10 October 2002

CONTENTS

Five million euro aid instead of higher salaries (all dailies)

"Teachers can continue their strike or they can end it, but there will be no pay raise. There will be no leveling of salaries with their colleagues in other Kosovo public enterprises. All the government can do for education at this point would be to offer aid of five million euros, if the fiscal council approved these funds, led by SRSG Michael Steiner. This will be aid for education and healthcare at the municipal level," said Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi after the government meeting yesterday.

Speaking at a press conference, Rexhep did not give journalists a chance to ask questions. He said that the government unanimously decided that the five million euro aid is the last offer. The government must strictly abide by suggestions made by IMF and World Bank. The government's decision was read by the prime minister, word by word, as the PM said "so there can be no misunderstanding or changes of words". The PM and the government called teachers and SBASHK to end the strike.

The strike, which started 10 days ago, was threatened several months earlier if teachers' demands were not met. Five weeks ago, Rexhepi said the government would not become prey to any strike, to teachers, healthcare workers or pensioners. He said that there would be no pay rise from the budget but he did not exclude the chance of some kind of aid or donations for teachers.

"There was a misinterpretation regarding the leveling of salaries. The government will begin salary reform process, which will be prepared by the Ministry of Public Services with the aid of DFID experts. This process will set the minimum and maximum salaries in public services," said Rexhepi.

What if the teachers don't accept government's offer and continue with the strike?
The PM did not give a clear answer: "I do not want to speculate what will happen. The government has offered what they have for the time being." However, Rexhepi reminded teachers, "The pupils are losing the most, teachers also. Thus I would like teachers to welcome this offer and show that they understand the situation; because our aim is to jointly form the state of Kosovo and we all must pitch in," he said.

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Shala: Lessons from teachers' strike (Zëri)

Zëri carries an editorial by Blerim Shala who says that the Kosovo government's solution to the strike of providing aid to education and healthcare tried, at the same time, to restore dignity to education and the government's authority. According to Shala, two lessons were learned during this strike: one is that social dissatisfaction began to devaluate political satisfaction with the big changes in Kosovo after June 1999; and the other lesson is that the Kosovo government itself has serious problems.

Teachers' dignity and Kosovo government authority are being challenged during the strike in the Kosovo education system. A measure of the teachers' dignity and Kosovo government authority is the euro. From the government's perspective, the amount of five million euros, to be given as aid to the education and healthcare sectors, is a serious act.

When this money is divided among teachers and healthcare workers, they stand to gain two euros per day of aid. In fact, considering the salaries in education and healthcare, this aid as a whole equals one more month's salary for the remaining months until the end of the year.

The Kosovo government's proposal tends to meld together the recovery of education and healthcare dignity and restoration of Government authority.

Thus, strikers will receive more money over the next months, but this is not an increase in salary. Therefore, the government remained loyal to its statement made some time ago.

How long can this compromise be stable?

Unionists will soon decide whether to stop the strike or to continue until their demands are fulfilled.

The Kosovar teachers' strike left consequences behind or, better said, various lessons. One is that social dissatisfaction has started to diminish political satisfaction with the big changes in Kosovo after June 1999. The other lesson is that Kosovo government itself has serious problems.

The ministry is ignoring us say Union of Healthcare workers (Koha Ditore)

Koha Ditore reports that the Independent Union of Healthcare has given a deadline to the Ministry of Healthcare and the Kosovo Government to do something regarding the salaries of healthcare workers. Healthcare Union secretary Jahir Muholli said that if nothing was done by 14 October, it was very possible that the healthcare workers would start a general strike.

"The ministry is ignoring us, the last time we wrote to them was on 22 March and the protests on 11, 12 and 13 September were a warning," said Muholli. The union demands a 100% pay raise, expenses for one meal and transport for those traveling more than 5 kilometers to work. "A doctor specialist receives 196 euros, a nurse 124 while an ordinary worker only 70 euros. A five-member family can live on this for a week," he said and added that after the teachers' strike, healthcare workers could be the second public employees to go on strike

Health Minister Numan Baliq did not have any comment for Koha Ditore.

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Kelmendi: Justification of extremist acts leads toward crime (Koha Ditore)

Koha Ditore carries a response by Adriatik Kelmendi to a commentary by Father Sava Janjic, which was published on IWPR. Kelmendi wrote:

To begin with, I must emphasize how extremely disappointing it is to read a commentary from a person such as Mr. [sic] Sava Janjic in which he justifies the voting of Kosovo Serbs in support of the ultra-nationalist Vojislav Seselj. In order to strengthen such a conclusion and a painful fact, I must brief the reader on the general activity of this clerk, especially during the last three to four years, the most dramatic years in Kosovo.

