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21 December 2002, Saturday Edition
CONTENTS
· Kolby:
Local leaders should be more engaged in Kosovo (Dailies)
· Surroi: For
whom are the standards? (Koha Ditore)
· Shala: Condemned
to cooperate (Zëri)
· The real
issue of the Kosovo Judges (Zëri)
Kosovo Media Highlights
Kolby: Local leaders should be
engaged more in Kosovo (Dailies)
The head of the UN Security Council delegation, Norwegian Ambassador Ole
Peter Kolby, reports on the situation in Kosovo, report all dailies. "The
situation in Kosovo is still fragile. The progress that has been achieved
has mostly been contributed by the international community," said
Kolby.
"There has notable progress in the development of democratic and multiethnic institutions, improvement of security and the rule of law, as well as the return of ethnic minorities to their communities," says the communiqué released by UN SC delegation. "However, local involvement in these efforts has been less than could have been expected," said Kolby before a briefing to the UN SC Thursday.
Surroi: For whom are the standards?
(Koha Ditore)
Koha Ditore carries the fourth part of what it refers to as a Christmas
letter from the paper's publisher, Veton Surroi, to SRSG Michael Steiner.
Surroi wrote:
10. You can say that you haven't heard these things, you haven't been
told this by the politicians, who everyday ask you about the status. The
ones we have elected.
It is true that we have elected them, however your system doesn't allow
the population to assess how efficient they really are. Every incapable
minister - and I know several of them - can hide behind the fact that
they don't have enough competencies. They will blame UNMIK for everything.
Moreover, the political parties are cloned from the early 90's and they continue with old conflicts pro & contra Rugova. You also take part in this. You know, for example, that according to the Constitutional Framework, Kosovo's President cannot be the president of a political party but you allow him as a person and his party with a quiet agreement to continue. All other parties, built on the model of the leader, follow in the steps of the biggest party. From the point of view of the government, no one at UNMIK is distraught that he is taking part in an electoral campaign, drawing up flags, nor by his constant repetition that Kosovo should formally be recognized as an independent state.
The magic word, independence, that is brought in a fruitless debate, is the trap that you have noticed a long time ago. Kosovo Albanians who have been victimized in the last decade are waiting impatiently for the moment when their country will become independent. This they do not hide. On the contrary they ask you about this every day. Instead of building their state, they spend their energy in debates about whether this country will be formally recognized, will the UN SC do this or not, when will it happen. With this, those who think only of status have limited their range of action almost severely as the president has done. It is a comforting escape from the everyday issues such as what energy and tax policies we want to have here.
To answer this in principle and correctly: we have to fulfill several standards (benchmarks) before the Assembly is qualified to debate on status. You have codified these standards in several points that derive from a functional society with efficient institutions. You have said that Kosovars must prove that they have functional democratic institutions, that rule of law is ruling, that they have ensured freedom of movement for minorities, they have ensured the conditions for return and integration of Serbs, that they have functional economy, that they have ensured the right to property ownership, that they have opened a dialogue with Belgrade and that they have placed the KPC into the necessary function.
Everyone will support these standards. Your motto, 'Standards before Status', has almost become a religious saying. I don't have many problems with the building of a principle necessary to fulfill the standards, since in principle I have advocated this concept in 1999 in several of my speeches at NATO. I defined them in four points: a functional democratic state, a propulsive market economy, tolerant society toward minorities and good relations with neighbors within a European integration process. However, the primary problem with your standards is that they are selective, and that the responsibility for fulfilling them, lies upon you. Kosovars cannot fulfill any of these standards, on how the governing is formed in Kosovo.
11. Let us look at the standards one by one. You are asking for functional
democratic institutions, however the law making is in your office, which
means that the members can use the Assembly for their demagoguery or for
futile debates. You are asking for effective institutions, but the Kosovo
budget is set by you, so the government can be only accountable to you
and not toward Kosovo citizens. The rule of law is a standard, however
the whole issue regarding security is in your hands. If things are looked
more closely, there can be no rule of law in Kosovo, because there is
no law, there are cocktails of different laws, from the one in 1989 all
up to Kouchner's, Hakkerup's and your regulations.
