July 27, 2004

ERP KiM Newsletter 27-07-04c

Kosovo Serbs: Participation in elections or boycott

Not Good If Serbs Vote And Not Good If They Boycott

Belgrade, 26 Jul (Glas Javnosti) – “Kosovo Serbs right before the parliamentarian elections in the Province face a great choice, but this time their position is worse that it used to be before, because they do not have a strong mediator as it was Nebojsa Covic”, stated Oliver Ivanovic, member of Presidency of Assembly of Kosovo and Metohija and member of Coalition “Povratak”, commenting on expectations about coming out of the Serbs in the forthcoming elections for the parliament.

“The talk could be useful and to bring certain conclusion, and we are aware that any separate agreement would be enough, but the entire ruling coalition and all political subjects of Kosovo Serbs should reach united stance regarding that issue. However, both decisions, coming or not coming out in the elections are hard and both would have certain consequences”, said Ivanovic.

Responding to the question weather at this moment the Kosovo Serbs are closer to coming out or boycotting the elections, Ivanovic stressed “We from the coalition “Povratak” do not want to come to a decision on our own, but I think that the elections have no alternative and it would be hard to avoid them.

Oliver Ivanovic said that Kosovo Serbs have no time to demand fulfilling of the basic conditions for coming out in the elections (security and freedom of movement), because Kosovo was neglected during the presidential campaign in Serbia, and it is the reason the Serbs still do not have appropriate negotiable position which is very bad for them.

As it is expected, the final decision of the Kosovo Serbs would be made during this week, after the meeting with representatives of Serbian Government, Coordination center and UNMIK.

Milan Ivanovic Sends Letter To Premier And President Of Serbia

Brussels for three-way agreement (RTS/Beta)

The EU believes that through a three-way agreement of Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo, whose purpose would mainly be economic integration aimed at accession to the EU, a solution for the future position of Kosovo as well as the relations of Montenegro towards a future joint state with Serbia could be found, and this is why the issue of a referendum in Montenegro should be set aside, Dutch Foreign Minister, and the chair of the EU Council of Ministers, Bernard Bott told Beta in Brussels. He emphasized that the EU is most concerned with stability in the region and does not wish to see its further disintegration.

Conclusions of Brussels meeting (RTS)

At a special meeting in Brussels, EU foreign ministers have welcomed the progress made in the process of reform of local self-government in Kosovo, assessing it as an important part of the process of implementation of Kosovo standards. The ministers have adopted conclusions on the West Balkans, centered around Kosovo that is the working group for reform of local self-government in the province, consisting of representatives of UNMIK and provisional Kosovo authorities. It was underlined in the conclusions that the reform of local self-government and decentralization of the province are important steps in establishing a sustainable government in Kosovo, protecting all minority communities and creating better conditions for all citizens. The Council of Ministers has called on all communities and other interested parties in Kosovo to become fully involved in the reform of the self-government and decentralization.

Human Rights Watch report (RTS)

The Human Rights Watch has requested a complete and independent investigation of the responsibility of KFOR, UNMIK police, and KPS during the March violence in the province. In the report entitled "Kosovo - the Failure of NATO and UN to Protect Minorities", the Human Rights Watch assesses that KFOR and UNMIK police had failed to protect minorities during the March violence of Albanian extremists against Serbs and other non-Albanians. The investigation has shown that organized groups of Albanians were active in many regions of Kosovo, with the aim to completely eradicate traces of Serb presence there, reads the report.

UNMIK defends from Human Rights Watch accusations (RTS)

UNMIK shares the concern with Human Rights Watch on many issues of the March violence in the province, but it is not true that “it was watched from the side while houses were burning,” it was stated in Pristina. In a statement by UNMIK, published regarding the accusations by Human Rights Watch, it is asserted that the international and local police didn’t have enough people for an efficient intervention during the violence on 17, 18 March. It was stressed that all of the 3000 international policemen and 6000 KPS members, which are under UNMIK command, were on the streets during the unrest towards opposing violence and that they did everything to protect the minorities, testified by many injuries of policemen. More than 50 000 rioters in more than 30 different demonstrations have limited the input of the smaller number of international and Kosovo police members, the statement read, with the remark that more than 80 participants in the violence had already been convicted, that more than 260 cases were underway and that 17 cases were undertaken by international prosecutors and judges. Regarding the assessments that nothing has changed in Kosovo’s security, UNMIK points out in the statement that it had been reinforced with 73 specialized international investigators, while a special police office has been formed, which examines each individual crime during the March violence.

