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October 31, 2006
KiM Info Newsletter 31-10-06 Kosovo referendum results strengthens Serbia: PM This is the moment in which Serbia clearly approves its unity, that Kosovo is an integral part of Serbia," Kostunica told Serbian state television RTS shortly after the vote was deemed valid by independent observers. 
Serbia's Prime Minister announces the results of the Referendum
BELGRADE, Oct 29, 2006 (AFP) - Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica Sunday hailed his people's approval of a new constitution which affirms that the disputed ethnic-Albanian majority province of Kosovo is part of Serbia, saying it strengthened his nation. "This is the moment in which Serbia clearly approves its unity, that Kosovo is an integral part of Serbia," Kostunica told Serbian state television RTS shortly after the vote was deemed valid by independent observers. "Serbia is stronger with the constitution, which once again declares that Kosovo is an integral part of it," he said, claiming that the new constitution was "a proof of Serbia's strength, maturity and responsibility." A total of 51.6 percent of Serbia's 6.6 million-strong electorate supported the new constitution, said Zoran Lucic of the Centre for Free Elections and Democracy, which monitors polls throughout the former Yugoslavia. The new constitution claims disputed Kosovo as an "integral" part of Serbia, in an apparent bid to pre-empt UN-backed talks on the province's status, which are widely expected to lead to a form of independence by the year's end. "My first impressions (after the vote) are exceptional," Kostunica said. "This is a historic moment, the beginning of Serbia's new development. Serbia is happy, and with reason, for we have done a huge job together." Kosovo's independence-seeking ethnic Albanians who form the majority in the province ignored the vote, as they have done with all Serbian polls since 1990. Serbia faces the prospect of losing Kosovo as UN-backed negotiations on the future of the southern province -- now in their eighth month -- falter, with Belgrade and Pristina far apart on most issues. Serbian President Boris Tadic had earlier called on electoral officials to "give their utmost in order to avoid even the slightest doubt on the referendum vote" during the vote count. "Citizens of Serbia have decided to support the European Serbia," Tadic said. "Our political goal is not only the new constitution, but European standards for our citizens and, finally, membership of the European Union," Tadic told RTS. The new constitution was unanimously backed by the Serbian parliament on September 30, in a rare show of political unity in this former Yugoslav republic. The referendum on the charter was being held over two days in a bid to combat the low turnout that has plagued Serbian elections in recent years. Its failure would be a major blow to Kostunica's coalition government, already under pressure over the likely loss of Kosovo and the suspension of its EU integration talks because of a lack of cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
Serbia narrowly passes new constitution, averts crisis By Boris Babic dpa German Press Agency
Published: Sunday October 29, 2006 Belgrade- Despite last-minute jitters for nearly all political leaders in Serbia, enough voters backed the country's new constitution over the weekend for it to become law. In a rare public appearance, Prime Minister Vojsilav Kostunica congratulated Serbs on passage of the new constitution, particularly those in the breakaway province of Kosovo. 
President Tadic hails results of the Referendum
The document's preamble reiterates Serbia's claim over the province, where the vastly dominant Albanian majority expects to gain formal independence from Belgrade as early as next year. "This is a victory for Serbia, a victory of its maturity and power, because this constitution protects its integrity," Kostunica said in a late-night press conference televised live nationwide. All major players on the Serbian political scene - Kostunica's fragile coalition, President Boris Tadic's Democrats and the ultra- nationalist Radicals in opposition - have centred the constitution campaign around the Kosovo issue. The new constitution will set Serbia up as an independent state after 78 years of membership within federations, mainly Yugoslavia. Little else drew public attention in the constitution, which was drafted hastily and secretively by parliament a month ago, though the Kosovo preamble was not legally binding. Ethnic-Albanian leaders in UN-administered Kosovo had balked at the referendum as an "aggression," while Western diplomats said it would in no way influence ongoing, UN-brokered talks on the future status of the province. Nevertheless, local reports showed Kosovo Serbs celebrating the outcome of the referendum in their largest enclave, Mitrovica. The referendum appeared to be on the verge of failure just hours before voting ended at 8 pm local time, forcing politicians to frantically urge voters to polling stations. Less than 33 per cent of voters had particpated by 3 pm, despite a two-day, 26-hour window to vote. The vote may yet become smeared, amid allegations of vote-rigging unheard of since Slobodan Milosevic's era ended in tainted elections six years ago. The private Centre for Free and Democratic Elections (Cesid) hinted that it has caught local elections authorities cheating and warned of dire consequences. "The will of the voters is god. We will make sure that all violators are severely punished," Cesid spokesman Marko Blagojevic said Sunday mid-afternoon. "We do not need a constitution which is a result of creative vote counting." In later briefings, though, Cesid made little fuss over the allegations, including multiple voting and voting without documents. At the end of the day, the central election commission said that 51.4 per cent of voters backed the new constitution, with 53.66 per cent turnout from Serbia's electorate of 6.63 million people. Analysts agree that the outcome averted an enormous crisis, which could have erupted had a failed referendum showed that the entire political spectrum, backed by both the church and pop-music rappers, was unable to mobilize more than 50 per cent of voters. Following the referendum, Serbia is expected to schedule parliamentary and presidential elections, possibly as early as December. Political analysts, however, estimated that the elections would probably not come before February or March.
