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CONTENTS: June 27, 2001 NATO AND HAEKKERUP PROMISE MITROVICA UNIFICATION BEFORE
NOVEMBER ELECTIONS NATO AND HAEKKERUP PROMISE MITROVICA UNIFICATION BEFORE NOVEMBER ELECTIONS NATO officials yesterday gave full support for the aims and initiatives of UNMIK and KFOR to take control and carry out their political, administrative and security authority in northern Kosovo, reported Zėri on page one. This was the message of the 19 NATO ambassadors who participated in the meeting with the international chief administrator of Kosovo Hans Haekkerup and the commander of KFOR peacekeeping troops General Thorstein Skiaker. The several-hour discussion was held yesterday at NATO Headquarters in Brussels. The NATO Council, Haekkerup and Skiaker called the current security situation in Kosovo unacceptable. Haekkerup and Skiaker presented the Council with the joint UNMIK and KFOR plans to improve the security situation in northern Kosovo, which according to joint assessments during the postwar period has not marked any significant improvement. Official sources within NATO told the paper that Haekkerup and Skiaker first plan to "get rid" off the Bridge Watchers, and immediately thereafter KFOR, UNMIK Police and the Kosovo Police Service plan to carry out their duties in the northern part of Mitrovica. Haekkerup gave no details of this initiative, but he did say that he plans to launch the process for uniting Mitrovica before general elections in Kosovo. "The sooner the better," Haekkerup told journalists in Brussels. According to the paper, during Haekkerup's presentation to the NATO Council, there was a debate about whether it is better to unite Mitrovica before or after the general elections. Nonetheless, it was decided that the unification should take place before the elections. Regarding the plans to unite the town, Haekkerup said that he is also discussing the matter with the Serbian Government in Belgrade, in order to convince Kosovo Serbs to accept participation in the Kosovo structures. Haekkerup said that the Belgrade Government is slowly accepting the new reality created in Kosovo and the need to integrate Kosovo Serbs in the political life. Asked by the paper to comment on his plans to unite the town and the integration of Serbs into the current structures of Kosovo, Haekkerup was quoted as saying, "I would be surprised if Belgrade would say no to our efforts." According to Haekkerup, the new Belgrade authorities are following a more reasonable course regarding problems in Kosovo, point in fact that Belgrade is now encouraging Kosovo Serbs to register. "This is a clear indication that Serbs will participate in the future central structures of Kosovo that will emerge after the general elections," Haekkerup added. SHALA: THE WEST AND NORTHERN KOSOVO Zėri on page one carried a column by its publisher Blerim Shala, who wrote: "The various crises and problems come and go, but Mitrovica remains. The issue of Mitrovica and the appeal to solve the crisis, which impedes the security and stability of the region, are mentioned at a time when the main news in the region is concerned with Milosevic's journey to the Hague and NATO's arrival in Macedonia. Apparently, UNMIK Administrator Hans Haekkerup and COMKFOR Gen. Thorstein Skiaker will meet the NATO ambassadors on Tuesday and attempt to exchange ideas on the uniting of Mitrovica and the return of northern Kosovo under the control of Prishtina. The most important thing in their efforts is to unite Mitrovica before the general elections take place. If their determination is long lasting, UNMIK and KFOR's concrete measures are expected to take place during the next two months and not when the general elections are about to begin. The unification of Mitrovica and Kosovo is a joint Kosovar and international interest. It is impossible to appropriately prepare ourselves for the elections if parallel structures are still tolerated and people are allowed to effectively oppose UNMIK and KFOR's government, as it is the case now in northern Kosovo." MACEDONIANS DEMAND "GAS CHAMBERS" FOR ALBANIANS Using the Russian-Ukrainian technique and Milosevic's methods, which the Macedonian military has been applying since the conflict with the NLA began, has brought Macedonia to the verge of a civilian war, reported Zėri on page two. According to sources from Skopje, after the participants of the Luxembourg Summit publicly warned the Macedonian authorities, the American Administration expressed its outrage toward Trajkovski and the Macedonian government regarding Macedonia "coquetting with Russia and Ukraine." "If Macedonia wants a bright future, it should resign from the dangerous adventure that began when the crisis started," was the American message. But apparently, the message did not have an impact on Skopje. Although with decreased intensity, Skopje has continued to carry out the attacks on the Albanian residential areas, in the highlands of Tetovo and the villages of Likovė and Haracinė. The most important events have been the attack against the assembly