Consensus on possible participation of Serbs in Kosovo elections (Tanjug)

DSS caucus whip in the Serbian Parliament Milos Aligrudic said that the statement made by SS leader Bogoljub Karic that the party will run in the Kosovo elections in coalition with NS party is harmful for the state interests of Serbia. Aligrudic told a news conference that a unilateral decision on participation in the Kosovo elections would be a departure from the consensus on one of the key issues of the state.

Union of Serb municipalities against UNMIK and Kosovo government plan (Tanjug)

The joint plan of UNMIK and the Kosovo government on decentralization of the authorities in Kosovo is unacceptable because it does not guarantee protection of Serbs, representatives of the Union of Serb municipalities and settlements in Kosovo stated. Union President Marko Jaksic told a news conference in Kosovska Mitrovica that, instead of guaranteeing safety to the Serb ethnic community, the plan guarantees safety to Albanians, and as such is unacceptable. The Union expects official Belgrade not to invite Serbs to participate in the elections in the province without previous concessions by the international community, “especially in the field of our institutional protection,” said Jaksic.

Strpce test for decentralization (Blic)

The first phase of decentralization in Kosovo will be at the level of pilot project for three to five municipalities with multi-ethnic population. It is most likely that Dragas, Strpce, Gnjilane and Kamenica are going to be the pilot municipalities in the first phase. Gracanica is not in the first phase but it may happen that it is included in the second phase. “Pilot projects will help check the functioning of the principle from the plan then the second phase with new principles and municipalities would follow,” Kosovo Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi told Blic. He actually explained how the plan, made by experts of the Kosovo government, UNMIK and the CoE few days ago, would function. Prior to its implementation, the UNSC has to approve this plan.

Does this plan make possible joining of Serb enclaves that are presently in different municipalities?

“If necessary, there will be 50 new municipalities. That depends on division of larger cities such as Pristina. That is yet to be agreed. In the first phase it is possible that two ethnic communities are joined together, one with the Serb population only and one with the Albanian population only. If the results prove to be positive, that model can be used throughout Kosovo.”

Both proposals that of Belgrade and that of Pristina will go the UNSC by the end of the month. Do you expect negotiations regarding their compilation?

“Our draft was made by UNMIK and the Kosovo government with the monitoring of foreign factors, including the SC. That is the document acceptable for us. We are not ready to compile two projects.”

Your draft does not deal very much with the issue of security while that is the crucial issue the Serb community is insisting on?

“That is only a draft. We formed a council for proposals and suggestions that is working on stepping up safety and freedom of movement. That will be the next step. There is a possibility for municipalities to have police stations of their own.”

Univerzal Company from Leposavic to be sold (FoNet)

KTA plans on 15 September to offer for sale the Univerzal Trade Company from Leposavic that disposes with significant facilities and is of extreme importance for northern Kosovo. “We have warned KTA that it is not the moment for any kind of privatization in northern Kosovo. Who will, until the situation settles down and until everything is safe, invest money in the companies here,” asked the President of the Leposavic municipality Velimir Bojovic.

NS: Decision on elections should be brought by consensus (Tanjug)

The decision by NS to register for participation in the local elections in Kosovo doesn’t mean it will take part in those elections, this party’s spokesperson Dubravka Filipovski told Tanjug. NS considers that the final decision on participation of Serbs in the elections in the southern province should be brought together by the Serbian government, the president of the republic and Kosovo Serb political representatives, said Filipovski.

