19 November 2002

CONTENTS

UN will continue to support Kosovo, says UN SG Kofi Annan (all dailies)

All dailies carry reports on the visit of the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

All dailies reported that SG Annan met yesterday with SRSG Michael Steiner, Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova, Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi, Kosovo Assembly President Nexhat Daci and Povratak Coalition leader Rada Trajkovic. "Since my last visit, two years ago, Kosovo has come a long way, as is plain to see in areas ranging from new roads to freshly elected municipal assemblies," he said.

SG Annan said that even though Kosovo has done a lot, the real and most difficult period for Kosovo starts now, when the rule of law must be institutionalized and mutual trust built between all Kosovar citizens.

All dailies reported that Annan promised the families of the missing persons that he would help in shedding light on the fate of their loved ones. The relatives of the missing persons had gathered in front of the UNMIK headquarters to seek his help. "We understand your problems and your sorrow troubles us. Later I will meet with your representatives and we will try to do more. My wife and insist on this," he said.

All dailies also carry the speech that SG Annan gave at The Art Gallery of Kosovo last night where six Kosovar exhibited their work: Ibrahim Kodra, Muslim Mulliqi, Agim Çavdarbasha, Gjelosh Gjokaj, Xhevdet Ferri and Tahir Emra.

"I cannot imagine a country more beautiful than this," said Annan and added "I can think of no better place for us to come together than this art gallery, for there is surely no language that speaks more powerfully of our common humanity than the language of art. "The main priority for Kosovar citizens is to embrace humanism and the cultural diversity as a source of strength and beauty," added Annan.

"Since my last visit two years ago, Kosovo has come a long way, as is plain to see in areas ranging from new roads to freshly elected municipal assemblies. This was made possible by working in partnership, partnership among international organizations here, and even more important, partnership between the international community and Kosovo's leaders, new institutions and people," continued Annan.

"Let me thank my Special Representative, Michael Steiner, and all his colleagues in UNMIK, OSCE and EU, as well in KFOR, for their contributions. I would also like to thank all the political leaders, religious leaders and members of civil society who worked with UNMIK from the very beginning, including the joint administration, right through to the establishment of Kosovo's own institutions," added Annan. "The international community will not shirk its duty to help you achieve a multi-ethnic, stable and fully functioning Kosovo where all people can live in security and dignity".

Among the many guests at the gallery were present Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi, Kosovo Assembly President Nexhat Daci, PDK chairman Hashim Thaçi, AAK chairman Ramush Haradinaj, Oliver Ivanovic and Gojko Savic.

All dailies also reported that Nane Annan, the spouse of UN SG Kofi Annan, visited the Center for the Rehabilitation of Women and Children, where she met Kosovar women. The Center director Flora Brovina informed Nane Annan on the activities of the center. "It is good for me to be here on the first day of my visit to Kosovo. You are a true example of the future society of Kosovo," Mrs. Annan said.

Today UN SG Annan will visit cadets of the Kosovo Police Service at the UNMIK Police Station in northern Mitrovica where they are undergoing field training. Annan will inaugurate a police station in northern Mitrovica, according to local media. Zëri reports that KPS cadets started patrolling in northern Mitrovica yesterday and UNMIK spokesman in Mitrovica, Soji Idowu, confirmed this.

UN SG Annan will visit a return site village of Gornji Makres near Novobrdo where a number of Serbs have returned after fleeing their homes in 1999.

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PM Rexhepi: Kassof proposed meeting with Covic, it wasn't secret (Zëri)

Zëri carries an interview with Prime Minister Rexhepi, where he discusses the meeting that he and Speaker Daci had with Serbian Deputy PM Covic in Luzerne.

After the Luzerne Conference, the first thing that emerged to the surface was the meeting that you and Assembly Speaker Nexhat Daci had with Serbian Deputy PM Covic and Minister Mihajlovic. Was there any meeting and how did it happen?
Yes. Initially we weren't told about such a meeting. During the first part of the Conference, the first day, Mr. Alan Kassof came to me and said that Mr. Covic was willing to publicly apologize about the accusations he had made against me in his letter to Mr. Steiner. I said OK, if Covic wants to publicly apologize that he was misinformed as he said by his intelligence and police service, then I accept his apology as a gesture or a feeling of responsibility for what he had wrote to Steiner.

Later on, Mr. Kassof and his group again insisted to organize a meeting with Mr. Covic and to eventually talk about a field of cooperation between Kosovo and Serbia. Even though we said it was still too early for such a thing, due to the respect for Mr. Kassof and the roundtable, we agreed to meet and to determine the fields of joint interest between Kosovo and Serbia, toward integrations in the European Union, and we went to this meeting together with Assembly Speaker Nexhat Daci.

