CONTENTS
· LDK BOYCOTTS PRESIDENT OF ALBANIA
· REACTIONS IN KOSOVO ON
HARADINAJ CASE
· "HOT NIGHT" IN MALISHEVA
·
RUGOVA AGAINST GREAT ALBANIA, FOR INDEPENDENT KOSOVO
· NEW CLASHES IN
PRESEVO VALLEY
· IVANOVIC: ARTEMIJE BLOCKS SNV'S ENTRANCE TO SERB
OPPOSITION
· UNMIK STAMP IN PASSPORT MEANS PRISON
· PARTY OF THE LATE "DEMOCRATIC"
REVOLUTION
LDK BOYCOTTS PRESIDENT OF
ALBANIA
During his visit to Kosovo, Rexhep Meidani, the President of Albania, had a meeting with representatives of Kosovo political parties: among the present were representatives of all political groups, including the Bosnian, Turk and Roma parties, but not of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), reported Zëri on page three.
Mentor Nazarko, an advisor to President Meidani, told the paper after the meeting that the representatives of Albanians, Bosnians and Turks spoke in favor of independence of Kosovo and against the sovereignty of Serbia. Nazarko added that regarding the status of Kosovo, Meidani was of the opinion that Kosovo Albanians should prove their ability to create institutions and build an economy and then to discuss the status, noting that the hurry to raise the issue of status in international forums might not yield the best possible option. Nazarko also confirmed that Meidani requested a greater cooperation between the Albanian parties and the international factor, together with the request for increased contacts with Albania. "Mr. Thaçi thanked the President and Albania for the contribution given to the Kosovo issue and considered as very important the fact that other communities in Kosovo were present in the meeting with him," said Nazarko.
As for the absence of LDK representatives at the meeting, Nazarko said that
all parties of Kosovar political spectrum were invited, including the LDK. He
added that Rugova was currently out of Kosovo, but that one of his advisors had
promised the presence of one of his deputies at the
meeting.
REACTIONS IN
KOSOVO ON HARADINAJ CASE
Today's papers carried many reactions to the Haradinaj case, with most attention to the reactions of Kosovo Protection Corps General Staff and of political parties derived from the KLA.
The KPC General Staff said that Tuesday's event, when Russian KFOR soldiers mistreated Ramush Haradinaj, chairman of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) and his associates, caused a huge rebellion among all KPC members, adding that brutality that KFOR Russians showed Haradinaj raised once more the issue of UNMIK and KFOR treatment of the war-renowned personalities of KLA and KPC.
KPC held that UNMIK and KFOR were not treating properly former KLA and KPC members, whose contributions during the war and role in the transformation process proved to be stability factors. For that they deserved the highest respect, and because of this, such treatment should change as it is a big obstacle to stability and cooperation.
The release noted that they had strong guaranties by UNMIK and KFOR high levels that the stance of their people would improve, but added that the last incident showed that UNMIK and KFOR were not able to send the proper message to all of their people or in certain cases to have it respected. The KPC found it strange that the international community made no effort to secure free movement for important personalities, which impeded their normal activity, stressing that by not preventing such activities, ways are left open to denigrate important personalities, such as Ramush Haradinaj.
The KPC release pointed out that the recent act justified once more the concern and statements on the unconstructive role of Russian forces in Kosovo. "We treated and continue to treat Russian forces the same as other KFOR forces in Kosovo but they gave and are giving many examples that they did not come here to serve peace and stability," noted the release, adding that the responsibility does not lie only with the Russians but KFOR in general since they are under KFOR command, which should be the one to control Russian forces activity in Kosovo.
It also said that such cases damage the image of the international community and impede the development of cooperation, needed to progress, adding that if KFOR and UNMIK continue to allow the mistreatment of people with influence for Kosovars, they cannot have citizen support. The feelings of revolt are understandable because people cannot be indifferent to efforts to humiliate people important for the future of Kosovo.
The KPC expressed its great concern over this behavior and demanded it be stopped immediately. "If necessary measures won't be taken to prevent this phenomenon, we will be forced to reconsider our position, not excluding the possibility of reconsidering transformation," warned the KPC.