New Serb Coalition Registers for Kosovo Elections

The newly formed Serb coalition consisting of New Serbia (NS), the Movement ‘Force of Serbia’ (PSS) and the Serbian Resistance Movement (SPOT) submitted on Friday its ticket for the October 23 parliamentary elections in Kosovo. It did so without consulting either with the Serbian government or the other Serb parties that have still not decided whether or not to run in the elections. PSS leader Bogoljub Karic stated that the Serbs’ life interest is to establish safety in Kosovo and create conditions for return and, emphasizing that “our goal is to unite Serbs from Kosovo who surely know best their problems and interests,” he added that having “only Belgrade to bring decisions on these issues has turned to be, over the past 15 years, but also over the past six decades, detrimental, and led to the fact that Serbs have practically disappeared in Kosovo,” Tanjug reported. Trajkovic explained that “unlike the Povratak Coalition (Return / KP), which does not even need to register for the elections, we had to do so, because we did not participate in the previous elections,” and stressed that “this does not mean that we will actually run in the elections without an agreement with Belgrade.” He added that the very act of registration for the elections had given the new coalition legitimacy and underlined that “now Belgrade, but the international community as well, have to count on us. Belgrade will now have to discuss the elections with us too, and not only with the Povratak Coalition, as if others did not exist,” VIP reported.

KP Members Consult Serbian President on Kosovo Elections

Kosovo Assembly members from Coalition Povratak (Return / KP) Oliver Ivanovic, Gojko Savic and Dragisa Krstovic met with Serbian President Boris Tadic on Saturday in order to address the issue of the participation of Serbs to the Oct. 23 parliamentary elections in Kosovo. Ivanovic stated upon the meeting that KP expects Serbian President Boris Tadic, Premier Vojislav Kostunica, and Serbian Legislature parties to adopt a single approach to the participation of Serbs and stressed that KP would not address the issue until Belgrade adopts its own stance. He commented "we expect Tadic to initiate a push for harmonization with Kostunica and the Legislature parties, including the opposition, and as quickly as possible to give us a unified stance," Beta reported. While Savic considers that “great responsibility is on the Serbian government that must definitely decide on the elections,” FoNet reported, Krstovic stated “we haven’t concluded anything definite and we agreed for him to talk with Prime Minister Kostunica, for them to coordinate stands so we could then have one political stand and consensus,” Tanjug reported.

In a 66-page report released Monday, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said the failure of security institutions in Kosovo to protect the minorities was "beyond dispute."
  
"In community after community, Serbs and other minorities ... were left for hours at the mercy of hostile ethnic Albanians rioters, waiting for KFOR and UNMIK to rescue them," the report said.
  
Nineteen people were killed and over 900 injured, including international police and NATO peacekeepers (KFOR), as mobs of ethnic Albanians attacked minority enclaves mostly inhabited by Serbs.
  
The report slammed the UN mission (UNMIK) and KFOR for not sharing information and claimed part of the responsibility could be attributed to KFOR troops for engaging in traditional military terms "rather than in more appropriate policing terms."
  
The report condemned KFOR and UNMIK for lacking a coordinated response while "in numerous cases minorities under attack were left entirely unprotected and at the mercy of the rioters."
  
However, KFOR spokesman said the force did not agree with the report's conclusions.
  
"It came late and it is a report looking from an armchair perspective and not one of a soldier looking at thousands of protesters approaching him," KFOR spokesman, Horst Pieper told AFP.
  
"KFOR did the outmost to de-escalate the confrontation and saved many lives. We think the strategy all over was successful," he said.
  
In a statement sent to AFP, UNMIK denied the accusations that it failed to address the situation. It said the report was a "broad-brush condemnation of UNMIK and KFOR and does not show an understanding of the extent of the challenge this violence posed to security forces."
 
"The international community appears to be in absolute denial about its own failures in Kosovo," the report said.
  
It specifically accused French peacekeepers serving with KFOR of not helping besieged Serbs in the northern village of Svinjare "even though their main base was just a few hundred meters (yards) away."
  
"The ethnic Albanian crowd had walked right past the base on its way to burning down the village," the report said.
  
In the western town of Prizren, German KFOR failed to deploy to protect the Serb population and the many historic Serbian Orthodox Churches."
  
At least 29 churches and monasteries were burned while over 800 houses were torched.
  
NATO rushed some 2,000 troops to quell the violence in addition to some 17,000 troops it had stationed in the province.
  
