Media Analysis 2 October Afternoon 2003

• Javier Solana: The time has come (Java)
  
• Gallack: Belgrade's comments are political games (Zëri)
  
• Shala: Avoiding responsibility (Zëri)
  
• Endgame: Kosovo is going back under Serbia (Java)
  
• Kurteshi: Talks chaired by Mr. Holkeri are talks between UNMIK and Serbia (Epoka e Re)
  
• Surroi: The public assassination of secret policemen (Koha Ditore)
  
• Smuggling with UNMIK stamp (Kosova Sot)
  
• Editorial: What is happening with custom service? (Kosova Sot)

Belgrade Update

• Kosovo MPs delay vote on Vienna talks (Beta)
  
• Holkeri unperturbed by Pristina stalling (Beta)

Javier Solana: The time has come (Java)

Java weekly newspaper quoted EU High Representative Javier Solana as saying, 'We are certain that the time has to come to include Kosovo in direct talks, as part of your commitment for European values and the principle for dialogue and mutual understanding… We strongly believe that there can be no excuses for eventual delays in commencing this process'.

Gallack: Belgrade's comments are political games (Zëri)
Zëri carried comments made by Christina Gallach, spokeswoman of EU High Representative Javier Solana, after the statements of senior Serbian officials that the upcoming dialogue between Prishtina and Belgrade implies talks between the state and the province.

'There is no doubt that the dialogue will happen. There is no other alternative. We are aware that both sides are hesitant and have made unnecessary comments. We call on them not to make such comments because it creates a difficult atmosphere,' Gallach said.

She added that the EU is prepared and is also putting pressure to commence the dialogue as soon as possible. 'We are interested in the dialogue starting on October 14. Mr. Solana will personally participate in it,' Gallach said.

Commenting on the reason for such high level of representation, when it is known that the dialogue will be on technical issues, Gallach said that it should not be forgotten that Prishtina and Belgrade have not talked for years.

'There were some direct talks before the start of the war between Pristina and Belgrade, but since then many things have happened. We want that the international community support it at the highest level,' she said.

'Comments such as the ones coming from Belgrade on the talks between the state and the province don't help and are sometimes done for internal reasons and political games. They don't help reach successful results,' Gallack said.

Shala: Avoiding responsibility (Zëri)
Zëri editor Blerim Shala claimed that local Kosovar officials have all competencies to decide on the issue of dialogue.

It has been said before: This is about the future of Kosovo, and not the future of the international administration. This is about our fate, the fate of each of us, and not a certain administrator or official at UNMIK. The status of Kosovo is at stake, and not the status of a party leader. The major issue of Kosovo is the resolution of the issue of Kosovo and not upcoming parliamentary elections.

These positions must however be reiterated because there are no indications that our authorities and main political parties have understood their tasks and responsibilities. We all know the legal limitations of local authorities when it comes to their competencies. It is also known that the central government in Kosovo was created on the idea of consensus, because there was no other way, and because the results of parliamentary elections imposed this solution which proves to be difficult for Albanian politicians. But both terms, the competencies and consensus, were used in the past and even now to hide the low quality of the majority of our politicians.

In both cases, the non-existent consensus and the competencies, which have not been transferred, have served as an excuse to not take decisions, not provide answers and not claim responsibility.

Our officials are fully competent to decide on the issue of dialogue. They should settle all the scores for our sake, and not for the sake of their careers or results in upcoming parliamentary elections. They should consider all the consequences of the approval or disapproval with the offer of the Contact Group. And they must do this together because the will of Kosovar citizens makes them such.

Endgame: Kosovo is going back under Serbia (Java)
Java weekly newspaper reported that two weeks before the start of technical talks between Prishtina and Belgrade, the human rights activist Adem Demaçi has warned that Kosovo is going back under Serbia.

Demaçi said that the decision of Albanian leaders to sit at the same table with Serb leaders would mean the legitimacy of declarations on Serbia's sovereignty over Kosovo. 'It is true that there are going to be talks on technical issues. This means to connect Kosovo to Serbia economically and in every other aspect. But this is going to be a wrong connection, and in the meantime the pains are going to get bigger and unbearable. The international community doesn't realize this and neither do Kosovar political leaders. This is a major mistake,' he added.

