Week in Review

10 November 9

By Birol Urcan

 

 

 

Hello and welcome to the Week in Review, for week 45 of 2005, my name is …...

 

Here are the stories that made the headlines in the Kosovo dailies this week.

 

·        Both Standards and Status for solution in Kosovo, Rehn says

 

·        Stephan Lehne will be EUs special envoy for Status Talks

 

·        The EU is opposed to unilateral solutions for Kosovo

 

·        Negotiations Team sets up Political Group

·        Montenegrin representatives will not take part in negotiations

 

·        Burns warns NATO will not tolerate violence in Kosovo

 

·        Czech KFOR member wounded in skirmish

 

·        Explosion in central Pristina, no injuries

 

 

*

 

European commissioner Olli Rehn stated in Brussels that, in order for a solution to be found for the Kosovo issue, it is necessary for the Status to be solved together with the implementation of democratic standards.

 

The rights and protection of minorities is the key for finding a sustainable solution for the status of Kosovo," Rehn said while presenting the "Strategy of EU Enlargement," and annual reports on progress in countries of the western Balkans created by the European Commission.

 

*

 

The EU member states Foreign Ministers, appointed Stephan Lehne, a Senior Advisor to Solana, as the European Unions special envoy for the Kosovo status talks.

 

The announcement for the appointment was made by the EU Senior Representative for Security and Foreign Policy, Javier Solana.

 

He said that the EU envoy would support the work of the UN designate envoy, Martti Ahtisaari, and will report on regular basis to the EU Foreign Ministers and to Solana.

 

Solana also pointed out that Lehne has worked for years with him on the Balkans issue, and knows very well the environment.

The EU Foreign Ministers and NATO Secretary General offered support to Martti Ahtisaari, a former-Finnish President, about the hard work awaiting him when leading the difficult talks on Kosovo’s status.

 

*

Any unilateral solution for Kosovo’s future status or one resulting, from the use of force, as well as any changes to the current territory of Kosovo, would be unacceptable for the European Union, EU foreign ministers concluded at Monday’s meeting in Brussels.

The Council of the EU General Affairs and External Relations Council reaffirmed that Kosovo's future status must be fully compatible with European values and norms, complying with international legal instruments and obligations and the UN Charter.

The Council also confirmed its stand that the agreement on the status should ensure that Kosovo does not return to the pre-March 1999 status.

*

 

Kosovo Negotiations Team has decided on Tuesday to form the Political Group which will prepare Kosovo’s political platform, the Presidency Office reported on Tuesday.

The third meeting of the Negotiations Team took place on Tuesday at the Presidency Office and all members attended it.

 

The statement issued after the meeting reads that “the Political Group has been authorized to start preparation of the political platform for Kosovo as an independent and sovereign country”.

*

Montenegrin Premier Milo Djukanovic stated that Montenegro's representatives would not directly take part in negotiations on the status of Kosovo, explaining that Belgrade, Pristina and the international community should solve this issue.

 

Speaking at a news conference on Nov. 3, Djukanovic said a possibility was opened at the meeting of Serbia-Montenegro's helm in Belgrade for Montenegro to have a representative in the talks, but it was rejected, because Montenegrin officials believe that Serbian officials should deal with this issue.

 

*

U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns warned on Nov. 8 that NATO would use force to prevent any attempt at influencing the talks on the status of Kosovo through violence.

 

Burns said this during his address of the U.S. Senate's Committee for Foreign Relations, while the senators stressed the need for a compromise to be reached during the talks.

 

Senator Joseph Biden said that the Serbs and the Albanians will start negotiations with the burden of 800 years of conflict.

Biden pointed out that the Kosovo Albanians "must demonstrate substantial flexibility that he is not sure that exists", adding that the Serbs must avoid "clinging to territorial artifacts of the past."

*

One Czech soldier and one civilian were wounded in a skirmish between KFOR and a group of Kosovo Albanians, who were cutting down trees in a forest illegally, the Czech Defense Ministry stated.

 

A KFOR patrol found a group of six Kosovo Albanians stealing timber, and when they ordered them to stop and fired warning shots in the air, the Albanians opened fire on them.

 

The Czech troops returned fire, wounding one Kosovo Albanian," Maj. Jana Rulickova of the Czech Army General Staff stated.

 

*

 

 

Early in the morning of Nov. 9, near the OSCE mission headquarters in central Pristina, an explosion took place, destroying one Audi A4 automobile.

According to the spokesman of the Kosovo Police Service, Refki Morina, there is no information about possible injuries in the explosion. The public prosecutor, police and KFOR investigated the site immediately.

 

KFOR's bomb squad inspected nearby vehicles in search for possible other explosive devices. There is still no information about motives for planting the bomb in the destroyed car. This was the third explosion this year that took place in the street where the OSCE mission in Kosovo headquarters is located.

 

 

That’s the Week in Review; you have been to listening to UNMIK ON AIR.

 

Have a good day.