17 October 2002 Thursday Edition

CONTENTS

Serbs must participate in the elections, says Radosavljevic (Koha Ditore)

Koha Ditore reports that Nenad Radosavljevic, advisor to SRSG Michael Steiner for IDP returns, told the Belgrade-based FoNet news agency that Kosovo Serbs should take part in 26 October elections or else they will lose much as a community.

"It is difficult to believe in promises or even guarantees based on the experience of Kosovo Serbs; nonetheless, they must participate in the elections because they will win something, and they will lose a lot if they don't," he said.

Radosavljevic reportedly accused some elements in Serbia, without specifying any names, of manipulating Kosovo Serbs for the sake of political interest and ambition. "The fact that there are a lot of problems surrounding the Serb community in Kosovo on security, freedom of movement and returns doesn't give the right to individual political representatives to get their people into bigger problems," he said.

"I don't think the time has come to cease relations with the international community. It is never late to take such steps, but such a thing is a very difficult decision," he concluded

Maliqi: Covic's time is running out (Java)

The Java weekly carries a commentary by well-known political analyst Shkelzen Maliqi in which he tackles SRSG Michael Steiner's seven-point plan for Mitrovica and the documents relating to the Steiner plan that followed from Serbian Deputy PM Nebojsa Covic, which were made public by Belgrade authorities. Maliqi wrote:

Kosovo chief administrator Michael Steiner is having intensive talks with Serb leaders. On Tuesday, he had a meeting in northern Kosovo with local leaders and on Wednesday he met with Serb government officials in Belgrade. Steiner is trying to convince the Serbs that his seven-point plan for Mitrovica is a promising starting point for everyone, UNMIK, Albanians and Serbs. With such an approach and with the full support of internationals, Steiner's plan leaves little or no room to maneuver for Serbs who dislike the plan.

The Serb government showed its objection to Steiner's plan by publishing two documents prepared by Nebojsa Covic, head of the Serb Coordination Council for Kosovo. Belgrade insists on the signing of a preliminary agreement between the Serb government and UNMIK, which would guarantee security and the most advanced form of self-government for Serbs. Even the plan of the chief administrator focuses on the issue of self-government, as an issue that would be solved through negotiations after Serb participation in 26 October local elections.

However, Belgrade wants to switch things around: first, guarantees of self-government, and then participation in Kosovo elections.

A year ago, Serbs conditioned their participation in the elections on an agreement with UNMIK and they achieved their goals. By blackmail, Belgrade managed to assure the symbolic reconfirmation of its sovereignty over Kosovo and its patronage over Kosovo Serbs. However, UNMIK and the internationals are no longer willing to support Belgrade's aspirations to legalize parallel authorities in Kosovo. Recommendations from the United Nations and world powers have authorized Steiner to solve the problem of northern Kosovo and Serb enclaves that are still linked to Belgrade and not with UNMIK and Kosovo institutions. De-legalization and the dissolution of parallel institutions is the line that defines the character of Steiner's plan, beyond which he cannot yield and make further concessions to Serbs.

Belgrade knows this and so made public the project for changing the Constitutional Framework. Serbs want guarantees for self-government through a new agreement between UNMIK and Belgrade, which implies the right to create a union of Serb enclaves; and this means the recognition of a greater territorial autonomy for Serbs with consequence being Kosovo's federalization.

However, despite the broad competencies he has, Steiner knows that he cannot negotiate this Serb proposal without consulting and securing the support of Kosovo institutions. If Steiner agreed to blackmail from Covic and Kosovo Serb leaders, this would consequently exclude Albanians from the decision-making process in Kosovo. This means that UNMIK would take a bigger bite than it can swallow and it would also have destabilizing consequences for Kosovo. Covic's project offers the legalization of Kosovo's ethnic division, and on the other hand, Steiner's plan offers a model of a Serb self-governance within integrating democratic processes.

Belgrade and Serb leaders don't have much more time to blackmail UNMIK.

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Kosovo deputies to approve laws, not give opinions (Koha Ditore)

Koha Ditore carries an interview with Arne Grimm and Ulrich Steinle, consultants with the German Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Foundation, which has offered training for Kosovo Assembly members and administrative staff. They say that the deputies don't yet have a clear understanding of their duties, evidenced by the fact that they have focused more on presenting opinions than on finding legislative solutions for problems in Kosovo. Last week, Grimm and Steinle met with numerous international officials and Kosovo Assembly deputies, such as Fatmir Sejdiu, Fatmir Limaj, Bujar Dugolli and Oliver Ivanovic.

