CONTENTS:

ALBANIANS ARE QUIET, INTERNATIONALS TOLERATE, SERB VOTE
HOMBACH CALL KOSOVAR ALBANIANS FOR DIALOGUE WITH BELGRADE
KOUCHNER PROMISED TO RE-EXAMINE THE BRIDGE WATCHERS

Parliamentary elections were held in Kosovo reports Koha Ditore on pages one and two. 

While several thousands Kosovo Serbs voted for parliamentary elections on Saturday in Pristina and Prizren, "a handful" of Albanians protested against the holding of these elections in Kosovo. Kosovo Serbs evaluated these elections as a symbol Serb sovereignty over Kosovo, while Albanians closed their eyes once more towards UNMIK's tolerance and only opposing very softly with slogans: "Kosovo is not Serbia" and "Kosovo has its own elections".

As with the Yugoslav presidential elections, which were organized in Kosovo by Belgrade, UNMIK and OSCE said that they did not organize nor will they stop the holding of Serb parliamentary elections in Kosovo. KFOR was in charge of security for Serb voters. 

Kosovo Serbs boycotted local elections that were held on 28 October, which had a massive turn out by Kosovo Albanians. Political leaders and ordinary Serb citizens voted in Saturday with a certainty that "these elections show that Kosovo is a part of Serbia". 

DOS candidate for Serb parliament Momcilo Trajkovic evaluated that the only good thing out of these elections in Kosovo is that Serbia has proven its sovereignty over this province. "These elections were organized by the same people that misused Yugoslav elections in September. I did not vote because my name was not in my hometown of Caglavica where I have been living for a year and a half after my expulsion from Pristina. Different from September elections at the voting polls a part of my family is there so they have the right to vote," he told Beta.

"Personally I was against holding of these elections" said Oliver Ivanovic to Reuters. "Adequate elections could not be organized in the whole of Kosovo. However, we support these elections because they have a symbolic importance; it shows that Kosovo is part of Serbia," added Ivanovic. Nebojsa Minic DOS member has the same opinion. "We want to definitely have representatives from Kosovo in the Serb parliament, this our primary aim," said Minic.

Dragan Nikolic an unofficial Serb leader from the village Pasjan told Reuters "While Serb votes in Kosovo cannot change the results of these elections, by participating in them Kosovo Serbs confirmed that they are a part of Serbia. If they were not held then we would feel betrayed".  

Not one of the three main political leaders, from the  LDK, PDK and AAK, made any statements regarding the Serb elections in Kosovo. Hashim Thaçi is currently in the USA,  Ramush Haradinaj is visiting Albania and Dr. Ibrahim Rugova did not give a statement regarding them.

The only political party that had an initiative was the PQLK which called for a protest, which did not have a response in Pristina or any other Kosovo town. Even though it was the weekend around fifty participants attended this protest. PQLK leader Naim Maloku condemned the holding of elections "of a state that was expelled from here because the genocide that it had committed. Albanians have refused to participate in Serb elections for ten years," said Maloku and added that Kosovo organized elections in October, which were boycotted by Serbs, despite the fact that "Kosovo Albanians fought a war to liberate from Serbia".

Maloku evaluated that holding of Serb elections in regions where Serbs are a majority represents a violation of Kosovo's territorial integrity. "This insults thousands of families that were forcefully deported by those to be elected," said Maloku to the protestors.

Alush Gashi LDK official said, "This is a continuation of attempts by Belgrade to destabilize Kosovo and prevent the Serb minority from being integrated into Kosovo political life. As such, Kosovo citizens and political parties have opposed the negligence by the international administration that did not prevent this and gave false hope to Serbs in Serbia that they can have parliamentary influence in Kosovo," said Gashi and added that "hopefully this will not happen".

Kosovo Albanians have accepted to talk to Serbs even though all the mass graves have not been opened and The Hague Tribunal has not said its final word on the crimes committed in Kosovo. "Serbs have underestimated the will of Albanians and continue to do so every day. They are still not ready to accept Kosovo as a place where they will live".  The LDK official said that "International administration should not spoil the Serbs. They should act as all other Kosovo citizens," said Gashi.

According to Ahmet Jusufi AAK official, Serb elections are "responsibility of the international administration," as for the people of Kosovo these elections "do not represent any thing important". Jusufi considers that these elections "only relocate the Serb citizens who tomorrow will not find himself as part of Kosovo he will be considered a citizen of another country".    

HOMBACH CALL KOSOVAR ALBANIANS FOR DIALOGUE WITH BELGRADE

According to the Belgrade news agency Beta Hombach called Albanians to start, a dialogue with Belgrade reports Koha Ditore on page five.

Hombach told Beta that "he understands the nervousness of the Serbs because the situation in the Presevo Valley has deteriorated to where armed Albanian guerillas control a part of the territory".

"I call on Kosovo Albanians who want to take the responsibility for the future of their people to start a dialogue. They cannot refuse to talk to the new democratic forces in Yugoslavia," said Hombach. Kosovo Albanians "have to sit down and find a peaceful solution, a thing that us expected by the international community."

LDK Chairman Dr. Ibrahim Rugova refused two offers made during November by Vojislav Kostunica, emphasizing that the moment is not suitable for talks for Albanians and Serbs, reported Beta.

KOUCHNER PROMISED TO RE-EXAMINE THE BRIDGE WATCHERS

UN Chief Administrator Bernard Kouchner met in Pristina with Albanians representatives from Mitrovica reports Kosova Sot on page three.

Our sources inform that the main issue of discussion at this meeting was security and the considerable problems in Mitrovica. UN Chief Administrator Bernard Kouchner promised Albanian representative from Mitrovica that he will engage even more to pass the grave situation that is currently in northern Mitrovica. He promised that he would re-examine the issue of the organization called the "Bridge watchers" which has lately created considerable problems for UNMIK in Mitrovica.

Faruk Spahija President of Municipal Assembly in Mitrovica, Bajram Rexhepi from PDK and Nazmi Fejza from AAK requested from UN Chief Administrator Bernard Kouchner to enforce UNMIK administration and disable the parallel system which is in function in most of northern Kosovo.

At the end of the meeting, Kouchner asked the Albanian representatives to continue the dialogue with the Serb side so the problems could be solved easier.