|
UNMIK- KFOR-UNHCR-OSCE-EU Briefing, 24 May 2001 Simon Haselock President Kostunica ' Remarks Yesterday. Mr. Haekkerup would like to welcome President Kostunica's remarks reported in the press that he and the Serbian Government would recommend to Kosovo Serbs that they should register as voters for the Kosovo elections. This is good news. He also notes that his statement did not commit to recommending final participation in the elections themselves but recognizes that by encouraging Serbs in Kosovo to register they will be able to keep their options open. Clearly from our point of view, we believe that all citizens of Kosovo should participate fully in the 17 November elections. Only in this way will they have any direct say in how their day-to-day affairs here will be managed and have a stake in the protection of the rights and interests. In this context we also acknowledge President Kostunica's remarks about the Constitutional Framework itself. Clearly these illustrate the dilemma that we face that on the one side we have Kosovar Albanian Politicians saying that it does not go far enough and on the otehrhand Serb Politicians saying that it goes too far. As can be seen the Constitutional Framework was certainly not approved in Belgrade. Grenade attacks There were two grenade attack reports. One was a grenade attack in Vushtri against a Roma property. There was also a report that an explosion had occurred in the yard of a Kosovar Albanian in Morine Village - near Skendaraj. There were no injuries reported in either case. Copenhagen. The SRSG flies to Copenhagen tomorrow afternoon. He will be out of Kosovo for a week. He will return to Pristina a week from Monday, on June 4th. Visit of Canadian FM Canadian Foreign Minister John Manley will visit Kosovo this Sunday. He will meet with PDSRSG Gary Matthews at 230p. There will be a press opportunity after the meeting at approximately 315p in the lobby area of this building. All press is encouraged to attend. Mr. Manley will have a second press availability at the Orthodox Monastery in Gracanica at 5p after his meeting with representatives of the Serb National Council. University of Pristina Please be reminded that today at 2p, the Department of Education will hold a press conference on the future of Pristina University. It will be in the Rectorate conference room of Pristina University. KPS Recruitment UNMIK Police has announced that they will be recruiting an additional 1500 KPS officers during the next year. There is a press release on this but the application process will start on 4 June and continue until the end of July. The selection process will end on 15 September. Constitutional Framework We will be launching an awareness campaign on the Constitutional Framework this weekend. There will be a series of Posters and TV and Radio Spots which will start appearing over the weekend. The aim is to increase awareness and to gradually provide additional information to explain it in a simple and non-legalistic way. After the posters and the PSA's, there will be a leaflet provided which will be handed out and then before the end of next month hopefully everybody will have delivered to their door an explanative booklet exactly what it means to everybody. The logo represents the Assembly. The slogan is "The Way Ahead." You will see this from now attached to all information about the Constitutional Framework.
Sector Bravo The relaxation of Sector Bravo of the Ground Safety Zone began at 0800 this morning with the advance elements of the FRY Joint Security Forces moving, simultaneously, into the northern and southern parts of the sector. KFOR JIC teams were in place to monitor events prior to the start of
the operation and An anti-tank mine exploded near Preshevo, in the Ground Safety Zone, at about 7 o'clock this morning and there were some minor skirmishes overnight. However, with a total of over 450 ethnic Albanian fighters having handed themselves and their weapons in to KFOR, plus those that have given themselves up to the FRY forces or simply gone home, we do not anticipate any significant resistance. We urge the people living inside the Ground Safety Zone to remain in their homes and villages and to co-operate with the returning Joint Security Forces. We have a good plan, our people are in place and prepared and we have every confidence that the relaxation of Sector Bravo will go smoothly, paving the way for a better future for the people of the region. The relaxation of Sector B is one more step in the right direction. A move away from violence and extremism, and towards a more peaceful and prosperous future for all the people of this region. But there is still a long way to go and we urge people to be patient and to show restraint if their hopes and aspirations are not realized overnight.