Serbian leaders bolstered by approval of new constitution reasserting claim on Kosovo Associated Press: Monday, October 30, 2006 9:53 AM BELGRADE, Serbia-Serbian voters have approved a new constitution in a weekend referendum that reasserts the country's claim over breakaway Kosovo, according to partial results released Monday, while opposition groups alleged fraud. The charter has irked Western observers and Kosovo officials, as it asserts Serbia's claim to the province, despite ongoing international talks on its future status and demands by its ethnic Albanian majority for independence. Referendum authorities who oversaw the two-day polling said Monday that, with 98.88 percent of the ballots counted, 96.5 percent of those who cast ballots had supported the charter. Turnout among the 6.6 million electorate was 54.19 percent, just over the 50-percent threshold required for the referendum to be valid. Serbia's opposition Liberal Party claimed, however, that the real turnout was below the requirement, and charged there was "massive fraud" at polling stations in the final hours of voting, with people allegedly voting several times and without identification papers. The party and several other allied opposition groups on Monday lodged hundreds of complaints over the referendum process, asserting that "there is no possibility that the referendum was regular." Meanwhile, President Boris Tadic urged the referendum officials to review all the complaints, saying it was important that "no doubt is cast" over the result of the vote. State Electoral Commission president, Mihailo Rulic, said the reported irregularities were not "major," and could "not influence" the vote outcome. Council of Europe's Alexander Fomenko, who observed the vote on behalf of Europe's leading human rights watchdog, said Monday it had passed "in a peaceful, orderly manner." He described the lack of public debate on the charter as a shortcoming, however, and said polling station officials had "inadequate experience" to deal with the two-day voting process. "We made it clear that we will protect our country's integrity ... and that Kosovo is part of Serbia," conservative Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said in an address to the nation after polls closed Sunday. Also Monday, the United States' envoy for the U.N.-mediated Kosovo talks, Frank Wisner, was expected in Belgrade for meetings through Tuesday with senior government officials and civil society leaders on the Kosovo status process. Last week in Kosovo, Wisner said that Serbia's new constitution, which declares the U.N.-run province "integral" part of the Balkan republic, would have no effect on the negotiations, and that events in Kosovo were a matter for the province's residents and the international community to resolve. Western diplomats have warned that only the U.N. talks can decide the Kosovo's future. Belgrade is determined to keep Kosovo within its boundaries. Serbs consider the province the historic and cultural heartland of their nation. Independence-seeking ethnic Albanians form 90 percent of the population in Kosovo, which has been under U.N. administration since U.S.-led NATO air strikes halted a Serb crackdown on the separatists in 1999. Belgrade had not even invited Kosovo Albanians to take part in the referendum, as they boycotted all past elections under Belgrade auspices. Serbia's pro-Western president, Boris Tadic, said that the "best thing about this constitution" was that it replaced the 1990 charter drafted by former autocratic leader Slobodan Milosevic. Tadic also said the new constitution could propel Serbia toward coveted membership in the EU and NATO. But the 206-article charter, which also aims to consolidate democracy and the rule of law in the Balkan country, has little chance of bringing Serbia closer to EU membership. The bloc halted pre-entry talks with Belgrade earlier this year after Serbia failed to extradite top war crimes suspect, Bosnian Serb wartime commander Ratko Mladic, believed to be hiding with the help of military hard-liners. The continuation of those talks hinges on the handover of Mladic, sought by the U.N. tribunal in the Netherlands on war crimes and genocide charges. "Nothing will change with this new constitution if we don't capture and extradite Mladic," analyst Milica Delevic Djilas said. "We will keep waking up to the same Groundhog Day, with the same daily reality."