The release said that KPC wants KFOR and UNMIK to completely clarify the case and to bring those responsible to justice, adding that this case could not be overcome with a report or apology, because such cases demand more decisive answers which KFOR must give. "This would restore faith to the people and would be in the interest of cooperation and future that we are trying to build together with the international community," ended the KPC release, signed by Commander General Agim Çeku.
Kosovo Democratic Party (PDK) called the arrest and mistreatment of Haradinaj as a planned act and a continuation of the attacks on the dignity and integrity of personalities of the liberation war. PDK considered the case as unprecedented and evidence that despite great efforts of the Albanian political parties for normalization in Kosovo, certain international structures were not contributing to that normalization. "PDK requests from leading UNMIK and KFOR structures to guarantee security for Albanian political and public figures. Kosovo doesn't need a baton 'democracy,' we had one before. Who wants its return?" PDK asked.
The Kosovo Liberal Center Party (PQLK) qualified the Haradinaj case as a continuation of attacks against the liberation personalities of Kosovo. "We condemn this vandalist attack of those who falsely carry the emblem of international peacekeepers as an unprecedented, dangerous and completely disconcerting act. The attack and the usage of violence against Haradinaj is scandalous and should concern, not only the Albanian society and politics, but first of all the leading structures of KFOR and NATO," it was said. According to PQLK, the Haradinaj case proves that among the members of Russian contingent there are elements that try to put in practice Belgrade scenarios and to confront the Albanian people with the international community and KFOR.
National Movement for Liberation of Kosovo (LKÇK) in its statement said that the brutal behavior of Russian forces was not of chance, adding that it considers the uncontrolled and repeated behavior of Russian forces towards Kosovo population as a consequence of the general policy of UNMIK and KFOR in Kosovo. "UNMIK and KFOR must know that for as long as they can not offer security to the citizens, especially the politicians, they shouldn't ban them from having weapons," it was said. It was added that the official statement of KFOR on the incident is untrue and tendentious.
Dita on page one carried a commentary by its publisher Behlul Beqaj, on the Haradinaj case. "They (Russians) definitively showed that they didn't come here because of the resolution but because of the Serbs, whom they supported during all the time. With these actions they are not protecting security but are threatening the security of all in Kosovo. We hope that among them are people who wish well to themselves, Serbs and other Kosovo citizens, and especially KFOR. It would be better that the others understand that they would help more if they returned from where they came from," said Beqaj.
"HOT NIGHT" IN MALISHEVA
Malisheva citizens were frightened and disturbed last night because of the firing from the Russian base after midnight, reported Koha Ditore on page seven. The villagers of Kijeva, where the Russian base is located, lived in anxiety for two hours, when there was firing every ten minutes. The house of Galan Berisha was hit, with bullets reaching the living room, but not causing any harm.
The paper said the Russian KFOR gave a different version, confirming that there was an incident. "At about 0200 hours our base was attacked first with a grenade, then with light infantry weapons," said a Russian soldier, adding that he didn't know where the attack came from. "We returned fire, but we were careful to save the houses which were caught between fire," he added, noting that an investigation on the case was ongoing.
As for the incident with Haradinaj, the Russian representative said that they found out about Haradinaj's identity only after the incident, adding that his weapons authorization license had expired on 12 May. Asked about the future of Russian-Albanian relations in the light of Haradinaj incident, he said: "Everything goes on normally. Last night's attack on our base was not a good sign".
The paper also said that sources from Llazica village reported that after midnight there were shota heard near the Llazica Bridge, where the incident happened. Many flares were reportedly launched from the Russian base, and controls were intensified.
RUGOVA AGAINST GREAT ALBANIA, FOR INDEPENDENT
KOSOVO
Ibrahim Rugova, the chairman of Democratic League of
Kosovo (LDK), speaking to deputies of the French National Assembly
Wednesday, requested a quick independence for Kosovo and rejected the idea of a
Great Albania, which according to him, would cause big tragedy to region,
reported Koha Ditore on page four, carrying a report of the Macedonian news
agency MIA. "I am working on reaching the independence of Kosovo, which
would calm down the Albanians, while at the same time send a signal to Belgrade
that the game is over," Rugova told members of Committee for Foreign
Affairs.
