UNMIK- OSCE - EU Press Briefing, 04 April 2002

UNMIK DPI Director Simon Haselock
OSCE Spokesman Alexandre Benz
EU Spokeswoman Monique De Groot
UNHCR Spokesman

UNMIK DPI Director Simon Haselock

Good morning everybody. You will have to put with me I am afraid this morning, as I was in Belgrade and can give you some insight into the meeting that the SRSG had in Belgrade.

Firstly this was the SRSG’s first visit to Belgrade, as you know, in his capacity as SRSG and obviously the principal purpose was to meet with President Kostunica. He also met with Dr Covic and other members of the Coordination Centre who were also present.

Basically he said he was very satisfied with his talks with President Kostunica, and that they addressed the main issues on which they both have agreement and those issues in which they feel progress is required.

But the most important thing is that this was a meeting of substance and not just a meeting of courtesy: it was a substantial meeting.

You will that Mr. Steiner gave a press conference in Belgrade and I think sometime this afternoon we will have a transcript available.

Let’s talk about some of the substance, and it is important that we clarify a few things so that people clearly understand what the position is.

First of all, his proposal on the inclusion of Serb members in the Government. I think you know it already, but I just want to make sure it is clear.

What Mr. Steiner proposed was that a Serb member should be offered an Inter- ministerial Coordinator on Returns. This is specifically not a minister of returns with his own ministry, but a coordinator to operate across all the ministries to coordinate their activities vis-à-vis via returns. This person would have ministerial rank in terms of status.

The second element would be a senior advisor on returns directly in his office, working with the Office of Communities and Return, in the office of the SRSG as an adviser on returns, and again this would be a Kosovo Serb.

And the third element would be to develop a joint project with the Government including all members of the Government to develop a model project which could actually move something forward in coordination with all elements of the political spectrum here to provide a really successful return project.

And the background to this, of course, is that returns is not within the competence of the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government. And it is very important that that is understood, so therefore it is not something that can be added to the Government. Even if we wanted to do it, we would not be giving a ministry of returns because it is not one of the powers given to the Provisional Government: it is a reserved power. And as reserved power the international community ….has the duty and obligation to oversee and to encourage returns to Kosovo, and this is underwritten by both UNMIK and KFOR, of course.

And it is important that the phrase, which the SRSG used, was that ‘returns are my obligation and my duty,’ so that is an area that he needs to keep hold of.

Mr. Steiner and President Kostunica agreed that returns is a crucial issue, but that returns will not be easy. He said that while returns cannot happen overnight, some progress has been made in improving the general situation in Kosovo. But there is a general feeling, and we were able to say to people in Serbia that among Serbs in general there is a feeling that things are beginning to improve, although perhaps not as quickly as they would like.

Mr. Steiner also met with the Patriarch Pavle. They talked about the same issues and the Patriarch was very keen to talk about reconciliation and to offer any help and encouragement that he could as far as returns is concerned. It was interesting that he said that what needed was that we needed to get over the situation of polarization between the various communities here, that people perceived each others as enemies, and until we get over this notion, this thing would not move forward; we need to try and bring reconciliation to the process.

On prisoners, it is very important that the people realize, because to be brutally frank, for some extraordinary reason, many of you journalists continue to get it wrong, and I don’t know why because we’ve tried to brief you constantly on what we agreed to do and what was going to happen. So I will go through it once again.

First of all the agreement which was signed,--and there are copies of in the back which you can pick up, secondly we produced a press release to clarify the issues. This agreement basically talks about how we will proceed on prisoners transfer in the future and this is based upon the European Convention on Transfer of Sentenced Prisoners. And this convention provides for ways that prisoners can serve their sentences « within their own society», but there must be a number of conditions met before any transfer can be agreed to. And I will give you the main ones, but there are more than just three, and it is not just a question of falling into any one of these: all these conditions have to be met.

First of all the judgment must be final; there must be no outstanding court actions. In other words, if there is an appeal pending, or if there is any other form of judicial process required on that particular case, no transfer is applicable.

Secondly, there must be at least six months remaining on sentence to be served; before anything can be done.

Thirdly, there must be family ties in the area of transfer.