How are you going to establish the rule of law when the issue of security
is in fact an incomprehensible chain that start with the police, its intelligence
services, the prosecutor's office and judges and laws? And lastly the
budget that that has to pay and keep this chain free of corruption? In
which of these functions do the Kosovars have their say?
How can freedom of movement be ensured for Serbs, even if the majority
of Albanians want this, if there is no rule of law and security, and these
aren't in the hands of the Kosovars? On the issue of Serbs, can the Kosovar
be held hostage because of it, even if they (Serbs) were angels which
they aren't, with the political developments in Belgrade? Can the issue
of how Serbs are treated be totally separated from the whole process of
building the responsibility to achieve reconciliation? How can we ensure
return under such an environment and in this economic situation? How can
we change the economy when there is a lack of clear concept of transforming
it, when there is a lack of legal framework for transforming economy?
How to open a dialogue with Belgrade? Not only with whom, but who in Kosovo?
If you are the one that makes the decision in Kosovo, what need is there
for a member of the government or any other officials to engage in such
a dialogue?
But I believe that even if we did overcome some of these dilemmas, the
conceptual one remains. With this kind of standardization, it is very
difficult to know who is the one that is going to measure the progress.
Will it be again the UN SC in a two-day visit? What kind of meter can
measure the effect of transformation, and during which phase?
I am afraid that your standards are as much of a trap as is running after status. They form a destination that can move wherever it wants to, but without clearly defining where they touch, these everyday standards that surround us. The way the standards were laid down is out of context, and objectively they isolate Kosovo from the everyday activities.
Let us consider what is going to happen this decade. In 2004 Copenhagen decisions will be formalized, and the EU will have 25 members. This expansion will verify what happened during the post-communist era, especially in the last few years: the main motor of changing the post-communist society was in fact joining in North Atlantic structures, the NATO and EU. The EU and the process of integration will have the main role in defining which countries aren't included in this integration process today, therefore it will play the main role in Western Balkans, where we are. This influence will be double: in inner reconstructing of Balkan countries, in the form as how they establish as functional democracies, but also in the form as how they communicate with each other (in Kosovo's case this deals also with status as a subject of dialogue with Serbia.)
If we go further down in the region, we will see another novelty that will change societies immensely. In the region that surrounds us a Free Trade Zone is being formed, with the signing of bilateral agreements between different countries. While we are talking about Status or Standards, a new dimension is established that will fill the budgets of different countries: from the inflow of customs taxes filling the budget it is being quickly moved to filling it with different taxes. This will happen during next year more or less in every country. It seems that we will be included in this. Our system of trading with goods will undergo a major change, and you know this, but do Kosovo institutions know this? Abruptly Kosovo will remain without any major income from customs taxes and they have to concentrate on incomes from taxes. Countries that live from taxes are brought to an institutional test: an economy that can pay the taxes is needed, they need tax collectors that will fill the state treasury, there is need for discipline among the accountants, there is need for popular will… And at the end of the chain, there is the need for responsibility from the government for collecting he taxes and distributing them. Then you, together with us will be caught in a paradoxical situation: they will ask of us to become a society committed to free trade with its neighbors, while the main financial institutions lies with your office.
In three years the neighboring countries will be more or less ready to call for a date to start negotiations with the EU, at least they will be ready in terms of fulfilling the formal criteria for judicial reforms within their countries. We, at our current pace, will not have closed a single basis framework that makes a functional state. Conceptually isolated from the new standards of European integration, we will attempt to reach those standards on an ad-hoc basis. Then a new chief administrator will come who will design his new standards.
Meanwhile, status will be defined with its new reality. The longer this situation continues, not only will Kosovo be more incapable of falling into step with European integration, but it will also be incapable of governing itself.
Shala: Condemned to cooperate
(Zëri)
Zëri carries an editorial by Blerim Shala, in which he talks about
the report that was issued by the UN SC on the achievements in Kosova.
The report released by UN SC delegation that stayed in Kosova for three days, speaks of the achievements in Kosovo, it singles out UNMIK role in improving the situation in Kosovo and it fully supports the schedule of solving Kosovo issue, which foresees the fulfillment of the Standards before considering Status.