building, the president's cabinet and the Albanians' shops in Skopje. They took place yesterday afternoon and continued throughout the night. Civilians, police and reserve units carried out the attacks. Slavic Macedonians from Haracinė, who were against "allowing" the NLA to voluntarily withdraw from the village, organized a small protest, which grew after a number of policemen joined. The gathered crowd, including the civilians who were given weapons by the Macedonian government, kept shooting during the entire protest. Meanwhile, President Trajkovski and the leaders of the political parliamentary parties held a meeting in the assembly building. After the situation outside increased in intensity, the party leaders departed the building by using the back exits. Trajkovski did not agree to come out to greet the protesters, but Internal Minister Lube Boskovski did. He promised them "Macedonia will be entirely free within two days." But this just is another one of the futile promises and the crowd did not believe him, instead they whistled and swore at him. During the late hours of the protest, there was speculation that someone from the government would appeal to the crowd, for instance former President Kiro Gligorov or the archbishop of the Macedonian Orthodox Church. Subsequently, the crowd entered the building and demolished many offices, including the presidential office. But, apparently, the parliament and the presidential offices were not the crowd's only targets. Their cries about "gas chambers for the Albanians" and "let us kill the Albanians" revealed their true targets and their infinite anti-Albanian attitude. The participants climbed on the roof of the building. They tore down the Macedonian flag and replaced it with the old one, which has a sun and 16 sunrays, which was forbidden in 1993 after the harsh debate with Greece. They also tore down the flags of the European Union and NATO and the pictures of high officials. By midnight the crowd began to disperse, but only after demolishing several official vehicles and Albanian shops in the center of Skopje. They also fired weapons toward the Albanian shops in the old part of the town. Regardless of the fact that the protestors committed acts of vandalism, fired weapons and burned the photos of EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security Javier Solana and Ana Lindth, the Macedonian press reported that the protesters were "calm and showed restraint". Yesterday was a very "calm day" and people were waiting for a new "rebellion", which was announced to take place during the evening. In order to calm down the situation, President Trajkovski made a short speech to the Macedonian population. "The enemy wants to divide us and turn us against each other." He verbally attacked the people who attacked the parliamentary building and called it pointless. He stressed that allowing the NLA to withdraw from Haracinė was a gesture to calm the conflict. "You elected me to bring peace to you and not war. Therefore I do not understand why the effort for peace is being misinterpreted," stated Trajkovski. According to him, the withdrawal of the NLA from Haracinė is a way to prevent new loss. "Haracinė is not dangerous for Skopje any longer. It gives us a new chance to continue the dialogue. I do not agree with those who have tried to turn Skopje into another Haracinė and demolish the state's foundations." While the "calm rebellion" was taking place in Skopje, the NLA and the Macedonian forces were fighting in the highlands of Tetovo. Monday's target was the village of Gajre, which resulted in an Albanian teacher being killed, and six other civilians, including a woman being wounded. The Macedonian forces also bombed the villages of Likovė and Nikushtak. The attacks intensified on Tuesday. "If the Macedonian side continues to bomb after the 27 of June, then we will carry out our plan," stated the NLA Spokesman "Sokoli" for Kosovalive. According to him, regardless if the Macedonian forces keep attacking them, the NLA would respect the ceasefire agreement until 27 June. "Sokoli' rebuked Skopje's statements regarding the bombing being a consequence of the NLA's provocations. The chairmen of the largest Albanian parties in Macedonia announced that civil war is approaching in Macedonia. They have requested immediate NATO intervention. "Macedonia is in the verge of a civil war. The crisis is getting more tense because there are those who do not want co-existence between the Albanians and Macedonians. NATO's immediate intervention is necessary in order to prevent war from breaking out. We want international representatives to participate in the talks to achieve an agreement for NATO to arrive," stated PDSH Deputy Chairman Iljaz Halimi. "Macedonia's institutions are about to stop functioning. It all depends on how the government and the president treat the crisis, which can easily turn into a civil war. International intervention is necessary," stated PPD Spokesman Zahir Bekteshi. Meanwhile, Deputy Ismet Ramadani made a point about things that have taken place since the NLA withdrew