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30 November 2002, Saturday Edition
CONTENTS
· Covic:
Del Ponte had tough discussions with Steiner (Koha Ditore)
· Robertson:
NATO gives full support to Steiner (Zëri/Epoka e Re)
· Michael Steiner
is intensively working for unification of Mitrovica - Stop criticizing
him (Bota Sot)
· Trajkovski
ordered to attack Lubeten (Koha Ditore)
· Mitrovica
is now under a single municipal administrator, that of UNMIK
(Koha Ditore)
· President
Rugova proposed to be nominated Europe's Senator of Honor (All
Dailies)
· Political
communication (Zëri)
Covic: Del Ponte had tough discussions with Steiner (Koha
Ditore)
Koha Ditore reports that Serbia's deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic
said in an interview for the Serbian television "Studio B" that
UNMIK chief administrator Steiner had tough discussions with Carla Del
Ponte. Covic reportedly said to Studio B that SRSG Michael Steiner used
the same arguments as Belgrade: that there is a possibility of destabilization
of the region in case of handing in Albanian suspects of war crimes.
Covic said that the international community should intensify its tempo
and work on improving the security situation in Kosovo for Serb government
representatives and all Serb citizens.
According to Covic the years 2003 and 2004 will be determinant for the
return of Serbs to Kosovo. He added that the process of transition and
other issues in Serbia could not be closed without the solution on Kosovo's
final status. "This status can be discussed only when basic living
standards are achieved," Covic was quoted as saying in Koha Ditore.
Concerning Serb missing persons in Kosovo, Covic reportedly said that allegations that there are Serb hostages in Kosovo are irresponsible. He accused individuals from Serbia to have taken money from Serb families of the missing.
Robertson: NATO gives full support
to Steiner (Zëri/Epoka e Re)
All dailies report on Lord Robertson's visit to Albania. Zëri and
Epoka e Re report that Lord Robertson said that NATO absolutely supports
the initiative of UN chief administrator Steiner in Kosovo for Mitrovica.
According to Lord Robertson, NATO will continue to pay close attention
to the situation in Kosovo, and the achievements there. "Kosovo has
to be considered as a multiethnic democracy. NATO will keep being the
main force there to insure a safe environment," Lord Robertson was
quoted as saying in these dailies.
Michael Steiner is intensively
working for unification of Mitrovica - Stop criticizing him (Bota Sot)
Bota Sot carries an article by Bardhyl Ajeti who says that the chief administrator's
plan for the unification of Mitrovica should be strongly supported by
all Kosovo Albanians, since this plan is for the good of Kosovo and its
future. Michael Steiner is convinced of his plan for the unification of
Mitrovica and he has the full support of the democratic states, US and
Kosovo state institutions. Also Kosovo's president Rugova, Kosovo's Assembly
chairman Daci and Kosovo's PM Rexhepi support Steiner's plan for the unification
of Mitrovica, says Ajeti.
On Friday KTA started working in Mitrovica due to the aim of the unification of Mitrovica and its faster economical development. Thanks to UNMIK, Kosovo had three democratic elections and its first state institutions recognized worldwide. Chief administrator Michael Steiner was the one that gathered the leaders of the three main political entities and made them speak with one voice when Kosovo's state institutions were built. UNMIK is saint for Kosovo Albanians and Steiner's plan for Mitrovica should be strongly supported by all Kosovo Albanians, concludes Ajeti in Bota Sot.
Trajkovski ordered to attack Lubeten
(Koha Ditore)
Koha Ditore carries on the first page an article saying that according
to Macedonian counterintelligence sources, the Macedonian president Trajkovski
ordered to attack the village of Lubeten nearby Skopje on the 10th of
August last year, where ten civilians were killed, among them a seven
year old boy. The daily says that the Macedonian counterintelligence has
already sent this information to the Hague Tribunal.
