31 August 2003

CONTENTS

· Holkeri: Serbian declaration on Kosovo is unwise and ineffective (dailies)
· Covic: There is no independence for Kosovo without border change (Koha)
· Moisiu invites Rugova to visit Tirana (Koha)
· Little chances for returning IDPs (Koha)
· AKSH claims responsibility for explosions in Skopje (Koha)
· Serbia: Kosovo Document Less Than It Seems (Koha)
· Daci is searching for new strategy (Koha)
Kosovo Media Highlights

Holkeri: Serbian declaration on Kosovo is unwise and irrelevant (dailies)

Kosovo’s status will be defined according to the Resolution 1244 and nobody else except the UNSC can decide on this issue, said SRSG Harri Holkeri in Ohrid and called as irrelevant the recent declaration on Kosovo by the Serbian Parliament, Koha Ditore reported.

‘Recent declaration adopted by the Serbian Parliament is unwise and ineffective. Similarly demands from the Kosovo Albanians are ineffective,’ Holkeri was quoted as saying.

When asked about demarcation of borderline between Kosovo and Macedonia, Holkeri said that he did not talk to Macedonian authorities regarding this issue.

‘However in close cooperation with the Macedonian government I will try to find adequate solution for the residents who live alongside the borderline,’ Holkeri said. He added that nobody should impose a biased solution on the local residents and force them to use border crossing point, which is not good for them.

‘Villagers should have freedom of movement and to work on their lands which is on the other side of the border line,’ he said. ‘The UN and UNMIK respect the agreement on the border, while demarcation is an issue for which UNMIK has no competencies,’ Holkeri concluded.

Questioned about the dialogue Holkeri was quoted as saying: ‘We are discussing with Serbs and Albanians. Next week I will start a visit for consultations, first in Moscow and then in Geneva and Brussel. After such talks we could be able to speak concretely about the date for beginning the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia.’

Covic: There is no independence for Kosovo without border change (Koha)

The Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic while was responding to a statement by Albanian Prime Minister Fatos Nano that Kosovo ‘could not return to Serbia’ said that ‘province’ couldn’t win its independence, unless borders remain unchanged Koha Ditore reported.

‘Declaration in the Serbian Parliament is impeding structures which did not want a peaceful resolution to the situation in the Western Balkan. Serbia must protect its territorial identity,’ Covic was quoted as saying.

‘It would be unthinkable for Serbs to live in an independent Kosovo, and unthinkable for Kosovo to be independent unless there is alteration of borders in the region, he said.

He further added that behind attacks with bombs in Presevo and Macedonia ‘is KPC and its 18 senior officers’.

Moisiu invites Rugova to visit Tirana (Koha)

Albanian President Alfred Moisiu met with president of Serbia and Montenegro Svetozar Marovic and SRSG Harri Holkeri during the international conference in Ohrid. They discussed about the situation in Kosovo. ‘Kosovo’s status cannot be on the agenda with president Marovic, because it couldn’t be determined by either Belgrade or Tirana. Kosovo citizens in cooperation with international community will decide about it,’ Moisiu was quoted as saying.

He condemned recent incidents in Kosovo, Presevo and Macedonia. During the meeting with Holkeri Albanian president Moisiu expressed indignation regarding the Serbian Parliament declaration. ‘Serbian Parliament took competencies of the UNSC, but it is time to understand that what went before cannot return anymore,’ he said.

‘Kosovo’s future will not be defined by Belgrade, but by US, UNSC, EU, NATO and people of Kosovo,’ Moisiu concluded in the meeting with Holkeri.

Little chances for returning IDPs (Koha)

International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) operation chief for Balkan Francois Stamm, said in press conference in Geneva that prospects for returning of the IDPs in Kosovo are very small, although return process is still the top priority Koha Ditore reported.