from Haracinė. A group of Albanian youths, who departed Haracinė, were stopped by the Macedonian police and sent to police stations where they were questioned and kept there without a pretext. "Haracinė is a synonym of the hatred between the Macedonians and the Albanians. Therefore I appeal to the Albanian youth to avoid meeting the Macedonian policemen." "MACEDONIAN PARAMILITARIES 2000": 100 ALBANIANS WILL BE KILLED FOR ONE MACEDONIAN Zėri on page two carried the text of a flier that has been issued by a paramilitary group in Macedonia, the so-called "Macedonian Paramilitaries 2000." The text states: "We order all Albanians who have stores in the market to leave those facilities within three days. Whereas Albanians in Haraēina have a deadline of 24 hours. After the deadline, all stores will be burned and if someone tries to defend himself, he will be shot without warning. We inform all Albanians of the Republic of Macedonia that for every murdered police officer or soldier, we will kill 100 Albanians who are not citizens of Macedonia or who have registered as such after 1994. For every wounded police officer or soldier, we will kill 50 Albanians. For every injured police officer or soldier, we will kill 10 Albanians, regardless of their gender or age. We inform Albanians who have registered as citizens or who have done so after 1994, to leave Macedonia before midnight 25th June 2001. After this deadline, we will launch the cleansing of "The Longest Night of Macedonian Paramilitaries 2000." "We order every Macedonian, Turk, Roma, Bosniak and others not to buy from Albanian stores during the war, because in this way you directly support terrorism and Albanian drug dealers. Also all stores who trade with Albanians will be burned." "We order everyone to keep this flier in their stores, with the intention of informing people. Those who receive this flier and do not put it in a visible place will be considered our potential targets regardless of the owner." NLA COMMANDER HOXHA SAYS HE IS IN SKOPJE National Liberation Army (NLA) Commander Hoxha said Tuesday that he is in Skopje in order to defend civilians, reported Koha Ditore on page one referring to information broadcast by the Reuters. Commander Hoxha, who led NLA troops in Haraēina, told Reuters: "you saw that the Macedonian forces do not respect ceasefires. We have withdrawn from Haraēina in accordance with the agreement with Trajkovski. Last night, we had to come to Skopje in order to protect the population in the neighborhoods inhabited with Albanians." In closing, Hoxha told the Reuters that he has two battalions in Skopje. SERB SHOCKED BY MASS GRAVES Koha Ditore carried a report on page eight on Serb public opinion regarding Kosovo and the crimes committed there. It was not the crimes that shocked the Serbs. It was the fact that near their home and on the road they passed everyday someone at night secretly dumped and burned the bodies of women and children. The bodies lay there for a long time and people continued to live normally. Now they see that everything was planned and thought of, and that many men they knew had killed then loaded the bodies into trucks, opened the holes, dumped the bodies into them. Some were burned and in the end the they covered those holes. Everything was planned in detail. "Just to imagine that all this happened in your neighborhood shocks you," said Ivan, a journalist of the daily Danas. "Everyone knew that down there (meaning Kosovo) was hell," added Ivan. "I have three brothers that served in the army. Thank god they were not included into the special units and it is even more thankful that they did volunteer. They told me it was hell there". Jelena 22 a resident of Pancevo in Vojvodina near Belgrade, talks of the terrifying moment when she met a police officer with a Stanton the trademark of the 'Frenki' unit. She met this terrifying person during the bombings while she was hitchhiking from Pancevo to Belgrade. "I was scared of his appearance, and the gun he carried! She also talked about his binoculars that also had night vision. He talked about the price of the binoculars," she added. "Eight thousand US dollars. Would you know what would I do with that money?" asked Jelena. Jelena, Ivan and many Serbs in Serbia knew that crimes were committed in Kosovo and said that they are in the past. Among the everyday hardships that detach their attention from those past events is the sickness "they have also killed us". Marko, a newspaper journalist, explained the conclusions he has received from Serbs and quotes a friend: "It is easier for me to listen to what others have done to us then to listen to what we have done to others". The refrigerator truck story has been placed in different parts of papers, according the current political line of the newspaper. Some have carried it on the first page while others have only announced it on the first page. Some journalists have only mentioned it without explanation and emotion. The main articles in the papers have to do with economic issues, the standard of living, taxes, electricity, or eventual