Ethnic Albanians in Kosovo dismiss Serbian referendum on Kosovo, vow to press for independence Associated Press: Monday, October 30, 2006 11:45 AM PRISTINA, Serbia-Serbian leaders on Monday hailed the outcome of a referendum restating the country's claim to Kosovo. But the European Union said the results of U.N.-mediated talks alone will decide the province's future status, and Kosovo's independence-minded ethnic Albanian majority dismissed the vote as a futile exercise. The Serb plebiscite comes at a sensitive time, with Serbs and Kosovo Albanians deadlocked over demands from Belgrade that it be allowed to retain some hold on the province and Kosovo Albanians' insistence on independence. Talks mediated by the United Nations have failed to resolve the impasse over the province's future, which led to a war between the two sides that ended in June 1999, after NATO bombing forced a withdrawal by troops loyal to Slobodan Milosevic, president of what was then Serbian-dominated Yugoslavia. Kosovo has been governed since then by the U.N., although ethnic Albanians, who constitute a more than 90-percent majority, have been granted increasing political responsibility. Along with Serbs outside Kosovo, the province's ethnic Serb minority is also vehemently opposed to independence for the province. The referendum, on a new post-Milosevic era constitution that restates the Serb claim to Kosovo, nearly foundered with barely more than the required 50 percent turnout needed to make it valid. Still, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica declared the results "made it clear that we will protect our country's integrity ... and that Kosovo is part of Serbia." While voter participation was low in Serbia proper, 82.1 percent of those eligible voted among Kosovo's 100,000-strong Serb community, reflecting their fears for the future. "It's important for us Serbs here to show that Kosovo is Serbia. We can't stay here otherwise, it would be impossible," said Serb Zivorad Kisic, in Kosovo's ethnically divided Kosovska Mitrovica. "This constitution gives us a glimmer of hope." Oliver Ivanovic, a Kosovo Serb leader, said the new constitution sends a "very important message" to international officials mediating in talks between Belgrade and Pristina. "Serbia will not easily give up Kosovo, this is the main message," he said. "It tells the international community it must take into account the Serb stand as well, not only the one of (Kosovo) Albanians." Predictably, Kosovo Albanians differed. "We consider it very irrelevant," Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku said of the weekend vote in comments to Associated Press Television News. Xhevat Matoshi, a pharmacist, said he felt pity for the Serbs. "I don't care" about the referendum's outcome, he said in Pristina, the provincial capital. They need to understand that they lost Kosovo, and accept that we (Albanians) are majority." And Sherif Bajgora, a 55-year-old retiree, said that Serbs should restrict their voting to "their own country." He added: "Here we have our own country." The EU downplayed the referendum's significance, with EU spokeswoman Krisztina Nagy saying "the issue of the future status of Kosovo" was being dealt with the U.N.-mediated talks. And she said that Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority was left off voters lists. Frank Wisner, the U.S. envoy to the Kosovo talks already said last week that the referendum would not affect the international community's decision on the province's final status. Meanwhile, the united front shown during the referendum by Serbia's main political parties was cracking Monday as pro-Western reformists and the hardline nationalists disagreed over the country's next vote, planned early elections. The pro-Western president and his Democratic Party want to hold both parliamentary and presidential elections before year end. Serbian Radical Party leader Tomislav Nikolic said it would be "impossible" to hold elections this year and that the votes should be staggered. Kosovo, long an autonomous province of Serbia, was stripped of that status 1989 by Milosevic amid a building Serb crackdown on the ethnic Albanian majority. The war that followed nearly a decade later left about 10,000 people dead, most of them ethnic Albanians. About 1 million others fled temporarily to neighboring Albania and Macedonia. Reporting on what it billed as a compromise solution, the daily newspaper "Express" on Monday published details of a draft U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari is expected to present by mid-November. It quoted an unidentified diplomat saying the document stops short of mentioning independence. "But the sovereign competencies given in this document have only one meaning: independence with limited sovereignty," the quote read. Associated Press writers Katarina Kratovac and Jovana Gec contributed to this report from Belgrade.