Arrivals from Preshevo Valley Some people have continued arriving from Preshevo valley into Kosovo over the past two days. On Tuesday 132 people entered and on Wednesday 85, mainly crossing over previously used as well as newly discovered unofficial border crossings. The total number of arrivals from Preshevo since 13 May is 3553. Since the weekend several people have been reported returning as well. There is however still fear and confusion and people are afraid of what will happen as of tomorrow 24 May and afterwards. The situation remains very confusing, both for the local population who has no idea what to expect, as for our field teams who are confronted with new arrivals at several different places at the same time. There was a minimal "go-and-pick up-your-furniture" movement going back reported through Lovce unofficial border crossing. People allegedly returned to Madjere and Ranatovc to pick up items from their houses, which they feared could be looted during the days to come. UNHCR's field presence in Preshevo Valley has been increased in order to monitor the developments in the area and provide reassurances to the local population. UNHCR is positive about the developments in the Preshevo Valley region
during the past week and has seen commitment from both the FRY and
Albanian parties to find a peaceful and just solution to the region. UNHCR
will however - during this crucial period- continue to call for constraint
on all sides and to focus on putting the right conditions in place for a
safe and sustainable return of the civilian population to the area. The
implementation of some of the critical confidence building measures by the
Serbian authorities will be critical for reducing the overall confusion,
fear and distrust of the local Albanian population, that
is Arrivals from fYROM A small number of people continued entering through Blace's official border crossing into Kosovo, 15 on Tuesday and on Wednesday 17 bringing the total of arrivals from fYROM up to 9,277 since May and 18,277 since February. The unofficial crossing remained inaccessible for potential arrivals ever since the shooting incident on Friday. The presence of Macedonian forces was reportedly heavy. As a result of fighting in the Slupcane/ Ruinca area on Monday, a total of 60 people have so far crossed through the mountains during Monday and Tuesday night into Gnilane AOR. Several of these arrivals were wounded following the attacks, which hit their private houses. UNHCR's field teams are standing by at night as well these days, as there are many unconfirmed rumours that people will cross from both Preshevo and fYROM. Indeed we have received initial reports, to be confirmed later, of several hundred arrivals from the northern part of GSZ sector "B" during last night. Laura O'Mahony The Central Election Commission (CEC) has approved the ground rules, which will govern the conduct and campaign activities of those contesting this year's elections to Kosovo's new central assembly. Electoral Rule No. 1/2001 comes into effect immediately and will remain in force until the very end of the electoral process. The Code of Conduct applies to political parties, coalitions, candidates and their supporters and it is key to ensuring that the entire electoral process meets international standards. It is designed to ensure that the political entities contesting the elections, as well as their supporters, conduct their campaigns in a law-abiding and democratic manner. Its aim is to prevent violence, intimidation and corruption from marring the election campaign. All political entities, which apply to contest this year's elections must agree to respect it. Any political entity found to have breached the rule will be sanctioned. There is one significant change in the new Code of Conduct. This year, the political entities will be obliged to give 5 days (120 hours) advance notice - as opposed to 4 days (96 hours) - of any public meetings or events they intend to hold so that adequate security arrangements can be put in place by the police authorities. This new time frame will give the parties more time to rearrange their schedules if a meeting has to be cancelled. For their part, the police authorities are obliged to do their best to respond to the political entities within 48 hours. There is a press release on this outside. At the moment, we only have the finalised version of the rule in English. That's also outside. As soon as we have the translations, we will make them available to you. At its meeting yesterday, the CEC also approved two other rules : Rule #2 on the Election Complaints and Appeals sub-Commission and Rule # 3 on the certification process for the political entities wishing to contest the elections. I'm not going to give you details on those right now because I don't want to overload you with election-related news today. But we will issue a press release covering the certification process tomorrow, Friday. And another on the ECAC on Monday. Kosovo's political parties will be briefed on the new Code of Conduct, as well as the certification process for this year's elections, at a meeting of the Political Party Consultative Forum this Friday. This weekend, the OSCE is hosting a two-day seminar for women involved in politics. The seminar will bring together 40 women from across Kosovo's political spectrum. Its aim is to strengthen the voice of women politicians in Kosovo by encouraging them to take a more active part in the whole process of governance and establishing real democracy here. Members of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly will be coming to Pristina to share their experiences with the women from Kosovo. The