Kassof made the request to both you and Mr. Daci?
Yes, and we went to this meeting. From the Serb side, there were Covic and Mihajlovic. Mr. Kassof and his staff and an interpreter in Albanian were also present.

Can you tell us about the content of the meeting?
We talked about issues, which I later presented at the press briefing, because my goal was that there shouldn't be any speculations surrounding this meeting and that I should simply make them public at the press briefing. Therefore, this was not the goal of a secret meeting or to hold talks on something which is not within our mandates, but on what is defined in the program of the government, and the strategy of the government is to achieve progress with neighboring countries in economy, trade, infrastructure, freedom of movement, etc. And we also asked Serbia to return the documents they took away when they left Kosovo, be it municipal documents, cadastre, identification documents, etc.

When did this meeting take place?
On the first day of the Luzerne Conference.

Did the meeting tackle any other issue?
We talked issues that I mentioned earlier and there was nothing more. We also said during the meeting that we don't have the mandate to talk on behalf of Kosovo about political issues, the issue of Kosovo's final political status at such meetings and conferences. We also said that when the time comes to talk on Kosovo's final status it is inevitable and one cannot imagine a dialogue without the involvement of the US and its political role, because we can talk for 20 years but we can never agree.

Whereas, the Serb side, in the very beginning of the meeting said that Mr. Covic is authorized to represent Serbia's interests, whereas during the press briefing that was held on the second day of the conference, they kind of withdrew from the initial conclusion that Covic represents Serbia's interests, maybe due to the pressure applied upon them by their own circles, by saying that 'we don't have the mandate to talk about these issues, this remains for later phases'.

How did the meeting last? Was it inside the hotel where the conference took place?
The meeting lasted approximately 15 minutes, including two or three cases when there was interpretation from one language to the other. It was held inside the hotel.

Let us suppose that UNMIK supported such a meeting, but we want to know whether Mr. Steiner made eventual suggestions to you and Mr. Daci to attend that meeting?
Mr. Kassof was the direct initiator if the meeting, whereas later on Mr. Steiner supported my good gesture when I accepted Covic's public apology. However, I want to clarify that I didn't insist on such a meeting, but it was organized by Mr. Kassof, and I think that several international representatives welcomed it as a sign of courtesy.

During the conference, Covic apologized for the letter he had sent to Steiner accusing you when you were appointed Prime Minister. How would you assess Covic's act?
The time when the accusation was made, it had two components; one was the personal component: maybe not him, but certain circles wanted to damage me as an individual and second and more important was the tendency to damage the institution of the Prime Minister to undermine it with such an accusation. However, shortly after, Mr. Steiner called me and said that UNMIK has all the information that there is nothing true in Covic's accusations and UNMIK refuted Covic's accusations. However, Covic was also always behind this accusation and didn't apologize publicly, and he did this in the Luzerne Conference.
In fact, I consider this as personal intolerance that Covic and I had during statements or interviews when I said that without apologizing publicly Covic cannot even think of sitting at the same table with me, and he used this opportunity and apologized in everyone's presence. Therefore, I consider this as his personal act and I agree that tensions between Albanians and Serbs cannot settle down with Covic's apology which is not an apology of Serbs for the crimes committed against Albanians, for all the war crimes, the missing persons and damages. I fully agree with articles that Serbs should publicly apologize to Albanians for the evil things that were inflicted upon them and I also agree that there cannot be talks without a public apology. Let me say again that this is Covic's personal gesture toward me and I have accepted it as such.

You returned from Luzerne on Sunday. How do you perceive the importance of such conferences and meetings, because a similar conference will be held today in the US and do you expect problems, misunderstanding or pressure after the meeting you and Daci had with Covic?
I think that the Luzerne Conference was maybe in favor of the Serbs and they asked for such a conference to be organized in Prishtina and then in Belgrade. We have agreed with this proposal because it is still too early for this and there is no real reason why we should do this because this could in a way be Serbia's political promotion and benefits that could derive from such conferences. Nonetheless, I think that the public opinion in Kosovo was not prepared for a meeting such as this one with Covic at the Luzerne Conference. Maybe even we weren't prepared, but sometimes in such cases certain decisions have to be made, regardless of public opinion because we haven't reach any kind of agreement and we haven't made any decisions, because as I said before it was a meeting on fields of joint interest. We haven't decided on things such as talks on essential issues in Kosovo, but we have talked about fields of joint interests. Therefore the Kosovar public, and maybe even the media, weren't prepared, and that is why everyone gives his/her own commentary on the meeting with Covic.