EU dismisses Serbian constitution's claim to sovereignty over Kosovo dpa German Press Agency
Published: Monday October 30, 2006 Brussels- The European Union on Monday dismissed references to Belgrade's sovereignty over the breakaway province of Kosovo contained in the new Serbian constitution voted for over the weekend. A spokeswoman for the European Commission - the EU's executive arm - said the future status of Kosovo "was a separate matter" which could only be decided as part of negotiations being conducted by the United Nations special envoy Martii Ahtisaari. She added that there was a "contradiction" between Serbia's claiming of sovereignty over Kosovo and the fact that the voters' list used for the constitutional referendum dated back to 2001 and did not include a majority of the province's population. However, the commission said it welcomed preliminary reports on the "orderly conduct" of the referendum and the replacement of the "outdated constitution" by a new one. The commission had also taken note of "various positions on the contents of the constitution," the spokeswoman added. A majority of Serbs backed the new constitution in a referendum over the weekend. According to preliminary official figures, 52.3 per cent of the 6.63 million voters cast their ballots in favour of the new constitution. But the ethnic-Albanian population in Kosovo boycotted the referendum. Kosovo has been run by the UN since 1999, when NATO intervened to stop a Serb crackdown against the ethnic-Albanian population. The new Serbian constitution includes a preamble affirming Serbia's claim over the breakaway province. Talks between Belgrade and Pristina leaders on the future status of Kosovo were launched early in 2006 by the United Nations but have so far failed to make progress.
Serbia Passes New Constitution DER SPIEGEL (GERMANY)
October 30, 2006, 03:26 PM Serbian voters on Sunday barely approved a new constitution for the country. The document asserts Serbia's claim to Kosovo and may make final-status talks on the province's future more difficult than they already were. A Serbian woman passes by posters promoting a "YES!" vote in the constitutional referendum. Serbs voted with a narrow majority for a new constitution over the weekend -- one that unequivocally lays claim to Kosovo. While final results are to be announced later Monday, a sample count by the respected Center for Free Elections and Democracy indicated that 51.6 percent of eligible voters had backed the new legal charter. Although the turn out was low, at only 53.5 percent, a whopping 96 percent of those who cast a vote supported the new constitution. Most of those who opposed it had opted to boycott the poll completely. Earlier on Sunday it looked as though there was a danger that the poll might be declared invalid due to a far from enthusiastic turn out. At least 50 percent of the country's 6.6 million electorate were required to approve of the constitution which had already been passed by the country's parliament. The 206-article constitution includes a preamble in which Kosovo is expressly described as an "integral part of Serbia." The referendum was strongly condemned by ethnic Albanians, who make up 90 percent of Kosovo's 2 million inhabitants. The Kosovo Albanians were not able to vote as they had not been included in the electoral register after boycotting Serbian elections since 1990. Many Serbs cherish the province as their historic homeland, even though the Serbian community in Kosovo has dwindled to just 100,000. When the results were declared on Sunday night, hundreds gathered in the Serb town of Kosovska Mitrovica in the north of the province to celebrate, shouting "Kosovo is the heart of Serbia" and waving banners. Conservative Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica called the vote "a great moment for Serbia." Speaking on Serbian state television, he said: "This is a historic moment, a beginning of a new era." The country's pro-western president Boris Tadic, who had also backed the new legal charter, stressed that it left the old constitution of Slobodan Milosevic "behind us." With new elections expected before the end of the year he also said that he expected to see "a very strong democratic majority and a democratic government which is going to lead Serbia to the European Union." The government had put its weight behind the yes vote, with ads flashing across television screens on Sunday urging people to vote. Bojan Kostres, the provincial speaker in Serbia's northern province of Vojvodina, where turnout was very low, accused the Belgrade government of forcing the new constitution. "The final voting hours were very strange," he told the AP, "with a sudden steep rise in turnout." Serbia's opposition Liberal Party, which had called for the boycott, claimed "massive fraud" had taken place at polling stations in the final hours of voting, alleging that some people voted several times and without identification papers. The referendum was held over two days in order to attract as many voters as possible. The need for a new constitution arose in June after Montenegro declared its independence from Serbia -- the final nail in the coffin of the old Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The