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CONTENTS: 30 October 2001 SHALA: REFUSING THE REALITY
Zëri on page one carried a column by its editor-in-chief Blerim Shala commenting on the difference between Kosovar Albanian politicians and Belgrade politicians. Shala wrote: The main problem of the people in this part of Europe is that they cannot face reality. We can criticize Kosovar Albanian politicians for many things, but not for this. A majority of them are very well aware of the role of the West, UNMIK and KFOR. These politicians are trying to become like the Western leaders, to understand that respecting minorities' rights and contributing to stabilize the region have great importance for Kosovo and the West. They have many faults, but they are trying. We should not forget the fact that they contributed to advancing the position of the minorities in the Constitutional Framework and achieve peace in Presevo Valley and Macedonia. It is another story in Belgrade. With their actions in the last three weeks on the issue of the Serb participation in the elections, a majority of Belgrade officials have proved that they are not capable of understanding the new reality in Kosovo and the region after 1999. The authorities are blackmailing UNMIK for an issue that is in the interest of Kosovo Serbs. A similar thing can be said about Macedonian politicians in Skopje. With the new definition of the preamble and the indictments raised against the 224 former NLA soldiers, they are acting as if nothing has ever happened in Macedonia. Such acts do not contribute to the stability in the region.
In a press briefing, KPS Spokesman Refki Morina said that the KPS is doing everything possible to improve the security situation in Kosovo and make it normal, reported Bota Sot on page three. Morina discussed the incidents in Gjilan, in which a KPS member was lightly wounded and another in Peja, where a KPS officer was shot at. According to Morina, the way to check crimes, such as drugs, prostitution and alcoholism, is by increasing cooperation with Kosovars.
Following the incidents that took place on 11 September in Washington and New York, many Albanian citizens of Peja, with tears in their eyes went out on the streets and lit candles for the victims of the nation that they consider to be their savior. They could not believe their eyes when a group of young men with beards came along, blew the candles and ordered the crowd to disperse. But this was ignored and leading to a fight breaking out, in which the men with beards beat up the people who were expressing sympathy for the victims of the New York attacks. The men were separated only after the police arrived, which resulted in the young men with beards fleeing and the others spending the night in jail, reported Koha Ditore on page one and three. Everyone was ashamed of this unexpected incident and wanted to forget it as soon as possible. Ever since the conflict between the KLA and the Serb security forces, Albanians have seen Americans as allies, who led the NATO bombing campaign, thus bringing to an end the Belgrade regime's repression of Albanians. Following the attacks in America, the greatest fear of the Albanians was that people might come to believe that they support terrorism because of the large number of Muslims in Kosovo. This indeed did happen. Immediately after the New York events, Serbian and Macedonian media began publishing stories which said that the KLA and NLA were allies of Osama Bin Laden and that both were helped by him. "We are all aware of the fact that we have fought against Serb repression. Therefore, Serbina and Macedonian accusations are simply ridiculous," stressed former KLA Spokesman Jakup Krasniqi in an interview to Koha Ditore. Krasniqi refuted all chances of KLA consisting of holy warriors (mujahideen). "People should know that Albanians are more European than Eastern," stressed Krasniqi. NLA's political representative Ali Ahmeti also refuted that the mujahideen had any connection with the group he leads. On 11 September, the KPC troops declared that they would do anything to help their "American brothers". "We owe a lot to America," stressed KPC General Agim Ceku. Rumor has it that many Islamic organizations, which came to Kosovo after the war, were trying to impose Islam among the citizens. Nevertheless, the purpose of the propaganda regarding Kosovo Albanians being implicated in Islamic fundamentalist activities is to persuade Kosovars from not working with the representatives of various Islamic organizations and others of the same religion. "I know that they are not to blame," stressed an Albanian young man. "I pray to God every day, but this does not mean that I am a fundamentalist. If America ever needs warriors, I would immediately send my two sons to fight for them. Americans are our saviors," said an old man, who goes to the mosque every day.
