17 November 2003 Afternoon Edition

Kosovo News

· NATO's Secretary-General arrives for a farewell visit to Kosovo (AP)
· Robertson arrives in Kosovo on last visit as NATO leader (dpa)
· Serb murders Serb in Kosovo (Beta)
· Kosovo readies for its refugees (The Christian Science Monitor)

Regional News

· EUROPE: Nationalist does well as third Serbian poll fails (FT)
· EU foreign ministers to discuss Serbian poll today (Beta)
· Debate on elections - DOS defeated (Tanjug)
· Protest of voters, Cristina Gallach (Tanjug)
· Serbia-Montenegro donor meeting tomorrow (Beta)

NATO's Secretary-General arrives for a farewell visit to Kosovo

PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) _ The outgoing NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson arrived Monday to Kosovo for a one-day farewell visit.
Robertson, who is stepping down from his post in December, was to meet with top international and local leaders in this U.N.-run province, where NATO-led peacekeepers provide security.
He also planned to visit a part of a village in northern Kosovo that is being prepared for the return of Serbs who fled province after the Kosovo war, fearing revenge attacks by ethnic Albanians.
About 20,000 peacekeepers from 34 countries serve in Kosovo in the NATO-led mission.
The force deployed in the province in June 1999, following a NATO air war that halted Serb forces' crackdown on independence-minded ethnic Albanians.

Robertson arrives in Kosovo on last visit as NATO leader
Pristina (dpa) - NATO Secretary General George Robertson arrived in Kosovo Monday for talks with NATO peacekeepers on his last visit as leader.
On arrival at Pristina airport, Roberston said he was certain that Kosovo leaders would achieve the standards set by the international community as a condition for talks on the province's final status within the 2005 deadline.
Afterwards, he departed for a meeting with Kosovo Albanian and Serb representatives in Novo Selo village, 30 kilometres north of Pristina.
Robertson was due to meet the commander of the NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping mission General Holger Kammerhoff and the United Nations Interim Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) chief Harri Holkeri.
He will also meet President Ibrahim Rugova, parliament chairman Nexhat Daci and Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi. Robertson said that he would thank KFOR troops for participating in the Kosovo mission.
He is due to leave office in January and will be replaced by Dutch Foreign Minister Jaap De Hoop Scheffer.
Since a bloody war in 1999 and subsequent NATO intervention against Yugoslavia, ethnic Albanians who make up the vast majority in Kosovo, insisted on discussing independence first.
Belgrade insists on retaining sovereignty over Kosovo as well as security for Serbs and returning refugees.
Under international pressure, Belgrade and Pristina tentatively began talks last month in Vienna and have set up working groups to discuss issues such as persons missing since the 1999 war, the return of refugees, transport and energy.

Serb murders Serb in Kosovo | 11:16 | Beta
PRISTINA -- Sunday - An eighteen-year-old Serb from a village near the Kosovo town of Gnjilane was murdered by his Serb neighbours, UN police in the province said last night.

UN police representative Angela Joseph told media that both the victim and the murder suspect were Serbs.

Danijel Milosevic was shot in the head from a handgun while working his land.

Joseph denied earlier claims that Milosevic had been killed by a group of Albanians, adding that a suspect had already been questioned.

