Russia worried about Kosovo plans - Lavrov

Reuters 27 Feb 2007 16:45:34 GMT

MOSCOW, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Russia is concerned by a lack of willingness by the West to take into account Serbia's interests when drafting plans for the future of its breakaway province of Kosovo, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday.

"Frankly, we are worried at the absence of any desire to meet the legitimate concerns of Belgrade," Lavrov told a news conference, answering a question about his attitude to the plan presented by U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari.

A longtime ally of Serbia, Russia is resisting Ahtisaari's plan to give effective independence to Kosovo despite Belgrade's objections. Russia has a decisive say on the U.N. plan in the Security Council where it holds a veto.

"The contents of the plan lead one to think that the authors of the plan took as a starting point the inevitability of Kosovo's independence regardless of Belgrade's views," Lavrov said.

Lavrov said last week Russia would not be part of any effort to force Serbia to recognise the independence of Kosovo in remarks suggesting Russia was leaning towards a veto on the Security Council resolution on the province.

Serbs concerned with security situation in Kosovo

Radio Television Serbia, Belgrade
Monday, February 26, 2007 19:46

Representatives of Kosovo Serbs have expressed their concern following the incident in Pec.

Serb List for Kosovo and Metohija president Oliver Ivanovic stated that this was not a random event.

"I am convinced that it prepares the field for demonstrations announced by representatives of the Self-Determination movement for Saturday in Pristina, which could be violent and very dangerous," said Ivanovic.

It appears that UNMIK and KFOR are not doing enough to provide general security and Serbs must take care of themselves. If we take into consideration that similar incidents in the past have remained unsolved, it is completely certain that this one will not be solved, either, said Ivanovic.

It is important that KFOR and UNMIK admit that they are not in control of the situation, he added.

Serb National Council for Kosovo and Metohija vice-president Rada Trajkovic stated that this morning's explosion shows not only "that the full capacities of the Albanian terrorist nucleus in the province have been preserved" but that they have grown even stronger.

The intent of the explosion was twofold and represents a classic example of pressure on the Hague tribunal where former Kosovo premier and one of the former commanders of the KLA in Metohija Ramush Haradinaj departed this morning, said Trajkovic.

"Extremists in Kosovo are therefore using these means to try to dictate the content of the final proposal of UN special representative Martti Ahtisaari, as well as political processes in the province," she added.

Serbia makes new arrests for Kosovo killings

REUTERS 28 Feb 2007 09:48:12 GMT

BELGRADE, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Serbia has arrested four suspects in the killing in 1999 of three jailed U.S.-Albanian brothers who had joined a guerrilla war in the breakaway Kosovo province, Serbia's war crimes prosecutor said on Wednesday.

Belgrade media reported that five former or serving Serb policemen were arrested on Sunday, including a police colonel serving as deputy commander of the gendarmerie.

A spokesman for the war crimes prosecutor declined to confirm whether the suspects were policemen.

"The four will be handed over to the investigative judge today," he said.

Two former Serb policemen went on trial in Belgrade in November charged as co-perpetrators in the murder of Argon, Mehmet and Ilaj Bytyci, ethnic Albanian brothers with U.S. citizenship.

The brothers had strayed from Kosovo into Serb-controlled territory in late June 1999 days after NATO occupied Serbia's southern province following 78 days of bombing to drive out Serb forces accused of atrocities in a two-year war with guerrillas.

They were imprisoned for 17 days for illegal entry. On their release they were picked up by secret police, taken to another location and shot dead, their hands tied behind their backs with wire, according to the indictment.

Their bodies were found only in 2001 when reformers who had ousted late president Slobodan Milosevic in 2000 unearthed mass graves in Serbia containing the bodies of over 800 Kosovo Albanians. They were killed in the province and trucked north to conceal evidence of atrocities.

The police chief at the time of the killings, Vlastimir Djordjevic, is suspected of having ordered the Bytyci killings. He has been indicted by the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague and is believed to be hiding in Russia.

UNMIK Media Monitoring, Serbian press, Feb 27, 2007

Vienna negotiations on decentralization end (RTS)

The Belgrade and Pristina delegations ended in Vienna the negotiations on the part of UN Envoy Ahtisaari’s plan pertaining to decentralization in Kosovo. They discussed formation of new municipalities with Serbian majority, their competences, financing and relations with Belgrade. The Serbian delegation submitted a large number of amendments to Ahtisaari’s plan requesting significantly greater competences in fields of education, culture, social and healthcare, and election of police chiefs and municipal judges. After the meeting, Serbian officials stated that the Albanian side again rejected all of Belgrade’s proposals, and that local police competences were mostly discussed. The Serbian team requested that chiefs of the local police be elected in municipal assemblies, with the future law on police to be adopted only if agreed to by Serbian MPs in the provincial assembly. Negotiations will resume with discussion on Ahtisaari’s proposal on protection of religious and cultural heritage.

