Nice to see your posting again, H.
Send Clinton to The Hague
BELGRADE 15/01/2003 (ANA/E. Boukaouri)
Foreign Minister and EU Council of Ministers President George Papandreou, who arrived here on Tuesday within the framework of a tour of western Balkan countries, said that ''we are creating the new Balkans, we want to prove that this region is not only a flashpoint of crises but a successful history. The Balkans are changing.''
Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic and Serbian President Vojislav Kostunica, who received Papandreou in his capacity as EU Council of Ministers president, stressed their desire for the existence of a European prospect in the region, with the ultimate goal of the country's accession to the new enlarged European Union.
Both sides recognized that Kosovo constituted a major problem and should be solved on the basis of European criteria, principles and values.
Djindjic in particular asked for a new initiative for a settlement of the problem and Papandreou replied that ''we will help in the procedure for its settlement.''
The Greek foreign minister stressed that the Greek EU presidency will support the region's European prospect and that in Thessaloniki, where the parallel EU-Balkans summit will be held, there should be a commitment and clear message from the Balkan countries that they are advancing reforms, democracy, security, respect of human rights and that they hope in economic development.
Within the framework of bilateral relations, Greece will grant Yugoslavia 265 million euro from the Greek Plan for the Economic Reconstruction of the Balkans.
Papandreou stressed that negotiations should start for the association and stabilization agreement of Yugoslavia that the constitutional changes and the new charter for Montenegro and Serbia should proceed, in order for these countries to proceed on the European road, at the same time solving the problem of Kosovo.
Papandreou will visit Sarajevo on Wednesday to attend the ceremony of the installation of the European Police, and his tour, the first which he is conducting as EU Council of Ministers president, will end with a visit to Kosovo's Pristina.
7 February 2003 INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY FIRMLY REJECTS TALKS ON STATUS OF KOSOVA
In response to recent statements by Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic that he wants talks on the status of Kosova to begin soon, U.S. Ambassador to Serbia and Montenegro William Montgomery told the Belgrade daily "Blic" that the new state will harm its relations with the United States if it opens the Kosova question, RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service reported on 6 February (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 6 February 2003). Elsewhere in Belgrade, EU security policy chief Javier Solana said the time has not yet come to discuss the status of Kosova. In New York, UN civilian administration (UNMIK) chief Michael Steiner told the Security Council that "jobs, security, and multiethnicity" are UNMIK's priorities, Reuters reported. He added: "This is what the international community wants. This is what people in Kosovo want." He criticized Belgrade for saying Kosova is part of Serbia while being concerned only with the Serbian minority there. Steiner also said the Albanian majority fails to deal with the problems facing Serbs and other minorities. Also at the UN, U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte said the time has come increasingly to transfer responsibilities from UNMIK to the elected authorities in Kosova, "Koha Ditore" reported on 7 February.
18 February 2003 U.S. WARNS OF ATTEMPTS TO 'DESTABILIZE' KOSOVA...
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in Washington on 12 February that "the United States is concerned by recent developments in Serbia and Montenegro and in Kosovo regarding the timing and nature of decisions on Kosovo's future status," a State Department statement noted. Boucher stressed that the United States supports UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and UN civilian administration (UNMIK) head Michael Steiner's program for achieving democratic standards before tackling the question of status. Boucher added that "statements or actions by the authorities in Belgrade or on behalf of Kosovo parties or institutions which attempt to force the pace of the future status process...are unhelpful and potentially destabilizing" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 February 2003 and "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 31 January 2003). In Prishtina on 13 February, the legislators belonging to three leading Kosovar Albanian political parties issued a joint declaration in support of independence, RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service reported. For his part, Steiner warned against any unilateral moves aimed at changing Kosova's status. In Belgrade, the Foreign Ministry condemned the three-party declaration.
...AND CAUSE TENSIONS IN SOUTHERN SERBIA
U.S. Ambassador to Serbia and Montenegro William Montgomery said in Nis on 14 February that both Belgrade and local Albanians are to blame for the recent increase in tensions in the Presevo region, RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 12 and 14 February 2003). In Belgrade, Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic warned of ethnic Albanian "terrorism," adding there will be no compromise with "extremists," the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" reported on 15 February.
Serbian authorities have also sent an unspecified number of additional police units into the region following continued peaceful protests by local Albanians.
4 March 2003 UNMIK HEAD INVITES SERBIAN LEADERS TO TRILATERAL MEETING ON KOSOVA
Michael Steiner, the head of the UN civilian administration in Kosova (UNMIK), announced in Prishtina on 3 March that he has invited Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic and the Serbian government's coordinator for Kosova, Nebojsa Covic, for trilateral talks with representatives of UNMIK and of Kosova's institutions, RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service reported. Kosovar Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi welcomed the invitation, saying he will head the province's delegation if Djindjic heads the Serbian delegation, according to Tanjug news agency. Covic also reacted positively to the invitation but added that the agenda proposed by Steiner should also include the return of Serbs to Kosova, decentralization, and security.
