October 29, 2004

ERP KiM Newsletter 29-10-04

Serbian government calls for talks on decentralization of powers in Kosovo

By JOVANA GEC

BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) - Serbia's government Thursday called for talks on decentralization of powers in Kosovo, saying that granting the province's Serbs self-rule could make them participate in newly elected institutions, despite their boycott of last weekend's vote.

The government of Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said future talks should produce a "compromise solution'' and provide for "institutional guarantees'' for the beleaguered Serb minority in the U.N.-run province.

"I am convinced that the talks will start very soon,'' Kostunica said in a statement.
There was no immediate reaction from Kosovo to Kostunica's proposal, but international officials and ethnic Albanian leaders in Kosovo have in the past rejected similar demands as a de facto division of the province along ethnic lines.

U.N. officials in Kosovo have said the issue of local self-rule for the Serbs would be solved as part of general decentralization and the democratization process in Kosovo.

Kostunica's call comes only days after the Serbs overwhelmingly boycotted Kosovo's crucial general elections, dealing a blow to international efforts to create a multiethnic society in the province ahead of next year's planned talks on its future status.

Kostunica's government had backed the boycott, called because of security concerns following March attacks by ethnic Albanian extremists that killed 19 and left thousands of Serbs homeless.

Although it has been run by the United Nations and NATO since 1999, Kosovo officially remains part of Serbia-Montenegro _ or what used to be Yugoslavia _ and Belgrade still retains considerable influence among Kosovo's remaining Serb population.

Two-thirds of the Serbs that once lived in Kosovo left in 1999, after NATO bombing of Yugoslavia forced Belgrade to end a crackdown against separatist ethnic Albanians and pull out. But some 100,000 Serbs remain, most living in isolated enclaves, protected by troops from the NATO-led force.

Kostunica's conservative government had insisted that the Serbs could not vote unless they first were given security guarantees.

The hardline Serbs also argued that participation in the elections would play into hands of the independence-minded ethnic Albanian majority.

Echoing such stands, Kostunica said Thursday that the Serb boycott had shown that "the issue of the elections is a second-rate issue.''

"I believe that the question of institutional guarantees (for the Serbs) must be solved first,'' he said.

The government statement added that providing those guarantees would "contribute'' to electing "truly legitimate'' Serb representatives to Kosovo's new institutions, including the 120-member parliament where the Serbs are guaranteed at least 10 seats.

"This is the best way'' to overcome the current impasse created by the boycott, the statement said.

POLITIKA, October 28, 2004

What After Non-Participation of Serbs in Kosovo Elections

Warning to International Community

It is Necessary to Adopt Document on Decentralization Which is to be Confirmed by UN Secretary General, Says Aleksandar Simic, Kostunicas Adviser

-A change of an extremely difficult K-Serb position together with provision of their institutional guarantees was and will remain a task for Serbian Government. In brief, it means implementation of the Serbian Governments Plan, adopted by the Parliament. After the recent parliament elections, held in Kosovo, it is the most important task. It can be achieved by continuation of Serb-international-UNMIKs dialogue.

-The goal is to realize conclusions from the meetings, held recently in Brussels and Vienna. One will intend to reach a compromise of the Serbian Governments Plan and UNMIKs Plan on Decentralization in Kosovo. It is important to adopt a document on the decentralization, which is to be then confirmed by the UN Secretary General, says Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunicas legal adviser.

-Non-participation of Serbs in Kosovos parliamentary elections, but also a poor turnout of other non-Albanian ethnic communities, is a warning to international community and UNMIK. They should face the truth and face the real situation on the ground instead of misleading themselves by formal and quasi-democratic processes, which have been in place so far in Kosovo. What some people are trying to hide from view is fact on a relatively small turnout of K-Albanians.

In Simics words, this tells us that imposed attitude - Kosovos independence will solve all problems - is slowly melting into reality of a poor life, great unemployment rate and social disorientation for majority of K-Albanians.