Koha sources say that Trajkovski's order to attack this village was opposed by two generals who said that they only take orders from the Macedonian Army HQ. Then Trajkovski ordered Police General Sokol Mitevski and on the 12th of August, Macedonian police forces together with paramilitary groups attacked the village.
The Minister of Internal Affairs at that time, Lube Boshkovski, who was present that day at the village with the police forced, had then announced that the inhabitants of Lubeten should thank the police for rescueing them from a much bigger tragedy.
The action was considered to be revenge for seven killed Macedonian soldiers at Lubanci whose truck had hit a mine. The inhabitants of Lubeten say that NLA forces were never concentrated at their village.
If the information from the Macedonian counterintelligence is correct, president Trajkovski could find himself on the chair of the accused at the Hague Tribunal, says Koha Ditore.
Mitrovica is now under a single
municipal administrator, that of UNMIK (Koha Ditore)
Koha Ditore carries UNMIK DPI chief Simon Haselock's rebuttal to Faruk
Spahiu's opinion given to the same daily on Mitrovica. Haselock says:
Dear Editor,
I am writing to take issue with a shrill and hyperbolic commentary by Nexhmedin Spahiu in your newspaper yesterday.
Mr. Spahiu recounts his own absurd characterization of the Administrative Directive asserting UNMIK authority in Northern Mitrovica as "legalizing the division of Mitrovica." The reality is that all of Mitrovica is now effectively and operationally under a single UNMIK Municipal Administrator. While Mitrovica's Municipal Assembly may previously have had de jure authority north of the Ibar, de facto it has been unable to exercise this authority. As we in UNMIK are far more concerned with substance than symbols, we regard UNMIK's new de facto control of Northern Mitrovica as far more important that the fact that the Municipal Assembly's role has not been similarly extended.
Mr. Spahiu says that I am working "to get grants of hundreds of thousands of euros" for TV Most. In reality, we are seeking financial support for TV Most on a much more modest scale than he suggests. We are seeking this support in recognition of the need for a Serbian-language broadcaster in Kosovo, where there are already three Kosovo-wide Albanian-language channels.
Mr. Spahiu then projects his own "outrage" on the "citizens of Mitrovica", whereas in reality the only people who were less than enthusiastic about this landmark event were those, like Mr. Spahiu himself, who are embittered at finding themselves on the margins of events. The same explanation must account for Mr. Spahiu's groundless complaints about security for the SRSG and about RTK's supposedly "insufficient reports." Happily, the vast majority of people in Mitrovica, on both sides of the river, are tired of baseless grousing and are inspired by the fact that all of Mitrovica is now under a legally constituted and effective UNMIK administration.
Thanks in advance for publishing this rebuttal at your earliest possible convenience.
Best regards, Simon Haselock
President Rugova proposed to be nominated European Senator
of Honor (All Dailies)
All dailies report that Dr. Otto von Habsburg, president of the Pan-European
International Union, informed president Rugova that his proposal to nominate
Rugova as Senator at the European Senate of Honor in Antwerp was accepted,
and that the president of this Senate, Kunnen, asked whether Rugova would
accept the proposal.
In a letter written to Mr. Habsburg, president Rugova replied that he accepts the offer with pleasure adding that this is an honor to him and to Kosovo.
This title of honor is distributed every beginning of February, report dailies.
Political communication (Zëri)
Zëri carries an editorial by Blerim Shala who says that UNMIK and
Kosovars should stop mutual accusations and establish a permanent and
full communication. Shala says:
In the nineties we were famous for writing letters and sending faxes to all possible addresses in the world. We would present our stance, describe the situation in Kosovo to people where we should and to others where it was a waste of time. Maybe at some point - tired from the letter writers of some Balkan corner - those who received the letters most frequently threw them to the bin or handed them over to lower ranks.
These were one-way letters. Their impact was completely small. Unfortunately.
When the war started here. People in the west started to read the archived letters and to check their waste paper baskets, in order to understand why Albanians could not stand any more Serbia's violence. Every one of us was proud of our point of view on internationalizing the Kosovo issue. Then, we know what happened: As they say, almost the entire world came here.
