UNMIK ON AIR

19 April, 2003

Week Round-Up

(Sputnik Kilambi)

 

Hello and welcome to the weekend edition of UNMIK on air with Sputnik Kilambi

 

On the agenda this week – PDK leader Hashim Thaci’s call for a freeze on the final status issue creates waves in Kosovo

 

And Serb judges begin to take their place in an integrated Kosovo judiciary

 

But we begin in Prizren

 

The rubber and tire-making factory, IGK Balkans, was on a roll the last time we reported – dubbed as one of the most positive developments in the region, the socially owned factory was a promise of better times to come and touted as a model for economic progress.

 

But dark clouds have set in since then - 550 workers have been laid off recently and will now have to manage with 50 euros per month as opposed to around 220 Euros per month. With only around 120 workers remaining, who will also be replaced, the factory is no longer the bustling, noisy place it was not so long ago – the machines are still there, but the overall impression one gets is that IGK Balkans is more in a slump rather than a roll. 

 

Muhamet Shala is the director manager of the factory; he puts the blame on the current legal infrastructure.

 

Muhamet Shala: Obstacles come from outside “Balkan”, and they mainly have to do with the taxes, customs, and excise on raw material, and the unfair competition faced by local producers.

 

 

Rexhep Bytyqi, the father of three children, worked as a cleaner in IGK “Balkans” for 8 years, his salary the main source of income for his family. Now he has to manage with 60 Euros social assistance.

 

Rexhep Bytyqi:  

-UNMIK on Air: How are things now?

-You don’t want to know, it is going to get privatized or I don’t know.

-UNMIK on Air: You are not working now, are you?

-No

-UNMIK on Air: Why?

-There is no work.

   -UNMIK on Air: Do you hope to get back to “Balkan”

-For now there is no hope…

 

Another Rexhep Bytyci, the same name, the same fate it seems. He too was laid off two weeks ago after working in IGK “Balkans” since 1974.

 

Rexhep Bytyci:

-Balkan was not only beneficial for workers, but for the whole of Suhareka municipality.

-Do you work anywhere else, do you have children?

-I have children, we are all unemployed.

-Do you have other sources of income?

-No.

 

According to the factory director Mohamet Shala, under UNMIK’s regulation on excise 2000/19, they should not have to pay excise on Mazut since they produce mainly for export. There are other ways to collect revenue, he insists.

 

Mohamed Shala: If because of excise we stop production this year, we will no longer be able have 700 workers getting salaries here. There will be no taxes paid, no VAT, no other contributions, it means the side effects will be big and very damaging for the budget.

 

Excise tax is meant for luxury goods, adds Muhamet Mustafa, the head of RINVEST, the Institute for Development Research, and to impose it on Mazut is totally absurd. Moreover, why is this happening here in Kosovo when it doesn’t in other Countries?

 

Muhamet Mustafa: ‘Balkan’ cannot be competitive in the world market, though, even after the war, they exported goods to Italy, and other countries. With the imposition of excise, the Mazut will be more expensive and the factory cannot be competitive, so it is not a surprise they have dismissed a great number of workers. The same thing happened with the brick factory.

 

And adds Riinvests Muhamed Mustafa, it is high time the tax policy was reviewed in order to stimulate production and investments and create jobs.

 

Muhamed Mustafa: If this tax policy continues, instead of encouraging investors, we will discourage them since Kosovo is not the only place where investors can invest. We have examples when Kosovar private investors are investing in Bulgaria or Macedonia, since the tax policy there is more suitable. This is an alarm bell for UNMIK, for the Government and for those who draft economic policies.

 

Strong words there from economics expert Mohamed Mustafa – let’s hope the right ears are listening.  The laid off workers of IGK Balkans certainly hope the message gets across.

 

Music up and under

 

 

When the regulation on integrating Serb judges and prosecutors within the Kosovar judiciary was signed last year, there was a wave of protests from the Albanian side. Mostly out of fear that judges from the Milosevic era responsible for discrimination against Albanians would return to Kosovo.

The fears are unfounded, says Delphine Boost, coordinator in the judicial integration section of the Department of Justice. The people who have been sworn in have been thoroughly vetted, she insists, and can in no way be accused of past discrimination.

