UNMIK ON AIR
WEEK IN REVIEW
By Zoran CULAFIC
Hello and welcome to Week in Review for May 7th, 2005 from the
studio of UNMIK ON AIR
Last week the SRSG Søren Jessen-Petersen presented to Kosovo
leaders the draft proposal for the Political Forum, it is hoped that the
informal forum of political will help overcome political tensions between
opposition parties and government coalition, in the light of upcoming status
talks this summer.
‘I don’t think the idea is to have a forum that will make
decisions. I think the idea is to have dialogue where we will discuss key
issues”, Jessen-Petersen was quoted in Pristina press.
UNMIK spokesman Gyorgy Kakuk said that it is in the interest of all
Kosovo political parties to join the
Forum as soon as possible.
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Pristina press reported last week that political leaders,
principally the LDK and PDK, disagree
with the essence of the proposal for forming a Political Forum. According to
the press, while LDK wants the Forum to have an advisory role, PDK wants it to
be a decision-making body.
‘The SRSG’s position is that the Forum would not substitute the
existing institutions, rather, it will be a support to the institutions and it
will contribute to the decision-making process.
UNMIK DPI Director Hua Jiang was quoted as saying to the local
press. “The SRSG feels that as we move forward, it would be useful to create an
informal forum to enhance the dialogues between political parties on crucial
issues like standards implementation, decentralization and status preparations’.
However, dailies in Pristina report that Nekibe Kelmendi, an LDK
member in the Assembly of Kosovo, told Kosova Information Centre (QIK) last
Tuesday that the Kosovo Forum would be a parallel body to the Kosovo
institutions, which would result in the bypassing of institutions at a crucial
time for Kosovo.
Local press continued coverage of the informal Forum, by
discussing the briefing that the SRSG gave to the CONTACT group on the goals
for the proposed Forum.
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European top officials intensified efforts last week for promoting
political dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina.
Javier Solana’s envoy for the Balkans, Stefan Lehne, encouraged
Pristina leaders to take part in political dialogue between Pristina and
Belgrade.
‘I passed on the views of the EU High Representative for Foreign
Affairs, Javier Solana, that there should be dialogue between Pristina and
Belgrade, also at the political level’, Lehne said according to local press.
Also, last week the chief of Stability Pact for the Balkans,
Erhard Busek visited Belgrade and Pristina, where he met with political leaders
and UNMIK chief Søren Jessen-Petersen, Pillar IV head Joachim Ruecker and OSCE
Head of Mission Werner Wnendt.
‘I think that there should be direct talks between Pristina and
Belgrade. There is no other way’, Busek said during his separate meetings with
Kosovo officials.
Asked to comment on Belgrade’s invitation to Pristina for talks,
Stability Pact Coordinator for Balkans Erhard Busek told Koha Ditore that
Belgrade acted very wisely when it called on Kosovans to enter talks and added
that Pristina’s immature and naïve reaction only gave Belgrade room for manoeuvring.
‘The dialogue for preparing the list of problems that exist
between Pristina and Belgrade is inevitable – whether Pristina likes this or
not,’ Busek added.
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Koha Ditore
reported As a result of intensive diplomatic activities, that there are good
chances that a meeting between Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova and Serbian
President Boris Tadic will take place in Berlin.
The German capital, according to a paper’s source, seems to be a
more suitable place than Vienna and Budapest.
The paper speculates that international sources believe that
Rugova is going to change his mind and accept talking to Tadic, since the
meeting is planned to take place in a third country, and that status will not
be a topic of discussion.
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Pristina press estimates that a hot summer awaits the SRSG
Jessen-Petersen in his efforts to calm down the tensions between opposition
parties and government coalition in Pristina.
Kosovo Democratic Party (PDK) submitted last week a new pile of
‘confidential material’ to UNMIK, ‘the content of which threatens to further
strain both the political and security situation’, Pristina press reported.
The Express reported that sources in PDK revealed that the material
contains serious accusations against senior government officials for
involvement in illegal activities.
UNMIK has confirmed to have received the file.
‘I can confirm that the document arrived here on Tuesday afternoon
and it was given to police at 1235 hrs for investigation. I would be concerned
if these documents refresh the accusations. I would prefer if it were
additional information that would assist in investigations’, Jessen-Petersen
told Pristina daily Express.
The document has 488 pages, as opposed to the 30-pages document
submitted by PDK recently. The document accuses senior officials in Kosovo
Government like Adem Salihaj, Agim Veliu, Mlihate Tërmkolli, Astrit Haraçia of
criminal activities.
A source has told the paper that the document contains information
on the work of ‘Homeland Security’ and mentions names of people responsible for
the killing of Rugova’s advisers Xhemail Mustafa, Tahir Zemaj, Shefki Popova.
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Zëri carries
an interview that President Ibrahim Rugova gave to Austrian newspaper Die
Presse. Rugova, in which President Rugova said that the direct recognition
of Kosovo’s independence would be the best and most appropriate solution.
‘We are now focusing on
internal development in Kosovo. The time of hatred has passed,’ Rugova was also
quoted as saying
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ICTY spokesperson Jim Landale stated last week that Ramus
Haradinaj has violated the rules of the detention center, by making a direct
phone call to the AAK while his party the AAK was marking its fifth
anniversary.
‘Haradinaj has been warned that if he repeats it he will have his
communication privileges limited’, Landale said.
Zëri writes
on the front page that Haradinaj’s defence does not believe that this reprimand
will complicate his temporary release to defend himself in freedom.
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The Kosovo Government has decided last week to prepare a strategic
document for the dissolution of the Kosovo Trust Agency and the creation of a
new agency called the Kosovo Agency for Privatization, Pristina press
reported.
Allegedly, several international and local experts of
privatization, who were once members of KTA, mooted the idea for this strategy.
The new agency would be formed by the Provisional Institutions of
Self-Government and be under their supervision. The Prime Minister would be
appointed head of the agency.
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The Ambassador Verner Vnendt took last week the post of the OSCE head.
‘I am very happy to work for the OSCE in Kosovo, and through this
for the future of Kosovo. Since it’s my first day, you cannot expect me to say
how the future will look like, but I am sure that the OSCE will contribute and
I will do my best to achieve progress, Vnendt said.
That’s all for this weeks review, thanks for listening.
Next week from UNMIK on Air among other features we’ll have
stories on, car licence plates, the water company and the Grand hotel.
Have a good day.