5 March 2003 UNMIK REBUFFS SERBIAN COORDINATOR FOR KOSOVA
A spokesman for the UN civilian administration in Kosova (UNMIK) on 4 March dismissed Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic's request to put additional issues on the agenda of upcoming trilateral talks between UNMIK, the Serbian government, and Kosova province institutions, RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service reported. Covic had demanded that working groups be set up to discuss issues such as refugee returns, freedom of movement, and decentralization of power prior to the trilateral talks. In related news, Kosovar Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi asked the province's parliament on 4 March to discuss the proposed trilateral talks, RFE/RL reported.
6 March 2003 ADVISER HINTS SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO WILL BLOCK HAGUE ACCESS TO ARCHIVES...
Vladimir Djeric, an adviser to the joint Foreign Ministry of Serbia and Montenegro, said in Belgrade on 5 March that prosecutors from The Hague-based international war crimes tribunal have no right to access the state's archives, RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service reported.
Djeric added that the issue will be on the agenda of a meeting between the prosecutor's office and a delegation from Serbia and Montenegro that is scheduled to take place in The Hague on 10 March.
....AS TRIBUNAL'S CHIEF PROSECUTOR, EU REPRESENTATIVES ASSESS SITUATION
Carla Del Ponte, the war crimes tribunal's chief prosecutor, met on 5 March with EU foreign- and security-policy chief Javier Solana and EU Foreign Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten to assess obstacles to cooperation between the tribunal and Serbia and Montenegro, RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service reported. Solana also met with Serbia and Montenegro acting Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic the same day. While stressing the shared goal of reintegrating Serbia and Montenegro into European institutions, Solana said the union state must build common institutions, unify internal markets, and cooperate with the war crimes tribunal, according to Tanjug. Solana reportedly also encouraged Belgrade to join talks with the Kosovar leadership and the UN civilian administration in the province (UNMIK) (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 and 5 March 2003).
10 March 2003 POLITICIAN CALLS ON FORMER YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT TO LEAD SERBIAN OPPOSITION
Vuk Draskovic, the chairman of the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) and one-time opposition leader, said in a speech on 9 March that former Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica and his Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) should lead public protests aimed at bringing down the government of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, Beta reported. Draskovic called for a new "9 March" -- a reference to the SPO-led demonstration against Slobodan Milosevic's state-run media 12 years ago that led to violent clashes with police and high-profile resignations in the broadcast media.
11 March 2003 SERBIAN AUTHORITIES CONFIRM PLANS FOR SECURITY BASE IN SOUTHERN SERBIA
A Serbian Army representative has confirmed that the foundations will be laid for a major security base in the Presevo Valley, the "Southeast European Times" reported on 11 March. According to Major General Mladjen Cirkovic, the facility will house some 1,000 police and army officers. Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic has played down fears that an increasing police and army presence reflects security concerns in the region, according the paper (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 10, 14, 18, and 20 February 2003).
WHY NO COMPLIANCE WITH UN DECISION TO RETURN SERBIAN TROOPS TO KOSOVO
The Serbian Prime Minister, Zoran Djindjic, has demanded that Nato's commander for southeastern Europe, Admiral Gregory Johnson, provide the conditions for the immediate return to Kosovo of at least one thousand Yugoslav and Serbian security forces. More from our observer Yuri Solton.
The demand complies with Resolution 12-44 adopted by the United Nations Security Council on July 10th 1999. The Resolution details the functions of the international civil and military missions in Kosovo, following the withdrawal of the Yugoslav army. It states that Yugoslav and Serb troops are to be allowed to return to Kosovo to clear fields of mines, protect Serbian holy sites and safeguard key checkpoints on the border. The Yugoslav army has formed a special unit with appropriate personnel and equipment as required in the Resolution.
But now in response to the demand of the Serbian Prime Minister, the head of the UN mission in Kosovo, Michael Steiner, says no. The UN civil mission and the international peacekeeping force, he says, bear full responsibility for security in the province. The refusal comes as no surprise. The international peacekeeping force is made up of NATO troops, and its leaders along with the leaders of the civil mission consider it their duty to support the extremist ethnic Albanians. As a result, about a quarter of a million Serbs have fled Kosovo and ethnic Albanians hold all the governing posts at all levels. And now there are plans for a drastic reduction of the international military presence in Kosovo and hand over of security functions to the ethnic Albanian authorities.
The resolution of the UN Security Council demands preservation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the former Yugoslavia. If a Serbian contingent is allowed to return to Kosovo, this will confirm Serbia's sovereignty over Kosovo. The refusal by a UN official to allow this is a direct violation of the UN resolution.