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June 30,
2003
ERP KIM Newsletter
30-06-03
HERE WE GO AGAIN....
SERB CEMETERY IN VITINA DESECRATED - WAR AGAINST THE DEAD CONTINUES
a common scene in Serb Orthodox cemeteries around Kosovo-Metohija
(Zociste monastery)
CONTENTS:
 15
MORE TOMBS DESECRATED AT THE ORTHODOX CEMETERY
IN VITINA
TWO ANALYSES
OF THE KOSOVO STATUS ISSUE:
POLITIKA
- INDEPENDENT KOSOVO AND METOHIJA IS NOT SOLUTION, Fr. Sava
ANALYSIS:
GAMES SURROUNDING KOSOVO, By Srdja Trifkovic
OTHER NEWS
FROM KOSOVO AND METOHIJA:
ROBERTSON IN PRISTINA - TIME FOR SECURITY PROGRESS
SPEECH
BY NATO SEC-GEN LORD ROBERTSON AT ARRIVAL OF NAC TO KOSOVO
BELOS: ATTACKS ON SERBS ORGANIZED IN A SINGLE HEADQUARTERS
REMAINS OF THREE MURDERED SERBS TURNED OVER TO FAMILIES
AFP: HALF A MILLION BULLETS SEIZED AT GREEK-ALBANIAN BORDER
MICHAEL
STEINER'S MANDATE FINISHING TODAY - STEINER TO STEP DOWN BEFORE BELGRADE
DIALOGUE
More News
Available on our:
KOSOVO DAILY
NEWS LIST (KDN)
KDN Archive
This newsletter is available on our
ERP KIM Web-site:
/erpkiminfo.html
15 MORE TOMBS
DESECRATED AT THE ORTHODOX CEMETERY IN VITINA
According to Fr. Dragan Kojic the situation of the Serb community in
Vitina has not improved and is in fact much worse than before. Presently
only 150 Serbs live in the town and a few families have already announced
that they would have to leave their homes due to pressures and threats
from local Albanians.
TOP
ERP KIM
INFO SERVICE
JUNE 29, 2003
VITINA - Father Dragan Kojic from Kosovska Vitina informed Diocese of
Raska and Prizren today that unknown attackers desecrated again the
Serbian Orthodox cemetery in Vitina. On June 27, 2003, after a visit to a
family tom Nenad Zivkovic from Vitina noticed that 15 more tombstones at
the cemetery were damaged by unknown attackers. The tombstones were
overturned and some of them were smashed into peaces. Also the fence of
the cemetery was damaged.
Fr. Dragan and
the UNMIK local community officer visited the cemetery the same day and
confirmed the damage which was made. Fr. Kojic urgently requested from
UNMKIK to help him repair the fence. UNMIK representatives agreed to
assist Serbs in repairing the fence but no additional security measures
were undertaken. The cemetery in Vitina was attacked several times before.
In these attacks dozens of tombstones were damaged.
According to
Fr. Dragan Kojic the situation of the Serb community in Vitina has not
improved and is in fact much worse than before. Presently only 150 Serbs
live in the town and a few families have already announced that they would
have to leave their homes due to pressures and threats from local
Albanians. This fact as well as other information which the Diocese of
Raska and Prizren receive from their local parish priests in Kosovo
Pomoravlje and elsewhere in Kosovo are in dramatic opposition to the
official statements of some UNMIK and KFOR representatives who claim that
the security situation for Kosovo Serbs has been steadily improving.
TOP
ANALYSES:
POLITIKA:
INDEPENDENT KOSOVO IS NOT SOLUTION
CREATION OF BALKAN MINI
BANANA REPUBLICS IS NOT INEVITABLE
It is very
difficult to believe that a happy society of Albanians and Serbs will be
established with the formation of an independent state. It is far more
realistic that the proclamation of the independence of Kosovo and Metohija
would only speed up the exodus and agony of the Serb people. Following the
same logic, shouldn't we expect Spain to renounce the Basque Provinces,
France to renounce Corsica and Italy to renounce the south Tyrol? Serious
European countries don't solve problems of this sort by territorial
amputation.
TOP
Politika
daily, Belgrade
June 26, 2003
By Fr. Sava Janjic
Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Raska and Prizren
Kosovo and Metohija
(the text is written as
an answer to an article written in the 23 of June issue of Politika by
Aleksandar Lojpur, human-rights lawyer, who supported idea of independent
Kosovo as invevitable solution)
It is very difficult to believe that a happy society of Albanians and
Serbs will be established with the formation of an independent state. It
is far more realistic that the proclamation of the independence of Kosovo
and Metohija would only speed up the exodus and agony of the Serb people.
