament delegation for Southeast Europe relations, Doris Pack expressed satisfaction from the course of the parliamentary elections in Macedonia.
I am satisfied from the development of the parliamentary elections in Macedonia. We feared that clashes among Albanians that started before the election campaign would continue. However, this was not confirmed, which is good and I hope that it is a signal that the situation among Albanians will be brought into order in the future, Pack states.
She does not expect any problems in the cooperation between the new Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and parties of Albanians in the government.
I believe that VMRO-DPMNE [Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity] worked well in its prior government with the party of Arben Xhaferi. I remember that the first activities that gave the chance to Albanians to feel as equal citizens began at that time, which would have continued if not for the intrusion from Kosovo and the fierce attacks. We have had the Ohrid Agreement in the meantime, which resulted in the end of the conflict, and I am certain that VMRO-DPMNE will continue to work on those foundations, Pack stresses.
According to her, all five Balkan states will not become part of EU together, but each country would be assessed individually according to its own achievements.
We have always said that each country will access according to its own achievements. One country cannot hold another hostage and block its integration in the European Union just because it is inconsistent, Doris Pack says in the interview with the Macedonian programme of radio Deutsche Welle.
Source: MIA news agency, Skopje, in English 1604 gmt 12 Jul 06
Skopje, 12 July: In an interview with radio Deutsche Welle - Programme in Macedonian Language, Head of the European Parliament delegation for Southeast Europe relations, Doris Pack expressed satisfaction from the course of the parliamentary elections in Macedonia.
I am satisfied from the development of the parliamentary elections in Macedonia. We feared that clashes among Albanians that started before the election campaign would continue. However, this was not confirmed, which is good and I hope that it is a signal that the situation among Albanians will be brought into order in the future, Pack states.
She does not expect any problems in the cooperation between the new Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and parties of Albanians in the government.
I believe that VMRO-DPMNE [Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity] worked well in its prior government with the party of Arben Xhaferi. I remember that the first activities that gave the chance to Albanians to feel as equal citizens began at that time, which would have continued if not for the intrusion from Kosovo and the fierce attacks. We have had the Ohrid Agreement in the meantime, which resulted in the end of the conflict, and I am certain that VMRO-DPMNE will continue to work on those foundations, Pack stresses.
According to her, all five Balkan states will not become part of EU together, but each country would be assessed individually according to its own achievements.
We have always said that each country will access according to its own achievements. One country cannot hold another hostage and block its integration in the European Union just because it is inconsistent, Doris Pack says in the interview with the Macedonian programme of radio Deutsche Welle.
Source: MIA news agency, Skopje, in English 1604 gmt 12 Jul 06
Milosevic's policies compromise Serbia's negotiating position on Kosovo - Tadic
Text of report by Serbian TV on 12 July
[Presenter] The main portion of Serbian President Boris Tadic's interview with our television [last night] was devoted to Kosovo-Metohija. President Tadic confirmed that he and Prime Minister [Vojislav] Kostunica had written a letter to the UN special envoy for Kosovo-Metohija, Maarti Ahtisaari, demanding that adequate preparations should take place and that a precise procedure be established ahead of the forthcoming meeting [between Belgrade, Pristina teams] in Vienna. Tadic said that the meeting in Vienna scheduled for 24 July would be held between the presidents and prime ministers of both Serbia and Kosovo.
[Reporter] The Serbian president emphasized that negotiations about the status of the southern Serbian province had not achieved much so far, adding that our team's room for manoeuvre had been reduced due to the wrong policy pursued during the 1990s. Today, President Tadic said, both the prime minister and he himself had same positions about Kosovo-Metohija.
[Tadic] We are nevertheless left with diplomacy, first of all. Wars on the territory of the Balkans should not be waged any longer. War should not be waged anywhere in the world, either, but in the Balkans - our experience has taught us - this would have disastrous consequences for Serbia's interests, catastrophic consequences for our country's integrity and, first of all, for our citizens.
[Reporter] Speaking about cooperation with the Hague tribunal, the Serbian president emphasized that he hoped that the adoption and implementation of the [government-proposed] Action Plan [for Hague cooperation] would complete this cooperation. Although he did not take part in consultations over this issue, Tadic claimed that he was ready to help the government, adding that his cabinet had already prepared the proposal for an action plan in case the government is restricted by time [as heard].
President Tadic reiterated that parliamentary elections in Serbia should be held this autumn. He noted that through the elections, as a factor of stability, a stable government would be elected which would lead Serbia to a stable port, the European Union.
[Tadic] Why am I proposing elections for as early as this autumn? I believe that it would be good for the discussion about Serbia's future to be held in a peaceful atmosphere, and that the elections should be held in a positive atmosphere full of incentives, and that a government would be elected which could administer the country for a long time, over four years, a stable government - that this government should share European and democratic values. I advocate this position and I am not going to give it up.
[Reporter] The Serbian president assessed that according to the current procedure bequeathed to us from the time of [former Serbian and Yugoslav President] Slobodan Milosevic, it was very difficult to pass a new constitution. As important issues to be solved by this highest legal act, President Tadic cited the issue of property, protection of minorities, decentralization which includes the issue of Vojvodina, as well as the election of the president.
Source: RTS 1 TV, Belgrade, in Serbian 1000 gmt 12 Jul 06
[Presenter] The main portion of Serbian President Boris Tadic's interview with our television [last night] was devoted to Kosovo-Metohija. President Tadic confirmed that he and Prime Minister [Vojislav] Kostunica had written a letter to the UN special envoy for Kosovo-Metohija, Maarti Ahtisaari, demanding that adequate preparations should take place and that a precise procedure be established ahead of the forthcoming meeting [between Belgrade, Pristina teams] in Vienna. Tadic said that the meeting in Vienna scheduled for 24 July would be held between the presidents and prime ministers of both Serbia and Kosovo.
[Reporter] The Serbian president emphasized that negotiations about the status of the southern Serbian province had not achieved much so far, adding that our team's room for manoeuvre had been reduced due to the wrong policy pursued during the 1990s. Today, President Tadic said, both the prime minister and he himself had same positions about Kosovo-Metohija.
[Tadic] We are nevertheless left with diplomacy, first of all. Wars on the territory of the Balkans should not be waged any longer. War should not be waged anywhere in the world, either, but in the Balkans - our experience has taught us - this would have disastrous consequences for Serbia's interests, catastrophic consequences for our country's integrity and, first of all, for our citizens.
[Reporter] Speaking about cooperation with the Hague tribunal, the Serbian president emphasized that he hoped that the adoption and implementation of the [government-proposed] Action Plan [for Hague cooperation] would complete this cooperation. Although he did not take part in consultations over this issue, Tadic claimed that he was ready to help the government, adding that his cabinet had already prepared the proposal for an action plan in case the government is restricted by time [as heard].
President Tadic reiterated that parliamentary elections in Serbia should be held this autumn. He noted that through the elections, as a factor of stability, a stable government would be elected which would lead Serbia to a stable port, the European Union.
[Tadic] Why am I proposing elections for as early as this autumn? I believe that it would be good for the discussion about Serbia's future to be held in a peaceful atmosphere, and that the elections should be held in a positive atmosphere full of incentives, and that a government would be elected which could administer the country for a long time, over four years, a stable government - that this government should share European and democratic values. I advocate this position and I am not going to give it up.
[Reporter] The Serbian president assessed that according to the current procedure bequeathed to us from the time of [former Serbian and Yugoslav President] Slobodan Milosevic, it was very difficult to pass a new constitution. As important issues to be solved by this highest legal act, President Tadic cited the issue of property, protection of minorities, decentralization which includes the issue of Vojvodina, as well as the election of the president.
Source: RTS 1 TV, Belgrade, in Serbian 1000 gmt 12 Jul 06
Kosovo Serbs, Belgrade not ready to accept Kosovo independence - official
Text of report by Serbian independent news agency FoNet
Kosovska Mitrovica, 11 July: A member of the [Serbian] negotiation team [for Kosovo], Goran Bogdanovic, has told FoNet that part of the international community advocated Kosovo-Metohija independence, but none of the Serbs in Kosmet [Kosovo-Metohija] are ready to accept such a position and, most importantly, nobody in Belgrade is ready to accept independence.
Bogdanovic said that "vigorous diplomatic activity by the president and prime minister of Serbia and the other top Serbian officials was going on in that direction, in order to explain the situation existing in Kosovo".
He said the assumption that the Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija had little to say in the negotiating process about the future status [of Kosovo] "does not hold".
"If we believe that Kosovo-Metohija, and this is the case, is an integral part of Serbia, the state's top echelon must decide about its future status, and it should bear the brunt of the responsibility. Serbs in Kosovo have participated in all the working groups which have met in Vienna and I think they are adequately represented," Bogdanovic said.
Bogdanovic said that care should be taken about all Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija, recalling that two-thirds of the Serbs live south of the Ibar River [dividing Kosovska Mitrovica].
"We can certainly not exclusively think about northern Kosovo," Bodganovic said.
Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1636 gmt 11 Jul 06
Kosovska Mitrovica, 11 July: A member of the [Serbian] negotiation team [for Kosovo], Goran Bogdanovic, has told FoNet that part of the international community advocated Kosovo-Metohija independence, but none of the Serbs in Kosmet [Kosovo-Metohija] are ready to accept such a position and, most importantly, nobody in Belgrade is ready to accept independence.
Bogdanovic said that "vigorous diplomatic activity by the president and prime minister of Serbia and the other top Serbian officials was going on in that direction, in order to explain the situation existing in Kosovo".
He said the assumption that the Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija had little to say in the negotiating process about the future status [of Kosovo] "does not hold".
"If we believe that Kosovo-Metohija, and this is the case, is an integral part of Serbia, the state's top echelon must decide about its future status, and it should bear the brunt of the responsibility. Serbs in Kosovo have participated in all the working groups which have met in Vienna and I think they are adequately represented," Bogdanovic said.
Bogdanovic said that care should be taken about all Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija, recalling that two-thirds of the Serbs live south of the Ibar River [dividing Kosovska Mitrovica].
"We can certainly not exclusively think about northern Kosovo," Bodganovic said.
Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1636 gmt 11 Jul 06
UN expects top level Kosovo meeting by end-July
PRISTINA, Serbia, July 12 (Reuters) - U.N. mediators in talks on the fate of Kosovo expect to chair the highest-level meeting of Serbs and pro-independence ethnic Albanians since the 1998-99 war in the last week of July, a U.N. official said.
The meeting in Vienna should bring together Serbian President Boris Tadic, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, and the interim president and prime minister of the breakaway province, Fatmir Sejdiu and Agim Ceku.
The "final status" of Serbia's southern province -- independence or autonomy -- will top the agenda, after six rounds of lower-level talks on minority and religious rights.
"It is planned for the week beginning the 24th," Hua Jiang, spokeswoman for U.N. chief envoy Martti Ahtisaari, said by phone from New York late on Tuesday.
Ahtisaari will send the invitations after briefing the U.N. Security Council on Thursday.
Tadic told Serbian state television the meeting was "foreseen" for July 24, but said the Serbs had asked for clarification of how Ahtisaari planned to conduct the talks.
"The Serb side has addressed a letter to Ahtisaari asking for specification of the conditions under which the negotiations will be conducted and the entire structure and format," he said.
It will be the highest-level encounter since the two-year war between Belgrade and ethnic Albanian guerrillas, which NATO ended in 1999 by bombing for 11 weeks to drive out Serb forces and halt a wave of civilian killings and ethnic cleansing.
Some 10,000 Albanians died and 800,000 were expelled, marking the culmination of a decade of Serb repression under late strongman Slobodan Milosevic.
After being run by the United Nations for seven years, the 90 percent Albanian majority demands independence, though Serbia's post-Milosevic reformers have so far rejected this.
Direct talks on the fate of the impoverished province of 2 million people began in February in Vienna.
Ahtisaari will report to the Security Council after the July meeting, but diplomats say it is uncertain whether he will call for more talks between the top leaders. The former Finnish president, who is pursuing a shuttle mission parallel to direct talks, is working to a year-end deadline set by the West.
Diplomats say Kosovo is heading for independence, under European Union supervision and secured by a NATO peace force that currently numbers 17,000 soldiers.
The major powers setting policy on Kosovo said the settlement should be acceptable to its people, but Moscow has cautioned against setting any "artificial timetable".
Ahtisaari is trying to secure more rights for Kosovo's 100,000 ghettoised Serbs, who Westernpower fear could quit the province en masse. About as many fled revenge attacks in 1999.
The meeting in Vienna should bring together Serbian President Boris Tadic, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, and the interim president and prime minister of the breakaway province, Fatmir Sejdiu and Agim Ceku.
The "final status" of Serbia's southern province -- independence or autonomy -- will top the agenda, after six rounds of lower-level talks on minority and religious rights.
"It is planned for the week beginning the 24th," Hua Jiang, spokeswoman for U.N. chief envoy Martti Ahtisaari, said by phone from New York late on Tuesday.
Ahtisaari will send the invitations after briefing the U.N. Security Council on Thursday.
Tadic told Serbian state television the meeting was "foreseen" for July 24, but said the Serbs had asked for clarification of how Ahtisaari planned to conduct the talks.
"The Serb side has addressed a letter to Ahtisaari asking for specification of the conditions under which the negotiations will be conducted and the entire structure and format," he said.
It will be the highest-level encounter since the two-year war between Belgrade and ethnic Albanian guerrillas, which NATO ended in 1999 by bombing for 11 weeks to drive out Serb forces and halt a wave of civilian killings and ethnic cleansing.
Some 10,000 Albanians died and 800,000 were expelled, marking the culmination of a decade of Serb repression under late strongman Slobodan Milosevic.
After being run by the United Nations for seven years, the 90 percent Albanian majority demands independence, though Serbia's post-Milosevic reformers have so far rejected this.
Direct talks on the fate of the impoverished province of 2 million people began in February in Vienna.
Ahtisaari will report to the Security Council after the July meeting, but diplomats say it is uncertain whether he will call for more talks between the top leaders. The former Finnish president, who is pursuing a shuttle mission parallel to direct talks, is working to a year-end deadline set by the West.
Diplomats say Kosovo is heading for independence, under European Union supervision and secured by a NATO peace force that currently numbers 17,000 soldiers.
The major powers setting policy on Kosovo said the settlement should be acceptable to its people, but Moscow has cautioned against setting any "artificial timetable".
Ahtisaari is trying to secure more rights for Kosovo's 100,000 ghettoised Serbs, who Westernpower fear could quit the province en masse. About as many fled revenge attacks in 1999.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Envoy urges Serbia to tackle case of US citizens killed in 1999
Text of report in English by Belgrade-based Radio B92 text website on 11 July
Belgrade, 10 July: US Ambassador to Serbia [Michael Polt] has once again urged the authorities to complete the investigation into the Bytyqi brothers [US citizens who whose corpses were found in a mass grave in Serbia] case.
Ambassador Michael Polt brought up the case of American citizens executed in Serbia seven years ago and asked the authorities to issue indictments against the perpetrators, the US embassy communicated.
The bodies of brothers Ylli, Agron and Mehmet were discovered in 2001, in a mass grave in Petrovo Selo near Kladovo [in eastern Serbia]. Their hands were tied and they had gunshot wounds to the head.
US embassy press release stresses that "although there is currently a Serbian investigation under way and three persons suspected of involvement in the case have been taken into custody this year, to date there have been no indictments issued since the killings seven years ago". The ambassador urged the Serbian authorities to "solve this case rapidly, no matter where the evidence may lead, prosecute the perpetrators of this criminal act, and bring justice and closure to the Bytyqi family."
The three brothers were born in the US and resided in New York prior to going to Kosovo during the conflict in 1999. On 26 June 1999, after NATO's campaign had ended, they were arrested by Serbian officials at the administrative border with Serbia for violating the Law on Movement and Stay of Aliens. On 27 June, the brothers were sentenced in Prokuplje to 15 days in prison. On 8 July, four days before the expiration of their sentence, they were taken by Serbian officials to the Petrovo Selo facility, illegally detained, and subsequently executed, the embassy release reads. War crimes prosecutor's office in Belgrade asked on 1 March this year for an investigation of the two suspects to proceed, on charges of war crimes against prisoners in 1999. In the interest of the investigation, the names of suspects have been withheld. In mid May, Ministry of the Interior (MUP) detained Aleksandar Nikolic, a member of the MUP's Gendarmerie unit from Novi Sad, on suspicion of having taken part in and aided the transfer of the Bytyqi brothers' bodies from Prokuplje to Petrovo Selo. At that time, a complete investigation it the case was announced, as well as interviews with 17 witnesses. The persons in question were trained in the special and search-and-operations police units, commanded by Goran Radosavljevic-Guri.
Belgrade, 10 July: US Ambassador to Serbia [Michael Polt] has once again urged the authorities to complete the investigation into the Bytyqi brothers [US citizens who whose corpses were found in a mass grave in Serbia] case.
Ambassador Michael Polt brought up the case of American citizens executed in Serbia seven years ago and asked the authorities to issue indictments against the perpetrators, the US embassy communicated.
The bodies of brothers Ylli, Agron and Mehmet were discovered in 2001, in a mass grave in Petrovo Selo near Kladovo [in eastern Serbia]. Their hands were tied and they had gunshot wounds to the head.
US embassy press release stresses that "although there is currently a Serbian investigation under way and three persons suspected of involvement in the case have been taken into custody this year, to date there have been no indictments issued since the killings seven years ago". The ambassador urged the Serbian authorities to "solve this case rapidly, no matter where the evidence may lead, prosecute the perpetrators of this criminal act, and bring justice and closure to the Bytyqi family."
The three brothers were born in the US and resided in New York prior to going to Kosovo during the conflict in 1999. On 26 June 1999, after NATO's campaign had ended, they were arrested by Serbian officials at the administrative border with Serbia for violating the Law on Movement and Stay of Aliens. On 27 June, the brothers were sentenced in Prokuplje to 15 days in prison. On 8 July, four days before the expiration of their sentence, they were taken by Serbian officials to the Petrovo Selo facility, illegally detained, and subsequently executed, the embassy release reads. War crimes prosecutor's office in Belgrade asked on 1 March this year for an investigation of the two suspects to proceed, on charges of war crimes against prisoners in 1999. In the interest of the investigation, the names of suspects have been withheld. In mid May, Ministry of the Interior (MUP) detained Aleksandar Nikolic, a member of the MUP's Gendarmerie unit from Novi Sad, on suspicion of having taken part in and aided the transfer of the Bytyqi brothers' bodies from Prokuplje to Petrovo Selo. At that time, a complete investigation it the case was announced, as well as interviews with 17 witnesses. The persons in question were trained in the special and search-and-operations police units, commanded by Goran Radosavljevic-Guri.
Kosovo president to ask UN to back independence for province
PRISTINA, Serbia, July 11, 2006 (AFP) -
Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu said on Tuesday that he would ask the UN Security Council to support independence for the southern Serbian province, administered by the United Nations.
"I will ask the Security Council to support the process achieved so far in Kosovo.... At the same time, I will ask for support for Kosovo independence," Sejdiu told reporters in the provincial capital Pristina.
Sejdiu, who was expected to address the Security Council on Thursday to express his view on the situation in Kosovo, met with members of the province's negotiating team in Pristina.
He will be the first Kosovo official to report to the top UN body.
The UN-sponsored talks on Kosovo's future status began in February, but have produced no concrete results so far.
Leaders of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority are pushing for independence, a demand the Serbian government firmly opposes, offering instead wide autonomy for the province.
The UN's top envoy for Kosovo, Finnish diplomat Martti Ahtisaari, will present his report on the progress made during the talks between Pristina and Belgrade at the same session of the UN Security Council.
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica will also address the council about the talks.
Sejdiu said he would also demand Kosovo be given a seat in the United Nations.
"Each sovereign country wants to become an important factor of the international community... and a seat (for Kosovo) in the UN is necessary," Sejdiu said.
Sejdiu said he had received no invitation to meet Kostunica during their stay in New York.
Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations and NATO since 1999, when bombing by the latter drove out forces loyal to former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic involved in a brutal crackdown against separatist ethnic Albanian rebels.
Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu said on Tuesday that he would ask the UN Security Council to support independence for the southern Serbian province, administered by the United Nations.
"I will ask the Security Council to support the process achieved so far in Kosovo.... At the same time, I will ask for support for Kosovo independence," Sejdiu told reporters in the provincial capital Pristina.
Sejdiu, who was expected to address the Security Council on Thursday to express his view on the situation in Kosovo, met with members of the province's negotiating team in Pristina.
He will be the first Kosovo official to report to the top UN body.
The UN-sponsored talks on Kosovo's future status began in February, but have produced no concrete results so far.
Leaders of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority are pushing for independence, a demand the Serbian government firmly opposes, offering instead wide autonomy for the province.
The UN's top envoy for Kosovo, Finnish diplomat Martti Ahtisaari, will present his report on the progress made during the talks between Pristina and Belgrade at the same session of the UN Security Council.
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica will also address the council about the talks.
Sejdiu said he would also demand Kosovo be given a seat in the United Nations.
"Each sovereign country wants to become an important factor of the international community... and a seat (for Kosovo) in the UN is necessary," Sejdiu said.
Sejdiu said he had received no invitation to meet Kostunica during their stay in New York.
Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations and NATO since 1999, when bombing by the latter drove out forces loyal to former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic involved in a brutal crackdown against separatist ethnic Albanian rebels.
Pupovac holds talks with Kosovo Serbs
ZAGREB, July 11 (Hina) - The president of the Serb People's Council (SNV), Milorad Pupovac, on Tuesday held talks with a delegation of Kosovo Serbs visiting Croatia on the occasion of the 150th anniversary Nikola Tesla's birth.