Can you tell us what your work in Kosovo entailed?
Grimm: We would like to help build an assembly and a democratic structure. Our goal is to build a modern and efficient [structure] and not politics.

What have you asked of assembly members during the training, and what did they tell you about the establishment of Kosovo institutions?
Grimm: I first arrived here in May and now I am here to see what has been done to develop these institutions. I am pleased…[but] we surely also have problems. However, the bodies are functioning and this is the most important thing. Assembly members don't exactly understand their work in the assembly. I think this is a big problem; and another problem is that the political profile of the actors is not clear. These are typical characteristics in new democracies. I am from East Berlin. We had the same situation in 1989, but we had less time for development. I also know some other countries, so this is not typical only of Kosovo. We don't have a democratic tradition in Kosovo. The Kosovo Assembly and political parties are organizations that are learning everyday.

What do you mean?
Grimm: Assembly members must make laws and until now they haven't been very creative. The assembly is not a place to present opinions. First of all, it should serve for finding legislative solutions to problems. It is not enough to say whether a law is good or not; assembly members must look for solutions.

How do assembly members react to your training?
Steinle: It is difficult to make an overall evaluation, because in each assembly you have different personalities, some of them tend to be more open while the others are not. We see that in some structures there is progress and that our work is being accepted more, while we also see that some structures have achieved less progress.

After you return to Germany, what will be the message of your report; what will your future suggestions be for the assembly and institutions in Kosovo?
There are dynamic developments here and we cannot plan what will happen next year. There have been numerous developments since May and some commissions have started working seriously. Political issues have become more important because many laws are being presented to the assembly. We can expect a lot more work on the laws, because we had a small number. In the beginning, the assembly was learning from experience but now it is important to achieve progress.

How helpful has this training been for the assembly members?
It is important to base these trainings on the requests of the assembly members, for example, the democratic mandate of the assembly. However, in my opinion, the best results would be achieved if the training were focused on the local situation, the current specifications and problems of the assembly.

When do you expect the Kosovo Assembly to be as efficient as the German Parliament?
It is difficult to say because this is influenced by many factors but there is a very good chance that this might happen if the assembly members focus on legislative work and realize that their work includes laws and finding solutions to problems through laws. This would create a working environment in the assembly and, as a result, discussions would be easier if the members talk about specific issues rather than general topics. Therefore, the more professional they will are in dealing with issues, such as the environment and pensions, the more professional they will become.

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Prishtina Radio Television (Java)

Java carries an editorial by publisher and editor Migjen Kelmendi, who was RTK director for a short time after the 1999 conflict. He considers that the project for Kosovo Radio Television to become a public service has failed. He starts with a discussion of Prishtina Radio Television before the war, when it was one of the "pearls of typical communist establishment". Only during the last two years before the war was RTP transformed and it started to transmit the injustices done to the Albanian nation by a brutal regime, to that extent that it was the first institution to be attacked and occupied by Milosevic's police, says Kelmendi.

That "RTK is anything but a public service" points to the urgent need for Kosovo to be rehabilitated and confront the injustices done to Prishtina Radio Television and its employees. Kelmendi says he doesn't know how these injustices can be redressed, but "what I know is that the RTK project, as it is right now, is not even able to deal with a simple telephone call from a leader who wants to have two minutes on the news, much less with criticisms and arguments".

Kelmendi says that the same thing happened in Bosnia. He thinks the reason for this is that public services should emanate from a developed democracy. In these "democracies in training", as ours is, says Kelmendi, we cannot speak about independent institutions, even if Agim Zatriqi [present RTK director] writes it hundreds of times.

RTK as a public service project has failed, just as it has failed as everywhere in Balkans, says Kelmendi, who would like to take off the mask that RTK is wearing and give it the name of state television it always had. In this way, at least one injustice could be undone.

Adnan Merovci: A victim of freedom of speech (Java Weekly)

Java Weekly carries an interview with Kosovo Post director Adnan Merovci, who was recently suspended from duty following a decision by the Kosovo Trust Agency. He talks about the reasons for his suspension and how he is a victim of freedom of speech against irregularities at PTK. Merovci recently came out in public in all Kosovo dailies saying that Leme Xhemë together with Roger Reynolds of the KTA had called for his suspension.

