UNMIK-KFOR-OSCEPress Briefing: 11 October 2000
UNMIK Spokeswoman Susan Manuel
KFOR Spokesman Major Steven
R. Shappell
OSCE Spokesman Roland Bless
UNMIK Spokeswoman Susan Manuel
FYROM
Yesterday SRSG Bernard Kouchner traveled to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia where he met President Trajkovski, Prime Minister Georgievski and Minister of Foreign Affairs Dimitrov. They discussed the economic cooperation between Kosovo and the FYROM, railroads communication, air communications, improvement of border crossing facilities, power supply, the regional situation and the Status of Mission Agreement between the UN and FYROM. With all his interlocutors, Dr. K. exchanged views on the recent development s in Belgrade.
Dr. Kouchner described these meetings today to the Kosovo Transitional Council, as well as his meeting with the EU foreign ministers on Monday. The KTC is also getting an update on elections preparations. The KTC is also discussing the recent development in Belgrade and their impact on Kosovo.
IAC
A special session of the Interim Administrative Council will be held Friday to discuss the impact of the changes in Yugoslavia on Kosovo. The IAC had suspended Friday meetings until the 28 October elections. But they felt their was a pressing need to continue discussions on the recent developments in the region which began last week..
Police
We have a press release outside condemning the recent attack on a Bosniak official of the department of Civil Security and Emergency Preparedness. Mr. Ahmet Sijariq was beaten up on Monday near Klina as he was traveling from Peja where he had been meeting with minority communities to assist minority applicants to the Kosovo Protection Corps.
King
For press who would like to attend the meeting between His Majesty King
Albert II of Belgium and SRSG Bernard Kouchner at KFOR tomorrow, the bus
will leave here at 8:15 a.m.
Co-heads
Tomorrow at 10 a.m. the co-heads of the Department of Education will give a press briefing in room C301. Michael Daxner and Naim Rrustemi. .This is part of our continuing series on the administrative departments which have proved as useful background for journalists.
There will be a new opening of the Centre for Missing and Detained tomorrow, and I will send out a press advisory later today about the details.
KFOR Spokesman Major Steven R. Shappell
SHAPE Announcement
Yesterday, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) announced a change in the headquarters to which KFOR reports. Currently, SHAPE headquarters in Mons, Belgium exercises operational supervision of KFOR. Following an October 3, 2000 decision taken by the North Atlantic Council (NAC), operational supervision of KFOR will, from the first of next year, be exercised by the regional NATO commander, the Commander -in- Chief Allied Forces Southern Europe from his headquarters in Naples, Italy.
There will be no change in the KFOR mission. KFOR remains fully committed to ensuring a safe and secure environment in Kosovo in accordance with UN Resolution 1244.
Man Killed in Road Traffic Accident
Late last night in Multinational Brigade Centre, a red Volkswagen Golf drove head-on into a KFOR Land Rover on Route Hawk near the village of Konjuh / Konjuh. The Volkswagen then skidded into a KFOR passenger bus. The civilian driver was killed instantly, but there were no reports of serious injuries to KFOR soldiers. KFOR regrets the accident.
Initial reports indicate that the driver of the civilian vehicle had been driving erratically prior to the accident and may have been intoxicated. KFOR Royal Military Police, medical personnel, Swedish Battalion and Finnish Battalion soldiers, as well as UNMIK Police responded to the scene. The accident remains under investigation.
Grenade Attack
Last night in Multinational Brigade East, some small arms fire and an
explosion were reported at the home of a Kosovar Serb in Kamanice /
Kamenica. UNMIK Police, accompanied by KFOR soldiers from 108th
Military Police and 13th Tactical Group, responded to the scene.
After investigation, it was determined that two small arms shots had been
fired at the home, and one handgrenade thrown at the front porch of the
home. KFOR
soldiers recovered the grenade pin and spoon, but were
unable to locate any shell casings. The home sustained two broken
windows. There were no reports of injuries in connection with this
incident, which remains under investigation.
