UNMIK Head Harri Holkeri has extended the deadline for regulating the registration of private vehicles in Kosovo until the end of this year, by which license plates issued according to SCG regulations in the province, will continue to be valid. Holkeri has decided to extend the deadline of the validity of license plates issued according to SCG regulations at CCK’s proposal. The CCK announced that this issue would be examined and resolved in the context of the upcoming change of license marks and plates at the level of SCG.

Serbian Government's plan: Five regions for Serbs in Kosovo (Politika/Beta)
The Serbian Government's plan envisages the forming of five regions in which Serbs represent a compact population, with rights and jurisdictions in the legislative, executive and judiciary power. As Beta learned from sources close to the Group that drafted the plan, five regions would be
formed in Kosovo: Central-Kosovo, Northern-Kosovo, Kosovo-Pomoravlje, Mt. Sar and Metohija regions. Serbian MPs are to examine the Serbian Government's plan at Thursday's session. The jurisdiction of the regions would consist in the organization of territorial autonomy, meaning the
forming of bodies and the setting up of the election process, the police, civil protection, the judiciary, education, health and welfare policy, culture and the media. The jurisdiction of the region would also include the implementation of privatization in the region, ownership-legal relations on immovable estates, public registers, official usage of language and epistle, development programs, local self-rule, budget, administration of public property? The bodies of territorial autonomy would be the Regional Assembly, the Executive Council, administration bodies and
courts. The Assembly is to be the highest representative body elected on the basis of the citizens' votes from all areas that make up the region, and would have judicial power and first instance courts of general power that are organized for the territory of one or more municipalities inside the region. The Executive council is to be the bearer of the executive power. The relation of the region towards Kosovo provisional institutions has been conceived as having a high degree of essential autonomy in relation to the power in Pristina. The areas of autonomy would be composed of municipalities, parts of municipalities and settlements in which Serbs were a majority prior to the displacement in 1999.Beta)
The President of the CCK Nebojsa Covic said that the international community was leading two simultaneous processes, explaining that besides the implementation of standards, it was also active in making a model for solving the Kosovo crisis. "The second process is not that public and it is
led by the EU, US and NATO representatives. In solving the dilemma whether to implement the Dayton or the Ohrid model in settling the Kosovo issue, the international community is much closer to adopting the Ohrid model, which understands both public and secret talks between Belgrade and Pristina, as well as the representation of the local communities in the mechanisms of authority based on their percentage. Covic pointed out that there is a danger for the Kosovo problems to be relativized, especially in terms of the returns process: "They could show readiness to return some four thousand people displaced in March and totally forget about more than 200.000 IDPs displaced in 1999. This is going to be an attempt to show an unrealistic picture and say that something is done after all."

DA leader and head of the CCK Nebojsa Covic has stated that the Serbian government had not consulted him during the drafting of the plan for Kosovo. “I had the opportunity to see that plan before it was fully harmonized. The CCK is not included in its drafting, except if they don’t think that it is represented by Slobodan Samardzic who is now the adviser for Kosovo in the Serbian government. I think it is not good for some institutions to be skipped,” said Covic. He said that it wasn’t important who would be the first to make a plan, but who was offering good solutions.

UNMIK has not come up with evidence that Serbs are responsible for the death of three Albanian boys who drowned in the Ibar in mid March, UN spokesperson Neeraj Singh stated, adding that the investigation ended. “In the course of the investigation, the father of the Albanian boy witness had not allowed for the boy to appear together with the investigative bodies on the spot where the boys drowned, with an explanation that the boy is depressed. The boy was exposed to great pressure by journalists and the media who suggested to him what to say,” said Singh, specifying “that the death occurred by drowning in the water without traces of violence.”

The March violence in Kosovo represents a disgrace, as NATO has not come to the province to make it easier for Albanians to ethnically cleanse Serbs, stated European Commissioner for Foreign Policy Chris Patten in the German Parliament. According to him, the Kosovo government must commence the reconstruction of destroyed facilities, and thus show readiness for the province to become multi-ethnic. Patten also underlined that the international community strongly supported the policy standards before status, and recalled that it depended on the implementation of those standards whether the examination of the achieved in Kosovo would commence by the middle of next year, and only then could the examination of the final status commence. He also stressed that, regardless of what the final status of Kosovo would be, the province’s place was in Europe.