seminar will take place on Saturday and Sunday at the OSCE headquarters here. It starts at 10am and finishes at 5pm and is open to the media. There is a press advisory outside. If you're interested in covering it, please contact the OSCE press office and we'll put you in touch with the relevant people. Finally, I would like to take issue with some of the statements attributed to AAK leader, Ramush Haradinaj, and PDK secretary, Ramadan Avdiu, which appeared in Wednesday's edition of "Kosova Sot." The article in question concerned the Out-of-Kosovo voting process and it contained some serious misinformation about it. Such statements are a disservice to the people of Kosovo. All they do is create confusion. In response, I would like to make the following corrections now - seeing as OSCE was not given an opportunity to respond to the statements made by Mr Haradinaj and Mr Avdiu in the article itself. Voting for this year's elections will take place inside Kosovo and outside of Kosovo - the latter by postal vote and by in-person voting. The same voter eligibility criteria will apply to everyone. That includes provision for some people to cast their ballots outside of Kosovo. The IAC members - of which Mr Haradinaj - is one, have agreed on this. It is also enshrined in the Constitutional Framework and I quote: Chapter 9 : section 1.3 (c) - "each person having attained 18 years of age on the day of the election and satisfying the other criteria of eligibility to vote as applied to the municipal elections held in Kosovo on 28 October 2000 shall be entitled to vote." You'll recall that one of those criteria is that a person must be able to prove that they were resident in Kosovo on 1 January 1998. Last year, the OSCE succeeded in keeping the incidence of fraud to a minimum - including fraud with regard to the voter's list. We will be making equally strenuous efforts to prevent any kind of fraud again this year. As you will recall from last year, OSCE staff were able to establish the eligibility to vote of many people - many Kosovo Albanian people - who had lost their identity documents or who had had those documents confiscated. We also have very good capacity to establish if the opposite is the case. In other words, establishing whether someone is trying to cheat and get on the voter's list illegally. The AAK and the PDK are not organising the process of updating the voter's list. Nor are they responsible for organising the elections themselves. The OSCE, with guidance from the CEC, is. OSCE will decide - in co-operation with Pillar 2 in Kosovo and IOM outside Kosovo - where registration centres and polling centres will be located. Not the AAK. And not the PDK. Last year, you will recall, the Milosevic regime in Belgrade vetoed the idea of opening polling centres in Serbia proper or Montenegro. This year, that particular problem is no longer an issue. This year, arrangements will be made to enable eligible voters to vote in Serbia and Montenegro - if there is a need. Just as arrangements will be made for eligible voters elsewhere. In other words, if eligible voters from the Kosovo Serb community who currently live in Serbia proper or Montenegro decide to take part in the process, they will be facilitated. If someone who is eligible to vote returns to Kosovo, they will have the opportunity to have that reflected in the updated voter's list and cast their vote here. Alternatively, should they decide to remain outside of Kosovo - for security reasons, for example - they will not have to return to Kosovo. We - OSCE - will go to them. The bottomline, however, is that the possibility of fraud will be
eliminated by very Mike Todd Memorandum of Understanding Signed A Memorandum of Understanding was signed this week between the Customs services of Albania and UNMIK to develop better cooperation and assistance between the two organizations. Strongly supporting the new agreement, Jim Timms, of the European Union funded customs assistance mission to Kosovo CAM-K, has stated: "This memorandum of understanding is another important step in enhancing UNMIK Customs relationships with neighbouring states, improving administrative co-operation, which, in this case, amongst other things, will lead to greater border control and a reduction in smuggling and organised crime." With this agreement both parties commit themselves to inform each other on illegal movement of specific products that can endanger security, the environment and public health. This inter-regional co-operation underpins the European Union's
approach to, and aspirations for, South Eastern Europe as a whole, as part
of the Stabilisation and Association Process and the long-term plans for
the regions' future integration into the Union. Water Sector A media advisory was issued yesterday by the Public Utilities Department (PUD): at today's regular monthly conference for all Water and Waste Directors of Public Utility Service Providers (PUSPs) in Kosovo, Mr. Richard Lacey, International Interim Director of Batllava Water Company, is giving a special presentation on the plans for Battllava. Major developments will take place over the coming months in the water sector, PUD are presently planning awareness raising activities to inform on exactly what will be happening. Macro Economic Analysis At the CFA preparations are nearing completion for the undertaking of a Kosovo-wide survey of businesses to be conducted in the near future, in conjunction with the Statistics Institute of Kosovo. The survey is an integral part of ongoing investigations into the
macroeconomic situation in Kosovo, including current work on the
establishment of what is called a 'market basket' of household goods,