UN SC ambassadors saw it fit that this time they should criticize local leaders, by praising UNMIK's role in forming the government in Kosovo.
Someone could say, that is why UNMIK is in Kosovo; this is their main task. The ones that know the political situation, cannot ignore the fact that elections were held in Kosovo three times without any problems and the credit for this belongs to the local politicians, who is accepted and undisputed by the west. It is another issue that last year after general elections could not achieve to agree upon how they should divided the government, UNMIK chief administrator Michael Steiner had to intervene.
Relations between UNMIK and Kosovo Government are for many reasons are pre-determined to be difficult and complicated because that is the way that the Kosovo Government is organized.
The combination of an international protectorate and a nascent democratic
government cannot function properly if everything needs to be clarified
on paper, based on competencies. It has to be said that UNMIK and Kosovo
Government cannot choose: In this phase of forming a democratic society,
they cannot do without each other.
The real issue of the Kosovo Judges
(Zëri)
Zëri carried a commentary by Simon Haselock Director of Public Information,
UNMIK
The recent barrage of criticism accusing the SRSG of usurping the Assembly's power and flouting the will of the people of Kosovo by appointing judges and prosecutors is simply nonsense.
Furthermore, these reports are hyperbolic and untrue. In fact, just the opposite is the case. UNMIK, by appointing Kosovo's judges, is ensuring the functioning of an independent, impartial judiciary for the people of Kosovo, promoting Kosovo's interests in the international community.
The real issue is not why UNMIK acted, but rather, why the Assembly failed to do its job in a timely fashion.
Two of the basic pillars of a healthy and functioning democratic society are freedom of the press and independence of the judiciary. The first ensures that no one is beyond reproach, the second that no one is above the law.
To ensure that Kosovo has an independent judiciary, UNMIK has put in place a process that follows the same principles as free and unfettered justice systems in Europe and America.
As defined by the Constitutional Framework, the Kosovo Prosecutorial and Judicial Council KPJC is tasked with the responsibility of recruiting judges and prosecutors for Kosovo's judiciary. The KPJC is composed of international and local experts, including former and current Kosovo judges and prosecutors - all independent professionals of the legal field.
Kosovo currently has a backlog of cases and a shortage of judges. To recruit new judges for Kosovo's courts, the KPJC published an open announcement in April 2002. After nearly 200 applications were received, the KPJC began the long and rigorous selection process.
The criteria for becoming a judge in Kosovo is demanding. Candidates must be graduates of law, must have passed the bar exam and should have many years of relevant experience. In addition, high moral integrity and the absence of any past discriminatory practices or rulings are mandatory.
Once the short list is made, the selected candidates are checked even further. Each candidate is interviewed, their references and credentials verified and their past decisions scrutinized for fairness. As a last step, Kosovo's regional court presidents and chief prosecutor are then consulted about the candidates on the list. For the recently appointed judges this entire process took more than six months.
Only then, on November 1st, was the list of 42 carefully selected candidates submitted to the Assembly for its approval.
The Assembly subsequently rejected the whole list, claiming they had not been given enough information and asking for an extension of the ten-day deadline normally allowed to review the candidate selection.
The Assembly was given an extension - 16 extra days - during which time it was to clarify its objections.
During this time the Chairperson of the KJPC made it clear to the Assembly that the Council was at its disposal to provide any further information the Assembly might need to resolve its objections. Letters were sent and visits made by the KJPC to the Assembly in this regard. But during the two-week extension period the Assembly asked no questions, requested no further information and virtually gave no sign of life. Then, abruptly, in a session on November 27, the Assembly stated that it could not confirm the judges because it had not received the information it had never asked for. It then asked for another extension.
At this point, UNMIK was forced to step in and appoint these highly qualified men and women to take up their posts in Kosovo's judiciary. The Assembly had every chance to ask questions and seek information on any of the candidates if it had any doubts. Instead the Assembly remained frozen and silent, only issuing an 11th hour wholesale rejection of the candidates and the entire process by which they were chosen.
The process of ensuring an independent and impartial judiciary depends upon the presence of an outside, non-political body to select the candidates. Imagine the state of justice in any country if politicians were allowed to appoint their friends, political allies and cronies to serve as judges. Many of you know all too well what this means.