Simic adds that these facts might look hard but they are the way they are. For instance, the two Serbian lists candidates might accept 10 guaranteed seats in the Assembly. However, those candidates would be without legitimacy since the symbolical turnout of K-Serbs does not give them rights to advocate anyone.

-How to fill those 10 mandates, is first of all, a problem for UNMIK and international community, says Simic. He took part as an expert in Constitutional Framework Working Group in 2001. Simic says that the international representatives decided then to make a gift for Serbs by 10 reserved seats in Kosovo Assembly.

-We told them then that we do not need any formal present. Instead, we suggested establishment of Serbian Community Council within the Assembly. The Council would be preserving interests of K-Serbs. Now it turned out in practice that Serbian interests are not preserved in the Assembly; neither the reserved mandates can help it. In Kosovo, in accordance with 1244 Resolution, one must implement a substantial autonomy for all ethnic communities. Towards this goal, goes the Plan of Serbian Government.

Aleksandar Simic views that in case an Act on the decentralization in Kosovo is soon to be passed, extra elections could be eventually organised for Kosovo Assembly.

It is not true, claims Simic that the Serbian Government has presented its plan only in bilateral contacts with a few countries.

-The plan has been discussed in a series of international gatherings with governmental and non-governmental organizations. Simic claims that it was refused nowhere although were raised remarks that certain points from the Plan might bother K-Albanian majority.

It was also remarked that the Serbian Governments Plan is the first public official document on solution to K-Serb problems in Kosovo. What its promoters were trying to show was its achievable application and sustainability. Our collocutors and participants in those meetings have not denied it. There are neither reasons, nor needs to change our strategy for solution to Kosovos problem as well as the Serbian Government Plan even after Kosovo Parliament elections. And in future, might happen wrong political assessments- individual, daily and short-term, but it is essential to have an elementary direction of strategic decisions, which have been already adopted in the Assembly and are on the line of the states unity and Serbian interests.

Making comments on SCG President Svetozar Marovics proposal for organizing an international conference on Kosovo, such was in Dayton, Aleksandar Simic says that it is interesting but unrealizable at this moment. The international community is not ready yet for something like this.

There is also an idea that EU takes over care of Kosovo from UN. In Simics opinion, neither this suggestion is realizable. He explains that EU is fermenting the Constitution is to be adopted and EU needs to stabilize domestic situations after receiving ten new members.

Stana Ristic

Decentralization dialogue called for

(B92, Belgrade)

BELGRADE -- Thursday - The Serbian government has called on Kosovo officials and the international community to continue discussions on decentralization of the regional government.

After a meeting of the Serbian government, at which a resolution about the recent elections was adopted, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said that he expects a continuation of the discussion by next week and that several representatives of international organizations have unofficially confirmed them. Kostunica said that it is necessary to find a solution for institutional protection for Serbs, which would help the Serb community retain legitimate representatives in Kosovo institutions.

However, the prime minister avoided answering the question of who the legitimate representatives of the Kosovo Serbs are, and in what manner they would be elected.

The government thinks that, before anything else, we must solve the question of institutional guarantees, and that elections, especially after the recent results, are of secondary importance. I hope that solving the first question would in turn, be a solution for naming representatives as far as Serb officials in the Kosovo parliament are concerned. Kostunica said.

The prime minister said that is now time for the government to commit to more actively to the problem, in an effort to take care of situations that were not taken care of prior to the elections.

Kostunica said that such institutional guarantees from now on need to be the only condition for achieving security in Kosovo and securing Serbs participation in future elections.

After these past elections, and the results of Serbian participation, it is time to begin these discussions, and I believe that they will begin very soon. The government will initiate the talks, as it has initiates all talks before these. I think it is more than evident to everyone that the core of the Serbian governments decentralization plan is the only solution, Kosovos only chance. Kostunica said.

Kostunica did not wish to answer whether he would be willing to take responsibility for future developments in the situation, considering his stance which called on Serbs to boycott the Kosovo parliamentary elections.