Secretary General of the CoE Walter Schwimmer has stated in Strasbourg that Kosovo must be a democratic and multi-ethnic society, as well as that Albanian violence against minorities cannot be taken as a shortcut to determining the final status of the province. During the recess of the CoE’s Parliamentary Assembly session, Schwimmer has reiterated that Europe supports the ‘standards prior to status’ policy in Kosovo and that prior to determining the status, human and minority rights have to be fulfilled.

It is necessary to carry out a detailed investigation into the circumstances of the violence exerted in Kosovo from March 17 to 19, for without that there will be no solution to problems in the province, a delegation of the Interparliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States on a visit to Kosovo assessed. Acquainting the Russian MPs with the delegation’s conclusions, MP Victor Ozerov said that it was necessary to disband all militant structures in Kosovo, including the remaining structures of the former KLA. The observers of the Interparliamentary Assembly were quoted by Ozerov as saying that all the persons connected with extremists and organized mafia should be removed from the KPC.

DA leader Boris Tadic took off for the

for a visit with US administration representatives and Serbs from the Diaspora, and not for a meeting with UNSG Kofi Annan as seen in the media. “The meeting with Annan was not planned, but a reception on the occasion of the award given by the East-West Institute post-humously to Ana Lind, former Swedish premier, which should have also been attended by Annan but he couldn’t come,” said Ana Urosevic, Tadic’s spokesperson.

Former KLA commander Sami Ljushtaku was arrested under suspicion of being involved in the March violence against Serbs that broke out in Kosovo and Metohija. He is also suspected of being involved in other criminal activities. KFOR arrested Ljushtaku in Srbica, northern Kosovo. KFOR spokesman Jim Moran pointed out that Ljushtaku's arrest had nothing to do with his activities while he was one of the KLA commanders. Advisor to the ICTY chief prosecutor Daniel Ruch confirmed the statement by the KFOR spokesman. Sami Ljushtaku was one of the founders of KLA and its regional commander in the region known as Drenica. According to data by the authorities, Ljushtaku completed military training in

Albania

. In 1997 he took part in the massacre of Serb civilians imprisoned in a concentration camp in the village of Likovac. He also participated in the attack on a police patrol in the village of Rudnik in 1998. During war in Kosovo, Hashim Thaci appointed Ljushtaku commander of the second KLA operational zone for the area of Prizren. By the decision of the District Court in Pristina /KBR 97-97/ he was sentenced to 20 years in prison on account of terrorism. In 2001 Ljushtaku was recalled from the position of the KPC commander at the request of the American administration with a ban on weapons possession. For failing to act in line with the ban, KFOR soldiers arrested him on several occasions. After that he left Kosovo and lived in

Albania

for some time. “It is good that he has been arrested. However, since he has been transferred to Bondsteel from which many fled, I am afraid that Ljushtaku might flee, too,” Nebojsa Covic said. Covic also said that he was expecting further procedure to follow after Ljushtaku's arrest.

Kosovo / After the violence (Beta)

A month and a half after the escalation of violence in Kosovo, in which UNMIK reported 19 people were killed, the international community is trying to stabilize the situation in the province. Members of the Contact Group were harmonizing their policy towards Kosovo last week, and decided to set up a working group for support to the province. The initiative for the new forum was launched by U.S. Undersecretary Mark Grossman. This should be the body that might play a crucial role in shaping the international policy on Kosovo in the future. Comprising diplomats from the Contact Group, the European Union and NATO, the Group for Political and Economic Support to Kosovo will meet in six-week intervals to discuss latest developments. With a multiethnic Kosovo as the ultimate goal, the group will act upon the standards-before-status strategy, which calls for the provisional institutions of self-government in Kosovo to fulfill a series of strict condition before the final status of the province is discussed. The support group is no radically new step, but rather an attempt by the international community to prevent international relations from deteriorating further and to create conditions for the stabilization of situation in Kosovo. This is going to be a demanding task, since the Albanian side is adamant that an independent Kosovo should be proclaimed first, while the Serbs want the province to remain formally within Serbia and the Serb enclaves to get proper protection.

