03 December 2002, Tuesday Edition

CONTENTS

Belgrade Media Update

Macedonia Update

Adnan Merovci's open letter to SRSG Michael Steiner (all dailies)

All dailies carry a letter sent by Adnan Merovci, suspended director of Kosovo Post Offices, to SRSG Michael Steiner. Merovci starts out by saying that he is an engineer who used to work at the Bank of Kosovo until the former Serb regime fired the Albanian workers.

In the last ten years (1989-2000), I was chief of protocol in the office of Mr. Ibrahim Rugova. During this period, I witnessed the political and social events in Kosovo. I also had the opportunity to be at Rambouillet Castle where the International Conference for Kosovo was held. During the NATO air raids, I was the sole associate who was held hostage by the Serb police and army. I have also testified at The Hague tribunal, etc. On 1 January 2002, I was appointed director of Kosovo Post Offices.

The reason that I am writing you this letter is based on your determination when you first landed at Prishtina airport. At that time you stated: 'Zero tolerance for irregularities and corruption in Kosovo.' From the very first day, I raised my voice against irregularities in this company.

In the beginning, PTK was under the supervision of Pillar One, and since 1 June 2002, it has been under the supervision of the Kosovo Trust Agency. A supervisory board has never functioned in PTK, neither during the supervision by Pillar I nor now under KTA. Thus, this company became dependant on only two people, one is the general director of the PTK and other is an official from UNMIK Pillar II, respectively Pillar IV. This manner of managing the company without any kind of transparency led to a situation where the PTK official [referring to the general director] was free to create irregularities, which I talked about from the very beginning.

When I noticed that my remarks to the management were useless and that the PTK official continued to create irregularities under the umbrella of UNMIK officials, I decided to continue my reactions and my fight against irregularities at the PTK in public remarks. Later I tried to fight these irregularities during management meetings, and as a reward for this, the KTA suspended me from the post of Director of Kosovo Post Offices in the most arbitrary manner and without any legal basis, through a letter signed by three individuals: E. Tschoepke, R. Raynolds and H. Villadsen, all three of whom are from the KTA.

The letter of suspension has numerous weaknesses both in content and formulation. Three persons from KTA signed my suspension without any legal instructions and without a timeline for this suspension. I was suspended without the notification and approval of the KTA Board of Directors. Furthermore, the implementation of this suspension was done in the most non-collegiate and unprofessional manner under the umbrella of the KTA.

I sent my complaint to the KTA Board of Directors and I still haven't received a reply (50 days have passed). I also sent a letter to the KTA reminding it of my suspension, but again nothing.

During the latest meeting at KTA with Mr. Lars Jensen and Ernst Tschoepke, I said that I didn't want to be part of solving the problem. I was told at the meeting that the KTA Board of Directors would decide on my case, but I was later told that I was definitively going back to PTK. During the meeting, KTA officials changed their thesis, a fact that speaks of a typically tendentious suspension.

After this meeting, my office was checked and materials were taken away without notifying me.

Conclusion:

Mr. Steiner, I highly evaluate your efforts for the development and democratization of Kosovo. I don't want this letter to be perceived as a personal complaint.

I have agreed to be the first victim of postwar differentiations for the freedom of speech, if that can contribute to the fight against irregularities and corruption in Kosovo that is administered by you. Irregularities in this company will remain much more profitable when I am not here. Those who suspended me didn't want to hear the voice of the fight against irregularities.

I am willing to back the things that I have said and still haven't said with facts and arguments. Therefore, I am trying to clarify one issue. I was only a servant of your determination from the very beginning: 'Zero tolerance toward irregularities and corruption'; and I was suspended by your mechanisms (KTA) only because I raised my voice against irregularities and asked for transparency through the freedom of speech.

Today, on 3 December 2002, at 1000 hrs, the meeting of the KTA Board of Directors will be held.

Now it is your turn; will you keep your promises or not?

