UNMIK ON AIR

16 Jan. 2003

NEW SERB COALITION - MOMCILO TRAJKOVIC

(Zoran ĆULAFIĆ)

Hello and welcome to this edition of UNMIK ON AIR with ....

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2003 is expected to be a year of intensive political campaign led by the International administration in Kosovo, with the aim to clear the path for the new democratic institutions to deepen their roots in the province.

UNMIK has already put on the agenda a list of benchmarks which have to be fulfilled prior to opening talks of Kosovo’s final status, and it seems that in the near future, both K-Albanians and K-Serbs are going to regroup their political forces, trying to put themselves on the process.

In this sense, it appears that the recent birth of a new Serbian political coalition, called “The Movement for Kosovo and Metohija” (Pokret za Kosovo I Metohiju), could represent a move forward for the international administration, eager to stabilize the political process in Kosovo.

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The new Serb coalition group is lead by serb political leader Momcilo Trajkovic, who was on the political margins after deciding not to participate in the Kosovo parlamentarian elections two years ago. Trajkovic is now dealing with Kosovo’s political reality and trying to promote a new Serbian policy towards Kosovo, which must be an authentic K-Serb policy, as he said, with a clear distinction from Belgrade.

We talked with Moma Trajkovic and he told us he is fully ready to cooperate with the international community, as well as with all K-Albanians leaders, in creating a new political aproach to the Kosovan issue, which includes the fact that Serbs are willing to live in Kosovo; re-integrate into Kosovos society. The chance to lead a normal life.

Momcilo Trajkovic: Those who have been represented, these people are now far away from here. The remaining people have been left alone and again someone is trying to put on them some political leaders to force (impose) a so called Serb cooperation. But there is no need for cooperative Serbs any more. Milosevic had his own cooperative Albanians, and I think what we need now are real political forces. I’m sure that the interantional community realized that point, and I think even the Albanians realized it as well, but Belgrade, it seems to me, did not realize yet that Kosovos policy could be made only by real Serb political factors which are deeply rooted in Kosovo.

Trajkovic is very critical toward Belgrades policy, which was aimed, according to him, just to manipulate K-Serbs and not to find a way to resolve the problem for the sake of K-Serbs and at the same time for the sake of all citizens who are going to live together in Kosovo. Still Belgrade has a key role in future dialogue. Momcilo…

Momcilo Trajkovic: It does not mean that we want to take distance from Belgrade. We can not resolve the Kosovo issue without Belgrade, particularly we can not resolve the issue of the final status without Belgrade, even if we wanted to do it by ourselves. The international community will not accept it in that way, and not to talk about our strong willingness that that issue is being rresolved with the participation of our state. But, there are many other issues which can be dealt with in different ways. What we want is our state to help us in solving it, and not to missuse or manipulate us. That can not be made by remote controle from Belgrade.

Trajkovic stresses that the key issue in making a better future for Kosovo is “to set the rules of the game”, as he said, that is to make an environment for Serbs and Albanians to start talking to each other, and not to use the fact that they are mayority as an instrument to weaken ther minority. In that sense Trajkovic is critical toward the international community.

Momcilo Trajkovic: It seems that in some way the international community here is playing the role of Milosevic, giving the right to the majority, by overvoting, taking decisions which are of vital interest to the minorities. Ading to this the fact that, the majority is already hostile to the minorities, particularly the Serb minority. It is disaster, it is an unbeleiveble mistake and it is unbeleiveble politicaly naïve; unless there are some other ideas behind this, which I do not want to believe;, I’d rather accept it as a political mistake. What is needed is to teach us how to talk to each other, how to respect each other, how to be tolerant. That is the key issue.

Trajkovic's new coalition, signed by, till now, some 30 Serb and Roma parties, civic initiatives and other associations, is offering a concept of coexistance as a model for Kosovo to establish a democratic society. Moma, thinks that the initial aproach of the international community in Kosovo is mistaken.

Momcilo Trajkovic: Instead of doing what they proclaimed, that is establishing a multhietnic society, the international community is continuing with the ethnic aproach. They came here with the story of multhietnicity, but they applied the ethnic aproach. First they have been solving the K-Albanians issue, now they are trying to solve the K-Serb issue. And they are talking about multhietnicity. Edit to Tr 55 – In Belgium you have bi- camera Assembley, they have the issue of Flemish and Valons. So, in the heart of democratic Europe, in the place which is the HQ of EU and NATO, there exists the concept of coexistance. And in Kosovo, in south Balkans, where we have immence tensions, there we have a concept of hostile majority solving the problems of hostile minorities and viceversa. And that is ridiculous.

LINK: And what about Kosovo politicians? Trajkovic says that what they need is education.

Momcilo Trajkovic: We are uneducated communities and the democratic processes can not be lead by uneducated communities. Plus hostile ones. That is why education is very important; education, while the international community is still here. Only after that we can start a sincere political dialogue and as soon as we all realize that, I think we will start to solve the crisis. … And there is no definite resolution of the Kosovo issue, but there is a process of solving it. A lot of water will run under the bridge until the problem is finally solved; but meanwhile, what we can do is make every day a bit better. And by that we will show that we are seriouse people, capable of solve problems, and by that we will start to get closer to Europe as well.

Trajkovic estimates that K-Albanians have made huge mistakes in the past three years, and these have distanced them from their fional goal, Kosovo’s Independence.

Momcilo Trajkovic: If we look at their behaviour after 1999, we can see that they are not ready to get over in their own minds, to help their former neighbours to come back. We know well the way they missused the democratic institutions and all of that tells us that they are not a mature society ready to take over the responsibility for the future process in Kosovo and Metohija. Tr 13 – Unfortunately, the same or the similar is happening in Belgrade.

The leader of the new Serb coalition points out that the issue of political maturety is a key point for the Balkans nations.

Momcilo Trajkovic: And that’s why the key question now is who will be the first to become a mature society. And that one will be the key figure for the international community and it will take the whole responsibility for the democtratic processes here in the Balkans. Edit to Tr 26 – And that’s why I think

That K—Albanian politicians who are responsible for our future must think about that very seriously. Are they going to hurt these people here, and us with them as well, cause we live here, or are they ready to help allof us, together; as real political factors, political subjects for the democratic and economic development of Kosovo. Edit to Tr 28 …. Edit to I think the time for suffering is now behind us, and the time for a totally new society is ahead. A society which must not be a selfish, which must integrative.

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Momcilo Trajkovic: We are interested in the solution in which we, who were living here for centuries with the Albanians, could find a agreement, a tolerant agreement with them. The solution must be found also with Serbia, because this is still a part of its own territory, and with the international community, because we were not able to do it by ourselves.

Our gest on todays program was the leader of newly formed Serb coalition “The Movement for Kosovo and Metohija Momcilo Trajkovic. Thanks for listening and stay tuned.