Brief profiles of the key players in Kosovo's talks

TRIBUNE DE GENEVE (SWITZERLAND)
17 novembre 2005 02:29

BELGRADE, Nov 17 (AFP)

Shuttle diplomacy to resolve the status of the breakaway Serbian province of Kosovo will begin on Monday with chief UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari's visits to Pristina and Belgrade.

Here are profiles of some of the key political figures set to take part in the delicate negotiations in Belgrade, Pristina and some Western cities:

MARTTI AHTISAARI

Former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari was appointed to lead the UN talks team on determining Kosovo's future status earlier at the start of the month.

Since his stint as the head of state for Finland between 1994 and 2000, the 68-year-old has criss-crossed the globe in a tireless crusade for democracy and reconciliation.

His appointment as chief mediator came as no surprise after he played a key role at the end of the 1998-1999 Kosovo war by convincing then Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic to accept a peace plan.

He is perhaps best known for his mediation efforts in Namibia, where he served as UN commissioner from 1977 to 1981 and guided the country down the path to its 1990 independence from South Africa as the UN special representative.

Since leaving the office of Finnish president in 2000, Ahtisaari has repeatedly been called upon by the international community, including to oversee the disarmament of the Irish Republican Army and to lead a fact-finding team investigating the razing by Israeli troops of the Palestinian refugee camp Jenin.

VOJISLAV KOSTUNICA

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, who has been at the helm of the government since February 2004, is likely to lead the Belgrade team in the talks over the future status of Kosovo.

The 61-year-old former lawyer was one of the leaders of the movement against ex-Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic in the 1990s and a dogged campaigner for the rule of law.

Kostunica has been in power before, when he won elections for the Yugoslav presidency in 2000, defeating Milosevic who refused to recognise the result until a popular uprising forced him from office.

The constitutional expert strongly opposes any independence for Kosovo, calling instead for a wide autonomy of the province within existing borders.

Supported by the influential Serbian Orthodox Church and most political parties, Kostunica insists a solution for the Kosovo status should be found in accordance with international law, providing respect of human rights for Serbs and other non-Albanians in the province.

BORIS TADIC:

Serbia's pro-Western president, who took over the office in July 2004 as the first non-communist president of Serbia since World War II, has become a leader of the reformist movement launched by assassinated prime minister Zoran Djindjic.

Tadic, a 47-year-old psychologist who has pledged to follow Djindjic's policies and bring Serbia into the European Union, has warned possible independence of Kosovo could stir up further destabilisation in the Balkans.

Despite political differences with Kostunica, Tadic has backed the prime minister's stance that there should be no "imposed" solution on Kosovo's status.

Like Djindjic, Tadic has urged Serbia to "forget nationalist policies" which led to its international isolation during the Milosevic regime of the 1990s.

A former minister for telecommunication as well as defence, he received praise for his efforts to reform the Serbia-Montenegro army.

TOMISLAV NIKOLIC

Leader of the most popular single political party at Serbia's last parliamentary elections, the ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party, Tomislav Nikolic, has called for full parliamentary control in all phases of talks the over Kosovo's status.

The 53-year-old, who enjoys strong support among Serbia's underprivileged class and those opposed to pro-Western policies, also insists any decision on Kosovo should be approved by a Serbian referendum.

The former law student, nicknamed "the undertaker" because he once managed a local cemetery, lost the 2004 presidential elections to Tadic.

Nikolic's style is to deliver his radical views with calm and poise, aiming for a certain intellectual gravitas, without neglecting traditional Serbian Orthodox values.

IBRAHIM RUGOVA

Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova, the leader of the main ethnic Albanian political party, is a veteran in the fight for the province's independence.

A well-known writer, the 61-year-old gained local and international support for his pacifist policies against Milosevic's repression.

After Milosevic revoked Kosovo's autonomy in 1989, Rugova founded the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and led it through the 1990s, boycotting all Belgrade-organised elections and creating a parallel ethnic Albanian administration.

But he was marginalised during Kosovo's war after meeting Milosevic during the NATO bombing campaign that ended the conflict, after which he spent several months abroad.

However his party regained support when the UN and NATO moved into the province, and Rugova became Kosovo's first president in March 2002 after the first UN-backed elections in the province.

In September, Rugova admitted he suffered from lung cancer, but vowed to keep up with his presidential duties.

HASHIM THACI

Hashim Thaci, a 36-year-old historian by training, first came into the spotlight as one of the leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), the ethnic Albanian guerrillas who fought for independence from Serbia during the Kosovo war.