Government calls for resuming Kosovo-Metohija decentralisation talks

Belgrade, Oct 28, 2004 - Taking into consideration the small number of Serbs and other non-Albanians that took part in the October 23 local election in Kosovo-Metohija, the Serbian government has invited the international community and all political entities in the province and Serbia to resume talks on power decentralisation in the province. The talks should be based on the government's plan for political resolution of the current situation in the province, the parliament's approval of the plan, and UNMIK's framework for provisional self-government.


	Ministers Zoran Stojkovic (left) and Predrag Bubalo during today's session

According to the government, the talks are expected to pave the way for a compromise solution that would secure institutional protection for Kosovo-Metohija Serbs. The government is certain that institutional protection would help the local Serb community delegate legitimate representatives to the province's interim institutions, which it believes is the best way to overcome the current situation and to allow for implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1244.

Bush, Kerry take their election battle to the Balkans

Agence France Presse 29 October 2004

BELGRADE, Oct 29 (AFP) - With the US election coming down to the wire, the Republican and Democratic camps are leaving no stone unturned in their hunt for votes, even if it means waging their campaigns in far-flung corners of Europe.

President George W. Bush and Democratic challenger John Kerry have been courting various ethnic groups in the Balkans, that complicated and poorly understood region of southeastern Europe which imploded in war in the 1990s.

Loved by some in the Balkans and hated by others, the United States is nevertheless a country of immigrants and many of the post-World War II arrivals came from the Balkan republics that constituted the former Yugoslavia.

The American Serb population is particularly significant, numbering more than a million eligible voters according to Serbian estimates, with significant concentrations in

battleground states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania where they found work in factories during America's post-war industrial boom.

Both sides of US politics have suddenly taken a keen interest in Serb concerns.

Serbian newspapers have been inundated with US political advertisements, letters from the candidates and even foreign policy promises geared to win Serb support.

"These appeals from Kerry and Bush have been launched because the Serbs are very numerous in states such as Ohio and other industrial states which will be keys to victory on November 2," said local analyst Ljiljana Smajlovic.

Analysts believe most Serbs are pro-Bush, if only because it was a Democratis administration under Bill Clinton which intiated the NATO bombing of Serbia during the 1998-99 war between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo.

"The Serbs will vote for Bush despite his unpopularity in Europe, mainly because of the entourage around Kerry," such as Clinton's secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, said Smajlovic.

In a letter to the American Serb community which was also published last week in Serbian newspapers, Kerry promised to find a solution to Kosovo as "rapidly as possible" within the

limits of UN Resolution 1244, which states that the breakaway province is a part of Serbia.

Meanwhile the local press has seized on comments attributed to a senior Bush official this week about the UN war crimes court at The Hague, where Milosevic and other Serb leaders are on trial over the wars in the former Yugoslavia.

The Washington Times reported Sunday that Bush is in favour of closing the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), which is widely seen here as an anti-Serb witch-hunt.

"There is a very real risk that the (tribunal) prosecutions will not resolve the situation in the Balkans but will create new animosities that lead to tensions," Undersecretary of

State for Arms Control John Bolton was quoted as saying.

The report said Bush had lost patience with chief UN war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte, a hated figure in Belgrade and a regular target of scorn in the Serbian press.

Such was the excitement generated in Serbian newspapers, where portraits of a smiling Bush were splashed across the front pages under headlines such as "I will close the ICTY!", that the US embassy was moved to issue a statement.

"The government of the United States continues to support ICTY's efforts to bring to justice those who have committed serious violations of international humanitarian law," it said.

"The United States continues to provide financial and diplomatic support to ICTY."

Belgrade Media Update, October 29

UNMIK on Tadics request when it arrives (RTS/Beta)
UNMIK DPI Head Hua Jiang has stated in Pristina that no request for Serbian President Boris Tadic to visit Kosovo has been addressed to UNMIK. We didnt receive a formal request from President Tadic. We have seen this in the newspapers, but we still havent received anything in the formal sense. We will start examining this only when we receive a formal request, Hua Jiang told Beta.