Pupovac told reporters the talks focused on the status and position of Serbs. He welcomed the change of the minority policy in Croatia.
Pupovac said Serbs in Kosovo advocated dialogue with the Albanian majority so as to ensure an appropriate status for Kosovo in cooperation with the international community.
The head of the Kosovo Serb delegation, members of the Kosovo parliament presidency Oliver Ivanovic, said the delegation wanted to get more information about Croatia's position on the Kosovo issue, because Kosovo's future also depended on the positions of countries of the region, including Croatia.
We want Croatia to support the agreed and not the imposed solutions, Ivanovic said. He said the best solution would be a temporary one until the entire Balkans joined the EU.
Pupovac told reporters the talks focused on the status and position of Serbs. He welcomed the change of the minority policy in Croatia.
Pupovac said Serbs in Kosovo advocated dialogue with the Albanian majority so as to ensure an appropriate status for Kosovo in cooperation with the international community.
The head of the Kosovo Serb delegation, members of the Kosovo parliament presidency Oliver Ivanovic, said the delegation wanted to get more information about Croatia's position on the Kosovo issue, because Kosovo's future also depended on the positions of countries of the region, including Croatia.
We want Croatia to support the agreed and not the imposed solutions, Ivanovic said. He said the best solution would be a temporary one until the entire Balkans joined the EU.
President Sejdiu to tell UNSC Kosovo independence "non-negotiable"
Text of report in English by independent internet news agency KosovaLive
Prishtina [Pristina], 11 July: Kosova [Kosovo] President Fatmir Sejdiu declared that, on his presentation at the UN Security Council, he will ask for the support for Kosova's independence which is non-negotiable for the Kosova party.
"I will call on the Security Council to help Kosova processes and I will call for the support of Kosova's independence, and I can say that we have a clear formula that has been decided in higher levels that independence is non-negotiable and this stance is unyielding," said Sejdiu.
Sejdiu made these comments today following a meeting with the Negotiation Team, which was gathered for the occasion of his presentation at the UN Security Council on 13 July, the same day that Serbia's Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and the UN Special Envoy for Kosova Status Martti Ahtisaari will report to the UN.
Sejdiu said that he has the support of all the institutions, as well as the opposition parties, which are members of Negotiation Team, adding that he will present the current situation in Kosova and the status talks developments in the UN Security Council.
"It is a very important moment to address the Security Council members and to present the aspects of our political vision," said Sejdiu.
President Sejdiu informed today the Negotiation Team about the meeting that will be held in Vienna and also it was discussed about the answers to the questions that were made during a visit to Prishtina by Albert Rohan, deputy head of the negotiations for the status of Kosova.
"It will be an answer that is a general issue of our access in the negotiations so this process ends in Kosova's favour," said Sejdiu, adding that the Negotiation Team will meet next Monday [17 July] to discuss furthermore about this issue.
Source: KosovaLive website, Pristina, in English 11 Jul 06
Prishtina [Pristina], 11 July: Kosova [Kosovo] President Fatmir Sejdiu declared that, on his presentation at the UN Security Council, he will ask for the support for Kosova's independence which is non-negotiable for the Kosova party.
"I will call on the Security Council to help Kosova processes and I will call for the support of Kosova's independence, and I can say that we have a clear formula that has been decided in higher levels that independence is non-negotiable and this stance is unyielding," said Sejdiu.
Sejdiu made these comments today following a meeting with the Negotiation Team, which was gathered for the occasion of his presentation at the UN Security Council on 13 July, the same day that Serbia's Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and the UN Special Envoy for Kosova Status Martti Ahtisaari will report to the UN.
Sejdiu said that he has the support of all the institutions, as well as the opposition parties, which are members of Negotiation Team, adding that he will present the current situation in Kosova and the status talks developments in the UN Security Council.
"It is a very important moment to address the Security Council members and to present the aspects of our political vision," said Sejdiu.
President Sejdiu informed today the Negotiation Team about the meeting that will be held in Vienna and also it was discussed about the answers to the questions that were made during a visit to Prishtina by Albert Rohan, deputy head of the negotiations for the status of Kosova.
"It will be an answer that is a general issue of our access in the negotiations so this process ends in Kosova's favour," said Sejdiu, adding that the Negotiation Team will meet next Monday [17 July] to discuss furthermore about this issue.
Source: KosovaLive website, Pristina, in English 11 Jul 06
Serbian pime minister meets Rice; is firm on Kosovo
WASHINGTON, July 11, 2006 (AFP) -
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica on Tuesday said independence for Kosovo was "out of the question" after meeting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Kostunica said he had held constructive talks with Rice, but after the meeting he laid out a firm position on UN sponsored-talks on Kosovo's future status.
He told reporters outside the State Department that independence for Kosovo was "out of the question."
"Independence is something that the Serbian authorities cannot accept," he added.
Kostunica was also due to address a meeting Thursday of the UN Security Council. Before he left Belgrade, Serbian government spokesman Srdjan Djuric said the prime minister would "warn that every imposed solution (on Kosovo) and snatching away 15 percent of (Serbian) territory is absolutely unacceptable for Serbia."
The UN-sponsored talks on Kosovo's future status began in February, but have produced no concrete results so far. The leaders of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority are pushing for independence, a demand the Serbian government firmly opposes, offering wide autonomy for the province.
The next round of talks -- so far focused on technical, religious and cultural issues -- is to be held later this month in Vienna.
Legally still a province of Serbia, Kosovo has been run by the United Nations and NATO since 1999, when the alliance's air strikes ended a crackdown by forces loyal to then Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic against Albanian separatists.
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica on Tuesday said independence for Kosovo was "out of the question" after meeting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Kostunica said he had held constructive talks with Rice, but after the meeting he laid out a firm position on UN sponsored-talks on Kosovo's future status.
He told reporters outside the State Department that independence for Kosovo was "out of the question."
"Independence is something that the Serbian authorities cannot accept," he added.
Kostunica was also due to address a meeting Thursday of the UN Security Council. Before he left Belgrade, Serbian government spokesman Srdjan Djuric said the prime minister would "warn that every imposed solution (on Kosovo) and snatching away 15 percent of (Serbian) territory is absolutely unacceptable for Serbia."
The UN-sponsored talks on Kosovo's future status began in February, but have produced no concrete results so far. The leaders of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority are pushing for independence, a demand the Serbian government firmly opposes, offering wide autonomy for the province.
The next round of talks -- so far focused on technical, religious and cultural issues -- is to be held later this month in Vienna.
Legally still a province of Serbia, Kosovo has been run by the United Nations and NATO since 1999, when the alliance's air strikes ended a crackdown by forces loyal to then Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic against Albanian separatists.
Serbia's May Foreign Debt Down to $16.966 Bln from $17.019 Bln in April - Table
BELGRADE (Serbia), July 11 (SeeNews) - Serbia's foreign debt fell slightly to $16.966 billion (13.323 billion euro) at the end of May from $17.019 billion a month earlier, preliminary central bank figures showed on Tuesday.
SERBIA'S FOREIGN DEBT (in billions of U.S. dollars):
....................................................................MAY'06...........APR'06...............END'05
TOTAL DEBT...............................................16.966.............17.019...............15.467
International financial institutions................5.245..............5.115..................4.722
--IMF..............................................................0.969............0.960.................0.866
--IBRD............................................................2.303............2.250.................2.133
--IDA..............................................................0.516............0.498.................0.468
--EUROFIMA..................................................0.168.............0.163.................0.161
--IFC..............................................................0.075............0.073.................0.073
--EIB...............................................................0.399............0.391................0.326
--European Community...................................0.351............0.343.................0.324
--EUROFOND...................................................0.034.............0.028................0.022
--EBRD............................................................0.411.............0.399................0.349
Governments...................................................3.102.............3.060................3.680
--Paris Club.....................................................2.346.............2.308................2.945
---consolidated debt........................................2.072............2.038.................2.581
---debt after 20.12.2000..................................0.274............0.269................0.364
--other governments........................................0.757............0.752................0.734
London Club-restructured debt.........................1.076............1.076...............1.076
London Club-non-restructured debt..................0.092............0.091................0.088
Other creditors...................................................5.680............5.483...............4.282
Short-term debt.................................................1.666...........2.089.................1.514
Clearing debt......................................................0.106.........0.106...................0.106
NOTE: Serbia's end-May foreign debt figure included the $1.168 billion in debt owed by the country's southern province of Kosovo, now a U.N. protectorate.
SERBIA'S FOREIGN DEBT (in billions of U.S. dollars):
....................................................................MAY'06...........APR'06...............END'05
TOTAL DEBT...............................................16.966.............17.019...............15.467
International financial institutions................5.245..............5.115..................4.722
--IMF..............................................................0.969............0.960.................0.866
--IBRD............................................................2.303............2.250.................2.133
--IDA..............................................................0.516............0.498.................0.468
--EUROFIMA..................................................0.168.............0.163.................0.161
--IFC..............................................................0.075............0.073.................0.073
--EIB...............................................................0.399............0.391................0.326
--European Community...................................0.351............0.343.................0.324
--EUROFOND...................................................0.034.............0.028................0.022
--EBRD............................................................0.411.............0.399................0.349
Governments...................................................3.102.............3.060................3.680
--Paris Club.....................................................2.346.............2.308................2.945
---consolidated debt........................................2.072............2.038.................2.581
---debt after 20.12.2000..................................0.274............0.269................0.364
--other governments........................................0.757............0.752................0.734
London Club-restructured debt.........................1.076............1.076...............1.076
London Club-non-restructured debt..................0.092............0.091................0.088
Other creditors...................................................5.680............5.483...............4.282
Short-term debt.................................................1.666...........2.089.................1.514
Clearing debt......................................................0.106.........0.106...................0.106
NOTE: Serbia's end-May foreign debt figure included the $1.168 billion in debt owed by the country's southern province of Kosovo, now a U.N. protectorate.
Greece and the Balkans
Alexandros P. Mallias, SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES
699 words
11 July 2006
The Washington Times
A17
English
© 2006 Washington Times Library. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights reserved.
Greece's involvement in the Balkans is not new. Even before the foundation of the modern Greek state, the idea of a Balkan cooperation existed. The idea of a Balkan Federation, which Greece would lead, was conceived, toward the end of the 18th century, by Rigas Velestinlis, a man inspired by the ideals of freedom and democracy. Rigas visualized a Balkan region where people could move freely from country to country, where trade would be conducted without barriers, a region of prosperity for its peoples.
Now, more than 200 years after its conception, this idea, modified to some extent, is to become a reality. The Balkans are now at the doorstep of the European Union. Greece gave a historic boost to the Western Balkans' legitimate European aspirations at the 2003 Thessaloniki Summit, during its EU presidency.
Greece devised a long-term policy based on three solid pillars: (a) integration of the countries of the region into the EU and NATO, (b) economic development and investment and (c) regional cooperation.
The integration of Greece's neighborhood into the European and Euro-Atlantic institutions, upon fulfillment of specific criteria and conditions, has become our policy's fundamental strategic goal. In January 2007, Bulgaria and Romania will be the first Balkan countries to join the EU. Greece was the first among its EU partners, in the mid-'90s, to advocate Bulgaria's and Romania's accession. European integration and the prospect of EU membership is the strongest single soft power mechanism for encouraging reforms, consolidating democracy, establishing the rule of law, strengthening institutions and eventually bringing economic prosperity.
Greece has become a leading investor in the Balkans, with investments of more than $10 billion, and the generation of 200,000 new jobs. The volume of trade between Greece and its Balkan neighbors is more than $4 billion. In addition, Greece launched in 2002 a five-year development aid initiative called the Hellenic Plan for the Economic Reconstruction of the Balkans, which amounts to a $670 million program, and aims at promoting the economic development of Greece's neighboring Balkan countries.
Many problems that the Balkans face are common to the countries of the region. It is therefore natural to deal with them in common. Regional cooperation is essential for ethnic reconciliation, to increase regional ownership and allow the Balkan counties to address, in a coordinated manner, issues of mutual concern. Greece was the driving force in revival of the South East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) in the 1990s. It has gradually evolved into the only genuine scheme of cooperation in the Balkans, acting at the same time as the region's authentic voice.
Now, in 2006, we are about to witness the closing of another chapter in the history of the Balkans, begun by the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia. Montenegro's peaceful secession from its state union with Serbia and the settlement of Kosovo's status will be the epilogue of this chapter.
On Kosovo, especially, Greece, with strategic interests at stake, has contributed concrete ideas both within the EU and within the framework of the Greek-U.S. strategic partnership. We need a win/ win or at least a win/no lose solution, which will have the support or at least consent of both Belgrade and Pristina.
Greece opposes partition of Kosovo. We cannot afford to have a Kosovo divided exclusively along ethnic lines, or to have Kosovo annexed by or united with any neighboring country or part of a country. We cannot have our region integrated into the European Union while, at the same time, we promote a solution that perpetuates division. We want to see a solution for a multi-ethnic and multicultural Kosovo based on European standards and values.
A new chapter will soon open; a chapter which will be remembered by generations to come as an era of stability, prosperity and cooperation; an era when respect for the different is the rule and not the exception; an era when the Balkans are embraced by the European family, where they have always belonged.
Alexandros P. Mallias is ambassador of Greece to the United States.
699 words
11 July 2006
The Washington Times
A17
English
© 2006 Washington Times Library. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights reserved.
Greece's involvement in the Balkans is not new. Even before the foundation of the modern Greek state, the idea of a Balkan cooperation existed. The idea of a Balkan Federation, which Greece would lead, was conceived, toward the end of the 18th century, by Rigas Velestinlis, a man inspired by the ideals of freedom and democracy. Rigas visualized a Balkan region where people could move freely from country to country, where trade would be conducted without barriers, a region of prosperity for its peoples.
Now, more than 200 years after its conception, this idea, modified to some extent, is to become a reality. The Balkans are now at the doorstep of the European Union. Greece gave a historic boost to the Western Balkans' legitimate European aspirations at the 2003 Thessaloniki Summit, during its EU presidency.
Greece devised a long-term policy based on three solid pillars: (a) integration of the countries of the region into the EU and NATO, (b) economic development and investment and (c) regional cooperation.
The integration of Greece's neighborhood into the European and Euro-Atlantic institutions, upon fulfillment of specific criteria and conditions, has become our policy's fundamental strategic goal. In January 2007, Bulgaria and Romania will be the first Balkan countries to join the EU. Greece was the first among its EU partners, in the mid-'90s, to advocate Bulgaria's and Romania's accession. European integration and the prospect of EU membership is the strongest single soft power mechanism for encouraging reforms, consolidating democracy, establishing the rule of law, strengthening institutions and eventually bringing economic prosperity.
Greece has become a leading investor in the Balkans, with investments of more than $10 billion, and the generation of 200,000 new jobs. The volume of trade between Greece and its Balkan neighbors is more than $4 billion. In addition, Greece launched in 2002 a five-year development aid initiative called the Hellenic Plan for the Economic Reconstruction of the Balkans, which amounts to a $670 million program, and aims at promoting the economic development of Greece's neighboring Balkan countries.
Many problems that the Balkans face are common to the countries of the region. It is therefore natural to deal with them in common. Regional cooperation is essential for ethnic reconciliation, to increase regional ownership and allow the Balkan counties to address, in a coordinated manner, issues of mutual concern. Greece was the driving force in revival of the South East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) in the 1990s. It has gradually evolved into the only genuine scheme of cooperation in the Balkans, acting at the same time as the region's authentic voice.
Now, in 2006, we are about to witness the closing of another chapter in the history of the Balkans, begun by the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia. Montenegro's peaceful secession from its state union with Serbia and the settlement of Kosovo's status will be the epilogue of this chapter.
On Kosovo, especially, Greece, with strategic interests at stake, has contributed concrete ideas both within the EU and within the framework of the Greek-U.S. strategic partnership. We need a win/ win or at least a win/no lose solution, which will have the support or at least consent of both Belgrade and Pristina.
Greece opposes partition of Kosovo. We cannot afford to have a Kosovo divided exclusively along ethnic lines, or to have Kosovo annexed by or united with any neighboring country or part of a country. We cannot have our region integrated into the European Union while, at the same time, we promote a solution that perpetuates division. We want to see a solution for a multi-ethnic and multicultural Kosovo based on European standards and values.
A new chapter will soon open; a chapter which will be remembered by generations to come as an era of stability, prosperity and cooperation; an era when respect for the different is the rule and not the exception; an era when the Balkans are embraced by the European family, where they have always belonged.
Alexandros P. Mallias is ambassador of Greece to the United States.
Where Milosevic's butchery held sway ; Europe's future: a view from Dubrovnik
Tod Lindberg, THE WASHINGTON TIMES
11 July 2006
The Washington Times
Washington Times Library. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights reserved.
The bottom line is this: Are we going to finish the job in Europe, or are we going to turn our backs on those who haven't yet made their way in from the cold? At a summit meeting in Croatia, that is the question as much on the minds of the representatives of the major Euro-Atlantic institutions, namely the European Union and NATO, as on the minds of those knocking on their doors in hope of joining fully in the modern Western world.
Dubrovnik was hardly Ground Zero of the Balkan wars of the 1990s. But it's hard now to believe that this spectacularly picturesque city on the Dalmatian coast of the Adriatic Sea could have been the scene of shelling a scant decade ago as part of the bloody breakup of the former Yugoslavia. Yet it was, and far worse took place not so far from here, up to and including "ethnic cleansing" and genocide in Bosnia and a NATO-led war that prevented a reprise of genocide in Kosovo.
Now, however, the Balkans are poised on the threshold of European normalcy, a share in the permanent peace and prosperity young Europeans think of as a birthright. Do they cross over? Or do they remain outside, where peace and prosperity are subject to being dispelled by a resurgence of a politics of murderous nationalism? In a way, "the Balkans" is more than a geographical designation; it is also a shorthand term for a place where politics is impossible, the very origin of "balkanization." It is, therefore, a convenient designation for anyone eager to turn his back on the region. As James Baker, secretary of state in the first Bush administration, notoriously said at the time of the breakup of the Yugoslavia, in a line that will follow him beyond the grave, "We don't have a dog in that fight." By this reckoning, centuries of "ethnic tension" posed too intractable a problem for any rational outsider to involve himself in. So let the dogs have at it.
I don't approve of the moral calculus behind such a statement. Worse than a crime, however, it was a blunder. It was analytically wrong. Eventually, the United States and European governments figured it out: If you hold out the prospect of joining the Western world or "Europe" to countries on the periphery, you encourage the politicians there to make choices that are hospitable to European integration. They see the benefits of membership in the European Union and NATO in terms of peace and prosperity, and the potential gains to be realized from setting out on that path make possible the often hard political and policy choices necessary for membership, from settlement of long-festering border disputes to holding free and fair elections (and accepting the results) to embracing transparency in business and government to fighting corruption.
If, on the other hand, you write off the Balkans (or elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe, including some of the territory of the former Soviet Union), you positively invite a politics based on grabbing what you can get by whatever means available, including force. This was the genocidal politics of Slobodan Milosevic in Serbia, and I think it could easily have been the characteristic politics of the post-Cold War era if the United States and Europe had failed to reach out.
So spare the balkanization, please, and consider the countries in question in relation to the attributes specific to each of them in terms of how far they have come and what more they have to do. Croatia is far along the path of reform, and the most serious bar to its entry into NATO now is that the government needs to mobilize public opinion in its favor.
Serbia needs to decide whether its future is Western integration or instead a return to dead-end nationalist politics. A key test will be the "final status" negotiations over Kosovo, which are headed in the direction of independence for territory Belgrade once controlled. Montenegro has opted for independence, and now faces the task of succeeding despite its smallness. Bosnia and Herzegovina, the state created by the Dayton Accords that ended the genocidal war, needs still more state-building in order to be viable. Macedonia has been doing very well. The best way to encourage more progress in all cases is a guaranteed destination once the relevant criteria have been met.
But how well are the institutions of Euro-Atlantic integration themselves doing? Is the European Union going to get over "enlargement fatigue" and its concerns about "absorption capacity"? Is the door to NATO going to remain open for as long as it takes Serbia, for example, to overcome its past? Far to the east, as Russia maneuvers to assert influence, Georgia is also awaiting definite word that the West has a place for it.
Yes, the challenges of Western integration are getting harder. On the other hand, we are getting tantalizingly close to the goal of "Europe whole and free," and it would be a tragedy to walk away from the task that remains.
* Tod Lindberg is the editor of Policy Review magazine and a research fellow at the Hoover Institution. His column appears on Tuesdays. E-mail: lindberg@hoover.stanford.edu
11 July 2006
The Washington Times
Washington Times Library. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights reserved.
The bottom line is this: Are we going to finish the job in Europe, or are we going to turn our backs on those who haven't yet made their way in from the cold? At a summit meeting in Croatia, that is the question as much on the minds of the representatives of the major Euro-Atlantic institutions, namely the European Union and NATO, as on the minds of those knocking on their doors in hope of joining fully in the modern Western world.
Dubrovnik was hardly Ground Zero of the Balkan wars of the 1990s. But it's hard now to believe that this spectacularly picturesque city on the Dalmatian coast of the Adriatic Sea could have been the scene of shelling a scant decade ago as part of the bloody breakup of the former Yugoslavia. Yet it was, and far worse took place not so far from here, up to and including "ethnic cleansing" and genocide in Bosnia and a NATO-led war that prevented a reprise of genocide in Kosovo.
