UNMIK ON AIR
By Zoran CULAFIC
On 23 October
of this year, Kosovans are scheduled to conduct elections for Kosovo’s
provisional government. These elections are the second set of elections for Kosovo’s
Provisional Legislature since the 1999 conflict ended. Now the question remains
- will Kosovo’s Serb community participate?
Hello and
welcome. You are listening to UNMIK ON-Air.
After the 1999
conflict ended, the OSCE or Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
was given the mandate to organize and supervise elections in Kosovo.
To date, three
elections have been organized - the municipal assembly elections in 2000 and
2002 and the Kosovo Assembly elections in 2001 - thus far all of the elections
have been qualified as free and fair by local and international observers. But
this year OSCE is handing over the responsibilities to local election
management institutions.
Serbia’s
government and Kosovo’s international administration understand the utmost
importance of October’s elections, but the Kosovo Serb community is undecided
on the matter.
STREET SOUNDS…
Influenced by
prominent Belgrade political leaders, Kosovo Serbs are reluctant to vote if
some guaranties for security are not offered. At least, that is what one can
conclude when talking to people in Gracanica, a Serbian enclave outside of
Pristina.
For
the Serbs living there, the huge gap of distrust between Serb and Albanian
communities in Kosovo became more obvious after the March riots.
Most
of the Serbs interviewed for this segment, said that Kosovo institutions alone
could not protect them effectively and that unless some firm and clear
institutional guaranties are offered - they would not vote in October.
Gracanica Serb: “I would
not vote … and to tell you frankly, voting means living in a democracy, but
Kosovo today is not democratic. There is no freedom of movement for the people
and as long as you have no freedom of movement, there is no democracy at all. I also think that we should not participate
in elections …because, there is nothing secured that could force people to
participate in elections and to fight for democratic Kosovo …”
On
the other end of the equation, Kosovo Albanians interviewed for this segment
considers the October elections ideal for minority communities to begin
integrating into Kosovo society.
Kosovo
Albanians: “I would tell Serbs to participate in the elections because
they belong here and not in Serbia.”
“My
message to the Serb community is for them to participate in the elections
because that’ the only way for them to get more rights and to defend their
rights.”
“They
still have not decided not to participate and these are only conditions, which
are a part of a political plan to gain more points in negotiations with the
international administration. I still believe that they will participate in the
elections and institutions.”
Nenad
Radosavljevic, who advises the UN Office of the SRSG on the issues of returns
for internally displaced persons, supports the notion that Serbs should not
participate in October elections unless some essential and clear guaranties for
that community are offered.
Radosavljevic
does however expect that the UN Security Council will make concessions to the
Serbs, but how significant these concessions will be, Radosavljevic says - remains to be seen.
At
the same time he expects growing international pressure on Belgrade to call
Kosovo on Serbs to go out and vote in October elections, something that could give
more credibility to the idea of a multi-ethnic Kosovo.
Radosavljevic
- “The Government of Serbia should not and would not change its
stance unless the Serbs are offered something. We must insist on implementation
of the Serbia Government’s plan, because it is the only way to achieve
institutional protection of Serb people in Kosovo.”
Local
Serb politicians, like Oliver Ivanovic, who is currently a member of the Kosovo
Assembly, have not ruled out the possibility of Serbs participating in October
elections.
Ivanovic
told UNMIK ON AIR that besides guaranteeing safety conditions, Serb
representatives in Kosovo institutions are very aware that by MID-2005 the
international community will begin the process of defining the final status of
Kosovo.
Ivanovic
- “Important events are ahead us in 2005 and 2006 and those who are
going to be elected must have a full and unreserved support from Belgrade”.
The
United Nations Mission has called upon Serb political leaders to change their
stance on boycotting October’s elections. Georgy Kakuk, UNMIK spokesperson
confirmed that UNMIK has managed several official meetings and private contacts
with top Serb political leaders on the issue.
Kakuk
- “The message sent to them was that it is absolutely essential for the Serb
community in Kosovo to be fully participant in the political process, not only
in elections but in all political process in Kosovo in terms provided in the
Constitutional framework”.
He
stressed that those who have made statements about Serb nonparticipation in the
elections must carefully consider the consequences and the potential weakness
of their position if they are not represented in the Kosovo Assembly.
And that is all for today's edition of
UNMIK ON-Air…thanks for listening and stay tuned for the second part of this
two part election story.