CONTENTS
RISING CONCERN OVER FATE OF ALBANIANS IN SERBIAN PRISONS
WHY
IS NOT SOLANA COMING TO KOSOVO
DAYTON, ZAGREB AND ATHENS - IMPORTANT
MEETINGS FOR KOSOVO
KOSOVO SERBS DEMAND LOCAL ELECTIONS 2001
CUFAJ:
HYSTERIA
RISING CONCERN OVER FATE OF ALBANIANS IN SERBIAN PRISONS
The protest of Serb prisoners demanding better conditions in three Serbian prisons in Nis, Pozarevac, and Sremska Mitrovica continued on Tuesday. According to information broadcast by the Belgrade-based Beta news agency, Albanian prisoners have not joined the protests and were evacuated from Pozarevac and Sremska Mitrovica, while those in Nis Prison have been sent to a separate cellblock, reported Koha Ditore on page one.
The protests, which started in Sremska Mitrovica and spread later to the two other Serbian prisons, have already resulted with several wounded and there are also reports of the first death, a victim who reportedly fell 20m from a roof and died from head injuries.
In an article titled "Will Albanian prisoners survive?" Zëri on page one reported that the ever-increasing turmoil in Serbian prisons has caused concern among the families of Albanians detainees held in Serbia.
The concerns were noticeably increased after information that the Albanian prisoners could be in danger from the armed Serb criminals. Referring to information from ICRC, the office's spokeswoman in Pristina, Vjosa Osmani told the paper that the ICRC office in Belgrade assured her that the turmoil in the prisons had no elements of ethnic character.
Osmani also said that the Serb authorities promised her that once the situation is calmed down, the Red Cross Committee would be allowed to visit the Albanian prisoners.
The paper on the front page also carried a report on a protest held late last night in Pristina following information on increased turmoil in Serbian prisons. The protesters gathered in front of UNMIK’s Government Building expressing outrage towards administrator Kouchner and the international factor for not being engaged on their release, and also against Serb authorities for unjustly keeping Albanians in prison.
WHY SOLANA IS NOT COMING TO KOSOVO
Koha Ditore carried on page three a report on the visit to the Balkans by EU High Official Javier Solana and his omission of Kosovo on this tour.
Solana's agenda includeed a visit to Pristina on 10 November but it was canceled. The reason for the cancellation was that "Rugova does not have time to meet with Solana because he is busy". From Dr. Ibrahim Rugova's cabinet we were told, "Dr. Rugova planned earlier a visit abroad that coincided with Solana's visit to Pristina".
"For this reason the visit was annulled however Solana will visit Kosovo at a later date". This would have to be after the summit in Zagreb. Solana started a tour of the Balkans, first he will visit Lubljana, then Zagreb, Sarajevo, Tirana and Skopje. The aim of this visit is to finalize preparations for the summit in Zagreb where heads of Balkans and EU states will meet. It has been learned from EU sources that Kosovo will not participate at the Zagreb Summit. UN Chief Administrator Bernard Kouchner will participate as a member of the EU delegation. Kouchner's statement that he will try to mediate with the French president to ensure the invitation of one Kosovar representative has come to no results.
For the French president it is more important to confirm FRY's "territorial integrity", part of which Kosovo is considered. For that reason Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic will participate at the Zagreb Summit as a member of the FRY delegation, which will be headed by President Vojislav Kostunica.
EU officials are very pleased with the rapid democratization of Yugoslavia and they will discourage Montenegro's inspirations for independence.
DAYTON, ZAGREB AND ATHENS - IMPORTANT MEETINGS FOR KOSOVO
Koha Ditore carried on page two a report on three very high level meetings regarding Kosovo's future.
According to EU diplomatic sources, Kosovo's status will not be officially discussed at the Zagreb Summit - one of the three high level meetings where the hot issue of Kosovo's undefined status will be one of the main topics of discussion.
Two other meetings of great importance for developments in the Balkans are the observance of the fifth anniversary of the Dayton Peace Accord in which Dr. Ibrahim Rugova, Hashim Thaçi, Veton Surroi, and Blerim Shala will participate, and the meeting in Athens meant to be a succession of the Budapest summit where Kosovar leaders will participate in negotiations with Balkan leaders.
Kosovar representatives participating in these two meetings are expected to engage themselves in finding a final status for Kosovo, persisting on independence.
Koha Ditore's sources confirm that newly elected Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica will not participate at the "Dayton commemoration" proves that he disagrees with the conference that took five years ago and ended the Bosnia war and recognized the new states derived from former Yugoslavia.
Western analysts predict that at the Zagreb Summit the US and Russia will have to discuss a "crucial issue," will Kosovo become independent or will it have to remain, even against the people's will, under Yugoslavia. This summit will mark the most important meeting since the changes in Belgrade and the fact that Slobodan Milosevic, accused for war crimes, lost and the importance of new processes in the region. Several western analysts call the Zagreb Summit a "masterpiece" of the current politics.
UN Civil Administrator for Kosovo Bernard Kouchner will supposedly attend the summit as member of the EU delegation. EU sources said that a priority of this summit would be the problems of the new government in Serbia. "Priority will be the aid to Kostunica in stabilizing his government," said an EU diplomat to Reuters.