Demaçi claimed that Kosovo was going to be inferior during technical talks and that that in itself presented the endgame. 'Serbia is the lord, whereas Kosovar Albanians will go there like beggars to ask mercy from Serbia and to solve some problems which could have been solved by UNMIK,' said Demaçi.

According to Demaçi now is the moment when Kosovar political leaders must sober, get a realistic picture of things and understand that in talks between Prishtina and Belgrade, Kosovo is going to lose. Added Demaçi: 'They are not aware. They still won't admit that they made a mistake by signing the agreement in Rambouillet. They are working for their own personal interests instead of working for Kosovo's interests. One day Kosovar leaders are going to realize that they were wrong but it's going to be too late, because people are going to hate them.'

In closing, Demaçi was quoted as saying, 'The right of political parties from Belgrade to participate in local elections in Kosovo, the right of Kosovar citizens to vote for the president of Serbia were political interventions because they implied Serbia's sovereignty over Kosovo'.

Kurteshi: Talks chaired by Mr. Holkeri are talks between UNMIK and Serbia (Epoka e Re)
Epoka e Re carried an opinion piece by the Kosovo assembly deputy Ismajl Kurteshi who writes:

The Kosovar opinion was informed about Mr. Holkeri's decision to organize the first direct talks about technical issues between Kosovo and Serbia in Vienna on October 14. He also stressed that he would chair the Kosovan delegation.

Regarding the issue of the transfer of competencies into the hands of the Kosovo institutions as a necessary condition to begin the talks with Serbia, Mr. Holkeri said: 'The transfer of competencies is a separate issue from the dialogue'.

Mr. Holkeri invites the Kosovar leaders to participate in the talks, although the demands of the Kosovar entity to participate in negotiations aren't met yet. Kosovars who are without competencies in the dialogue that is initiated, prepared and chaired by UNMIK, will serve as a decoration; this doesn't mean that they will not take the responsibility to implement an eventual agreement between UNMIK and Serbia, if they participate in these talks (?)

The Kosovo institutions should decide whether or not to join the talks that have already begun between UNMIK and Serbia and which have produced no results but have led to numerous concessions to Serbia. Instead of participating in these talks, they [Kosovar institutions] should undertake the necessary steps in order to remove all dilemmas and also to create preconditions for successful talks between Kosovo and Serbia.

The talks could be successful only after the decision of Kosovo's final status as a result of a referendum, through which Kosovo's citizens would decide about their future. Or, at least after the international recognition of the Kosovar citizens' right for self-determination, which means elimination of the Kosovo final status from the agenda.

The talks could be successful when they are talks between two neighboring countries and not as Covic said 'Belgrade could talk on every level, but you should bear in mind that we aren't talking to other state…' The position of the Kosovars makes the talks not successful.

UNMIK should initiate and organize meetings aimed to explain its presence in Kosovo, and shouldn't care about the results and length of the talks.

The international community is interested to achieve an agreement without being concerned whether such an agreement is right or not.

However, none of the Kosovo institutions should escape from their responsibility, because everyone is responsible for failures and successes as well.

Therefore, Kosovars, responsible for the interests of our citizens, shouldn't be part of the games that are organized by others. They should get prepared and begin the dialogue when the circumstances for successful talks and acceptable final agreements are created.

Surroi: The public assassination of secret policemen (Koha Ditore)
In an opinion piece for Koha Ditore, publisher Veton Surroi wrote:

Vladan Rovcanin yesterday escorted his wife and children to Gracanica, took on the notorious machinegun 'Heckler', killed four of his colleagues in the headquarters of the secret police in Nis and turned the symbol of relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

Born and raised in the Serb enclave of Gracanica, near Prishtina, Rovcanin made the symbolic step similar to many other Serbs during the turning point, which was the 90's. Although an agricultural engineer, he started working for the State Security, tasked with the systematic persecution of Albanians. When war came he was in the same post, and when war ended he was caught in the act by the Albanians and sent to Serbia together with his family.