UNMIK and OSCE officials confirmed that the general elections in Kosovo will take place with or without Serbs. "It is hard for us to make all election preparations in two weeks. It just might happen that we are unable to organize elections in Serbia and Montenegro," OSCE Spokeswoman Claire Trevena said, reported Zëri on page three. She said they have not yet reached the limit but they will if Belgrade continues postponing the decision on whether Kosovo Serbs will participate in the elections or not. Until Belgrade gives the green light, OSCE will not be able to begin making the preparations for the elections in Serbia and Montenegro. "Elections in Kosovo will be valid. However, the problem lies in the technical preparations," stressed Trevena. The technical preparations for the voting by 100,000 Serbs and Montenegrins in Serbia and Montenegro will begin taking place only if Belgrade decides on Serb participation in the elections in Kosovo. We do not know whether this "threat" of the OSCE about not organizing elections out of Kosovo, will influence the meeting that is taking place today in which UNMIK Administrator Hans Haekkerup, Serbian Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic, Serb experts and UNMIK experts will participate. According to Serbian Foreign Minister for Economic Relations, Goran Pitic, the Stability Pact is holding 434 million Euro meant for Yugoslavia, as "hostage". Out of this amount, 140 million Euro will be given to Yugoslavia if Yugoslavia decides to appeal to Kosovo Serbs to participate. Two days ago, UNMIK failed to reach a decision with Yugoslav authorities because it demanded to govern Kosovo with UNMIK. This demand was not in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1244. According to UNMIK Spokeswoman Susan Manuel, UNMIK and Serb experts are working on a joint statement to appeal to Serbs to participate in the elections. Senior Serb official Dragoljub Micunovic came to the conclusion that it would be better for Kosovo Serbs to participate in the elections. Meanwhile, Serbia's Commissariat for Refugees is willing to come to Kosovo and evaluate the situation. According to OSCE, time is ticking away and this must be the last week for Belgrade to change its mind and call for participation. "Belgrade's decision regarding Serb participation depends on the results of the joint statement," stressed Serb Federal Minister for Minorities and member of the Serb group for compiling the statement, Rasim Lajic. "There is no time left for Haekkerup to keep his word. If he ever had any intention of doing this, he would need at least half a year," stated Marko Jaksic, a member of the Coordinating Council for Kosovo. According to him, Haekkerup was not capable of assuring free movement for Kosovo Serbs and stop the violence against them, let alone assure the return of the 200,000 Serbs to Kosovo. "The Serb participation in the general elections would be only a prelude to establishing another Albanian state in the Balkans," stressed Jaksic. "Security" is the main refrain being repeated over and over by Yugoslav officials and local Kosovo Serb residents. In a meeting yesterday in the village of Ulgar (Fushe Kosove), the Serb Democratic Committee (SDV") decided that more than 30,000 members of this community should not participate in the elections because "this would legalize the establishment of institutions out of Serbia and Yugoslavia." Meanwhile, the Serb leader Momcilo Trajkovic said that Serb participation in the elections depends on UNMIK accepting the main points of the Yugoslav statement. The statement says that Kosovo's future parliament will not declare Kosovo independent, Albanians will not be in a majority in parliament and will allow Serbs to govern themselves in regions where they are in a majority. According to Trajkovic, it is UNMIK's fault that Serbs are in a dilemma and do not know whether they should participate in the elections. UNMIK has only solved the problem of the Albanians and forgotten all about the other minorities.