strikes. The story about the refrigerator truck initially came first in the Timocke Krimi Revije and afterward the new Police Minister Dusan Mihajlovic gave more information. "First the story was published in the magazine and afterward we started investigations and discovered mass graves," Mihajlovic told Koha Ditore in Belgrade. "This happened several months after I became Interior Minister, therefore I could not have had any information because I did not constantly work for the police. Milosevic's police would not have discovered these," said Mihajlovic after he was asked why such a long time was needed for the story to surface. The shocking tale of carrying the bodies and their reburial in the yards of olice schools has special connotations for domestic Serbian political opinion which is in shock for social reasons. Something had to satisfy the international community and not anger the voters, something that would be shocking for Serbia so the attention is moved from Serb nationalism and patriotism on the "Serbs as a godly nation". These were the graves in the police courtyard that helped Mihajlovic to clean up the police from Milosevic's people, said Belgrade analysts. After the bodies were found, mihajlovic would say: "Where are the Serb patriots"? Naturally the new government used the shocking of the Serb nation. Milosevic will be sent to Hague sooner or later. The approval of the decree for cooperation with the Hague Tribunal did not cause any protests. It went by with reactions in newspaper headlines as a political event: "With a federal decree on cooperation with The Hague" (Politika). The next day the papers continued their stories on a privatization law and everyday concerns on the rising cost of living because of new taxes. According to polls, now more than half the Serbs support the idea of sending Milosevic to the Hague, which is a drastic change in stance from only two months ago. At the same time a green light is on in Luxembourg for the donor's conference on Yugoslavia. A successful mission. The bodies of dead Albanians and the story behind them help the rebuilding of Serbia! The concerns remain in Kosovo as to who was dumped in the most miserable possible way in the graves in Batajnica. Whose relatives will be there where the bulldozers that opened the graves of dead Albanians are now redoing it, if such a thing is possible? Inside the only hole opened until now, scattered body parts have been found. A leg here, a head there and ribs on the other side. Some of the bodies did not deteriorate. Women, children and men's clothes are mingled in the soil of Batajnica while the exhumation of 30 bodies continued. The first exhumed mass grave found in Serbia is suspected to hold the bodies of Albanians killed in Suharekė in the center of the town where the criminal Serb forces massacred dozens of Albanians. Besides this grave it is suspected that other mass graves exist where the bodies of killed Albanians in Kosovo were transported from Kosovo to Serbia in what was known as 'cleaning the ground'. "Until now we have found one mass grave in Batajnica and two in Petrovo Selo. We suspect that other mass graves will be found in Batajnica and there are indications of other sites where bodies of Kosovar Albanians were dumped," said Mihajlovic in his office across the bombed former police ministry. In Petrovo Selo, the bodies were dumped in a hole in the national park where there is a great deal of nature and no one has the right to dig holes or cut down trees. There are two locations there: one has been opened while the other has just been discovered. At the graves are Serbian pathologists, members of the Humanitarian Rights Fund, officials of the International Council for Missing Persons and Tribunal officials. Far from the terrifying site, ICMP member Brenda Kennedy, at the Hyatt Hotel, explains her work with UNMIK police. "At least now we can offer some condolence and tranquility for the victims' families. We can find and identify their bodies." After all those crimes, the ICMP tries to conduct a humanitarian task to find the bodies of the missing so at least they can ensure a proper and dignified burial of the victims. ICMP cooperates with UNMIK police in receiving information on the missing. They try to find and identify the missing by any possible method, including DNA tests. Ms. Kennedy, a calm women of firm posture with blond hair, has gone through several mass graves in Bosnia. One learns to work with dead bodies, she said. What is always surprising are the tales told about the victims. "They are always different". As it is impossible to identify the bodies in a normal way because the terror of the Serbian Special Units who took care to destroy and hide everything, the only way to identify some is the DNA test. "We have gathered 2,000 blood samples in Kosovo for the needs of identifying," she said. Kennedy with some of her colleagues is in charge of monitoring the exhumations. "If someone questions what was seen and found there, then we will be there to testify what we saw," said Kennedy. Kennedy will have a lot to