According to Rugova, the future of Kosovo is in a European integration, without being included in regional unions, such as Great Albania and other confederations. Rugova added that local elections in Kosovo, scheduled for autumn, would certainly open the issue of Kosovo's independence.
François Herve de Charette, the former French Foreign Minister, was reported to have said in the session of the Commission that the idea for independence of Kosovo is facing suspicion and opposition of France and Europe.
François Loncklet, chairman of the Commission for Foreign Affairs of the French National Assembly, said that France supports Resolution 1244, which foresees a wide autonomy for Kosovo, adding however that in long-term this issue remains open.
NEW CLASHES IN PRESEVA VALLEY
Serb forces, with more than 500 paramilitaries, policemen, soldiers and members of special units, early yesterday morning launched a wide offensive against the Albanian villages in the border strip Eastern Kosovo-Kosovo, reported Rilindja on page 14, referring to Kosovapress news agency. The fiercest attacks were from 0400 hours to 0600 hours, while the Serb forces were attacking from the direction of the village of Koncul, along a two-km wide front in the direction of Dobrosin, backed by the Serb positions at Koncul checkpoint, the villages of Ternovac and Turi, as well as Lucan.
According to the report, the number of Serb forces increased at about 1430 hours. The same source said that of the Albanians, "who organized for self-defence" there were no casualties, however they didn't know what happened inside the villages. Serb forces reportedly entered the village of Koncul at 0500 hours, but no other news was available. Five or six families were said to have left the village, and referring to unconfirmed reports, it was added that Serb forces were using children to defend themselves.
Again referring to unconfirmed reports, the paper said that five Serbs were killed and three others were wounded in the clashes that are continuing.
Zëri also reported on incidents near Dobrosin, saying that early Wednesday morning there was a fire exchange between the Serb police forces and some Albanian individuals from the village, and even mortar attacks. The paper's sources said that there were no casualties during this attack.
Izet Sadiku, the chairman of the Party for Democratic Action (PVD), told the paper that they didn't know exactly what happened, but that it is known that there are no casualties and the road to Gjilan/Gnjilane is not closed.
Referring to unofficial sources, the paper reported that during the last days the Political Council of Liberation Army of Preseva, Medvedja and Bujanovac (UÇPMB) was engaged in influencing some individuals who are still in the mountains and in this way to strengthen even more the agreement reached in Gjilan.
IVANOVIC: ARTEMIJE BLOCKS SNV'S ENTRANCE TO SERB OPPOSITION
Oliver Ivanovic, a leader of the northern Kosovo Serbs, said that the entrance of their representatives to the Serbian democratic opposition will again enter the agenda, reported Koha Ditore on page five. In an interview with BN television of Bijeljina, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ivanovic said that the two leaders of Gracanica Serb National Council (SNV), Bishop Artemije and Momcilo Trajkovic, directly or indirectly were blocking the entrance of the representatives of Mitrovica SNV to the Serbian democratic opposition. "They are doing this in order to keep the exclusivity in representing the Kosovo problem in Belgrade," said Ivanovic, rejecting the claims that the authorities in Belgrade were behind the Mitrovica SNV. "These are cheap disqualifying attempts," he added.
UNMIK STAMP IN PASSPORT SENDS TO PRISON
Macedonian citizens that travel in the FRY, who were previously in Kosovo and had UNMIK stamps from the border crossing point Hani i Elezit/Djeneral Jankovic in their passports, could end up being arrested by FRY police authorities, reported Koha Ditore on page four. According to reports from the border crossing point Tabanoc, on Monday, Serb border personnel didn't allow Macedonian citizens and transporters who had UNMIK Djeneral Jankovic stamps in their passports to cross the border. Yugoslav border personnel threatened the Macedonian transporters telling them that they might get 5 to 15 years of imprisonment, because they would be treated as if they illegally crossed the border. It was also added that in the past there were cases when Serb police in Tabanoc beat Macedonian citizens that had Blace stamps in their passports.
The paper added that based on the statements of UNMIK officials, these stamps were applied with their initiative without asking Macedonian authorities, and that the problem surfacing between these two countries should be resolved officially between Belgrade and Skopje.