province of Kosovo has been under UN administration since 1999, after NATO air strikes halted the violent crackdown by Belgrade on an insurgency by ethnic-Albanian Kosovars. UN sponsored talks over the future of Kosovo are set to continue despite the Serb referendum, with a UN vote on the final status of the province expected within the next few months. Kosovo's claims for independence have found sympathy of the West, following the killing and displacement of ethnic Albanian civilians during the 1999 war. Belgrade, though, is unwilling to give up the province without a fight. Prime Minister Kostunica told Russian state television on Sunday "I am warning supporters of independence of Kosovo, who in unofficial talks are already talking about the possibility of recognition, that such a step would not remain without consequences." Also on Sunday, Germany's Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung announced that he is in favor of ending the Bundeswehr presence in Bosnia- Herzegovina. Speaking on the ZDF TV channel, the minister warned that the German military was reaching the limits of its capacity. Germany has 1,000 troops stationed in Bosnia, and it is now finding itself over-stretched by other military engagements, including those in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Congo, and off the coast of Lebanon. According to Jung, a member of the conservative Christian Democrats, Bosnia would seem to be well on the way to stabilization following peaceful elections on Oct. 3. He said that the there would be talks in December about a concrete "exit strategy." Jung's predecessor at the defense ministry, Peter Struck of the Social Democrats, said "One must always question whether a deployment is justified." In an interview with Bild am Sonntag he said, "The war in Bosnia has been over for 11 years and the Bundeswehr is still there with a large contingent. We have to gradually reach the goal of our soldiers leaving Bosnia."
UN envoy offers Kosovo limited sovereignty: report Source: Agence France-Presse (AFP)
Date: 30 Oct 2006 PRISTINA, Serbia, Oct 30, 2006 (AFP) - The special UN envoy in talks on Kosovo's future, Martti Ahtisaari, has proposed offering the Serbian province and its ethnic-Albanian majority limited sovereignty, a report said Monday. Ahtisaari, who has been leading talks between Belgrade and Pristina on the status of Kosovo, stepped short of proposing the independence for the UN-run province, said Kosovo's independent Express newspaper. The Finnish diplomat recommended forming "the newest state in the Balkans ... with limited sovereignty, a continued international presence and competencies in important fields," it said, quoting unnamed diplomatic sources. "It is clear that the competencies given to Kosovo mean only one thing -- independence with limited sovereignty," said the daily, known for its good contacts with Western diplomats. The negotiations on the future status of the southern Serbian province, administered by the United Nations since June 1999, began in February under the auspices of the world body. Kosovo's ethnic Albanians, who make up around 90 percent of the province's two million population, are seeking independence from Serbia. But the government in Belgrade and Kosovo's Serb minority insist the province -- which they consider the cradle of Serbian culture and history -- should only be granted greater autonomy. The report came after 52.3 percent of the Serbian electorate backed a new constitution in a weekend referendum, which stresses that Kosovo is part of Serbia. Kosovo's ethnic Albanians were barred from voting, after they boycotted earlier polls. Earlier this month, Ahtisaari submitted a 53-page report on the course of the talks and his recommendation for Kosovo to the Contact Group of leading countries overseeing peace in the Balkans. Its members include the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Russia. Ahtisaari was against giving Kosovo full international recognition with a UN seat, foreign ministry and army, the daily said. However, Kosovo would have an "ability to sign international treaties and agreements, including membership in some international organisations," it reported. The European Union would take administrative control of political issues in the province from the United Nations, it added. "Ahtisaari is waiting for comments from the Contact Group before presenting his proposal to the United Nations Security Council," it said. The daily speculated that Kosovo's provisional parliament "would adopt (its own) new constitution and declare independence" from Serbia after the United Nations adopted a resolution on its new status. "The Kosovo government will seek official recognition and a seat in the international organisations," it added. The province came under United Nations and NATO control in mid-1999 after the alliance's 11-week bombing campaign ended a brutal crackdown by the Serbian security forces under the regime of late leader, Slobodan Milosevic. The international community has insisted that UN-sponsored talks must wind up by the end of the year, but so far neither side has shown any signs of compromise.
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