June 14, 2004

ERP KiM Newsletter 14-06-04

 - Five years after the UN and NATO intervened to end the war in Kosovo, Belgrade insists the international mission has been a "stinging failure" and is demanding a change of strategy.

Serbia's frustration with the international community's role in the southern ethnic-Albanian dominated province peaked after a wave of mob violence against Serbs in March which left 19 people dead.

"It is evident that after the recent violence the international community must count the costs of the stinging failure of its policies in Kosovo," said Dragan Marsicanin, a senior figure in the ruling coalition.

As well as the 19 people killed, over 900 were injured during the March riots that lasted for two days and forced some 4,000 people, mostly Serbs, from their homes.

Over 800 houses were torched along with 19 Serb Orthodox churches and monasteries. It was the worst ethnic violence in Kosovo since the end of the 1998-99 war, when Serb forces were accused of trying to drive out Albanians.

Kosovo's outgoing UN mission chief, Harri Holkeri, warned Thursday the security situation there was "very fragile" and the province could turn into a hotbed for terrorism if it was abandoned by the international community.

"If the international community gives up, what would it be? That would be a carte blanche for terrorism, for violence... all kinds of actions against humanity," Holkeri said.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who visited the breakaway province last Monday for the second time since the anti-Serb riots, said a society plagued by such ethnic violence "does not belong to Europe".

The role of the UN and NATO peacekeepers in Kosovo once divided nationalists and moderates in Serbian politics but now there is unanimous agreement across the political spectrum that the intervention has failed.

Serbia is now demanding a dramatic change in strategy to allow the province to be "decentralised" between Serb and Albanian areas -- an idea that has been criticised as amounting to the ethnic division of Kosovo.

This policy, announced by Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica earlier this year, has been unanimously adopted by the Serbian parliament and is seen here as the only practical solution to ensure security for the Serbs.

It would grant extended powers to five enclaves where Serbs were in the majority before their post-war exodus, when more than 200,000 fled in fear of reprisal attacks by the Albanian majority.

Only around 80,000 Serbs remain in Kosovo, out of a total population in the province of some 1.8 million. NATO troops who are supposed to ensure security were completely overwhelmed by the organised mob violence in March.

Marsicanin said the decentralisation plan was the "only solution" which could "stabilise the region" in accord with UN Resolution 1244, which established the UN protectorate in Kosovo.

The plan has won the support of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who described it as a "very good base for work" after meeting Kostunica last week.

Western European leaders have been far more cautious, however one Western diplomat in Belgrade told AFP that Kostunica's plan was a "good point of departure" and that the "decentralisation of Kosovo is inevitable".

Kosovo Albanian Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi has condemned the idea as an emotional response to the March violence and a way of dividing the province or reintegrating it with Serbia.

The ethnic Albanian leadership of Kosovo demands nothing short of independence, however the province remains technically part of Serbia and its "final status" will be decided by the Security Council.

Aleksandar Simic, an advisor to Kostunica and one of the architects of the plan, said the policy did not amount to division as the proposed autonomous Serb enclaves would not necessarily be connected.

"The plan does not meddle with the question of the final status of Kosovo," he told AFP.

Marsicanin said an independent Kosovo was "impossible".

"We have seen over the past five years that an independent Kosovo will not resolve the question of human rights and will lead to an ethnically pure Kosovo," he said.

Serbian reformist urges unity against ultranationalist for presidential run-off

Source: Agence France-Presse English Wire Date: June 13, 2004 BELGRADE, June 13 (AFP) - Reformist candidate Boris Tadic called on "democratic forces" to unite for Serbia's run-off presidential election on June 27, when he is likely to face ultranationalist leader Tomislav Nikolic after the two men emerged in front in Sunday's first round vote.

"I call on all democratic forces and citizens to unite their votes and support me in the run-off," Tadic told reporters here.

Unofficial estimates by the independent monitoring group CESID gave Serbian Radical Party candidate Nikolic 30.7 percent of the vote while Tadic garnered 27.4 percent.

Businessman Bogoljub Karic, one of Serbia's richest men, came in third with 18.7 percent ahead of ruling party candidate Dragan Marsicanin, with 13.3 percent, according to the estimates.

If the figures are confirmed by the electoral commission, the presidential race will be fought to a finish between Tadic and Nikolic, as no candidate won a majority of the first-rund votes.

Tadic, the candidate of the opposition reformist Democratic party, said he would have a series of meetings with leading political figures in order to "reach a consensus by all democratic forces on the three main points: the European path for Serbia, the political stability and the economic recovery of the country."

"I submitted my candidacy in order to prevent a radicalisation in Serbia. It is not a time to celebrate but to mobilize all democratic potentials in the country," he said.

Nikolic himself called on voters to "make another effort" for the second round of the elections.

"A candidate who was not able to beat me today, will not be able to do so in two weeks' time," Nikolic told reporters.

He said he was "convinced" he would win.

"It is a pity that this (election) is delayed for two weeks, but the result will be the same," Nikolic said.

Marsicanin, whose poor showing could deal a serious blow to the fragile ruling coalition, admitted his defeat, warning it would "not contribute to the political stability in Serbia."

"It also opens a question of Serbia's government" future, Marsicanin told reporters, but refused to say whether the four-party ruling coalition would back Tadic in the runoff with Nikolic.

However, leaders of the two other parties, also members of the ruling coalition -- neo-liberal G17 and New Serbia -- said they would support Tadic in the runoff.

"We will begin a campaign for Tadic's support starting from tomorrow," said Miroljub Labus of the G17.

Labus also warned that the results of the elections "impose a question of possible reconstruction of the government or calling of new elections."

And Velimir Ilic of New Serbia said the coalition "has no other choice but to support" Tadic.

"And we will do so. It would be a disgrace for Serbia" if a democratic candidate failed to win, Tanjug news agency quoted Tadic as saying.

TOP

More News Available on our:

Kosovo Daily News list (KDN)
KDN Archive

Our Newsletters in html format are available on the Web at: http://www.kosovo.net

Photo Galleries of the March pogrom are available at: http://www.kosovo.net/pogrom.html  

ERP KIM Info-Service is the official Information Service of the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Raska and Prizren and works with the blessing of His Grace Bishop Artemije.
Our Information Service is distributing news on Kosovo related issues. The main focus of the Info-Service is the life of the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Serbian community in the Province of Kosovo and Metohija. ERP KIM Info Service works in cooperation with www.serbian-translation.com as well as the Kosovo Daily News (KDN) News List

Disclaimer:
The views expressed by the authors of newspaper articles or other texts which are not official communiqués or news reports by the Diocese are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of the Serbian Orthodox Church

Additional information on our Diocese and the life of the Kosovo Serb Community may be found at: http://www.kosovo.net

If you want to unsubscribe go to the page: http://www.kosovo.net/erpkiminfo.html


Copyright 2004, ERP KIM Info-Service