Koha Ditore on page three carried a commentary by Agron Bajrami subtitled "How can one understand the scandalous intervention of OSCE Head of Mission in the election campaign". Bajrami wrote: "The Democratic League of Kosovo is a party with a proud history, with a leader, Dr. Rugova, who symbolizes Kosovo's needs… It has tolerance, peace, patience, dignity and an orientation in euro-Atlantic structures," was a statement heard Saturday during the election rally of the party in Pristina. Nothing unusual, we would say, for a campaign in which all parties have proved that they have an extremely pompous people, when it comes to praising oneself. However, these words did not come from a candidate or a party supporter. These words were spoken by no other than the organizer of the elections, OSCE's Daan Everts, as a matter of fact in Albanian… In order to clarify possible misunderstandings, we must emphasize that this commentary doesn't have to do with the truth of Everts' claims but it has exclusively to do with what we consider a flagrant interference in the election campaign. There are some aspects that should be mentioned for the sake of the electorate, the parties and candidates in 17th November elections, including the LDK and Dr. Ibrahim Rugova. Firstly, free elections are held so that the voters can choose "what Kosovo needs", since the electorate is in Kosovo itself. If it was as clear to us, as it is to Everts, on "who symbolizes Kosovo's needs", then what do we need the elections for? Secondly, we don't believe it is fair and democratic for a senior international official, who is also the chief of the mission that organizes elections, to choose who he praises. If Everts, who is also head of the Central Election Commission, couldn't find good words for the other entities, he should have followed the example of the German Office Head, Michael Schmunk, who during the same rally was quoted as saying, "Germany is not involved in the election campaign but we support all parties who are for democracy, tolerance and freedom". If it is Everts' duty to participate in election rallies and praise his hosts, why doesn't he do so for all the political entities? Thirdly, Everts' intervention leaves a bad impression. It creates an impression that the elections are only a body to divide power according to someone's will who doesn't have the right of vote in those elections. If the non-intervention in the elections was one of the reasons why the US President George W. Bush, during his visit to Kosovo, didn't want to meet with Kosovar leaders, though the elections and the election campaign were far away, how does Daan Everts get the right to do so? The Kosovar electorate really doesn't need such opinions by Everts, even if he truly speaks his mind or even when he criticized those he now praises, in an interview for a Vienna paper. Such opinions are damaging because they create an atmosphere in which there are people who think that OSCE supports one entity participating in the elections - and thus damages the credibility of the elections and raises doubts about the fairness of the elections? The OSCE and its head of mission don't have the mandate to tell us who we should vote for. It is our vote, not Evert's. With all due respect though the OSCE and its head of mission are the organizers of the elections, they don't own them. For someone who has still not decided who to vote for, this whole thing is revolting. It is disappointing for a preacher of democracy to intervene so brazenly in what was believed to be a fair game. Daan Everts is the man who heads the OSCE Mission in Kosovo since the end of the war. Convinced that he is charged with being the preacher of democracy, Everts was the international to give lessons in democracy, independent media and the policy of tolerance… However, despite Saturday's lesson, we still have a (unstable) belief that the OSCE has not come to Kosovo to tell us who to vote for… As for Daan Everts, after the great job the OSCE has done in organizing the general elections, it seems that he could use some rest… at least until the end of the electoral process.
Koha Ditore on page 10 carried a commentary by Ylber Hysa, director of the Kosovo Action for Civic Initiatives, in which he wrote: I guess there is no more dilemma on Belgrade's real approach to participation of Serbs in Kosovo elections. This comes to mind especially after the latest meeting between Haekkerup and Kostunica in Belgrade, and after the publication of the transcript of DOS' meeting and Covic's interview in the "Reporter". This is nothing new to those familiar with Belgrade's policy. There are two political addresses in Belgrade for the participation of the Serbs in elections, the same way there are three different addresses of Serb political groups in Kosovo. What UNMIK and the western capitals wanted to do from the very beginning was to form a strategy of uniting all these groups, through a direct dialogue between a Serb representative and the internationals, in order to overcome the barriers to the participation of Serbs in the elections. This determined the entire strategy that resulted in consequent concessions: registration with very favorable and stimulating criteria (170,000 registered?), accepting political parties from Serbia in the Kosovo elections, recognizing Belgrade as a direct negotiator on behalf of Kosovo Serbs, allowing a Belgrade group to monitor the elections without being registered