Following the same logic, shouldn't we expect Spain to renounce the Basque
Provinces, France to renounce Corsica and Italy to renounce the south
Tyrol? Serious European countries don't solve problems of this sort by
territorial amputation.
The views of Aleksandar Lojpur, an attorney and member of the Commission
for Truth and Reconciliations, in the article "Accepting the inevitable"
(Politika, June 23) stem from a fundamental ignorance of the situation in
Kosovo and Metohija and encourage the idea of a ethnically based
partition, which represents a dangerous anachronism for the future united
Europe.
Lopjur's conviction that the Kosovo problem will "inevitably" finish with
the establishment of "an independent Albanian-Serbian state of Kosovo,
where equality for all citizens will be ensured..." is an illusion based
on unrealistic wishes, not hard facts.
A superficial review of events in the Province in the last four years
clearly show that there is no multi-ethnic society for all citizens
(regardless of their ethnic or religious affiliations) being built here
but an ethnically cleansed state tailored to the needs of the majority
Albanian Muslim population. Since UNMIK administration and the presence of
40,000 KFOR soldiers failed to create minimal living conditions for
citizens of Serb nationality or the return of over 230,000 displaced
persons, it is very difficult to believe that a happy society of Albanians
and Serbs will be established with the formation of an independent state.
It is far more realistic that the proclamation of the independence of
Kosovo and Metohija would only speed up the exodus and agony of the Serb
people and finish the process of systematic destruction of Orthodox
culture existing for centuries in this region.
Post-war continuation of ethnic violence, discrimination in every shape
and form and the complete lack of vision of a democratic society among
Albanian politicians, even the "moderates," leaves no room for doubt that
not one citizen of Serb nationality will be able to survive in the state
they intend to create.
What is more, an independent Kosovo would not be the end of problems in
the Balkans. The secession of Kosovo and Metohija from Serbia and
Montenegro represents only one in an entire series of revisions of Balkan
borders for the purpose of creating a new ethnic Albanian state based not
in Tirana, as many may expect, but in Kosovo and Metohija, with strong
support in the area of northern Macedonia. This course of events,
portending a series of Albanian extremist campaigns in southern Serbia,
Macedonia and in Kosovo and Metohija clearly suggests that the
independence of the Province will not only fail to stabilize the Balkans
and bring peace to the remaining non-Albanian population but will actually
become a permanent crisis area for all of Europe, and an enormous obstacle
to the Euroatlantic integration of regional Balkan states.
It is hardly necessary to dwell on the probable ramifications of the
exportation of "the Kosovo idea" to eastern parts of Montenegro or its
negative impact on developments in the Novi Pazar region.
Especially troublesome is Lojpur's view that an independent Kosovo and
"good Serbian-Albanian relations" are detrimental to, among others, "the
Serbian mafia camouflaged by alleged concern for national rights and
shrines." This view represents a crude simplification and a total
misrepresentation of the issue, suggesting that only "the mafia" is
concerned about the Serb people and their shrines, and that this concern
is basically unwarranted.
It is obvious that Kosovo and Metohija has no special value for Lojpur
personally; hence, he cannot understand that the majority of Serbs (not
only "the mafia") strongly feel that the southern Serbian province is the
home of the greatest monuments of our history, culture and spirituality,
potentially an important contribution to the European cultural milieu and
a living record of centuries of European Christian culture.
Why would the most important cultural and historical relics of the Serbs,
preserved over the course of five centuries of Ottoman rule, be turned
over to the same people who, in just the last four years, razed 120
Orthodox churches and monasteries, and desecrated dozens of Orthodox
cemeteries?
Finally, what kind of moral legitimacy and historical judgment would fall
on a government that renounces a part of its own territory in order to
achieve its transient goals and fans more potential disintegration
processes following the principle "grab as much as you can"?
Such a suicidal decision would lead to enormous internal instability that
would imperil democratic social reforms and the future of the state. After
all, following the same logic, shouldn't we expect Spain to renounce the
Basque Provinces, France to renounce Corsica and Italy to renounce the
south Tyrol? Of course, serious European countries don't solve problems of
this sort by territorial amputation but by developing democracy, dialogue
and economic prosperity for all citizens.