Kosovar political figures look to the Zagreb Summit with reserve, where Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica will participate. Kosovar politicians reacted negatively on FRY admittance to the UN without conditioning it to certain constructive steps of the new Belgrade regime that will show that it is going towards democratization.
KOSOVO SERBS DEMAND LOCAL ELECTIONS 2001
Bishop Artemije, chairman of the Serb National Council for Kosovo (SNV), demanded Tuesday that OSCE register all Kosovo Serbs, including around 200,000 expelled Serbs, in order to elect Serb representatives through local elections which would be held by the beginning of next year, reported Koha Ditore on page four.
Artemije met in Gracanica with Daan Everts, head of the OSCE mission in Kosovo, and discussed registration, return of refugees, cooperation with FRY state bodies and security matters.
According to the report, Ambassador Everts expressed the willingness of OSCE to organize additional elections in areas inhabited by Serbs, in order to elect Serb representatives to local authorities.
In a press release issued by the Serb National Council after the meeting, it was noted that without the return of refugees, the participation of Serbs in the political life of Kosovo is impossible. "The Serb National Council of Kosovo has already initiated the issue with Yugoslav president Kostunica, so that FRY state bodies participate in the registration of Serb refugees given the fact that the previous regime did not allow that, a fact which technically impeded participation in elections," concluded the press release.
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Annex: Transcript of a commentary by Beqë Cufaj, Koha Ditore,
p.10
HYSTERIA
The Kosovar political and publishing elite could not and cannot have a calm sleep ever since the moment Yugoslavia was re-admitted in the United Nations last week in New York. Analysts and commentators, spokespersons of political parties and their bosses, for days are trying to look through all aspects of the slap which according to them, Holbrooke and Washington D.C. gave to Kosovars and Belgrade's neighboring countries. Precisely to the same Belgrade, which before 8 October was against the entire world, and which after the revolution all of a sudden started hugging the entire world. They in fact, even hugged with the leaders which they had sentenced to twelve years in prison - excluding Italians and Russians.
Of course, Yugoslavia's admittance in the United Nations had no realistic basis, be it in the aspect of international right or moreover in the moral right. However, politics is a compromise and in the concrete case the west made a compromise to clear its conscience from the bombs thrown at Serbs. To put it more simply, we can even write books and sing songs that a (monster) state was admitted in the United Nations, a state which carried out and exerted terror and genocide against its neighbors for ten years in a row. However, this doesn’t mean that Yugoslavia is a dead state. On the contrary, Yugoslavia is a living state, which is doing all in its power to return to international bodies. If we say the opposite, then we either deny accepting realistic facts, or we want to please ourselves.
And to be more realistic, this entire (Kosovar) debate concerning Belgrade's return to the international scene, this hysteria characterized by nervousness and the call to respect international right, then mathematical calculations that who will hold whose side when it comes to deciding on Kosovo's final status, lead to a one-way road. They lead to a road in which, in case we forgot, precisely the LDK and QIK tortured us for ten years in a row. The current situation of angry reactions by the Kosovars, which a lot alike the walk of the amuck, will not take us far due to a simple reason: Kosovo is too small to do big politics. Or put it differently, the small Kosovo doesn’t stand a chance to show the world (especially the super powers) how big politics is carried out. We might have had the chance to do this in regard to our tragedy, but today, and in a completely different situation, when we can decide on our fate, we don’t that have much chance of preaching on moral or international right.
Since it is not crying time, then things should be looked at realistically. Therefore, Yugoslavia is an internationally-recognized state. And we must give an end to the amuck pace, or else we will pay a big price, rather than deal with Belgrade.
The first thing Kosovars should do, instead of replying with letters, articles and protests, is ask from UN representative Bernard Kouchner for Kosovo to have its representative in the UN HQ in New York, which is not a mad idea but a necessary realistic demand. From the point of view of the moral and international right, it is a legitimate request. It is an international request, because even Montenegro (also an unrecognized state) has its representative at the UN. And moreover a moral request, because if Kosovars are offering hospitality to thousand internationals staff members of the UN, then logic and the right of compromise should look for the principle of reciprocity. If Kosovars, according to OSCE head of mission Everts, passed the first test then why shouldn’t they have their own representative at the OSCE?
Why shouldn’t there be Kosovar observers in neighboring countries during elections there?
If Rugova, Thaçi and Ramush Haradinaj (members of Kouchner's Council) run late with their official requests - in the behalf of the Kosovar people, as legitimate representatives - for opening Kosovo's offices in New York (UN) and in Vienna (OSCE), Kosovo's future is not bright. If Kouchner and Everts will not meet this with understanding, and then by decision-making centers, I think that all three abovementioned leaders should immediately interrupt cooperation with the UN and OSCE missions. Until a solution is found to the issue, and a solution will surely be found. This step, the first concrete step of responding to Yugoslavia's admittance in the UN, would remove us from unnecessary hysteria.
We must be sure on one thing, if Rugova, Thaçi and Haradinaj don’t fight for opening Kosovo's offices at the UN and OSCE, and if they don’t automatically condition cooperation with these two missions until a solution is found for this issue, Kosovo's future is not bright.