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CONTENTS: 5 Nov. 2001 KOSOVO'S ICE-COLD ADMINISTRATOR Kosovo's citizens do not have the chance to see the UNMIK Administrator in the streets of cities or villages. They cannot see him in cultural or sports events. They do not have the chance to shake his hand during national celebrations. But they can read about him in the newspapers or see him on TV if he decides to make a statement - and thus learn about his acts and decisions. It is very hard for Kosovars to understand what the administrator, who has the position of Kosovo's President, Prime Minister and Parliament based on UN Security Council Resolution 1244, is doing. In an interview given to Koha Ditore, UNMIK Administrator Hans Haekkerup explains that he does not have time to be more present in society and be there for the Kosovar media. "My time as administrator is very limited. Therefore I must give priorities. It is very interesting and intense to be the Special Representative to the Secretary General because the sphere of the control is very wide. You have to deal with security issues, administration and many other details," stressed Haekkerup for Koha Ditore. A strict, disciplined and rather cold person, who is always aware of the time, is working towards achieving the priorities he has set by himself. According to UNMIK Spokeswoman Susan Manuel, one difference between Haekkerup and Kouchner is that Kouchner was more present in public while Haekkerup is more focused and methodical. "Haekkerup gives public statements rarely. He believes that his job is first to lead and administer Kosovo," stressed Manuel. She believes that there is another thing that makes Haekkerup seem more distant for the Kosovars and that is that Haekkerup and Kouchner have been involved in different stages of the UN mission in Kosovo. "There are differences between the time when Kouchner administered Kosovo and now in the time of Haekkerup. Kouchner came as an activist. At the time, we faced parallel structures. So Kouchner brought Rugova and Thaçi inside. When Kouchner came here, capital cities wanted us to include Thaçi and others within our structures;" More governmental responsibilities will be handed over to Kosovars during Haekkerup's stage. "Haekkerup wants to establish a structure first of all. He has a limited time to do so. He is reserved, but he analyses things and does not waste time," explains Manuel. Although they see the differences, Kosovar political representatives see Haekkerup's administering as a continuation. "Everyone has different work tactics. Kouchner was much more popular among the people, maybe because he was a humanist. This is not true with Haekkerup, who is very professional but keeps the contacts as strictly official," stressed LDK Deputy Chairman Kolë Berisha. "Haekkerup has the qualities of a military person more than those of a politician. He is very disciplined and strict in his work. He is determined to have every decision in accordance with 1244," said PDK Secretary to the IAC Ramadan Avdiu. "Opposite from Kouchner, Haekkerup does not care much about what others have to say and is cold towards the people, which might be a characteristic of the place he comes from - of Scandinavia," stated Avdiu. As far as AAK Chairman Ramush Haradinaj is concerned, Haekkerup is well organized and plans his engagements ahead. "Haekkerup came to Kosovo with a mistaken conviction. I have the impression that he thought that the problem of Kosovo would not be so complicated and hard and that he would have an easier job. He does not contact much with the local political leaders," stressed Serb leader Oliver Ivanovicm, adding that Haekkerup is not even thinking about changing the relations of the administration with the local residents. "Kouchner and I are very different from one another. Kouchner was very engaged and sometimes, very emotional. I believe that my advantage is that my past has taught me a great deal on security matters and, therefore, I know how to deal with security issues, which is what Kosovo needs," stressed Haekkerup. "As a Minister of Defense, you have a limited number of responsibilities, even if they are important. Here you have to cover a large field of responsibilities, just like a Prime Minister in Denmark. The responsibilities here are much larger. An international organization such as UNMIK is very heterogeneous because you have to coordinate with KFOR as well. Denmark is very homogeneous," explains Haekkerup. "As a Defense Minister, people accept your orders. It is a different story here. You have to motivate the people and convince them. One should be careful during the work with Kosovo's population, in particular their representatives. You should have their support for what you are doing. It is hard to do this here because there are various sides and communities with various interests," stated Haekkerup. "I have visited the Balkans many times as Danish Defense Minister. Denmark has participated in the NATO bombing campaign. We have sent a military contingent here, in which two of my sons were serving. I have visited them three times. I have visited UNMIK, Kouchner and several KFOR commanders. Thus, I have been very well informed on what is happening here," said Haekkerup. "I have met people who used to work here and one of the main OSCE people, who was Danish. My wife and I took several lessons in Albanian, from an Albanian women who taught us a lot on Kosovo." According to Haekkerup, the hardest job has been the Constitutional Framework, which came nine months after his arrival in