15 October 2002

CONTENTS

Koha Ditore carries a commentary by Agron Bajrami on the aftermath of Serbian presidential elections. He warns that with people like Kostunica or Seselj in power history might repeat itself in this part of the Balkans. Bajrami wrote:

Even though the Serbian elections failed to produce a president not accused of war crimes, they did showed the true force of what is being called in Europe "the new Serb democracy".

The two presidential candidates in the second round of voting, Vojislav Kostunica and Miroljub Labus, who both used to be united in the camp against Milosevic, failed to attract more than 45 percent of the vote, and it seems that the calls of radical Vojislav Seselj to boycott the elections were crucial in the Serb election debacle.

Therefore, despite expectations that Kostunica would move from the post of Yugoslav President to the post of President of Serbia, the latter seat will still be held by Milan Milutinovic, who is wanted by The Hague for war crimes committed in Kosovo.

The fact that a man accused of war crimes will still be President of Serbia is not the sole consequence of this whole game. European officials should be concerned about the fact that Vojislav Seselj scored the biggest victory in Serbia. Not because, having the support of Slobodan Milosevic from The Hague, his calls for a boycott sank the second round of elections in Serbia, but because he has such huge influence in [Serbian] society. In fact, Seselj seems to be certain that in the repeat elections he will win even more votes because he refused to tell his electorate to support Kostunica, with whom he is very similar with respect to ideological.

Another concern for Serbia's western friends should be the fact that these elections showed that the people who are being called reformists have no chances of getting into power. At least not yet. The electorate simply doesn't like them. Even two years after the ousting of Milosevic, the Serb electorate would rather vote for expansionist nationalism, be it the 'extreme' represented by Seselj or the moderate represented by Kostunica.

In the meantime, what should be of utmost concern to all interested parties is that the results of the Serb elections show that Milosevic's policy in Serbia hasn't been defeated. The same policy, in fact, dictates who will become leader of the Serb state. With the extremist Seselj and the nationalist Kostunica, Serb politics has remained in the level it was in the 90's.

There are even lessons for Kosovo from Serbia.

The most important lesson is that the Serb minority should know the truth about the "chiefs" in Belgrade. It could prove fatal for Serbs if they remain under the decision-making control of Serbia, and this is being tested now at a time when Serbs need to make good decisions regarding their participation in local elections in Kosovo and regarding proposals for interethnic cooperation at the local level.

In order to take such a crucial step toward the future, local Serbs can be helped by the international officials at UNMIK, if they don't allow Serb envoys from Belgrade to have maneuvering space, and by Albanian leaders who should show interest in the true problems of Serbs.

Because even after all the bloodshed in the Balkans, only a person such as Kostunica along with Seselj can hold power in Serbia. If Kosovo Serbs remain under the control of such men, history will repeat itself. A painful part of history that we have all been part of.

Who needs such a history to repeat itself?

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The undoing of power and preparations to divide Kosovo (Zëri)

Zëri carries an editorial related to the document for "the decentralization of Kosovo" that Nebojsa Covic sent to SRSG Michael Steiner. The document is entitled, 'The basis of the political platform for democratic decentralization in Kosovo and Metohia and strengthening of self-government for local, national and regional communities'.

Ten days prior to the second local elections in Kosovo, it isn't known what the final decision of the Serb regime and Kosovo Serb politicians regarding Serb participation in the elections will be.

In the past weeks, in the usual pattern of conditions and blackmail by the Serb regime, the [issue of] decentralization of power in Kosovo has come to the surface. While UNMIK chief Michael Steiner's plan for Mitrovica outlines participation in the elections as a condition to initiate the process of decentralization, the Serb regime has taken a completely different approach. That of an agreement for decentralization, to be signed by Nebojsa Covic and Michael Steiner, as the crucial point to open the gates of Serb participation in 26 October local elections.

The order of steps of this process is not a problem. Much more problematic is the concept of decentralization proposed by the Serb regime and which is published by Zëri. Belgrade has recently sent this project to UNMIK, and Zëri has secured it through western diplomatic channels.

First of all, it must be emphasized that this project is completely different from UNMIK's proposals and ideas for the decentralization of local power.

