[ALBSA-Info] FW: RFE/RL BALKAN REPORT, Vol. 4, No. 49, 30 June 2000

[Mimoza Meholli]

>From: "Jim Satterwhite" <satterwhitej at bluffton.edu>
>Reply-To: <satterwhitej at bluffton.edu>
>To: <satterwhitej at bluffton.edu>
>Subject: FW: RFE/RL BALKAN REPORT, Vol. 4, No. 49, 30 June 2000
>Date: Fri, 30 Jun 2000 22:40:36 -0400
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: RFE/RL List Manager [mailto:listmanager at list.rferl.org]
>Sent: Friday, June 30, 2000 10:50 AM
>To: balkanreport at list.rferl.org
>Subject: RFE/RL BALKAN REPORT, Vol. 4, No. 49, 30 June 2000
>
>
>RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
>___________________________________________________________
>RFE/RL BALKAN REPORT
>Vol. 4, No. 49, 30 June 2000
>
>A Twice-Weekly Review of Politics, Media and Radio Free
>Europe/Radio Liberty Broadcasts in the western Balkans.
>
>______________________________________
>HEADLINES
>	* THE APOLOGY
>	* MULTIETHNIC LIVING IN KOSOVA
>______________________________________
>
>THE APOLOGY. An apology has sent shock-waves around much of
>the former Yugoslavia. It may not have solved all the
>problems between Montenegro and Croatia, but it certainly has
>generated much discussion.
>	Croatian President Stipe Mesic and his Montenegrin
>counterpart Milo Djukanovic discussed "practical issues"
>including economic cooperation and cross-border traffic in
>Cavtat near Dubrovnik on 24 June. But Djukanovic also said:
>"I'd like to express in my name and behalf of Montenegro...my
>sincerest apologies to all citizens of Croatia and especially
>of Dubrovnik...for all the pain and suffering and material
>losses inflicted by Montenegrins" during the Belgrade-led
>campaign against Croatia in 1991 and 1992.
>	He added that "Montenegro has paid a dear price [for its
>participation in the conflict.] We have paid in the lives of
>our people, the severance of traditional good ties between
>Croatia and Montenegro, and our banishment from the
>international community."
>	Djukanovic, in fact, was Montenegrin prime minister when
>Yugoslav forces shelled Dubrovnik and often tipsy Montenegrin
>reservists and other forces pillaged Cavtat, Dubrovnik
>airport's duty-free shop, and several other places in the
>area. "Vesti" published a 1992 photo of then-Montenegrin
>President Momir Bulatovic and Djukanovic together with their
>troops in the rain. One Serbian observer commented tongue-in-
>cheek that the Djukanovic in the picture "must have been the
>double" of the current Montenegrin leader.
>	His remarks in Cavtat were not Djukanovic's first
>expression of good intentions toward Croatia. In 1999, he
>thanked the Zagreb leadership for allowing him to fly in and
>out of Dubrovnik on his travels to promote Montenegro's case
>before the international community.
>	Returning to his latest remarks, most leading Croatian
>politicians reacted positively to Djukanovic's apology,
>"Jutarnji list" reported on 26 June. Most political leaders
>added, however, that Djukanovic's remarks were prompted by
>the pragmatic need to improve relations with Zagreb and that
>the question of Montenegrin responsibility for the 1991
>conflict remains open.
>	Deputy Prime Minister Goran Granic said that Podgorica
>will now have to follow up on Djukanovic's words with
>concrete deeds. Opposition leader Vladimir Seks noted that
>Djukanovic did not offer to pay for war damages or to assist
>the Hague tribunal in investigating and indicting
>Montenegrins who committed atrocities during the conflict.
>(Djukanovic subsequently told the weekly "Nacional" that
>Montenegro will pay damages "if necessary" but did not
>elaborate.)
>	But there was little or no sympathy for Djukanovic in
>Serbia, even from most of the opposition. So far, neither
>Milosevic nor his top aides have made any public statements
>on Djukanovic's remarks, but Belgrade's state-run Tanjug news
>agency quickly and sharply criticized the Montenegrin leader.
>Tanjug charged that Djukanovic "practically praised Mesic for
>his secessionist policies...which led to the tragic events in
>former Yugoslavia." The news agency added that Mesic had
>demanded as precondition for the meeting that the Montenegrin
>apologize "for something that never existed--the alleged
>aggression against Croatia." (Mesic was slated to be the
>rotating chairman of the former Yugoslav collective
>presidency in 1991, but then-Serbian President Slobodan
>Milosevic and his allies--including Montenegro--prevented
>Mesic from taking office.)
>	The state-run Belgrade daily "Politika" on 26 June also
>criticized Djukanovic. The daily wrote that he has given in
>to "blackmail" and "soiled the reputation of the proud
>Montenegrins by dropping to his knees before...Mesic...[and
>the ] Ustashe." (Mesic is an outspoken anti-fascist.)