Hailing from the central Drenica region, a hotbed of ethnic Albanian separatism, he became a student activist during the years of passive resistance to Belgrade's rule in the 1990s.

He is also known to have spent time in Switzerland, a centre of radical Albanian thinking, where he pursued post-graduate studies in politics towards the end of the decade.

Thaci soon walked away from Rugova's pacifist approach and went underground to join the KLA. He helped to found the Democratic Party of Kosovo and is now the main opposition leader.

VETON SURROI:

Seen as a the main newcomer on the Kosovo political scene, former journalist and wealthy businessman Veton Surroi has been a key player in founding and developing the province's media.

The 43-year-old is the founder of the media house "Koha", publisher of the popular daily "Koha Ditore" and owner of KTV television. For years he has been a fierce critic of repression from Belgrade but also of his fellow ethnic Albanian politicians.

A graduate from the Faculty of Philosophy and Literature in Mexico City, Surroi is the son of a former Yugoslav diplomat and has used this heritage to gain friends among international officials during the Kosovo crisis. He was also a member of the Kosovo negotiating team in France in 1999.

By founding a new political party, ORA (Hour), Surroi hopes to shift the focus of politics in Kosovo away from the fascination with independence towards practical issues such as the moribund economy.

Belgrade wheels out Dayton agreement for Kosovo talks

Belgrade (dpa, November 17, 2005)

When Slobodan Milosevic initialled the Dayton peace agreement a decade ago, the local media hailed him as a ``factor of regional peace and stability''.

Now Milosevic is behind bars and on trial in The Hague and the Dayton peace agreement is largely forgotten by Serbs, essentially because it brought them neither peace, nor stability.
By carving up Bosnia into para-state, ethnic-based entities, Dayton won few friends in Serbia. But it is being mentioned as an example for another round of major negotiations - this time over the future of Kosovo.

While ending almost four years of brutal war in Bosnia, the Dayton peace accord gave Serbia, then choking under United Nations sanctions, a chance to return to the path of normality.

But with Milosevic at the helm for five more years, Serbia blew the chance. The strongman eventually steered his country into a growing crisis in Kosovo and eventually into a confrontation with NATO that culminated in the bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999.

Now, despite the odds stacked against it, Belgrade is gearing up for talks on the future status of what is still its breakaway province, Kosovo.

No date has been set for the Kosovo talks and analysts say they could be weeks or months away.

In Dayton, Milosevic haggled and traded with his Moslem and Croatian counterparts over percentages of territory that would remain under control of Serbs in Bosnia, one of six sister-republics in the disintegrated former Yugoslavia.

In the division of Bosnia along ethnic lines, Serbs got 49 per cent. But the territory is growing less important, as the entities melt away and the central Bosnian government, pushed along by the international community, continues to assume more power.

At the end of the day, the Dayton terms have kept Bosnia intact, denying Serbia's and Croatia's ambition to carve out chunks of its territory.

With Milosevic on trial at The Hague-based U.N. war crimes tribunal since 2002, his democratically elected successors were left with the hot potato of the Kosovo talks, in which they may face a loss of what was and still nominally is Serbian territory.

Belgrade officials now mention Dayton in the same context of what they hope to achieve with Kosovo - to somehow keep it under Belgrade's sovereignty, despite the bitter hostility of the vastly dominant Kosovo Albanian population, which wants independence.

``Today, 10 years later and despite some ... objections to the achievements of the Dayton agreement, we see the gradual implementation of the values it was based on,'' the Serbia and Montenegro (SCG) President Svetozar Marovic said in Sarajevo.

``These same principles are also precious within the context of upcoming talks on the future of Kosovo,'' Marovic said at a summit of Bosnia, Croatia and SCG earlier in November.

The statement reiterates the message from Belgrade that if Bosnia was kept intact, so should Serbia, together with Kosovo.

On the other hand, some local analysts believe that the Dayton concept could also be applied, even imposed, in the case of independence for Kosovo. This could mean Serb enclaves promoted to ``entities'' with the privilege of special links to Serbia.

Both Entities In Serbia

17 Nov (Blic) - 'Initiative for making two entities, Serbian and Albanian, in Kosovo and Metohija, originated from Serbia President Boris Tadic. It is based on the basic premises specified in the mutual platform for talks about future status of Serbian southern province. Setting up of two entities understands preservation of territorial integrity and sovereignty of our country', close associate to Serbia President said for 'Blic'.

According to our source, the proposal that Serbia President mentioned in talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, means elaboration of formula 'more than autonomy, less than independence'. That formula is a compromise that would satisfy both sides and that would not destabilize either Serbia or the region.