The Serb regime also expects Steiner to take the approach of Hans Haekkerup, who held negotiations with Belgrade on non-negotiable issues. It seems that for this reason, and in order to prevent speculations from Belgrade, Steiner has emphasized several times that his plan on Mitrovica is non-negotiable.

The contents of the Serb regime's proposal leave no room for doubt: this is a proposal that will completely supersede UNMIK's concept for organizing self-government in all levels. The aim of this project is not the good organization of power strengthening of the democratization process in Kosovo, but, on the contrary, the non-functioning of power at all levels and the creation legal room to maneuver the division of Kosovo.

In essence, this proposal doesn't contain anything that haven't already been presented, in one way or another, by Serb politicians and jurists since the spring of 1998, when efforts were launched to find an interim solution for Kosovo through US mediation. The main goal of all these proposals is to prevent the Kosovar regime from becoming a reflection of Kosovo's actual ethnic composition. As happened before, this aim is being attempted in various ways.

Thus, a local community becomes the basic carrier of local power. The municipality that has a minority of at least 6 percent should be organized into a municipal assembly with two chambers, and the second chamber is comprised of the representatives of the local communities. Prishtina and Mitrovica would be organized as cities with several municipalities. The goal, in this respect, is very transparent: the organizing of new municipalities where Serbs make up the majority. National communities would have the right for specific political organization of self-government. It would also be possible to organize regional communities that link several municipalities. We can imagine the kind of regional communities that would be organized by municipalities in northern Kosovo. In the end, even the Kosovo Assembly would have to be reorganized and turned into a two-chamber assembly. The second chamber would be a chamber of local communities and municipalities, in which a minority would have at least 25 percent representation. According to this proposal, even a neighborhood could be considered a local community. One could imagine the composition of the second chamber of the assembly and the functionality of the political decision-making process in the Assembly.

It seems that the peak of the absurdity and irony of this project is the proposal of an UNMIK regulation, which would make the amendments in the Constitutional Framework of Kosovo official in order to absorb the changes for reorganizing power as presented by the Serb regime.

In this way, Belgrade has made it all "easy" for Steiner, by preparing the regulation, which he would then have only to sign.

This proposal from the Serb regime proves that, for Belgrade, the decentralization of power in Kosovo is, in fact, identical to the political and territorial disintegration of Kosovo.

After such proposals, it would be Brussels' turn to react, because this doesn't contribute to the stabilization of the situation in Kosovo and the creation of a government that would serve all the citizens of Kosovo.

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Serb threat: If no decentralization, Serbs will hold their own elections (Epoka)

The text of the Epoka e Re article carries the provocative headline, Serb threat: if no decentralization, Serbs will hold their own election. The reporters' quote head of the Coalition Povratak Rada Trajkovic as saying, "If the international community does not support our idea for decentralization of Kosovo, then we will organize our own elections." She also reportedly said that, for the time being, the implementation of decentralization is the only condition for Serb participation in the elections.

"Serbs are looking into all the possibilities for participating in elections. Together with the international community, we will try to find the strength to participate. The last thing we want to do is boycott the elections," she stressed.

Trajkovic says that for the moment Serbs cannot realize their rights in existing Kosovo institutions. "There was a war in Kosovo in which Albanians suffered and unfortunately now the Serbs are suffering. A wall has been built up between these two communities and if we want to contribute to lowering the tensions between them, we have to ask why this is so. I believe that with decentralization these two communities will come closer together," she said.

Director of the UNMIK Department of Public Information Simon Haselock stressed that UNMIK has taken a clear stance on decentralization. "Rada Trajkovic does not speak for all Kosovo Serbs. Kostunica and Covic have called Kosovo Serbs to participate in local elections and Serbs haven't said they would not participate," he said, commenting Rada Trajkovic's statement.

OSCE spokesperson Sven Lindholm told Epoka e Re that the decision to vote is an individual decision. "The OSCE is organizing legitimate elections in all municipalities for all Kosovars. We will not organize any other elections for Serbs or any one else," he said.

UNMIK and Belgrade's differing evaluations of the Serbs' situation in Kosovo (Zëri)

After the failure of the Serb presidential elections, a new situation has been created with regard to Serb participation in the Kosovo elections. Serb politicians are saying that it is disappointing that a Serbian president could not be elected in the second round, while Serb public opinion, expressed in various web pages, indicates that "Kosovo Serbs feel dissatisfied that Seselj could not participate in the second round," reports Zëri.

