CONTENTS

BELGRADE TO BE INCLUDED IN COMPILING OF KOSOVO CONSTITUTION
KUSOVAC: WHAT IS HAPPENING IN SERBIA IS NOT DEMOCRACY
UNMIK STAFF MEMBER ARRESTED UNDER SUSPICIONS OF FRAUD
SHALA: THE GAME WITH ALBANIANS PRISONERS
DOLE: BEWARE YUGO-PHORIA

BELGRADE TO BE INCLUDED IN COMPILING OF KOSOVO CONSTITUTION

Daan Everts, the head of OSCE mission in Kosovo assessed Thursday that the problem of Kosovo's future status cannot be solved within Serbia, but that a solution must be sought within the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, reported Koha Ditore on page three citing a report of Belgrade-based Beta news agency.

During a press briefing held in Vienna, Everts qualified as unrealistic the recent statement of the Yugoslav president Vojislav Kostunica that Kosovo should remain a part of Serbia. "The option of Kosovo remaining a part of Serbia is unrealistic," said Everts adding that a solution for the final status of Kosovo should be sought within the federal state.

After noting that Albanians would never accept return to Serbia, Everts said that changes in Belgrade caused a headache to the OSCE mission in Kosovo, because they created a completely different situation on the field. "Albanians are now afraid they will lose the sympathy of the west and that the new authorities in Belgrade could impede their aspiration for independence," he said.

Everts noted that as a sign of good will for solving the Kosovo problem, the government in Belgrade should release around 1,000 Albanians who are being kept in Serbian prisons. In the meantime, he refuted allegations on the existence in Kosovo of illegal prisons and camps with missing persons, and expressed fear that the missing might be already dead.

Commenting on the parliamentary elections of 17 December, Everts was quoted as saying, "if the people of Kosovo participate in elections this would prejudice that the province is a part of Serbia, which is not mentioned in UN Security Council Resolution 1244".

According to Everts, Belgrade is going to be included in compiling the interim constitution of Kosovo, after local elections that will be held on 28 October in Kosovo.

Everts denied that there were problems during the process of voters' registration and added that the process was completed successfully. Adding to the issue, he said that 97 percent of Kosovo Serbs have refused to register and that they regret their decision and that they will also respect the election results.

KUSOVAC: WHAT IS HAPPENING IN SERBIA IS NOT DEMOCRACY

Koha Ditore on page one carried an interview with Zoran Kusovac, a renown Balkans analyst, during which he commented on the developments in Belgrade following the downfall of Slobodan Milosevic and the victory of the democratic opposition.

"The opposition still has not managed to take over the power in Serbia. Fractions have started being created within it, and there is a lot until the endgame," said Kusovac in the beginning of the interview.

According to Kusovac, the members of the joint opposition did not have a plan for taking over power, but only a plan to oust Milosevic - one which was realized through the agreement with elements of the former government that decided to change sides for various reasons.

Predicting that within 15 days a new crisis will take place in Serbia, Kusovac said that the country is currently in an uncontrolled chaos that can result with unpredictable epilogues. "On one hand, we have the opposition and the president of what is called Yugoslavia, on the other hand we have Serbia with the old government, and then the army that is waiting to see who wins the fight for power and takes supreme command over it, and finally the police which is not controlled by anyone," said Kusovac.

Even though the ousting of Milosevic and the victory of Vojislav Kostunica caused loud reactions in western media, people who were close to the recent events in Serbia claim that there are very few positive changes and that a real revolution can hardly be talked about. Elaborating on the issue, Kusovac pointed that what is happening in Serbia is neither freedom nor democracy and that the end is not near. "While the people that with Milosevic's downfall every single problem of Serbia has been solved, the "democrats" of the new government have already started grabbing on what they can," said Kusovac adding that it is all about former opposition leaders such as Zoran Djindjic who left the spotlight to Kostunica to talk with the internationals, while they try to benefit for themselves by taking control over customs and the country's reserves.

On the other hand, police and army have been left out of the control of the opposition. "The police are no one's. It does not even have a complete structure, whereas Milosevic himself is still in Belgrade protected by his previous guard. Slobo (referring to Slobodan Milosevic, our remark) has not run away, he only stepped asides a little to take a leak. I think that his return is not realistic, but for the time being he remains a political factor," said the analyst.

Commenting on the media, Kusovac said that they now all support Kostunica, and want to blame Milosevic for everything that happened. He was reportedly not very optimistic regarding the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), a coalition of 18 political parties, the majority of which according to him are not important. "DOS will explode, it is only a matter of time," said Kusovac concluding that the flow of events in Serbia would not have a great impact in Kosovo.

UNMIK STAFF MEMBER ARRESTED IN SUSPICIONS OF FRAUD

A United Nations office, seated in New York, which deals with investigations on misuses in missions of the organization in the world, is carrying out investigations in Kosovo as from August, reported Zëri on page two.

The paper added that the group sent by the abovementioned office from New York already discovered a case related to contracts in Prishtina municipality. The person suspicious of the fraud is an international staff member of UNMIK and was arrested a couple weeks ago by international police.

Susan Manuel, spokeswoman for UNMIK, told the paper on Thursday that there are yet no accusations nor punishments and that the international prosecutor is dealing with the case.

Referring to sources within UNMIK, the paper said that the investigations include the entire international mission and that no one is being excluded. The investigations are reportedly focused on frauds, mismanagements, and loss of incomes and misuse of authority.