It is this very solution, and not the creation of the independent
Palestinian state advocated by Lojpur, that represents the only path to
prosperity for Israel, which represents an important barrier against
terrorism.
For all the reasons cited , Serbia's strategy for Kosovo and Metohija
should be just the opposite of what Lojpur advises. Instead of creating an
ethnically cleansed Albanian state, we should insist on the inviolability
of Serbia and Montenegro state borders and the resolution of the problems
of the Albanian community within the democratic context in Serbia and
Montenegro, which, despite years of war, remains the most multi-ethnic
state in the Balkans and with each passing day is affirming itself as a
powerful factor of peace and stability in southeastern Europe.
If the desire to resolve the ethnic problems of certain communities were
necessarily resolved by the creation of new mini banana republics, Europe
would find it difficult to become integrated and create a unified market
and it would return to the outdated anachronisms of the 19th century. What
is more, advocating the idea of the secession of the ethnic Albanian
community in Kosovo and Metohija, as opposed to its integration in Serbia
and Montenegro, would have very negative consequences for Bosnia and
Herzegovina and Macedonia and create a precedent encouraging secessionist
movements throughout the world.
In the 21st century borders should be transcended by the elimination of
mental barriers, not by the creation of new nation-states, the expansion
of existing ones and the crumbling of the already torn asunder Balkans.
This is the only strategy that has long-term prospects for contributing to
the stability of Europe and, therefore, the one that should be accepted as
inevitable.
TOP
GAMES SURROUNDING KOSOVO
In
Washington the consensus among political analysts, including those who
oppose any change in Kosovo's status, is that these pro-Albanian lobbyists
intend to package Kosovo's independence in "realpolitical" terms in their
pitch to the Bush administration.
TOP
June 14, 2003
by Srdja Trifkovic, political analyst
If a rifle figures above a mantlepiece in Act I it is likely to fire in
Act III. Likewise, if a dozen well-known KLA apologists and pro-Albanian
lobbies parading as think-tanks start simultaneously clamoring for
Kosovo's independence—making identical or similar statements in a ten-day
period—it is almost certain that their efforts will be presented as a
pressing policy issue before the summer is out.
The pursuit of Kosovo's independence from Serbia provides "the only
prospect for long-term stability in the Balkans" and must not be
postponed, claim Paul Williams and Janusz Bugajski in a report ("Achieving
a Final Status Settlement for Kosovo") published by the Center for
Strategic and International Studies. Bugajski, until recently a lavishly
paid "consultant" for Milo Djukanovic's kleptocratic little fiefdom, seems
to have lost some of his enthusiasm for the cause of Montenegrin
independence now that the retainer has ended; but the "analysis" vis-à-vis
Kosovo is the same: "the only way" to achieve peace and stability is to
cut another slice from the depleted Serbian salami. Until and unless this
is done, the ethnic tensions in the region and political and economic
stagnation in the Balkans will continue. The authors argue that a "freely
elected" government in Kosovo would reduce the potential for social unrest
and promote the rule of law and pluralism.
Only days earlier, on May 21, the House of Representatives Committee on
International Relations held an open hearing ("The Future of Kosovo") and
heard Daniel Serwer of the United States Institute of Peace declare that
the "specific problems" of today's Kosovo "include failure of the Serbs to
participate consistently in the Kosovo Assembly and continuing Serb
control in the north." Among those invited to testify were spokesmen for
the Albanian-American registered lobby groups and their congressional
supporters; not one invited speaker represented the interests of Serbs and
other non-Albanians in Kosovo, or the position and concerns of Serbia.
James Dobbins, director of the International Security and Defense Policy
Center at the Rand Corporation and a key advocate of the war against
Serbia in the Clinton administration, joined the chorus by saying that the
unresolved nature of Kosovo's status as potential independent state
continues to be an obstacle to reconciliation between the ethnic groups in
the region: "I always believed that the only result that would satisfy a
majority of the people is some form of independence."
Charles A. Kupchan, director of European studies at the Council on Foreign
Relations, bewails that "the Balkans as a whole have slipped off the radar
screen" and sees the formal separation of Kosovo from Serbia as a welcome
opportunity to put the region back on the map. Kupchan added that the
situation in Kosovo holds important lessons for the United States' effort
at nation building in Iraq.