Kosovo. Before the elections, Haekkerup decided to compile a legal framework for interim self-governance. He brought together a group of experts, whose job was to compile the first constitutional document for Kosovo. The group consisted of eight internationals and eight locals. As it turned out, no agreement could be reached on the main issues, i.e. the name of the document, the possibility of a referendum, the establishment of a Constitutional Court, and several other issues. Haekkerup did not take into consideration the requests of the Albanian side, which came from Rugova, Thaçi and Haradinaj. When Haekkerup and the three Albanian representatives stepped in front of the journalists in order to solemnly sign the document, Thaçi accused him and said that the document was approved in Belgrade before it came to Kosovo. Even Kosovo Serb officials accused Haekkerup about the Constitutional Framework, because according to them, this document would lead Kosovo toward independence. "I believe that the Constitutional Framework was compiled in a hurry and therefore does not fulfill the expectations of the Serb community. The Framework shows that Haekkerup was not ready to face the challenges of the Serb minority and the Albanian majority," stressed Serb leader Oliver Ivanovic. Haekkerup remembers the time and gently smiles. "The Constitutional Framework was the most difficult. It was very hard to come to the end of it and as you know, the Kosovar representatives did not agree to all points. But I had to make a decision." "Later on, I believe that the Constitutional Framework was generally accepted by all. At the beginning Thaçi was very critical, but I believe that he now accepts the concepts. There was also criticism coming from Kosovo Serbs and Serbia. But, we will see what happens next because we are in a process where Serbs have registered and certified a coalition for the elections. Hopefully they will participate." According to the Constitutional Framework, the institutions, which will result from the general elections will be responsible for several issues for which UNMIK is responsible now. Whereas, many other issues such as the defense, security, foreign policy and finances will remain with the SRSG. "If Serbs participate in the general elections, we will cooperate in the institutions, which we are establishing and this is of great importance for Kosovo," stressed Haekkerup. But, Ivanovic does not agree. "Haekkerup should have established the new institutions in such a way that the majority would not be allowed to rule the minority regarding issues such as Kosovo's final status. Haekkerup should have clearly said how long the Constitutional Framework would be in power and the interim period and clearly define Kosovo as Yugoslavia's territory, as stated in 1244," said Ivanovic. "Kosovo's leaders have improved. They are willing to say several important things. They have been very modern during the turmoil in Southern Serbia and Macedonia. I believe that it was clear to them that these things could damage Kosovo's future. Therefore, they supported a political solution and not terrorism. As you see, we managed to keep Kosovo away from these incidents. During the turmoil, Kosovo has been stable and I believe that the leaders contributed to this," said Haekkerup. "Of course that I am sometimes frustrated because they do not move with the appropriate rapidness. But in general, it is a good process." Although Albanian representatives are scared that Kosovo will eventually return under the administration of Serbia, Haekkerup is in constant contact with the Yugoslav authorities and is constantly meeting Yugoslav and Serb officials. He went to Belgrade several times and Belgrade's Special Envoy for Kosovo, Nebojsa Covic came to Kosovo almost ten times during the last three months. "We must talk to Belgrade and find a solution if we want things to proceed forward in Kosovo. There are many problems, which we cannot solve by simply sitting around in Pristina. It is very important to make it clear to them that I am holding talks with Belgrade, but there are no parallel structures in Kosovo, UNMIK is administering Kosovo, we have KFOR for the security and according to UN Security Council Resolution 1244, they have no authority here," said Haekkerup. However, the meetings he held with Covic, also Serbia's Prime Minister, took place behind closed doors and neither gave any statements. Serb and Albanian media saw these meetings as negotiations for Serb participation in the general elections. Several times, Haekkerup said that he would not accept any conditions for Serb participation in the elections. "Covic is concerned about Kosovo Serbs and the displaced who are living in Serbia. He wants to improve their conditions. Kosovo Serbs feel threatened and as long as Covic's stance remains the way it is, we want to change this for them. There are cases when the Belgrade authorities, especially Covic touch the issue of the authority, but in that case, I react and say 'there are no parallel structures in Kosovo'. What we now need is the Belgrade authorities to call for Kosovo Serb participation in the elections." Haekkerup said that negotiations with Belgrade are necessary for the return of the Albanian prisoners from Serbia to Kosovo and for solving the cases missing. Kosovo's local residents see the talks between Haekkerup and Covic as a necessity because according to them, it is still early for Albanian politicians to meet Serb ones and discuss the issues of the missing and the imprisoned in Serbia. In this case, it seems that Haekkerup