31 January 2003 Afternoon Edition

· KFOR Chief says Kosovo leaders lack courage to break "barriers of tolerance" (FT)
· Kosovo health minister refuses to accept newly appointed permanent secretary (FT)
· Principle of organizing Serb national community in Kosovo wins support (Tanjug)
· Farewell Yugoslavia (FT)
· Serbian government backs principles of Serb community's organization in Kosovo (FT)
· Debate on Yugoslav constitution set for Tuesday (DPA)
· Eine neuer Staat mit Probezeit (TAZ)
· Jugaslawien ist nun endgültig von der landkarte verschwunden (TAZ)
· Citizens of 49 countries can enter Montenegro without visas (Tanjug)
· EU commissioner starts integration negotiations with Albania (AP)
· EU president Prodi to open association talks with Albania (AFP)
· A pledge of assistance for Bush from eight European Leaders (The New York Times)

KFOR chief says Kosovo leaders lack courage to break "barriers of tolerance"

Financial Times
Mitrovice [Kosovska Mitrovica], 28 January: The commander of Kfor [Kosovo Force], General Fabio Mini, criticized today the Kosova [Kosovo] leadership for negligence in breaking the barriers for tolerance building in Kosova.
"Unfortunately, up to now most of Kosova leaders, especially those representing the majority, have not shown courage and force to break the barriers of tolerance. The Kosova leaders, central and local ones, cannot be democratic leaders as long as they do not undertake steps to build tolerance," said general Mini.
Mini made this comment in Mitrovice during the handover ceremony of the Multinational Brigade [MNB] North command.
Mini said that Mitrovice is a difficult and special place, but Kfor soldiers have set up relations with local authorities in order to help people build tolerance and cooperation.
"Kfor and MNB North brigade are ready to help the authorities and local institutions to take the 'steering-wheel'. We will continue to help and advise them, whenever and wherever needed," said Mini.
The previous commander of the MNB North, Alain Bidard said that he was satisfied with the fact that since he has taken the command of the north MNB no interethnic incidents had occurred.
"The freedom of movement is not a dream, but a reality, and we can freely say that Mitrovice is the safest city in Kosova," he said...

Kosovo health minister refuses to accept newly appointed permanent secretary

Financial Times
Prishtina [Pristina], 28 January: Health Ministry officials said today that the procedures of the commission [which] was supposed to appoint a permanent secretary at the Health Ministry are invalid.
Muhamet Jusufi, a senior adviser to the health minister, said that Pleurat Sejdiu does not meet the criteria for this post because he is an active person in politics. [Sejdiu is a prominent member of the Democratic Party of Kosovo.]
The commission appointed Pleurat Sejdiu to the position several days ago. Minister [Numan] Balic was in disagreement with such a decision and walked out of the meeting. Sejdiu is expected to begin working in the Ministry on 1 February. Meantime, the ministry described the nomination invalid and demands the competition be repeated.
Jusufi said that the Health Ministry and Balic have a right to be the first to make proposals for any vacancy. "Minister Balic is not the only person who thinks that Sejdiu does not meet the conditions for the post, but this is the opinion of directors and chiefs of the health departments," he said.
According to Jusufi, they are not satisfied with the acting permanent secretary, Hannu Vuori, who left a bad impression last year so Minister Balic demanded his dismissal in order not to obstruct the work of the ministry.
Health Ministry spokesman Sabri Halili said that Minister Balic reacted by submitting notes to Chief Administrator Michael Steiner and to Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi.
"The voting has taken place without the presence of Minister Balic and it was in contradiction with Article 21.2 of Regulation 2001/36," he said.
Halili said that in response to the situation, Minister Balic has decided to set up a seven-member Anti-Fraud Committee.