The billionaire "philantropist," currency speculator George Soros, even
went to Belgrade on May 27 to tell the Serbs that it was in their interest
to support the independence of Kosovo. At a conference in Belgrade's Hyatt
Regency, Soros said that Serbia could be put into the "fast-lane to
European integration" in exchange for Kosovo's independence. Only days
before his trip Soros wrote an article in London's Financial Times (May
22) saying that Kosovo's independence would be the logical end of
Yugoslavia's disintegration and that Macedonia in particular should be
given some assurance that Kosovo's independence does not herald any
further fracturing of Balkan states.
In Washington the consensus among political analysts, including those who
oppose any change in Kosovo's status, is that these pro-Albanian lobbyists
intend to package Kosovo's independence in "realpolitical" terms in their
pitch to the Bush administration. They will claim that doing a big favor
to a Muslim community—the Albanians—could be subsequently presented as a
counterweight to the coming adjustment of the "Road Map" to reflect Mr.
Sharon's many objections, both already stated and yet pending.
The precedent already exists in Mr. Rumsfeld's pointed invocation, during
the war in Afghanistan, of America's intereventions in Bosnia and Kosovo
as the conclusive proof that the United States is not a priori
anti-Muslim. The KLA's Washingtonian friends will claim that strip-mining
Serbia costs nothing—the heirs of Zoran Djindjic in Belgrade will do
exactly as told, whatever is demanded of them—and yields rich rewards in
giving America leverage in appeasing enraged Muslim opinion around the
world.
It is to be hoped that this time the bad guys will not succeed. If the
Administration goes along with these proposals it will make a mistake for
seven main reasons:
1. It will reward mass ethnic cleansing and murder, carried out on a
massive scale by the Albanians ever since the beginning of the NATO
occupation four years ago;
2. It will condone the principle that an ethnic minority's plurality in a
given locale or region provides grounds for that region's secession—a
precedent that may yet come to haunt America in the increasingly
mono-ethnic and mono-lingual Southwest;
3. It will terminally alienate the Serbs, whose cooperation is crucial to
making the Balkans finally stable and peaceful, at a time when American
energy, money and manpower is more pressingly needed further east;
4. It will create an inherently unstable polity that will be an even safer
haven for assorted criminals and Islamic extremists than it is today;
5. It will reignite the war in neighboring Macedonia, where the current
semblance of peace is absolutely predicated upon the continuing status quo
in Kosovo;
6. It will contribute to further deterioration of relations with the
Europeans and Russians with no tangible benefit to the United States;
7. It will commit itself to continuing the Clinton-Gore "nation-building
project" in Kosovo that culminated with the bombing of Serbia in 1999—an
illogical, immoral, and utterly untenable rearrangement of the Balkan
architecture which it would be in America's interest to reverse, not
ratify and make semi-permanent.
This time the "realists" have ample arguments against Cilnton's model of
the new Balkan order that seeks to satisfy the aspirations of all ethnic
groups in former Yugoslavia—except the Serbs. Whatever is imposed on them
in this moment of weakness, the Serbs shall have no stake in the ensuing
order of things. Sooner or later they will fight to recover Kosovo,
whatever its "status." The Carthaginian peace imposed on them today will
cause chronic regional imbalance and strife for decades to come. That is
not in America's interest, and therefore should not be condoned.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2003, www.ChroniclesMagazine.org
TOP
ROBERTSON IN PRISTINA: TIME FOR SECURITY PROGRESS
There are
local elected leaders and politicians from the different ethnic groups
(here) and it is their responsibility to make sure that the obligations
they took on, are satisfied and that peace and stability is guaranteed for
everybody who calls Kosovo their home
TOP
FoNet News
Agency, Belgrade
June 26, 2003
PRISTINA - NATO secretary general George Robertson said on Thursday in
Pristina that NATO will not be content until it sees multi-ethnic society
develop in Kosovo, where all people can walk the streets in safety, as
they can in every other part of Europe.
"The world is watching and the world is waiting and the time is now to
make the changes that are required. When I came here, the first time that
we were talking, we knew that we could not turn Kosovo into Switzerland in
a couple of years. But now, there are democratic institutions here in
Kosovo, elected by the people. There are local elected leaders and
politicians from the different ethnic groups and it is their
responsibility to make sure that the obligations they took on, are
satisfied and that peace and stability is guaranteed for everybody who
calls Kosovo their home," said Robertson at a joint press conference with
UNMIK chief Michael Steiner and KFOR general Fabio Mini.