Now, however, the Balkans are poised on the threshold of European normalcy, a share in the permanent peace and prosperity young Europeans think of as a birthright. Do they cross over? Or do they remain outside, where peace and prosperity are subject to being dispelled by a resurgence of a politics of murderous nationalism? In a way, "the Balkans" is more than a geographical designation; it is also a shorthand term for a place where politics is impossible, the very origin of "balkanization." It is, therefore, a convenient designation for anyone eager to turn his back on the region. As James Baker, secretary of state in the first Bush administration, notoriously said at the time of the breakup of the Yugoslavia, in a line that will follow him beyond the grave, "We don't have a dog in that fight." By this reckoning, centuries of "ethnic tension" posed too intractable a problem for any rational outsider to involve himself in. So let the dogs have at it.
I don't approve of the moral calculus behind such a statement. Worse than a crime, however, it was a blunder. It was analytically wrong. Eventually, the United States and European governments figured it out: If you hold out the prospect of joining the Western world or "Europe" to countries on the periphery, you encourage the politicians there to make choices that are hospitable to European integration. They see the benefits of membership in the European Union and NATO in terms of peace and prosperity, and the potential gains to be realized from setting out on that path make possible the often hard political and policy choices necessary for membership, from settlement of long-festering border disputes to holding free and fair elections (and accepting the results) to embracing transparency in business and government to fighting corruption.
If, on the other hand, you write off the Balkans (or elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe, including some of the territory of the former Soviet Union), you positively invite a politics based on grabbing what you can get by whatever means available, including force. This was the genocidal politics of Slobodan Milosevic in Serbia, and I think it could easily have been the characteristic politics of the post-Cold War era if the United States and Europe had failed to reach out.
So spare the balkanization, please, and consider the countries in question in relation to the attributes specific to each of them in terms of how far they have come and what more they have to do. Croatia is far along the path of reform, and the most serious bar to its entry into NATO now is that the government needs to mobilize public opinion in its favor.
Serbia needs to decide whether its future is Western integration or instead a return to dead-end nationalist politics. A key test will be the "final status" negotiations over Kosovo, which are headed in the direction of independence for territory Belgrade once controlled. Montenegro has opted for independence, and now faces the task of succeeding despite its smallness. Bosnia and Herzegovina, the state created by the Dayton Accords that ended the genocidal war, needs still more state-building in order to be viable. Macedonia has been doing very well. The best way to encourage more progress in all cases is a guaranteed destination once the relevant criteria have been met.
But how well are the institutions of Euro-Atlantic integration themselves doing? Is the European Union going to get over "enlargement fatigue" and its concerns about "absorption capacity"? Is the door to NATO going to remain open for as long as it takes Serbia, for example, to overcome its past? Far to the east, as Russia maneuvers to assert influence, Georgia is also awaiting definite word that the West has a place for it.
Yes, the challenges of Western integration are getting harder. On the other hand, we are getting tantalizingly close to the goal of "Europe whole and free," and it would be a tragedy to walk away from the task that remains.
* Tod Lindberg is the editor of Policy Review magazine and a research fellow at the Hoover Institution. His column appears on Tuesdays. E-mail: lindberg@hoover.stanford.edu
Monday, July 10, 2006
Tribunal focuses on Serbia's Kosovo war
By Marlise Simons The New York Times
TUESDAY, JULY 11, 2006
PARIS Four months after the death of Slobodan Milosevic, a trial has opened of six of his top aides, a process that may finally render a verdict on Serbia's actions during the 1999 war in Kosovo.
The accused, all of them former Serb political and military leaders, will have to account for their role, if any, in a repressive campaign that led to the persecution and flight of nearly one million civilians.
Prosecutors said that Serbian forces, under the direction of Milosovec, then destroyed numerous villages and towns "to create an atmosphere of terror" and to drive out tens of thousands of unwanted Kosovo Albanians. An estimated 800,000 Kosovo Albanians fled and an estimated 7,000 to 9,000 people were killed.
The trial, which is expected to last more than a year, began early Monday in a crowded courtroom at the war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
The six accused represented almost all of Serbia's political and military leadership in 1999. Although Milosevic, the former Serbian president, was the undisputed strongman at the time, the six accused were part of his inner circle. They are providing prosecutors with the best remaining chance of obtaining a verdict on the 1999 events in the Serbian province of Kosovo.
During his own 4-year trial, which had not concluded at the time of his death, Milosevic appeared obsessed with Kosovo. He called it Serbia's historic heart and said it had to be kept under Serb control, since the rest of Yugoslavia had fallen apart.
In uncounted courtroom speeches, he maintained that Serbia had no choice but to combat the armed separatists of the Kosovo Liberation Army, which he called Western-backed terrorists.
Meanwhile, Kosovo's status as a United Nations protectorate remains unresolved. On Monday, the Serbian prime minister, Vojislav Kostunica, traveled to New York, hoping to convince the Security Council not to give independence to Kkosovo.
In the coming months, the trial may also offer an indirect look at the role of NATO in the 1999 war. When NATO launched its bombing campaign of Kosovo and Serbia, it was the first time in modern history that the Western alliance mounted what it called an armed "humanitarian" intervention for the purpose of saving a civilian population.
Milosevic insisted that Serbs and Kosovars alike were victims of the NATO bombing and that the Kosovars fled NATO planes, not Serb guns. NATO's intervention also caused a number of civilian casualties, but they are not being examined by the court.
The six who lined up in the dock on Monday included two former politicians, Milan Milutinovic, a former president of Serbia and Nikola Sainovic, former Yugoslav deputy prime minister as well as four former generals, Dragoljub Ojdanic, Nebojsa Pavkovic, Vladimir Lazarevic and Sreten Lukic. All six have voluntarily surrendered to the tribunal and were allowed to wait at home until the trial began. Another former general, Vlastimir Djordjevic, who was to be part of the trial, is on the run; according to tribunal officials, he is living in Russia.
The six are charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, including deportation, murder and persecution. All pleaded not guilty. Proceedings are dealing only with Kosovo and not with other atrocities in Croatia and Bosnia.
The case is one of the most complex currently being handled by the war crimes tribunal, where five trials are now going on, involving 17 accused.
Much of the evidence the prosecution will present is believed to be similar to that used in the Milosevic trial. But to obtain a verdict, prosecutors must demonstrate to the panel of three judges - from Britain, Pakistan and Bulgaria - that Belgrade had a "criminal plan" to expel forever a large portion of the Kosovo Albanians and, as prosecutors put it, "to change the ethnic balance of Kosovo."
The world has seen many images of , frightened Kosovo refugees flooding into Albania and on tractors, trailers, busses and trucks. But lawyers familiar with the proceedings said that to gain convictions, prosecutors must prove there was a Serb plan to expel them.
Prosecutors may resort to the evidence of insiders or to documents but admit they have few. They will try to prove their case by "inference," one of the lawyers said, by using the facts on the ground.
In his opening statement, the lead prosecutor presented a number of those facts: He said, "There was a clear plan directed from the top" to drive out ethnic Albanians.
TUESDAY, JULY 11, 2006
PARIS Four months after the death of Slobodan Milosevic, a trial has opened of six of his top aides, a process that may finally render a verdict on Serbia's actions during the 1999 war in Kosovo.
The accused, all of them former Serb political and military leaders, will have to account for their role, if any, in a repressive campaign that led to the persecution and flight of nearly one million civilians.
Prosecutors said that Serbian forces, under the direction of Milosovec, then destroyed numerous villages and towns "to create an atmosphere of terror" and to drive out tens of thousands of unwanted Kosovo Albanians. An estimated 800,000 Kosovo Albanians fled and an estimated 7,000 to 9,000 people were killed.
The trial, which is expected to last more than a year, began early Monday in a crowded courtroom at the war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
The six accused represented almost all of Serbia's political and military leadership in 1999. Although Milosevic, the former Serbian president, was the undisputed strongman at the time, the six accused were part of his inner circle. They are providing prosecutors with the best remaining chance of obtaining a verdict on the 1999 events in the Serbian province of Kosovo.
During his own 4-year trial, which had not concluded at the time of his death, Milosevic appeared obsessed with Kosovo. He called it Serbia's historic heart and said it had to be kept under Serb control, since the rest of Yugoslavia had fallen apart.
In uncounted courtroom speeches, he maintained that Serbia had no choice but to combat the armed separatists of the Kosovo Liberation Army, which he called Western-backed terrorists.
Meanwhile, Kosovo's status as a United Nations protectorate remains unresolved. On Monday, the Serbian prime minister, Vojislav Kostunica, traveled to New York, hoping to convince the Security Council not to give independence to Kkosovo.
In the coming months, the trial may also offer an indirect look at the role of NATO in the 1999 war. When NATO launched its bombing campaign of Kosovo and Serbia, it was the first time in modern history that the Western alliance mounted what it called an armed "humanitarian" intervention for the purpose of saving a civilian population.
Milosevic insisted that Serbs and Kosovars alike were victims of the NATO bombing and that the Kosovars fled NATO planes, not Serb guns. NATO's intervention also caused a number of civilian casualties, but they are not being examined by the court.
The six who lined up in the dock on Monday included two former politicians, Milan Milutinovic, a former president of Serbia and Nikola Sainovic, former Yugoslav deputy prime minister as well as four former generals, Dragoljub Ojdanic, Nebojsa Pavkovic, Vladimir Lazarevic and Sreten Lukic. All six have voluntarily surrendered to the tribunal and were allowed to wait at home until the trial began. Another former general, Vlastimir Djordjevic, who was to be part of the trial, is on the run; according to tribunal officials, he is living in Russia.
The six are charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, including deportation, murder and persecution. All pleaded not guilty. Proceedings are dealing only with Kosovo and not with other atrocities in Croatia and Bosnia.
The case is one of the most complex currently being handled by the war crimes tribunal, where five trials are now going on, involving 17 accused.
Much of the evidence the prosecution will present is believed to be similar to that used in the Milosevic trial. But to obtain a verdict, prosecutors must demonstrate to the panel of three judges - from Britain, Pakistan and Bulgaria - that Belgrade had a "criminal plan" to expel forever a large portion of the Kosovo Albanians and, as prosecutors put it, "to change the ethnic balance of Kosovo."
The world has seen many images of , frightened Kosovo refugees flooding into Albania and on tractors, trailers, busses and trucks. But lawyers familiar with the proceedings said that to gain convictions, prosecutors must prove there was a Serb plan to expel them.
Prosecutors may resort to the evidence of insiders or to documents but admit they have few. They will try to prove their case by "inference," one of the lawyers said, by using the facts on the ground.
In his opening statement, the lead prosecutor presented a number of those facts: He said, "There was a clear plan directed from the top" to drive out ethnic Albanians.
Premier appreciates US "extraordinary help, support" for Albania
Text of report in English by Albanian news agency ATA
Tirana, 10 July: US Assistant Secretary of State Dan Fried expressed Monday [10 July] the appraisals of the US government for the important reforms undertaken by the Albanian government and the personal contribution of Prime Minister [Sali] Berisha in the direction of these reforms. The appraisals were made known by Fried during a meeting held in Dubrovnik, Croatia, with Prime Minister Sali Berisha.
According to the Council of Ministers press office, Freid thanked heartily Prime Minister Berisha for the excellent relations and close cooperation between Albania and the United States. During the meeting the US assistant secretary of state encouraged Prime Minister Berisha for further deepening of these relations.
Fried praised the messages of peace, tolerance and integration that Prime Minister Berisha conveyed to Kosova [Kosovo] people and political leaders during his visit to Kosova and he also praised the important moderate role of Albania in the region.
Prime Minister Berisha thanked Fried for the extraordinary help and support given by the United States to Albania during these years, especially the help for NATO membership. The prime minister stated that "the meeting with Vice-President Cheney in May and the present meeting are a expression of this support."
The prime minister said that the NATO membership is an absolute priority of the Albanian government, which is undertaking everyday necessary structural reforms, helped by American consultancy, in order to meet the membership standards".
Freid stressed that even though in Riga summit there would be no NATO invitation for any country, the summit would make clear that NATO's door are open. Prime Minister Sali Berisha is taking part in the summit of the heads of states and government of the Southeastern Europe in Dubrovnik. Attending the meeting are also the representative of EU countries and the United States.
Source: ATA news agency, Tirana, in English 1602 gmt 10 Jul 06
Tirana, 10 July: US Assistant Secretary of State Dan Fried expressed Monday [10 July] the appraisals of the US government for the important reforms undertaken by the Albanian government and the personal contribution of Prime Minister [Sali] Berisha in the direction of these reforms. The appraisals were made known by Fried during a meeting held in Dubrovnik, Croatia, with Prime Minister Sali Berisha.
According to the Council of Ministers press office, Freid thanked heartily Prime Minister Berisha for the excellent relations and close cooperation between Albania and the United States. During the meeting the US assistant secretary of state encouraged Prime Minister Berisha for further deepening of these relations.
Fried praised the messages of peace, tolerance and integration that Prime Minister Berisha conveyed to Kosova [Kosovo] people and political leaders during his visit to Kosova and he also praised the important moderate role of Albania in the region.
Prime Minister Berisha thanked Fried for the extraordinary help and support given by the United States to Albania during these years, especially the help for NATO membership. The prime minister stated that "the meeting with Vice-President Cheney in May and the present meeting are a expression of this support."
The prime minister said that the NATO membership is an absolute priority of the Albanian government, which is undertaking everyday necessary structural reforms, helped by American consultancy, in order to meet the membership standards".
Freid stressed that even though in Riga summit there would be no NATO invitation for any country, the summit would make clear that NATO's door are open. Prime Minister Sali Berisha is taking part in the summit of the heads of states and government of the Southeastern Europe in Dubrovnik. Attending the meeting are also the representative of EU countries and the United States.
Source: ATA news agency, Tirana, in English 1602 gmt 10 Jul 06
Profile: Kosovo trial accused
Six top Serbian officials have gone on trial at the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, charged with alleged war crimes committed by Serb troops during the Kosovo conflict in 1999.
The BBC's South-east Europe analyst, Gabriel Partos, profiles them:
MILAN MILUTINOVIC, EX-SERBIAN PRESIDENT
Mr Milutinovic, 63, inherited the presidency of Serbia from his political mentor, Slobodan Milosevic, when the latter became Yugoslav president in 1997.
He was also a member of Yugoslavia's Supreme Defence Council, which was chaired by Milosevic. He shared ultimate responsibility for the army's actions in Kosovo.
A year earlier, Mr Milutinovic barely managed to scrape through the presidential elections. The turnout, according to controversial official figures, was just 0.9% above the required 50% of the electorate.
But he achieved Milosevic's objective on the fourth attempt - to beat ultra-nationalist opposition leader Vojislav Seselj, who is now also awaiting trial in The Hague on separate charges.
Mr Milutinovic was a loyal associate of Milosevic and served as Yugoslavia's foreign minister. He accompanied the president at the Dayton peace talks in November 1995 which ended the war in Bosnia-Hercegovina.
At one time he was Yugoslavia's ambassador in Athens - a key posting because Greece, a fellow-Orthodox Christian country, was the only Nato member with a pro-Serb public opinion during the wars in the former Yugoslavia.
Although Mr Milutinovic was indicted during the Kosovo conflict in 1999, he served out his full five-year term as president until the end of 2002.
It was only after he lost his immunity as president that he surrendered.
NIKOLA SAINOVIC, EX-DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER OF YUGOSLAVIA
Mr Sainovic, 57, was deputy prime minister of Yugoslavia for six years until Milosevic was defeated during the presidential election of September 2000.
He was also instrumental on all matters relating to Kosovo, co-ordinating policy and engaging in diplomatic talks.
He attended the Kosovo peace talks in Rambouillet, France, in February 1999 as one of the senior members of the Belgrade delegation.
Ultimately the talks failed and Nato launched a military intervention in Kosovo.
A few weeks earlier, US officials said they had intercepted a phone call in which Mr Sainovic allegedly ordered Serbian security forces to move in hard on Kosovo Albanians.
Mr Sainovic is an experienced political operator who performed a number of sensitive errands for Milosevic.
A former economics minister, and then briefly, Serbia's prime minister, he maintained close links with the Bosnian Serb offshoot of Milosevic's Socialist Party during the war there.
It was during the final phase of Milosevic's rule, especially at the time of the Kosovo conflict, that Mr Sainovic carried out his most important assignments for his leader.
DRAGOLJUB OJDANIC, EX-CHIEF OF STAFF OF THE YUGOSLAV ARMY
Gen Ojdanic, 65, was the Yugoslav army's chief-of-staff at the time when the Kosovo war was in its most intense phase.
A relative latecomer to Milosevic's inner circle, Gen Ojdanic was appointed to his post in November 1998 after his predecessor, Gen Momcilo Perisic, had disagreed with Milosevic's plans to use the army in Kosovo, Montenegro and against the opposition in Serbia.
Unlike Gen Perisic, who argued that it would be suicidal to resist Nato's threatened air strikes, Gen Ojdanic was willing to go along with Milosevic's policy.
The military's importance greatly increased with the escalation of the Kosovo conflict and Nato air strikes and placed Gen Ojdanic on centre stage.
As a reward for his loyalty, he was appointed Yugoslavia's defence minister after the war. He served less than a year due to Milosevic's fall from power.
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC, EX-YUGOSLAV ARMY COMMANDER
Mr Pavkovic, 62, was appointed commander of Yugoslavia's Third Army - the force that had responsibility for Kosovo - at the end of 1998.
He had previously served as commander of the Pristina Corps where he was based from 1994 onwards.
During the war he became one of Milosevic's favourites after he backed the president's refusal to accept the Rambouillet accords.
Following the end of the Kosovo conflict, he was promoted to chief-of-staff of the army when Gen Ojdanic was appointed defence minister.
Unlike Gen Ojdanic, he survived in his post for a further two years following Milosevic's fall - not least because he refused to deploy the army against the huge crowds in Belgrade that were demanding that Milosevic accept his electoral defeat.
GENERAL VLADIMIR LAZAREVIC, EX-COMMANDER OF THE PRISTINA CORPS
Mr Lazarevic, 57, followed in Gen Pavkovic's footsteps, first as commander of the Pristina Corps during the Kosovo war, and then as commander of the Third Army after the conflict.
During the war, his corps took the brunt of the impact of Nato air strikes.
Gen Lazarevic's own vehicle was hit, but he emerged unscathed.
Although a close Milosevic supporter who accused the former president's political opponents of being the "extended arm of Nato and the Albanian rebels", Gen Lazarevic stayed for three years after Milosevic lost office.
GENERAL SRETEN LUKIC, EX-KOSOVO POLICE CHIEF
Mr Lukic, 51, served as head of the ministry of the interior's staff for Kosovo during the war.
He was in charge of police forces that included heavily-armed special units which did much of the fighting.
After the war, Gen Lukic was promoted to assistant minister of the interior, and he was regarded as a competent professional by Serbia's democratic leaders in the post-Milosevic. They kept him on to reform the police forces.
Like Gen Pavkovic and Gen Lazarevic, he was charged in 2003 - four years after the indictments against Milosevic, Mr Milutinovic, Mr Sainovic and Gen Ojdanic.
The fourth person to be indicted in 2003 was police Gen Vlastimir Djordjevic who was Gen Lukic's superior and had responsibility for police units in Kosovo during the war.
However, Gen Djordjevic is not in the dock because he remains on the run. Tribunal prosecutors believe he is hiding in Russia.
full
Mr Milutinovic was a loyal associate of Slobodan Milosevic; Mr Sainovic played a leading role in Kosovo policy; Gen Ojdanic was rewarded for his loyalty during the war; Gen Pavkovic was one of Milosevic's favourites during the war; Gen Lazarevic stayed on in the army until 2003; Gen Lukic was kept in the army in the post-Milosevic era
The BBC's South-east Europe analyst, Gabriel Partos, profiles them:
MILAN MILUTINOVIC, EX-SERBIAN PRESIDENT
Mr Milutinovic, 63, inherited the presidency of Serbia from his political mentor, Slobodan Milosevic, when the latter became Yugoslav president in 1997.
He was also a member of Yugoslavia's Supreme Defence Council, which was chaired by Milosevic. He shared ultimate responsibility for the army's actions in Kosovo.
A year earlier, Mr Milutinovic barely managed to scrape through the presidential elections. The turnout, according to controversial official figures, was just 0.9% above the required 50% of the electorate.
But he achieved Milosevic's objective on the fourth attempt - to beat ultra-nationalist opposition leader Vojislav Seselj, who is now also awaiting trial in The Hague on separate charges.
Mr Milutinovic was a loyal associate of Milosevic and served as Yugoslavia's foreign minister. He accompanied the president at the Dayton peace talks in November 1995 which ended the war in Bosnia-Hercegovina.
At one time he was Yugoslavia's ambassador in Athens - a key posting because Greece, a fellow-Orthodox Christian country, was the only Nato member with a pro-Serb public opinion during the wars in the former Yugoslavia.
Although Mr Milutinovic was indicted during the Kosovo conflict in 1999, he served out his full five-year term as president until the end of 2002.
It was only after he lost his immunity as president that he surrendered.
NIKOLA SAINOVIC, EX-DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER OF YUGOSLAVIA
Mr Sainovic, 57, was deputy prime minister of Yugoslavia for six years until Milosevic was defeated during the presidential election of September 2000.
He was also instrumental on all matters relating to Kosovo, co-ordinating policy and engaging in diplomatic talks.
He attended the Kosovo peace talks in Rambouillet, France, in February 1999 as one of the senior members of the Belgrade delegation.
Ultimately the talks failed and Nato launched a military intervention in Kosovo.
A few weeks earlier, US officials said they had intercepted a phone call in which Mr Sainovic allegedly ordered Serbian security forces to move in hard on Kosovo Albanians.
Mr Sainovic is an experienced political operator who performed a number of sensitive errands for Milosevic.
A former economics minister, and then briefly, Serbia's prime minister, he maintained close links with the Bosnian Serb offshoot of Milosevic's Socialist Party during the war there.