Rovcanin, and his late colleagues, were represented the changes in Serbia. In the first postwar days, the Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic took out from the catalogue of Albanian solutions an idea for his crumbling regime in Kosovo: the formation of the parallel society. Thus, the Serb courts in Kosovo would be transferred to various cities in Serbia, and so would the police and administrative services. Rovcanin and his colleagues formed the State Security of Prishtina in Nis, and from there they continued the activity of the notorious secret police. In fact, even the next turning point would have a symbolic value. After Milosevic's downfall, the Serb State Security changed its name and became the Agency of Security and Information, a somewhat softer technical formulation that should have guaranteed the population that it was no longer 'a secrete police force'. The thing that was not going to change was the working place of the killer: he would still work in the service of BIA (the acronym used for the new state security) for Kosovo and Metohija.

The killing in Nis recalls two parallel phenomena that have taken place in the last four years in Kosovo. First, the Serbian state has built administrative control in one part of Kosovo's territory, and this in full contravention of the UN and NATO mission. Second, this has become a part of everyday life and it is being followed with indifference both in Serbia and in Kosovo.

In the last four years, the Serbian state, be it the one run by Milosevic or the one run by democratic forces that ousted Milosevic, has maintained its administrative apparatus in Kosovo. And this is not only about Rovcanin and his murdered colleagues, but also other areas of state functioning. The Serb education system in Kosovo is today administrated by Belgrade, and not by the Ministry of Education of Kosovo, and the healthcare system in areas populated mainly by Serbs is administered by Belgrade and not by the Kosovar Ministry of Health. In northern Kosovo, in fact a doctor working in Mitrovica gets a higher salary than a doctor in Kraljevo in Serbia.

And as the Albanians could witnessed in the last four years, the personal and cadastral evidence of Kosovar citizens is highly efficient in the Kosovo Serb administration: it is easier to get a Serb ID card or passport than similar UNMIK documents.

The formation of the Serb parallel administration in the beginning was an emergency measure for Milosevic, a measure to take care of his people after a lost war, whereas for the international community the tolerance shown vis-à-vis this administration was also an emergency measure in the first postwar days, when there was no form of power in Kosovo. Gradually, this relation took on the shape of political meaning. For Belgrade's regime it was a way to maintain its presence in Kosovo. For UNMIK it implied a way to build relations with Kosovo Serbs. It was 'keeping order in the house', where the Albanian majority was gradually building Kosovar institutions, Serbs wanted to preserve their form of administration and UNMIK could say that new positive results were being achieved. The result of this mess is that now there are three regimes in Kosovo. There is UNMIK, Kosovar institutions identified with the Albanian majority and the Serb administration. And each administration has completely different political interests, first of all Kosovo Serbs, who are more or less identified with the administration in Belgrade, in almost one fifth of the territory of Kosovo.

The other effect of this mess is the one that was projected these years in Belgrade: the lack of Kosovo's territorial integrity would be reflected in any process of negotiations, as a negotiating weakness of Kosovars, be it even in what is called 'dialogue on technical issues'.

The two agents that were assassinated in Nis were from Gracanica, and they attended the same school as the killer. In Serbia, one day after the killing, the basic comment was about the Vietnam Syndrome, the postwar syndrome in Vietnam, when some US veterans returned to civil life and started committing unexplained crimes. I think that people in Serbia must go deeper into the symbolic context of this event. This country has not only not launched a debate on the crimes committed by the Serbian state, but even this regime, which is being considered democratic, continues to claim administrative control over Kosovo, with the same people who took part in the genocidal offensive against Kosovar Albanians.

Smuggling with UNMIK stamp (Kosova Sot)
Kosova Sot reported about the disappearance of six fuel tankers from the Custom point in Hani i Elezit.

It seems that corruption in the Kosovo Customs Service is continuing. Four full years since the Kosovo Customs Service started functioning, a part of it continues to be involved in manipulations and corruption, Kosova Sot reported. Figures and facts, although never made public, show great losses to the budget, precisely by the smuggling of goods. It is enough to refer to the suspensions of Custom Service officials to say that there is corruption in the Kosovo Customs Service. The same source disclosed the flagrant case of corruption in the KCS when six fuel tankers belonging to Burim Foniqi company in Malisheva entered Kosovo. They were coming with petrol from Bulgaria. The customs books show this. But, the tankers 'disappeared' from Hani i Elezit customs point without paying the customs duty and using false documents, which carried the original UNMIK customs seal. This costs €74,500 loss to the Kosovo budget. The customs office said that all documentation was stolen such as passport, driving license and IDs. Officials of UNMIK Pillar IV confirmed the information, but gave no additional explanation. 'The customs is aware of this case, which is currently under investigation. We don't want to prejudice the investigation which is underway. Be sure that the customs will give you details when we can,' said UNMIK Pillar IV spokeswoman Monique de Groot.