KOSOVO-SERBIA-GOVERNMENT

Principle of organizing Serb national community in Kosovo wins support

18:23 BELGRADE , Jan 30 (Tanjug) - The Serbian government met in session on Thursday and gave its support to the principles of the organizing of the Serb national community in Kosovo and Metohija which are in keeping with United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 1244 and the local UN administration decree on the constitutional frameworks for interim administration in Kosovo and Metohija.
The realization of these principles will create conditions for "the constituting of a multi-ethnic, multi-confessional and multi-cultural society in Kosovo and Metohija," the republican government Press Service said.
(end)

LEADER: Farewell Yugoslavia

Financial Times
Unmoored and unloved, Yugoslavia is passing into history. The state founded in 1918 as the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes on the ruins of the Habsburg empire is this week finally being abolished. The parliamentary deputies of Serbia and Montenegro, its last two constituent republics, are establishing a modest new union called Serbia and Montenegro.
In place of Yugoslavia will be five countries - Serbia and Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia, and Macedonia. There could yet be more if divided Bosnia splits or the ethnic Albanians of UN-administered Kosovo win independence from Serbia.
As an attempt to impose order on warring nationalities, Yugoslavia has failed. It lasted as long as it did only through the late President Tito's unique combination of manipulation and brute force. It collapsed into war under Slobodan Milosevic, his Serbian nationalist successor. But even Solomon in his wisdom would have struggled to stop the inter-ethnic strife.
The post-Yugoslav states face difficult political issues, not least the final status of Kosovo. Even the future of Serbia and Montenegro is unclear, given the strength of pro-independence forces in Montenegro.
The best hope is that disputes can be settled without further violence and that, having established their independent identities, the new states learn to co-operate, especially in economic affairs. If they make progress, they have been promised eventual European Union membership. At that point, the borders over which so much blood has been spilt may finally cease to matter so much. Older people might then draw parallels with the peaceful heyday of Yugoslavia. But they would be wrong because the federation was not based on the consent of its people. The great hope of the Balkans is that the new EU-oriented order will be.

Serbian government backs principles of Serb community's organization in Kosovo

Financial Times
Belgrade, 30 January: The Serbian government met in session on Thursday [30 January] and gave its support to the principles of the organizing of the Serb national community in Kosovo and Metohija which are in keeping with United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 1244 and the local UN administration decree on the constitutional frameworks for interim administration in Kosovo and Metohija.
The realization of these principles will create conditions for "the constituting of a multi-ethnic, multi-confessional and multi-cultural society in Kosovo and Metohija", the republican government press service said.

Debate on Yugoslav constitution set for Tuesday

Belgrade (dpa) - Yugoslavia is to debate constitutional changes to reform the federation into a looser alliance of its two member states on Tuesday, it was announced Friday in Belgrade.
The adoption of the charter and accompanying laws by the parliament would mark the end of the name Yugoslavia and the birth of a new entity, Serbia and Montenegro.
Chairman of the federal parliament, Dragoljub Micunovic, said that the implementation would be considered at a joint session of both chambers of the legislature.
Serbia and Montenegro agreed the outline of the new states this month, after lengthy negotiations which had to be pushed along by the European Union.

