CONTENTS

PADDY ASHDOWN REFUSES TO REPLACE KOUCHNER IN KOSOVO
BARDHI: WHY IS KOUCHNER LEAVING?
WILL PRISHTINA HAVE AN APPOINTED SERB VICE-PRESIDENT
KOSOVO PASSPORTS NOWHERE TO BE SEEN
MALIQI: AN OFFER FOR DIALOGUE

PADDY ASHDOWN REFUSES TO REPLACE KOUCHNER

Paddy Ashdown has told the United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, that he is no longer available to take over Kouchner's post as chief of the United Nations mission in Kosovo, since he cannot leave Westminster just before the elections, reported Zëri on page three.

According to Ashdown, he cannot accept the post because the offer has been made at a wrong time. "I would have accepted it without any problem if the post was offered to me a year ago… There are some moments in politics when time works in your favor and there are times when it does not".

WHY IS KOUCHNER LEAVING?

Zëri on page three carried a commentary by Adrian Bardhi (a pseudonym, our remark). Bardhi wrote:

"Bernard Kouchner is preparing to leave from Kosovo. During his 18 month stay in Prishtina, in the post of chief of the International Civil Administration (UNMIK), this sentence could be seen almost a dozen times in both western and Kosovar press, always accompanied with the list of eventual successor's to Kouchner's post.

The conclusions of 28 October

This pre-announcement especially followed the period when it was evident that a lot was being delayed in Kosovo, or when the limitations of UNMIK and KFOR, the civil and military duo in charge of the international protectorate in Kosovo, rose to the surface. General Klaus Reinhardt, the second commander of KFOR, after his mandate expired left a shocking message saying that there is no one left in Kosovo for him to command. Kouchner did not make public his frustrations and dissatisfaction with his position and a not-so-clear mandate, as well with the obligations and responsibilities expected of him by both Kosovars, UN, the Security Council, the Contact Group and certain western governments, especially the French government.

Always committed to efforts for improving the situation in Kosovo, often misunderstood in Kosovo and the west, Kouchner, most probably on the eve of 28 October thought it was worth being the number one politician in Kosovo. The excellent local elections held that day seemed a reward for his personal and political investment in Kosovo.

The events in the following 10 to 15 days of elections continued to support Kouchner's conclusions that this was the moment of truth for the Kosovars and that the dynamics of elections would send Kosovo faster towards a legal framework and overall elections, thus realizing the first goal of the UN Security Council Resolution 1244, creation of Kosovar self-governance or the installation of Kosovar democratic authority at all levels. But very soon it became clear that these conclusions were premature. First of all, Kouchner's expectations regarding the meetings in New York, Zagreb and Vienna were not fulfilled. Kouchner's opinion that the Kosovar issue must be treated separately and that it could not be solved immediately with the changes in Belgrade as well as the insistence that the Kosovars want independence regardless of events in Belgrade, was obviously not accepted by most western diplomats. "The rules of the game are changing and it will be difficult for Kouchner to adapt to these new rules," a close associate of Kouchner told the paper.

Furthermore, Kouchner's perfectly accurate assessment that the Serb parliamentary elections must not be allowed in Kosovo and that overall elections for Kosovo should be held as soon as possible, created misunderstanding and serious resistance in relevant international circles. Nevertheless, we do not think that this was the key moment that forced Kouchner into packing.

The return of "dark days"

In the last 10-15 days in Kosovo, we witnessed another set of tragic events, including the murder of Xhemajl Mustafa, information advisor to Dr. Ibrahim Rugova. "Dark days have returned to Kosovo," said Kouchner rightfully. Now he, most probably, could no longer imagine his existence here given such "days". Frustrated and tired, he decided to leave from Kosovo and sent this message to Secretary General Kofi Annan, who has to find a replacement for Kouchner.

I guess it is still too early to make a final assessment on Kouchner's stay in Kosovo. There were times when Kouchner and Kosovo shared the mutual feeling of being fed up with each other.