Editorial: What is happening with custom service? (Kosova Sot)
Kosova Sot commented on the recent smuggling case in Hani i Elezit where six fuel tankers disappeared without paying customs duties.

While our attention is focused on the beginning of the dialogue with the Serbs, smugglers are intensifying their illegal activity. Using UNMIK stamps about which international officials have no information where it came from, smugglers in cooperation with unidentified individuals have stolen several thousand euros which would have gone to the Kosovo budget. At the time when our salaries are very low and living conditions are the worst in Europe, several people who belong to the customs service are earning millions. Smuggling is well known to the customs service officers and is a known tool for illegal profit. It is enough just to check their life style and to understand how 'profitable' is this job. The recent scandal in Hani I Elezit is a big slap on the face of UNMIK and Kosovo Customs Service. The Customs Service is not under the control of the government and it seems that there is not enough transparency. If the recent case remains unsolved, then confidence in the customs service will be damaged. In this way it is difficult to build a state. Nobody has built a state by stealing from it. Therefore, it is the last time for the customs service to have real transparency and not to steal.

Belgrade Update

Kosovo MPs delay vote on Vienna talks (Beta)
Parliament in Kosovo has postponed a decision on whether to back talks between Pristina and Belgrade. MPs voted to debate the issue next week. Belgrade-Pristina talks are due to begin on October 14 in Vienna. Kosovo Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi told MPs that his cabinet is not prepared to enter talks without the consent of parliament and the backing of the leading Kosovo Albanian parties.

Holkeri unperturbed by Pristina stalling (Beta)
Talks between Belgrade and Pristina will go ahead regardless of whether parliament in Kosovo gives its consent, the head of the United Nations mission said today. Harri Holkeri told Beta news agency in Berlin that the only outstanding issue was the make-up of the respective delegations. Otherwise, talks are to begin on October 14 in Vienna, he said. Kosovo's prime minister, Bajram Rexhepi, reiterated today that Pristina would only enter talks with the consent of the province's parliament. MPs then voted to postpone a decision until next week.

Main Stories 2 October 2003
· Assembly expected to say 'Yes' to government on issue of talks (Koha)
· Government wants political and institutional consensus on talks (Zëri)
· Kosovar delegation to be appointed after Belgrade's delegation (Koha)
· Who is going to represent the US in Vienna meeting? (Zëri)
· What was Pat Cox's message for Kosovar leaders? (Zëri)
· Thaçi: Serbia should recognize Kosovo's independence (Kosova Sot)
· Gallack: Belgrade's comments are political games (Zëri)
· Kouchner, Holbrooke to address Kosovar citizens on Monday (Koha)
· AAK wants guarantee from intl community before entering talks (Koha)
· Bukoshi: Kosovar factor - unprepared and irresponsible (Koha)
· Shala: Avoiding responsibility (Zëri)
· Surroi: The public assassination of secret policemen (Koha)
· Baleta: UNMIK should solve technical issues (Bota Sot)
· Tony Lloyd, Council of Europe Rapporteur for human rights in Kosovo

Kosovo Media Highlights

Assembly expected to say Yes to government on issue of talks (Koha Ditore)
Koha Ditore quotes reliable sources in the assembly as saying that the Kosovo Assembly was going to endorse the government on the start of talks with Belgrade.

'It depends on what the prime minister plans to propose, but the assembly has decided to support the government,' added the source. 'The assembly won't say no to talks.' [extensive coverage in Media Analysis]

Government wants political and institutional consensus on talks (Zëri)
Zëri reports that the Government of Kosovo has voiced its willingness to participate in today's session of the Kosovo Assembly, which is expected to discuss all the possible modalities of the participation of the Kosovar delegation in talks with Belgrade representatives.

Kosovar delegation to be appointed after Belgrade's delegation (Koha Ditore)
Citing reliable sources from Kosovar institutions, Koha Ditore reports that the Kosovar delegation that will attend the Vienna meeting would be appointed after the Serb and Montenegrin side appoint their delegation.