Do you expect negative reactions from your and Mr. Daci's party for this meeting?
Surely we can expect negative opinions both from my party and Mr. Daci's political party. When I say that the public opinion was not prepared I am referring to the political entities we represent, and other entities from both the political life and the civil society because everyone has his/her own opinions. What is the reality? I think that what we presented are as such, and it is up to them to decide whether they are damaging or positive.

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The reforming of UNMIK (Bota Sot)

Bota Sot carries an editorial which notes 'that the visit of the United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan would surely affect the reform of UNMIK as a natural necessity after three and a half years in Kosovo. Regarded as a visit for the final consolidation of Kosovo's territorial integrity, the visit of Mr. Kofi Annan, will give UNMIK a new quality and full functioning throughout the territory of Kosovo'.

It is known that in UNMIK's work there are frequent efforts to delay and compromise the transfer of competencies from UNMIK into the hands of Kosovar state institutions.

UNMIK has manifested the tendency of challenging Kosovo state institutions, to insult them on every step of the way and to eventually create disagreements with Kosovo state institutions. This phenomenon was noticed even in the leadership of UNMIK with the delays of making official laws that were previously endorsed by the Kosovo Assembly. Such phenomena damaged not only the development of Kosovo but also the international peacekeeping mission in Kosovo and the functioning of UNMIK.

If UNMIK opens its arms to Kosovo state institutions and all factors in Kosovo, surfacing from isolation, showing trust toward Kosovo state institutions, would enable UNMIK to reduce its bureaucracy and the lack of efficiency which would then affect growing results in UNMIK's work and the successfulness of processes in Kosovo. Developments are making it clearer that the biggest and crucial weight for establishing the fate of Kosovo lies in the hands of Kosovars.

Only a reformed UNMIK would understand such a role that it should play in Kosovo and would know how to commit to such a role, by becoming a comprising part of the state of Kosovo, whose independence should be made official as soon as possible, because it would be the best thing even for international institutions, first of all for UNMIK. It is understandable that the space for reforms in UNMIK is quite big.

Bugajski: Time has come to make decisions on Kosovo (Zëri)

Zëri carries an interview that Janusz Bugajski, director of the Center for Strategic Studies in Washington gave to the Voice of America, on the eve of the conference 'The future of Kosovo' which will start today in Washington.

Mr. Bugajski what are the objectives of this conference, who is going to participate?
Time has come for a big conference on Kosovo, to further advance the dialogue between Kosovar politicians and American specialist from different NGOs and US government. There are several reason for holding this conference: We are in the middle of the Bush mandate and time has come for some decisions to be made for Kosovo. Second, the Balkans needs stability and full security that is in accordance with the timeframe of talks on the status of Kosovo. Only an independent country could make a more positive contribution. The time has come to end dependence and to look beyond it. We have invited from Kosovo the main political leaders, representatives of governmental organizations, media figures from the US. We have invited officials form the State Department and from other governmental agencies, the Congress, members of the media and businessmen. We expect more than 100 members to attend this conference. We believer that Senator Bob Dole will attend, whom you know was nominated by President Rugova as Kosovo senior representatives in Washington.

You have followed developments in Kosovo and the region for a very long time you have supported effort by Albanians for an independent Kosovo. How would you answer to criticism that says that Kosovo's independence would destabilize the region?
This argument does not stand: The only way to achieve sustainability in the region is for Balkan people to decide on self rule, especially those places that almost have a statehood structure, that aspire to have their own state. I believe that Kosovo fulfills all the conditions for this and I also believe this would help in solving the problem with Belgrade, which would have fewer problems without the issue of Kosovo and would find it easier to go torward Europe. Finally I believe that Kosovo should be in the UN and not a UN presence in Kosovo.

Kosovo's final status depends on many factors. Have Kosovo Albanians accepted what Steiner calls 'standards before status': What is being done to achieve these conditions?
It sounds good as a theory, however with these standards we can go up to a certain point, while in another way, the government can do only what it is allowed, amd the place will develop only as much is allowed. The same thing can be said for economy and security. Therefore I believe that both of these things should be joined: Kosovo's status will determine standards and democratization that will lead toward status which is an ongoing process.

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On the fate, guilt and rumors (Zëri)

Zëri carries an editorial by Blerim Shala who says that news that came from the Albanians and their neighbors conference in Lucerne were contradictory. Shala says that irrational pessimism or optimism is not required in Kosovo, according to him a practical optimism would help to build Kosovo's independence.