COMKFOR Schedule
This afternoon in Skopje, Macedonia, COMKFOR Lt. Gen. Juan Ortuño will meet with His Majesty Albert II King of the Belgians. After his meeting with the King, Lt. Gen. Ortuño will fly to Madrid to celebrate Spanish National Day on Oct. 12, 2000.
On Friday, Oct 13, Lt. Gen. Ortuño will be in Skopje, Macedonia to officiate at the KFOR Rear change of command. After the ceremony, he will return to Pristina.
Media Opportunities
KFOR Change of Command Ceremony
On Monday, October 16, 2000 at 11 a.m., Lt. Gen. Carlo Cabigiosu will take command of the KFOR from Lt. Gen. Juan Ortuño. Lt. Gen. Ortuño has commanded operations in Kosovo for the past six months.
The KFOR Change of command ceremony will be held at the KFOR headquarters in Pristina. SACEUR Gen. Joseph W. Ralston will host the ceremony. CINCSOUTH Adm. James O. Ellis Jr. will also attend.
Members of the media are cordially invited to attend this ceremony and the subsequent press conference with Gen. Ralston and the Lt. Gen. Cabigiosu. Transportation will be provided from the Press Center. Parking will not be available at KFOR headquarters.
OSCE Spokesman Roland Bless
Good day. The Election Complaints and Appeals Sub Commission has issued some decisions. Some of those were dismissed as too minor. Two of the decisions are very important none the less. First of all the ECAC will extend its authority throughout election day so all violations which might occur and we hope wont occur on election day will be sanctioned by the ECAC. And the second one is an advisory opinion on the character of religious buildings, places of worship where in Kosovo posters and graffitti have been put on churches and mosques and the ECAC has ruled that these are public buildings so no campaign related material can be sprayed or plaquered on these buildings.
The next one is an invitation to you to a briefing tomorrow, Thursday, that means we now go daily. It’s at 10 o’clock, 4th Floor conference room, usual venue. Topics will be the special needs voting programme that is people in hospital, people in old people’s homes, prisoners and so forth. The second topic will be the presentation of the list of polling stations so you will be able to take home a comprehensive document of where polling stations are. The accreditation process and the function of domestic observers in the elections and information on voters education and voters guidance as where to go to vote. That’s tomorrow at 10 at the OSCE headquarters.
We have put together following the same model that we developed for the Joint Registration effort a Frequently Asked Questions on elections. You will find it outside in the usual languages and it contains about 30 of the most frequently asked questions regarding the upcoming election. Again I would kindly invite you to run this in pieces for your viewers, listeners and readers so we can continue to count on your assistance in the voter education. On the same note I have here a brochure which is the first of 400,000 voter education brochures that are going to be printed. It’s very useful information for you as well, take some advance copies from outside.
Questions:
Q: Coming back to the issue that was also raised at the earlier press conference here with General Ortuno. There’s a statement from Mr Djindic claiming that he had a phone call with the SRSG and one of the topics they addressed was the return of Serbian police and generally Serbian forces to Kosovo. Was this discussed and secondly who takes the final decision if and when these troops can return, the SRSG or ComKFOR?
SS: Under MTA, Com KFOR has the final authority to decide on the return of forces. As General Ortuno said, the decision’s not been taken yet and would require lots of discussion between all the forces involved.
Q: After the changes in Serbia there seems to be a general feeling within UNMIK that the independence claim by the Albanians leads to a new conflict or new war. But you’re trying to speed up the substantial autonomy. Don’t you think the substantial autonomy means much more trouble?
SM: Our whole job here is to promote substantial autonomy. Speeding was mentioned by Dr Kouchner to the EU but that’s our job that’s our next step after elections, to promote and develop substantial autonomy. Dr Kouchner was quoted as saying that he felt now is not the time to be discussing the final status of Kosovo, now right in the wake of the change in Belgrade. But we aren’t changing our programme and I don’t believe what you said is correct that there’s a feeling in UNMIK one way or the other about independence. We’re working together with the Kosovo people, to develop local institutions, self government and substantial autonomy and that can’t possibly hurt Kosovo. No matter what happens in the future it’s only positive.