There is no need to write letters any more, because the most important representatives of the west are in Prishtina. But it seems that the communication of our politicians and officials Steiner, UNMIK and other Western officials today is not much above the level of the letters and faxes sent in the past. On the contrary: The Kosovo government is really special, because it recognizes two levels of government, that of UNMIK remaining the main one.
The Constitutional Framework defines the formal part of the rapport between UNMIK and the Kosovo government. Nevertheless it is known that many things in this rapport don't function as they should, but instead we have mutual accusations and failures. Perhaps the best way to overcome these problems is the establishment of full and continuous communication between the Kosovans and UNMIK.
Kosovo Press Headlines
Koha Ditore
Front page
· Trajkovski ordered to attack Lubeten
· Privatization under escort of police jeeps
· Robertson: NATO fully supports Albania's membership
· University of Mitrovica still isn't a part of Kosovan education
· Five witnesses speak about Daut Haradinaj being in Albania at
the time of his alleged crime
Other headlines
· Kosovan delegation returns satisfied from Albania (2)
· There was no agenda for Rexhepi and Thaçi (2)
· President Rugova proposed to be nominated Europe's Senator of
Honor (2)
· Nowitczki: KEK shouldn't disconnect the poor (2)
· Albania: Socialists and democrats divided (2)
· Human traffickers threatened with much harsher punishments (3)
· Minister Struck and members of German Parliament visit Prizren
on 6 and 7 December (3)
· Vitia MA chairman appeals to Assembly to remain loyal to their
resolution for the borders (4)
· An injured Kosovan arrested by Macedonian police ends up in hospital
(4)
· UNMIK doesn't interfere on educational and health care system
in Mitrovica (4)
· IMN Gjakova stops production (6)
· UNMIK to prolong validity of travel documents (7)
· Brezovica: Discussions on role of media in inducing dialogue
between communities (7)
· New structure of MAs - parliamentarism or challenge for municipal
democracy (8)
· Bates: UNMIK, you should give local governance to the locals
(10)
· Covic: Del Ponte had tough discussions with Steiner (10)
· Nano: decisions that unite people (10)
Zëri
Front page
· No Albanians and Serbs at Conference on Kosovo's final status
in Washington
· Political communication
· Prime Minister refutes to have waited at Rinas airport
· Kosovo will be privatized from northern part of Mitrovica
· Kosovo's symbols and identity: confusion and contradiction instead
of serenity
· Robertson for Macedonia: Alliance harmony instead of Amber Fox
· EU says that S+M preamble will not have consequences for Kosovo
· Minister Osmani offers ten euro discount and paying in terms
for students
· KPS promotes 113 superiors
Other headlines
· Robertson: Reformes condition Albania's membership in NATO (2)
· NATO supports Steiner's initiative for Mitrovica (2)
· General Reinhardt visits Kosovo (2)
· Rugova proposed Europe's Senator of Honor (3)
· Covic: There is no reason for Povratak deputies to rush back
to the Assembly (4)
· KFOR is changing because crisis in Kosovo belongs to the past
(5)
· A Kosovo Assembly delegation visits EU Parliament (5)
· Four most known ladies of US invited to visit Kosovo (5)
· Dukagjini group trial continues with five new witnesses (6)
· Nowitszki: No power cuts for poor people (6)
· Trajkovski meets with BDI representatives (11)
· Leka Zogu: 'Fatherland above all' rescues Albania (11)
Bota Sot
Front page
· President Rugova, Europe's Senator of Honor
· Michael Steiner is intensively working for unification of Mitrovica-stop
critics against him
· Brayshaw: KPS is Kosovo's pride
· Time of the people with masks has passed
· We told Daut Haradinaj that we are commanders here
· Why was trail on Drini case stopped?