Also, not only once, here and in the west Kouchner was considered the scapegoat for the failure of UNMIK and the international administration. But there is hardly a politician in the world that knows Kosovo better than he does. It is also almost impossible to find an international politician who knows Kosovo's problems better than Kouchner and who understands the necessity of holding overall elections as soon as possible.

Therefore, it seems that one thing is unquestionable: "Kouchner is leaving from Kosovo at a time when he is most needed".

WILL PRISHTINA HAVE AN APPOINTED SERB VICE-PRESIDENT
 
Koha Ditore carried on page three a report on a regulation that foresees the possibility for appointing an extra vice-president for Prishtina municipal assembly.
 
Prishtina's municipal assembly has nominated Salih Gashi for president and Nebih Zariqi for vice-president. However, the procedure of nominating political heads of Prishtina's municipality has not ended. The regulation for local government in Kosovo foresees that the vice-president who wins could have an appointed vice-president from members of the "community" that are not in majority in the municipality in question.

"In municipalities where more than one community lives which is not a majority an extra vice-president will be appointed in municipal assemblies from the communities in question," says regulation 2000/45 article 25 of the local Kosovo government. An extra vice-president will not be appointed in all municipalities but only those that have "communities which are not a majority" and have a certain percentage of the population in the municipality.

Our UNMIK source unofficially informed us that this percentage should be 5 to 10 percent of the population of the municipality.  In Prishtina, the community, which "is not a majority", are the Serbs. Does the percentage of the Serb population in Prishtina include those who live in the villages of Gracanica and Caglavica?

The UN Administrator for Prishtina Ziegfried Brenke's spokesperson Fabio Graziosi said that for this procedure to start we need to have all the members of the municipal assembly in Prishtina. However, the UN administrator has decided to have "an extra vice-president" in Prishtina, added Graziosi.

It is the municipal assembly that votes and appoints the extra vice-president, which has to be one of the assembly members. In Prishtina's case, "the extra vice-president" does not have the same competencies as the "regular vice-president". When the president is absent, vice-president of the municipal assembly takes all responsibilities of the president, states the regulation for Kosovo's local government. 

For "the extra vice-president" there are no specific responsibilities. It is considered that he will be in charge of the rights of the "communities" in the municipal assembly. The next municipal assembly will meet on 11 December.

The Prishtina Municipal Assembly will initiate the procedure for endorsement of the statute. Without endorsing of the statute, the assembly cannot take over its competencies.

KOSOVO PASSPORTS NOWHERE TO BE SEEN

Kosovar Albanians that do not have travel documents are still without them. At UNMIK Headquarters there is no fixed date when citizens will be issued travel documents, it was only said that would be very soon, reported Bota Sot on page six.

Since June when UNMIK officials said that travel documents would be issued Kosovars have been hoping that travel documents would be issued so they could travel abroad. Five months have passed and citizens still cannot have their travel documents. UNMIK representatives explained this issue by saying that the travel document has been accepted only by 15 out of 51 states so far.

The acceptance of these documents has been dragged until god knows when, on the other hand citizens are going to continue to face this problem. UNMIK information officer Sunil Narula said that there is nothing new concerning this issue. UNMIK officials have pre-announced that they will accept requests for travel documents, justifying that they are ready to issue them, however their acceptance is awaited. UNMIK has prepared five offices that would start issuing travel documents. UNMIK has prepared the travel document, it can be printed very quickly and they are of high quality.

Until the travel document is accepted, citizens will have to wait until UNMIK decides to solve one of the problems that Kosovars are facing. However, this is not the only problem for issuing identity cards, which we were told by UNMIK would be issued before the elections. While the problem of the travel document is tied to the acceptance by other states, the issue of ID cards has nothing to do with it.

UNMIK had declared that ID cards were ready to be issued, 200,000 were ready and waiting to be filled and issued to citizens. For travel documents and ID cards Kosovars have to wait. There is very little chance that they will be issued this year.