Kosovo has been under UN and NATO control since 1999 when a NATO bombing campaign forced Serb troops under nationalist strongman Slobodan Milosevic to end a crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists.

The March violence dealt a devastating blow to UNMIK's efforts to reconcile the province's embittered rival communities.

By Kim Sengupta – The Independent

Nato forces and United Nations police in Kosovo were responsible for a "catastrophic" failure to protect minority communities during the upsurge of violence earlier this year, a report claimed yesterday.

Human Rights Watch said there was a "near complete collapse" of security, allowing gangs of Albanians to drive Serbs, Roma and Ashkali (Albanian-speaking Roma) from their homes in the Yugoslav province.

The report, based on interviews with officials and victims, describes how, time after time, heavily armed soldiers of the Nato-led K-For stayed in their barracks as Serb homes were burnt and looted. Relief, when it did arrive, was often too little, too late, leading to a new status quo in which displaced communities found it impossible to return home.

In the village of Svinjare, a mob of armed Albanians marched past the main French K-For base before burning all of the 137 Serbian homes. The Nato troops stayed in their barracks watching buildings just a few hundred metres from their base go up in flames.

In nearby Vucitrn, French K-For soldiers failed to intervene while Albanian gangs set fire to 69 Ashkali homes, just 10 minutes' drive from the military base.

At Prizren, in the south-east, German K-For troops failed to protect the Serb population and the historic Orthodox churches and monasteries despite repeated and frantic calls for assistance from German UN police in the town.

The entire village of Belo Polje was burnt to the ground by the mob. This time it was Italian K-For troops who locked the gates of an adjacent base.
Even in the capital, Pristina, Serbian civilians had to barricade themselves into the upper floor of an apartment block, while Albanian gunmen shot out the windows from the streets and looted the flats below. It took K-For and the UN police more than six hours to come to their aid.

On 17 March, the report said, 33 separate riots broke out over a period of 48 hours involving more than 50,000 Albanians. Nineteen people were killed, 4,100 people were displaced from their homes, and at least 550 homes and 27 Orthodox churches were destroyed.

Among the catalysts for the violence were reports that a group of Serbs with dogs had driven three Albanian boys to their deaths in a river; the blocking of the main road from Pristina to Skopje by Serbs after the shooting of a Serb teenager; and a march by veterans of the disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army protesting at the arrest of former KLA leaders on war crimes charges.

Human Rights Watch concluded: "This was the biggest test for Nato and the United Nations in Kosovo since 1999, when minorities were forced from their homes as the international community looked on.

"They failed the test. In too many cases, Nato peacekeepers locked the gates to their bases and watched as Serb homes burnt."

FINANCIAL TIMES (UK)

Kosovo frustrations simmering as inter-ethnic tensions remain unresolved

By Stefan Wagstyl
Published: July 27 2004 5:00 | Last Updated: July 27 2004 5:00

In the divided Kosovo town of Mitrovica, Frenchtroops patrol the main bridge between the ethnic Albanian south and the Serb north, protected by barbed wire, concrete blocks and an armoured personnel carrier.

Soldiers guard each bank of the River Ibar, allowing only those with special passes to walk across the most dangerous bridge in the Balkans.

The troops have been in place since March, when violent attacks by Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority on the Serb minority swept the troubled province. The clashes left 19 dead, nearly 900 injured, and more than 700 homes destroyed. United Nations buildings and vehicles were also attacked.

The two-day rampage ended as suddenly as it began. But it has cast a long shadow over Kosovo. Albanian and Serb leaders still struggle to come to terms with the scale of the unrest.

UN officials wring their hands at the unprecedented collapse of their authority. A western diplomat in Pristina says: "The morale of Unmik (the UN mission in Kosovo) is at an all-time low."

A report published today by Human Rights Watch was equally damning.
"This was the biggest security test for Nato and the United Nations in Kosovo since 1999 . . . But they failed the test," the report said.

Yet at the beginning of the year, the atmosphere was quite different.
Nearly five years after Nato troops expelled the forces of former Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic and the UN took over, an uneasy calm had fallen over Kosovo.