Most discussion dealt with Belgrade’s request to form a separate Serb entity in Kosovo, stated the Coordinators of the Serbian team Leon Kojen and Slobodan Samardzic. Kojen said that this request was met by the strong reactions of the Albanians who claimed that Belgrade wants division of the province. The Serbian entity is necessary as there must be an institutionalized way to protect interests of the Serb community, emphasized Kojen. Slobodan Samardzic underlined that this would mean guarantee of the Serbs’ survival in Kosovo and return of refugees. He stated that Belgrade also initiated the issue of constitution of municipalities where other non-Albanian communities such as Goranci and Roma would have a majority.

Moratinos meets with Tadic and Kostunica (Beta)

The OSCE Chair, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, said he expects a compromise-based solution to be reached in Kosovo talks and to satisfy both sides. I will invest efforts in my capacity as the OSCE Chair and also on behalf of Spain in bringing stands of the two sides closer to each other and in reaching compromise, he said after talks with Serbian President Boris Tadic in Belgrade. He added that Spain would support the UNSC decision on Kosovo, whatever it is, but that he hopes compromise will be reached in the talks. Tadic reiterated that independence of Kosovo is unacceptable for Serbia and that Serbia will defend its territorial integrity and sovereignty by means of the policy of peace and not by means of the policy of the 1990s.

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said that a solution for Kosovo must result from compromise and must be based on the respect of international law and the UN Charter and its basic principle, which guarantees sovereignty and territorial integrity. Such a solution can be reached through negotiations, by adhering to the international law, which amounts to essential autonomy for Kosovo within the Serbian state borders, Kostunica emphasized after talks Miguel Angel Moratinos in Belgrade. Kostunica warned that any other imposed solution could have serious effects on stability in the region and added that an increasing number of countries, including Spain, are firmly in favour of respect for the basic principles of the international law, on which world order and stability are founded. Moratinos expressed concern over the non-fulfilment of standards in Kosovo and added that the OSCE is being informed in detail about talks on the status of Kosovo, as they find stability in the region very important.

Lavrov: Russia concerned over neglect of Serbia's interests (RTS)

Russia is very concerned over the lack of readiness by Western countries to consider Serbia’s legitimate interests in the Vienna negotiations, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Pointing that the UN Special Envoy Ahtisaari’s plan on the alleged inevitability of Kosovo’s independence, Lavrov underlined that Russia absolutely cannot agree to that. He reiterated Moscow’s stand that the solution of the Kosovo issue must be acceptable for both the Serbian and Albanian side.

Solana in Berlin (Tanjug)

At the Berlin conference of representatives of the parliamentary boards for foreign policy of the EU countries and candidates for the EU membership, EU High Representative Javier Solana has expressed his belief that the UN SC will pass new resolution, which will be the base for the future status of Kosovo and replace UNSCR 1244. After the talks with heads of foreign policy boards of EU member-states and candidates, Solana said there was no reason not to believe that the SC will reach consensus on that issue. I cannot speak on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin, but I am sure that at the moment of adopting the resolution, the SC will show responsibility, said Solana. Asked about the possibility of certain countries unilaterally recognizing independence of Kosovo, Solana pointed that it was necessary to adhere to the legitimacy of the SC resolution. The High Representative conveyed that Serbian President Boris Tadic had stated he was ready to attend the high-level meeting of Belgrade and Pristina representatives, to be held on 10 March in Vienna.

The Serbian delegation expressed in Berlin a resolute stand that Serbia cannot accept Kosovo’s independence under any circumstances, stated member of the Serbian delegation Milos Aligrudic. He said that Serbian representatives presented their comments on the development of the Vienna negotiations, especially pointing to partiality of the UN Envoy Ahtisaari. Aligrudic said that the conclusions called upon unanimous decision on Kosovo, but that there was no such thing at the conference. In a very small group of countries predominates the stand that Serbia lost the right to Kosovo after the war in 1999, while the other group supports Ahtisaari’s stands but pointing that a compromise should be given a chance. The third group of the countries clearly presented the stand against the imposed solutions, which oppose Serbia’s position, said Aligrudic.