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Steiner: Standards before status must be detailed (Koha Ditore)

Chief administrator Steiner and members of Kosovo's Government yesterday discussed the work being done to fulfill the standards required for the start of the determination of Kosovo's status, says Koha Ditore.

Chief administrator Michael Steiner told journalists that Kosovo institutions hadn't moved forward on certain aspects of fulfilling the standards. 'Some are doing very significant work, but some have deficiencies,' Koha Ditore quotes the SRSG as saying.

'There were very intensive and fruitful discussions with government on how to further define standards, because I am very much encouraged that standards are in general accepted, but we have to move forward into details, ' he said to journalists.

Steiner expressed satisfaction with 'essential progress' made up to now. On the approximate timing of Kosovo's status, he said that 'this also depends on Kosovo institutions'. 'The idea of the standards is to create a functional democratic society in Kosovo and it is also welcomed in the international community and I think that ministers understand this,' he said.

The UNMIK chief admitted that it was not easy to achieve all this at once, or to expect that Kosovo would become a Switzerland overnight. About standards he said that 'some of them will be achieved earlier, some later'.

Prime Minister Rexhepi told journalists that at the meeting with Steiner they discussed operations for the implementation of the eight points presented by SRSG to the UN SC. He said that these points are in the process of fulfillment but that 'they are not fulfilled, one part of them can be fulfilled faster, and some of them are much more difficult, but we are working together, and we can make our written remarks on those where we cannot or when changes have to be made'.

According to an UNMIK official, Steiner's meeting with Government was unofficial and the target was discussions on standards and not conclusions.

Koha Ditore says that Steiner has made it clear in all his appearances that some standards have to be fulfilled and only then could the process for determining Kosovo's final status start. At the end of the article, the benchmarks are listed.

Independence depends on standards (Zëri)

Zëri carries an editorial by Blerim Shala who says that certain standards have to be fulfilled prior to discussion of Kosovo's final status, but not all of them. According to Shala everything is clear on this issue and there is no need to create confusions.

We have often been able to invent problems where there were no problems. Or to create confusion where things were very clear.

This conclusion comes from the recent public, political and media confusion on chief administrator Michael Steiner's concept of the standards that have to be fulfilled prior to the process of Kosovo's final status. Perhaps this is why Steiner met with Prime Minister Rexhepi and the other ministers to discuss details of the standards that have to be fulfilled in the next phase.

These standards have their Kosovar peculiarities but, in general, they are identical with the features of other democratic western states. Also, some of the standards reflect, perhaps not intentionally, US and EU criteria, set in 1991 for the new states coming out of the dissolution of communist multiethnic federations, such as Soviet Union and Yugoslavia.

The misunderstanding here derives from the wrong impression created with some Kosovar officials and politicians that we have to fulfill all the standards before the status issue is opened. This is not possible and it cannot be asked of us. Nevertheless, some of the standards in this package must of necessity be fulfilled, if our aim is to become an authentic democratic society, and certainly if as we allege we want to create an independent state.

Kosovo's independence depends hundred percent on the fulfillment of these standards. And we all know which standards are we talking about.


Kosovo Assembly delegation at European Parliament for first time (Koha) Koha Ditore carries a report from the visit of the delegation of the Kosovo Assembly to the European Parliament. 'The delegation of the Kosovo Assembly led by Assembly Speaker Nexhat Daci, Ramush Haradinaj, Hydajet Hyseni, Hilmo Kandic and Oliver Ivanovic visited the European Parliament for the first time and thus marked the beginning of a new form of cooperation with this institution,' added Koha Ditore.

While Coalition Povratak representative Oliver Ivanovic was critical toward everything that has happened in Kosovo and blamed UNMIK, KFOR and Albanians, the other assembly representatives said everyone should acknowledge the big achievements in Kosovo, which are a result of the joint work of Kosovars and the international community.

