UNMIK ON AIR

Tuesday 11 Feb 2003

Serbia and Montenegro

(By Zoran Culafic and Luan Qorraj)

Hello and welcome to this edition of UNMIK on Air with…

Last week the country of Yugoslavia formally disappeared, after never being far from the headlines for more than eighty years. It was replaced, voluntarily, with the new and looser Union of Serbia and Montenegro, which is designed to survive for at least three years before possible votes on independence.

But where does this leave Kosovo? According to UNSCR 1244, Kosovo was a sovereign part of FRY, but under the authority of the UN. Where does it now stand with the new state?

According to a Belgrade specialist in international law, Vojin Dimitrijevic, the position of UNSCR 1244 and the Kosovo issue remains the same as when the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia existed.

CUT 1: Tr 4 – The continuity between FRY and the new state, Serbia and Montenegro, is indisputable. … edit to Tr 7 … the status remains exactly the same, and this is particularly underlined in terms of international law. So, all of the FRY obligations, as well as all of its rights, are taken over, without exceptions, to the new state, including the Kosovo issue and the resolution 1244.

UNMIK has repeated its firm stance, that the issue of Kosovo’s final status won’t be put on the agenda before certain democratic standards are fulfilled. UNSCR 1244 is the sole authority governing Kosovo until the international community addresses the issue of final status. No action outside Resolution 1244 affects Kosovo, and no decision by any third party can prejudge or change Kosovo’s status.

Prominent Kosovo Albanian political leaders, as it seems, are fully aware of that firm stance. The Kosovo’s Prime Minister’s advisor, Ramadan Avdiu.

CUT 3: Tr 06: Brussels and the European union have sent the message that, even though they accepted [the new state] in principle, Kosovo’s final status cannot be decided one-sidedly, and Kosovo is administered by 1244 , a resolution which holds certain obligations that Kosovan citizens must fulfill in order to enter the process of solving the final status issue.

The UN Security Council reconfirmed Steiner’s strategy for fulfilling standards before the opening of a dialogue on Kosovo’s final status. During last week’s session on Kosovo, Steiner’s report read that Kosovo is still far from democratic standards, but also added that Kosovo is willing to fulfill them.

The head of the Podgorica-based NGO Center for democratic studies, Nebojsa Medojevic, agrees. The timetable for talks on Kosovo’s status will be decided by the Security Council. And all the political entities in the region, including Serbia and Montenegro and Kosovo, must get ready in order to take part in that process, he says.

CUT 4 Tr 28 – It means exactly that they must proof concretely, through the change of policy and through harmonizing the law enforcement, if the they are ready to accept the European standards or not, concerning macroeconomic performances, rule of law, human rights, minority rights, fight against organized crime and corruption, liberalization of trade market … And all of that is an inclusive part of the stability and association process, and the stance of the IC towards particular political entities will be decided just upon that.

Medojevic explains that the recent political move made by Serbia’s PM Zoran Djindjic, who requested an international conference on the Kosovo issue, was just an effort to get Serbia seriously involved as part of the future process, and not a short-term political tactic. The Kosovo issue is already a matter of international concern, and Serbia wants to be a part of future talks, he says.

CUT 5: Tr 24 – It is already a internationalized issue and Serbia and Montenegro would have to make huge efforts to become a party in that process of finding a final status for Kosovo, in the frame of that (expected) new UNSC resolution. And I think it was the reason for Mr. Djindjic to start this diplomatic initiative, to use the momentum of a positive approach of the IC towards the new Serbia and Montenegro state, and to put that issue on the agenda.

And Vojin Dimitrijevic from Belgrade underlines that he believes there will be no violent outcome to the Kosovo question, no matter what the final status will be. He compares the situation with the Slovenia request for independence back in the beginning of 90’s, which resulted in war and bloodshed, and the disintegration of the former Yugoslav state. Times have changed dramatically, adds Dimitrijevic, and the tensions in the Balkans will calm down.

CUT 6: Tr 16 – If you compare the persistence and the patience during the negotiations between Serbia and Montenegro, with the beginning of 90’s regarding the similar request of Slovenia. The request of Slovenia, twelve years ago, was much milder then the one now of Montenegro. But one decade ago no one wanted to hear about the negotiations, and now they are negotiating very patiently. So I expect that the relations between Albanian and Serb politicians will be in that very line.

BA:

So with this optimistic point of view from Vojin Dimitrijevic we end today’s program. Thanks for listening and stay tuned