'Kosovar leaders said they support dialogue, but the Kosovar delegation will be appointed only after Belgrade appoints its own delegation,' said the source.

Who is going to represent the US in Vienna meeting? (Zëri)
Zëri quotes western diplomatic sources as saying that Larry Rossin, deputy assistant Secretary of State for European and European-Asian Affairs, Marcie Ries, head of the US Office in Prishtina and William Montgomery, the US Ambassador to Serbia and Montenegro are going to represent the US in talks between Kosovar and Serbian representatives, scheduled to be held in Vienna on October 14th. [more in Media Analysis]

What was Pat Cox's message for Kosovar leaders? (Zëri)
Citing western diplomatic sources, Zëri claims that Pat Cox, chairman of the European Parliament was very direct in his meetings with Kosovar authorities by telling them that the eventual refusal of talks with the representatives of Serbia and Montenegro in Vienna could severely damage Kosovo's relations with the west.

Thaçi: Serbia should recognize Kosovo's independence (Kosova Sot)
Kosova Sot runs an interview, which PDK leader Hashim Thaçi gave to the national Finnish Television. During the interview, Thaçi said that contacts between Kosovar authorities and neighboring countries on issue of mutual interest were very valuable.

Thaçi also said that the most urgent matter was for Belgrade to recognize the independence of Kosovo and for Prishtina to recognize Serbia's independence so that both countries can move toward further democratization and integration into the European Union.

Gallack: Belgrade's comments are political games (Zëri)
Zëri carries comments made by Christina Gallach, spokeswoman of EU High Representative Javier Solana, after the statements of high-ranking Serbian officials that the upcoming dialogue between Prishtina and Belgrade implies talks between the state and the province.

'Comments such as the ones coming from Belgrade on talks between the state and the province don't help and are sometimes done for internal reasons and political games. They don't serve any successful results,' Gallack was quoted as saying.

AAK wants guarantee from intl community before entering talks (Koha Ditore)
Koha Ditore reports that the National Council of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo has strongly opposed developments on the issue of talks between Kosovo and the Union of Serbia and Montenegro.

The Haradinaj-led AAK reportedly said that the international community should give firm guarantees for the future of Kosovo and declare Serbian documents that represent constitutional violation as null and void.

Bukoshi: Kosovar factor - unprepared and irresponsible (Koha Ditore)
Bujar Bukoshi, chairman of the New Party of Kosovo (PReK) has criticized the leaders of local institutions for not being prepared to start talks with Belgrade representatives in Vienna by mid-October, Koha Ditore reported.

'The leaders of our institutions are disorganized, divided, lacking in strategy and are involved in immature acts. They are going to talks unprepared; they don't present any concepts, not even the members of the delegation, three weeks before the start of talks,' Bukoshi was quoted as saying.

Kouchner, Holbrooke to address Kosovar citizens on Monday (Koha Ditore)
Koha Ditore reports that former SRSG Bernard Kouchner and the former US Presidential Envoy for the Balkans, Richard Holbrooke are going to visit Prishtina as part of a Balkans tour.

Apart from meetings with public personalities, Kouchner and Holkeri will reportedly address Kosovars on the issue of Kosovo's future. 'Among other things, the two famous international officials are also expected to address more directly the question of Kosovo's status,' added Koha Ditore.

Shala: Avoiding responsibility (Zëri)
Zëri editor Blerim Shala claims that local Kosovar officials have all competencies to decide on the issue of dialogue. 'They should settle all the scores for our sake, and not for the sake of their careers or results in upcoming parliamentary elections. They should consider all the consequences of the approval or disapproval with the offer of the Contact Group. And they must do this together, because the will of Kosovar citizens makes them such,' Shala added.

Surroi: The public assassination of secret policemen (Koha Ditore)
In an opinion piece for Koha Ditore, publisher Veton Surroi writes, 'The two agents that were assassinated in Nis were from Gracanica, and they attended the same school as the killer. In Serbia, one day after the killing, the basic comment was about the Vietnam Syndrome, the postwar syndrome in Vietnam when some US veterans returned to the civil life and started committing unexplained crimes. I think that people in Serbia must go deeper into the symbolic context of this event. This country has not only not launched a debate on the crimes committed by the Serbian state, but even this regime which is being considered democratic continues to claim administrative control over Kosovo, with the same people that took part in the genocide offensive against Kosovar Albanians'. [full translation in Media Analysis]

Baleta: UNMIK should solve technical issues (Bota Sot)
'Talks between Albanians and Serbs cannot be called a priority of Albanian politics in Kosovo and they must also be seen as a dangerous trap,' claims columnist Abdi Baleta in Bota Sot. 'The best thing to do would be for Albanians to be firm in saying that there can be no talks without the Security Council resolving the final status of Kosovo.'