The judges sworn in on December 12th have met very high standards. If the Assembly had problems with any candidate, it was given ample time to voice its concerns and give evidence. But the only thing heard from the Assembly was worn-out political posturing and a rejection of all candidates without explanation or reason. This left the SRSG no choice but to step in and finish the Assembly's work.
Kosovo now has 42 new judges - 19 Albanians, 21 Serbs, 1 Gorani and 1 Turk - who are ready to go to work for the people of Kosovo, ensuring fairness and justice for all.
RTK News Headlines
Kosovo Press Headlines
Koha Ditore
Front page
· Kolby: Local leaders should be engaged more in Kosovo
· Kosovo the place with highest economic growth in the region,
but alos the poorest
· Surroi: For whom are the standards?
· Sen. Lugar: Kosovo issue won't be solved in America
· What does a Kosovar bank do in Tiranë
Other headlines
· UNMIK chief administrator signs two bills (2)
· Macedonia: Border with Kosovo can more 300 meters (2)
· Daut Haradinaj is a victim of a conspiracy (2)
· Djindjic: Belgrade doesn't know how to define Kosovo in new constitution
(2)
· Daci has asked Steiner for competencies to elect judges and prosecutors
(4)
· Piper: Challenges in 2003 - possibilities for investment and
privatization (5)
· Majko in a two-day visit to Skopje (5)
· Tetovo: One killed, one wounded in brawl between students (5)
· HPD: 10% of 23,000 property claims have been solved (5)
· Students want to know what the university is doing (6)
· Rugova met with supreme commander of Swedish armed forces (6)
· Human rights are violated by internationals and locals (6)
· Kosovar to join their funds and purchase socially owned enterprises
(7)
· Gjakovë: UNMIK official threatens, Kosovo will return under
Belgrade (8)
· The tip for the waiter and UP professors (9)
Zëri
Front page
· UN SC evaluates that internationals have more merits than locals
for the achievements in Kosovo
· In 2003 Kosovo with EU Office for Stabilization and Association
· Shala: Condemned to cooperate
· Lugar: America will not leave the Balkans, without finishing
some very difficult things
· Pope John Paul II approves Mother Theresa's miracle
· Del Ponte announces radical measures against Belgrade
· Hasani: let us die like brave men and when they shoot at us we
will shot "long live the republic of Kosovo"
· Scandal: Adelina Ismajli together with her sister and mother
beat Leonora Jakupi
Other headlines
· Admiral Johnson meets with Steiner and visits Prizren and Mitrovica
(2)
· Piper: The phase of long term projects are staring (2)
· Steiner signs two bills - Establishment of an Immovable Rights
Register and on Mortgages (2)
· President Rugova meets with Swedish General Johan Hedersted (2)
· UNMIK is preparing an awareness campaign for Kosovars on 'Standards
before Status' (3)
· Haselock: The assembly is quiet, chief administrator appointed
judges (3)
· Activists on human rights hold a discourse to KPC members (4)
· Minister Isufi solemnly hands in Code of Ethics (4)
· Urbanization is the biggest problem in Prishtina (4)
· AAK national council to meet today (4)
· In Kosovo justice is being unjust (4)
· LKÇK doubts the justice handed by internationals in Kosovo
(4)
· Sentencing of KLA officers an unjust act of the international
justice (4)
· FRY is selling 'their apartments' in Kosovo and is finance return
(5)
· What are the diplomas that are issued by Prishtina University
(6)
· UPSO calls students not to pay for registration (6)
· Macedonian official announces that border with Kosovo could be
moved up to 300 meters (8)
· CoE: Balkans before new challenges (8)
· Crvenkovski: Ohrid Agreement will be fulfilled with or without
VMRO (8)
· Marshall: Prishtina with 200,000 citizens mostly Albanians, we
saw 50 civilians (9)
· Deçan: One sided and political trial (11)
Bota Sot
Front page
· Papal ceremony in the Vatican for Mother Theresa