at UNMIK, etc. All this was done with the hope that it would have a positive weffect, but lately it was seen that this entire strategy doesn't lead anywhere. First, it was seen that the meteor Covic, which shone above the Presevo sky has started taking the shape of a meteorite - in Kosovo. In Presevo's case, there were not many differences among rival entities in Belgrade, who refused to take the responsibility of the final outcome. Though Presevo helped Covic, it created jealousy among his political rivals in Belgrade, despite the fact that Covic is far from endangering the position of Serb political leaders. For Covic to leave Kosovo, with the possibility of becoming famous for solving the problem was something that Kostunica wouldn't be able to live with. However, for there must have been bigger reasons for Kostunica's direct intervention in the game. He knows that if the Serbs don't participate in the elections this would not only legitimize the democratic institutions of Kosovo, but would also legitimize the division of Kosovo. Kostunica has not given up on this option, especially after the 11th September events, when he and some conservative nationalist politicians in Macedonia tried to take advantage of the moment thinking that US' attention was directed elsewhere. Recently, in a meeting with Putin, Macedonian President Trajkovski said that the fight against terrorism should expand not only to Afghanistan but also to Macedonia and Chechnya! Kostunica should decide fast whether he is a Yugoslav or a Serb? Another possible reason for Kostunica's direct inclusion in the game might be the fact that almost at the same time when he met Haekkerup, Kostunica also talked with the state delegation of Montenegro regarding the future of "Yugoslavia". Kostunica wants to have two aces in this period of crisis. Especially, when the political war with his rival Djindjic could erupt in the near future. Would he be the president of the state that is breaking up or the future leader of Serbia? In other words, Kostunica should decide fast whether he is a Yugoslav or a Serb? However, what has the international community and UNMIK's Chief Administrator achieved with the strategy of uniting all Serb forces to negotiate on the participation of Serbs in the elections. Regardless of Belgrade's decision, some Kosovo Serbs will take part in the elections. Regardless of Belgrade's decisions, a considerable number of Kosovo Serbs will not participate in the elections. Therefore, it would be more logical if UNMIK and the Quint states adopted a more flexible strategy to stimulate the development of the local representatives of the Serb community in Kosovo and to create an alternative to include them in the elections. No matter how difficult were the last three years of UNMIK's administration, it seems that they were used to create such a climate, despite some initial successes, which were later abandoned. In this aspect, Albanian politicians in Kosovo didn't know how to offer more and how to use the opportunity for a more successful presentation of the strategy that guarantees more rights and a clear and transparent offer. The "melting" of the frozen sovereignty What is the current position of some Serb politicians in Kosovo who are still considering if they should participate in the elections and integrate in Kosovar institutions. Does this mean that they would face direct confrontation with Belgrade and how capable are they to face the current challenge. This is a question for which UNMIK's Chief Administrator should soon find an answer. Even if Belgrade's makes a last-minute decision on the participation of Serbs in the elections, these problems and dilemmas would still exist. This is because, as Covic explained in his last interview, this would be the second half of the soccer game. And if something wasn't clear, it has been by now said and understood by UNMIK Chief Administrator and the OSCE Chief in Kosovo that Belgrade wants to share power with the international administration in Kosovo. In this aspect, Covic has a very interesting thing for the Serb reader: Resolution 1244 assures Yugoslavia's sovereignty over Kosovo but the resolution has at the same time frozen the sovereignty! So, everything is clear. The second half promised by Covic is precisely as follows: efforts to dissolve the sovereignty.
The European Union has seemingly no more doubts on who will decide on the (non) participation of Kosovo Serbs in 17th November elections in Kosovo. Now it is clear to them too that everything will depend not on Belgrade's stance but on the will of Kosovo Serbs, reported Koha Ditore on page three. Therefore, added the paper, the conclusions of the meeting of European Union ministers in Luxembourg called upon Belgrade to encourage Kosovo Serbs to take part in the elections. The EU has also underlined the importance of Belgrade's cooperation with UNMIK in Kosovo. Sources of the paper in the EU claimed that in the meeting it was emphasized several times that if Serbs take part in the elections they could become the second largest group in the future Parliament of Kosovo. This conclusion was drawn after calculations that besides the set-aside seats, the Serbs could win more seats if they choose to participate in the elections and thus become the second force behind the Kosovo's biggest political entity which is expected to win majority in parliament.
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