Tony Lloyd, Council of Europe Rapporteur for human rights in Kosovo
Koha Ditore and Zëri report that the Committee for Legal Issues and Human Rights of the Council of Europe has decided to appoint Tony Lloyd as the Council of Europe Rapporteur for human rights in Kosovo. [more in Media Analysis]

Kosovo Press Headlines
Koha Ditore
Front page
· Assembly is expected to say 'yes' to the government
· The month of weapons amnesty is over
· Surroi: Public killing of secret police
· Recall of students' protests
· Lloyd becomes CoE envoy for Kosovo

Other headlines
· Mini: Kosovo still needs NATO presence (3)
· AAK demands guarantee from the international community ahead of talks (4)
· Bukoshi: Kosovars, unprepared and irresponsible (4)
· Kouchner and Holbrook to visit Prishtina (4)
· LKP: Independence or union with Albania are Assembly's choices (4)
· Free trade between Kosovo and Albania (5)
· Exhibition is good as it was last year (5)
· Transactions aren't part of regulation (6)
· Reconciliation process is delayed (6)
· Women: Kosovo has feminist movement (6)
· Six oil tanks disappeared (6)
· New roster - good for workers, bad for businesses (7)
· Witnesses will testify in Vranje (8)
· German policeman attacked (8)
· Kamenica municipality is leading process of IDPs return (9)
· Zogiani: Rugova's taste for beauty (10)
· Misunderstandings of people's vote (11)
· Inverse dialogue (11)

Zëri
Front page
· Who will represent US in Vienna?
· Lack of consensus, assembly decide by voting about dialogue
· Shala: Escape from responsibility
· Government requires political and institutional consensus before dialogue
· AAK against dialogue with Belgrade before transfer of competencies and creation of new ministries
· Free trade between Kosovo and Albania
· Weapon amnesty has failed

Other headlines
· What was the message of Pat Cox? (2)
· Gallach: Belgrade's comments are political games (2)
· Covic: Talks between Kosovo and Serbia aren't talks between two states (2)
· Bukoshi: Talks on equal levels towards Kosovo's independence (2)
· Cox: Integration in Europe after implementation of Ohrid agreement (4)
· Ali Ahmeti meets Cox [Macedonia] (4)
· George Robertson visits Macedonia (4)
· 200 policeman secure transfer of tobacco (4)
· CoE appoint Tony Lloyd as human rights envoy for Kosovo (5)
· COMKFOR Mini: I enjoyed the polemics with the media (5)
· Students erect memorial (5)
· Assistance for KPC (5)
· Women complaints against UNMIK (6)
· Nushi: Kosovo needs research about use of violence and torture (6)
· Inauguration of the new school (6)
· Municipality demands opening of cross border point (7)
· Gjilan: French Liaison Office will support development of municipality (7)
· American KFOR advance cooperation with KPC (7)
· Appointment of new UNMIK officials in the Eastern region (7)
· Muhamed Zija promises team work in order to get developed (7)
· Japanese humanity return Besiana in normal life (8)
· 2004 is the final year for resolution of housing problems (8)

Bota Sot
Front page
· KFOR will continue to work for security and peace
· Who is killing Kosovo's patriots?
· Anna Lindh was threatened by Serbs
· Albright: I was for the military intervention
· Government decided to stop payment for the KPC cars

Other headlines
· Start of the implementation of FTA between Kosovo and Albania (2)
· Bergman: Exhibition is evidence for the economic development (2)
· Buçpapaj: Mafia's elements warn prosecutor Theodhori Sollaku [Albania] (3)
· Buçpapaj: Kosovo syndrome in Nis and Strasbourg (4)
· UNDP is disappointed with weapons collected (4)
· Seminar about rehabilitation of torture victims (5)
· Ajeti: Differently from technical dialogue (6)
· Classes begin at University of Prishtina (6)
· Baleta: Technical issue should be resolved by UNMIK (9)
· Robertson visits Skopje (10)

Kosova Sot
Front page
· How did six oil tanks disappear from customs?
· Dialogue in the Assembly
· 22 thousands citizens sign petition for the union between Kosovo and Albania
· LPD: Kosovars take and us [Presevo Valley]
· After COMKFOR Mini, 4000 soldiers leave from Kosovo
· Classes begin at University of Prishtina
· Editorial: What is happening with customs service?