Merovci says that at first the new KTA manager, Roger Reynolds, and PTK director general Leme Xhemë did not get on well. Merovci says he repeatedly warned Xhemë that some day she was going to be manipulated and…misused by Reynolds. Now he is certain who cooperated with whom and who was really behind his suspension.

He told Java that before going public with his remarks and his statement about irregularities at PTK, he had reviewed all the issues from the day he started work at PTK on 1 January 2002; and he had no regrets. "I should be so lucky to be a victim of freedom of speech against irregularities at PTK," he said.

Merovci said recently that he possesses additional evidence about issues he has discussed with the media, whether or nor he reveals what he knows. "My fight against the irregularities at PTK is going to be permanent. From this day on, I will seek justice through legal means," he said.

How did he feel when he was obliged to leave his PTK office with a bag and an apple? "My bag symbolizes my fight as a citizen against the irregularities at PTK, and the "unbitten" apple symbolizes that I have only eaten legitimate apples and not "forbidden" apples during my time at PTK," says Merovci.

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Who bought the teachers of Kosovo for 44 euros? (Java Weekly)

Java Weekly ran a report on how the education workers, after the recent 14-day strike in Kosovo, finally gave in and were the big losers in the whole process. They settled for a salary increase of 44 euros and returned to work. After a general strike, they are getting a "reward" of a total of 176 euros for their "rebellion", while their demands were not fulfilled to their satisfaction.

During the strike, education workers remained devoted to the Joint Union of Education, Science and Culture (SBASHK) and didn't give in until the last moment. In the end, the education workers were the losers. No strike will give them higher salaries, even if they decide to go out again after four months. In the end, it appears that the SBASHK organizer wasn't committed, after he signed an agreement with the government of Kosovo without fulfilling the demands of the education workers.

Somebody bought 22,000 education workers in Kosovo for a price of 44 euros!

Two flags and one Skënderbe (Zëri)

Zëri carries an editorial by Blerim Shala who says that the Albanian flag, the American flag and Skenderbe are common symbols for every ethnicity during the election campaign. He acknowledges that the US flag at the rally expresses respect for the US' decisive role in Kosovo liberation, friendship, and the aim to join NATO and EU.

The Albanian national flag and Skenderbe [represent] traditional Albanian values, while [displaying] the American flag is an expression of respect for the US' determinant role in Kosovo's liberation. We don't believe that there is a Kosovo citizen who doesn't respect these values.

The second reason is that these values are considered a source of political legitimacy. A traditional patriotism combined with friendship with USA, pro-western discourse, with the aim to join NATO and EU, is certainly acceptable to every Kosovar voter. However, it is becoming more and more obvious that respect for these symbols and the realization of these aims requires more work and organization and much less apathy.

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Kosovo Campaign Coverage

Dailies report that KPC members voted yesterday, and so did the inhabitants of Pllanjik, Orqusha and Glipotok in Sharr. The KPC voted because they are on duty on 26 October, and the others because the whether forecast foresees bad whether in the region on election day.

Dailies also report on OSCE Head of Mission Paschal Fieschi's visit to Gorazhdec village in Peja/Pec region. In an article entitled Fieschi prays Gorazhdec Serbs to participate on election, Zëri quotes a Serb dweller as saying, "This event [attack on Serb pensioners in Peja/Pec] was a clear message that we cannot participate in elections." "It is your absolute right, but how can your voice be heard, if you don't elect your representatives," Fieschi replied.

The Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK)
Dailies report on LDK election rallies in Kastriot/Obilic, Fushë Kosovë/Kosovo Polje and Podujevë/Podujevo.

In Podujevë/Podujevo, President Rugova said that "good local government hastens formal recognition of Kosovo's independence". Koha Ditore also reports that Gani Prekopuca, president of LDK in Fushë Kosovë/Kosovo Polje, promised to establish electric train service from his municipality to Prishtina/Pristina. Zëri quotes Rugova as saying in Kastriot/Obilic, "Natural resources in Kastriot should be exploited."