tell, not only what she saw in Batajnica but in many other places where bodies were found,-- wells, caves and mass graves in the whole of former Yugoslavia. Starting from Vukovar and Knin to Srebernica, Tuzla, Reēak and Izbica and up to the newly found ones at the police school in Belgrade. RUGOVA: KOSOVO IS DE FACTO AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY LDK Chairman Dr. Ibrahim Rugova declared that Kosovo is de facto an independent country and no longer needs Belgrade's approval for this. However, to finalize this process, Kosovo needs positive signals and support by the international community. This was the message conveyed by Rugova after the meeting with Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel and Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero Waldner, reported Koha Ditore on page six. Rugova told his Austrian hosts that he hopes that LDK will win between 60 and 70 % of the votes in the general elections on 17 November and said that Kosovo's independence should be eclared as soon as possible. He explained the concrete path to Kosovo's independence in an interview to the daily Die Presse. "A short while ago the Constitutional Framework was compiled. Now institutions have to be strengthened and after general elections on 17 November a legitimate parliament and government will be formed. After this the international community will have no more obstacles to recognize Kosovo's independence," emphasized Rugova, adding that Belgrade's stance on this issue does not interest him at all. After the meeting with Rugova, Ferrero Waldner said that the conditions for an independent Kosovo have not been created yet. "First we have to ensure the functioning of the democratic structures in Kosovo," she said in a communiqué. During the meeting with Rugova, Ferrero Waldner emphasized the importance of the elections will have in marking an important step toward handing over of competencies from UNMIK to local politicians. She said the biggest challenge for the 17 November elections will be to ensure participation of Serbs and other communities. "The institutional basis for action and decisions by the international community is UN Security Council Resolution 1244, the aim of which is to create a Kosovo in which communities of different backgrounds can live in peace and security," said the Foreign Ministry communiqué. Ferrero Waldner expressed her support for UNMIK Chief Hans Haekkerup, commending him on the Constitutional Framework, which she evaluated by Waldner as the foundation for forming legitimate, democratic institutions in Kosovo. Meanwhile, Rugova gave little space to the issue of Serb participation in the elections. He expressed hope that Serbs will participate in general elections, but even if they do not, Serb representatives will be nominated to Kosovo's Parliament. Regarding the conflict in FYROM, Rugova said that if the US and EU cannot impose a solution then the crisis in Macedonia would reflect badly in Kosovo. Rugova accused the government in Skopje of the conflict, emphasizing that the government in Skopje has not fulfilled any Albanian requests for the last ten years. Preparing for the 17 November elections and convinced that LDK will win the majority of the votes, he said the LDK is seeking friends who are ready to recognize Kosovo's independence. SURROI: MACEDONIA NEEDS A US ENVOY, PERMANENT CEASEFIRE AND SERIOUS NEGOTIATIONS Koha Ditore on page four carried a commentary by its publisher Veton Surroi: 1. "My basic explanation was that in the process of building its symbols of statehood, Macedonia cannot refer to a long tradition, and that this fact makes the process of building statehood difficult. Especially when it is known that even some neighboring nations denied the Macedonian ethnic being." "A professor at Skopje University and a former minister did not focus
on my explanation regarding the identity but attacked me, insulted by my
from conclusion on the similarity of the Macedonian flag with the
Japanese flag." 3. "By all means, I have to take into account that one of the positive elements is the fact that Leotard plans to reside in Skopje and lead the mediation from there, and not do so amidst other important issues, as did Solana, who traveled from Skopje to Jerusalem in efforts to make peace. This must be good news for all Macedonian citizens, due to the fact that the crisis will not be dealt by the British Ambassador to Skopje, Mark Dickinson, who had similar stances with Stojan Andov, Macedonian Parliament chairman and a representative of the country's primitive political line." "However, the change of the personnel that manages the crisis is not sufficient if there are no corrections in the policy, and the mistakes committed until now." 4. "The second mistake was the supposition that the negotiations for the future of the country could be held within the framework of 'inter-party dialogue led by President Trajkovski'. This formula presumes the lack of a clear agenda for talks, a deadline for talks and a Euro-American presence as mediator and guarantor of negotiations. This dialogue, despite its good will, proved to be a series of vain discussions." "The third mistake was the hysterical attack against the so-called Frowick plan, which if approved in May this year would already treat the war as an issue of the past, and would have brought Macedonia close to constitutional changes, and not civil war." "The Frowick plan, which tried to overcome the evident weaknesses of European mediation, was not blocked as much by the Macedonians (it is said that President Trajkovski had no negative reaction in the beginning) as much as by the British Ambassador Dickinson and his useless colleague US Ambassador Einick." 