26 November 2002, Tuesady Edition

CONTENTS

Steiner: Serbs 'should have some credit' and we will work toward unification of the town (Kosova Sot)

Kosova Sot carries the interview that SRSG Michael Steiner gave to the Radio Television of Kosovo - RTK, after he had announced the guidelines for Mitrovica on Monday.

Will citizens from the southern part of town be able to return to their homes in the northern part?
I said we were going to open an office and administration of UNMIK in the northern part to fill this gap, because, due to the last elections, these offices will be open for the people of Mitrovica and…for northern Mitrovica. I must ask something from the population of the southern part. You must understand that it is not easy to have a huge movement of your fellow citizens in the northern part and they admitted this; and they [Serbs] should have some credit and we will work together toward the concrete unification of the town. In the end, they will all be able to return to their homes. I must ask for some patience from the population, and we will make a huge step to change the tendencies and we are trying to make Mitrovica what in fact it is, a city.

You said that this was a victory?
Yes, this is a great achievement and I think that, let me be quite honest with you, you need the support of the people to achieve something. You cannot achieve something against the population in the northern part. The danger of what I am doing is minimal and I know that I can be a citizen of Kosovo and this is not the time for the victory or success of only one person, this is about an achievement of us all.

Will you supervise the entire city?
We have the UNMIK administration in the north and this is truly a success, because there is bigger economic assistance and it is a place that we can trust because we have legitimacy; and, second, the Kosovo Trust Agency will be deployed here this week. This is part of the decentralization plan and I think it is very important that institutions that decide about the future should do so, like the KTA, and it will make Mitrovica and them proud of that.

Which forces will be responsible for security?
Starting now, there is only one legitimate structure and that is UNMIK Police and KPS, supported by KFOR. We will have KPS and trained policemen in northern Mitrovica because we need them, and we will not have an international police force, but Kosovars, Albanians, Bosniaks, and they will be the police force and will gain the trust, and there is no reason to be afraid because this is one town and we have the government and we have achieved success not only in Mitrovica but throughout the territory of Kosovo.

You said that there would be no bridge watchers?
No one will have functioning authority from Belgrade or from here to support the parallel structures of security. There is only one legitimate structure both in the south and the north, and this is the KPS, UNMIK Police and KFOR.

I know what I will do with the leaders of the main political parties in Kosovo. They have supported me, and so has the European Parliament, and I have prepared a plan of modern administration and we will start a mission here. I will also launch a debate and we will build structures and I will have more competencies for other complicated issues, which must be in accordance with European models. I am pleased that the citizens of Kosovo have trusted this to the Council of Europe and they will give a model similar to Europe, because in the end we will prepare Kosovo for Europe.

At the press briefing, you said there would not be two separate units in Mitrovica.
Everything will function in this town. We had some obstacles and now we have legitimacy. This is all foreseen by Resolution 1244 and the municipalities are part of this, and this is a step that Mitrovica was and remains one town.

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How will Mitrovica be united? (Zëri)

Zëri carries a commentary providing its answers to questions posed in the subheader, 'What are UNMIK's recent measures in Mitrovica? How will power be organized in Mitrovica? Will there be new elections in this town? What are Belgrade's and Steiner's calculations? Does Serbia hope that it might gain international support after his proposals for the decentralization of power in Kosovo?' The commentary reads, as follows:

As of Monday, 25 November 1700 hrs, Mitrovica will be under the full administration of UNMIK. There will be no more parallel structures in the northern part of town. The Serb regime will no longer finance and support Serb leaders in the north who oppose UNMIK. KFOR, UNMIK Police and the Kosovo Police Service will be responsible for security in northern Mitrovica and Kosovo. The KPS will be deployed in the north after a period of training of Serb cadets, so that the ethnic composition of the KPS will reflect the ethnic composition of the town. KFOR in the north will have a specific composition, bearing in mind the importance of Mitrovica. The UNMIK local administrator will be the true authority in Mitrovica, and this will be a specific thing for this town. The administrator will have a committee or a council comprised of six local politicians. This will not be an executive but rather an advisory body.

Organizing authority in Mitrovica, which is a huge step forward in eliminating parallel structures, also presents a backward step in organizing local authority (which now looks similar to the situation prior to the 2000 local elections), [and] should be a transitional phase toward establishing full authority in the entire town as a result of local elections. These elections would probably be held next year, and only in Mitrovica. These elections would also round out the process of uniting Mitrovica, which was launched by the UNMIK chief Michael Steiner when he made public his plan for Mitrovica.