Only prisoners who meet these conditions and who wish to be transferred themselves, and who have applied for a transfer will be able to be transferred to another jurisdiction.

It is important that people understand that as yet there have been no applications made for any Serb prisoners to be transferred, and so these reports that 37 prisoners are going to be transferred to Belgrade or to Serbia are completely wrong. In fact, I don’t think that we even hold 37 prisoners, but that is a figure that we will have to check. I think it is 34. But certainly any likely transfers which may take place as a consequence of applications which we have not yet seen wouldn’t certainly be at that level of numbers.

The SRSG also emphasised while he was in Belgrade that he will only keep people in prisons in Kosovo who are convicted of recognised crimes by recognised courts through due process and that is the principle that we applied to the release of prisoners that are here. And when we talk about recognized crimes, we are talking about crimes of murder, robbery, theft, rape, etc. Simply taking part in the war is not considered to be a recognized crime.

Mr. Steiner also met with representatives of the families of the missing Serbs while he was and Belgrade and he expressed his understanding for the situation these families found themselves in and he also expressed the view that because this was not a mono-ethnic issue, this is an issue that affected all communities and there are a lot of families in Kosovo, Albanian families who are suffering from the same position, in fact a lot more. He said he hoped identifications would increase in the coming months. He announced the opening of the refurbished forensics center in Orahovac which I think will be opened on 9 April. And a number of new initiatives that we can talk about, but not now.

Then, the other issue that was a theme of the meetings was the need for dialogue. And again there was a theme on integration into the EU and its institutions—that dialogue is the only way forward for this whole region, and that is a theme which I believe you heard him talking about on number of occasions. He emphasised also that Europe and the world would judge Kosovo on how it treated its Serb and non-Albanian communities. That no territory, no place in Europe can consider itself with a mono-ethnic approach to democracy.

He used the phrase which he used already: “Multi-ethnicity is the Pass Key to Europe’.
There is no way, unless you understand and fully support the notion of multi-ethnicity, not just in rhetoric, but also in action. He stressed the need for continued dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade and in that dialogue to start including Kosovo’s leaders, which is something we’ve been trying to encourage.

So I think this covers the meeting, I will take questions in a moment.

Economic workshop Friday

On Friday there will be an important conference on Economic Growth and its role in Reintegration of Minority Communities—taking place at the Grand Hotel. This is sponsored by Mercy Corps and the UNMIK Office of Returns and Communities, with support from the US Government. At this forum, agencies and organizations will discuss successful approaches and new ideas on economic development in Minority communities.

SRSG Steiner, Prime Minister Rexhepi and Trade and Industry Minister Jakupi will address the conference which opens at 9:30. There will also be a press briefing at 4 pm. addressed by Andy Bearpark and Finance Minister Ali Sadriu. The full agenda is available here.

Media are strongly urged to attend. Those media who need assistance in getting to Pristina, Please contact UNMIK press officers or UNMIK Community Information Centers.

And finally, just to irritate you intensely, I want to make a couple of points about journalism, and you’ll think I am being patronizing again and critical. But I think it has come to a time when we have to make a few points. We try to run a service for you here, to be able to brief you on what is going on, and we are constantly waking up in the morning and reading the newspapers and discovering that what is written bears absolutely no relationship to what we have actually said, or the information that we have given to you, and the example was this morning, when this article was run saying that 37 Serbs were going to be returned to Serbia.

This after Susan had been across to the newspapers, with the agreement, and briefed them in detail, specifically on what our position was. That story was actually wrong. Not only was it wrong, it is a sort of story which causes and can cause political difficulties.

Now, it is important that you understand that we should be properly reported. You criticize us enough when you think we are not being transparent, or when you think we are avoiding the issue, and I think it is legitimate that we should make the same request of you to actually cover the stories accurately and fairly, particularly when they are so sensitive.

We also had three journalists from the same newspapers come and asks us questions on the same subject; none of them knew anything about it, we had to brief them all in detail on this subject. There is no sharing of information in the newspapers and people don’t read what they have been given.

Somebody came to ask me sometime ago me about the new Law on Covert Surveillance Measures and they asked me a question based upon the rumor that this is returning to old days of the Belgrade regime. The person who asked me this question hadn’t even read the regulation before they came to ask me about it. This is just unprofessional.