5. "Such a stance by the US served only as encouragement to those who think that the Macedonian issue will be solved by war, and to those in the region who think that the time has come to re-negotiate all contesting issues, from the Croat canton in Bosnia to northern Kosovo." 6. "Second, the points of the consensus brought to the surface the Albanian engagement as pro-European and reformist. And three, it paved the way for the conflict to be demilitarized and take on the pace of a political solution." "From the stance when three months ago the EU blamed 'Albanian terrorism' for for instability in Macedonia, now there are no serious disagreements regarding demilitarization and negotiations between 'Albanian terrorists' and NATO." "On the other hand, disagreements now prevail amidst the Macedonian ethnic corps. The lack of a Slav Macedonian leadership has brought to the surface a series of negative moves. First, the lack of consensus among Macedonians led to a lot of crazy ideas. For example, a militant concept for solving the conflict with violence, by a country and a nation that has never won a war. Or, the concept of ethnic division between Slavs and Albanians in the future. Or, an anti - American and anti - NATO concept of seeking to create outmoded ideological or pan-Slavic alliances." "Today in Macedonia, as a result of these past three months, it seems that only Albanians are engaged in saving Macedonia's integrity." "The Macedonians are engaged in a status-quo, while the European political intervention is engaged in formulas applicable in every country at every time: "peace, dialogue and democracy". Until now, there is not a single piece of paper that would present the European vision for bringing order in Macedonia." 7. "For Macedonia Albanians, this means the creation of an ethnically-clean territory between Tetovo and Gostivar, and a fight to control something between Skopje and Kumanovo. It also implies the question: what should we do with this territory: who should it join in order to live in a 'national country', Albania or Kosovo?" "For the Macedonians, this means not only war for every field and narrow street inhabited by Albanians, but also confrontation with another question: if a division from one neighbor takes place, who will make an agreement with the other three?" "Where is the end of the political fields with the Serbs, Bulgarians, and Greeks?" "And what kind of an experience would this be for an ordinary citizen who accidentally happens to be Albanian or Macedonian, or Roma?" "However, this is not the end of the consequences. For Kosovar Albanians, this is a violent indicator for northern Kosovo. Both Albanians and Serbs living in northern Kosovo could understand the developments in Macedonia as a signal that the time has come to remake maps. That the Mitrovica issue has to be solved now or never." "And of course, such a signal is long-awaited by certain circles in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ethnic division will have been installed as a principle." "In such a configuration, we will have retired diplomats or politicians of passions from the past century saying that the time has come for a new Berlin Congress." 8. "The European envoy appointed two days ago should by all means have his US partner. The US Government should appoint a person that it trusts. This envoy, along with his European colleague, should put forward three basic duties: "One: how to make sure that the ceasefire would become permanent and from this stage to move on to the stage of demilitarizing the conflict." "Two, how to organize negotiations (and not dialogue, as it is called now) with their full mediation (and not 'facilitation', as it is called now), which would last for a limited period of time and would treat subjects previously determined by the mediations. Those subjects would deal with reforms in Macedonia and the advancement of ethnic equality in the country." "Three, the moment they fulfill these duties, they should secure a long-term international, political and security presence in Macedonia." "In the beginning of this war, I had emphasized that if there is no
reform movement in Macedonia, it would be replaced with a revolutionary
movement. It is a matter of weeks, I guess days, when radical solutions
will be ready to enter force. The only good news is that, based on the
talks held these last days, this message was delivered by European
capitols and Washington." |