 

Delphine Boost: these judges have been sworn in and have accepted to take part in UNMIK judiciary which is very keen to ensure multiethnicity and obviously you don’t choose your judge depending on his or her ethnicity and these judges are here for all the citizens, especially Zubin Potok and Leposaviq, we have some Albanian enclaves outside, for example Zubin Potok, and we want to make sure that the Albanian citizens living outside Zubin Potok would feel free to come to the courts

 

A total of 40 positions were created for non-Albanian judges and prosecutors to work in Kosovo, mainly in Serbian enclaves that either had no judiciary at all or were functioning with parallel judicial structures. 12 Serb judges and prosecutors have been sworn in so far and taken up their duties across Kosovo - Prishtina, Gjilan, Strpce, Mitrovica North, Leposaviq and Zubin Potok.  Although not all vacancies have been filled, says Delphine Boost, the integration of Serbs within the judiciary has been successful:

 

Delphine Boost: What has resulted from this recruitment is that the courts of Leposavic and Zubin Potok have reopened under UNMIK administration because for the past three years these courts have been parallel courts. So now they have been taken over by UNMIK- that was for us a big step and a big success

 

But Kosovar Serbs still seem to be a bit confused as to which court they should go to for their judicial problems. Many still believe that taking part in any Kosovar institution is an act of treachery, even though official Belgrade is washing its hands off more and more issues concerning Kosovo Serbs.  Branislav Kristic, a Mitrovica based journalist, says that the Serb population in Kosovo is feeling a bit lost.

 

Branislav Kristic: the situation in Belgrade is something completely different:  when k-Serbs address the ministry of justice in Belgrade they direct them towards the Coordination center. An often-asked question within the local population here is “is the coordination center some kind of an interim country between Belgrade’s ministry of justice and the kosovar judiciary or is the coordination center acting like a country within a country.

 

However, UNMIK has made its position very clear. A number of Serb judges are needed in Kosovo.  In areas inhabited by Albanians, judges and prosecutors will be Albanian, while the reverse will hold true for Serb-dominated areas. This is the only way, stresses Delphine Boost, to ensure that there are no allegations of discrimination.

 

Music up and under

 

Delphine Boost: 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, through international mediation, on a moratorium on status for a limited time….

 

PDK leader Hashim Thaci’s statement on freezing the issue of final status has triggered a spate of reaction in Kosovo.

The call for a temporary freeze on the status issue has been welcomed by the international community, but has found few takers in Kosovo itself – the bulk of the political mainstream has opposed the idea saying it contradicts the “common goal” of reaching independence as soon as possible.

However, the moratorium issue is being seen by many analysts as a test of maturity of Kosovo’s politicians.

For Denion Ndrenika the head of political and international relations at the “Republika” daily in Tirana, both sides are right- it is true that a moratorium may slow down the final status issue but it also means that after the time period elapses Belgrade will face a done deal:

 

Denion Ndrenika: It is true that the moratorium will, in a way, postpone this solution for a certain period of time but after that period the negotiations on the final status could start immediately or, even go back to the Rambouillet agreement or to what is indirectly said in SC resolution 12/44.  We could have the expression of people’s will. It means that at this moment, it appears that, let’s call them the opposing side, has the advantage for now because of the time they will gain. But at the same time we could use this time to consolidate our stands.

 

Belgrade apparently shares that view but for different reasons – although there has been no official statement so far, the overall feeling is that a set time limit would be a welcome break for Belgrade –but what would it mean in the long run?  Belgrade based political analyst Stojan Cerovic.

 

Stojan Cerovic: For Serbia it will be good, at least initially. It’ll be good for internal political stability because we don’t open that sensitive issue now and postpone it. So, it looks like a chance for a little rest for Serbia, for authority to consolidate, the state to get a bit stronger and not to deal with that issue. However, it is true that in the long term, a moratorium does not remove the issue of status, on the contrary, it only freezes it and Kosovo is in fact sliding towards independence.

 

The irony is that Kosovar politicians don’t seem to see that – that a moratorium on the issue now will only strengthen their hand later. And as Tirana journalist Denion Ndrenika points out, in the final analysis they are the ones who will answer to the Kosovar people for the actions they have, or haven’t taken. 

 

Denion Ndrenika: The moratorium, whether it is acceptable or not remains an issue to be solved mostly by the political class of Kosovo since it is ultimately their responsibility, a responsibility they have taken in the past.

 

Back announce – and that comment from Denion Ndrenika in Tirana brings us to an end of this weekend edition. Thanks for tuning in.