‘Majority of IDPs cannot imagine their return without presence of military forces. Everything is related to Kosovo’s final status. There are still some isolated acts of violence, while political relations between Belgrade and Prishtina unfortunately are very bad,’ Stamm was quoted as saying.

AKSH claims responsibility for explosions in Skopje (Koha)

Koha Ditore reported that AKSH claimed responsibility for bomb attacks on the court building, government and army camp in Skopje. According to an AKSH press release such actions were committed late at nights in order not to cause harm to the people.

Serbia: Kosovo Document Less Than It Seems (Koha)
The Serbian parliament has given its backing to a declaration that Kosovo will not be allowed to become independent, but the controversial document may have more to do with domestic electioneering than with scuppering forthcoming talks on the province.
The declaration, which parliament approved on August 27, maintains that as far as Belgrade is concerned, Kosovo will only ever get autonomous status within Serbia. And even that will only be discussed once ‘all provisions of [United Nations] Security Council Resolution 1244 are fulfilled’, namely when the Serbian army and displaced Serb civilians are allowed to return.

The document got a lot of publicity in Serbia, and there was some fiery rhetoric. In language redolent of the Milosevic era, Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Zivkovic urged parliamentarians to vote for it to ‘demonstrate a resolve to protect Kosovo with courage, wisdom and unity’.

Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic, who is in charge of Serbia’s liaison office with Kosovo, met leaders of the Orthodox Church – still regarded as embodying the national spirit – to win their blessing for the document. As it went through parliament, the church issued its own statement calling Kosovo a Serbian Jerusalem.

The first ever talks between Belgrade and Pristina are scheduled for September. They will deal only with low-level issues such as identity cards, vehicle registration and electricity supplies.

The declaration was presented as Serbia’s official position for the talks, and its explicit refusal to countenance anything like the independence the Kosovo Albanians are seeking looked like a move to limit the scope for negotiation.

It certainly raised a few hackles in Kosovo. Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi dismissed the document, saying it will “only be valid for Serbia and Montenegro, but not for Kosovo”. Ramush Haradinaj, who heads Kosovo’s third biggest Albanian party, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, said independence should be declared as soon as possible.

But many believe that in reality, the declaration will have little impact on future discussions over the running of Kosovo, and is really no more than a tactical move designed to deflect the Serbian electorate’s attention away from a series of scandals involving the ruling DOS coalition in Belgrade. The coalition may soon be forced to call early elections, and Kosovo makes a convenient bandwagon since it is back on the agenda following an upsurge in attacks on Serbs living in the province.

‘The overarching reason why parliament adopted the declaration on Kosovo and Metohija is domestic politics,’ Djordje Vukadinovic, editor in chief of the political quarterly Nova Srpska Politicka Misao, told IWPR. ‘Serbia’s political elite wanted to pacify the Serbian public, which is upset over the terrorist attacks on Serbs in Kosovo, and thus to demonstrate its concern for the Serbs living there. ‘The consensus with which the declaration was announced does not mean that a consensus really exists on the issue either among the political elite or among the DOS leadership. Neither Serbia nor the international community have any idea what should happen to [the protectorate] – unlike the Albanians, who have a real, total consensus on an independent Kosovo.’ Political analyst Ivan Torov, writing in the daily Politika last week, agreed that the declaration was less about Kosovo and more about reaching ‘an inter-party consensus on one important issue, and forestalling an international community that has no idea what to do with Kosovo.

‘It may score some political points ahead of an election,’ he said. ‘It may also be about certain political, economical and social traumas that Serbia is currently going through, but in the long run, it stands a good chance of running into a brick wall.’

The international community was dismissive of the impact the Serbian document would have. Harri Holkeri, the new head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, insisted that such moves by Serbia would make no difference when the status issue was eventually discussed, ‘This may sound repetitious, but the future status of Kosovo will be decided in the UN Security Council, and not in Belgrade or Pristina.’

UNMIK spokeswoman Isabella Karlowicz told IWPR that Belgrade’s new stance would have no effect on the September talks, because they will be about practicalities and not final status issues.