One that doesn't know what is happening in Kosovo and elsewhere could easily be deceived with the news coming from Lucerne, from the "Albanians and their neighbors" conference. On one hand from the Albanian politicians there came the news of reconciliation and opening of the issue on Kosovo's final status as a necessity of the time. On the other hand we were informed about Prime Minister Rexhepi and Assembly chairman Daci's meeting with Serbia's deputy PM Covic. Thus one could conclude that wrongly and ahead of time negotiations on Kosovo started in Lucerne.

Certainly it is another issue how things are commented on in Kosovo. Now, based on some media, the public meeting was transformed into a secret meeting and in that case one can imagine speculations and rumors in Kosovo. Despite all this we have to calm down: It is not the Lucerne conference with an exchange of opinions on the situation in the region that will determine our fate.

But we have been for a long time more interested to find the fault (for failure) than our fate. Sometimes we get the impression that many Kosovar politicians and intellectuals are still not aware of our present position. In fact there are twin supporters of two statements: according to the first one everything is over and whatever we do is a waste. According to the second ones, everything was clear and it remains only to formalize Kosovo's independence. In reality we are dealing with pessimistic and optimistic irrationality. We need a practical optimism of the day-to-day building of Kosovo's independence.

Rugova does what he wants; however we need something new
Adem Demaçi says that international community is seeking solutions and that it is very elastic and skillful. Europe has a great experience and doesn't easily give up its intentions, but if it is stopped or if it meets some resistance, it immediately escapes, reports Epoka e Re.

According to Demaçi, Serbs want to create tensions and storms to tell the world that they are in trouble due to the Albanians. He says that 20 percent of Kosovo's territory is actually under direct occupation of Serbia. These territories are leading an ex-territorial life. Serbia is directly interfering in Kosovo's internal affairs while Kosovo's friends are standing aside and watching, and while our politicians with their low awareness still think that it is easy and don't organize.

Demaçi considers it not a big issue that Covic apologized to Rexhepi. He thinks that Covic should apologize for Serb crimes in Kosovo, but he says that their aim is to make the crimes equal. He talked against Rexhepi because he didn't want him as prime minister. He tried. This is the policy Serbs learned from Greece, says Demaçi.

According to Demaçi two major issues became obvious at Luzerne: Internationals will try to convince Albanians to accept Resolution 1244, which means acceptance of the Serbia-Montenegro sovereignty over Kosovo. If that doesn't work then internationals will gather neighbors to achieve in some other way what is written in that resolution. He says that internationals have chosen those who obey to be on Kosovo delegations while those who oppose them are excluded completely. This selected delegation will be forced to sign different agreements, which would not be in favor of Kosovo and would not accept Kosovo's sovereignty and integrity.

Demaçi speaks further about the dissatisfaction of citizens, the failure in municipal leadership and the responsibility of leaders.

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After exhumations in Serbia are finished, victims could rise to 5,500 (Zëri)

UNMIK Office for Missing Persons and Forensic Unit said that by 8 December all bodies would be exhumed that were found in individual or group graves in Serbia or Kosovo. The Head of this office, Jose-Pablo Baraybar, said that during this year 350 bodies were exhumed and that exhumations are continuing, reports Zëri.

"In Serbia, in Batajnica, based on the information from Serb side there are close to 700 bodies buried," said Baraybar and added, "The Joint Commission for Cooperation between UNMIK Police and Serbian police has exhumed 50-75% of the bodies".

Out of 350 bodies found at Batajnica, Baraybar said that 171 have been examined and this process is continuing. Meanwhile this office has information on the existence of another 50 suspected sites of individual or mass graves. Baraybar said that every suspected site doesn't contain bodies, however they are conducting investigations to see if there are bodies in those sites. Baraybar believes that these sites will be examined by the end of this year.

Temporary Media Commissioner fines Bota Sot and 24 Orë (Epoka e Re)

Temporary Media Commissioner refused on Monday Bota Sot's delayed complaint against the fine of 17.500 euros, based on the decision made on 3 September 2002 by the Media Board regarding Xhavit Haliti and Sali Lajçi. This board concluded that Bota Sot has violated Regulation 2000/37 and its Code of Conduct. The board required the payment of the fine within 15 days. The same board made another decision to fine 24 Orë 5,000 euro for Tahir Musa and Sadik Musaj, cases from 25 September 2002. This board considers that 24 Orë violated Regulation 2000/37 and its Code of Conduct, says Epoka e Re.