Commander Jones on Kosovo (RSCG)
NATO Chief Commander James Jones has stated that KFOR learned lessons and undertook certain measures after Albanian extremists March violence against Serbs in Kosovo. Jones emphasized that the presence of NATO in the province was necessary for the preservation of peace and stability in the region, and that it was still too early to think of decreasing the number of the Alliance troops or their withdrawal from Kosovo. The US General assessed that, unlike B&H, Kosovo should find its own way towards the final solution of the status.

Tadic receives German support (RTS)
Serbian President Boris Tadic has said that during the talks with German Defense Minister Peter Struck in Berlin he got the support for his strivings to visit Kosovo. According to Tadic, Serbs in Kosovo have the need to talk with Serbian officials in the area that, according to UNSCR 1244, represent an integral part of the SCG. Serbian President said that he had conveyed to Struck his wish to visit Prizren and talk about the role of German troops in the March violence of Albanian extremists, as well as about the protection of Serbs and their sanctities in the sector under German jurisdiction.

Tadic meets Fischer and Shelly (Tanjug)
German Foreign Minister Joseph Fischer and Serbian President Boris Tadic have agreed that it is important that Serbia moves toward European and Euro-Atlantic integration. As for Kosovo, Fischer has underlined that it is important that realization of European standards of joint life is carried out. Tadic has again declined the possibility of Kosovos independence, as it would, according to his assessment, cause destabilization of the entire region. The Serbian president had talks with the Minister of Interior, Otto Shelly on security issues, liberalization of visa regime, and the situation in Kosovo.

Kostunica meets Klasnic (RSCG)
In his talks with President of the Austrian Province Die Steiermark Waltraud Klasnic, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica has reminded of the difficult position of Serbs in Kosovo and pointed out that the implementation of Belgrades plan on the solution to problems in the province would secure them additional institutional guarantees. It has been assessed that the status of southern Tyrol represents a good example of protection of minorities and securing their territorial and cultural autonomy.

Serbian Government proposed continuation of decentralization talks (RTS)
The Serbian Government has proposed to all interested political factors that talks on the decentralization of Kosovo on the basis of the Serbian Government Plan adopted by the Serbian Parliament and UNMIK Framework for local self-government, be continued as soon as possible. It has been assessed that in due course, these talks should lead to a compromise solution, which will secure institutional protection of Serbs in the province. The finding of the solution to institutional protection of Serbs would contribute to having their legitimate representatives in provisional Kosovo institutions, the government stated. Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica told a press conference that the government adopted such a conclusion because negotiations were the best way to find a way out from the situation following the elections in Kosovo where Serbs poor response was recorded. Asked by journalists whether there had been any contacts with UNMIK representatives on the continuation of talks, Kostunica responded that he believed that talks would be continues next week.

Simic: Belgrade not to obstruct international community's efforts (Tanjug)
Adviser to the Serbian prime minister Aleksandar Simic told Tanjug that in no way did Belgrade wish to be someone who would obstruct the efforts of the international community that a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and tolerant society be created in Kosovo. "All Belgrade's efforts are aimed at, within realistic frameworks, such a society being set up," Simic said.

Decision over mandates on Friday (Blic)
Candidates of the Serbian List for Kosovo and Metohija for Kosovo AMs will decide Friday about their further steps after the almost symbolic voter turnout. As Randjel Nojkic, second in the list, told Blic, the decision on either the verification or refusal of the mandates was to be made.

Polt: US interested in stepping up Belgrade-Pristina dialogue (RTS)
US Ambassador in Belgrade Michael Polt has stated in Pristina that the US Government is very much interested in stepping up the Pristina-Belgrade dialogue. I have seen here resoluteness for the fulfillment of standards, Polt said in Pristina following his talks with representatives of Albanian parties Nexhat Daci, Hashim Tachi and Ramush Haradinaj.

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