Week in review

24th of November

By Birol Urcan

 

 

·        Ahtisaari begins negotiations for status

 

·        Chief negotiator meets with local representatives

 

·        Government approves leveling of payments in pre-university education

 

·        Existence of two administrations in Mitrovica is absurd, says Valotto

 

·        Czech prime minister advocates division of Kosovo

 

·        Two options for Kosovo - independence or autonomy, Burns says.

 

·        Hague Tribunal's decision on Haradinaj in a week

 

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UN Special Envoy for Kosovo’s status, Martti Ahtisaari arrived on Monday afternoon in a fact-finding mission in Pristina.

 

Ahtisaari said that he is honored to be appointed as the chief mediator in the talks for determining Kosovo’s future, adding that this time he will listen to the views of the parties involved in the process.

 

In addition to Pristina, he will also visit Belgrade, Tirana, Skopje and Podgorica.

 

*

 

Kosovo Delegation handed to Ahtisaari the document outlining the stance of Kosovar party for independence, the will for cooperation during the negotiations process, and the guarantees for protection and integration of minorities.

 

“We handed to Ahtisaari a document with our project for independence,” Kosovo’s President Ibrahim Rugova said after the meeting with Ahtisaari.

 

Rugova said that the Kosovo Negotiations Team members expect an understanding from Ahtisaari himself and from the international community over Kosovo’s issue.

 

Evaluating the start of the status talks as an important day, President Rugova said that the Kosovar Team told the Finnish Diplomat and the international community that independence is the stance of Kosovar party and the will of Kosovar people.

 

*

Father Teodosije from Decani Monastery said on tuesday evening that the Serb Orthodox Church is concerned that even six years after the war, the Serb population lives in enclaves and has no freedom of movement and of work.

 

He made those comments following a behind-the-closed-door meeting with the UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari.

 

Teodosije told the media that in addition to the current developments, he discussed with the Finnish Diplomat the steps that need to be taken “in order the Serb people and the holy sites with its personnel can survive in those areas.”

 

*

 

Kosovo’s Government approved the proposal of the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology (MASHT) for leveling of salaries in pre-university institutions, which foresees a 7-euro raise for teachers.

 

Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister Adem Salihaj said yesterday that the Government has approved the leveling of payments as agreed with the Education Trade Union (SBAHK).

 

Leveling of payments was the main condition of teachers to give end to their 26 day strike, a month ago.

 

*

 

KFOR Commander Lt. Gen. Giuseppe Valotto said on Tuesday in Mitrovica that existence of two administrations in Mitrovica makes no sense.

 

After his meeting with municipal leadership, General Valotto said that Mitrovica will regenerate economically and it will become a proper place for living in it.

 

“Functioning of two parallel administrations is not good and the only way to move Mitrovica ahead is to bring its people together,” said COMKFOR.

 

He said that next week he will meet with representatives of the parallel administration in the northern part of Mitrovica.

 

*

 

Czech Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek said after his visit to Kosovo that he saw no possibility for the Serbs and the Albanians to live there together, and explained that a division of Kosovo would be a compromise solution.

 

"A possible solution could be the division of the territory of Kosovo according to the ethnic principle - the north would belong to Serbia and the majority southern part could have the status of an independent state", Paroubek said in an interview published by the Czech daily Pravo on Nov. 23.

 

"I have meet with representatives of the Kosovo Serbs and I must say that this was a very emotional meeting. It made me believe that the two ethnic groups can hardly live one next to the other, let alone together. This would take much time and - let me illustrate - a soldier or policeman would have to stand behind every corner," Paroubek explained his stand about the division of Kosovo.

 

The Czech prime minister pointed out that the international community should seek a true compromise and that he believed a solution that would be damaging for Serbia was not reasonable.

 

*

U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said two options for the status of Kosovo existed in the eyes of the U.S. - independence or autonomy within Serbia-Montenegro - but that Washington will
not be deciding on this.

 

Burns told the Sarajevo daily Dnevni Avaz that it was not up to the U.S. to decide on the status of Kosovo, but that it was the job of the Kosovo Albanians and Serbs and of the authorities in Belgrade.

 

He said the U.S. would participate in negotiations and help in the defining of the final status of Kosovo that will be acceptable for the majority of citizens.

 

*

 

The Hague Tribunal will decide within a week on whether Ramush Haradinaj will deal with political activities or not, Coordinator of Haradinaj’s Defense Team, Michael O’Reili, announced.

 

Several weeks ago, The Hague Tribunal reached a decision, allowing Ramush Haradinaj to deal with political activities. But two days later Tribunal’s Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte requested its cancellation.

 

At her request, the judges decided to suspend this decision, until they do not reach a final one.

This was all from our week in review, thanks for listening and have a nice and warm weekend.