He paid
tribute to Steiner for his work in this period and said that NATO supports
the acitivites of UNMIK. Robertson said that the Kosovo Protection Corps
has a very valuable role to play in Kosovo but as a civic emergency
organization and added that NATO does not see it as being some embryonic
army. "Kosovo needs the KPC as a civil organization free of corruption and
crime and that will be the strong message to General Ceku when we meet him
this afternoon," said Robertson.
TOP
SPEECH BY NATO SEC-GEN AT THE ARRIVAL OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL AT
KOSOVO
The situation is
improving, but we're still not happy. The situation is much better than it
was, but more needs to be done and a multi-ethnic, a genuinely
multi-ethnic democratic Kosovo is our objective, nothing less
TOP
NATO
http://www.nato.int/docu/speech/2003/s030626a.htm
Kosovo
Pristina Airport
26 June 2003
LORD ROBERTSON (NATO Secretary General): ...all of the NATO Council coming
to Kosovo today with the new seven countries who will join the Alliance
next year were here to underline NATO's commitment to Kosovo and our
determination to finish the job here and to provide security and safety
for the people of Kosovo.
We're here to commend General Mini and the soldiers of KFOR, many of
thousands of whom have come through here since 1999. We have very strong
messages that the job that needs finishing is a multi-ethnic, democratic,
unified Kosovo, that the democratic institutions in place must be seen to
work for all of the people of Kosovo and there must be no tolerance of
extreme language or organized crime and criminality.
So we're here today to give a strong message of continuing support, but
only for a tolerant, multi-ethnic Kosovo and the whole NATO Council will
be strongly delivering that message today.
Q: (inaudible)...
ROBERTSON: We will only reduce the forces if we can do so and still
maintain a robust military presence here, backing up UNMIK and the job
that it is doing. We constantly look at the NATO combat forces in the
light of the trained Kosovo Police Service and what they can do and should
do inside Kosovo. It may be that there will be reductions in forces, but
we will not reduce the standards of robust help that we give at the
present moment.
Many thousands of young people have served here in uniform and out of
uniform as part of KFOR. We are very proud of them. We've come here to be
a tribute to them and this place would not be a free country, many people
would not be alive was it not for these Kosovo forces to have come through
here since 1999.
The situation is improving, but we're still not happy. The situation is
much better than it was, but more needs to be done and a multi-ethnic, a
genuinely multi-ethnic democratic Kosovo is our objective, nothing less.
Thank you very much.
TOP
BELOS:
ATTACKS ON SERBS ORGANIZED IN A SINGLE HEADQUARTERS
It is obvious that displaced persons will want to visit their homes and
see what condition it is in; however, usually after the visit new
destruction occurs and houses that were half-destroyed end up being blown
up
TOP
Beta News
Agency, Belgrade
June 26, 2003
NOVI SAD - Coordinating Center for Kosovo and Metohija sector for returns
head Ljiljana Belos stated that every attack on Serbs in Kosovo has been
"thoroughly planned and organized in a single headquarters" in order to
prevent the return of displaced persons.
"Attacks are occurring in those very places we have targeted for returns.
This is being done by extremists with a single goal: to prevent the return
of Serbs to Kosovo," said Belos.
She assessed that there has been almost no progress whatsoever in the area
of human rights in Kosovo and, with respect to the issue of returns,
accused UNMIK of not doing anything to create necessary conditions for the
return of displaced persons to Kosovo.
"At the time UN Resolution 1244 was passed we were unsatisfied because it
was very deficient and deprived the Serbs of their rights. The problem
today is that the resolution is not being honored or implemented by those
responsible, first and foremost, by Michael Steiner," said Belos.
She accused UNMIK of spending "tons of money" on information campaigns,
flyers and Go-and-See visits.
"It is obvious that displaced persons will want to visit their homes and
see what condition it is in; however, usually after the visit new
destruction occurs and houses that were half-destroyed end up being blown
up," said Belos.
She assessed that a large number of people want to return in Kosovo
because they are in a very difficult situation in central Serbia.
According to Belos, the state at this time cannot ensure freedom and
security for Serbs in Kosovo "because it does not have a mandate."
"But everything else that is necessary for people to survive, the state
will do everything possible," said Belos.
She said that according to OSCE statistics approximately 230,000 people
have been displaced from Kosovo since 1999 and that "not one percent" have
returned to date.
"According to UNMIK 800 Serbs have returned; according to UNHCR, it is
about 3,000," said Belos.