The paper suggests that if 29 September and 13 October are compared, a fair conclusion can be reached that in the first round, more than 50% of Kosovo Serbs voted for the Serb Radical Party [Seselj], which has the "support of the war criminal Slobodan Milosevic". The majority of Serbs showed a radical change in their stance last Sunday. Reports from the polls showed that only a symbolic number of Serbs voted in the second round.

Serb media reported that Nebojsa Covic was disappointed that a Serbian president was not elected. He said that "local elections are less important than presidential elections, but it is not clear how the electorate will respond".

Covic has evaluated that Serb voters in Kosovo are "worried, frightened and in grave danger" and they do not see a future until freedom of movement and security are improved. Small turnout cannot be marked as "extremisms or radicalism", as some have interpreted this, but as "a consequence of the conditions in which they are living".

The international community in Kosovo believes that the failure to elect a president in the second round of voting in Serbia should not influence participation of Kosovo Serbs in the 26 October elections.

UNMIK spokeswoman Susan Manuel did not want to comment on Covic's statement regarding "the lesser importance of local elections," and she repeated the UNMIK and OSCE stance that "participation of Serbs in local elections will bring good things to them and is not for the benefit of UNMIK".

"I cannot comment…because I haven't seen his comments, but I believe that 26 October elections are crucial for Kosovo Serbs," said Manuel. "What will they gain if they do not vote? What will happen afterwards? They will be isolated from political life. It is not in UNMIK's interest for Serbs to vote, it is in their own interest to do so," she said.

UNMIK says it cannot foresee a time when another agreement will be signed, as happened last year when former SRSG Hans Haekkerup and Covic signed an agreement "that would help improve the life of Kosovo Serbs". "There were no concessions; it was only a document," says Manuel, and added, "If we exclude last week's incident in Pejë, the overall conditions for Kosovo Serb have improved. We have more Serb police offers, Serb judges are being appointed and there is definitely more freedom of movement."

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Creating disappointments (Zëri)

Zëri carries an editorial by Blerim Shala who focuses on Covic's recent announcements on the participation of Kosovo Serbs in local elections on 26 October. Shala says that Serbia's presidential elections don't have any value for Kosovo Serbs, and that Kosovo local elections are in the vital interest of all Kosovo citizens. According to Shala, it is Belgrade that makes it impossible for Kosovo Serbs to realize this.

Serbia remains without a president. But Covic doesn't remain without ideas and proposals. The Serb politician, who, as a matter of fact, supported Kostunica for Serbian president, now says that the failure of presidential elections in Serbia will certainly affect the decision by Belgrade and Kosovo politicians either to participate in or to boycott the local elections on 26 October.

Covic mentions the disappointment of Kosovar Serb voters, who participated in the first round of presidential elections and supported Seselj. He says that for Kosovo Serbs, the Serbian presidential elections are more important than municipal elections in Kosovo.

Then, if they were not very much interested in voting for the president of Serbia, they will be even less interested in voting for local government representatives or, in other words, those who would lead them there where they live.

Presidential elections in Serbia, as was said several times these past two weeks, confirm Belgrade's official policy towards Kosovo and the Serb minority in Kosovo.

For Kosovo Serbs, the presidential elections in Serbia have no value, except for maintaining the illusion that Serbia will return to rule over Kosovo. Local elections in Kosovo are of vital interest to all Kosovar citizens, thus also for Serbs, because only in this way can the situation be changed concretely.

But it is Belgrade that makes it impossible for Serbs to realize this.

Trust stronger than reason (Koha Ditore)

Koha Ditore carries a report last week's regular meeting on the International Commission for Missing Persons [ICMP]. US Secretary of State Colin Powell congratulated the work of the commission. "You have done a great job in Bosnia and Hezegovina, and you have my moral and material support in the future," he said.

Koha Ditore says that the UNMIK Office for Missing Persons and Forensics, in cooperation with ICPM, has announced the identification of 20 missing persons in Kosovo based on ADN analysis.