Eine neuer Staat mit Probezeit

Die Tages Zeitung
Die "Gemeinschaft Serbiens und Montenegros" löst die Bundesrepublik Jugoslawien ab
BELGRAD taz Ein neuer Staat auf dem Balkan ist geboren. "Gemeinschaft Serbiens und Montenegros", statt Bundesrepublik Jugoslawien, heißt er. Das Staatsgebilde soll einen Sitz in der UNO, eine gemeinsame Verteidigungspolitik, einen Präsidenten und Ministerrat, fünf Ministerien und ein Bundesparlament haben.
Das wäre schon alles, was an einen Staat im herkömmlichen Sinne erinnert. Denn die Gründerrepubliken behalten verschiedene Währungen, ein getrenntes Bank- und Zollsystem sowie getrennte Justiz- und Schulwesen. Man weiß nicht einmal, wie die offizielle Sprache heißt, das Wappen aussieht oder wie sich ein Staatsbürger "Serbiens und Montenegros" bezeichnen soll. Ebenso wenig weiß man, wie die Eigentumsfragen geregelt werden sollen. Was man weiß, ist, dass der Staat eine dreijährige Probezeit hat. Danach, so steht es in der Verfassungsurkunde, dürften die Bürger über die gemeinsame Zukunft in einem Referendum entscheiden.
Sich aller Schwächen des Abkommens bewusst, stimmte eine Mehrheit der Abgeordneten in den Parlamenten Serbiens und Montengros für die Verfassungsurkunde, die als Grundstein des Staates dienen soll - der vierten Staatsgemeinschaft Serbiens und Montenegros in sechzig Jahren. Jetzt soll auch das jugoslawische Bundesparlament das Abkommen absegnen. "Die EU fordert das Fortbestehen des gemeinsamen Staates, es ist die Bedingung für die Wiederaufnahme in internationale Organisationen", brachten Serbiens und Montenegros Ministerpräsidenten, Zoran Djindjic und Milo Djukanovic, die Staatsgründung auf den Punkt. Die Alternative wäre für beide Teilrepubliken internationale Isolierung und Stopp der Finanzhilfen.
Die Verfassungsurkunde sei mehr eine "politische Deklaration" erklärte Slobodan Vucetic, Vorsitzender des serbischen Verfassungsgerichts. Dies sei eine noch nie dagewesene Gemeinschaft zweier fast unabhängiger Staaten, die sich gegen den eigenen Willen auf eine Staatengemeinschaft einlassen: Djukanovic würde sich nach wie vor für die Unabhängigkeit Montenegros, Djindjic für das Zusammenwachsen der Gründerrepubliken einsetzen. Eine Staatsform wie diese könne nicht erhalten bleiben. Kritiker meinen, dass die primäre Aufgabe der Bundesinstitutionen sein werde, sich so wenig wie möglich in die Angelegenheiten der Gründerrepubliken einzumischen.
Der Einzige, der von einem historischen Augenblick sprach, war der hohe Vertreter der EU für Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik, Xavier Solana. Er hatte das Abkommen vermittelt und entsprechenden Druck ausgeübt. Für die EU ist es wichtig, dass die Form erhalten bleibt und neue Grenzziehungen auf dem Balkan verhindert werden. Man befürchtet, dass der Zerfall Jugoslawiens zur Unabhängigkeit des Kosovo führen und einen sezessionistischen Dominoeffekt in Bosnien und Mazedonien auslösen könnte. "ANDREJ IVANJI
meinung und diskussion SEITE 12

JUGOSLAWIEN IST NUN ENDGÜLTIG VON DER LANDKARTE VERSCHWUNDEN

Die Tages Zeitung
EU drückt sich vor klarer Balkanpolitik
Mit der Entscheidung des Parlamentes Montenegros und Serbiens für die neue "Staatengemeinschaft Serbien und Montenegro" ist der Staat Jugoslawien endgültig von der Landkarte verschwunden. Man mag es bedauern oder nicht - fest steht, dass der Zerfall nicht mehr zu reparieren ist. Zerrüttete Ehen sollen geschieden werden. Man kann ja später wieder zu Partnern, vielleicht sogar zu Freunden werden. Umso mehr muss es verwundern, dass von der auf dem Balkan immer mehr als Schutzmacht auftretenden Europäischen Union großer Druck gemacht wurde, um das restliche Jugoslawien doch noch zu retten.
Doch die unter europäischen Diplomaten durchaus verbreitete Einsicht, dass die neu-alte "Staatengemeinschaft" kaum noch über Integrationskräfte verfügt, wird wegen einer anderen Problematik hintangestellt, und die heißt Kosovo. Die ehemalige serbische Provinz, die vornehmlich von Albanern bewohnt wird, ist seit der Resolution 1244 des Weltsicherheitsrates nämlich Teil Jugoslawiens und nicht Serbiens. Die völlige Auflösung Jugoslawiens hätte die Unabhängigkeit des seit 1999 von den UN verwalteten Kosovo zur Folge. Und die will die EU offenbar nicht zulassen.
An eine Reintegration des Kosovo in Serbien ist aber nicht mehr zu denken. Wer versucht, Albaner und Serben in einen gemeinsamen Staat zu pressen, würde gravierende Spannungen, vielleicht sogar einen neuen Krieg provozieren. Gleichzeitig muss der EU-Außenpolitiker Javier Solana gegen den Vorschlag der Belgrader Führung sein, die bereit ist, das Kosovo aufzugeben, wenn die serbische Republik in Bosnien mit Serbien vereinigt würde. Das bedeutete lediglich, die Spannungen nach Bosnien zu verlagern. Anstatt jedoch in Bezug auf das Kosovo und Bosnien einen Schlussstrich zu ziehen, laviert die EU. Mit der Staatengemeinschaft zwischen Serbien und Montenegro wird nur der unbefriedigende Status quo verlängert. Die EU hat zwar Zeit gewonnen, sich aber um eine klare Entscheidung gedrückt. Und das in einer Zeit, in der sie militärisch und politisch die Führungsrolle auf dem Balkan beansprucht. " ERICH RATHFELDER