According to Koha Ditore, Ivanovic talked mainly about the security problems of the Serb minority and for the need for Serb returns to Kosovo. At the same time, Daci, Haradinaj, Hyseni and Kandic said that 'no one in Kosovo contests the right of Serbs to return to their property', and called upon Serbs to be integrated in Kosovo institutions, to return to the Assembly and to work for Serb returns, instead of asking for a 'media return'.

Ramush Haradinaj reportedly joined the call for Serb deputies to return to the Assembly. 'If we work together, we will be able to solve many issues, some sooner and some later,' he said, and he added, 'Despite the fact that over 3,000 are missing and many others have been killed, we have managed to have conciliation to support the equal rights of all in Kosovo.'

Koha Ditore reports that Doris Pack, chairperson of the delegation of the European Parliament for southeastern Europe, sent a message to Serb KA members: 'No one has the right to leave the parliament that they have been elected to. Even at the European Parliament, the minority must accept the will of the majority, but it can disagree with it.'

Hilmo Kandic said that everyone should support returns, but not the return of criminals because they belong at The Hague. He also said that conditions should be created for returnees in Kosovo.

With the exception of Oliver Ivanovic, all the deputies said that ethnic violence in Kosovo no longer exists. 'Every attack against Serbs in Kosovo is an attack against Kosovo,' said Daci.

The Albanian members of the Kosovo Assembly also expressed thanks for the work of the international community in Kosovo, referring to it as a 'success story', but also added that the time has come for more competencies to be given to Kosovars. Haradinaj said: 'The time has come to re-plan the international presence so that it is in accordance with the new reality of allocating competencies and responsibilities.' He further said that the international community should have more trust in Kosovo institutions and that it should give them more opportunity to prove themselves.

Hydajet Hyseni said: 'Even after Kosovo becomes independent, it will need an international presence and we will ask for this ourselves.'

Ivanovic criticized other ethnic groups in Kosovo, saying that 'they have either fears or reservations and that they always vote in favor of the Albanian majority and against Serbs'. Kandic objected to this, saying that 'for the first time, minorities in Kosovo can speak in their own language, think with their heads and vote for their own interests'. 'We don't vote as a result of fear, but we vote for our interests and we don't vote only for the proposals that have political background and goals,' added Kandic.

Koha Ditore also claims that Ivanovic used the EP as a platform to accuse Albanians of nationalism and to blame the 'notorious presence of TV cameras in the assembly which turn moderated people into nationalists.'

Doris Pack replied to Ivanovic by saying, 'I don't understand someone who so harshly protects Serb interests that he accuses an Albanians of nationalism'.

Albanian representatives referred to the border agreement between Belgrade and Skopje and the preamble to the Serbian-Montenegrin constitutional charter as provocations. Pack said she understands the emotional reaction of Kosovars and added, 'You shouldn't take too seriously the agreements between Montenegro and Serbia because this will not affect Kosovo's final status.'

EP member Olivier Dupuis said that it was becoming clear that the issue of Kosovo's final status should be addressed, because the lack of status is becoming an obstacle for foreign investments in Kosovo and the lack of investments is an obstacle for economic development.

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Two Serb plans for Kosovo (Zëri)

Zëri carries a commentary in which it claims to answer to the following questions: How will the political process in Mitrovica be developed from now on? Which Serb politician favors the immediate division of Kosovo? What is the Serb strategy toward Steiner? Why Belgrade thinks that it can convince western capitals for the division of Kosovo?

It has been a week since UNMIK announced the expansion of its administration throughout the territory of Kosovo, including northern Mitrovica, where Serb parallel authorities were operational until the 25 November. Kosovo chief administrator Michael Steiner visited Mitrovica three times last week to see what was happening there and to send out a clear message that UNMIK was really serious this time. The public reactions of Kosovo officials points to their support for Steiner's actions. This time, Serbian officials have not expressed public opposition to Steiner's moves but neither have they hidden their aim of building a position for creating the new municipality of northern Mitrovica, which, together with southern Mitrovica, should constitute the authority in Mitrovica. This idea was a comprising part of the Serb project for the decentralization of Kosovo, which was given to UN SG Kofi Annan during his recent visit to the region.