· Rugova: Kosovo needs its state symbols to become UN member
· Steiner meets Admiral Johnson
· Haselock tells shhh to Kosovo Assembly
· Kolby calls the UN SC for more competencies for Kosovo institutions
· New government should express its relations that it will have
with Kosovo
Other headlines
· Sweden is engaged for a democratic Kosovo (2)
· Prodi: Western Balkan countries belong in the EU (3)
· Police in Kaçanik arrested a Macedonian with 12,000 fake
euros (3)
· Kosovo in democratic developments is before its neighbors (4)
· More than 1,100 Swiss soldiers have served in Kosovo (4)
· Podujevo: KFOR highly evaluates security in this municipality
(5)
· From 1 January Kosovo Government will have EU Office for Stabilization
and Association (6)
· UNMIK discusses with journalist fulfilling of 'Standards before
Status' (6)
· Steiner signs two bills - Establishment of an Immovable Rights
Register and on Mortgages (2)
· Ferizaj MA President Adem Salihaj called to trial in Serbia (7)
· Piper: We are here to help Kosovo for many years to come (8)
· Support for students invalids of war (8)
· Mitrovica will not be excluded from UNMIK administration in Kosovo
(9)
Kosova Sot
Front page
· 'Standards before Status' the only path that will Kosovo forward
· Rugova: Kosovo state symbols do not violate national symbols
· Steiner signs two laws
· Why UNMIK explaining standards in detail?
· Admiral Johnson pays a surprise visit to Kosovo
· Lugar: USA will remain in the Balkans
· KEK loses trust among Kosovars
Other headlines
· Kosovo with its first contacts with EU (3)
· Hedersted: Rugova showed a positive vision for Kosovo (4)
· Primary and secondary schools on winter recess (4)
· Papal decree that leads Mother Theresa to sainthood (4)
· UNMIK cannot stop God, but it can stop the assembly (5)
· Daut Haradinaj is a victim of a conspiracy (6)
· UNDP promises projects for Kosovo stability (6)
· International justice fails (6)
· UP Dean's office elects new senators (7)
· Where should patients do their check ups? (7)
· Low health care in Kosovo (8)
· Low temperatures raise prices of heating (9)
Epoka e Re
Front page
· French lawyers: UN justice was violated by witnesses
· Adelina Ismaili with family beat Leonora Jakupi
· Haradinaj: Constitutional Framework and UNMIK mission are obsolete
in Kosovo
· Institutions are a decor of Kosovo and Steiner's standards
· Dardania company aids 100 martyr families
Other headlines
· Gjakovë: Relations between internationals and local more
tense (2)
· Hand grenades in two schools in Pejë and Deçan (2)
· Kosovo has now four bills (3)
· Kosovo leaders should be engaged in rebuilding Kosovo (3)
· Mini: We are trying to ensure more security that Kosovo needs
(3)
· Government with EU Office for Stabilization and Association (3)
· The prison for Kosovo liberators - the next sacrifice (4)
· Piper: Since 1999 UNDP has spent 65 million euros (6)
· We are building Kosovo, say producers in Gjilanë (7)
· Only two political subjects attended the meeting (9)
24 Orë
Front page
· Johnson meets Steiner and Mini, visits Prizren and Mitrovica
· Mother Theresa closer to sainthood
· To sentence the Haradinaj's is more than a crime
· The forming of a new Kosovar nation will only cause new grief
· KEK and the reserved right to darkness
· Adelina Ismaili beats Leonora Jakupi
· If the situation escalates, we won't be responsible
· First school semester ends
Other headlines
· First standards and afterward we will see (2)
· Minister Isufi hands in Code of Ethics (2)
· Steiner signs two new bills (2)
· Government opens EU Office of Stabilization and Association (2)
· Biggest failure of justice in Kosovo (3)
· The sentencing of generals equalizes liberators with enslaved
(3)
· Swiss defense minister visits Kosovo (4)
· Kosovo undefined status major obstacle for economic development
(4)
· International community in Kosovo is working for peace or war?