Foreign policy

The international community has begun to change its attitude towards representatives of Kosovo's provisional institutions, emphasizing their responsibility for the wave of violence that have recently shaken Kosovo. Leading international organizations have already hinted that the stick-and-carrot policy will be applied in Kosovo, too. Criticism and new concessions will apparently take turns in the province. The new policy seems to be in force already. NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer visited Kosovo twice in a month. In the presence of the ambassadors of permanent members of the Alliance, he said in Pristina that the attitude of Albanian politicians was disappointing, since they had made no progress in repairing the damage inflicted on the Serbs. The strong wording surprised many. The day after, UNMIK chief Harri Holkeri and the Kosovo premier Bajram Rexhepi promoted an office for international cooperation and dialog at the Kosovo government. Premier Rexhepi described it as the core of a Kosovo foreign ministry. The office is not going to have the powers of a foreign ministry for the time being, but it can lay the groundwork for contacts with foreign countries without any obstacles. Rexhepi believes that in the second half of the year amendments to the Constitutional Framework will be passed to create legal conditions for the establishment of the Kosovo foreign ministry. The office will coordinate the operations of UNMIK and the Kosovo premier, in order to incorporate the government in the process of international cooperation. In the initial reaction on the new establishment, Serbian politicians have accused Holkeri of sending Albanian extremists a clear message that they should go on with terrorism. President of the Serb National Council of Northern Kosovo and Metohija Milan Ivanovic said that Holkeri "continually violates the basic provisions of U.N. Resolution 1244," and that he was "clearly pursuing a pro-Albanian policy." The Belgrade authorities termed the decision as scandalous, warning that instead of being punished, the Kosovo Albanians were actually rewarded for the outburst of violence in March.

Status

The middle of 2005 may be the time when the implementation of standards will be examined thoroughly. The results will show whether a debate on the final status of Kosovo will be launched or not. Making it clear that they will never give up independence, the Kosovo Albanians said they would call a referendum next autumn to let the citizens of Kosovo say what they think about independence. There is no doubt whatsoever that a vast majority will be in favor of it. The announcement is also part of Pristina's effort to solidify its negotiating position ahead of a crucial dialog with Belgrade, which will happen sooner or later. The international community also advocates the talks as the easiest way to alleviate the consequences of the latest wave of violence and stabilize the situation in Kosovo. Belgrade supports the dialog, too, but only if the international community fulfills the obligations it undertook upon its arrival in Kosovo. These include the return of more than 200,000 displaced Serbs, freedom of movement for all inhabitants of Kosovo, access to institutions and respect for human rights. The Serb party also argues that the international community undertook to ensure the return of Serbian security forces to the province, but international actors claim that it was just a possibility. At any rate, the authorities in Belgrade are aware that such a request is entirely unrealistic, and that the Serbian security forces might get back only if the province was divided, which is not an option at the moment.

Dialogue

The international community believes that an interethnic, or the so-called internal dialog should be the first step after the March riots. The Group for Support is expected to try and force Serbian politicians to sit at the negotiating table with their Albanian counterparts, in order to find the way to facilitate the return of exiled Serbs, repair their houses, guarantee freedom of movement and get Serb representatives back to the Kosovo Assembly and other institutions. Kosovo Serb political representatives had left the provisional institutions, and they see no reason for returning there, as in their view this would be tantamount to taking lightly the suffering of their compatriots. When and if the internal dialog is agreed upon, preparations would begin for the Pristina-Belgrade talks, initiated through working groups on energy, missing persons, return and transportation. There are hints that the decentralization of power might be the first topic for the Belgrade- Pristina dialog. Pristina, Belgrade and UNMIK have their own plans how to carry out the decentralization process. Analysts say that UNMIK might waste too much time waiting for the Albanians and Serbs to come to agreement. Instead, a plan should be devised on the basis of the Council of Europe's recommendations, and a decree for the implementation of the plan proclaimed. The authorities in Belgrade are drafting a plan for Kosovo the essence of which is to allow the Serbs to form their local administration based on territorial autonomy. Belgrade, UNMIK and, in part, the provisional Kosovo government, believe that the decentralization process and broader powers for local communities might soften the aspirations of the two strongest ethnic communities in Kosovo, at least for a while. ??

Belgrade Media Highlights, March 29

Kosovo / After the violence (Beta)