At the time when he became famous, Sava Janjic was serving in the Deçan Orthodox Monastery. The war in Kosovo had begun. Many Albanian civilians had already been killed by armed Serb forces, whereas Father Sava was known for his message of peace and understanding. It was a true exception for a Kosovo Serb to say such things. However, Janjic fortunately didn't stop by only making moderate statements. In order to turn his words into deeds - during the time of NATO air raids against Yugoslavia, when Albanians were experiencing a true Golgotha - Janjic sheltered several Albanian families in his monastery. Thanks to his kindness, the Albanians who were sheltered in the monastery escaped persecution similar to the one applied against Jews during the Second World War. These acts made Janjic very famous in the eyes of journalists that came to Kosovo and turned him into a media star. Furthermore, from the Albanian point of view, Sava Janjic was a drop of water in the middle of the desert.

When there were talks on Serb collective responsibility and when Albanians were disappointed in their Serb neighbors, Janjic's acts led people to believe that not all Serbs were bad. He was perceived as an exception at a time when such a thing seemed a mission impossible.

In this way, he won the credibility of a person with whom western journalists wanted to talk when they tried to express the opinions of moderate and neutral Kosovo Serbs. Janjic's opinions were quite important. And this went on until the day when he was shocked to find that he couldn't make Kosovo Serbs, who disliked his moderate opinions, think they way he did. At that time, he said he was withdrawing from public life and that he would only serve as a priest in the monastery.

However, it seems that this person who was promoted as a moderate has recently experienced a metamorphosis. For quite some time now, he has failed to face reality and he now uses his credibility to blur the reality in Kosovo by trying to justify and protect the actions of Kosovo Serbs, regardless of the nature of these actions. In such a trend, Janjic has published several commentaries and personal analyses in western media - and in Serbian media - in which he protected Serbs and poured venom upon Albanians and the representatives of the international community in Kosovo. Those commentaries and analyses are published despite the fact that they usually don't meet professional criteria. The 'tip of the iceberg' was his latest commentary published in the prestigious London-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), in which Sava Janjic desperately tries to justify the horrifying truth - the huge support that Kosovo Serbs gave to the extremist Seselj. The Serb Father uses such untruths that one could feel sorry for the low level he has reached. At the same time, it is horrifying to think how this person misuses his fame for hypocritical goals.

Someone can even understand the desperate situation of his people in Kosovo. But Kosovar Albanians have faced the very same desperate and hopeless situation for many years. But one cannot surely emerge from this situation by rebelling against the entire world. We have already seen such scenes.

What does Janjic write in his commentary? It would probably take a very long commentary to respond to all the allegations in this commentary, which unfortunately are manipulations with the everyday lives of Kosovo Serbs. However, I will only present some facts that stand right in front of Janjic's eyes, which he, like most of his fellow countrymen in Kosovo, doesn't admit seeing.

Father Sava writes that the vote for Seselj doesn't prove that Kosovo Serbs have supported the so-called project for a Greater Serbia or that they want war. This can easily be said when one writes from the soft sofa of the Deçan Monastery, but surely not if you talk to Kosovo Serbs and are included in the daily life in Kosovo. Up to now, there have been thousands of Serb actions that could make one think that they in fact do want war and a Greater Serbia. Simple facts: the boycotting of Kosovar institutions; frequent attacks against Albanians who happen to pass by enclaves; frequent attacks against UNMIK Police and KFOR; pictures of the Balkans Butcher Slobodan Milosevic found in homes and stores; the refusal to point to Serbs who have committed crimes during the war; the refusal to reveal the whereabouts of secret mass graves of Albanians; the refusal to participate in any talks for a status of Kosovo outside Serbia that doesn't refer to 'Yugoslavia', etc.

Janjic also accuses Albanian commentators of being happy when Serbs voted in support of Seselj, implying that these commentators rejoice at the Serbs' backwardness. A huge mistake from his side. Janjic should know that no Albanian commentator could rejoice in the continuation of Serb nationalism and extremism, regardless of the hatred that someone could feel for Serbs. This is so because an undemocratic and nationalistic Serbia can only bring evil to this region.