I am sorry if I sound like a university professor, but I have to sometimes. If you want us to provide service, please do us the service of doing your homework and reporting us accurately.

OSCE Spokesperson Alexandre Benz

Electoral Rules 1/2002 & 2/2002 adopted

The Central Election Commission held its fourth meeting this past Friday, 29 March, and adopted two important Electoral Rules: the Election Code of Conduct and the Rule on Municipal Election Commissions. Both have immediately come into effect and will remain in force through the entire electoral process.

Electoral rule 1/2002, "The Code of Conduct for political parties, coalitions, citizen's initiatives, independent candidates, their supporters and candidates" is designed to guide the behaviour of political entities contesting the elections to conduct their campaign in law-abiding and democratic manner.
The Code aims at preventing violence, intimidation and corruption in the election campaign:
· It prohibits the use of language aimed at provoking violence;
· It outlaws the use of bribery and intimidation to gain support;
· It bars any display of weapons at campaign rallies; and,
· The code also warns against interfering with campaign materials, such as posters, distributed by rival political entities.

The Code recognises the right to hold public meetings and events, however political entities are also required to provide, at least 5 days advance notice to law enforcement so that adequate security arrangements can be arranged. The police authorities, for their part, are obliged to do their best to respond to the organisers of the event within 48 hours.

All political entities, which apply to contest the municipal elections, must agree to adhere to the Code of Conduct and actively discourage any violations.

On that particular point the OSCE would like to stress that all financial penalties imposed by the Election Complaints and Appeals sub-Commission (ECAC) for breaches of the Code of Conduct (as well as other Electoral Rules) in relation to the Kosovo Assembly election, must be paid in full before certification for the municipal elections can be approved.
Electoral rule 2/2002, on "Municipal Election Commissions" lays down the role and the competencies of the MECs in the electoral process.
In line with the overall kosovarization process, this year the MECs are moving a step closer towards becoming permanent election management bodies in the 30 municipalities f Kosovo.
This year - and that's new- each MEC will now have a full-time Executive Officer who will ensure the MEC fulfils its obligations to the municipality and the CEC.

All MECs are to have offices in the premises of the municipality administration to ensure it can fulfil its duties in:
· Advising political entities about their rights and obligations;
· Providing information to voters of all communities;
· Providing information to Municipal Assemblies on electoral administrative activities;
· Appointing and training Voter Services staff and Polling Station Committees;
· Making technical preparations at polling stations;
· Ensuring the proper conduct of polling and counting procedures; and,
· Organising the collection of election related materials after an election.

The role of the MECs has steadily grown since they were established prior to the first municipal elections in Kosovo. Gradually, they will take over the local level administration of the election process. The OSCE, as part of its institution building mandate, has been providing training to MECs to develop their professional capacities.

Conference on Parliamentarism at the Assembly of Kosovo

Today, the OSCE and the National Democratic Institute are organising a conference for members of the Assembly on the practical aspects of parliamentarism in a transitional society.
The conference has been opened by the President of the Parliament of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, who came with a Slovenian delegation to pay an official visit to the Assembly of Kosovo.

The presentations focus on procedures for drafting legislation, the control of the executive, and the establishment of a bilingual parliament. A Belgian parliamentarian, will provide an introduction on the challenges and practical implication of a functional bi-lingual parliament. In the Belgian Federal Parliament Flemish and French are the two official languages.This conference marks the fourth event of the Assembly Support Initiative, a multi-agency support programme that comes in response to challenges facing the Kosovo Assembly.

EU spokeswoman Monique De Groot

The BPK is in the process of restructuring

The Banking and Payments Authority of Kosovo (BPK) is in process of restructuring its operations in response to the current banking sector in Kosovo.
Currently there are 7 commercial banks operating in Kosovo. BPK recently approved 13 additional branches and tendered a lease for 6 branches and 15 sub-branches for the seven commercial banks to expand their locations. This reflects the high amount of confidence the BPK has in the commercial banking sector that these tenders can happen at this time.

The high level of confidence in the commercial banking sector stems also from the euro campaign, current expansion efforts and provision of new services such as the mobile banks in enclaves, opening of ATM machines, better hours and lower fees for opening accounts.