On the other hand, the Macedonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said this was the second time Macedonia has been surprised by UNMIK, because Macedonian authorities weren't consulted when UNMIK issued passports to Kosovars nor on the stamps in the border crossing point Hani i Elezit. According the paper, the experts of the Interior and Foreign Ministry of Macedonia will hold a meeting in which they will take a stance regarding UNMIK passports with which the Kosovars will be equipped, while this stance will be later forwarded to the Government for approval.
In closing, the paper reported that the Macedonian Deputy Foreign Minister, Nikola Dimitrov, said Tuesday that the decision on these passports would depend on the countries of the region and of the EU, which hasn't pronounced on the issue yet.
* * * * *
ANNEX - transcript of a column by Skënder Buçpapaj,
editor-in-chief of Bota Sot, focused on the general assembly of Kosovo
Democratic Party, p.4
PARTY OF THE LATE "DEMOCRATIC" REVOLUTION
The cancellation of Nano's visit in the party's main event and the hiding of the presence of Nano's envoys there, avoided only a part of the failure of the political formation there. The Congress of Asylum-seekers was attended by the delegation of Miladin Popovic's and Dusan Mugosa's party (Yugoslav World War II communist leaders, our remark), the main leaders of which were then Enver Hoxha and Ramiz Alia and now Fatos Nano. Serbs founded it and Serbs are inheriting it. To continue the line from the mother party to the daughter party…
Sabit Brokaj greeted the assembly on behalf of the Socialist Party as a symbol of the Late "Democratic" Vlora Revolution (reference to the events in Albania in 1997, our remark). Sabit Brokaj is the author of giving (with a cell phone from Tirana) the order for occupying Pashaliman and opening the warehouses of the base, which was qualified by western, state-run and unofficial propaganda as the biggest military base in the Mediterranean, and of course it surely was the most strategic base of the region, which covered with its field vision, as said in the military, the entire space of the region. Sabit Brokaj, once again with a cell phone from Tirana, directed the opening of the warehouses of ammunition, which marked bloodshed among Albanians, in their entire geographical position, an bloodshed not stopping until today.
In the Congress of Asylum-seekers he represented the transferring of the Late Democratic Greek-Serb Revolution of Vlora of 1997 in Kosovo, transferring which was accompanied with not a few settling of scores between the members of one nation, in our space between genetic Albanians.
Enver's sozia, Doctor Sabit Brokaj, from the Vlora Revolution, was crowned Minister of Defense. Fatos Nanosis, who had videos in which Brokaj had sex with the employees of the Ministry, removed him from this post. Rexhep Meidani, took him as military advisor with Moscow's order.
Quisling President Meidani and his entire cabinet are known as collaborators of the KGB. Meidani's father-in-law, Sofokli Lazri is one of the few collaborators of Enver Hoxha and Ramiz Alia, which have been denounced by the "Mitrokhin Dossier". And the fact that those collaborators of the KGB who were recruited by other agencies, and be it by the agencies who were KGB allies, were removed from this institution and only the KGB's were kept, shows that the KGB fanaticism rules Brokaj's institution.
Thaçi's party didn't save its honor by canceling Fatos Nano's arrival in the assembly. Nano's representation by Brokaj and Braho showed that the relations between the two parties are blessed in the fire of the Late Democratic Revolution of Vlora in 1997 and that would continue in this very same line.
Therefore Nano's failure to show up only secures the avoiding of the partial failure of the welcoming party. Therefore sessions of the Assembly were allowed to continue according to the agenda with results as had been projected. Thaçi's collaborators in Kosovo had influence in Nano's failure to show up, collaborators that threatened asylum-seekers that if Nano shows up they would leave them alone in their assembly.
But Nano's failure to show up didn't save the party from failing. The fact that the party doesn't hold the name as before the assembly and is forced to take another name that doesn't say anything for the party's positioning in the political spectrum of Kosovo has such a meaning. The party that surfaced from the assembly doesn't hide the fact that it is a genuine party of the extreme left, which is compromised by every further political movement of the party. Surely Nanosis himself, a well-known Serb retaliator (the author uses the rude name for Serbs, our remark) will hurry to put its daughter party in discrediting positions. Thaçi's party by all means isn't distancing itself from the Vlora Revolution, thus remaining the Party of the Late "Democratic" Revolution in Kosovo.