UNMIK On Air
Week
Round Up
12
April 2003
(Sputnik
Kilambi)
Hello and welcome to the weekend edition of UNMIK ON AIR
with Sputnik Kilambi and Martin Redi.
On the program today
PDK leader Hashim Thaqi on the challenges of building a
multi-ethnic Kosovo
And the fears and hopes of displaced Serbs who recently
returned to their village near Prizren
But we begin with a look at Kosovo’s nascent milk industry
and a depressing statistic, only 5 percent of the milk consumed is processed
and packed locally.
Most of the packed milk offered
to consumers in urban areas is imported from Slovenia, Hungary and other
countries.
Boosting milk production is seen
as a key part of sustainable rural development and a top Swedish company Tetra
Pak has come up with proposals for developing the dairy sector.
“Drini I Bardhe” (White Drin) is
the name of the project and Tetrapak hopes that by 2007, Kosovo will not only
produce enough milk for local needs but will also export milk and dairy
products.
Driton Krasniqi owns the “Rudina”
farm just outside Prizren. When he began working in the dairy business, he used
to sell his milk to a local collector.
Today, he has 120 cows, and hopes that Tetra Pak’s operations will make
a difference.
Driton Krasniqi: I pack the milk in a simple way, daily fresh milk
without pasteurizing, to be used within 48 hours. I am happy, there is consumer
demand. Tr. 73 If they offer good conditions I will sent milk there.
The project is a challenging one
though - the lack of proper legal infrastructure, managerial skills, and a low
technology base are major obstacles, and continued support from UNMIK and local
institutions is of vital importance.
But there are enough plus points to build on, insists Stefan Johansson,
head of the Drini Bardhe project.
Stefan Johansson: We have suitable farming land and in some cases
infrastructure already available, we have organizations and institutions around
and in Kosovo that potentially could support financially a project like this,
and again coming back to the optimistic people of Kosovo, that is a great base.
The Drini Bardhe project was
drafted in consultation with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of
Trade. They have been asked to consider some kind of exemption from VAT and
other import duties until the industry is solidly established.
Deputy trade minister Mejdi
Bektashi says the government is committed to making the economic climate more
suitable to investors.
Mejdi Bektashi: We support this project since it uses local
resources, opens new jobs, and creates a string of activities, starting from
producing milk in local mini-farms, and then collecting it. Tr. 27 Tetra Pak is
a world known company and we hope that their experiences will be passed on to
local companies.
And authorities have ambitious
plans – they want to set up 3 large pilot farms with up to 500 cows as well as
small and medium farms with 10 to 15 cows each. Agriculture minister, Goran Bogdanovic stresses the importance of
small and medium enterprises.
Goran Bogdanovic: The Ministry of Agriculture in principle
supports setting up small and medium farms, but we have nothing against larger
farms. Given the difficulties in the whole agriculture sector, the long term
success of big farms is non-profitable. The development of big farms up to 500
cows is possible only if we use socially owned land and if there are loans
available for that kind of production.
Many people still think it is
not safe enough to invest in Kosovo – but Tetra Pak’s packaging manager Lars
Gustafsson is upbeat.
Lars Gustafsson: Investors
who have money can go to different places and maybe they can find safer places.
We see from investors’ point of view that there is a profit. Today to invest
and put money on the table and to have a payback in such a short time as five
or six years, that is not to be found in so many places in Europe. So that is
what makes us optimistic.
For well over three years, Kosovo’s second largest political
party, the PDK and its supporters were associated with outbursts of
inter-ethnic violence and extreme nationalist activities. Although PDK chief
and former KLA leader Hashim Thaci and the heads of the PDK have gone all out
to change that image, for many, it is still not happening.
UNMIK has dubbed this year as “the year of returns” and
Hashim Thaci is apparently totally in favor. Returns he says, should continue,
especially since the security situation has improved considerably:
Hashim Thaci: All
refugees, Kosovar citizens, wherever they may live have the right to return to
Kosovo and live in their houses and properties. Every day the security
situation is more favorable. Therefore kosovar citizens, refugees living in
Serbia and Montenegro are welcome to come back. Returns are a human right but
this shouldn’t be politically misused by anyone.
Of course, one unavoidable
issue in most political discussions these days is whether or not dialogue
between Prishtina and Belgrade should take place, when that should happen and
what would be on the agenda. For the PDK leader there is no doubt that there
should be direct talks between Prishtina and Belgrade. The only thing he
regrets is the fact that Kosovo is being bypassed.