Other headlines
· Government discusses dialogue and a few laws (2)
· Thaçi: Serbia should recognize Kosovo's independence (2)
· Papandreou: Dialogue should discuss tough issues (2)
· Serbia should apologize to Kosovo (3)
· Denial of the Serbian media claims (3)
· AAK, four conditions for the dialogue (4)
· Bukoshi: We will benefit from the dialogue (4)
· Germans attempt to bring closer Albanians and Serbs (4)
· Dialogue should send at the status (5)
· Mirela Otrova: Transition as insignificant (5)
· Tony Lloyd CoE special envoy for Kosovo (6)
· Was UNDP assessment of 350,000 illegal weapons real? (6)
· Who and how much get from the Kosovo's budget (7)
· KFOR and KPC sign agreement for partnership (7)
· Companies are prohibited to participate in exhibition (8)
· Workers want to hear their voice in privatization process (8)
· Anniversary of the October 1, 1997 (9)

Epoka e Re
Front page
· AAK harshly accuses major parties
· Why do we recall October 1, 1997?
· Students: Our freedom is damaged by corruption
· War veterans against dialogue
· Government is ready to resolve bid on KPC car
· Talks, first test for the Kosovo's parties
· Former fighters against dialogue
· LPK aims to collect 40,000 signatures on union between Kosovo Albania
· Family accuses KEK
· Hooligans in Kosovo's schools

Other headlines
· Thaçi: Mutual recognition of independence is an urgent issue (2)
· Assembly to halt electoral campaign (3)
· Kosovo preparation for the dialogue with Belgrade (4)
· NGO 'KPC friends' assist KPC (5)
· Bukoshi: If I was prime minister…(6)
· Talks chaired by Mr. Holkeri are talks between UNMIK and Serbia (6)
· Kosovars handed in only 155 weapons! (7)
· Klina: Serbs are favorites, Ashkalinj and Egyptians are ignored (11)
· Citizens demand decrease of bread's price (11)
Belgrade Media Highlights

· Are topics of Belgrade-Pristina dialogue really only technical issues (Balkan)
· Policeman injured in southern Mitrovica (Politika/Tanjug)
· Svilanovic at UNESCO session (Politika/Tanjug)
· Oliver Ivanovic on Belgrade-Pristina dialogue (Vecernje Novosti)
· Batic announced forming of a working group (Glas/Srna)
· Presidential elections in Kosovo the same as in December last year (Danas/Beta)
· School year begins in Cernica (Danas/Tanjug)
· Overtures of Belgrade-Pristina talks (Politika/Tanjug)

Are topics of Belgrade-Pristina dialogue really only technical issues (Balkan)
The topics of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue - transport, communications, energy, returns and missing persons have been characterized as technical issues. UNMIK Head Harri Holkeri has stressed several times that talks are not on Kosovo's final status. However, already known now, the existing problems inside these "technical topics" can be characterized as those whose final resolution could very much prejudge the answer to the question on the final status. Out of the famous disputable issues in the sphere of energy, on which, it is assumed, the Serb side should insist, is the problem of the transfer of the electric energy. The Kosovo network is in the single system of distribution, and the open issues are among other things as to who will pay what had been so far taken or who is paying maintenance bills. One of the burning issues is the status of the Obilic electric power plant. In accordance with the process of transferring competencies from the Mission to Kosovo institutions, the disputable item is who will manage the Electric Industry of Kosovo. If this is the subject of the dialogue at the working group, surely it is not all the same whether Serbia will be paid, which prejudges the resolution of the status of the southern Serbian province.

Policeman injured in southern Mitrovica (Politika/Tanjug)
One UNMIK police member has been seriously injured when an unknown person attacked him with an iron bar in front of UNMIK headquarters in the southern Mitrovica, UN police spokesperson Tracy Baker said. One person has been arrested in connection to this case.