Some Serbian politicians admit in private that the fixed view the declaration presents of a settlement for the province cannot be imposed on the international community.
One Western diplomat told IWPR that during an unofficial meeting with a senior Serbian government official a month ago, he had been told that Belgrade would not insist on keeping the protectorate within Serbia. ‘It is true, but no one has the courage to admit it publicly, since Kosovo is a sensitive issue and this kind of admission would mean political suicide for anyone who admits it,’ the diplomat said.

This view is confirmed by Vukadinovic, who told IWPR, ‘there have been signs that the Serbian government was ready to accept realities on Kosovo to a much greater extent than the declaration would suggest. But because of the numerous scandals, it has lost much of the domestic public support that it would have needed to address the Kosovo issue seriously.’

Kosovo has traditionally been used as a electioneering platform in Serbia. In 1989, Slobodan Milosevic began his rise to power on the issue. His successors Vojislav Kostunica and Zoran Djindjic turned their backs on his methods, but both used Serbia’s historical claim to Kosovo to drum up support.

Daci is searching for new strategy (Koha)

The Assembly speaker Nexhat Daci has begun meetings with parties and institutional leaders in search for ‘yes’ for the new strategy Koha Ditore reported. He met on Thursday with AAK leader Ramush Haradinaj and on Friday with LDK leader Ibrahim Rugova. According to Daci’s close circles, the prime topic in these discussions was the new strategy regarding future developments in Kosovo and coordination between leaders who established the government coalition.

Kosovo Press Headlines
Koha Ditore
Front page
· Daci in search for leaders’ ‘yes’ regarding new strategy
· Fires in Kosovo reach culmination
· Surroi: Hours of General’s decision
· Moisiu invites Rugova to visit Tirana
· Holkeri: Serbian declaration on Kosovo is unwise and ineffective

Other headlines
· AKSH claims responsibility for explosions in Skopje (2)
· On Monday starts weapons amnesty (2)
· Police requires penal procedure against Natasha Kandic (3)
· Covic: There is no independence for Kosovo without border change (3)
· Burgstalleri: We will remain here and assist (4)
· Dialogue presents an example for regional security (4)
· Little chances for returning IDPs (4)
· Four by two for lights, import from Serbia is halted (5)
· Batlava lake was very popular this year (5)
· Ten richest people in Albania (5)
· Nine years prison for former UÇPMB member (6)
· Students union requires better living conditions (6)
· Nano: Crime became sophisticated, don’t give up [Albania] (6)
· Attack in Macedonian house [Macedonia] (7)
· Investigations did not find perpetrator (7)
· Mini: Religionists should be active in establishment of multi-ethnicity (8)
· 506 Greek battalion takes responsibility in Ferizaj (8)
· Education process will start on September 1 (9)
· Officials and directors against strike, unions form strike council (9)
· Stefani: Kosovo, freedom and Belgrade (11)
· Serbia: Kosovo document less than it Seems (11)

Bota Sot
Front page
· Holkeri: Serbia declaration is not important, the UNSC will decide about Kosovo’s future
· It is time for Tirana’s government to recognize independence of Kosovo
· NGO 27 April repair wall tears
· Lull before storm
· LDK gains, PDK and AAK going down
· Local officials have same opinions, KTA has no response
· Nine years prison for former UÇPMB member
· Travel of the Albanian letters

Other headlines
· Hand in weapons if you want peace and order in Kosovo (2)
· Lack of projects, money remains as surplus (4)
· Congratulations for the new school year (5)
· Reconstruction of Higher school Kuvendi i Arberit (5)
· Balli Kombetar is against dialogue with Serbia (5)
· How many Albanians live in Montenegro (6)
· Educational process in Peja should start on Monday (7)
· Berisha: Luan Rama is head of the smuggling clan in Durres [Albania] (8)
· Haraçina and Likova in martial law situation [Macedonia] (11)