is replacing Albanians. "It was necessary to meet the Serb authorities and discuss problems which Belgrade is making and not solving. We are here and will not allow any transactions, which damage Kosovo to take place. The international community won't betray the interests of Kosovo. No one needs another bloody war here," stressed Berisha. "We have not seen the results of these meetings. Regardless of Haekkerup's determination to free the Albanian prisoners in Serbia, Covic's government keeps them imprisoned. On the other hand, Covic is trying to bring Kosovo closer to Serbia through these meetings," stressed PDK's Avdiu. "Haekkerup is very strict during the meetings with Covic. He is not giving Kosovo away. He is against the establishment of any parallel structures in Kosovo," stressed Susan Manuel. On Saturday morning, the Yugoslav and Serbia's government announced that they decided to say "yes" to Kosovo Serb participation in the elections. According to Covic, Haekkerup guaranteed that Kosovo will remain a part of Serbia and Yugoslavia. A week before the agreement was reached, Haekkerup said that Serb participation in the elections is very important. According to Haekkerup, economy is the second priority after enforcement of the law. "No international will invest in Kosovo if the situation is horrible. We have to change Kosovo's image regarding the high level of violence and organized crime. This can take place only by enforcing law," stated Haekkerup. "Social enterprises are complicated and impede the privatization because the issue of ownership is unclear. We will do as the other former Yugoslav countries have done." "It has been a very interesting period. I must say that we have achieved a great deal. I would like to say this at the end of the year, when self-governance is established, hopefully with the Serb minority as well," said Haekkerup. He repeated that self-governance with Serb participation is a way for Kosovo to proceed forward. Now, he will have to see that the elections go well and the institutions function in accordance with his bible, 1244, until the UN Secretary General gives him a new task. "Although we will be standing sideways, we will be here to give advice and we will intervene if we see that the government is not working in accordance with 1244."
Koha Ditore on page two carried a commentary by Ylber Hysa, who
wrote: The problem is that Belgrade told the Serb media that they have reached a compromise. According to Belgrade, the international community guaranteed that Kosovo would not be announced independent during the mandate of this parliament and that they have established a joint commission between UNMIK, Belgrade and Kosovo. The purpose of this commission is to assure the implementation of 1244. This resulted in the reaction of several Kosovar political entities due to their lack of transparency and UNMIK not providing them original information. Haekkerup returned Saturday morning in Pristina and will continue his meetings in Belgrade on Monday. He did not want to inform the public of what is going on. Meanwhile, we are informed that regarding issues not in the competencies of SRSG, Haekkerup turned Kostunica to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. And indeed, a phone call took place between Kostunica and Annan. However, no information confirms what Kostunica and Covic are feeding the Serb public. Nonetheless, as expected, Serbs in Northern Kosovo reacted harshly toward the agreement. In fact, Haekkerup's silence gives time to Kostunica and Covic to 'sell' the results the way they want to, thus convincing Serbs that they truly should participate in the elections because a crucial agreement has been reached. UNMIK did not confirm the establishment of the problematic commission, which according to Serbs will assure 'the implementation of 1244'. A similar but smaller commission was established several months ago and IAC members were informedt. According to unofficial Serb sources, the Serb side demanded the existence of a commission which would guarantee the implementation of the agreements made during the last several months (the returns, the issue of the property, the missing, the courts,) even after the general elections take place. According to international sources, this institution cannot debate on Resolution 1244. The right to do this belongs only to the UN Security Council. The issue of announcing the independence of Kosovo is very clear. Resolution 1244 and the Constitutional Framework do not say that Kosovo's future Parliament will decide Kosovo's final status. Therefore, this cannot be victory or defeat for any of the sides in the talks. All people can do is make statements in vain for their electoral campaigns. A political leader announced that Kosovo is independent while another political leader in Belgrade said that he managed to block the process of Kosovo's independence. Someone else said that this is all happening due to the fact that the Constitutional Framework has been accepted. Regardless of how clear were the contours of the negotiations for the Albanian political entities, people say whatever they think and want to think due to the lack of information. By providing so much time for one side to 'sell' the agreement, Haekkerup forget the other side. Now everyone is focused on their own constituency and is doing the same thing. It is not fair not to inform Kosovars, Albanians and Serbs, on their own fate. After all, they are the ones who will enter the elections and vote. This might eventually dawn on everyone and then we will know the truth."