UNMIK Justice Department information officer Izabella Karlowicz said that OMPF intends to achieve the task set by SRSG Michael Steiner for the completion of all the new exhumation cases by 31 December 2002. "We have already confirmed that we haven't found mass graves or dead bodies in Rahovec/Orahovac and Suharekë/Suvareka," Karlowicz added.

OMPF has established a morgue near Rahovec/Orahovac, where the bodies are examined. Around 200 autopsies have been completed this year, and most were done on unidentified bodies. About 1,000 blood tests were taken from family members, in order to compare with the victims. So far, 42 bodies have been identified, 27 Albanians and 15 other nationalities. Half of these identifications were achieved by the ADN test, according to Karlowicz.

She also mentioned that the Skenderaj exhibition of clothes and other belongings of the bodies displaced to Petrovo village in Serbia had helped them to conclude that at least 18 skeletons might be connected with the Izbica massacre, after which bodies were sent to Serbia in April 1999. "We are preparing a corrected list of missing persons and we will publish it soon; however, we will still rely on the previous option prepared by the UNMIK office for the imprisoned and missing," she said and added that this list contains 4,800 names and is being compared with the list of International Red Cross. The number is expected to be reduced by 20%.

She also told Koha Ditore that the UNMIK Police unit was allowed to go to Batajnica. "Graves in Batajnica and Petrova are really mass graves with the bodies that were first buried in Kosovo and then displaced to those places in Serbia," said Karlowicz.

She also referred to a group of Albanians and another group of Serbs who play with the feelings of the victims' family members, spreading misinformation for personal gain. She said that until now, all the searches for burial sites and secret prisons, have produced negative results, and that about 4,500 bodies killed in different circumstances during the war had been displaced, of which only 2,000 had so far been identified. However, if the number of victims found in Serbia is added, the total reaches 5,000.

"With the help of ICPM and the ADN test, we hope to help heal the sufferings of family members," said Karlowicz, and added that another complex issue is that no proof or argument can restrain human faith, if one believes that his or her relative is still alive.

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What is the truth behind Graçanica health center? (Kosova Sot)

The problems at the Graçanica Health House started after the Department of Health decided to grant it special status because of the Serb minority living in Graçanica. Given the fact that Graçanica is in Prishtina municipality, the heads of Prishtina Municipal Assembly insisted on appointing the director of the health center. Last November, a vacancy was announced and Dr. Zorica Nedeljkovic was appointed director. Belgrade pressured her not to accept the post; however, UNMIK gave its full support and Dr. Nedeljkovic accepted the post, reports Kosova Sot.

"In November last year some of the competencies passed from the Department of Health to the municipalities…we decide to continue Dr. Nedeljkovic's contract for another 6 months. This caused a commotion among some people who did not agree that Graçanica Health House should cut all ties with Belgrade and be incorporated into the Kosovo health system," said Ilir Tolaj, Director of the Health Department at Prishtina municipality.

"Rada Trajkovic was among the fiercest opponents of this decision and she constantly tired to force Dr. Nedeljkovic to resign. She appointed Dejan Jonjev as director. Former SRSG Haekkerup signed an executive order that prevents Jonjev from acting or undertaking any activities tied to Graçanica Health House. This executive order is still in affect and Trajkovic appointing Jonjev as director is an absurdity. Unfortunately, UNMIK police hasn't executed this order. This was one of the primary demands and the fact that we would not talk to such persons," said Tolaj.

"This issue has been dragged out because of elections, and radical elements as Rada Trajkovic have managed to convince UNMIK senior officials that if action were taken at Graçanica Health Center, the Serbs would boycott the elections. There is a clear division in Graçanica between local Serbs who have realized the new reality in Kosovo and another group that is politicized for their own personal reasons and have no family members in Kosovo, such as Rada Trajkovic. I will insist that legally appointed personnel start to work at Graçanica Health Center," said Tolaj.

Vacancy announcements have been published for 108 jobs. There are more than 150 applicants who are aware that they will end all ties with Belgrade and will be incorporated into the Kosovo Health System.