Svilanovic at UNESCO session (Politika/Tanjug)
The situation in Kosovo and Metohija, regarding the protection of cultural heritage, has worsened in past two years, SaM Minister of Foreign Affairs Goran Svilanovic has warned at the UNESCO General Conference in Paris. The protection of cultural heritage falls under the UNMIK mandate and cannot be transferred to anyone else, pointed out Svilanovic. He has reminded that in March the UNESCO Mission experts studied the condition of important cultural localities in Kosovo and Metohija and announced that the SaM government would submit very soon its remarks on this report to the UNESCO General Director. Svilanovic has expressed his expectation that recommendations of the document for the protection of cultural heritage in Kosovo and Metohija are to be implemented soon.

Oliver Ivanovic on Belgrade-Pristina dialogue (Vecernje Novosti)
The Albanian political milieu on the eve of the beginning of the dialogue with Belgrade is divided and their leaders unwillingly decide for talks aware that their political position has weakened and aren't anymore the international community's favorites, Kosovo Assembly Presidency member Oliver Ivanovic told Novosti. "The Albanian political milieu can be divided in three groups. The first has a small number of Albanian intellectuals who understand the need and necessity of the dialogue with Belgrade. In the second, largest, are those politicians who don't see the dialogue as priority, but accept the initiative of the international community, understanding that the risk of accepting is smaller than the risk of losing the international community's support. The third group isn't large, but is very dangerous because it considers that the dialogue shouldn't be accepted at any price and is ready to use all means and terrorist operations towards frustrating it. The murders and violence against Serbs over the past months speak the best about this."

Batic announced forming of a working group (Glas/Srna)
Serbian Justice Minister Vladan Batic has stated that he will form a working group of experts that will collect all most valid evidence on the crimes by KLA leaders and submit it to the ICTY. The group will be made up of experts from the Justice Ministry, Serbian Interior Ministry, Security Information agency, Army and the Committee for collecting data on the crimes against humanity. Batic stated that ICTY's Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte was conducting an investigation against KLA leaders and that she expected the investigation would end by the end of the year, as well as that one indictment would be issued.

Presidential elections in Kosovo the same as in December last year (Danas/Beta)
The Serbian Presidential elections on 16 November will be conducted at some polling places in Kosovo, which will be determined on the basis of the proposals by the heads of districts. The Republican Electoral Commission decided at the session on Tuesday that the elections in Kosovo on 16 November are to be implemented according to the same proceedings that were used for the previous, unsuccessful, presidential elections of 8 December last year. At the time, 261 polling places were opened in Kosovo, with 97.180 registered voters. According to last year's proceedings, also applied for the new elections, voters will cast their ballots at places where their safety can be ensured.

School year begins in Cernica (Danas/Tanjug)
The school year for 60 elementary pupils from Cernica near Gnjilane has begun, with a one-month delay, after some of the requests by parents have been fulfilled - for KFOR and UNMIK police members to secure the school during classes and to escort pupils from the home to the school and vice versa. The request for placing a KFOR checkpoint near the school has not been accepted.

Overtures of Belgrade-Pristina talks (Politika/Tanjug)
In a commentary by the Radio of Voice of Russia it is stressed that "the property of Serb companies in Kosovo and Metohija has fallen under the strike of UNMIK's illegal privatization, that is in breach with all international standards." Despite all norms and strictest rules regulated by the West in their own countries when ownership is at stake, it accepts unjust privatization in Kosovo and Metohija. It encompasses not only socially owned companies, but also those that had been privatized 14 years ago and became stock companies, the Voice of Russia recalls. Through the Kosovo Trust Agency, the radio underlines, so far, six companies have been sold, a tender written for 18, while 45 are under selling procedure. "All the past reactions by the institutions from Serbia to UNMIK's privatization have been left without an answer, and that is why an association has been formed, which has made, stemming from world standards and norms, a project of the protection of property and ownership rights of Serb companies in Kosovo. In order to deceive the world public, UNMIK has also predicted the possibility of objections to the course of privatization, but only after the completed privatization procedure," the radio reports. It is expected that at least five thousand companies, and perhaps ten thousand is realistic, will give their data on ownership that will be submitted to UNMIK, while the value of the mentioned Serb companies is measured with billions of dollars.