Q: Susan, who called the meeting for Friday? was it Albanian representatives in the IAC or was it Mr Kouchner? And the second one for OSCE, would be when can 150,000 people come and claim their i.d. cards for the elections?
SM: Dr Kouchner called the special session of the IAC right after President Kostunica was pronounced winner of the elections. Who called the second meeting was probably agreed to during the first meeting, but I can check exactly whose idea it was and get back to you.
RB: We are not issuing i.d. cards. This was explained several times here, it’s a Pillar II operation; last time Nadia Younes explained to you that i.d. cards would only be issued after the election.
SM: Nadia explained it last time but we had said earlier that we would issue 150,000 of the special needs i.d. cards earlier. It was later deemed that would be too complicated and it would be simpler to issue them all after the election. And it was determined by electoral officials have said people don’t need to bring i.d. cards in order to vote.
Q: Who’s going to protect the Yugoslav soldiers if they come back here? Is it KFOR? Is it Dr. Kouchner? Don’t you find it to be a fascinating situation – KFOR not just protecting the Serb enclaves but also the Yugoslav soldiers?
SS: It’s an interesting question, but I think it’s too early to explore that. As we said the, decision has not been taken to allow return of those forces, and it requires some substantial consultation. It’s premature to talk about that.
Q: Is Dr. Kouchner pursuing the release of the 950 Kosovar detainees in Serbia? Has there been any contact with the Belgrade authorities on this matter?
SM: This is why he said that he wants to meet with President Kostunica as soon as possible. He has said that that would be on the top of his agenda, and when he did speak to the EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg he advocated linking the lifting of sanctions with some movement on the missing and detained. However, he was not totally successful in that proposal. There have not been any formal meetings on it yet, no.
Q: Mr. Kostunica said that Dr. Kouchner was not invited by him to Belgrade. How do you estimate this?
SM : We think there has been some misunderstanding and some confusion and we are trying to clear it up now.
Q: When will Mr. Kouchner meet with President Kostunica?
SM: When he is officially invited and a date is set.
Q: The meeting with Dr. Kouchner and the foreign ministers in Luxembourg: can any details on be given out from the discussion on the political detainees – and in particular: can any details be given if there were any differences between the various European countries?
SM: We have the text with Dr. Kouchner’s intervention with the EU, you’re free to have that. I don’t believe there were any following discussions on the detainees, but I’ll find out for you.
Q: Will the Special Envoy of the High Commissioner of Human Rights attend the opening of the bureau of the missing persons tomorrow, and if not, why not?
SM: We have not yet received any word from Mrs. Robinson’s office about exactly when Ambassador Amneus will arrive. As it stands today I don’t think he will be there tomorrow.
Q: According to the Military Technical Agreement a part of the Yugoslav forces can return to Kosovo. If they return to Kosovo: are you prepared to do the joint patrols with the Yugoslav forces in the streets of Kosovo?
SS: It’s really premature to talk about that That would obviously be one of the many things that we had to discuss. If they are allowed to come back to do certain functions that would have to be discussed. I don’t know.
Q: What are you planning for the next Serbian elections in December. Are you going to deal with it in the same way as with the Yugoslav elections? Do you think there is going to be much pressure from the Albanians for quick general elections in Kosovo?
SM: It’s a good question about the Serbian elections. I have to check and get back to you. I don’t know if we will be repeating the witnessing project or not. (On the general elections): That would be interesting to see if that comes out in the discussions of the IAC. I have not heard that yet, no.
Q: I would like to go back to your statement about UNMIK and the issue of independence: Does not UNMIK operate under 1244 which insists that Kosovo is part of Yugoslavia, and therefore you have to have and attitude to independence which is: you are not in favor of independence.
SM: No. We really don’t have an attitude because we are basically technicians who are carrying out the mandate which is, as you say, to develop substantial autonomy within the sovereignty of Yugoslavia.