Asked on the issue, an international official was quoted as saying, "we asked them to come here because this is a complex mission and in an area where corruption and fraud could very easily take place. There are a lot of staff members that work only for three-four months, which are not experienced UN staff".

SHALA: THE GAME WITH ALBANIANS PRISONERS

Zëri on page one carried a column by Blerim Shala in which he noted:

"While Kosovars are rightfully waiting for new Serb politicians, members of the United Democratic Opposition, to return to Kosovo 900 political prisoners, to send to Hague Milosevic and his associates responsible of committing crimes in Kosovo, the Serb leaders are hurrying to send to Kosovo 1,200 police officers and soldiers. Until now, the leaders of the former Serb opposition have not done a single democratic gesture towards Kosovo. Today it was expected that Flora Brovina to be released from prison, but this did not happen.

Justifications saying that the decision for Flora Brovina's release lies upon people of the government in Belgrade do not work this in case. A British, a Dutch, and a Serb journalist were recently released, whereas Flora Brovina and hundreds of other Albanians cannot be released!

Truly, from Prishtina's point of view the difference cannot be told between former Serb government officials and the new ones, which are now being presented as future partners of the west for calming the situation in the Balkans. The deployment of 1,200 policemen and soldiers in Kosovo now, would not be understood in a different from Albanians than a declaration of war by Belgrade.

The interest of the west to calm the Balkans and partnership with new Serb government officials to reach this goal is understood here in Prishtina. However, the game with Albanian political prisoners cannot end with them being returned to Kosovo without the intervention of major western governments.

*****

Annex: Transcript of an editorial by Bob Dole, former republican candidate in 1996 presidential elections in the U.S. (both Koha Ditore and Zëri carried Dole's editorial)

BEWARE YUGO-PHORIA

The civilized world has waited over a decade for the defeat of Slobodan Milosevic and his bloodstained regime. Unfortunately, the euphoria over Vojislav Kostunica's accession to the presidency of the rump Yugoslavia has seriously clouded the judgment of a number of American and European policy makers.

Kostunica's election was a democratic triumph for the Serbian people. But it does not mean that Kostunica is a democrat or Serbia a democracy. This obvious point merits repeating as Western policy makers rush to embrace Kostunica. He is an unknown quantity, his brief biographical sketch revealing only a deep - and apparently contradictory - faith in constitutional law and Serbian nationalism.

To bring these things into perspective, we need to remember that Croatia's late president, Franjo Tudjman, was also democratically elected - and more than once. His tenure marked by cronyism, discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities, repression of electronic media, and irregularities in the judicial system. The new government of Croatia has been working for nearly a year to dismantle Tudjman's cronyism and establish the rule of law. It has also cooperated with the Hague tribunal and tuned over indicted war criminals. But Croatia has yet to be admitted to the European Union.

Nevertheless, some Western political leaders are advocating that in addition to immediately being relieved of all sanctions, the rump Yugoslavia should be brought rapidly into the European Union, the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and international financial institutions. This view ignores the reality that building a genuine democracy in Serbia will be extremely difficult and time-consuming given its recent history of violence, institutionalized corruption and cronyism. The possibility that Slobodan Milosevic will remain politically active will make the task even more daunting, if not impossible.

What is needed in Serbia is radical reform to establish the basics of democracy: equal rights for all citizens, irrespective of ethnic background; freedom of the press; rule of law; and an economy devoid of corruption and cronyism. Also essential is a campaign to tell the citizens of Serbia the truth about the crimes perpetrated by Milosevic in Kosovo, Bosnia and Croatia.

At the same time, Kostunica must establish a cooperative relationship with the democratically elected leadership in Montenegro and Kosovo. As urgent as internal reforms is the need for a fundamental change in Serbia's external relations with its neighbors Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia - which have been victimized by its brutal aggression and territorial aspirations. Greater Serbia must die with the Milosevic regime.

To help achieve such sweeping change, the United States and its allies will need to build a system of incentives that rewards democratic progress and withholds the inclusion of Serbia in various international institutions and forums until critical measures are taken. Specifically, the West must make clear that for Kostunica and his regime to embraced as a democracy and allowed to participate fully in international organizations, he must:

- Reject any role of Milosevic in Serbia's political life.
- Ensure that all ethnic minorities in Yugoslavia are treated as equal citizens with the same rights as ethnic Serbs.
- Treat Montenegro as Serbia's equal and work with the democratically elected government of Montenegro to establish new terms for the relationship between the two republics.
- Withdraw support from extremist Serbs in Kosovo who are inciting violence in areas such as Mitrovica and pledge to work with NATO in Kosovo.
- Publicly renounce the idea of a "Greater Serbia" and all territorial claims beyond the borders of Yugoslavia, in particular Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia.
- Firmly commit to cooperation with the International Crime Tribunal in the Hague and agree to hand over all indicted war criminals in the territory of the rump Yugoslavia, including Milosevic and Ratko Mladic.
- Like Slovenia and other states, reapply for UN membership, rather then restating Milosevic's assertion that the rump Yugoslavia is the sole and legitimate successor to the former Yugoslavia.

Kostunica may not be able to take all of these actions at once. Nevertheless, until they are taken, Serbia will neither be on the road to democracy, nor ready to join Western democratic institutions.

Only by setting the same high standards for Serbia that have been set for all other post-communist states in Central and Eastern Europe can we ensure that true democracy will take hold. And only by building genuine democracies in the territory of the former Yugoslavia can we guarantee regional stability and prevent a recurrence of the violent aggression of the past decade.