(6)
Belgrade Media Highlights
· Kolby on the unstable situation in Kosovo (Danas/Tanjug)
· Hand grenades found in schools (Blic/Beta)
· Galyak on EU's relation towards Kosovo (Glas/Tanjug)
· Meta: One-sided act (Glas/Fonet)
· HPD resolved 10% of requests (Nacional/Beta)
· Lugar: US remains in Balkans (Politika/Sense)
· Zivkovic: Kosovo in new constitution (Vecernje Novosti)
Kolby on the unstable situation in Kosovo (Danas/Tanjug)
The Head of the UNSC delegation that had recently visited FRY, Norwegian
Ambassador Ole Peter Kolby, assessed today that the situation in Kosovo
and Metohija continued to be unstable and that progress was achieved,
primarily thanks to the international community and not the local authorities.
Returning from a fact-finding mission to Kosovo this week, Ole Peter Kolby,
Norway's UN Ambassador, reported "notable progress" in the development
of democratic and multiethnic institutions, improvement of security and
the rule of law, as well as the return of ethnic minorities to their communities.
However, local involvement in these efforts "has been less than could
have been expected," Kolby told the Security Council.
Hand grenades found in schools (Blic/Beta)
KFOR Command announced today that members of the international forces
discovered on Thursday a hand grenade in the "Saban Spahija"
school near Pec, and later on, another one in the "Lirija Prijer"
in Donji Crnobreg near Decani. Both bombs were removed but it is unknown
how they appeared in the schools. It is difficult to imagine a more dangerous
combination than the existence of hand grenades among large groups of
children, KFOR stressed.
Galyak on EU's relation towards Kosovo (Glas/Tanjug)
In relation towards Kosovo, only UNSCR 1244 is relevant for the EU and
nobody in the EU thinks outside its decrees nor are debates on the future
of Kosovo occurring just anywhere, Javier Solana's Spokesperson Christina
Galyak said in Brussels. Galyak confirmed at a monetary meeting between
the US and the EU in Washington several days ago that also discussed were
western Balkans but only in connection with cooperation between the EU
and NATO and the military missions in Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Kosovo was not mentioned at all, Galyak said, recalling that Javier Solana
categorically told journalists in Washington that the EU was not contemplating
on the future status of Kosovo because it was "too early" for
that.
Meta: One-sided act (Glas/Fonet)
The final status of Kosovo is an international issue, said Albanian Foreign
Minister Ilir Meta, and assessed that the inclusion of Kosovo in the preamble
of the Constitutional Charter of the commonwealth of Serbia and Montenegro
represented a one-sided act that could not influence its
recognition. At the end of the two-day visit to Kosovo, Meta specified
that the perspective of the region's countries' integration into the EU
and NATO depended on the development of their mutual relations and regional
cooperation.
HPD resolved 10% of requests (Nacional/Beta)
HPD Executive Director Martin Drake has stated that 23,600 requests had
arrived to this non-government organization in charge of returning property
by 1 December. He said that 10% of the requests have been resolved so
far, and added the deadline was extended until 1 June 2003. Requests can
be submitted in all HPD offices in Kosovo, central Serbia and Montenegro.
Lugar: US remains in Balkans (Politika/Sense)
Richard Lugar, Republican Senator from Indiana and an international relations
expert, will soon take on the important position of the Chairman of the
Foreign Relations Committee of the US Senate. During the meeting with
foreign correspondents in Washington, Lugar brought forward his vision
of further American military engagement in stabilizing missions in the
western Balkans. "I would say that we will probably spend some longer
time in this region. It is very important, as is the case with Afghanistan,
to successfully end the job started in ex-Yugoslav states. We can be sure
that the US does not plan to withdraw as soon as possible from the Balkan
scene," Senator Lugar said.
Zivkovic: Kosovo in new constitution (Vecernje
Novosti)
Along with the announcement that work has finally started regarding the
Constitutional charter of the Commonwealth of Serbia and Montenegro and
will be finalized by the end of the year, Zoran Zivkovic, DS Vice President,
also announced speedy work on the Serbian constitution. According to Zivkovic,
the status of Vojvodina and Kosovo and Metohija will be specified as the
autonomous provinces with maximum authority. The definition of Kosovo
and Metohija in the Serbian constitution will have to include the possible
solutions for this province as well. It is more than obvious that there
could be no final status for Kosovo and Metohija in the following two
to three years. Therefore, a provisional solution for Kosovo and Metohija
will have to be included in the Serbian constitution.