It was during the final phase of Milosevic's rule, especially at the time of the Kosovo conflict, that Mr Sainovic carried out his most important assignments for his leader.
DRAGOLJUB OJDANIC, EX-CHIEF OF STAFF OF THE YUGOSLAV ARMY
Gen Ojdanic, 65, was the Yugoslav army's chief-of-staff at the time when the Kosovo war was in its most intense phase.
A relative latecomer to Milosevic's inner circle, Gen Ojdanic was appointed to his post in November 1998 after his predecessor, Gen Momcilo Perisic, had disagreed with Milosevic's plans to use the army in Kosovo, Montenegro and against the opposition in Serbia.
Unlike Gen Perisic, who argued that it would be suicidal to resist Nato's threatened air strikes, Gen Ojdanic was willing to go along with Milosevic's policy.
The military's importance greatly increased with the escalation of the Kosovo conflict and Nato air strikes and placed Gen Ojdanic on centre stage.
As a reward for his loyalty, he was appointed Yugoslavia's defence minister after the war. He served less than a year due to Milosevic's fall from power.
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC, EX-YUGOSLAV ARMY COMMANDER
Mr Pavkovic, 62, was appointed commander of Yugoslavia's Third Army - the force that had responsibility for Kosovo - at the end of 1998.
He had previously served as commander of the Pristina Corps where he was based from 1994 onwards.
During the war he became one of Milosevic's favourites after he backed the president's refusal to accept the Rambouillet accords.
Following the end of the Kosovo conflict, he was promoted to chief-of-staff of the army when Gen Ojdanic was appointed defence minister.
Unlike Gen Ojdanic, he survived in his post for a further two years following Milosevic's fall - not least because he refused to deploy the army against the huge crowds in Belgrade that were demanding that Milosevic accept his electoral defeat.
GENERAL VLADIMIR LAZAREVIC, EX-COMMANDER OF THE PRISTINA CORPS
Mr Lazarevic, 57, followed in Gen Pavkovic's footsteps, first as commander of the Pristina Corps during the Kosovo war, and then as commander of the Third Army after the conflict.
During the war, his corps took the brunt of the impact of Nato air strikes.
Gen Lazarevic's own vehicle was hit, but he emerged unscathed.
Although a close Milosevic supporter who accused the former president's political opponents of being the "extended arm of Nato and the Albanian rebels", Gen Lazarevic stayed for three years after Milosevic lost office.
GENERAL SRETEN LUKIC, EX-KOSOVO POLICE CHIEF
Mr Lukic, 51, served as head of the ministry of the interior's staff for Kosovo during the war.
He was in charge of police forces that included heavily-armed special units which did much of the fighting.
After the war, Gen Lukic was promoted to assistant minister of the interior, and he was regarded as a competent professional by Serbia's democratic leaders in the post-Milosevic. They kept him on to reform the police forces.
Like Gen Pavkovic and Gen Lazarevic, he was charged in 2003 - four years after the indictments against Milosevic, Mr Milutinovic, Mr Sainovic and Gen Ojdanic.
The fourth person to be indicted in 2003 was police Gen Vlastimir Djordjevic who was Gen Lukic's superior and had responsibility for police units in Kosovo during the war.
However, Gen Djordjevic is not in the dock because he remains on the run. Tribunal prosecutors believe he is hiding in Russia.
full
Mr Milutinovic was a loyal associate of Slobodan Milosevic; Mr Sainovic played a leading role in Kosovo policy; Gen Ojdanic was rewarded for his loyalty during the war; Gen Pavkovic was one of Milosevic's favourites during the war; Gen Lazarevic stayed on in the army until 2003; Gen Lukic was kept in the army in the post-Milosevic era
Flashback to Kosovo's war
Kosovo hit the international headlines in the late 1990s when forces under Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic attempted to suppress the ethnic Albanian majority's independence campaign.
Serbs and ethnic Albanians had vied for control in the region throughout the 20th century.
While Serbs latterly only made up about 10% of the population, the historic and emotional importance of the province for them was enormous.
Serbs consider Kosovo the cradle of their culture, religion and national identity.
The 1974 Yugoslav constitution laid down Kosovo's status as an autonomous province of Serbia. Pressure for independence mounted in the 1980s after the death of Yugoslav President Tito.
In the latter part of the decade, when Milosevic was number two in the Serbian Communist Party, he harnessed resentment over Kosovan influence within the Yugoslav federation.
At the same times, Serbs were complaining about persecution by the majority Albanians.
Milosevic, motivated by political opportunism became a champion of Serbian nationalism.
In 1987, he was sent to Kosovo and, spotting an opportunity, seized it.
In an impromptu televised address that made his reputation overnight, Milosevic promised Serbian demonstrators in Kosovo that "no-one dare to beat you again".
Two years later, when he became Yugoslav president, he set about stripping Kosovo of its autonomy. Serbian nationalism was on the march.
Mass protests
A passive resistance movement in the 1990s failed to secure independence or to restore autonomy, although ethnic Albanian leaders declared unilateral independence in 1991.
In the mid-1990s the ethnic Albanian rebel movement, the Kosovo Liberation Army stepped up it attacks on Serb targets.
By the summer of 1998, Albanians were mounting mass protests against Serbian rule and police and army reinforcements were sent into crush the KLA.
A deal to end the crisis was brokered by the international community in early 1999. The autonomy plan was reluctantly accepted by the ethnic Albanians but rejected by Milosevic.
The continued persecution of Kosovo Albanians led to the start of Nato air strikes against targets in Kosovo and Serbia in March 1999.
Meanwhile, a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Kosovo Albanians was initiated by Serbian forces. Hundreds of thousands of refugees fled to Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro. The international tribunal in The Hague said its investigators had found at least 2,000 bodies.
After 11 weeks of Nato bombing, Milosevic was forced to withdraw his troops and police, some 750,000 Albanian refugees came home and about 100,000 Serbs - roughly half the province's Serb population - fled. The UN was put in charge, pending agreement on whether Kosovo should become independent or revert to Serbian rule.
In May of that year, as the bombing was still going on, Milosevic became the first serving head of state to be indicted for crimes against humanity, by the International Criminal Tribunal.
According to the indictment, Mr Milosevic and a number of his colleagues bore direct responsibility for crimes that are alleged to have included the deportation of almost 750,000 Kosovo Albanians and the murders of about 600 individually identified ethnic Albanians.
The indictment listed six specimen charges of crimes against humanity. It detailed massacres of ethnic Albanians in the towns of Srbica, Dakova and Velika Krusa, where men were separated from women and machine-gunned.
New trial
Later in 1999, investigations by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, including the interview of some 3,000 witnesses or survivors, uncovered a grim catalogue of murder, mutilation and rape.
It found that Serbs had carried out human rights abuses on a massive scale - but had also suffered appalling revenge attacks following the war.
Milosevic's trial on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity got under way in earnest in early 2002 at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. By the time of his death in March 2007, the prosecution had completed its case but the defence was continuing.
The court was unable to establish legally what had actually happened in Kosovo
Ethnic Albanians were angry that Milosevic's death robbed them of a verdict.
As a result, the trial of senior Serbian officials on similar charges, that began on 10 July took on a new importance.
full
Milosevic was the first acting head of state to be indicted on war crimes; Graves in the town of Velika Krusa of ethnic Albanian killed in March 1999
Serbs and ethnic Albanians had vied for control in the region throughout the 20th century.
While Serbs latterly only made up about 10% of the population, the historic and emotional importance of the province for them was enormous.
Serbs consider Kosovo the cradle of their culture, religion and national identity.
The 1974 Yugoslav constitution laid down Kosovo's status as an autonomous province of Serbia. Pressure for independence mounted in the 1980s after the death of Yugoslav President Tito.
In the latter part of the decade, when Milosevic was number two in the Serbian Communist Party, he harnessed resentment over Kosovan influence within the Yugoslav federation.
At the same times, Serbs were complaining about persecution by the majority Albanians.
Milosevic, motivated by political opportunism became a champion of Serbian nationalism.
In 1987, he was sent to Kosovo and, spotting an opportunity, seized it.
In an impromptu televised address that made his reputation overnight, Milosevic promised Serbian demonstrators in Kosovo that "no-one dare to beat you again".
Two years later, when he became Yugoslav president, he set about stripping Kosovo of its autonomy. Serbian nationalism was on the march.
Mass protests
A passive resistance movement in the 1990s failed to secure independence or to restore autonomy, although ethnic Albanian leaders declared unilateral independence in 1991.
In the mid-1990s the ethnic Albanian rebel movement, the Kosovo Liberation Army stepped up it attacks on Serb targets.
By the summer of 1998, Albanians were mounting mass protests against Serbian rule and police and army reinforcements were sent into crush the KLA.
A deal to end the crisis was brokered by the international community in early 1999. The autonomy plan was reluctantly accepted by the ethnic Albanians but rejected by Milosevic.
The continued persecution of Kosovo Albanians led to the start of Nato air strikes against targets in Kosovo and Serbia in March 1999.
Meanwhile, a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Kosovo Albanians was initiated by Serbian forces. Hundreds of thousands of refugees fled to Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro. The international tribunal in The Hague said its investigators had found at least 2,000 bodies.
After 11 weeks of Nato bombing, Milosevic was forced to withdraw his troops and police, some 750,000 Albanian refugees came home and about 100,000 Serbs - roughly half the province's Serb population - fled. The UN was put in charge, pending agreement on whether Kosovo should become independent or revert to Serbian rule.
In May of that year, as the bombing was still going on, Milosevic became the first serving head of state to be indicted for crimes against humanity, by the International Criminal Tribunal.
According to the indictment, Mr Milosevic and a number of his colleagues bore direct responsibility for crimes that are alleged to have included the deportation of almost 750,000 Kosovo Albanians and the murders of about 600 individually identified ethnic Albanians.
The indictment listed six specimen charges of crimes against humanity. It detailed massacres of ethnic Albanians in the towns of Srbica, Dakova and Velika Krusa, where men were separated from women and machine-gunned.
New trial
Later in 1999, investigations by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, including the interview of some 3,000 witnesses or survivors, uncovered a grim catalogue of murder, mutilation and rape.
It found that Serbs had carried out human rights abuses on a massive scale - but had also suffered appalling revenge attacks following the war.
Milosevic's trial on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity got under way in earnest in early 2002 at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. By the time of his death in March 2007, the prosecution had completed its case but the defence was continuing.
The court was unable to establish legally what had actually happened in Kosovo
Ethnic Albanians were angry that Milosevic's death robbed them of a verdict.
As a result, the trial of senior Serbian officials on similar charges, that began on 10 July took on a new importance.
full
Milosevic was the first acting head of state to be indicted on war crimes; Graves in the town of Velika Krusa of ethnic Albanian killed in March 1999
Six top former Serbian officials go on trial at ICTY for war crimes in Kosovo
ZAGREB/THE HAGUE, July 10 (Hina) - Six top former Serbian political and military officials went on trial before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague on Monday for war crimes committed by Serbian forces against ethnic Albanians in the southern Serbian province of Kosovo in 1999.
The accused are Milan Milutinovic, 63, former president of Serbia; Nikola Sainovic, 58, deputy prime minister of the now defunct Federal Republic of Yugoslavia; General Dragoljub Ojdanic, 65, chief of staff of the Yugoslav armed forces; Nebojsa Pavkovic, 60, commander of the Third Army; Vladimir Lazarevic, 57, commander of the Pristina Corps; and Sreten Lukic, 51, chief of the Serbian police in Kosovo.
The six men are charged with involvement in a "joint criminal enterprise" that resulted in the expulsion of about 800,000 ethnic Albanians from their homes, mass murder, deportation, rapes and other crimes committed as part of a "systematic campaign of terror and violence" in Kosovo in the first half of 1999.
The prosecution will prove that the accused participated, along with the late Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic, in a joint criminal enterprise the aim of which was to alter the ethnic balance in Kosovo in order to maintain Serbian control of the province, Prosecutor Thomas Hannis said in his opening statement.
The accused voluntarily surrendered to the ICTY between 2002 and 2005 and at their initial appearance before judges they all pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The accused are Milan Milutinovic, 63, former president of Serbia; Nikola Sainovic, 58, deputy prime minister of the now defunct Federal Republic of Yugoslavia; General Dragoljub Ojdanic, 65, chief of staff of the Yugoslav armed forces; Nebojsa Pavkovic, 60, commander of the Third Army; Vladimir Lazarevic, 57, commander of the Pristina Corps; and Sreten Lukic, 51, chief of the Serbian police in Kosovo.
The six men are charged with involvement in a "joint criminal enterprise" that resulted in the expulsion of about 800,000 ethnic Albanians from their homes, mass murder, deportation, rapes and other crimes committed as part of a "systematic campaign of terror and violence" in Kosovo in the first half of 1999.
The prosecution will prove that the accused participated, along with the late Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic, in a joint criminal enterprise the aim of which was to alter the ethnic balance in Kosovo in order to maintain Serbian control of the province, Prosecutor Thomas Hannis said in his opening statement.
The accused voluntarily surrendered to the ICTY between 2002 and 2005 and at their initial appearance before judges they all pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Former Serb president goes on trial for war crimes in Kosovo
THE HAGUE, July 10 (Reuters) - Former Serbian President Milan Milutinovic, a close ally of late Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, went on trial in The Hague on Monday with five others also accused of war crimes in Kosovo in 1999.
Milutinovic, 63, and his co-accused are charged with the persecution of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, the forcible deportation of about 800,000 civilians and the murder of hundreds of civilians by Serb forces.
"The evidence in this case will show that these six accused ... were co-participants with Slobodan Milosevic and other Serbian political, military and police officials in a joint criminal enterprise," prosecutor Thomas Hannis said in court.
The goal was to alter the ethnic balance in Kosovo, which was largely populated by Kosovo-Albanians, to perpetuate Serb control, he added.
Milutinovic succeeded Milosevic as president of Serbia in 1997. Milosevic died of a heart attack in a U.N. cell in The Hague on March 11, just months before a verdict was expected in his marathon war crimes trial.
Milutinovic and co-accused former Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Sainovic, former army chief and defence minister Dragoljub Ojdanic and army commander Vladimir Lazarevic returned from provisional release to The Hague last week.
The four are indicted with army commander Nebojsa Pavkovic and security chief Sreten Lukic, as well as former chief of public security Vlastimir Dordevic, who is still at large.
Prosecutors allege Milutinovic had at least formal control over the Serb forces who killed hundreds of ethnic Albanians and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.
Milutinovic has pleaded not guilty to crimes against humanity including murder, deportation and persecution, and one charge of war crimes, arguing he had little real power as Serbian president.
SERBIA'S SMILING FACE
Milutinovic was Milosevic's closest ally and representative during negotiations over Kosovo in early 1999 which ended in an impasse and resulted in the 78-day NATO bombing of Yugoslavia and the eventual withdrawal of Serb forces.
At the time, he conveyed Serbia's tough stand with a smiling face, often shown on TV cracking jokes with journalists who followed him in droves when he took walks through the small French town of Rambouillet during breaks in the talks.
But Milutinovic was believed to be just a mouthpiece of Milosevic, at the time president of rump Yugoslavia.Serbs used a popular saying to describe him, as "a man who doesn't interfere, not even in his job".
Milutinovic stayed in his largely ceremonial post after reformers ousted Milosevic in 2000, protected by presidential immunity. He kept a low profile and stayed out his term until December 2002, before surrendering to The Hague tribunal.
Milutinovic, 63, and his co-accused are charged with the persecution of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, the forcible deportation of about 800,000 civilians and the murder of hundreds of civilians by Serb forces.
"The evidence in this case will show that these six accused ... were co-participants with Slobodan Milosevic and other Serbian political, military and police officials in a joint criminal enterprise," prosecutor Thomas Hannis said in court.
The goal was to alter the ethnic balance in Kosovo, which was largely populated by Kosovo-Albanians, to perpetuate Serb control, he added.
Milutinovic succeeded Milosevic as president of Serbia in 1997. Milosevic died of a heart attack in a U.N. cell in The Hague on March 11, just months before a verdict was expected in his marathon war crimes trial.
Milutinovic and co-accused former Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Sainovic, former army chief and defence minister Dragoljub Ojdanic and army commander Vladimir Lazarevic returned from provisional release to The Hague last week.
The four are indicted with army commander Nebojsa Pavkovic and security chief Sreten Lukic, as well as former chief of public security Vlastimir Dordevic, who is still at large.
Prosecutors allege Milutinovic had at least formal control over the Serb forces who killed hundreds of ethnic Albanians and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.
Milutinovic has pleaded not guilty to crimes against humanity including murder, deportation and persecution, and one charge of war crimes, arguing he had little real power as Serbian president.
SERBIA'S SMILING FACE
Milutinovic was Milosevic's closest ally and representative during negotiations over Kosovo in early 1999 which ended in an impasse and resulted in the 78-day NATO bombing of Yugoslavia and the eventual withdrawal of Serb forces.
At the time, he conveyed Serbia's tough stand with a smiling face, often shown on TV cracking jokes with journalists who followed him in droves when he took walks through the small French town of Rambouillet during breaks in the talks.
But Milutinovic was believed to be just a mouthpiece of Milosevic, at the time president of rump Yugoslavia.Serbs used a popular saying to describe him, as "a man who doesn't interfere, not even in his job".
Milutinovic stayed in his largely ceremonial post after reformers ousted Milosevic in 2000, protected by presidential immunity. He kept a low profile and stayed out his term until December 2002, before surrendering to The Hague tribunal.
Rohan "doing a bad job", says Serbia
Belgrade - The Serbian government sharply criticized Austria's deputy UN Kosovo envoy Albert Rohan on Monday, saying he has done "a bad job."
Aleksandar Simic, a member of Belgrade's negotiating team in the Vienna talks on Kosovo and advisor to the prime minister, said in the newspaper Politika: "He's done his job badly so far. His responsibility is the greatest that the Vienna talks have so far shown no results."
Simic said the six rounds of talks in the Austrian capital between Belgrade and Pristina were "badly prepared and badly run."
"One didn't know the rules, there were no protocols, and it was also unknown when the next talks would take place, and what the commitments were."
Simic pointed out that in June, EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Javier Solana, had already said the talks were unsuccessful. Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica had even been told that the Vienna process was "dead."
On a planned top-level Belgrade-Pristina meeting, which according to unofficials reports is to take place in Vienna on July 24, Simic said that "in view of the fact that Vienna so far symbolizes unsuccessful talks, the site of the meeting may have to be changed."
In the past two weeks, Belgrade media have speculated about a possible replacement of UN chief Kosovo envoy Martti Ahtisaari of Finland. Simic said that due to the lack of success by Rohan, it would at least be in the interests of the chief envoy to replace his deputy.
Aleksandar Simic, a member of Belgrade's negotiating team in the Vienna talks on Kosovo and advisor to the prime minister, said in the newspaper Politika: "He's done his job badly so far. His responsibility is the greatest that the Vienna talks have so far shown no results."
Simic said the six rounds of talks in the Austrian capital between Belgrade and Pristina were "badly prepared and badly run."
"One didn't know the rules, there were no protocols, and it was also unknown when the next talks would take place, and what the commitments were."
Simic pointed out that in June, EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Javier Solana, had already said the talks were unsuccessful. Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica had even been told that the Vienna process was "dead."
On a planned top-level Belgrade-Pristina meeting, which according to unofficials reports is to take place in Vienna on July 24, Simic said that "in view of the fact that Vienna so far symbolizes unsuccessful talks, the site of the meeting may have to be changed."
In the past two weeks, Belgrade media have speculated about a possible replacement of UN chief Kosovo envoy Martti Ahtisaari of Finland. Simic said that due to the lack of success by Rohan, it would at least be in the interests of the chief envoy to replace his deputy.
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Kosovo victims mourn in anger as new war crimes trials set to begin
MALA KRUSA, Serbia (AP) - The women here have no husbands or sons to work the land. Many don't even have graves to cry over.
These are the women of Mala Krusa, a close-knit village of 1,000 ethnic Albanians tucked behind a railway track in Kosovo's south that was the scene of mass killings on a night in 1999 when Serb forces seized the town's men and boys.
On Monday, six former high-level political and military leaders of Serbia and Yugoslavia are to stand trial in The Hague, Netherlands, for alleged war crimes in Kosovo during the 1998-99 crackdown on ethnic Albanians, and the names of some of the 116 men and boys who disappeared from Mala Krusa that night are on the long list of victims in their indictment.
Hyreshahe Shehu recalls holding her 13-year-old son Xhelal's trembling hand tight as they watched Serb forces take her elder son and her husband away. Minutes later, they took Xhelal. He never came back.
"My soul hurts day and night," she said, beating her chest with a fist. "They killed my husband and my two only sons. They have exterminated my family."
U.N. prosecutors will seek to prove that the Serb leaders directed a campaign of terror and violence against Kosovo Albanians by participating in a joint criminal enterprise with the purpose of modifying the ethnic balance in Kosovo to ensure Serb control over the province.
Milan Milutinovic, Nikola Sainovic, Dragoljub Ojdanic, Nebojsa Pavkovic, Vladimir Lazarevic and Sreten Lukic are being tried four months after former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic died while standing trial in The Hague for war crimes.
The six are charged with crimes including the deportation of 800,000 ethnic Albanians, and the forcible transfer, murder and persecutions of thousands of ethnic Albanians.
Mala Krusa is one of the examples. Once a lively community, much of the village is now a ghost town haunted by that one day when the men were separated from their mothers, wives, sisters and daughters.
Some of the men come back -- in white body bags. Some were never found.
Prosecutors allege that a day after NATO began bombing Serb forces to bring a halt to the Serb crackdown, Mala Krusa and a village nearby were attacked by Serb forces.
Residents took refuge in a forested area, where they saw police looting and then burning their homes.