· KTA HQ moves to northern Mitrovica
Other headlines:
· UNMIK work is being discussed in Brussels (4)
· Ministry proposes payment in terms, students refuse (4)
· Moisiu to Robertson: Our priority, integration in EU and NATO
(5)
· Bern continues with the same policy for asylum seekers (5)
· Zemaj: Witnesses at Dukagjini trial speak the truth (7)
· Serbs in north attacked and injured a young Albanian (9)
Kosova Sot
Front page
· Who are the first investors for Trepça?
· Ministry doesn't soften, student threaten with new protests
· Symbols, prior or after definition of Kosovo's final status?
· Will Kosovo remain in S+M text for Constitution?
· OSCE monitor is expected to be nominated on Monday
· KPS with its first two captains
· What did witness Dr. Cadelano say about the meeting with Daut
Haradinaj?
Other headlines
· Rexhepi says that there were no misunderstandings at Rinas airport
(2)
· An EU Parliament delegation to visit Kosovo (4)
· Will there be new changes at Prishtina MA directories? (5)
· All the usurpers of houses, out (7)
· Is Kosovo a free trade zone for criminals? (7)
· Kosovo will have 300 MGW more electricity power next week (9)
· Will Steiner sign the Law for Foreign Trade (9)
· Albania's priority, integration in EU and NATO (10)
Epoka e Re
Front page
· General Haradinaj's alibi proved
· Osmani refuses PM's proposals, PM invites students to meet
· Kosovan delegation didn't remain waiting at Rinas
· Seven million Albanians with five hymns and five flags
· A dangerous game with national symbols
Other headlines
· Robertson: NATO gives full support to Steiner (3)
· Return of asylum seekers, 'softer' (4)
· 113 KPS members advanced (5)
· Are Kosovar institutions definitely leaving Eastern Kosovo? (5)
· KFOR changing its ways of actions in Kosovo (6)
· Covic: Until 2004, 440 Serbian policemen will be in KPS (7)
· A Kosovo Assembly delegation visits Brussels (7)
· Police discovers 13 kg cannabis in Peja (7)
· Moisiu: I wanted to commit suicide two or three times (8)
Belgrade Media Highlights
Saturday, 30 November 2002
· Statement made by Serb minister in Kosovo government (Politika/Tanjug)
· America in KFOR until the end (Danas/Sense)
· Covic: Beginning of decentralization (Glas/Beta)
· Serb cemetery desecrated (Vecernje Novosti)
· SRS rally without Seselj (Blic/Fonet)
· Milan Ivanovic: Health and education remain Serb (Nacional)
· Kosovo trust agency opens (Nacional)
Other news:
· John Hulsman: Yugoslavia has a chance (RTS/VOA)
Statement made by Serb minister in Kosovo government (Politika/Tanjug)
The only Serb Minister in the Kosovo Government Goran Bogdanovic said
that
he would return to the government, but only when KP returns to the
Assembly, "I was nominated by KP, and not by the Albanian AMs,
and I will obey decisions made by the Serb political leaders," Bogdanovic
told Tanjug, adding that he has received support for his move by the government
and Premier Rexhepi.
America in KFOR until the end (Danas/Sense)
For the second time within two days, the American administration has praised the efforts of the international community to stabilize the situation in Kosovo and confirmed its readiness to continue to engage itself in this job in accordance with UNSCR 1244. These positive signals from Washington have commenced with a public support of the decision of UN representative Michael Steiner to reintegrate local authority institutions in divided Kosovska Mitrovica, which, according to the State Department, represents a measure that will "contribute to security and economic development of Kosovo's citizens." Following this encouraging statement by the State Department, the White House sent the Congress a message with an especially optimistic view of the development of the security situation in Kosovo, including the perspective of further American and international military presence in this, on paper, southern Serbian province.