Inter-ethnic violence had declined sharply to a handful of isolated cases a month. The Mitrovica bridge was open to all comers. Albeit cautiously, UN officials were counting the stabilisation of the troubled province as a success for international diplomacy.

It seemed the international community had somehow contained the competing claims of the Albanians who want independence, and the Serbs who remain loyal to Serbia. Kosovo, it appeared, could even be an example for trouble spots elsewhere, including Afghanistan and Iraq.

Restoring Unmik's self-confidence will be a challenge for its new head, Soren Jessen-Petersen, who arrives next month to replace the exhausted Harri Holkeri, who resigned in May for health reasons.

Mr Jessen-Petersen, an experienced Danish diplomat currently heading the European Union mission to neighbouring Macedonia, says: "The events in March reminded us that there are a number of priorities that have to be addressed in a short time frame."

The new chief's influence will depend to a great extent on his mandate. Under Mr Holkeri, UN headquarters in New York increased its role, irritating ethnic Albanian politicians who felt decisions were being taken away from Kosovo. They want Mr Jessen-Petersen to recover lost ground.
Bajram Rexhepi, the Kosovo prime minister, says: "If he has his hands tied by New York, I am not optimistic."

Mr Jessen-Petersen can take some comfort from developments since March. First, commanders of Kfor, the Nato-led peace-keeping force, and the Unmik police have bought more anti-riot equipment, improved training and increased co-ordination.

Next, the violence has stimulated initiatives aimed at easing inter-ethnic relations, notably plans for decentralisation which would give minority groups a greater say at local government level.

Also, while the US and European Union insist the ethnic Albanians who seek independence cannot be "rewarded" for the riots, the troubles have prompted renewed interest in resolving Kosovo's final status. A key test for the province will come with local parliamentary elections in October. Serbs have threatened a boycott, but Unmik officials hope they will change their minds.

But looming over Kosovo are the same three key challenges that have troubled the province since the UN arrived - security, final status and soaring unemployment. Under the terms of UN Security Council resolution 1244, UN-administered Kosovo remains legally part of Serbia and of the loose union of Serbia and Montenegro to which Serbia belongs. The UN said last year that talks on the province's final status would begin in mid-2005, as long as Kosovo made satisfactory political progress - especially in the protection of minority rights. The March riots have not changed the timetable.

Ethnic Albanians have continued to press hard for independence - this month the Kosovo assembly passed a new constitution even though UN officials insisted only the UN has the right to make such decisions. Mr Rexhepi accepts that the observance of the rule of law and other democratic standards must be improved in Kosovo, as the UN wants, but for him, as for ethnic Albanians, the process must end in independence even if it comes with conditions - such as the continued presence of international troops to protect minority rights.

Kosovo Serbs want the opposite - to remain in Serbia, albeit with a high degree of autonomy to meet Albanian demands for self-rule. Belgrade politicians have also floated plans for partition, under which Serb-dominated northern Kosovo would join Serbia while the south became independent. US and west European diplomats are reluctant to discuss final status, for fear of fuelling tensions prematurely, although they concede that their silence also increases local frustrations, especially among ethnic Albanians.

However, they mostly oppose partition because it might spark more disruption as about two-thirds of Kosovo's estimated 130,000 resident Serbs live in small communities in the Albanian-dominated south. They also worry that boundary changes might encourage other separatists, notably in Macedonia, where an ethnic Albanian minority co-exists uneasily with an ethnic Macedonian majority.

Some western diplomats acknowledge the continuing transfer of powers to Kosovo's Albanian-dominated institutions creates the impression that a new state is being created in the province - exactly as the ethnic Albanians would wish.

But others insist that nothing has been decided, not least because the final word rests with the members of the Security Council - including Russia, Belgrade's ally. The decisions will not be made in Pristina.

In the meantime, Kosovo's economic growth is slowing as post-war aid declines while private investors shy away from the troubled province.
Unemployment is rising towards 70 per cent. Organised crime is growing fast, taking full advantage of Kosovo's uncertain status.

Unmik officials worry that even their own safety might be at risk if ethnic Albanian frustrations boil over once more. Carne Ross, Unmik strategy co-ordinator, says: "I think things are very, very fragile and could go off again at any moment."

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