which can be used to construct a consumer price index. The CFA's
Kosovo's economy that can better inform future economic policy. Questions: Q: You say there will be polling places in Montenegro and Serbia. Are these Kosovo elections or are they Yugoslav elections? LM: Well, that I would have to refer to my colleagues in Belgrade. We are basically the Mission in Kosovo. This is our only jurisdiction. So as far as anything that has got to do with Belgrade and elections in Serbia proper, I would have to refer you to my colleagues in Belgrade. Q: You say people shouldn't be afraid of FRY forces. Give us one good reason other than they have a news government. RB: We understand the apprehension that still exists about the FRY forces but there is a clear change through the FRY forces as a result of a change in the regime in Belgrade. As far as a specific instance in concerned, I think the re-taking of the village of Oraovica last week; it is a very good example of that. The operation there was conducted in what we would call a classic counter-insurgency operation. The civilians were told what they needed to do, to stay in their houses, to throw out any weapons that they had. They followed those instructions. The operation then was conducted with complete minimal loss of life, no civilian casualties, minimal damage to property and indeed minimal casualties amongst the rebels themselves. Once the operation was completed the Serbian forces moved in with plumbers and electrical workers to re-establish those vital utilities, to allow the people then to get on with their lives. I think that is a very good example of what the FRY forces are doing and the people living close to the administrative boundaries and indeed inside the GSZ should take comfort from that. Q: How long can you control FRY forces in the Ground Safety
Zone? Q: Are you planning to extend the UCPMB amnesty? RB: No. COMKFOR made it very clear last Wednesday when he made his initial statement that the relaxation of these powers of arrest would only apply up until the beginning of this operation. That operation began at 8a this morning and we have now reverted to our original "screen and detain" policy as opposed to the "screen and release" policy. Q: In the Constitutional Framework the SRSG has a lot more power that the locally elected officials, yet the Serbs say the Albanians have to much power. Please respond. SH: The relative distribution of power within the Constitutional Framework has been something that has been discussed at great lengths. That actually was not one of the main issues that was under controversy amongst the politicians of all sides who were involved in the negotiations. The aim has been to give substantial powers for internal affairs back to Kosovar leaders and politicians. The point is that whilst the UN has the mandate to be, if you like, the protectors of Kosovo under Resolution 1244, the UN will require to retain powers unto itself to make sure that it can guide, influence and continue the process. The most important thing is this is about internal powers. There are going to be powers given to Kosovo leaders and politicians to deal with internal affairs. The things that the SRSG and the UN will retain largely refer to matters of security, which also involve NATO of course and not just the UN, and maters of external affairs. Until the final status of Kosovo is established, the UN will be responsible for matters of external relations. These are the two areas where the SRSG will hold onto extensive powers. I don't think that in substance we have seen any major disagreement with that. There has been some discussion afterwards on the relative level of power held by him, but the real power to govern the matters of Kosovo citizens will be given back to Kosovo leaders and politicians. I don't see that as being a matter of particular controversy. The issues that have been controversial are the questions of referendum, how long it is going to last and all the ones that you know well. Q: Should we believe the Yugoslav authorities and their agreements, especially in light of Mr. Covic's recent comments? RB: The question of Dr. Covic's plans on the future of Kosovo is not really for me to answer. They are political questions and should be addressed to the political arm. In terms of should you trust the Serbian forces, from what we are seeing the way the Serbian forces are now conducting operations, I think there is real opportunity to show some trust. Probably the bottom line here, the most important thing is that we cannot move forward unless there is some degree of trust on both sides and a real effort of reconciliation and tolerance. This is a good first step in that direction. Q: Do you expect refugees to continue to enter Kosovo from Preshevo
Valley even though the border is closed? RB: The border crossing into the Preshevo Valley have been closed as part of our plan primarily for the protection of the people moving from Kosovo into the Preshevo Valley. We don't want people going into an area that could be dangerous. There is no restriction on movement from East to West. Q: How long will the border remain closed? RB: As it lies in the plan, the restriction of movement from West
to East will only last as long as the relaxation of Sector Bravo takes and
that is just a matter of days in the planning. With the ethnic
Albanian armed groups having laid down their arms, especially in the south
section of this, we expect it to happen reasonably quickly. Of
course as with any military plan it remains flexible, so if the
opportunity does arise to lift that restriction earlier, I am sure COMKFOR
will look at it very seriously. |