Zëri on page one carried a column by its editor-in-chief Blerim Shala commenting on the negotiations in Belgrade. Shala noted: "Following UNMIK Administrator Haekkerup's negotiations with representatives of the Belgrade regime, Kosovo is approaching the last days of the electoral campaign with the burden of many unknown things. The target of the negotiations used to be Kosovo Serb participation in the general elections and is seems that they are ending with FRY being involved in the process of governing Kosovo after the elections. The time of negotiations regarding this issue has come to an end long ago. Instead of providing the others with all possible suggestions for Kosovo's central government, the Serb side boycotted the process of compiling the Constitutional Framework for weeks. This was during spring 2001. That might have been the time for negotiations. UNMIK has made a concession, which we might pay a very high price for. One of the issues, upon which Belgrade was very determined, was the impossibility of Kosovo's central government to announce Kosovo's independence. A majority of Kosovar politicians understand the fact that independence should be gained in Kosovo before they request the international community to acknowledge it. If the Kosovar structures are capable of leading Kosovo and they fulfill the criteria for acknowledging independence, no one can stop independence from taking place."
UNMIK Administrator Haekkerup will go to Belgrade on Monday to finalize the negotiations with FRY representatives. Kosovo's main three leaders are not informed of what is happening between UNMIK and Belgrade. Regardless of Belgrade's appeal, Kosovo Serbs oppose their participation in the general elections. As far as Kosovo's local representatives are concerned, there has never been a more confidential process in Kosovo since the war ended. Haekkerup has been holding meetings with the Serb regime without informing the Albanian leaders at the IAC. During the last few days, all Ibrahim Rugova, Hashim Thaçi and Ramush Haradinaj could do was go surfing in the Internet or read newspapers in order to find out what Haekkerup and Kostunica agreed on. All the three leaders could learn was that UNMIK and FRY are about to establish a joint mission for the implementation of 1244 and that the Serb side is hesitant regarding the police and the courts. Kosovo's leaders were not informed on the document due to the fact that the document is not yet signed and might receive several changes. Thus, Rugova, Thaçi and Haradinaj will be informed on the document after it is signed (!). Based on Zëri's knowledge, the SRSG has changed the position he used to have in this complicated process. At the beginning of this process, whose purpose was to assure Serb participation in the elections, Haekkerup's stance was that there would be no negotiations, which clash with the Constitutional Framework and that the talks should result in a joint political statement where Belgrade would certify the necessity of Serb participation in the elections. Kostunica, Djindjic and other Serb leaders insisted to negotiate and sign an agreement on cooperation between UNMIK and FRY. Belgrade's goals are to blame UNMIK and KFOR for the current situation of the Kosovo Serbs, include Belgrade in the process of establishing the government in Kosovo, make Kosovo's independence impossible, specify the position of Serb enclaves and legalize a specific government in Northern Kosovo. Simply put, Belgrade's target is the establishment of political mechanisms, that would make it impossible for Kosovo's central government to function all over Kosovo, and that would kill the Albanians' target of independence. Zëri has learned that UNMIK agreed to sign a Joint Agreement with FRY, which consists of the establishment of a joint group between UNMIK and FRY, meaning Covic's Coordinating Council, which is supposed to assure implementation of 1244. The establishment of this group is the SRSG's great political mistake. Judicially seen, it is a paradox of its own because Haekkerup is the supreme authority in the implementation of the resolution and he is not supposed to divide his responsibility with specific political groups, regardless of where they come from. The SRSG's mistake deals with Belgrade being directly included in the current process of establishing self-governing structures in Kosovo. Thus, Belgrade becomes UNMIK's partner and the