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CONTENTS: 7 Oct. 2001 COVIC DENIES HAEKKERUP
On Tuesday, the President of the Coordinating Council for Kosovo Nebojsa Covic came to the conclusion that for last two years the international community in Kosovo (UNMIK) does not have the same stance toward all minorities in Kosovo, reported Koha Ditore on page three. In an interview given to the Serb based Beta, Covic stressed that the statement of UNMIK Administrator Hans Haekkerup regarding the conditions for the Serbs to participate in the general elections, "is not right due to the fact that UNMIK should equally treat all ethnic communities in Kosovo. But this was not the case during the last two years." According to him, out of the 250.000 displaced Serbs, UNMIK allowed only 100 of them to return. "UNMIK has done very little to solve the problem of the kidnapped and missing Serbs. UNMIK keeps ignoring FRY. It is as if Milosevic was still in government." "The security of the Serbs and other communities, which are not Albanian, remains in a very bad state." Covic considers that every government, whose target is success, must show results. "Results are not stories of the media. Results are the true situation in the terrain," stressed Covic. On Wednesday, UNMIK Administrator Hans Haekkerup stressed that "UNMIK is not willing to fulfill the Serbs' conditions in return for their participation in the general elections. But UNMIK is willing to solve several of their practical problems." When asked to comment on Haekkerup's statement, Covic said that if Haekkerup really said what the media informed, then he is wrong and his statement does not serve to solve the problems in Kosovo. "Unfortunately, such statements show that there are people who make more problems instead of solving them," stressed Covic. "I am sorry about the fact that Haekkerup keeps working under Kouchner's inertia while Milosevic was still in regime," stressed Covic, adding that he hopes that the SRSG will change his attitude and show sincere will and interest for the Kosovo Serbs to participate in the general elections. Due to the fact that the UN gave Haekkerup the task to administer Kosovo, "Haekkerup's duty is to enable and assure the return of the displaced, freedom of movement, security, national rights, citizens' rights, a completely democratic system and respect the human rights. All this should be done in order to turn Kosovo into a multiethnic, multicultural and multi-confessional country," "I am afraid that UNMIK says one thing, thinks another and does something entirely different," stressed Covic. "We are all aware of the fact that there cannot be a solution until the international community deals with the issue of the violence, terrorism and ethnic cleansing upon the Serb community in Kosovo," stressed Covic. "Due to my contact with the moderate Albanian political leaders of Kosovo, I have come to the conclusion that they are behind these stances. The best example for this is a statement given by the political leader of the NLA." Covic stressed that he is pleased Haekkerup admitted that the Serbs have the support of the Security Council. "According to Haekkerup, fifteen countries support us and two other countries were fiercer to us than they were towards the authorities in Kosovo. Those who acknowledge the government established by the international community should be professionals and not take sides. We should eliminate the fear and be willing to cooperate with both sides without ignorance and arrogance." Covic said that he is impatiently waiting for the next meeting with Haekkerup. "I am convinced that Haekkerup will be on the right track and follow the road of development, because this is what the international community expects of us."
Koha Ditore on page four carried a commentary on the situation in Macedonia. "Those who were not entirely sure about who caused the crisis in Macedonia that is now worsening, will now have the chance to speak out. After all, it is the Macedonians who are leading the FYROM toward the edge of an abyss. We should not be surprised if after a while we will need to discuss the modalities of dividing the Republic of Macedonia if the Macedonian authorities insist to continue this blind policy. The state of Macedonia has no future unless the authorities prove that they are ready to establish a state of justice, that they can respect all ethnic communities in Kosovo, and see the requests of the Albanian community as the requests of a discriminated community instead of requests of the privileged. We used to believe that the moderate and visionary politicians would deal with the issue of Macedonia once the NLA is demilitarized and people from both sides begin talking about a peaceful solution for the crisis in Macedonia. But another thing is happening. After the demilitarization, Macedonia's nationalist leaders are controlling the situation with a nationalism that clashes with the efforts to democratize Macedonia and turn it into a true European country. What are these people saying and what are they doing? According to their Minister of Defense, the terrorist NLA was established in Albania. Our authorities delicately reacted towards provocative Skopje, may be because they were not prepared for this and did not know the culmination point of our neighbors. Then there is another 'smart' person, who regardless of the agreements reached with NATO, threatens to once more 'conquer' the zones that were controlled by the NLA and eliminate the warriors. This statement surprised even the Western diplomacy. Western officials and the NLA now came to the conclusion that they should not have trusted the Macedonian officials. It has probably never before occurred to the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security Javier Solana, Christopher Paten and other officials to meet this kind of policy, may be not even when Milosevic was in regime. This is the reason why these officials cannot even express their disappointment. "We will fight terrorism," say the Macedonians and are capable of comparing the terrorists that destroyed the Twin Towers with the Albanian rebels and the Americans. No one even cares about the fact that the Albanian warriors had a very clear cause; they raised the weapons and fought for that cause. Once the agreement was reached, these men laid down their weapons and vowed to respect the agreement. Who are the terrorists now? The Albanian warriors, who fought for what they believed in and killed not even one innocent Macedonian or Georgievski's military and paramilitaries, who killed dozens of Albanian civilians? The situation is very disappointing. Apparently, there are no moderate officials within Macedonia. Western diplomacy should take matters in their own hands and not believe the words of the Macedonian officials, who are convinced that the time has come to take revenge against the Albanians. They are also convinced that the world will now enter a war against Islamic terrorism and will not have time to deal with a terrorist state in the middle of Europe. "We should not let the Macedonians live with these hopes."
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