Throughout the spring, cash payments to government staff and contractors, customs and taxes and social assistance that used to be handled by the BPK will become electronic transfers through commercial bank accounts. The BPK will continue to license, supervise and monitor these banks and will begin to take on more the role of a central bank.

Questions:

Q: Simon, you were talking about returns with Serb officials, was there specific time frame for the returns, period targeted for returns?

SH: No, we didn’t talk about times or numbers. The only numbers that were mentioned were actually mentioned by the Serbs delegation in Belgrade who talked about the fact that only 126 had returned since 1999 and I think that we all agree that was a pretty unimpressive result. But basically it was discussion how we can move the process forward, how we need to include everybody in it, that the only way we could do this is to include Kosovo Albanian politicians and the Parliament and to try improve the atmosphere and the when talk about model, it is not a model like necessary other projects that had been around, but actually to get everybody involved in and to get the backing of the Government and the Parliament and to move forward on that basis.

Q: When will we see Mr. Steiner doing this with Albanian politicians, getting them onboard?

SH: Well, he is doing it already. But he doesn’t necessarily do it publicly and he is taking to them all the time. I think the fact that Mr. Rexhepi went to Kamenica and spoke in Kamenica half in Albanian half in Serbian shows that there I a different wind at the moment. The times are changing; the people are beginning to put the past behind them a little. Still very difficult, but things are getting better and that is indicational.

Q: Simon, how many final judgments of 36 cases of Serbs in Kosovo prisons you have today.

SH: I don’t know the actual figures, but I can find out. But even then, if you are trying to wind me down the line to say do all these people qualify, first of all I am not in the position to say, I think it is highly unlikely that many of them qualify, I think that first of all they have to apply, so we cannot send anybody to any place until they make an application, and there have not been any applications made. But I think if you add all the criteria, I think there is not likely to be a significant number who qualify.

Q: How many political prisoners are today in Kosovo and are there any?

SH: Now that is something I have taken a specific advice on, and our judicial people tell me categorically there are no political prisoners in Kosovo, none.

Q: Has the Serb Government until now made a request to UNMIK for transfer of the Serb prisoners from Kosovo to Serbia proper?

SH: No. One of the things that were talked about yesterday was that you have to make applications and they haven’t done so.

Q: If this transfer of Serb prisoners would take place, who would be overseeing that this agreement is respected, will there be an UNMIK Commission formed?

SH: I don’t think you are listening to what I am saying. First of all, nobody has been transferred, and no transfers are even in the wind at the moment, because there had been no applications. There is a specific Convention; the Agreement is out there, we sent it out to you, you should read it: if they are transferred and they have been convicted of criminal offenses by legitimate courts, they are transferred to serve their sentences wherever they are transferred to, not to be released; and that is the same as applied here. We reviewed the cases against international standards, and we released the people, whom we considered the convictions did not correspond to international standards, as we have applied international standards since 1999 to the convictions of people here. It is a sina quo non that they will stay in prison if they are transferred but I think we have to wait and see how many qualify before we get wound up about it, but they will be required to stay in prison wherever they are transferred to, that is the whole point of the Agreement.

Q: Do KEK and PTK pay the VAT, if yes, how much have they paid until now, if not- why?

MdG: Betty is probably better able to answer your question.

BD: I cannot give you a direct answer to that; I know you are referring to articles in the newspapers this morning. We will have to check upon that one; I know that.

Q: Why are clients paying VAT on phone and KEK bills?

BD: Well, PTK concerns Pillar II, and I will discuss with the CFA and Pillar IV and then we will give you an answer, so I promise…

Q: PTK… how much is that profit?

BD: I think that we all know PTK will make a profit, but KEK did not make profit. Any money that KEK would make on daily revenue collection bases is reinvested back in the system, and as for the PTK issue I will check and come back to you.

Q: Is CFA trying to control PTK and KEK, and have its inspectors go to these institutions?

BD: Inspectors do make requests for audits, and the PTK is under discussion at the moment.

Q: Why?

BD: Because of the issue that they have said they are under Pillar II, but that is an administration matter, and the thing will be resolved, but I will come back to you about that.