The next day, Serb police found the villagers in the forest, ordered the women and children to go to neighboring Albania and made men and boys walk to an empty house.
There, they opened fire, prosecutors say. The police then piled hay on the men and boys and set fire to it in order to burn the bodies, killing 105 of them, they said.
Left to live in a village that still bears the marks of the destruction that took place here -- a constant reminder of those dark days that swept their families -- the women of Mala Krusa say they want to see local Serbs and those who issued the orders that day in Mala Krusa also brought to justice.
"I wouldn't want them killed," Hyreshahe said, wiping tears with her hands. "I wish what they did to us they see it in their kids so that their mothers are left suffering, just like we are for as long as we live."
These are the women of Mala Krusa, a close-knit village of 1,000 ethnic Albanians tucked behind a railway track in Kosovo's south that was the scene of mass killings on a night in 1999 when Serb forces seized the town's men and boys.
On Monday, six former high-level political and military leaders of Serbia and Yugoslavia are to stand trial in The Hague, Netherlands, for alleged war crimes in Kosovo during the 1998-99 crackdown on ethnic Albanians, and the names of some of the 116 men and boys who disappeared from Mala Krusa that night are on the long list of victims in their indictment.
Hyreshahe Shehu recalls holding her 13-year-old son Xhelal's trembling hand tight as they watched Serb forces take her elder son and her husband away. Minutes later, they took Xhelal. He never came back.
"My soul hurts day and night," she said, beating her chest with a fist. "They killed my husband and my two only sons. They have exterminated my family."
U.N. prosecutors will seek to prove that the Serb leaders directed a campaign of terror and violence against Kosovo Albanians by participating in a joint criminal enterprise with the purpose of modifying the ethnic balance in Kosovo to ensure Serb control over the province.
Milan Milutinovic, Nikola Sainovic, Dragoljub Ojdanic, Nebojsa Pavkovic, Vladimir Lazarevic and Sreten Lukic are being tried four months after former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic died while standing trial in The Hague for war crimes.
The six are charged with crimes including the deportation of 800,000 ethnic Albanians, and the forcible transfer, murder and persecutions of thousands of ethnic Albanians.
Mala Krusa is one of the examples. Once a lively community, much of the village is now a ghost town haunted by that one day when the men were separated from their mothers, wives, sisters and daughters.
Some of the men come back -- in white body bags. Some were never found.
Prosecutors allege that a day after NATO began bombing Serb forces to bring a halt to the Serb crackdown, Mala Krusa and a village nearby were attacked by Serb forces.
Residents took refuge in a forested area, where they saw police looting and then burning their homes.
The next day, Serb police found the villagers in the forest, ordered the women and children to go to neighboring Albania and made men and boys walk to an empty house.
There, they opened fire, prosecutors say. The police then piled hay on the men and boys and set fire to it in order to burn the bodies, killing 105 of them, they said.
Left to live in a village that still bears the marks of the destruction that took place here -- a constant reminder of those dark days that swept their families -- the women of Mala Krusa say they want to see local Serbs and those who issued the orders that day in Mala Krusa also brought to justice.
"I wouldn't want them killed," Hyreshahe said, wiping tears with her hands. "I wish what they did to us they see it in their kids so that their mothers are left suffering, just like we are for as long as we live."
U.N. court starts trial of Milosevic successor
AMSTERDAM, July 9 (Reuters) - Four months after the death of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, his closest ally, Milan Milutinovic, and five others also accused of war crimes in Kosovo in 1999 will stand trial at the U.N. tribunal on Monday.
Milutinovic, 63, and his co-accused are charged with the persecution of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, the forcible deportation of about 800,000 civilians and the murder of hundreds of civilians by Serb forces.
Milutinovic succeeded Milosevic, who died at the U.N. jail on March 11, as president of Serbia in 1997.
He and former Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Sainovic, former army chief and defence minister Dragoljub Ojdanic and army commander Vladimir Lazarevic returned from provisional release to The Hague last week.
The four are indicted with army commander Nebojsa Pavkovic and security chief Sreten Lukic, also released on bail, as well as former chief of public security Vlastimir Dordevic, who is still at large.
Prosecutors allege Milutinovic had at least formal control over the Serb forces who killed hundreds of ethnic Albanians and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.
Milutinovic pleaded not guilty to crimes against humanity including murder, deportation and persecution, and one charge of war crimes. He argued that he had little real power as Serbian president.
SERBIA'S SMILING FACE
Milutinovic was Milosevic's closest ally and representative during the crucial negotiations on Kosovo in early 1999 which ended in an impasse and resulted in the 78-day NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.
At the time, he conveyed Serbia's tough stand with a smiling face, often shown on TV cracking jokes with journalists who followed him in droves when he took walks through the small French town of Rambouillet during breaks in the talks.
But Milutinovic was believed to be just a mouthpiece of Milosevic, at the time president of rump Yugoslavia.Serbs used a popular saying to describe him, as "a man who doesn't interfere, not even in his job".
Milutinovic stayed in his largely ceremonial post after reformers ousted Milosevic in 2000, protected by presidential immunity. He kept a low profile and stayed out his term until December 2002, then gave himself up to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has come under some criticism after the death of Milosevic, whose trial dragged on for four years.
Critics say the court should try to simplify and speed up proceedings by focusing on limited crimes.
The court, which is due to close all proceedings by 2010, has begun moving some mid- and low-ranking cases to national courts so it can focus on major suspects. (Additional reporting by Beti Bilandzic in Belgrade)
Milutinovic, 63, and his co-accused are charged with the persecution of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, the forcible deportation of about 800,000 civilians and the murder of hundreds of civilians by Serb forces.
Milutinovic succeeded Milosevic, who died at the U.N. jail on March 11, as president of Serbia in 1997.
He and former Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Sainovic, former army chief and defence minister Dragoljub Ojdanic and army commander Vladimir Lazarevic returned from provisional release to The Hague last week.
The four are indicted with army commander Nebojsa Pavkovic and security chief Sreten Lukic, also released on bail, as well as former chief of public security Vlastimir Dordevic, who is still at large.
Prosecutors allege Milutinovic had at least formal control over the Serb forces who killed hundreds of ethnic Albanians and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.
Milutinovic pleaded not guilty to crimes against humanity including murder, deportation and persecution, and one charge of war crimes. He argued that he had little real power as Serbian president.
SERBIA'S SMILING FACE
Milutinovic was Milosevic's closest ally and representative during the crucial negotiations on Kosovo in early 1999 which ended in an impasse and resulted in the 78-day NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.
At the time, he conveyed Serbia's tough stand with a smiling face, often shown on TV cracking jokes with journalists who followed him in droves when he took walks through the small French town of Rambouillet during breaks in the talks.
But Milutinovic was believed to be just a mouthpiece of Milosevic, at the time president of rump Yugoslavia.Serbs used a popular saying to describe him, as "a man who doesn't interfere, not even in his job".
Milutinovic stayed in his largely ceremonial post after reformers ousted Milosevic in 2000, protected by presidential immunity. He kept a low profile and stayed out his term until December 2002, then gave himself up to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has come under some criticism after the death of Milosevic, whose trial dragged on for four years.
Critics say the court should try to simplify and speed up proceedings by focusing on limited crimes.
The court, which is due to close all proceedings by 2010, has begun moving some mid- and low-ranking cases to national courts so it can focus on major suspects. (Additional reporting by Beti Bilandzic in Belgrade)
FACTBOX-Five facts about Milan Milutinovic
July 9 (Reuters) - Former Serbian President Milan Milutinovic and five others accused of war crimes in Kosovo in 1999 stand trial at the U.N. war crimes tribunal.
Here are five facts about Milutinovic. * Milutinovic, 63, a former ambassador to Greece for the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Minister of Foreign Affairs was elected president of Serbia in 1997, succeeding Slobodan Milosevic.
* As Milosevic became president of the Yugoslav Federation, political power shifted and Milutinovic had little political influence. But he led the Yugoslav government's negotiating group in the French town of Rambouillet in 1999 which ended in an impasse and resulted in the 78-day NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.
* According to the indictment, Milutinovic had personal responsibility as president of Serbia and had at least formal control of Serb forces who killed hundreds of ethnic Albanians and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.
* Milutinovic is accused of deportation, murder as crime against humanity, murder as a violation of laws and customs of war and other inhumane acts during the war in Kosovo. This includes the persecution of ethnic Albanians and the forcible deportation of about 800,000 civilians and the murder of hundreds of civilians.
* Milutinovic, who received a law degree from the University of Belgrade, surrendered to the tribunal in January 2003, a month after his five-year term as Serbia president ended.
Here are five facts about Milutinovic. * Milutinovic, 63, a former ambassador to Greece for the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Minister of Foreign Affairs was elected president of Serbia in 1997, succeeding Slobodan Milosevic.
* As Milosevic became president of the Yugoslav Federation, political power shifted and Milutinovic had little political influence. But he led the Yugoslav government's negotiating group in the French town of Rambouillet in 1999 which ended in an impasse and resulted in the 78-day NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.
* According to the indictment, Milutinovic had personal responsibility as president of Serbia and had at least formal control of Serb forces who killed hundreds of ethnic Albanians and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.
* Milutinovic is accused of deportation, murder as crime against humanity, murder as a violation of laws and customs of war and other inhumane acts during the war in Kosovo. This includes the persecution of ethnic Albanians and the forcible deportation of about 800,000 civilians and the murder of hundreds of civilians.
* Milutinovic, who received a law degree from the University of Belgrade, surrendered to the tribunal in January 2003, a month after his five-year term as Serbia president ended.
Friday, July 07, 2006
NATO seeks ways to allay Serbia's isolation
BRUSSELS, July 7 (Reuters) - NATO is looking at ways to allay a growing sense of isolation in Serbia, possibly with an offer of closer ties short of a full partnership, alliance diplomats said on Friday.
The alliance has denied Serbia and its neighbour Bosnia entry to its Partnership for Peace programme, the first rung on the ladder to possible membership, until fugitive Bosnian Serb war crimes suspects General Ratko Mladic and wartime leader Radovan Karadzic are brought to international justice.
But now Montenegro has ended its union with Serbia and Kosovo is set to go its own way, NATO fears its tough line will play into the hands of an anti-Western camp in Serbia.
That concern is compounded by the fact that the European Union also suspended pre-membership talks in May after Belgrade failed to meet a deadline to arrest Mladic.
"There is a deep sense of frustration in Belgrade and a risk of radicalisation of the political landscape," said one senior NATO diplomat who requested anonymity.
"The question is: how can we give Belgrade encouragement without giving up on the policy of conditionality," he said of the longstanding condition that Serbia must deliver Mladic to the U.N. war crimes tribunal before it can join the partnership.
Possible steps will be outlined when Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica meets U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington on July 11.
U.S. envoy to Serbia Michael Polt said this week the visit would be devoted to "improving the situation in Serbia and bilateral relations which are not based only on the political status of Kosovo or whether Mladic is in the Hague or not".
OBSERVER STATUS?
One idea is that Serbia could receive unprecedented observer status in the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC), the 46-country forum in which NATO allies discuss security and political issues with 20 mainly east European partners.
NATO, which conducted an 11-week bombing campaign against Belgrade in 1999 to drive Serb forces out of Kosovo, is also due to appoint a liaison officer soon to work at the Serbian Defence Ministry on military cooperation.
"The idea is to split the difference between where we are now and full Partnership for Peace," a second senior alliance diplomat said, adding that any agreed formula would have to be applied to Bosnia too.
No concrete proposal has yet been put forward. The United States is among those pushing for early steps to reach out to Belgrade, while others such as Britain are in less of a hurry.
"It could be part of a Kosovo end-game package," said the second diplomat of U.N.-backed talks which the West hopes will by year-end confirm Kosovo's future as an independent state.
Supporters of the NATO outreach move say it must come before elections which raise the risk of Serbia being turned over to ultranationalist, anti-Western parties.
There is constant media speculation there will be early elections by the end of the year, but diplomatic sources say Kostunica wants to hold on until early 2007.
The EU is also looking at ways to reach out to Serbia despite the war crimes obstacle.
EU foreign ministers agreed last month on the need to support Serbia's "European perspective" and make it easier for young Serbians to get visas to travel to EU countries. Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn visited Belgrade this week to discuss a way forward.
The alliance has denied Serbia and its neighbour Bosnia entry to its Partnership for Peace programme, the first rung on the ladder to possible membership, until fugitive Bosnian Serb war crimes suspects General Ratko Mladic and wartime leader Radovan Karadzic are brought to international justice.
But now Montenegro has ended its union with Serbia and Kosovo is set to go its own way, NATO fears its tough line will play into the hands of an anti-Western camp in Serbia.
That concern is compounded by the fact that the European Union also suspended pre-membership talks in May after Belgrade failed to meet a deadline to arrest Mladic.
"There is a deep sense of frustration in Belgrade and a risk of radicalisation of the political landscape," said one senior NATO diplomat who requested anonymity.
"The question is: how can we give Belgrade encouragement without giving up on the policy of conditionality," he said of the longstanding condition that Serbia must deliver Mladic to the U.N. war crimes tribunal before it can join the partnership.
Possible steps will be outlined when Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica meets U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington on July 11.
U.S. envoy to Serbia Michael Polt said this week the visit would be devoted to "improving the situation in Serbia and bilateral relations which are not based only on the political status of Kosovo or whether Mladic is in the Hague or not".
OBSERVER STATUS?
One idea is that Serbia could receive unprecedented observer status in the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC), the 46-country forum in which NATO allies discuss security and political issues with 20 mainly east European partners.
NATO, which conducted an 11-week bombing campaign against Belgrade in 1999 to drive Serb forces out of Kosovo, is also due to appoint a liaison officer soon to work at the Serbian Defence Ministry on military cooperation.
"The idea is to split the difference between where we are now and full Partnership for Peace," a second senior alliance diplomat said, adding that any agreed formula would have to be applied to Bosnia too.
No concrete proposal has yet been put forward. The United States is among those pushing for early steps to reach out to Belgrade, while others such as Britain are in less of a hurry.
"It could be part of a Kosovo end-game package," said the second diplomat of U.N.-backed talks which the West hopes will by year-end confirm Kosovo's future as an independent state.
Supporters of the NATO outreach move say it must come before elections which raise the risk of Serbia being turned over to ultranationalist, anti-Western parties.
There is constant media speculation there will be early elections by the end of the year, but diplomatic sources say Kostunica wants to hold on until early 2007.
The EU is also looking at ways to reach out to Serbia despite the war crimes obstacle.
EU foreign ministers agreed last month on the need to support Serbia's "European perspective" and make it easier for young Serbians to get visas to travel to EU countries. Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn visited Belgrade this week to discuss a way forward.
Top Milosevic aides go on trial
Six former high-level political and military leaders of Serbia and Yugoslavia appear in court in The Hague on Monday charged with alleged crimes committed in Kosovo in 1999.
The "mega trial", as some are referring to it, begins four months after their boss, Slobodan Milosevic, died in his cell as his trial on similar charges was nearing its end.
One of the accused, Milan Milutinovic, was Serbia's president during the conflict and, thus, nominally the second most important person after Milosevic.
As such he is the next best hope the prosecution have of obtaining the conviction of a head of a state over the alleged war crimes.
Milan Milutinovic, however, was not a proper head of state. Serbia was one of the entities of the truncated Yugoslav Federation, which is now defunct. But Serbia was not a recognised country in its own right.
More significantly, Mr Milutinovic never was the heavyweight of Serbian politics, having built his career in the shadow of Slobodan Milosevic.
So it will be something of an anti-climax to see the soft-spoken, greying man in the same dock that was occupied by Milosevic just a few months ago.
There will certainly be less of a frisson in the public gallery, less of a scramble among journalists and television crews to carry the proceedings live - and certainly less excitement in the bench after the frequent clashes with Milosevic which it often relished.
The victims of the war will still want to see the accused put away - possibly for life. After all, they felt cheated that Slobodan Milosevic died before judgment was rendered.
Shadow of Milosevic
Chief war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte may also have felt cheated by Mr Milosevic's untimely death, but she has not been less diligent in the new case.
The indictment of the six men may look a bit thinner than Mr Milosevic's - but it is certainly not patchy.
The prosecution should have had all the benefit of the evidence accumulated since February 2002, when Milosevic's case began.
And the crimes are similar - save genocide, which Milosevic had been charged with over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia. It is not on the charge sheet now.
The indictment alleges that the accused participated in a joint criminal enterprise that aimed, among other things, to change the ethnic balance in Kosovo to ensure continued Serb control over the province.
It alleges that the accused, and their associates, "used the powers available to them as political and military leaders to achieve this".
Legal complexities
The prosecution in the case of Milosevic appeared to face difficulty trying to directly link the ex-leader to the alleged crimes.
They will now have to try again, perhaps with the same witnesses - and may even have a better chance.
None of the six appearing in court on Monday command the respect - or the votes - that Mr Milosevic did in certain Serbian circles.
And they may not get the same kind of sympathy or support from Belgrade.
However, the accused, for their part, may find it easier to blame the man who is now dead.
Mr Milutinovic, for instance, has often insisted he had no real power. So even if a link to the top leadership is established, the accused may seek to shift it onto Milosevic.
Any conviction can only come after proof beyond reasonable doubt - and the burden of proof is on the prosecution.
The accused do not have to prove they are innocent - they are presumed so, and they have said it for the court's benefit.
But it has taken a long time for the case to come to court - it often does and the UN tribunal is often criticised for its slow pace.
The first of the six officials made his initial appearance at The Hague on 26 April 2002 - the last on 28 April 2005.
In theory their cases should be treated separately - and some could have concluded, had they been treated so.
However, this would have resulted in an overwhelming duplication of evidence and effort, given the similarity of the alleged offences.
So the cases were merged only in July last year. And it normally takes that long for the prosecution to seek to corroborate their evidence through witnesses and documentary proof.
Perhaps in recognition of this delay, the accused were provisionally released last year, pending the trial.
There is a strong possibility, too, that the prosecution might have been awaiting a judgment in the Milosevic case that could have been applied to his aides.
The proceedings at The Hague will be lengthy - the prosecution says it needs at last a year to submit its evidence. After that comes the defence, which will take at least as long, as strict time-keeping is something the judges like to stress.
Whatever the length, or the outcome, this case is unlikely to have the colour and melodrama often generated by Milosevic.
full
Milan Milutinovic argues he had little power; Milosevic's death will overshadow the proceedings
The "mega trial", as some are referring to it, begins four months after their boss, Slobodan Milosevic, died in his cell as his trial on similar charges was nearing its end.
One of the accused, Milan Milutinovic, was Serbia's president during the conflict and, thus, nominally the second most important person after Milosevic.
As such he is the next best hope the prosecution have of obtaining the conviction of a head of a state over the alleged war crimes.
Milan Milutinovic, however, was not a proper head of state. Serbia was one of the entities of the truncated Yugoslav Federation, which is now defunct. But Serbia was not a recognised country in its own right.
More significantly, Mr Milutinovic never was the heavyweight of Serbian politics, having built his career in the shadow of Slobodan Milosevic.
So it will be something of an anti-climax to see the soft-spoken, greying man in the same dock that was occupied by Milosevic just a few months ago.
There will certainly be less of a frisson in the public gallery, less of a scramble among journalists and television crews to carry the proceedings live - and certainly less excitement in the bench after the frequent clashes with Milosevic which it often relished.
The victims of the war will still want to see the accused put away - possibly for life. After all, they felt cheated that Slobodan Milosevic died before judgment was rendered.
Shadow of Milosevic
Chief war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte may also have felt cheated by Mr Milosevic's untimely death, but she has not been less diligent in the new case.
The indictment of the six men may look a bit thinner than Mr Milosevic's - but it is certainly not patchy.
The prosecution should have had all the benefit of the evidence accumulated since February 2002, when Milosevic's case began.
And the crimes are similar - save genocide, which Milosevic had been charged with over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia. It is not on the charge sheet now.
The indictment alleges that the accused participated in a joint criminal enterprise that aimed, among other things, to change the ethnic balance in Kosovo to ensure continued Serb control over the province.
It alleges that the accused, and their associates, "used the powers available to them as political and military leaders to achieve this".
Legal complexities
The prosecution in the case of Milosevic appeared to face difficulty trying to directly link the ex-leader to the alleged crimes.
They will now have to try again, perhaps with the same witnesses - and may even have a better chance.
None of the six appearing in court on Monday command the respect - or the votes - that Mr Milosevic did in certain Serbian circles.
And they may not get the same kind of sympathy or support from Belgrade.
However, the accused, for their part, may find it easier to blame the man who is now dead.
Mr Milutinovic, for instance, has often insisted he had no real power. So even if a link to the top leadership is established, the accused may seek to shift it onto Milosevic.
Any conviction can only come after proof beyond reasonable doubt - and the burden of proof is on the prosecution.
The accused do not have to prove they are innocent - they are presumed so, and they have said it for the court's benefit.
But it has taken a long time for the case to come to court - it often does and the UN tribunal is often criticised for its slow pace.
The first of the six officials made his initial appearance at The Hague on 26 April 2002 - the last on 28 April 2005.
In theory their cases should be treated separately - and some could have concluded, had they been treated so.
However, this would have resulted in an overwhelming duplication of evidence and effort, given the similarity of the alleged offences.
So the cases were merged only in July last year. And it normally takes that long for the prosecution to seek to corroborate their evidence through witnesses and documentary proof.
Perhaps in recognition of this delay, the accused were provisionally released last year, pending the trial.
There is a strong possibility, too, that the prosecution might have been awaiting a judgment in the Milosevic case that could have been applied to his aides.
The proceedings at The Hague will be lengthy - the prosecution says it needs at last a year to submit its evidence. After that comes the defence, which will take at least as long, as strict time-keeping is something the judges like to stress.