'Decentralization means that Serbian entity would have special relations with Serbia, while at the same time Serbian and Albanian entities would have relations specially arranged within Kosovo institutions', our source said.

Tadic, who was in Germany yesterday, informed Franko Walter Steinmaeier, candidate for German foreign minister, about initiative for decentralization as necessity in KiM.

Advisor to Serbia Prime Minister, Vladeta Jankovic said however, that this issue had been thoroughly debated more than a year ago.

'Proposal of the resolution that Government accepted the day before yesterday, is based on Government's Plan that has special reference to the issue of decentralization', Jankovic says.

Avni Arifi, the first advisor to Kosovo Prime Minister Bajram Kosumi, says for our newspaper that Tadic's proposal is 'absolutely unacceptable'.

For him Tadic's proposal is unacceptable even in case that Kosovo gets independence.
GB Ambassador in Belgrade David Gown says that Contact Group is not going to support division of Kosovo. He expressed surprise at Tadic's proposal about division of the province since Serbia Government is supporting united multi-ethnic Kosovo.

Tadic presents his proposal for Kosovo to German official

KARLSRUHE, Nov. 17, 2005 (BETA) - Serbian President Boris Tadic on Nov. 16 acquainted the candidate for the position of German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, with his initiative for decentralization in Kosovo and Metohija, aimed at creating two entities in the province, one Serb and one Albanian.


Tadic told Steinmeier that his initiative was an elaboration of the platform for the talks on Kosovo's future status, which is based on the necessity of preserving Serbia-Montenegro's, i.e. Serbia's territorial integrity and sovereignty and the "more than autonomy, less than independence" formula.

On Nov. 15, after his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Tadic said Belgrade was proposing decentralization of the province and the creation of two entities -- one Serb and the other Albanian. He added that the Serb entity would have special relations with government bodies in Serbia, whereas the two entities would also have special relations in Kosovo's institutions.

Create Serb and Albanian entity in Kosovo, says Tadic

MOSCOW, Nov. 16, 2005 (BETA) - Serbian President Boris Tadic stated in Moscow that Belgrade was proposing decentralization for Kosovo, with the creation of two entities - the Serb and the Albanian, coupled with the Serb entity's special relations with bodies in Serbia while, on the other hand, the two entities' regulations with the Kosovo institutions would be regulated in a separate way.

Tadic said this after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to the statement of the Kremlin, the Russian president underlined that "the disintegration of the state community of Serbia-Montenegro during the solving of the Kosovo problem cannot be permitted."

After the meeting with Putin, Tadic said he was certain that "Russia will have a constructive and realistic approach" to the solving of the Kosovo problem and "demonstrate a high degree of understanding for Serbia's stands."

Tadic's proposal is more dangerous than Serbian government's stand, says Maliqi

PRISTINA, Nov. 16, 2005 (BETA) - A political analyst from Pristina, Skelzen Maliqi, said the Serbian government's resolution on Kosovo was an unrealistic option, but that, after all, it was the first instruction for Belgrade's team for negotiations.

Maliqi told BETA that the resolution was nothing new and that more intriguing for him was the proposal Serbian President Boris Tadic made in Moscow, for dividing Kosovo into two entities, which, in his words, is an option more dangerous than the one proposed by the government.

"There is also the element used by the regime of (Slobodan) Milosevic, for the citizens to declare stands on all solutions proposed during the negotiations and possibly adopt them in a referendum," Maliqi said.

Beginning of negotiations could no longer be put off, says Eide

BELGRADE, Nov. 17, 2005 (BETA) - The U.N. Secretary General's special envoy for the evaluation of standards in Kosovo, Kai Eide said on Nov. 16 that the situation in the province was bad, that the key standards had not been fulfilled, but that the beginning of negotiations could no longer be postponed.

In a statement for the BBC, Eide indirectly said that "the great powers" were responsible for the fact that over the past six years there had been little progress concerning the issue of security, the return of the displaced and the protection of human rights because they had not exerted enough pressure on the Kosovo Albanians.

Explaining why he recommended the beginning of negotiations despite the situation in the province, the Norwegian diplomat said that after considering the possible scenarios, the U.N. had decided that the negotiations could no longer be postponed.

"Negotiations will be extremely tough, because the Serbian leaders would find it very difficult to sign a document granting independence to Kosovo, whereas Kosovo Albanian leaders would find it equally difficult to accept anything less than independence. I have to say I do not envy the negotiators who would be in charge of the process," Eide told the BBC.