There is a belief among those in the UNMIK Administration that the Serb regime will not give up on its position, which is that through the reorganization of power in Kosovo favorable circumstances will be created for the territorial division of Kosovo, once the issue of Kosovo's final status is raised. Western diplomatic sources in Prishtina and Belgrade have told Zëri that in Belgrade there are already two approaches regarding the division of Kosovo.

Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic thinks that time should not be wasted on Kosovo and that people should accept the reality after 1999 in Kosovo, but that Serbia should take northern Kosovo, because that would justify the act of giving away Kosovo. Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica and Serbian Deputy PM Nebojsa Covic think that the issue of Kosovo's final status should be postponed in order to improve the Serb position as much as possible, which would be either to regain control over Kosovo or to achieve its territorial division. In this respect, Kostunica and Covic will try to influence western diplomatic circles in Belgrade in favor of the idea of creating a new municipality in northern Mitrovica, which remains a key for Serb political strengthening of the north.

Western sources also tell Zëri that in Belgrade there are not many doubts about the goals of Michael Steiner, who has emphasized that Kosovo cannot be divided and that he would oppose the forming of new municipalities in Kosovo. Serb efforts to influence Steiner have failed. It seems that Kostunica-Covic line is not to publicly confront Steiner. It seems that Belgrade has started counting on the fact that Steiner will leave Kosovo in 2003 (in mid-2003 or by year-end) and that whoever replaces him will not take such an insistent stance.

Meanwhile, Belgrade will try to improve its position in Brussels, New York and Washington, so that it can be favored once the process for solving Kosovo's final status is raised. It is known that Covic has very good relations with some western diplomats in Belgrade who represent important western countries. Until recently, some of them supported the idea of dividing Kosovo, but after Steiner's firm reactions they have stopped talking about division. The logic in western circles that favors the division of Kosovo is based on two undisputed facts: it is illusionary to expect that Kosovo and Serbia could remain together in whatever form of state unity; and, therefore, Serbia should take away a part of the territory of Kosovo to justify its final withdrawal from Kosovo.

Western diplomats who are known for loving Kosovo tell Zëri that Albanian politicians should prove much more active in the case of Mitrovica if they want to be rid of the danger of the partition of Kosovo. This means that they should support Steiner's actions in the north, where a genuine international authority should be established along with the presence of Serb citizens. Furthermore, these diplomats claim that Albanian officials at the central level of power should be more cold-blooded toward the provocations of Serb politicians and prove that they are willing to create a truly democratic society in Kosovo.

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Serb parallel administration continues work in new facility (Koha Ditore)

By Musa Mustafa and Violeta Hyseni

Koha Ditore claims that when chief administrator Michael Steiner said last week that after more than three years the international administration in Kosovo had managed to expand its authority in northern Mitrovica and eliminate parallel structures, this didn't go for everyone.

Quoting what it calls 'reliable sources', Koha Ditore claims that there is a completely different reality in UNMIK regarding the dissolution of parallel structures. The paper claims that the Serb parallel administration has taken its 120 staff members and all their documents and has started work in a private house near the regional hospital in northern Mitrovica. The same source told Koha Ditore that every citizen can receive documents at this parallel Serb administration and that senior UNMIK officials in Prishtina and Mitrovica know about the work of this administration.

During an interview for Koha Ditore, UNMIK spokesman Gyorgy Kakuk denied having information on the existence of the Serb parallel administration and added that the Belgrade Government had promised it would not finance parallel structures in the northern part of town.

'I don't know whether or not the Serb administration functions, but Belgrade is not financing them,' Kakuk was quoted as saying, and he added, 'We have expanded administration into northern Mitrovica and the symbol of this was the taking over of the former Serb municipal administration and this was a political step.'