According to our reliable sources in Prishtina, this is the action plan of Michael Steiner and UNMIK in northern Mitrovica. The same sources claim that the Serb regime gave its approval in writing for Steiner's actions.

According to this plan, it turns out that the Serb regime is giving UNMIK and KFOR control over northern Mitrovica. Western sources in Prishtina and Belgrade have told Zëri that official Belgrade is certain that in the coming period, when UNMIK holds authority in a united Mitrovica, it will be able to justify the proposal that Mitrovica should be organized according to the principle 'one town - two municipalities'. Therefore, northern Mitrovica should end up a municipality on its own. It is known that in his public appearances Steiner has opposed this idea but it seems that Belgrade is counting on western diplomats in the Serbian capitol supporting this idea, just as some of them support Serb plans for the division of Kosovo as a solution to Kosovo's final status.

In the meantime, Zëri has information that the Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic personally gave the Serb plan for the decentralization of Kosovo to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan during the latter's visit to Kosovo last week. It is known that this plan comprises the legal skeleton of the disintegration of Kosovo. Nonetheless, it seems that Belgrade hopes that its proposal will be supported by the UN and EU, by avoiding Steiner who now waits for the Council of Europe to offer their version for the decentralization of Kosovo.

Therefore, Belgrade is counting on receiving compensation for giving up on parallel structures in northern Mitrovica. In the meantime, the Serb regime will keep the idea of the division of Kosovo alive, as a possible version for the solution of Kosovo's final status.

Nonetheless, Steiner has made an important step in Mitrovica today, which shows his commitment to fulfill his public promise to work toward the unification of Mitrovica. Sources close to UNMIK told Zëri that one of the main tasks of the UNMIK administration in Mitrovica would be to convince the citizens in the north about the new reality, in order to eliminate the fear that they might have of new measures that UNMIK undertakes. In this respect, it is expected that UNMIK will try to improve the social situation in the town, by assuring additional assistance from donors. It is also known that the seat of the KTA (Kosovo Trust Agency) will be located in Mitrovica.

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Important interlude in Kosovo (Koha Ditore)

Koha Ditore carries an editorial by Veton Surroi who says that UNMIK administration of northern part of the city, if applied, would create the possibility for people to move freely while the political debate goes on. But he says that this depends more on Albanians and Serbs than on the good will of UNMIK.

In Belgrade it was decided to switch off the 'bridge watchers' and in the northern part of Mitrovica yesterday at 17 hours Serb parallel structures were, at least publicly, dissolved. No more Serb administration, no more 'bridge watchers' in the street; instead UNMIK will be established and UNMIK Police will patrol the streets.

This is the simple news from yesterday's event in the divided zone and, as such, a crisis zone in Europe, which is infamous, together with Mostar in Bosnia and Nicosia in Cyprus.

The news sounds simple, and yesterday's developments, at least until 17 hours, were without spectacle, even though we are dealing with what could be a return movement for Mitrovica and also for Kosovo.

In the background of this event are months of negotiations between chief administrator Steiner and different Belgrade teams, which more or less resulted in a written promise from Belgrade that they would not finance the Serb parallel structures in Mitrovica, that they would respect UNMIK legitimate institutions, and that instead of 'bridge watchers', they would trust upholding of the law to UNMIK Police and KPS.

2. Mitrovica will not be a united city today. In the southern part of the city, the elected local authority will administer, as much as it is able, while in the northern part will be UNMIK. Furthermore, the decree, which authorises UNMIK municipal administration in Mitrovica, isn't news: UNMIK was administering this city anyway and it always had KFOR and UNMIK Police forces available for this. Furthermore, the seven-point plan, which only a month ago was supposed to rescue Mitrovica, will be kept in archival oblivion.

Looked at this way, UNMIK is simply applying its mandate after a three-year delay and in the hope that there will be more international political will. But this fact is important because it creates space for an interlude in a situation for which there is no compromise. To date, Albanians didn't know how, or didn't want, to create an action that would offer security for the Serbs; and Serbs didn't want, or didn't know how, to create an action that would offer coexistence with Albanians within Kosovo's Constitutional Framework. In this kind of a situation, UNMIK administration in the northern part of the city, if applied, would create the possibility for people to move freely throughout the entire territory of the city while the political debate on the future goes on.

3. What will happen after a year with this initiative? If the people' trust is built gradually, and especially if any violence from any extremist force is prevented, the atmosphere for easier debate on the future of this city, thus of Kosovo, could be built.