MONTENEGRO-GOVERNMENT

Citizens of 49 countries can enter Montenegro without visas

18:40 PODGORICA , Jan 30 (Tanjug) - The Montenegrin government on Thursday decided that citizens of former Yugoslav republics can enter and reside in its territory for tourist purposes with a passport or ID card.
Citizens of 49 other countries can also enter Montenegro without visas, said a government statement released following a session today, but it did not name the countries.

EU commissioner starts integration negotiations with Albania

TIRANA, Albania (AP) _ European Commission President Romano Prodi told Albanian leaders Friday that their country could achieve integration into Europe if it does more to fight corruption and enact needed reforms.
Prodi arrived here Friday to formally launch negotiations with the former communist country on its efforts to further integrate into Europe and join the European Union. EU foreign ministers agreed in October to open talks with Tirana on a Stabilization and Association Agreement, a key first step on the road to membership in the trade bloc.
``Today we start the first official step to joint efforts to Europe,'' Prodi said.
``The EU doors are open,'' he said. ``They are open at a push of your reforms, and we will help you to get it.''
``But if you want to succeed, you need to assume your responsibility,'' Prodi added, noting that the government must wage an effective battle against corruption and organized crime.
He made his remarks at a ceremony in the capital, Tirana, at which he was made an honorary citizen of the southwestern port town of Vlore for helping Albania recover from a major crisis in 1997.
Prodi, who was prime minister of Italy at the time, sent Italian troops to the country to help restore law and order after the collapse of pyramid investment schemes touched off street protests, looting and the disintegration of public institutions.
After being welcomed by Prime Minister Fatos Nano at Mother Teresa international airport, Prodi met with President Alfred Moisiu. He was to meet again with Nano and other top officials, including Foreign Minister Ilir Meta, opposition Democratic Party leader Sali Berisha and Tirana Mayor Edi Rama.
Albania, still struggling to catch up economically since it emerged from years of communist isolation in 1990, was not among 10 Eastern European countries invited last year to join the EU. The country is among Europe's poorest and relies heavily on international financial assistance.
The European Commission, Albania's main donor, has pledged 181.4 million euros (US$195.7 million) in assistance through 2004.
The cash is being invested mostly to improve the judiciary, public administration and the establishment of law and order; toughen and broaden the fight against organized crime and corruption; and further the country's economic and social development

EU president Prodi to open association talks with Albania

TIRANA, Jan 31 (AFP) - European Commission President Romano Prodi arrived here Friday to start negotiations with Albanian officials on a stabilization and association agreement.
Government spokesman Aldrin Dalipi said Prodi would meet President Alfred Moisiu, Prime Minister Fatos Nano and opposition leader Sali Berisha.
European Union foreign ministers in October agreed to open negotiations with Albania on a stabilization agreement, which sets out benchmarks of reform on the path to eventual EU membership.