Kosovo Campaign Coverage

Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK)
LDK held rallies in Shtime/Stimlje, Lipjan/Lipljan, Zllakuqan and Rugovë. "In the last two years, LDK has successfully led most of the municipalities in Kosovo. More than 1,500 projects have been fulfilled. We are convinced that the majority of Shtime/Stimlje citizens will vote for LDK," said Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova in Shtime/Stimlje. "Without an independent and democratic Kosovo, integrated into NATO and the EU and with close and permanent ties with USA, there will be no stability in the region," he said in Lipjan/Lipljan.

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Kosovo Democratic Party (PDK)
PDK held rallies in Mitrovica, Gjilanë/Gnjilane, Malishevë/Malisevo and Siqevë. "The people of Gjilanë/Gnjilane has seen how the current party is governing, thus they will now give their votes to PDK," said PDK candidate for municipal president Ismail Kurteshi in Gjilanë/Gnjilane. "We will not act in parental way with anyone, especially our youth who were the driving force in many changes," said PDK vice-president Daut Kreasniqi Malishevë/Malisevo.

Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK)
AAK held a rally in Skenderaj/Srbica and Lloqan. "There were injustices even before when Skenderaj/Srbica and Drenicë were isolated and left aside. The time has come to show that things have changed, to show that Skenderaj/Srbica is in Kosovo," said AAK President Ramush Haradinaj.

Kosovo Liberal Party (PLK)
PLK continues its electoral campaign in Skenderaj/Srbica. "Only united as we are here can we make Kosovo's independence a reality," said PLK President Dedaj.

Belgrade Media Update

Kosovo Serb IDPs await decision on participation in local elections (Tanjug)
If the Serbs decide to take part in the local elections in Kosovo and Metohija on 26 October, more than 2,500 IDPs from Jagodina with the right to vote could turn out for these elections, the Commissioner for Refugees in Jagodina told Tanjug. Last year, 2,443 persons of age registered for the voters' lists for the elections in Kosovo and Metohija, while another 117 persons completed registration this year, said Nevenka Batalo from the Commissariat for Refugees. She said that this "was the real number of IDPs of age" who had found shelter in the Jagodina municipality, escaping Albanian separatists after the arrival of KFOR and UNMIK to Kosovo and Metohija. A polling station for them will be opened in Jagodina, while voting, "if there is any", will be observed by a body of some 20 representatives of the CCK and the Commissariat for Refugees, said Batalo and she added that IDPs "would be informed in time on the voting location."

There will be no new border crossings to Albania, says Susan Manuel (BETA/Radio TV B92)
UNMIK spokeswoman Susan Manuel told Radio TV B92 that UNMIK would establish two border crossings with Albania to control the movement of individuals and families on both sides of the border and prevent smuggling, and not customs offices or international border crossings. "We are talking about two mountain crossings, which would be controlled by border police. I am not really sure that there are even any existing roads there, or only some mountain paths," she said, and added, "These are not commercial customs or international border crossings. There will be no opening ceremony that high level UNMIK officials could attend."

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Regional Update

Solana: In January, EU to takeover military mission in Macedonia (Koha Ditore)
Koha Ditore reports on an interview with Javier Solana, EU senior official for Foreign Policy, published in the German newspaper Die Welt. Solana reportedly said, "From January next year, EU will take over the NATO mission in Macedonia." He also said that EU had started to establish military units for fast intervention and from now on would play a more important role in the world.

Tetovo: Armed persons abduct five foreign nationals (Koha Ditore)
Koha Ditore reports that four armed persons, whose identity is known to Tetovo local police, violently entered the Alfa café bar in Sinican village, near Tetovo, and abducted five foreign girls, mainly from Ukraine, who were working as waitresses at this night bar. The owner of the bar reported the case to the local police and said that in addition to automatic rifles, the abductors carried "Zola" type rockets, but they didn't use them since no one confronted them. However, the girls were threatened the whole time with guns pointed at their heads, and they were then put into two vehicles of Audi and Opel type, red color. Police are investigating the case.

Conference for strengthening political security and stability through economic cooperation (Koha Ditore)
Koha Ditore reports on the conference in Tirana on Strengthening political and security stability through economic cooperation, organized by the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in cooperation with the Albanian Parliament.

European Parliament member Doris Pack was quoted as saying that the "political climate in Albania has already changed and is more positive now". However, Stability Pact coordinator Erhard Busek said that "Albania is not a stable partner".