This certainly doesn't mean that those in Belgrade who ordered the dissolution of 'bridge watchers' would wait with their arms folded. I don't believe that this is the end of parallel structures, if for no other reason than that Belgrade still maintains 'Kosmet Courts' and MPB [Ministry of Interior Affairs] secretariats of 'Kosmet' in various cities in Serbia. Furthermore, the fact that someone can activate and deactivate 'bridge watchers' at will means that they can do the same in the future.

Those who made this decision in Belgrade didn't do this to deactivate their future but to elevate it to another level. In fact, Belgrade will move its remote control from the 'bridge watchers' to the creation of institutional blockades, first of all the blocking of parliament. And the result would be not only to prove that Kosovo institutions are ineffective, but that they are not able to respect minority rights, thus that territorial-ethnic units should be established to protect Serbs' rights.

All this to the point that Belgrade could not be accused of destabilizing the situation in Mitrovica, and could avoid the main charge that the international community has against Serbia (arrest of war criminals, selling arms to Iraq, etc).

4. Someone in Belgrade might have asked for a pay back in exchange for removing the 'bridge watchers'. We'll get the chance to see what this is in the months to come. Nevertheless, the challenge will not be this or some other pay back, but how to fill the gap that is being created with the withdrawal of last Serbian state formation and the entrance of an international administration, which should have been there three years ago, with political activities and citizens' actions.

And here, besides the establishment of security conditions, everything will depend more on Kosovar activists, Albanians and Serbs, than on the good will of UNMIK.

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Steiner and Mitrovica (Zëri)

Zëri carries an editorial by Blerim Shala who says that SRSG Michael Steiner had once publicly pledged that he would unite the divided city. Shala says that later on the chief administrator promised that he would not allow creation of new municipalities in northern Kosovo and territorial division of Kosovo. Shala says that yesterday SRSG proved that he keeps his promises, and he concludes that this is good news for Kosovo.

Today in Mitrovica June 1999 happened. Thus, UNMIK administration established in this city what happened during June 1999 in other parts of Kosovo, after the end of the war and the approval of UN SC Resolution 1244.

For almost four years, for different reasons, a paralleled structure was tolerated in northern Mitrovica and Kosovo, and Serbian regime was tolerated to control this part of Kosovo. Mitrovica, divided, as such, was a source of huge political and security tensions. Over twenty people were killed in serious incidents, hundreds and thousands injured in different protests. The last time, twenty international policemen were injured.

Now, all this seems to be part of history that will never return.

A short recapitulation of the events in Mitrovica, among other things, shows up to date failures, but also UNMIK chief Michael Steiner's success.

Steiner had entered the risk early to carry out a public pledge. The third UNMIK chief in Kosovo, and the first in the united Mitrovica, in the spring of this year had promised Kosovar public opinion that he would unite Mitrovica city. Later, he added that that he would not allow creation of new municipalities in the north and that he would always fight the territorial division of Kosovo. His actions, especially this very last one in Mitrovica, prove that Steiner intends to keep his promises. This is good news for Kosovo.

Serbs participate in presidency meeting, but don't guarantee participation in assembly (Koha Ditore)
Koha Ditore reports that at Monday's meeting of the Kosovo Assembly Presidency, the agenda was compiled for the next two Assembly sessions.

Coalition Povratak (KP) members reportedly participated in the meeting, although they haven't promised they would attend the upcoming sessions. KP presidency member Gojko Savic confirmed their participation but said that it was not related to the boycotting of Assembly sessions. "Our presence…doesn't mean we will attend the Assembly session…we are not attending and we will continue with this stance," he added.

Savic further said that Serb participation in the coming Assembly sessions would depend on the outcome of talks with Michael Steiner, scheduled for Tuesday, which Savic says will tackle 'the discrimination and insults that are being made toward Serb members of the Assembly'.

Savic told Koha Ditore that the Serb presidency members had had coffee with Assembly speaker Nexhat Daci in his office. However, he said that they still feel insulted and insist that Daci apologize for his 'improper behavior' and 'be careful in the future in order not to needlessly provoke non-Albanian assembly members'.

Nevertheless, Savic also claimed that relations between Povratak representatives and Daci were normal.

Koha Ditore quotes Ramush Tahiri, Daci's political advisor, as saying that on invitation of European Parliament chairperson, Doris Pack, five Kosovo Assembly deputies will travel to Strasbourg late this month to establish direct relations with the EP.

Press coverage on the ongoing trial of the Dukagjini group
All dailies carry reports on the ongoing trial of the Dukagjini group, charged with maltreating and killing four Kosovar Albanians after the conflict in Kosovo.