Hashim Thaci: The
dialogue should start at an appropriate time and should cover all matters that
can be discussed and can be agreed upon by both Kosovars Serbians and the
regional governments. Dialogue should happen, there needs to be cooperation
between good people for good causes in order to create a democratic reality in
the region. Kosovo is going through an important process of democratization and
it will create an independent reality. We will also create good neighboring
relations with everyone, including Serbia, Montenegro, Albania and Macedonia.
My opinion is that during this phase, when we have misunderstandings
considering the political status, Kosovo and Serbia should reach an agreement,
with international mediation, on a moratorium on status for a limited time in
order to reach western standards, so that we would gradually integrate within
the European and Euro-Atlantic structures as separate entities.
Nonetheless, Hashim
Thaci is clear what the final goal of Kosovars should be - an independent
Kosovo, where all decisions about the future are taken in Prishtina, not
anywhere else, and by the people who live here.
Hashim Thaci: When
it comes to decisions on Kosovo and its citizens those should be taken in
Kosovo by the legal and democratic institutions, which are transparent in their
work and have included all communities and political groups. We should push
further the process of integrating all minorities within Kosovar institutions –
including the KPC and the KPS and other security mechanisms. Kosovo belongs to
all Kosovar citizens not only to Albanians. We should build citizens democracy.
And those words from Hashim Thaci will probably be music to
the ears of returning Serb IDPs, many of whom are confused by what they see as
conflicting directives from Belgrade and the international community.
Some 60 Serbs returned recently to Novoake, a Serb village
in a beautiful valley near Prizren. It
had almost 110 houses and nearly 600 inhabitants before the war. Now every
house has been destroyed.
One of the returnees is Stajko Djordjevic, a big built Serb
in his mid sixties who believed Belgrade’s claims that things would be settled
very soon. Now he has doubts whether the promises will be kept.
Stajko Djordjevic:
When we decided to come here, they told us, just come on March 15 and as soon
as you come the rebuilding of the houses will start. But, as you can see, only
a few foundations have been laid. Building material is still to arrive. And
they promised us that in two months we would be able to move into the houses
with our families. But, my God, we’ll see what is going to happen now.
Reconstruction work is being done by ASB, a German NGO,
while KFOR provides security and three meals a day for the Serbs who currently
live together in a village dormitory. ASB chief Bill Foxton is fully aware that
many things are going too slowly for these people.
Bill Foxton: When
I looked at this project, I knew that the first building that I have to
reconstruct was the school. And I brought the donor here, and I show them
Novoake, there was nobody living here, the school was destroyed and you imagine
how difficult is to persuade somebody to give you 100.000 euro, because, this
is - how many will come back. So, if I can get 100.000 when nobody is here, I
can get money when people are here. That’s not a problem.
Speaking with returnees, one gets the impression they are
really happy to be back on their own property, but one can also hear that they
feel that Serbia forced them to return by dramatically reducing help for those
in IDP centers. Bosko Stanojevic was
obliged to return to Kosovo when the Red Cross ceased aid to his IDP center.
Bosko Stanojevic: How can I earn money when I have 1.200 dinars
pension (around 20 euro). They reduced all that help even ten-year old children
are excluded. You can get your money from the Red Cross on only one day in a month,
but if you are not present on that day, you lose it. I was in hospital and
couldn’t go on that day, later on when I went they refused to give me the money
saying where have you been till now.
The main problem for most returnees is how to earn a living
and feed themselves. But better nourishment isn’t everything. Each time Momcilo
Stojanovic puts a morsel of food in his mouth he thinks of his wife back in
Serbia.
Momcilo Stojanovic: We
are here and we have good food to eat, but we do not know how they are there in
Serbia. If we can earn some money here we would send them in Serbia to
survive. But my God! I can’t say how
they are living now … My spouse is there, my father was killed here, my mother
died in Pirot, in Serbia, afterwards my spouse is working all day long, from 8
am to midnight and she gets just a small money for her. She would like to come
back too, but there is no condition … there is no place for us to sleep, we are
here all together, all men. Imagine, one woman in a sleeping room with 30 men,
it is not appropriate,
Managing the returns in Novoake is certainly a huge
challenge – but even if the present reality leaves much to be desired, the
people also have positive memories to draw strength and hope from. What many people don’t perhaps know is that
in Novoake, ethnic harmony was never a problem.
Branko Gligorijevic is a leading member of the returning
Serb community.
Branko Gligorijevic: I
remember that about 150 Serb families found shelter with Albanian Catholics
from the neighboring villages of Spinadija and Smraca and they protected more
than 570 Serbs. If they had not done that, all of us would have been killed,
because we were abandoned by the police, by the army, even by the priests.
The people of Novoake and
surrounding areas lived together peacefully once, not so long ago really – they
can do it again.
That does it for this weekend edition of UNMIK ON AIR.
Thanks for listening.