MALIQI: AN OFFER FOR DIALOGUE

Koha Ditore on page ten carried a commentary by Shkelzen Maliqi, a renowned Kosovar Albanian political analyst in which he wrote:

"In the last few days I have had many phone calls from different parts of the world (especially north of Prokuplje) from journalists and analysts who are interested in a dialogue beginning between Belgrade and Prishtina. "How do you evaluate Kostunica's offer for dialogue?" "Why is there still no answer from Rugova?" "Can you recommend someone who is ready to discuss this issue?" "Why didn't the LDK admit that it received an offer for dialogue?" "What is wrong with the LDK that it is refusing to contact us when they find out what we want to discuss?" "Why are other Kosovar political figures do not want to say anything about Kostunica's initiative?" "How do you explain Rugova's and others' silence?" "Is it out of fear?" "Are you reserved because you are frightened of a potential threat to your life from the KLA?" The questions would never end until, of course, I lost my manners.  
 
Well there are among journalist colleagues and analysts who are not informed or are naïve, even though they say different things trying to get something by provocative questions.

One of them said, "I remember Mr. Maliqi you have always been for a dialogue. What has happened that you have changed your mind?" 

Of all the interlocutors, this one was much more insisting and I had more patience with and gave him the necessary explanations. I told him that I recognized a dialogue that was intended to find a solution to the problems, for official negotiations, which should be held according to pre-arranged terms and conditions. It is true that before the war I participated or initiated different forms of dialogue through international mediation where Vesna Pesic, Zoran Djindjic, Goran Svilanovic and other Serb opposition members and those from Kosovo were present, including Fehmi Agani, Mahmut Bakalli and other known personalities. However, these were not negotiations, which later took place under Ambassador Christopher Hill's mediation and then in Rambouillet.

Now, when the former opposition has taken power or is sharing it with the remnants of the former regime, we cannot expect an offer for non-obligatory dialogue from Kostunica because conditions for an equal representation have not been set yet. In this case, I do not consider Kostunica's offer for dialogue as serious.

This offer has come at the wrong time and to the wrong address. It is more a propaganda gesture than an action deserving a positive answer. Kostunica's letter sent to Dr. Ibrahim Rugova is a cunning message. It is sent for the world opinion not really to the addressee. He used a very tragic moment, a miserable killing of one of Dr. Ibrahim Rugova's closest associates to express "his sincere condolences" which could be considered a novelty from a president who is trying to show that he has a democratic soul. However, what follows after the condolences is not at all sincere and hardly democratic. It shows the same kind of thinking on the Kosovo problem as Milosevic, offering a superficial dialogue with Kosovars with conditions unacceptable to them. 

"I do not have the impression that Kostunica's offer is conditioned and insincere and can be compared to Milosevic's offers," said my interlocutor.

However, Kosovars cannot be tricked by Kostunica's rhetoric. Two elements make Kostunica's offer insincere and unacceptable. First, Kostunica is asking the Albanians to start direct talks without mediation by the international community. Milosevic insisted on this too. The latter was looking for a formula to avoid internationalizing the Kosovo issue by putting the problem as an internal Serb problem. Kostunica on the other hand wants that the reality of Kosovo being controlled by the international community be ignored. His message is "we can solve our problems without the foreigners". This framework implies that he as president would hold talks with the citizens, which is the Albanian community in Kosovo.

This is where I see the second big problem of the offer.

Kostunica by calling Rugova an "Albanian leader" acknowledges him as a representative of the Kosovars Albaniana, the same as Milosevic who met with Rugova with and without mediators especially during the war when Rugova was more a hostage than a free man. Kostunica's aim is that things should go back to a pre-Rambouillet period, before the NATO intervention, thus annulling the UN Security Council Resolution 1244 which foresees the formation of Kosovo's government as a condition for continuing negotiations for determining Kosovo's final status. Without forming a full Kosovar administration, which implies formation of Kosovo's parliament, government and other institutions, Rugova will remain only one of the Albanian leaders. However he cannot be a representative with a full mandate for holding talks even though LDK won the majority in the local elections.

Rugova has one more obstacle to overcome---on how to initiate negotiations before the parliamentary elections. However, we cannot exclude the possibility of Rugova not winning a majority in those elections. The consequences of a premature dialogue with Belgrade could impact on the results of those elections. 
 
I would say that Kostunica has more pressing things to do than have a dialogue with Rugova".