Whatever the length, or the outcome, this case is unlikely to have the colour and melodrama often generated by Milosevic.
full
Milan Milutinovic argues he had little power; Milosevic's death will overshadow the proceedings
Thursday, July 06, 2006
EU reaches out to Serbia, but conditions remain
BELGRADE, July 6 (Reuters) - The European Union has not shut the door on Serbia but will only restart talks on closer ties once Belgrade brings war crime fugitives to justice, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said on Thursday.
The EU froze talks on a so-called Stabilisation and Association Agreement two months ago because Belgrade failed to deliver Bosnian Serb fugitive Ratko Mladic to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
During an official visit to Belgrade, Rehn said the EU was still "actively engaged in the European future of Serbia".
As proof of its commitment, it had prepared a separate negotiation mandate for Serbia, which was conducting association talks with Montenegro until it voted to pull out of their union in May.
"Full cooperation with the ICTY, which needs to lead to the arrest and transfer of Ratko Mladic, remains the necessary condition to resume the talks for the SAA agreement," Rehn said after a meeting with Serbia's pro-Western president Boris Tadic.
The association agreement would be the first step on Serbia's long road to eventual EU membership. The suspension left Serbia as the only country in the Balkans without a roadmap to accession, even behind once Stalinist Albania which signed up last month.
Apart from the EU rebuff, the Montenegro vote and the prospect of independence this year for the breakaway province of Kosovo have increased Serbia's feelings of betrayal by the West.
Echoing the frustration of ordinary Serbs, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica last month said the EU stance was "deeply wrong" and counter-productive. Brussels said he was trying to shift blame for his government's failures.
But worried that wounded pride will further boost the ultranationalist Radical Party, already the country's strongest, Western officials have urged the international community to show Serbs their future lies within Europe and NATO, not chauvinism and isolation.
While Brussels has made a number of goodwill gestures that include promises of financial aid and easing of the gruelling visa regime, it has never wavered from its condition on war crimes suspects.
Rehn said he was heartened by the preparation of an "action plan" by the Serbian government to get negotiations back on track by arresting Mladic, who is twice indicted for genocide for his role in the 1992-95 Bosnia war.
The EU froze talks on a so-called Stabilisation and Association Agreement two months ago because Belgrade failed to deliver Bosnian Serb fugitive Ratko Mladic to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
During an official visit to Belgrade, Rehn said the EU was still "actively engaged in the European future of Serbia".
As proof of its commitment, it had prepared a separate negotiation mandate for Serbia, which was conducting association talks with Montenegro until it voted to pull out of their union in May.
"Full cooperation with the ICTY, which needs to lead to the arrest and transfer of Ratko Mladic, remains the necessary condition to resume the talks for the SAA agreement," Rehn said after a meeting with Serbia's pro-Western president Boris Tadic.
The association agreement would be the first step on Serbia's long road to eventual EU membership. The suspension left Serbia as the only country in the Balkans without a roadmap to accession, even behind once Stalinist Albania which signed up last month.
Apart from the EU rebuff, the Montenegro vote and the prospect of independence this year for the breakaway province of Kosovo have increased Serbia's feelings of betrayal by the West.
Echoing the frustration of ordinary Serbs, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica last month said the EU stance was "deeply wrong" and counter-productive. Brussels said he was trying to shift blame for his government's failures.
But worried that wounded pride will further boost the ultranationalist Radical Party, already the country's strongest, Western officials have urged the international community to show Serbs their future lies within Europe and NATO, not chauvinism and isolation.
While Brussels has made a number of goodwill gestures that include promises of financial aid and easing of the gruelling visa regime, it has never wavered from its condition on war crimes suspects.
Rehn said he was heartened by the preparation of an "action plan" by the Serbian government to get negotiations back on track by arresting Mladic, who is twice indicted for genocide for his role in the 1992-95 Bosnia war.
Macedonia looks to coalition, EU pleased with vote
SKOPJE, July 6 (Reuters) - Macedonia faced a period of coalition building on Thursday following a national election that sank the ruling coalition and went some way to assuaging European Union concerns over the country's democratic maturity.
Projected results from the non-governmental group MOST gave the conservative opposition VMRO-DPMNE around 43 seats in the 120-seat parliament, against 30 for the ruling Social Democrats.
VMRO-DPMNE, which was last in power when an ethnic Albanian insurgency threatened civil war in 2001, must enter coalition with one of the main Albanian parties, possibly the ex-rebels.
Full official results were expected on Friday. The prime minister-elect has two months to form a government.
European observers said the vote "largely met international standards" and demonstrated growing political maturity.
They noted some serious, isolated irregularities -- ballot box stuffing and intimidation -- but said they "should not be allowed to overshadow the democratic progress made".
EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said he was "pleased" with the observers' report and called for the incidents to be investigated and the perpetrators punished.
"I welcome the orderly electoral process, marking a further step in the consolidation of the country's democracy," he said.
The United States and NATO also welcomed the vote, but noted some irregularities. "These cases should be fully investigated and dealt with in accordance with Macedonian law," U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement.
There was tangible relief in Skopje that the vote passed off peacefully, after a sometimes violent campaign that drew warnings from the EU and NATO that Macedonia's bid to join both blocs was on the line.
The EU made Macedonia an official candidate for membership in December 2005, but stopped short of setting a date for accession talks, citing election flaws and the slow pace of reform. An EU review is due in late October, but diplomats say Macedonia will still have to wait for a date for talks.
"Ahead of us is a small celebration, and in the morning we'll start creating a government," VMRO-DPMNE leader Nikola Gruevski, a former finance minister, said early on Thursday.
CRUCIAL TO STABILITY
Social Democrat Prime Minister Vlado Buckovski acknowledged defeat in a televised address within five hours of polls closing, a quick, clean concession by Balkan standards.
Depending on the final results, VMRO-DPMNE might have to convince Buckovski's Albanian partner in government, former rebel leader Ali Ahmeti, to switch allegiance.
Buckovski called on Gruevski to form a government as soon as possible. "If he can't, we are here," he said.
Macedonia split from Yugoslavia peacefully in 1991 but ethnic conflict caught up with the republic of two million in 2001 when a six-month Albanian guerrilla insurgency drove it close to civil war, until Western diplomacy intervened.
The preservation of a stable, multiethnic Macedonia next door to the U.N.-run province of Kosovo, whose Albanian majority is expected to win independence from Serbia soon, is crucial to EU policy for stability in the Balkans.
The Social Democrats have formed three of the country's four governments since independence. But they are widely criticised for failing to improve a formerly Socialist economy crippled by high unemployment, low wages and little investment.
VMRO-DPMNE lost power in 2002 after the insurgency. In opposition, VMRO-DPMNE shed its nationalist image. Partial results showed Ahmeti's Democratic Union for Integration holding its majority in Albanian constituencies. (Additional reporting by Kole Casule and Mark John in Brussels)
Projected results from the non-governmental group MOST gave the conservative opposition VMRO-DPMNE around 43 seats in the 120-seat parliament, against 30 for the ruling Social Democrats.
VMRO-DPMNE, which was last in power when an ethnic Albanian insurgency threatened civil war in 2001, must enter coalition with one of the main Albanian parties, possibly the ex-rebels.
Full official results were expected on Friday. The prime minister-elect has two months to form a government.
European observers said the vote "largely met international standards" and demonstrated growing political maturity.
They noted some serious, isolated irregularities -- ballot box stuffing and intimidation -- but said they "should not be allowed to overshadow the democratic progress made".
EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said he was "pleased" with the observers' report and called for the incidents to be investigated and the perpetrators punished.
"I welcome the orderly electoral process, marking a further step in the consolidation of the country's democracy," he said.
The United States and NATO also welcomed the vote, but noted some irregularities. "These cases should be fully investigated and dealt with in accordance with Macedonian law," U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement.
There was tangible relief in Skopje that the vote passed off peacefully, after a sometimes violent campaign that drew warnings from the EU and NATO that Macedonia's bid to join both blocs was on the line.
The EU made Macedonia an official candidate for membership in December 2005, but stopped short of setting a date for accession talks, citing election flaws and the slow pace of reform. An EU review is due in late October, but diplomats say Macedonia will still have to wait for a date for talks.
"Ahead of us is a small celebration, and in the morning we'll start creating a government," VMRO-DPMNE leader Nikola Gruevski, a former finance minister, said early on Thursday.
CRUCIAL TO STABILITY
Social Democrat Prime Minister Vlado Buckovski acknowledged defeat in a televised address within five hours of polls closing, a quick, clean concession by Balkan standards.
Depending on the final results, VMRO-DPMNE might have to convince Buckovski's Albanian partner in government, former rebel leader Ali Ahmeti, to switch allegiance.
Buckovski called on Gruevski to form a government as soon as possible. "If he can't, we are here," he said.
Macedonia split from Yugoslavia peacefully in 1991 but ethnic conflict caught up with the republic of two million in 2001 when a six-month Albanian guerrilla insurgency drove it close to civil war, until Western diplomacy intervened.
The preservation of a stable, multiethnic Macedonia next door to the U.N.-run province of Kosovo, whose Albanian majority is expected to win independence from Serbia soon, is crucial to EU policy for stability in the Balkans.
The Social Democrats have formed three of the country's four governments since independence. But they are widely criticised for failing to improve a formerly Socialist economy crippled by high unemployment, low wages and little investment.
VMRO-DPMNE lost power in 2002 after the insurgency. In opposition, VMRO-DPMNE shed its nationalist image. Partial results showed Ahmeti's Democratic Union for Integration holding its majority in Albanian constituencies. (Additional reporting by Kole Casule and Mark John in Brussels)
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Macedonia PM admits poll defeat
Macedonia PM admits poll defeat
Macedonian Prime Minister Vlado Buckovski has conceded victory to the main nationalist opposition party in the general election.
His Social Democrat-led coalition was trailing the VMRO-DPMNE party with more than a third of the votes counted.
Voting on Wednesday passed off relatively peacefully, despite violence during the campaign.
The vote was being seen as an important indicator as to how quickly Macedonia will be able to join the EU.
"The opposition got the most votes and support of the citizens," Mr Buckovski said, adding that he had telephoned leader Nikola Gruevski to congratulate him.
We have to form a government quickly and to focus on what we have promised our citizens
Nikola Gruevski
VMRO-DPMNE party
"But Macedonia is the main winner as the citizens showed that they could vote in free and fair elections," he added.
"We want to tell the citizens that we'll be in the parliament to continue to work for Macedonia to be part of the EU integration."
Mr Buckovski's speech - coming an hour after VMRO-DPMNE declared itself the winner - answered the EU's call for a clear and prompt result.
'Work waiting'
With 36% of the ballots counted, the VMRO-DPMNE party had secured 33% of the vote with Mr Buckovski's Social Democratic Union (SDSM) taking 24%.
At a victory rally in the capital Skopje, Mr Gruevski, the former finance minister, said: "The citizens of Macedonia showed their maturity and made the right decision."
But he warned his supporters that after the celebrations, "work is waiting for us".
"Macedonia lost a lot of time in the last 15 years of transition. We have to form a government quickly and to focus on what we have promised our citizens."
Some 1.7 million people were eligible to vote in what was Macedonia's fourth general election since gaining independence in 1991.
Extra police had bee deployed following violence, mainly within the ethnic Albanian community, during the election campaign.
But while voting appeared to pass off relatively peacefully, the electoral commission did report some irregularities throughout the day.
Ballot-stuffing was reported at a couple of polling stations near the town of Tetovo, and there was an attempt to start a fire at one polling station in Skopje, which was quickly brought under control.
The EU had warned that future membership of the union could be severely delayed if there was serious trouble on polling day.
Macedonia was granted EU candidate status in December 2005.
Macedonian Prime Minister Vlado Buckovski has conceded victory to the main nationalist opposition party in the general election.
His Social Democrat-led coalition was trailing the VMRO-DPMNE party with more than a third of the votes counted.
Voting on Wednesday passed off relatively peacefully, despite violence during the campaign.
The vote was being seen as an important indicator as to how quickly Macedonia will be able to join the EU.
"The opposition got the most votes and support of the citizens," Mr Buckovski said, adding that he had telephoned leader Nikola Gruevski to congratulate him.
We have to form a government quickly and to focus on what we have promised our citizens
Nikola Gruevski
VMRO-DPMNE party
"But Macedonia is the main winner as the citizens showed that they could vote in free and fair elections," he added.
"We want to tell the citizens that we'll be in the parliament to continue to work for Macedonia to be part of the EU integration."
Mr Buckovski's speech - coming an hour after VMRO-DPMNE declared itself the winner - answered the EU's call for a clear and prompt result.
'Work waiting'
With 36% of the ballots counted, the VMRO-DPMNE party had secured 33% of the vote with Mr Buckovski's Social Democratic Union (SDSM) taking 24%.
At a victory rally in the capital Skopje, Mr Gruevski, the former finance minister, said: "The citizens of Macedonia showed their maturity and made the right decision."
But he warned his supporters that after the celebrations, "work is waiting for us".
"Macedonia lost a lot of time in the last 15 years of transition. We have to form a government quickly and to focus on what we have promised our citizens."
Some 1.7 million people were eligible to vote in what was Macedonia's fourth general election since gaining independence in 1991.
Extra police had bee deployed following violence, mainly within the ethnic Albanian community, during the election campaign.
But while voting appeared to pass off relatively peacefully, the electoral commission did report some irregularities throughout the day.
Ballot-stuffing was reported at a couple of polling stations near the town of Tetovo, and there was an attempt to start a fire at one polling station in Skopje, which was quickly brought under control.
The EU had warned that future membership of the union could be severely delayed if there was serious trouble on polling day.
Macedonia was granted EU candidate status in December 2005.
Macedonia votes peacefully, looks to EU, NATO
By Matt Robinson
SKOPJE (Reuters) - A general election in Macedonia passed off peacefully on Wednesday after a sometimes violent campaign that drew warnings from the European Union and NATO that the country had to prove its democratic maturity.
When polls closed at 7 p.m. (1700 GMT), there had been no reports of serious incidents.
"We are talking about fair and democratic elections, well organized and with very few irregularities," Aleksandar Bastevski, a member of the State Electoral Committee, told reporters.
Macedonian leaders had appealed for a free and fair vote to answer EU and NATO doubts over the country's readiness to move along the road to membership in the coming years.
"I expect today's vote will show that Macedonia has the democratic capacity to pass the most important tests, and draw closer to NATO and the EU," Social Democrat Prime Minister Vlado Buckovski told reporters.
The EU envoy to Skopje, Erwan Fouere, toured potential hotspots, and hinted at his optimism. "We keep our fingers crossed that at the end of the day this will be an important landmark for Macedonia," said the Irish diplomat.
Preliminary official results were expected in the early hours of Thursday, with Buckovski's Social Democrats facing a stiff challenge from the opposition VMRO-DPMNE.
His multiethnic ruling coalition has come under fire for failing to provide jobs or decent wages 15 years after Macedonia split peacefully from Yugoslavia.
The Balkan country of 2 million people came close to full-blown civil war in 2001 during a six-month long ethnic Albanian insurgency. The EU brokered a peace deal, and made Macedonia an official candidate for membership in December 2005.
But Brussels stopped short of setting a date for accession talks, urging faster reform and better elections.
NATIONALIST IMAGE
Wednesday's vote was billed as a crucial test.
The start of the campaign was fiery, with two shootouts in the capital Skopje and several attacks on party offices in the mainly Albanian west. Tempers cooled as the vote got closer.
President Brank Cervenkovski, a Social Democrat, said he expected approval from Macedonia's EU mentors.
"I hope we'll earn positive remarks from Brussels, which will enable Macedonia to continue on its path to the EU and NATO," he said.
Opinion polls suggest the Social Democrats have lost ground to VMRO-DPMNE. Their modest economic reforms failed to reduce jobless figures of more than 30 percent or push the average monthly wage above 250 euros ($320).
But VMRO-DPMNE, which has tried to shed its nationalist image, may not find it easy to attract an Albanian coalition partner, analysts say.
The opposition party, named after two groups of Macedonians who fought against the Ottoman Turks, lost power in 2002 after ethnic Albanian guerrillas seized swathes of land in the north and west and fought government forces for six months.
Fighting stopped in autumn 2001 under a deal promising the 25 percent Albanian minority greater say over its own affairs.
A faction of the rebels entered government with Buckovski.
The 25-nation EU says it will review Macedonia's membership bid, including its performance on elections, in October.
Grappling with 'fatigue' over its eastward enlargement, the bloc has not set a date for accession talks.
EU envoy Fouere said Macedonia should not raise hopes of clinching a date soon, citing the slow pace of reform.
SKOPJE (Reuters) - A general election in Macedonia passed off peacefully on Wednesday after a sometimes violent campaign that drew warnings from the European Union and NATO that the country had to prove its democratic maturity.
When polls closed at 7 p.m. (1700 GMT), there had been no reports of serious incidents.
"We are talking about fair and democratic elections, well organized and with very few irregularities," Aleksandar Bastevski, a member of the State Electoral Committee, told reporters.
Macedonian leaders had appealed for a free and fair vote to answer EU and NATO doubts over the country's readiness to move along the road to membership in the coming years.
"I expect today's vote will show that Macedonia has the democratic capacity to pass the most important tests, and draw closer to NATO and the EU," Social Democrat Prime Minister Vlado Buckovski told reporters.
The EU envoy to Skopje, Erwan Fouere, toured potential hotspots, and hinted at his optimism. "We keep our fingers crossed that at the end of the day this will be an important landmark for Macedonia," said the Irish diplomat.
Preliminary official results were expected in the early hours of Thursday, with Buckovski's Social Democrats facing a stiff challenge from the opposition VMRO-DPMNE.
His multiethnic ruling coalition has come under fire for failing to provide jobs or decent wages 15 years after Macedonia split peacefully from Yugoslavia.
The Balkan country of 2 million people came close to full-blown civil war in 2001 during a six-month long ethnic Albanian insurgency. The EU brokered a peace deal, and made Macedonia an official candidate for membership in December 2005.
But Brussels stopped short of setting a date for accession talks, urging faster reform and better elections.
NATIONALIST IMAGE
Wednesday's vote was billed as a crucial test.
The start of the campaign was fiery, with two shootouts in the capital Skopje and several attacks on party offices in the mainly Albanian west. Tempers cooled as the vote got closer.
President Brank Cervenkovski, a Social Democrat, said he expected approval from Macedonia's EU mentors.
"I hope we'll earn positive remarks from Brussels, which will enable Macedonia to continue on its path to the EU and NATO," he said.
Opinion polls suggest the Social Democrats have lost ground to VMRO-DPMNE. Their modest economic reforms failed to reduce jobless figures of more than 30 percent or push the average monthly wage above 250 euros ($320).
But VMRO-DPMNE, which has tried to shed its nationalist image, may not find it easy to attract an Albanian coalition partner, analysts say.
The opposition party, named after two groups of Macedonians who fought against the Ottoman Turks, lost power in 2002 after ethnic Albanian guerrillas seized swathes of land in the north and west and fought government forces for six months.
Fighting stopped in autumn 2001 under a deal promising the 25 percent Albanian minority greater say over its own affairs.
A faction of the rebels entered government with Buckovski.
The 25-nation EU says it will review Macedonia's membership bid, including its performance on elections, in October.
Grappling with 'fatigue' over its eastward enlargement, the bloc has not set a date for accession talks.
EU envoy Fouere said Macedonia should not raise hopes of clinching a date soon, citing the slow pace of reform.
R. Nicholas Burns Interview With BBC
Interview With BBC
Under Secretary for Political Affairs, R. Nicholas Burns
U.S. Mission to NATO
Brussels, Belgium
July 5, 2006
BBC: Can I just ask you about Kosovo again, but in quality as it were.
Tell me first of all, Undersecretary of State, you have said that 2006 is a key moment for Kosovo but nothing is guaranteed. Given that, why should we expect a conclusion to these negotiations by the end of this year?
UNDERSECRETARY BURNS: I think all of us agree that 2006 has to be the year of decision for Kosovo, to decide Kosovo's future.
Let's remember what happened. A savage war in 1999. A million people who Milosevic tried to ethnically cleanse. He was prevented by NATO from doing that.
Now seven years where these people haven't been told what their future's going to be. They haven't been allowed to determine that themselves. So I think all of us agree in the international community that 2006 has to be the year when the talks conclude, when Kosovo's final status is determined, when all those people who have been waiting to know what their future is will know what their future is. But that's going to entail a major responsibility on the part of the Kosovar-Albanian leadership to do a better job of ensuring minority rights and a big responsibility on the part of the Serb government in Belgrade to step up to these negotiations, to come to the table, to let the Kosovar Serbs be part of those negotiations so they can speak up for themselves to determine their own future, and for both sides to meet squarely in the middle and arrive at a fair decision that will be good for the vast majority of people who want to live a peaceful life there.
BBC: How far are you concerned, though, that this might provide a template for other ethnically divided countries? President Putin has said that if Kosovo becomes independent, Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia should similarly become independent.
UNDERSECRETARY BURNS: We disagree completely with the idea that a resolution of the Kosovo problem somehow sets a precedent or establishes a template for difficult problems elsewhere. Kosovo is unique. A major international war was fought there. Some of the worst war crimes in Europe occurred there. The United Nations took Kosovo into its own hands in June of 1999 in passing a Security Council Resolution that effectively said Kosovo's sovereignty will be determined at a later date.sovereignty. We know that South Ossetia and Abkhazia are now and will be part of Georgia as far forward into the future as we can see. But we know that Kosovo's sovereignty needs to be determined and agreed by all of us in the international community. So the two situations are completely opposite and we don't agree at all with this idea that somehow one is a precedent for the other.
BBC: Thank you very much.