Prizren Officials Condemn Theft In Orthodox Church

Prizren, 16 Nov (KosovaLive) - Municipal authorities of Prizren reacted against the theft of lead roofing of the Orthodox Church of Holly Virgin of Ljeviska.

The Mayor Ekrem Kryeziu and the Head of Municipal Government Ragip Gajraku called for bringing of perpetrators in front of justice as soon as possible. They also called on citizens to cooperate with police in solving this case.

They said that this is a vandal, irresponsible case, which is taking place in very sensitive process our country is going through, with the purpose of damaging the status process.

Belgrade Media Update, November 17, 2005

The UN and Contact Group against  resolution on an independent Kosovo (Tanjug/AFP)
The international community has warned authorities in Kosovo not to adopt a resolution on independence of the province, which should be on the agenda of the Kosovo Assembly session on Thursday. The declaration on independence of Kosovo would not be good and the UN cannot accept it, stated UNMIK Head Jessen-Petersen. At the same time, Head of the US Office in Kosovo Phillip Goldberg said that the Contact Group would not support the declaration on independence prior to talks on the final status of the province.

Eide: No return to state-of-affairs before 1999 (Tanjug/BBC)
UN Special Envoy for standards in Kosovo Kai Eide has once again reiterated that he had examined all scenarios before he completed his report on the province, and concluded that the process of negotiating on the status could not have been postponed. “It is true that I have said that the situation on the ground is difficult, but postponing the negotiating process on the future status would not have improved this,” Eide told BBC.

Serbian Parliament session on Kosovo to be held Monday (RTS)
A session of the Serbian Parliament, which will be examining the Serbian Government draft resolution, will be held on Monday, 21 November, it has been agreed at consultations of Serbian Parliament Speaker Predrag Markovic and caucus whips. Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and Serbian President Boris Tadic will be speaking at the session. 

Tadic proposes two entities (B92)
Serbian President Boris Tadic has proposed the creation of two entities in Kosovo as a solution for the future of the province. The Serbian President told media that he had presented this position in a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.  He said the process of decentralization could result in the creation of separate Serb and Albanian entities, and that the Serb entity could have a special relationship with the central institutions of Serbia, while the Kosovo institutions would administer international relations. Tadic said that he believed that Russia would have a constructive and realistic attitude within the Contact Group. “Serbia respects the rights of Albanians, but wants a peaceful resolution and wants to defend its legitimate national and state interests in Kosovo,” he said.

Tadic with Steinmeier on initiative for decentralization of Kosovo (RTS)
Serbian President Boris Tadic had talks in Karlsruhe with the German foreign minister-to-be, Frank Walter Steinmeier, on his initiative for the decentralization of Kosovo, which would have as an ultimate effect the creation of two entities – Serb and Albanian. Tadic reiterated that he told Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow that his initiative for Kosovo is an elaboration of the basis of the platform for talks on the future status of Kosovo. Tadic said that Serbia was in favor of a peaceful solution based on compromise, which would satisfy both sides and will not destabilize the region by any means.

Jankovic on Kosovo’s decentralization (Tanjug)
Serbian Prime Minister’s Foreign Policy Advisor Vladeta Jankovic has assessed that decentralization of Kosovo is of essential importance and recalled that the Serbian Government plan for Kosovo, adopted by the Parliament more than a year ago, had discussed the issue in detail. He told Tanjug that the draft resolution on Kosovo was based on that plan. Speaking of the proposition about two entities in Kosovo, which Serbian President Boris Tadic presented in talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Jankovic said that at issue was a decentralization model.
 
Serbs in Kosovska Mitrovica to adopt declaration “For Survival” (RTS)
A declaration entitled “For Further Survival of Serbs in Kosovo,” will be adopted at the assembly of the Union of Serb Municipalities and Settlements of Kosovo in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica. The Union spokesperson Rade Negojevic has announced that the session will be attended by almost all associations from the SCG that gather Kosovo Serb IDPs.

The SCG parliamentarians on NATO Assembly Resolution (RSCG)
The Resolution on Kosovo, which was adopted by the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, might positively affect the negotiations on the status of the province, assessed members of the SCG Parliamentary delegation following their return from the session in Copenhagen. They have pointed out that the adopted text of the Resolution does not mention conditional independence of Kosovo, that term province is used instead of the term state, and that it does not discuss final but future status of Kosovo. The SCG MPs have pointed out that this document represents a political message that opens a dialogue and might lead to acceptable compromise for the solution of the Kosovo problem.