Koha Ditore cites one of the witnesses, Ilir Selimaj, as saying that Idriz Balaj aka the Lieutenant, started 'drawing' on Bashkim Balaj's back with his knife [Balaj is one of the victims].

Under a headline Vesel Muriqi signs the minutes of the trial in Cyrillic alphabet, Epoka e Re reports that the trial of 'General Daut Haradinaj and the four freedom fighters' is taking an unusual path, allegedly because the testimony of the witnesses frequently doesn't match statements given to the investigators. Epoka e Re also reports that Tahir Zemaj, 'the boss of the witnesses', is expected to testify tomorrow.

24 Orë carries an article, entitled Witness Bojku: I don't have facts; therefore I don't accuse anyone. The paper claims that yesterday's session was characterized by the efforts of 'the fabricating witnesses to accuse the liberators'. 'General Daut Haradinaj, the other liberators, and the defense attorneys have unmasked the farce which is based in speculations and rumors," added 24 Orë.

Both Epoka e Re and 24 Orë focus on the alleged fact that Vesel Muriqi, the sole eyewitness, signed the statement he gave to UNMIK Police on 5 April 2000 in Cyrillic.

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LDK-Povratak to govern together, four entities leave the assembly (24 Orë)

24 Orë carries two articles that say that LDK will co-govern with Povratak in Rahovec and Klina. This daily says that LDK candidate, Esat Haxhijaha, didn't get a sufficient majority of the votes required for the election of MA chairman in Rahovec during the two first rounds of voting. The municipal Assembly administrator than announced that the regulation 2000/45 says that on the third round the candidate who gains majority of votes, no matter the percentage, would be elected. After this AAK and PDK deputies left the Assembly. 24 Orë reports that the meeting continued, and LDK deputies voted for Povratak Coalition candidate, Ljubisa Djuricic, for the deputy of Rahovec MA chairman.

This daily reports that the same procedure went on in Klina. 24 Orë says that AAK had proposed co-governance with LDK several times, but LDK and PSHDK decided to have Povratak as partners. This daily alleges that Povratak deputy Boro Mikic, present at yesterday's meeting, is known for leading the war against Albanians in this region.

Patten: Fight crime and stimulate foreign investments in the region (Koha)

Koha Ditore carries a report on the conference being held in London on organized crime in the Balkans. The conference includes 57 delegations from all over Europe.

Koha Ditore quotes British Interior Minister David Blunkett as saying that the Balkans has turned into the front door of organized crime in Europe and that the destruction of organized crime can only be achieved through close cooperation with Balkan countries.

"Organized crime is more organized than we are - and a better or more efficient cooperation is crucial to eliminating organized crime," Blunkett was cited as saying. "Close cooperation is very important, bearing in mind the growing danger of terrorist networks."

EU officials at the conference warned that organized crime endangers the political and economic stability of the Balkans. British Foreign Minister Jack Straw said that the fight against organized crime is not only important for the future of the Balkans, but also for the stability and prosperity of Kosovo.

EU Commissioner for Foreign Relations Chris Patten thanked Europe for its assistance to the Balkans in postwar reconstruction and postwar democratic elections. "In the eyes of the ordinary people, this undoubted progress cannot hide the horrible problem that rules in the Balkans, the cancer of organized crime," he said. He also added that it was important not only to fight crime but also to attract foreign investments to the region.

Koha Ditore also reports that EU senior official Javier Solana said drug and tobacco smuggling, human and arms trafficking, corruption and extortion are present in all Balkans countries. "The results are unacceptable. War criminals are still at large and they are often helped by organized crime. This is an insult to justice, an obstacle to the development of countries in the region, and a threat to us all. Put simply, this has to end," he said.

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Jakup Krasniqi: Kosovo and transparency (Epoka e Re)

Epoka e Re carries a commentary by Jakup Krasniqi, Minister of Public Services at the Kosovo Government.

Krasniqi wrote that 'after the word democracy, transparency is the word that we hear most frequently in the speeches of our politicians. Together with freedom, independence and democracy, Kosovo needs transparency but not only in speeches and in writing. Transparency isn't only required in local government, public services tenders and other financial issues. Kosovo needs transparency in numerous issues: transparency of the institutions deriving from the free vote, of political parties, non-governmental organizations, independent and public media, but above all of the political leadership concerning the status of Kosovo.'

Krasniqi also claimed that the 'Kosovar political leadership should learn a good lesson from the confidential meeting in Luzerne and call a halt to the series of secret meetings with the representatives of regimes in Belgrade. The reply of the Prime Minister to the hasty response of Allan Kassof to continue the secret dialogue was a good start.'