Furthermore, Janjic claims that the support for Seselj is a result of disappointment and dissatisfaction with UNMIK. It is truly dishonest to say such a thing, bearing in mind all the concessions that UNMIK has made for the good of Serbs and non-Albanians in Kosovo. Starting with tolerance for the non-consideration of everything that implies the UN mission in Kosovo and up to the unprecedented case of so-called 'positive discrimination', a model that was applied in the new self-governing institutions in Kosovo. It would take more than all the pages of this paper to mention all the things that UNMIK has done for the good of Serbs during this period in Kosovo.

And Sava Janjic keeps on accusing the current authorities in Kosovo and the Albanian authorities in Kosovo of being responsible for the support that was given to Seselj in Kosovo (Milosevic said from his prison cell that the Serb electorate should vote for Seselj).

Therefore, according to this Serb who has influence in western public opinion, everyone except for his fellow countrymen in Kosovo are guilty, because they still haven't learned a thing after the bitter experience with Serb extremism. Everyone is guilty for the support for Seselj's radical extremism - Seselj is known for his fascistic statements against Albanians, Bosniaks and Croats - except for those who voted in his support. Janjic doesn't even know how Albanians in Kosovo could understand this harsh fact. He doesn't think how difficult it is for Albanians to see that their fellow Serb citizens don't even think of ceasing their support for those who killed, expelled, raped and humiliated. This is strange.

In this respect, we must remind Father Janjic that his blind justification cannot lead to anything good. Everyone knows what happened in Kosovo when a Serb leader justified protests with the nationalistic demands of Serbs at the end of the 80s. Everyone recalls a person who is today behind bars at The Hague, and the day when he called, from a balcony in Fushë Kosovë, upon Serb nationalism to come to the surface. And everyone knows what happened after that day - the most horrifying crime scenes seen in Europe since World War Two.

Unfortunately, Father Janjic either cannot or does not want to know that the justification of extremist acts, as proven in history, can lead only to crime.

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Kosovo Election Campaign Coverage

Kosovo New Party (PReK)

Epoka e Re reports that PReK launched its election campaign in Malishevë/Malisevo. Party leader Bujar Bukoshi reportedly said, "I try not to pose during my speeches". He said that his entity is for emancipated, modern and effective local governance, not for folklorism.

Reporting on PReK election campaign in Theranda/Suva Reka, Zëri quotes Bukoshi as saying, "We are ready to take the responsibility for many issues, we offer devoted people for this."

The Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK)

Bota Sot reports on LDK election rally in Dragash. "LDK candidates are proven patriots," Halim Shemsidini, president of LDK branch in Dragash said. The same daily reports on LDK's successful campaign in Suhareka.

Zëri says that LDK offers a program for every family, village and municipality. Xhemajl Hyseni, Gjilan branch president, said that "LDK is grand because it offers tolerance and not violence, respects the little ones and promises a little, but, in fact, achieves a lot."

Kosovo Democratic Party (PDK)

PDK will build a school in Reshnik in return for votes, says Zëri, reporting about the campaign in Vushtrri/Vucitrn.

Koha Ditore reports that election campaign in Skenderaj/Srbica region became easier from Wednesday, since the schools permitted rallies to be held on their premises. Thus, yesterday PDK held rallies in some villages of this municipality with the motto "Vote for the best, vote for PDK".

24 Orë reports that PDK met with residents of Bair Street in Mitrovica. Avni Kastrati said PDK would be there for every citizen's demands.

Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK)

24 Orë reports that AAK held its second election rally in Malisheva/Malishevo. Bashkim Krasniqi, AAK candidate in Malisheva/Malishevo was quoted as saying, "The rhythm of municipal governance has to change. There will be no progress if this style of governance continues."

At the same rally, Bajram Kosumi said: "It is not enough to be a patriot to know how to govern; it is not enough to be a good person to be a successful leader…."

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Kosovo Liberal Party (PLK)

Zëri reports on the PLK election campaign in Prizren. Gjergj Dedaj, leader of this entity promised integration in Euro-Atlantic structures. Epoka e Re quotes him as saying, "I call the leaders of political entities to TV duel."

"We are courageous, we have the dignity and we promise a Kosovo without crime, corruption, the mafia; therefore vote for number 50, vote for PLK," Dedaj reportedly said in Prizren.
Belgrade Media Update

Ivanovic released on bail (Radio TV B92)

After 14-hours of interrogation and 10,000 euros bail, the District Court of Kosovska Mitrovica released the head of the SNC for northern Kosovo, Milan Ivanovic, on bail. Ivanovic's attorney, Toma Fila, told the press that his client was charged with causing riots and that the initial charge of attempted murder had been dropped. Upon leaving the District Court, Ivanovic told the press that an injustice had been undone, "This interrogation was painful, but they treated me correctly. I reiterated that the incident they were charging me with was unnecessary, that it was provoked by the UNMIK Police, which used excessive force," he said.