Koha Ditore says that while the Serb parallel administration continues to have the documents it had before and is issuing documents with the seal of Serbia for Serb citizens, UNMIK officials claim that they don't know the whereabouts of the documents and Koha reports that for the time being they are not dealing with this issue.

Koha Ditore further claims that UNMIK officials don't know what the ethnic composition of staff members that will be employed in the UNMIK Administration in northern Mitrovica will be. 'The composition of workers in the administration depends on the applications. We don't know who has applied. Three hundred applications were handed out and we are here to create a multiethnic society,' said Kakuk.

Adding to the issue, Koha Ditore quotes its sources as saying that there are 70 jobs: 10 are reserved for internationals, 10 for Albanians, 10 for minorities and 40 are reserved for Serbs. 'While the deadline for application has expired, the international administration has made a vacancy announcement only in print and electronic media in northern Mitrovica and Kosovo, thus avoiding the non-Serb population that lives in the southern part of Mitrovica and Kosovo. In many cases, UNMIK has cancelled the vacancy announcements of the local administration in Mitrovica, saying that it wasn't published in Albanian and Serb newspapers; whereas in the case that it calls 'recruitment for municipal posts in Mitrovica', UNMIK has violated its own rules by publishing the recruitment announcement only in Serb media in northern Mitrovica,' added Koha Ditore.

Municipal officials told Koha Ditore there were cases when vacancy announcements were cancelled by the international administration because they were not published in Serbian and added that the municipal assembly has no competencies whatsoever over the vacancy announcements made by UNMIK.

Asked to comment about irregularities surrounding the vacancy announcement, Kakuk was cited as saying, 'I don't know whether or not the announcement was published in the papers; however, local radio stations in northern Mitrovica made the announcement immediately after chief administrator Michael Steiner announced that UNMIK was taking over the administration in the north.'

Chappell: Normal police and no 'bridge watchers' in Northern Mitrovica (Bota Sot)

Spread of police forces throughout Kosovo territory remains a priorities of the 'organs of order', according to Bota Sot , which quotes UNMIK Police spokesperson Derek Chappell as saying that 'establishment and creation of the police in northern Mitrovica is almost the same as the establishment of the police in other Kosovo regions in 1999' and that 'the main challenge is support of the local people'. "The feelings and comments of the local people are that they welcome normal police…[and] many local Serbs…are ready to join and become members of KPS," he said.

Bota Sot says that Chappell believes that in the past fear prevented people from joining KPS but that 'Kosovo police is present in the other parts of northern Kosovo, and we have enough experience as far as northern part [of Mitrovica] is concerned'.

Bota Sot says that even though the exact date is unknown, Chappell promised normal policing. However, he was categorical in saying that KPS doesn't plan to employ any of the so-called "bridge watchers". "We don't want criminals to be members and serve in KPS. Everyone has the right to apply but, but we are going to investigate the past of each of them," he said.

In answer to the question of what is going to happen to the 'bridge watchers', Chappell reportedly said that those who have committed crimes would be arrested the moment are caught. "Many crimes were committed in the northern part of Mitrovica during the last three years. We hope that once normal police work starts, people will offer accurate information about…wrong doers,' he said.

Chappell talked about the war against crime and the speculation in international and Balkans media that international terrorists might have been moving into Kosovo. He said that with 40,000 soldiers and 10,000 police, Kosovo is controlled more than any other part of Europe.

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Belgrade Media Update

Eight standards before resolving Kosovo's status (BETA)

Pristina press reports in detail on the standards determined by SRSG Michael Steiner that should be reached before resolving its final status. The standards set by Steiner are, according to some Kosovo dailies, the existence of efficient and functional institutions, rule of law, freedom of movement, respect of rights of all Kosovo citizens to remain or to return to Kosovo, and the development of a healthy market economy. Among the eight points is also the resolution of the issue of property ownership, normalization of the dialogue with Belgrade and reduction and transformation of the KPC in accordance with its mandate.