Gowan: Division of Kosovo is not an option (B92)
British Ambassador to the SCG David Gowan said that the position of the international community, including the Contact Group and the EU, is that division of Kosovo would not be a good solution. I am surprised by the position presented in Moscow by Serbian President Boris Tadic, Gowan said, reminding of Tadic’s statement that decentralization in Kosovo should lead to the forming of two entities – Serb and Albanian. UNSCR 1244 is currently the framework for the administration in the province, but also a framework for finding a solution, Gowan told Radio B92.

Ashdown: Tensions in B&H to rise with start of negotiations on Kosovo status (RTS)
In the report he has presented to the UNSC, the High Representative in B&H Paddy Ashdown has warned that tensions in B&H will rise with the commencement of negotiations on the future status of Kosovo. With the commencement of Kosovo negotiations, the Republika Srpska could raise the issue of its own status that could bring into danger the territorial integrity of B&H, said Ashdown, adding that the possible link between the future status of Kosovo and the future of B&H should be rejected.

Raskovic-Ivic on solution for Kosovo (RTS/VOA)
The Head of the CCK Sanda Raskovic-Ivic has said in Washington that “Serbia is very ready for a compromise.” She said that by implementing the formula more than autonomy, less than independence, Albanians in the province would not lose anything they have at this moment. They would retain judicial and legislative authority, the president and government, present interim institutions would become permanent, without of course a place in the UN and a foreign minister, Raskovic-Ivic told the VOA. She underlined that Belgrade favors direct negotiations with Pristina, a constructive exchange of opinions and resolving of all disputed issues that concern Kosovo inhabitants.

Covic on Kosovo draft resolution (B92)
SDP leader Nebojsa Covic has said that the draft resolution contains nothing new and nothing concrete. “The resolution is an empty story, based on empty political formulas,” he said, accusing the international community of being responsible for the situation in Kosovo for the past six years. Covic also accused Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica of extremely irresponsible behavior.  Kostunica is avoiding everything that everyone knows about Kosovo and exploiting the problem for narrow party interests,” he added.

Petkovic: Kosovo Assembly cannot proclaim independence (Tanjug)
Kosovo Minister for Return and Communities and SDS leader Slavisa Petkovic said that SDS MPs would not attend the Kosovo Assembly session on Thursday if its agenda should include the announced draft resolution on independence and sovereignty of the province. Petkovic has stated that he has information that the draft resolution on an independent Kosovo will not be on the agenda, because the US Office had intervened with the Kosovo Assembly Speaker Nexhat Daci. The Assembly can only bring the platform on the status talks, but cannot proclaim independence, said Petrovic.

MPs on Tadic’s proposal for two Kosovo entities (Tanjug)
The proposal of Serbian President Boris Tadic on the formation of two entities in Kosovo, Serb and Albanian, revealed in Moscow, has created uncertainty among the Serbian MPs. who are shortly scheduled to debate the Kosovo Resolution as a state negotiating platform. SRS caucus whip Tomislav Nikolic has stated that he doesn’t know whether the proposal on resolving the Kosovo issue by forming two entities is Tadic’s personal proposal or whether at issue is a harmonized stand with the Serbian Government as the basis for negotiations.

Russian press: Putin supports Serbs (Tanjug)
Russian President Vladimir Putin supports the Serbs, the Moscow paper Komersant commented his meeting with Serbian President Boris Tadic. According to the paper, Tadic tried hard to convince his Russian colleague to get involved in the SCG and Kosovo affairs. Looking back at the atmosphere of the meeting, the author stated Tadic’s words that Serbia considers Russia one of the pillars of its foreign policy, even at a moment when it wants to become a EU member.

London press: Putin supports Serbs (Tanjug)
Russian President Vladimir Putin supports Serbia’s policy towards Kosovo, write the London Times on the occasion of Tadic’s visit to Moscow. The London paper underlines that the Russian President at the same time condemned the international community for “closing eyes” before the mass exodus of Serbs from Kosovo.

Belgrade: Indictments for crime in Kosovo soon (RTS)
Indictments against suspects for brutal murder of 48 Albanians in Suva Reka in March 1999 might be expected by the end of the year, stated Milan Dilparic, investigative judge of the War Crimes Chamber with the District Court in Belgrade. He has stated that among nine suspects, detained on 26 October, there are five active members of the Serbian Interior Ministry. Spokesperson of the Prosecution Bruno Vekaric has pointed that this opens the case of the mass grave in Batajnica near Belgrade, where bodies of the murdered Albanians were buried.