Kosova Democratic Party (PDK)
Dailies report on PDK rallies in Skënderaj/Srbica, Peja/Pec and Deçan/Decani. Koha Ditore quotes Thaçi as saying, "I was with you and I will be until the victory." Dailies report that the PDK rally in Mitrovica was annulled. Zëri carries a headline, which reads, PDK officials blame OSCE, while OSCE refutes this. PDK leader Ahmet Tmava said that OSCE's unclear regulations made it impossible to hold the scheduled rally.

Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK)
Dailies report on AAK election rallies in Gjila/Gnjilane, and Viti/Vitina. Zëri quotes Haradinaj as saying, "You have tried the others, and this time make the right decision." 24 Orë has him saying that the "AAK option for problem resolving is real".

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Belgrade Media Update

Serbs getting close to vote only in the predominantly Serb municipalities, says Oliver Ivanovic (Radio TV B92)
Coalition Povratak (KP) member of the Kosovo Assembly Presidency Oliver Ivanovic told B92 that President Kostunica has understood the Kosovo Serbs' concern for their safety. "We also explained our position that there were almost no conditions for Serbs to participate in the elections," he said.

"It is very unlikely that Serbs would participate in the elections under such conditions. Thus, we are much closer to a solution that they participate in the elections only in the predominantly Serb municipalities where we ourselves can have a majority and ensure protection of our rights. At this moment, we are very pleased with Belgrade's position regarding the issue. I would say that the Republican and Federal authorities expressed a lot of understanding. They listened to us and heard what we pointed out as a problem and how we saw it. I would say that they would stand behind us regardless which decision we eventually make," said Ivanovic.

Ivanovic assessed SRSG Michael Steiner's decentralization plan as not containing anything "concrete", but only "a list of nice wishes". "There are no security instruments in this plan that could guarantee any protection for us," he stressed. During his visit to Belgrade, Steiner said that the process of decentralization would be stopped unless Serbs decided to participate in the elections. "Steiner could have already implemented this and Serbs would participate in such elections. How do they plan to guarantee Serbs an equal participation in democratically elected and constituted institutions, when they cannot even guarantee freedom of movement to them in the municipalities where they are not a majority?" he asked.

Steiner did not receive support from the Serbian Orthodox Church (BETA)
The Raska-Prizren Eparchy has announced that SRSG Michael Steiner did not receive support from the Serbian Orthodox Church for the turnout of Serbs for the local elections in Kosovo, and that he was told that those who live in Kosovo should make this decision. "Members of the Holy Synod and Patriarch Pavle quite understandably did not agree to give a blank confirmation of a policy that has not been able for thee years now to protect churches and cemeteries from devastation and vandalism," reads an eparchy statement.

The eparchy assessed that the UNMIK chief is wrong when he identifies his plan with the Serb plan for decentralizing the province, elaborating that the proposal of the CCK envisages the reconstruction of the municipal authorities on "the entire territory of the province so that it would enable Serbs to more directly and freely take part in resolving their problems and preserving their ethnic, spiritual and cultural characteristics."

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Decision on participation tomorrow or Saturday, four options still under review, says Marko Jaksic (Fonet)
A decision on Serb participation in the Kosovo municipal elections will probably be made tomorrow, Saturday, at the latest, DSS vice-president Marko Jaksic told Fonet after yesterday's meeting of Kosovo Serb leaders with Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica. Jaksic underlined that four options were still being reviewed. "We shall make our decision on participating, boycotting, selectively participating or organizing parallel elections," he said. He explained that selective participation would mean Serb turnout to the elections only in predominantly Serb municipalities.

Father Sava says that the Serbian Orthodox Church cannot support those who have been deceiving Serbs for three and half years (SRNA)
Father Sava Janjic, from the Monastery of Visoki Decani, warned that OSCE and UNMIK representatives have continued to exert severe pressure on Kosovo Serbs to participate in the municipal elections. He says this pressure culminated in the SRSG's visit to Belgrade yesterday. He noted that Steiner's intention to "allure" his Holiness Patriarch Pavle to call on Serbs to participate in the elections was particularly worrying, and that the Serbian Orthodox Church could not face its own people and support those who have been deceiving Serbs for three and half years thus far. "Patriarch is well acquainted with the Kosovo Serb sufferings, as he used to share good and evil with them for more than 30 years during the very difficult period of Kosovo's autonomy. That is why his eventual call on Serbs to vote in these conditions would be the most painful blow to all who fight for their survival in Kosovo and Metohija," said Father Sava in an open letter to UNMIK.