Covic: Beginning of decentralization (Glas/Beta)
The Head of the CCK and Serbian Deputy Premier Nebojsa Covic has stated that concretizing the return program of IDPs will begin in 2003. At a press conference of Vojislav Kostunica's election headquarters, Covic said that Serbia's priority is the return of IDPs to Kosovo and the implementation of the program of survival in the region. He assessed that the decentralization of authorities in Kosovo was necessary, adding that CE's expert team was arriving to deal with this issue. Covic stressed that 440 former employees of the Serbian Interior Ministry would start working in the Kosovo Police Service by 2004. He added that it was also very important for their country to enter NATO's program Partnership for Peace.
Serb cemetery desecrated (Vecernje Novosti)
Unidentified attackers have again desecrated a Serbian Orthodox cemetery in the vicinity of the monastery of Visoki Decani in the west of Kosovo, the Raska-Prizren Eparchy announced. The monks of Decani had visited the cemetery the previous day, escorted by KFOR Italian troops and established that the graves and almost all the tombstones had been desecrated and that the trees had been cut. The Orthodox cemetery in Decani is approximately only several hundred meters away from an Italian control checkpoint and a KFOR base.
SRS rally without Seselj (Blic/Fonet)
Presidential SRS candidate Vojislav Seselj did not attend a presidential election rally in northern Kosovska Mitrovica because UNMIK did not give him permission to come to Kosovo. The President of the Party's Provincial Board Ljubomir Kragovic said before several thousands of citizens at the Sumadija Square that the ban of Seselj's arrival to Kosovo was an attempt of banning the idea of SRS.
Milan Ivanovic: Health and education remains Serb (Nacional)
The head staff of the Healthcare Center in northern Kosovska Mitrovica will request talks with the Belgrade leadership regarding the announcement by UNMIK Spokesman Simon Haselock on abolishing the so-called parallel healthcare and integrating of the healthcare center in Kosovska Mitrovica. "The last statements that refer to healthcare and education are contrary to UNSCR 1244. We will not accept the abolishment of our healthcare system. Serbs have the right of a treatment in the only hospital in Mitrovica and it is normal for them to wish to have a Serb doctor to treat them. We refute Haselock's announcement because it is dangerous for the Serb community," SNC leader for northern Kosovo Milan Ivanovic told Nacional.
Kosovo trust agency opens (Nacional)
At the UNMIK administration premises in Kosovska Mitrovica, the main representative of the European Agency for Development and Reconstruction of Kosovo Andy Bearpark has presented the work program of the Kosovo trust agency whose headquarters will be in this town. He said at a press conference that this agency would work on privatizing 400 companies in Kosovo, thus creating conditions for reviving production and employing citizens regardless of their nationality.
Other news:
John Hulsman: Yugoslavia has a chance (RTS/VOA)
A Senior Fellow of "The Heritage Foundation" in Washington,
John Hulsman,
told VOA that a group of American military experts currently in Yugoslavia,
should determine who was responsible for violating the UN arms embargo
against Iraq and stressed that, "Yugoslavia has a chance to enter
into the
PfP upon reforming its army. "The reason for sending the military
experts
was to find out the answer to the obvious question? to what extend the
authorities were involved in this, and to what extend this could be
attributed to some corrupted individuals. If we speak about some corrupted
individuals, then Kostunica's Government is tackling this the right way,
by
firing responsible officials. If this turns out to be about corrupted
individuals, this incident will disappear and will be recorded as a minor
embarrassment," Hulsman pointed out.
He added that if Serbia wanted to join the PfP, then the next step should
be the reform of its armed forces. According to him, USA generally supports
the idea, but Yugoslavia should fulfill certain preconditions. One of
those
is the civil control over the Yugoslav Army. "You should have clear
commanding responsibility, but at the end of the line the civil authorities
should be responsible for making decisions for the armed forces of their
country, which has been accepted as NATO's doctrine.
"Chances for Yugoslavia to join the PfP are good. I think this would
be a
logical conclusion of developments we have had so far. When this happens,
it will be a sign that Yugoslavia is finally leaving an antagonism of
Milosevic's era and establishing new, much sounder, relations with the
USA,
which is really recognizing Yugoslavia as a geopolitical pillar of the
region," Hulsman was quoted as saying by RTS.