Released on July 3, 2006
ENDS
Under Secretary for Political Affairs, R. Nicholas Burns
U.S. Mission to NATO
Brussels, Belgium
July 5, 2006
BBC: Can I just ask you about Kosovo again, but in quality as it were.
Tell me first of all, Undersecretary of State, you have said that 2006 is a key moment for Kosovo but nothing is guaranteed. Given that, why should we expect a conclusion to these negotiations by the end of this year?
UNDERSECRETARY BURNS: I think all of us agree that 2006 has to be the year of decision for Kosovo, to decide Kosovo's future.
Let's remember what happened. A savage war in 1999. A million people who Milosevic tried to ethnically cleanse. He was prevented by NATO from doing that.
Now seven years where these people haven't been told what their future's going to be. They haven't been allowed to determine that themselves. So I think all of us agree in the international community that 2006 has to be the year when the talks conclude, when Kosovo's final status is determined, when all those people who have been waiting to know what their future is will know what their future is. But that's going to entail a major responsibility on the part of the Kosovar-Albanian leadership to do a better job of ensuring minority rights and a big responsibility on the part of the Serb government in Belgrade to step up to these negotiations, to come to the table, to let the Kosovar Serbs be part of those negotiations so they can speak up for themselves to determine their own future, and for both sides to meet squarely in the middle and arrive at a fair decision that will be good for the vast majority of people who want to live a peaceful life there.
BBC: How far are you concerned, though, that this might provide a template for other ethnically divided countries? President Putin has said that if Kosovo becomes independent, Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia should similarly become independent.
UNDERSECRETARY BURNS: We disagree completely with the idea that a resolution of the Kosovo problem somehow sets a precedent or establishes a template for difficult problems elsewhere. Kosovo is unique. A major international war was fought there. Some of the worst war crimes in Europe occurred there. The United Nations took Kosovo into its own hands in June of 1999 in passing a Security Council Resolution that effectively said Kosovo's sovereignty will be determined at a later date.sovereignty. We know that South Ossetia and Abkhazia are now and will be part of Georgia as far forward into the future as we can see. But we know that Kosovo's sovereignty needs to be determined and agreed by all of us in the international community. So the two situations are completely opposite and we don't agree at all with this idea that somehow one is a precedent for the other.
BBC: Thank you very much.
Released on July 3, 2006
ENDS
U.N. envoy to push local reform duing Kosovo visit
PRISTINA, Serbia (AP) - A U.N. mediator was to urge Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders Wednesday to give the province's Serb minority more rights.
Albert Rohan, the deputy U.N. envoy for the Kosovo talks, began a visit to Kosovo by touring six Serbian villages throughout the province and the Serb Orthodox Decani Monastery in western Kosovo.
He was to meet ethnic Albanian leaders involved in Kosovo's future status on Thursday, before traveling to Belgrade on Friday to meet with Serbian officials.
"He will be listening to both sides and appeal to them to be more flexible," said U.N. spokeswoman Hua Jiang.
Rohan's visit comes ahead of the special U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari's consultations with the U.N. Security Council in mid-July, when he is expected to call on ethnic Albanian and Serb delegations to directly discuss Kosovo's future status later this month.
Some form of independence for Kosovo is the most likely outcome of the talks, but international envoys are trying to steer the two sides toward agreeing on issues to give assurances to the Serb minority, who live in heavily guarded enclaves scattered around this tiny province. U.N. officials hope to have a solution by the end of the year.
Serbian and ethnic Albanian representatives have held six rounds of discussions since mid-February centered on the reform of the local government and protection of Serb religious sites, in an effort to improve the rights of Kosovo's Serb minority.
The negotiations on the reform of the local government have failed to produce agreements, with ethnic Albanian and Serbian officials disputing the number of Serb municipalities, the authority that local leaders should exercise and what their ties to Serbia.
"We will see whether there's a need and desire to have another round of talks on decentralization," Jiang said.
The two sides agreed in May on basic elements on how to protect Kosovo's cultural and religious sites, particularly in parts of the province dominated by ethnic Albanians. The two sides were scheduled to hold another round of talks on the issue on July 11, but at the request of the Serbian delegation, that meeting has been postponed, Jian said, adding a new date would be discussed.
Kosovo, legally a province of Serbia, has been under U.N. rule since mid-1999 when NATO's air war halted Serb forces brutal crackdown on independence-seeking ethnic Albanians.
Albert Rohan, the deputy U.N. envoy for the Kosovo talks, began a visit to Kosovo by touring six Serbian villages throughout the province and the Serb Orthodox Decani Monastery in western Kosovo.
He was to meet ethnic Albanian leaders involved in Kosovo's future status on Thursday, before traveling to Belgrade on Friday to meet with Serbian officials.
"He will be listening to both sides and appeal to them to be more flexible," said U.N. spokeswoman Hua Jiang.
Rohan's visit comes ahead of the special U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari's consultations with the U.N. Security Council in mid-July, when he is expected to call on ethnic Albanian and Serb delegations to directly discuss Kosovo's future status later this month.
Some form of independence for Kosovo is the most likely outcome of the talks, but international envoys are trying to steer the two sides toward agreeing on issues to give assurances to the Serb minority, who live in heavily guarded enclaves scattered around this tiny province. U.N. officials hope to have a solution by the end of the year.
Serbian and ethnic Albanian representatives have held six rounds of discussions since mid-February centered on the reform of the local government and protection of Serb religious sites, in an effort to improve the rights of Kosovo's Serb minority.
The negotiations on the reform of the local government have failed to produce agreements, with ethnic Albanian and Serbian officials disputing the number of Serb municipalities, the authority that local leaders should exercise and what their ties to Serbia.
"We will see whether there's a need and desire to have another round of talks on decentralization," Jiang said.
The two sides agreed in May on basic elements on how to protect Kosovo's cultural and religious sites, particularly in parts of the province dominated by ethnic Albanians. The two sides were scheduled to hold another round of talks on the issue on July 11, but at the request of the Serbian delegation, that meeting has been postponed, Jian said, adding a new date would be discussed.
Kosovo, legally a province of Serbia, has been under U.N. rule since mid-1999 when NATO's air war halted Serb forces brutal crackdown on independence-seeking ethnic Albanians.
Soldiers celebrate America's independence in Kosovo
CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo (Army News Service, July 5, 2006) --Soldiers from the Texas National Guard's 36th Infantry Division and Multi-National Task Force (East) marked America's 230th year of independence during a July 4 ceremony on the Camp Bondsteel parade field.
Brig. Gen. Darren Owens, commanding general of MNTF(E), spoke about America's struggle for independence.
"We as Americans can proudly say the Declaration of Independence, signed in 1776, gave birth to the ideals of freedom that others in the world only dream about," Owens said. "We are free to love, worship and live as we want -- but freedom does have a price. Our service here in Kosovo is part of that price."
"We should pause and remember that those symbols of our power and freedom are reflected in your actions everyday as you brave men and women in uniform sacrifice being with your families and, if need be, even your lives in preserving liberty," Owens said.
The Soldiers are more than halfway through a yearlong NATO peace enforcement mission in the Balkans. The Soldiers and visitors enjoyed the rush of the final flyover by three Blackhawk and two Apache helicopters from MNTF(E)'s Task Force Talon.
"I felt the importance of the ceremony -- the weight of it (the deployment) for the first time with the appearance of the President and Prime Minister of Kosovo (being here). It really makes me feel appreciated," said Sgt. Levi Frost, helicopter mechanic.
"Today we not only honor the independence of the United States, we honor your service, your courage and countless sacrifices in this distant land far from home," Owens said. "I do not view the work that KFOR does here as just preserving the peace for a safe Kosovo. I view it in a nobler, more exalted light; I view the great work we do here as part of laying the cornerstone of liberty for generations yet to come. Through your service and sacrifice, you help make every day Independence Day for the United States of America."
(Editor's note: Sgt. Matthew Chlosta writes for the 4th Public Affairs Detachment.)
Brig. Gen. Darren Owens, commanding general of MNTF(E), spoke about America's struggle for independence.
"We as Americans can proudly say the Declaration of Independence, signed in 1776, gave birth to the ideals of freedom that others in the world only dream about," Owens said. "We are free to love, worship and live as we want -- but freedom does have a price. Our service here in Kosovo is part of that price."
"We should pause and remember that those symbols of our power and freedom are reflected in your actions everyday as you brave men and women in uniform sacrifice being with your families and, if need be, even your lives in preserving liberty," Owens said.
The Soldiers are more than halfway through a yearlong NATO peace enforcement mission in the Balkans. The Soldiers and visitors enjoyed the rush of the final flyover by three Blackhawk and two Apache helicopters from MNTF(E)'s Task Force Talon.
"I felt the importance of the ceremony -- the weight of it (the deployment) for the first time with the appearance of the President and Prime Minister of Kosovo (being here). It really makes me feel appreciated," said Sgt. Levi Frost, helicopter mechanic.
"Today we not only honor the independence of the United States, we honor your service, your courage and countless sacrifices in this distant land far from home," Owens said. "I do not view the work that KFOR does here as just preserving the peace for a safe Kosovo. I view it in a nobler, more exalted light; I view the great work we do here as part of laying the cornerstone of liberty for generations yet to come. Through your service and sacrifice, you help make every day Independence Day for the United States of America."
(Editor's note: Sgt. Matthew Chlosta writes for the 4th Public Affairs Detachment.)
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
FC Barcelona staging football coaching camp in Kosovo
PRISTINA – Representatives of UNMIK and the Football Club Barcelona will
give a press conference today to mark the successful start to a partnership
that will foster the use of Sports to promote peace and reconciliation and
to develop Kosovo’s potential in football.
Mr. Julio Alberto, former professional football player of FC Barcelona,
Atletico Madrid and the Spanish National Team, has been giving courses on
modern football - both theory and practice - to more than 200 children and
80 coaches in the Municipalities of Prizren, Suhareke/Suva Reka, Pristina
and Mitrovica. The six-day training camp will conclude on Wednesday, 5
July.
The coaching camp is the beginning of a long-term cooperation between
Kosovo (UNMIK and the PISG) and the Football Club of Barcelona. The contact
between the two parties was initiated by the official “Barca” Fan Club
(“Penya”) of Kosovo. Mr.Victor Beceiro, representative from the FC
Barcelona Board and for the “Barca Penyas” throughout the world, personally
assessed the facilities for football in Kosovo. Potential areas of support
were discussed and UNMIK sent a draft agreement to FC Barcelona in March
2006. Full support for the agreement was reached in recent meetings between
representatives of FC Barcelona and Mrs. Patricia Waring, Head of the UNMIK
Department of Civil Administration, as well as UNICEF.
give a press conference today to mark the successful start to a partnership
that will foster the use of Sports to promote peace and reconciliation and
to develop Kosovo’s potential in football.
Mr. Julio Alberto, former professional football player of FC Barcelona,
Atletico Madrid and the Spanish National Team, has been giving courses on
modern football - both theory and practice - to more than 200 children and
80 coaches in the Municipalities of Prizren, Suhareke/Suva Reka, Pristina
and Mitrovica. The six-day training camp will conclude on Wednesday, 5
July.
The coaching camp is the beginning of a long-term cooperation between
Kosovo (UNMIK and the PISG) and the Football Club of Barcelona. The contact
between the two parties was initiated by the official “Barca” Fan Club
(“Penya”) of Kosovo. Mr.Victor Beceiro, representative from the FC
Barcelona Board and for the “Barca Penyas” throughout the world, personally
assessed the facilities for football in Kosovo. Potential areas of support
were discussed and UNMIK sent a draft agreement to FC Barcelona in March
2006. Full support for the agreement was reached in recent meetings between
representatives of FC Barcelona and Mrs. Patricia Waring, Head of the UNMIK
Department of Civil Administration, as well as UNICEF.
EU looks to encourage Serbia during Rehn visit
BRUSSELS, July 4 (Reuters) - The European Commission aims to encourage Serbia this week by finalising moves for a restart of talks on eventual membership the moment it complies with demands to hand over war criminals, an EU official said on Tuesday.
Separate negotiation mandates for Serbia and Montenegro, needed after the latter voted for independence in May, should be ready by the time EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn visits Serbia on Thursday and Montenegro on Friday.
While they would still have to be rubber-stamped by the 25 EU member states, the aim was to send a signal of encouragement to Serbia that Brussels was willing to resume talks as soon as Belgrade hands over war crimes fugitives, the official said.
"It is actually a signal and a message," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"Once the mandates are approved it will mean that everything will be prepared to resume the negotiations provided the conditions on cooperation with the ICTY are fulfilled."
The European Union suspended talks with Serbia on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement that is a first step towards joining the bloc in May after Belgrade failed to hand over war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic to the ICTY -- the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
It says it will not resume negotiations until there is "full cooperation" with the Hague tribunal -- meaning the arrest and transfer of all indicted fugitives.
However, fears have risen that disillusionment with the West and the prospect of independence for the breakaway province of Kosovo following hard on the heels of that of Montenegro could benefit ultranationalist, anti-Western parties in Serbia.
On Friday, U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said in Brussels there was need to "reach out" to the Serbs to stress they had a future with Europe and NATO. "The Serbs need that positive signal," he said.
The EU official said the clear message from Brussels was that Serbia clearly has a European perspective but conditions for a resumption of talks have to be fulfilled.
At the same time the European Union has underlined its commitment to Serbia with financial aid, better trade relations and plans to ease people-to-people contact through visa facilitation and scholarships.
Announcing the suspension of the talks in May, Rehn said it was still possible to conclude the agreement by the year-end, but this target will become increasingly untenable.
"There will be that point, but we still trust that this hurdle can be cleared," the EU official said.
In Belgrade, Rehn will meet Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, who last month called the EU stance "deeply wrong" and counter-productive. In an unusually blunt riposte, Rehn said he should not blame Brussels for his own government's failures.
Separate negotiation mandates for Serbia and Montenegro, needed after the latter voted for independence in May, should be ready by the time EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn visits Serbia on Thursday and Montenegro on Friday.
While they would still have to be rubber-stamped by the 25 EU member states, the aim was to send a signal of encouragement to Serbia that Brussels was willing to resume talks as soon as Belgrade hands over war crimes fugitives, the official said.
"It is actually a signal and a message," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"Once the mandates are approved it will mean that everything will be prepared to resume the negotiations provided the conditions on cooperation with the ICTY are fulfilled."
The European Union suspended talks with Serbia on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement that is a first step towards joining the bloc in May after Belgrade failed to hand over war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic to the ICTY -- the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
It says it will not resume negotiations until there is "full cooperation" with the Hague tribunal -- meaning the arrest and transfer of all indicted fugitives.
However, fears have risen that disillusionment with the West and the prospect of independence for the breakaway province of Kosovo following hard on the heels of that of Montenegro could benefit ultranationalist, anti-Western parties in Serbia.
On Friday, U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said in Brussels there was need to "reach out" to the Serbs to stress they had a future with Europe and NATO. "The Serbs need that positive signal," he said.
The EU official said the clear message from Brussels was that Serbia clearly has a European perspective but conditions for a resumption of talks have to be fulfilled.
At the same time the European Union has underlined its commitment to Serbia with financial aid, better trade relations and plans to ease people-to-people contact through visa facilitation and scholarships.
Announcing the suspension of the talks in May, Rehn said it was still possible to conclude the agreement by the year-end, but this target will become increasingly untenable.
"There will be that point, but we still trust that this hurdle can be cleared," the EU official said.
In Belgrade, Rehn will meet Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, who last month called the EU stance "deeply wrong" and counter-productive. In an unusually blunt riposte, Rehn said he should not blame Brussels for his own government's failures.
UNMIK police admit "parallel security structures" exist in north Kosovo
Text of report by Zija Miftari entitled "Fighting parallel structures before status is a mistake" published by the Kosovo Albanian newspaper Koha Ditore on 2 July
Prishtina [Pristina], 1 July: UNMIK [UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo] Police Commissioner Kai Vittrup has admitted the existence of parallel security structures, but he said that as long as these structures do not behave like police he does not intend to fight them. He left this issue for politicians to resolve.
This is also the first time that the existence of parallel security structures in Kosova [Kosovo] has been admitted publicly by a senior official of the international police administration.
Although he assessed the security situation in Kosova as stable but sensitive, Vittrup said that he has faith that the police will manage. He urged Gerard Gallucci, UNMIK regional administrator for Mitrovice [Kosovska Mitrovica], who expressed concern about possible riots in the north within the next two months, to rely on the police.
"My assessment, which is no surprise, is that we have a stable security situation, but it is, nevertheless, brittle. Minor incidents could threaten the situation, could threaten stability. Some people do not understand that such incidents will have a bad influence on the general security situation," he said.
Asked if the same could be said about the north of Kosova, he stated: "It is the same. I cannot say that the situation is better or worse than in other parts of Kosova. People in the north should understand that crimes do happen, that crimes happened even before 1999."
"Crime is not something that UNMIK and the ShPK [Kosovo Police Service, KPS] have determined. To make sure that we do everything possible to maintain law and order, we have taken a number of initiatives by increasing the number of international policemen, those of the ShPK, and we have encouraged mayors of northern municipalities to join and support the police through the formation of municipal security committees. Other parts of Kosova have accepted this, but I am still waiting for an answer from the north," Vittrup said.
He said the haste to present all crimes in the north as crimes with ethnic motives is part of the rhetoric.
"I believe that everyone should be careful, because not all crimes in the north are exclusively ethnically motivated. Nobody knows this for the time being. The interesting thing is that after the Serb priest was shot at, it was immediately said that Albanian terrorists did this. We have investigated the case and we have found the suspect, who was a Serb. But we read nothing about this in the newspapers from the north.
"I do not have a problem about informing the media if a crime is ethnically motivated. Why not?! When we find out the truth, I want to state it, and to tell everyone that this is the way to act. I believe that the rhetoric in the north is political. When I have meetings with municipal mayors in the Serb Coordination Centre, we do not have problems, we speak normally, they understand the problems, and they should have the strength to say that the municipalities should start working with the police, assume a share of the responsibility. I can hardly wait for this to happen," Vittrup said.
Asked about the fact that the UNMIK Customs Service has banned Albanian personnel from moving up north since their vehicle was blown up at Gazivode Lake, Vittrup answered that, nevertheless, "there are ShPK members at Gate 1 and we are not thinking of changing this."
"We have Albanians who work in the north, not in large numbers, but we do," he said.
He added that despite the fact that an institution like the UNMIK Customs Service does not allow its staff to go north for security reasons, "the situation is still stable." He noted that there is always a certain risk.
"If your work in a law and order agency, there is a certain risk. It is always a risk to be a police commissar, but I can say that no criminal will ever be able to remove UNMIK, the ShPK, or me personally from this region. If they try to remove us, then we will bring in twice as many personnel and we will increase the numbers," Vittrup said.
In the meantime, Vittrup said that he was not aware of the recent case where two members of the Kosova Assembly Presidency, one deputy, and a group of regional deputies were not allowed to visit the police station in the north for security reasons.
"I have not been informed about this case," he said.
To Koha Ditore's direct question whether there are parallel security structures in the north of Kosova, Vittrup answered in Albanian, saying "Yes." Asked how he intends to fight them, Vittrup answered: "First, the fact that they have a structure does not mean that we will fight them. If they start behaving like police, then we will act. There is only one police service in Kosova, and that is the ShPK. This goes for the north too. We are monitoring the phenomenon and if they start acting like police or if their numbers increase greatly, we will undertake some actions.
"While the structure exists and it is no longer a secret, then it is a political problem that will be resolved with the resolution of the status [of Kosovo]. If we started now to fight this structure, which has existed for seven years, that would not be smart, especially not before the definition of the final status. It is better for this issue to be resolved at the political level. Once again, if they start acting like police, we will not accept this," Vittrup said.
Asked why the existence of parallel security structures is being admitted now, given that they have existed for seven years, Vittrup answered: "I do not agree with their existence. I have not been here for seven years, but for a year and a half, but their existence is a fact. If we started fighting them before the definition of the status, that would not be smart at all. If they have existed for so long, then a political decision is needed. I am talking about the structure. If the structures start behaving like police, then that is another problem. We are monitoring it," he said.
Asked whether the negotiations with mayors of northern municipalities of Kosova, as well as the visit of NATO Admiral Harry Ulrich, commander of Allied Joint Force Command Naples, there will help, Vittrup said "it depends what they talked about." "We will see," he added.
He said that he does not expect riots in the north, despite various statements such as the one made by administrator Gallucci, who expressed his concern in Washington about possible riots within the next two months.
"I do not have the same fear as Gallucci. Riots are always a problem, regardless of where they happen. The police are here and if there are riots, we will manage. I would like to urge Gerard Gallucci to rely on the police," he said.
Source: Koha Ditore, Pristina, in Albanian 2 Jul 06 pp1,2
Prishtina [Pristina], 1 July: UNMIK [UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo] Police Commissioner Kai Vittrup has admitted the existence of parallel security structures, but he said that as long as these structures do not behave like police he does not intend to fight them. He left this issue for politicians to resolve.
This is also the first time that the existence of parallel security structures in Kosova [Kosovo] has been admitted publicly by a senior official of the international police administration.
Although he assessed the security situation in Kosova as stable but sensitive, Vittrup said that he has faith that the police will manage. He urged Gerard Gallucci, UNMIK regional administrator for Mitrovice [Kosovska Mitrovica], who expressed concern about possible riots in the north within the next two months, to rely on the police.
"My assessment, which is no surprise, is that we have a stable security situation, but it is, nevertheless, brittle. Minor incidents could threaten the situation, could threaten stability. Some people do not understand that such incidents will have a bad influence on the general security situation," he said.