Kosovo readies for its refugees
Regarding the Nov. 5 article "For refugees from Kosovo, a long way back home": The tragic wars in the region of the former Yugoslavia have left a bitter legacy of devastation and refugees. I deeply sympathize with all the refugees who left Kosovo before, during, and after the war in 1999, and I do want them to return to their homes. Kosovars, together with the United Nations mission here and the rest of the international community, are working hard to create a safe environment for their sustainable return.
At my initiative, Kosovo Albanian political leaders, representatives of Provisional Institutions, and the non-Serb communities addressed in June an open letter to refugees: "We welcome your return to Kosovo. We do not 'invite' you to come back to your home because Kosovo is your home and you have the right to live here in peace. Kosovo is your home, just as it is our home; we want and work for you to come back and live in peace with us as neighbors in a spirit of mutual respect."
We are most grateful to the US government for allocating $14 million to support the return of refugees. This year, the Kosovo government, led by the Democratic Party of Kosovo, which I chair, has set aside €10 million from its budget to assist the returns, rebuild houses, and support community-based projects for the returnees. Other governments should follow this example. We can build a democratic future for our children only by making Kosovo a safe and prosperous home for all its inhabitants.
Hashim Thaci
Pristina, Kosovo
President, Democratic Party of Kosovo
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EUROPE: Nationalist does well as third Serbian poll fails
By ERIC JANSSON
Source: Financial Times
Date: November 17, 2003
Edition Name: London Ed2
Section: EUROPE
Page: Page 7
Serbia's political crisis mounted yesterday as the former Yugoslav republic faced its third failed elections inside 14 months.
The failure deprives Serbia of a new president days after parliament was dissolved. Voter turnout fell short of 40 per cent, unofficial results showed, meaning the elections will be ruled invalid under a law requiring 50 per cent turnout.
Compounding the embarrassment felt by pro-western reformers whose candidate fared poorly, Tomislav Nikolic, a radical nationalist candidate, won the most votes, with 46 per cent.
While Mr Nikolic fell short of winning Serbia's presidency, his strong showing provides a moral boost to the country's diehard nationalists. Equally, it unsettles reformist politicians and western diplomats in Belgrade.
"This is self destruction. 'No' to reform, 'no' to the west. This is something the international community really does not want to see," said Sonja Biserko, a human rights campaigner who runs the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia.
Serbia's struggle to choose a new president, with two previous failures in 2002, highlights the continuing challenges of establishing a stable democracy after the October 2000 putsch that toppled Slobodan Milosevic.
Yesterday's elections offered Serbs a chance to start stabilising their country at the end of a difficult year.
Dragoljub Micunovic, a moderate democrat seen as the frontrunner before yesterday's surprise result, campaigned as a politician above the fray, an antidote for instability.
However, his chances were dashed both by Mr Nikolic and by voter apathy.
Distributed by Financial Times

EU foreign ministers to discuss Serbian poll today | 11:02 | Beta
BRUSSELS -- Monday - The foreign ministers of European Union member countries will discuss Serbia's third consecutive failure to elect a president at a meeting today.

Also on the agenda is the relationship between reluctant federation partners Serbia and Montenegro.

The ministers are also expected to discuss Serbia-Montenegro's bid for EU membership and the continuing problems of Kosovo.

Negotiations on the province's final status are scheduled to begin in mid-2005. The Council of Ministers is expected to decide today on whether they should be brought forward if the standards set by the EU are reached before that date.

SERBIA-ELECTIONS-REACTIONS
Debate on elections - DOS defeated
15:27 BELGRADE , Nov 17 (Tanjug) - Participants in a Press Club debate entitled "The Day After" at the Media Center of Belgrade said on Monday the results of yesterday's Serbian presidential elections are a great defeat for the DOS and announced that the political stage of Serbia would be "cleansed" at the upcoming parliamentary elections and result in the forming of major blocs.
Belgrade University Faculty of Philosophy Professor Slobodan Antonic said the historical and political existence of the DOS ended yesterday. The main reason for the failure of the elections, the most fair so far, in his opinon, is the great disappointment of the citizens in the nature of the political system, he said. They consider the system just a facade of democracy, he elaborated.
(end)

BRUSSELS-SERBIA-ELECTIONS
Protest of voters, Cristina Gallach
13:50 BRUSSELS , Nov 17 (Tanjug) - After the initiai reticence following the unsuccessful presidential elections in Serbia last Sunday, the European Union nevertheless expressed concern over the outcome of the elections.
Spokesperson for the EU top foreign policy official Cristina Gallach said it was a clear protest of voters, apparently reflecting the positions of both the Union and Javier Solana.
(end)

Serbia-Montenegro donor meeting tomorrow | 11:10 | Beta
BELGRADE -- Monday - A donor meeting for Serbia-Montenegro will be held in Brussels tomorrow, but Serbian Foreign Economic Relations Minister Goran Pitic says he does not expect to assistance to be pledged.

"We're not going to Brussels for money, but to secure political support and understanding for what we want to do," he told media.

Pitic said that the donors would evaluate how their money had been spent so far. This would determine when Belgrade would be given a green light to use the remaining two billion dollars of the four million approved during the past three years.

He predicted that, from 2006, Serbia would have to rely on its own resources in carrying out reforms.

Pitic will give tomorrow's meeting a proposal for reducing poverty in Serbia by 2010, together with a package of reform projects.