Kosovo Assembly must adopt European standards (BETA)

European Parliament members in Brussels requested that the Kosovo Assembly adopt laws that will draw the province closer to European standards, and stressed that Serb deputies should join the work of the assembly again. Head of the Southeastern Europe delegation at the European Parliament, Doris Pack, has assessed at a meeting with the KA delegation that it "is not working in the right way towards getting closer to European standards". She said that neither the government nor institutions of the province would be able to work on a stable basis if the necessary laws were not passed.

Pack stressed that the European Parliament was making a great exception by receiving the Kosovo delegation since the rule is that it cooperates only with the parliaments of states. Kosovo Assembly speaker Nexhat Daci pointed to problems of cooperation with UNMIK, but expressed hope that democratic conditions would be created in Kosovo and the government would be able to take over more authority. He said it was unacceptable for UNMIK chief Michael Steiner to have said that Kosovo was an international protectorate, and stated that resolutions passed by the Kosovo Assembly were in accordance with the UNSCR 1244.
Nebojsa Covic spoke at the Democratic Alternative's (DA) press conference
Covic stressed that, although certain international and domestic circles press for
the idea of accelerating the solution of the final status of Kosovo, this status is clearly defined by Resolution 1244 and the benchmarks determined by SRSG Michael Steiner. He underlined that not "a single benchmark has been fulfilled so far and that there will be no 'debate' on Kosovo's final status before the realization of the standards".

Covic said that a direct dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina should have started long ago and that…many practical issues concerning the every day life of Kosovo citizens and the return of the IDPs [should] be addressed. He says that those who think that the privatization process would solve all economic problems at once are wrong.

Covic said individual returns certainly does not mean that IDPs have to return one by one in a period of 230,000 days. He said that there were no fundamental differences between Belgrade's and UNMIK's approach to the issue of Returns. However, he underlined that it is out of question that Returns depend on local authorities acceptance.

Covic expressed his belief that both sides would end up having a common approach to the decentralization of Kosovo and that it would be implemented in line with European standards in the coming months.

On Coalition Povratak's (KP) participation to the Kosovo Assembly work, Covic said KP would decide by itself its estimation of the situation. He underlined that monitoring of the Assembly by the OSCE was nothing new and that a mechanism protecting minorities from being systematically outvoted by the majority was needed. He added that the situation in terms of security and freedom of movement would also influence KP's decision.

Covic said that DA fully supports the candidacy of Vojislav Kostunica in the Serbian presidential elections and he called on the citizens to vote on December 8, 2002. He stressed that these elections have to succeed in order to support his own activities regarding Kosovo and for the preservation of the territorial integrity of the country.

Finally, Covic accused Vojislav Seselj, among others, for being responsible for the current situation in Kosovo due to his policy when in power. Covic said that Seselj was directly working against the state and national interests and for the interests of the Albanian circles eager to make Kosovo become independent.

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Macedonia Update

Explosions in the Macedonian capital (Koha Ditore)

Koha Ditore reports that after a one-month pause explosions havestarted again in Skopje. On Sunday a bomb exploded in the Çair neighborhood, mainly inhabited by ethnic Albanians. One Albanian was injured and material damages were reported.

Internal Affairs Ministry spokesperson Mirjana Kontevska was quoted as saying that the police are investigating the case and the explosion was from a Chinese "kashikara" bomb.

Koha Ditore says that since the end of the war, there have been 20 explosions in the Albanian part of the city and none of the cases has been solved.

BDI denies paying Macedonians 2,500 euro to join their party (Bota Sot)

BDI spokesperson Agron Baxhaku refuted Macedonian media information that some party members who established branches in Macedonian cities were paid 2,500 euros to joining BDI or that they also receive monthly salaries. "Such information is harmful because it raises interethnic tensions in those cities" Baxhaku was quoted as saying in Bota Sot.

Nevertheless, he announced BDI branches will be established in many other Eastern Macedonian cities, reports Bota Sot.