He also assessed that the District Court ruling showed that things in the province were moving for the better. "A ruling to release Stevan Zigic, and I hope that Slavoljub Jovic will be released soon, show that things are…better and that we can have some hope," he said.

Serbian Deputy PM Covic pointed to the importance of the unified Belgrade stance concerning the indictment against Milan Ivanovic. "We made a good move regarding the solution of this problem which was imposed on us. Tensions should not have been raised. I'm glad that we took a unified stance on this in Belgrade," he said.

Sanda Raskovic-Ivic threatened with sack (Glas )
Sanda Raskovic-Ivic, at present Republic Commissioner for Refugees, is being threatened with dismissal immediately after the second round of voting, on16 October, Glas Javnosti reports from informed sources. The source states that the commissioner has not performed her job and that in the last two years she has not done much for the refugees. "If I am sacked, it will be exclusively for political reasons. Nobody asked me for the results of the work or asked to talk about the Refugees Projects," Raskovic-Ivic commented.

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Kostunica receives families of missing (Beta )
Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica told members of the Association of Families of Missing and Kidnapped Persons in Kosovo and Metohija that he would personally intercede in the solution of their problems, and that the CCK would also pay special attention to the issue.

A statement released by the presidential cabinet says that the members of the Association have requested that light be shed on the fate of their missing relatives, and insisted that information about the existence of camps for kidnapped Serbs in Kosovo and Albania be verified.

Kostunica pointed out that in contacts with UNMIK, he would stress the necessity for it to be more actively engaged in shedding light on the fate of missing and kidnapped persons, as it is one of the priorities defined by the Common Document. "Full insight in the data-base on exhumations, identifications, as well as data on the possible existence of illegal detention places, shall be requested from UNMIK," reads the statement.

Law on foreign trade adopted without Serb votes (SRNA)
The Kosovo Assembly, without the votes of Serb deputies, adopted the foreign trade law and sent it to the Assembly bodies for a final version. Coalition Povratak warned that it would leave the next Assembly session if the final version of the law contains a provision saying that foreign trade is any trading which does not take place in the territory of Kosovo. KP caucus whip Rada Trajkovic pointed out that proposals like this could not get support from Serb deputies, as they directly lead to the secession of a sovereign part of Serbian territory from the maternal state, and stand in direct opposition to the provisions of UNSCR Resolution 1244.

Steiner's plan theoretically acceptable, says Daci (SRNA)
Kosovo Assembly speaker Nexhat Daci told SRNA that Steiner's plan for Kosovska Mitrovica is, looked at as a whole, theoretically acceptable. However, he added that negative reactions to the plan should be understood. "It is good that Steiner is ready to clarify all unclear parts and integrate some additional solutions. I made myself clear from day one - all citizens of Kosovo must be treated absolutely equally, with equal rights and obligations. In my entire career, I have never divided Kosovo or talked about Bujanovac and Presevo." Daci pointed out that the territory of Kosovo is one, inseparable, and that borders could not be drawn along nationalities. "My goal is a unified Kosovo for everyone to live freely, regardless of ethnicity," he said.

Macedonia Update

Agreement reached for coalition government in Macedonia (Koha/Zëri)
Koha Ditore reports that talks between BDI representatives, led by former NLA chief Ali Ahmeti, and LSDM, the Macedonian party that won the majority of votes in the elections, have resulted in a joint platform for future government. Koha Ditore also reports that the allocation of ministerial posts will be done soon.

Zëri reports that another Albanian party, the Party for Democratic Prosperity (PPD), led by Abdurrahman Haliti, will participate in the new government.

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Macedonians block Skopje-Tetovo road (Koha Ditore/Zëri)
Koha Ditore and Zëri report that hundreds of Macedonians have blocked the Skopje-Tetovo road after an elementary school in a village near Tetovo was renamed after an Albanian scholar. The school was originally named for a Macedonian revolutionary. Hasan Zybelhari, chief of regional education unit, reportedly said, "Behind righteous demands for education, the protesters also hide political goals… Even the Albanians made a hasty move because they should have waited for an answer from the Ministry of Education."