Asked if the same could be said about the north of Kosova, he stated: "It is the same. I cannot say that the situation is better or worse than in other parts of Kosova. People in the north should understand that crimes do happen, that crimes happened even before 1999."
"Crime is not something that UNMIK and the ShPK [Kosovo Police Service, KPS] have determined. To make sure that we do everything possible to maintain law and order, we have taken a number of initiatives by increasing the number of international policemen, those of the ShPK, and we have encouraged mayors of northern municipalities to join and support the police through the formation of municipal security committees. Other parts of Kosova have accepted this, but I am still waiting for an answer from the north," Vittrup said.
He said the haste to present all crimes in the north as crimes with ethnic motives is part of the rhetoric.
"I believe that everyone should be careful, because not all crimes in the north are exclusively ethnically motivated. Nobody knows this for the time being. The interesting thing is that after the Serb priest was shot at, it was immediately said that Albanian terrorists did this. We have investigated the case and we have found the suspect, who was a Serb. But we read nothing about this in the newspapers from the north.
"I do not have a problem about informing the media if a crime is ethnically motivated. Why not?! When we find out the truth, I want to state it, and to tell everyone that this is the way to act. I believe that the rhetoric in the north is political. When I have meetings with municipal mayors in the Serb Coordination Centre, we do not have problems, we speak normally, they understand the problems, and they should have the strength to say that the municipalities should start working with the police, assume a share of the responsibility. I can hardly wait for this to happen," Vittrup said.
Asked about the fact that the UNMIK Customs Service has banned Albanian personnel from moving up north since their vehicle was blown up at Gazivode Lake, Vittrup answered that, nevertheless, "there are ShPK members at Gate 1 and we are not thinking of changing this."
"We have Albanians who work in the north, not in large numbers, but we do," he said.
He added that despite the fact that an institution like the UNMIK Customs Service does not allow its staff to go north for security reasons, "the situation is still stable." He noted that there is always a certain risk.
"If your work in a law and order agency, there is a certain risk. It is always a risk to be a police commissar, but I can say that no criminal will ever be able to remove UNMIK, the ShPK, or me personally from this region. If they try to remove us, then we will bring in twice as many personnel and we will increase the numbers," Vittrup said.
In the meantime, Vittrup said that he was not aware of the recent case where two members of the Kosova Assembly Presidency, one deputy, and a group of regional deputies were not allowed to visit the police station in the north for security reasons.
"I have not been informed about this case," he said.
To Koha Ditore's direct question whether there are parallel security structures in the north of Kosova, Vittrup answered in Albanian, saying "Yes." Asked how he intends to fight them, Vittrup answered: "First, the fact that they have a structure does not mean that we will fight them. If they start behaving like police, then we will act. There is only one police service in Kosova, and that is the ShPK. This goes for the north too. We are monitoring the phenomenon and if they start acting like police or if their numbers increase greatly, we will undertake some actions.
"While the structure exists and it is no longer a secret, then it is a political problem that will be resolved with the resolution of the status [of Kosovo]. If we started now to fight this structure, which has existed for seven years, that would not be smart, especially not before the definition of the final status. It is better for this issue to be resolved at the political level. Once again, if they start acting like police, we will not accept this," Vittrup said.
Asked why the existence of parallel security structures is being admitted now, given that they have existed for seven years, Vittrup answered: "I do not agree with their existence. I have not been here for seven years, but for a year and a half, but their existence is a fact. If we started fighting them before the definition of the status, that would not be smart at all. If they have existed for so long, then a political decision is needed. I am talking about the structure. If the structures start behaving like police, then that is another problem. We are monitoring it," he said.
Asked whether the negotiations with mayors of northern municipalities of Kosova, as well as the visit of NATO Admiral Harry Ulrich, commander of Allied Joint Force Command Naples, there will help, Vittrup said "it depends what they talked about." "We will see," he added.
He said that he does not expect riots in the north, despite various statements such as the one made by administrator Gallucci, who expressed his concern in Washington about possible riots within the next two months.
"I do not have the same fear as Gallucci. Riots are always a problem, regardless of where they happen. The police are here and if there are riots, we will manage. I would like to urge Gerard Gallucci to rely on the police," he said.
Source: Koha Ditore, Pristina, in Albanian 2 Jul 06 pp1,2
South Serbia Albanian leader seeks "correlation" with status of Kosovo Serbs
Text of report in English by independent internet news agency KosovaLive
Prishtina [Pristina], 4 July: At the time when Kosova [Kosovo] status talks are being intensified, the representatives of the Albanians in the Presheve [Presevo] Valley reconfirm their stance that their status must be solved in correlation with the status of the Serbs living in the northern part of Kosova. In case that this does not happen, they did not exclude the possibility of an armed conflict.
Jonuz Musliu, the head of the Movement for Democratic Progress [LPD] and former representatives of the Liberation Army of Presheve, Medvedja and Bujanovac told KosovaLive [UCPMB] that it is natural that every movement in Kosova reflects in the Presheve Valley.
He said that in 2001 they fought to join Kosova, and that the international community must understand that this is an inalienable right of the Albanians.
"Every other decision which is against the will of the Albanians would be a wrong decision and would destabilize the region. Therefore the international community should not allow double standards for the status of the Kosova Serbs and the status of Albanians in the Presheve Valley," said Musliu.
On the other hand, the International Crisis Group [ICG] released a report announcing that there is a possibility of the escalation of the situation in the Presheve Valley, in case that the international community does not intervene there. The ICG has called on for the demilitarization of the region and implementation of the peace agreement.
Source: KosovaLive website, Pristina, in English 4 Jul 06
Prishtina [Pristina], 4 July: At the time when Kosova [Kosovo] status talks are being intensified, the representatives of the Albanians in the Presheve [Presevo] Valley reconfirm their stance that their status must be solved in correlation with the status of the Serbs living in the northern part of Kosova. In case that this does not happen, they did not exclude the possibility of an armed conflict.
Jonuz Musliu, the head of the Movement for Democratic Progress [LPD] and former representatives of the Liberation Army of Presheve, Medvedja and Bujanovac told KosovaLive [UCPMB] that it is natural that every movement in Kosova reflects in the Presheve Valley.
He said that in 2001 they fought to join Kosova, and that the international community must understand that this is an inalienable right of the Albanians.
"Every other decision which is against the will of the Albanians would be a wrong decision and would destabilize the region. Therefore the international community should not allow double standards for the status of the Kosova Serbs and the status of Albanians in the Presheve Valley," said Musliu.
On the other hand, the International Crisis Group [ICG] released a report announcing that there is a possibility of the escalation of the situation in the Presheve Valley, in case that the international community does not intervene there. The ICG has called on for the demilitarization of the region and implementation of the peace agreement.
Source: KosovaLive website, Pristina, in English 4 Jul 06
Monday, July 03, 2006
Russia delays West's date for Kosovo independence
PRISTINA, Serbia, July 3 (Reuters) - Russia is frustrating the West's plan for Kosovo independence this year, resisting U.S. pressure and raising a risk of fresh Albanian violence in the breakaway Serbian province, senior Western officials say.
Seven years after NATO bombing drove out Serb forces and the United Nations took control, the United States and the European Union say a decision on Kosovo's "final status" is overdue and should be made in the next six months.
Ethnic Albanians who form 90 percent of Kosovo's 2 million people want independence. Dipomats expect they will get it, in a form limited for a time by EU supervision and secured by NATO, to continue protecting minority Serbs from possible attacks. But Moscow -- partner of Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the U.S. in the Contact Group on Kosovo -- is in no hurry. Its view reflects concern in some EU capitals that a sudden amputation of Kosovo, on top of other recent Serb humiliations, could put Serb ultra-nationalists back in power in Belgrade.
Differences came sharply into focus in the past few days.
U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, in Brussels on Friday as envoys met, said Washington was "confirmed in our judgment that 2006 must be the year of decision for Kosovo ... the final status talks must conclude this year".
But a senior Russian official told Reuters on Sunday that Moscow saw no need for an "artificial timeframe". Russia stood by the Contact Group's Jan. 30 statement which made clear that "all efforts" should be made for a 2006 settlement, but it "does not say that by all means this has to be over", he said.
"We need to find solution to many so-called technical issues related to the position of minorities in Kosovo," the Russian said. If talks produce "mutually acceptable and sustainable results" a timetable can be set, but now is "too early to prejudge" whether the process will be completed this year.
"The Russians' focus now is on timing," said a senior Western official in Kosovo. "This is where the Contact Group will find things could become difficult."
SHOCK WAVES
Others say delay is too risky. Even if independence heads off a risk of renewed Albanian unrest, the U.N. has contingency plans in case of an exodus of half the remaining 100,000 Serbs, and NATO is braced for a Serb bid to partition the province.
While Serbia officially opposes independence, diplomats say it knows the West has made up its mind. Yet there is no sign of the "mutually acceptable" deal that Moscow wants to see.
A political source in Belgrade says Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica wants a delay to April 2007 and a face-saving formula giving Kosovo wide autonomy, years before sovereignty.
If not, ultanationalists already riding high in the polls could come to power, arguing that if Kosovo gets independence then so should the Serbs of Bosnia. A Serb secession from Bosnia would have dramatic consequences in the still turbulent Balkans.
The Albanians expect U.N. special envoy Martti Ahtisaari to make his recommendation to the Security Council by November and to give them the green light for independence. But it is the Council, where Russia has a veto, that must finally decide.
The Russian official said Serbia has a lot on its plate, citing its recent split with longtime sister republic Montenegro which chose independence, and the freeze on its EU membership bid over its failure to net top war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic.
Asked about fears of violence by Albanian extremists if they sense any delay in independence, the Russian said: "We don't like to be blackmailed. If any party resorts to violence it will be very detrimental to that party in negotiations."
One Western official who now predicts a delay says any stalling longer than three or four months means trouble.
Albanians impatient over life in limbo rioted in March 2004, killing 19 people and driving out 2,000 Serbs. Belgrade said it proved Kosovo was nowhere near stability or democracy, and it would redouble the argument if violence erupted again.
Meanwhile, Serbs in north Kosovo threaten to secede in the case of independence, a move that could reignite conflict next door with the Albanians of southern Serbia and Macedonia.
After Serbia lost control of Kosovo in 1999, when NATO bombed for 11 weeks to halt the killing of Albanians in a two-year guerrilla war, it was only with EU diplomacy that a smaller insurgency was smothered in south Serbia, while Macedonia got Western help in 2001 to stifle ethnic war.
There is concern that ethnic tensions are being kept in check only by the prospect of independence for Kosovo.
"If the light goes out ... by February or March, this will be an impossible mission to manage," said the Western official.
Seven years after NATO bombing drove out Serb forces and the United Nations took control, the United States and the European Union say a decision on Kosovo's "final status" is overdue and should be made in the next six months.
Ethnic Albanians who form 90 percent of Kosovo's 2 million people want independence. Dipomats expect they will get it, in a form limited for a time by EU supervision and secured by NATO, to continue protecting minority Serbs from possible attacks. But Moscow -- partner of Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the U.S. in the Contact Group on Kosovo -- is in no hurry. Its view reflects concern in some EU capitals that a sudden amputation of Kosovo, on top of other recent Serb humiliations, could put Serb ultra-nationalists back in power in Belgrade.
Differences came sharply into focus in the past few days.
U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, in Brussels on Friday as envoys met, said Washington was "confirmed in our judgment that 2006 must be the year of decision for Kosovo ... the final status talks must conclude this year".
But a senior Russian official told Reuters on Sunday that Moscow saw no need for an "artificial timeframe". Russia stood by the Contact Group's Jan. 30 statement which made clear that "all efforts" should be made for a 2006 settlement, but it "does not say that by all means this has to be over", he said.
"We need to find solution to many so-called technical issues related to the position of minorities in Kosovo," the Russian said. If talks produce "mutually acceptable and sustainable results" a timetable can be set, but now is "too early to prejudge" whether the process will be completed this year.
"The Russians' focus now is on timing," said a senior Western official in Kosovo. "This is where the Contact Group will find things could become difficult."
SHOCK WAVES
Others say delay is too risky. Even if independence heads off a risk of renewed Albanian unrest, the U.N. has contingency plans in case of an exodus of half the remaining 100,000 Serbs, and NATO is braced for a Serb bid to partition the province.
While Serbia officially opposes independence, diplomats say it knows the West has made up its mind. Yet there is no sign of the "mutually acceptable" deal that Moscow wants to see.
A political source in Belgrade says Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica wants a delay to April 2007 and a face-saving formula giving Kosovo wide autonomy, years before sovereignty.
If not, ultanationalists already riding high in the polls could come to power, arguing that if Kosovo gets independence then so should the Serbs of Bosnia. A Serb secession from Bosnia would have dramatic consequences in the still turbulent Balkans.
The Albanians expect U.N. special envoy Martti Ahtisaari to make his recommendation to the Security Council by November and to give them the green light for independence. But it is the Council, where Russia has a veto, that must finally decide.
The Russian official said Serbia has a lot on its plate, citing its recent split with longtime sister republic Montenegro which chose independence, and the freeze on its EU membership bid over its failure to net top war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic.
Asked about fears of violence by Albanian extremists if they sense any delay in independence, the Russian said: "We don't like to be blackmailed. If any party resorts to violence it will be very detrimental to that party in negotiations."
One Western official who now predicts a delay says any stalling longer than three or four months means trouble.
Albanians impatient over life in limbo rioted in March 2004, killing 19 people and driving out 2,000 Serbs. Belgrade said it proved Kosovo was nowhere near stability or democracy, and it would redouble the argument if violence erupted again.
Meanwhile, Serbs in north Kosovo threaten to secede in the case of independence, a move that could reignite conflict next door with the Albanians of southern Serbia and Macedonia.
After Serbia lost control of Kosovo in 1999, when NATO bombed for 11 weeks to halt the killing of Albanians in a two-year guerrilla war, it was only with EU diplomacy that a smaller insurgency was smothered in south Serbia, while Macedonia got Western help in 2001 to stifle ethnic war.
There is concern that ethnic tensions are being kept in check only by the prospect of independence for Kosovo.
"If the light goes out ... by February or March, this will be an impossible mission to manage," said the Western official.
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Meeting of Contact Group Political Directors
STATE DEPARTMENT PRESS RELEASES
Media Note
Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
June 30, 2006
Meeting of Contact Group Political Directors
Contact Group Political Directors, joined by senior representatives of NATO, the European Union and United Nations, met with UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari in Brussels on June 30.
The Contact Group reaffirmed its support for the Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari in Brussels on June 30. The Contact Group reaffirmed its support for the Special Envoy's work directing the process to determine Kosovo's future status, on the basis of UN Security Council Resolution 1244, the Contact Group Guiding Principles and the London Contact Group Ministerial statement. President Ahtisaari provided an update on progress in the negotiations to date. The Contact Group discussed the need for both parties in the negotiations to work constructively with the Special Envoy and facilitate the implementation of standards. The Contact Group also discussed concerns about developments in northern Kosovo.
Media Note
Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
June 30, 2006
Meeting of Contact Group Political Directors
Contact Group Political Directors, joined by senior representatives of NATO, the European Union and United Nations, met with UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari in Brussels on June 30.
The Contact Group reaffirmed its support for the Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari in Brussels on June 30. The Contact Group reaffirmed its support for the Special Envoy's work directing the process to determine Kosovo's future status, on the basis of UN Security Council Resolution 1244, the Contact Group Guiding Principles and the London Contact Group Ministerial statement. President Ahtisaari provided an update on progress in the negotiations to date. The Contact Group discussed the need for both parties in the negotiations to work constructively with the Special Envoy and facilitate the implementation of standards. The Contact Group also discussed concerns about developments in northern Kosovo.
UN mission chief leaves Kosovo with medal
PRISTINA, Serbia, June 30, 2006 (AFP) -
The outgoing head of the United Nations mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) Soren Jessen-Petersen was decorated with a medal for civil service before he left the UN-run province Friday.
Kosovo president Fatmir Sejdiu, who awarded Jessen-Petersen the gold medal, said it was the first time an international official had been so decorated.
"He proved his dedication and devotion in all aspects. We thank him very, very, very much for everything he has done for Kosovo," Sejdiu said.
Jessen-Petersen, who became the fifth head of UNMIK in August 2004, announced his resignation from the post earlier this month, saying he was leaving for family reasons.
Ethnic Albanian leaders consider him the most successful UNMIK chief as talks on final Kosovo status have been launched during his mandate.
"Kosovo is in the last kilometer to reach the finish set 10 years ago," Jessen-Petersen said at the farewell ceremony, referring to the independence of the province sought by the ethnic Albanian majority, but opposed by Belgrade.
Legally still a province of Serbia, Kosovo has been run by the United Nations and NATO since mid-1999 when alliance bombing drove out forces loyal to then Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, who had waged a brutal crackdown on separatist Albanian rebels.
The outgoing head of the United Nations mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) Soren Jessen-Petersen was decorated with a medal for civil service before he left the UN-run province Friday.
Kosovo president Fatmir Sejdiu, who awarded Jessen-Petersen the gold medal, said it was the first time an international official had been so decorated.
"He proved his dedication and devotion in all aspects. We thank him very, very, very much for everything he has done for Kosovo," Sejdiu said.
Jessen-Petersen, who became the fifth head of UNMIK in August 2004, announced his resignation from the post earlier this month, saying he was leaving for family reasons.
Ethnic Albanian leaders consider him the most successful UNMIK chief as talks on final Kosovo status have been launched during his mandate.
"Kosovo is in the last kilometer to reach the finish set 10 years ago," Jessen-Petersen said at the farewell ceremony, referring to the independence of the province sought by the ethnic Albanian majority, but opposed by Belgrade.
Legally still a province of Serbia, Kosovo has been run by the United Nations and NATO since mid-1999 when alliance bombing drove out forces loyal to then Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, who had waged a brutal crackdown on separatist Albanian rebels.
US Criticizes Serbian Premier Over Claims To Kosovo
BRUSSELS (AP)--A top U.S. State Department official Friday criticized Serbian Premier Vojislav Kostunica for saying that Serbs will never give up Kosovo, and urged the region's ethnic Albanian leaders to "step up, increase and improve" the rights of the Serb minority in the province.
U.S. Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns also rejected suggestions that the outcome of the current U.N.-sponsored negotiations on the final status of the province of 2 million people would inevitably serve as a model for other independence-minded regions - such as South Ossetia or Abkhazia in Georgia.
"We are confirmed in our judgment that 2006 must be the year of decision for Kosovo and we believe the final status of talks must conclude this year," Burns said.
He was speaking ahead of a meeting in Brussels Friday of the six-nation Contact Group - the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Russia, France and Italy - with Martti Ahtisaari, the special U.N. envoy overseeing the process of steering ethnic Albanians and ethnic Serbs toward a settlement for Kosovo.
"It's absolutely important that the Kosovar Albanian leadership step up, increase, improve its adherence to the standards that have to be met to protect Serb rights," Burns said, citing the murder of a Serb civilian last week in Kosovo. "There's no guaranteed outcome here, people have to earn their way forward in these negotiations and that was a message that we give to the Kosovo Albanians."
The province, which technically remains a region of Serbia, has been governed by the U.N. since 1999, when an aerial onslaught by NATO prevented Serbian forces under the command of former President Slobodan Milosevic from cracking down on ethnic Albanian insurgents.
Albanians, who make up 90% of the population, are determined to win independence, but Belgrade has insisted that Kosovo should remain formally tied to Serbia albeit with wide-ranging autonomy.
Wednesday, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica visited Kosovo's capital, Pristina, and vowed not to give up the region.
"It was not positive to say in Pristina the other day ... that Kosovo is for Serbs, Kosovo is part of Serbia forever," Burns told reporters. "Not after 1997, 1998 and 1999, after what took place in those years in Kosovo not after the period of the last seven years when we've tried to right the balance."
Kostunica and Serbian President Boris Tadic are due to visit Washington in July to discuss the issue with U.S. administration officials including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. [ 30-06-06 1359GMT ]
U.S. Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns also rejected suggestions that the outcome of the current U.N.-sponsored negotiations on the final status of the province of 2 million people would inevitably serve as a model for other independence-minded regions - such as South Ossetia or Abkhazia in Georgia.
"We are confirmed in our judgment that 2006 must be the year of decision for Kosovo and we believe the final status of talks must conclude this year," Burns said.
He was speaking ahead of a meeting in Brussels Friday of the six-nation Contact Group - the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Russia, France and Italy - with Martti Ahtisaari, the special U.N. envoy overseeing the process of steering ethnic Albanians and ethnic Serbs toward a settlement for Kosovo.
"It's absolutely important that the Kosovar Albanian leadership step up, increase, improve its adherence to the standards that have to be met to protect Serb rights," Burns said, citing the murder of a Serb civilian last week in Kosovo. "There's no guaranteed outcome here, people have to earn their way forward in these negotiations and that was a message that we give to the Kosovo Albanians."
The province, which technically remains a region of Serbia, has been governed by the U.N. since 1999, when an aerial onslaught by NATO prevented Serbian forces under the command of former President Slobodan Milosevic from cracking down on ethnic Albanian insurgents.
Albanians, who make up 90% of the population, are determined to win independence, but Belgrade has insisted that Kosovo should remain formally tied to Serbia albeit with wide-ranging autonomy.
Wednesday, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica visited Kosovo's capital, Pristina, and vowed not to give up the region.
"It was not positive to say in Pristina the other day ... that Kosovo is for Serbs, Kosovo is part of Serbia forever," Burns told reporters. "Not after 1997, 1998 and 1999, after what took place in those years in Kosovo not after the period of the last seven years when we've tried to right the balance."
Kostunica and Serbian President Boris Tadic are due to visit Washington in July to discuss the issue with U.S. administration officials including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. [ 30-06-06 1359GMT ]
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