institutions, which, result from the general elections, will have to face the consequences of the SRSG's great mistake. Nevertheless, the process has not ended yet and the Joint Document remains to be signed. The negotiations can bring us many nice or extremely bad surprises, especially in the field of organizing Kosovo's police and courts. But several things are clear. If the document remains the way it is, it will not be enough for Kosovo Serbs to be motivated to participate in the elections. Whereas, Albanians will see this as an unacceptable concession. If before the negotiations, Serbs were the unsatisfied side, we just might be facing another unsatisfied side, Kosovo Albanians, which might question the entire process of the general elections. We do not know who gained from Haekkerup's efforts. But we do know who lost, and that is UNMIK and Haekkerup, who is everyday proving that he is not capable of facing the challenges of being the administrator of Kosovo.
Brussels was very satisfied to hear Yugoslav President Kostunica call for Kosovo Serb participation in the elections. NATO and the European Union consider that the nonparticipation of Serbs would be a shame for the amount of money, soldiers and employees the international community sent to Kosovo. Belgrade's tricky government was well-informed on this and tried to squeeze out as much concessions as possible, reported Koha Ditore on page three. Brussels was so preoccupied with Serb participation that during the last two EU meetings, members did not even mention two very important issues. These issues were Belgrade's cooperation with the Hague and the release of the Albanian prisoners. Although officials would never admit it, this is not a time to want something from Belgrade or irritate Belgrade with something that touches the nerves of the state itself. The Hague has been waiting for the extradition of dozens of people accused of war crimes, such as men who live in freedom in Serbia, people within the Yugoslav military leadership and politicians in positions such as Serbia's President Milan Milutinovic. But, now is not the time for the EU to apply pressure because the EU does that only when necessary. For now, it is important for Serbs to participate in the elections and this is taking place. This fact should also satisfy Kosovo Albanians because they should be aware that they cannot build Kosovo's future by ignoring the minorities within its territory. However, this game has a negative side. It is entirely undemocratic. It is obvious that Belgrade, as during Milosevic's time, is using Kosovo Serbs by agreeing with the international community in order to return its influence and government to Kosovo. The agreement on Serb participation in the elections is the first sign that Kosovo Serbs will acknowledge Kosovo's institutions. However, the way the agreement was reached is a sign that problems are yet to come. Serbs will participate because "the state decided that they should", as Bishop Artemije said. If Belgrade will continue influencing them, every time a decision must be made, they will go running to Belgrade because they cannot make any decisions without Belgrade's approval.
Although Kosovo's main three political parties said that it would have been better if Kosovo Serbs had made the decision themselves, they welcomed Belgrade's decision to call for Serb participation in the general elections and their integration in Kosovo's institutions. The leaders promised that they will jointly establish the future democratic institutions, reported Zëri on page three. Meanwhile, the Albanian leaders were not informed of the details of the agreement. But Haekkerup is expected to inform them during the next IAC meeting. According to LDK Deputy Chairman Nekibe Kelmendi, it was obvious that Belgrade would make this decision sooner or later and only delayed it due to its political calculations. "1244 does not allow anyone to interfere in this resolution or change it. The UN Security Council is the only institution with the mandate to change it, " stressed Kelmendi. "We are trying for Kostunica and the others who come after him not to
have anything to do with Kosovo. We will build a democratic state in
cooperation with Kosovo Serbs, equal and safe for all citizens. We know
the only way to build a democratic, independent Kosovo and integrate it in
Europe and the West is by including all of its citizens," stressed AAK
Deputy Chairman Naim Maloku. |