A Pledge of Assistance for Bush From 8 European Leaders

By ALAN COWELL
LONDON, Jan. 30 - Assuming a somewhat frayed mantle as global diplomat, Prime Minister Tony Blair set off for the United States tonight to meet with President Bush, bearing an unusual pledge of support on Iraq from eight European leaders but leaving behind a continent ever more divided over the need for war.
The eight European leaders - Prime Ministers Blair, José María Aznar of Spain, Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, Jose Durão Barroso of Portugal, Peter Medgyessy of Hungary, Leszek Miller of Poland, Anders Fogh Rasmussen of Denmark and President Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic - offered their backing in a letter published today in several newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal, that urged other Europeans to join in supporting President Bush against Iraq.
"The trans-Atlantic relationship must not become a casualty of the current Iraqi regime's persistent attempts to threaten world security," the letter said, adding to a sense of deepening crisis since the United Nation's chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix, cast doubt on Saddam Hussein's readiness to shed weapons of mass destruction.
"We must remain united in insisting that his regime de disarmed," the letter said in an apparent rebuke to President Jacques Chirac of France and Chancellor Gerhard Schröder of Germany, who have angered Washington by opposing American war plans and insisting that United Nations inspectors in Iraq be given much more time to search for weapons of mass destruction.
Britain said France and Germany had not been asked to sign the letter, while Greece, the current holder of the European Union's rotating presidency, had also been kept out of the loop. The Netherlands said it knew of the letter, but had refused to sign it.
Mr. Blair flew to Madrid to meet Mr. Aznar before heading on tonight to Washington, where Prime Minister Berlusconi of Italy met with President Bush today. The rush of visits to the White House prompted a European legislator, Elmar Brok of Germany's Christian Democrats, to remark, "The race of the vassals has begun."
The British leader undertook similar hectic diplomatic journeying after the Sept. 11 attacks to marshal support for the war in Afghanistan. At that time, Washington enjoyed far broader sympathy in Europe, and Mr. Blair faced far fewer challenges from his European partners as he projected himself as Europe's voice in the White House.
"In those circumstances, it was far easier for Blair to play that role," said Steven Everts, an expert in trans-Atlantic relations at the Center for European Reform, a private research institution. "There's nothing like the consensus that there was on Afghanistan and that makes Blair's position more shaky."
Several European governments and some high European officials said they had not been consulted about the letter. Significantly, though, the letter's expressions of ringing support for the United States fell short of explicit backing for Washington's threat of a go-it-alone war with what it has termed a "coalition of the willing" if other nations continue to oppose it.
Rather, the letter sought to urge the United Nations Security Council, on whose decisions France has a veto, not to balk at a military campaign if Iraq failed to comply with United Nations demands to disclose and destroy weapons of mass destruction.
"The Security Council must maintain its credibility by ensuring full compliance with its resolutions," the letter said. "We cannot allow a dictator to systematically violate those resolutions. If they are not complied with, the Security Council will lose its credibility and world peace will suffer as a result."
While the letter was couched in the terms of an appeal for unity, its publication also highlighted a new division in both the European Union and the NATO alliance cutting across both geographic and generational frontiers.
The signatories included both established European Union members like Britain, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Denmark as well as three countries set to join the union next year - Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland.

By another calculation, 10 of the 15 existing European Union members did not sign the letter, reflecting profound unease from the Aegean Sea to the Arctic Circle. Germany insisted today that it was not isolated in Europe and issued a counterappeal for unity along lines agreed on by foreign ministers only four days ago. "The strength of the union is in its common position," a government spokesman said.
The published letter, however, drew a distinction between governments prepared to risk domestic opposition by unreservedly supporting Washington and those like Germany reluctant to offend powerful pacifist lobbies or confront a deep resentment of America's global leadership. "Today more than ever the trans-Atlantic bond is a guarantee of our freedom," it said.
By arguing that "the Iraqi regime and its weapons of mass destruction represent a clear threat to world security," the letter also distanced its signatories from governments in France, Germany, Russia and China, which maintain that the case for war is unproven.the United States not to take unilateral military action against Iraq, because Baghdad's dealings with the weapons inspectors did not "justify military action."
"A pre-emptive strike would not be in accordance with international law and the U.N. charter and would lead to a deeper crisis involving other countries in the region," the resolution said.
Even as the European legislators made their pronouncement, Britain - the Bush administration's most committed ally - said it was calling up 6,000 reservists following its decision to provide 26,000 troops and a naval task force in support of American forces pouring into the Persian Gulf region. The British deployment represents about one-fourth of its army, according to Phillip Mitchell, an expert on ground forces at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.
Mr. Mitchell said Britain's total contribution of ground, air and naval forces was close to the 40,000-plus it provided in the 1990-91 gulf War. British forces are also deployed in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Kosovo and a variety of small garrisons, along with what has become the routine task of standing in for striking firefighters at home. "Overstretch is going to be a real problem," Mr. Mitchell said.
The antiwar lobby found fresh support today from Mohamed ElBaradei, who heads of the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency and is leading the organization's hunt for nuclear weapons in Iraq.
"I still hope war is not inevitable," he said in a radio interview here. "I will do my damned best to ensure that war is not inevitable, and I will try every possible way to try to see whether we can resolve that issue through peaceful means. Even if it takes a few more months, this is an investment in peace."
By contrast, Britain and the United States have both recently insisted that time is running out.