TOP
REMAINS OF
THREE MURDERED SERBS TURNED OVER TO FAMILIES
The profiles of the
Kosovo crimes are different. They are profiles of perfidious murders of
people killed in the most horrible ways," said Dobricanin, adding that
they had been bound with chains, ropes and handcuffs and tortured to death
TOP
Beta
News Agency, Belgrade
June 27, 2003
MERDARE - Representatives of the Coordinating Center for Kosovo and
Metohija and UNMIK turned over the remains of three Serbs murdered in
Kosovo in 1999 to families today.
The families of persons missing in Kosovo and Metohija claimed the remains
of Dejan Jezdic, who was kidnapped in 1999 while serving as an officer of
the Yugoslav Army in Urosevac; Dusan Cvetovic, the former chief justice of
the Djakovica district court, who was killed in his apartment; and Milorad
Jovanovic, who was killed during the same year in Djakovica.
According to pathologist Slavisa Dobricanin the three Serbs whose bodies
were turned over were killed by gunfire and exhumed in different locations
in Kosovo.
A total of 200 bodies have been exhumed in Kosovo so far.
Autopsies have been performed on 139 bodies, 67 have been identified and
the families of missing Serbs have claimed the remains of 49 persons, said
Dobricanin.
Commenting on exhumations on the territory of Kosovo, Dobricanin said that
teams of Serbian pathologists have established that the majority of
victims were killed in the most brutal fashion, making these crimes among
the most serious committed in the area of the former Yugoslavia.
"The profiles of the Kosovo crimes are different. They are profiles of
perfidious murders of people killed in the most horrible ways," said
Dobricanin, adding that they had been bound with chains, ropes and
handcuffs and tortured to death.
"They were killed in various ways. They were shot in the nape, the mouth,
the eye and the ears. They were struck with blunt objects in the head,
which in some cases led to the complete destruction of the skull," said
Dobricanin.
"They were drowned in bathtubs. There were cases where some victims were
tied with ropes and dragged through the city while still alive. Some had
their mouth and nose sealed with adhesive tape and were then strangled
with wires. We found attempts to burn the bodies in order to cover up the
traces," said Dobricanin.
Dobricanin stated that most of the people killed in this way were elderly
people who were unable to leave Kosovo after the arrival of KFOR
peacekeeping forces.
TOP
AFP: HALF
A MILLION BULLETS SEIZED AT GREEK-ALBANIAN BORDER
A
consignment of more than half a million Kalashnikov and G3 automatic
ammunition rounds has been seized by Greek guards on the frontier with
Albania, police said Saturday. The ammunition was hidden in a heavy truck
registered in Greece which was officially carrying in a load of coal from
Albania bound for the island of Crete.
TOP
AGENCE
FRANCE PRESSE
28-Jun-2003 8:00AM
IOANNINA, Greece, June 28 (AFP) - A consignment of more than half a
million Kalashnikov and G3 automatic ammunition rounds has been seized by
Greek guards on the frontier with Albania, police said Saturday.
The ammunition was hidden in a heavy truck registered in Greece which was
officially carrying in a load of coal from Albania bound for the island of
Crete.
The 45 year-old Greek driver was taken into custody and was scheduled to
appear later before the local state attorney in the town of Ioannina, near
Kakavia, the frontier post where the discovery was made.
Last weekend Greek security agents boarded and seized a ship in Greek
waters carrying a cargo 680 tonnes of high explosive.
The crew of seven of the Comoros-flagged Baltic Sky -- caught on its way
to Sudan with the consignment of Tunisian-made explosives -- was remanded
in custody and face felony charges of possessing and transporting
explosives to third parties for outlawed activities.
TOP
Micheal Steiner's mandate is finishing today - June 30, 2003
(cartoon by Corax, Danas daily, Belgrade, June 29, 2003)
STEINER TO STEP DOWN BEFORE BELGRADE DIALOGUE
TOP
Politika daily, Belgrade
June 26, 2003
PRISTINA -- Thursday - Kosovo governor Michael Steiner will not take part
in the planned Belgrade-Pristina dialogue scheduled for July.
He told media that his term of office will finish on June 30.
"It would be stupid for me to begin a dialogue and then have someone else
take over from me. This should be the mission of my successor," said
Steiner.
Summing up his term a head of the United Nations mission in Serbia's
southern province, Steiner said that the outlook for Kosovo was betterthan
ever following his governorship.
However, he added, politicians in both Belgrade and Pristina were unable
to see that Kosovo had begun living a normal life as a multi-ethnic
environment.
The departing governor said he was proud of the development of the
multiethnic climate during his mission.
TOP
ERP KIM
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