>	Velizar Nikcevic, who heads the pro-Milosevic Serbian
>People's Party in Montenegro, charged that Djukanovic's
>"gesture is a continuation of the policy of servility,
>treachery, hate, and provoking conflicts among his own
>people.... The Montenegrin regime is entering the last phase
>of treason," Reuters reported.
>	But that was not all--even the opposition was generally
>critical of the Montenegrin leader. The Democratic Party's
>Vojislav Kostunica said in Belgrade on 24 June that
>Djukanovic "during the war not only implemented but literally
>created the policy of Montenegro and Yugoslavia, but he is
>now representing himself differently.... He came to power by
>manipulating the deepest national and patriotic sentiments.
>Now he is denying all that and is starting a new ruse."
>  	In a slightly more sympathetic vein, Alliance for Change
>leader Vladan Batic said that Djukanovic "must have had his
>reasons [for apologizing]...probably related to interests of
>Montenegro." Batic added that it is Djukanovic's right as
>president to make such an apology if he so chooses.
>	But Predrag Simic, who is foreign policy spokesman for
>Vuk Draskovic's Serbian Renewal Movement, hailed the apology
>as "not a move of a politician, but of a statesman who wants
>the past to become part of history, to take a new direction."
>Simic added that the apology "opens the question of the cause
>and the purpose of the war" for the citizens of Serbia and
>Montenegro. These remarks are striking, not only because they
>differ from most of the public statements by Serbian
>political figures but also because they differ greatly from
>some of Simic's earlier remarks about Djukanovic.
>	It seems that public apologies from important figures
>have become something of a phenomenon--albeit a sometimes
>controversial one--in recent times. Perhaps the most
>successful in terms of his credibility among his intended
>audience has been Pope John Paul II--and this on more than
>one occasion.
>	Elsewhere, some Western politicians have provoked mixed
>reactions by apologizing for things that happened long before
>they were born, and in some cases in places where their own
>ancestors were not living at the time. Perhaps the least
>successful in apologizing have been Japanese leaders,
>because, as a recent commentary in the "Far Eastern Economic
>Review" pointed out, their intended audiences generally
>regard the apologies as incomplete and insincere.
>	In any event, it appears that many Croats are inclined
>at least to give Djukanovic the benefit of the doubt
>regarding his remarks and are willing to continue a dialogue.
>But his words alone will not be enough. It is difficult to
>see how he will be able to avoid some form of investigation
>into Montenegro's role in 1991-1992, with the possibility
>that some of the leaders and tipsy looters may face a day in
>court. That is clear from the announcement by Croatian
>Justice Minister Stjepan Ivanisevic on 27 June that his
>government wants the Hague-based tribunal to launch an
>investigation of the Dubrovnik campaign. (Patrick Moore)
>
>MULTIETHNIC LIVING IN KOSOVA (PART I). One year ago last
>week, the Yugoslav Army and Serbian police and paramilitaries
>evacuated Kosova, and NATO-led peacekeeping forces entered
>the province. Nearly 1 million forcibly-exiled Kosovar
>Albanians returned home to a devastated land, while the
>majority of Kosova's Serbian community fled the province out
>of fear of retribution. RFE/RL correspondent Jolyon Naegele
>visited the ethnically-mixed village of Binaq in southern
>Kosova to see how residents are faring one year later.
>	Binaq is a deceptively idyllic village nestled in the
>foothills of the Black Mountains of southeastern Kosova, an
>assortment of old Serbian farm houses, newer Albanian houses,
>a modern Roman Catholic church, and an older Serbian Orthodox
>church. The nearest mosque is a short walk down the road in
>the larger village of Kabash. The tall minarets of other
>mosques in hillside hamlets glisten further up the slopes.
>	At present, Binaq is home to some 850 Albanian
>Catholics, a few Muslim families, and about 150 Serbs--only
>about one-third of the number of Serbs in the village before
>the Belgrade regime capitulated to NATO one year ago. The
>rest of the Serbs have since fled to Serbia.
>	Although Catholics are a tiny minority in Kosova as a
>whole, they make up the majority of the Albanian population
>in Binaq, Kabash, and the district center, Viti. Most of
>these Catholics are known as "Karadak"--Turkish for Black
>Mountain--and although their forebears were forced by Ottoman
>Turkey to accept Islam, they secretly maintained their Roman
>Catholicism.
>	June 13 was Saint Anthony's Day, the patron saint of the
>local Roman Catholic church. Several hundred Catholic
>Albanians--some of the women dressed in Turkish-style
>pantaloons--were gathered in sweltering heat for an open-air
>mass.
>	As a chorus of villagers sings in Latin, KFOR
>reconnaissance helicopters clatter overhead. U.S. KFOR foot
>patrols amble through the village, chatting with children, as
>the congregation recites the Lord's Prayer in Albanian.
>	In mid-June, there were several shootings just over the
>hills on the Macedonian side of the border. But down in
>Binaq, the tensions are of a different sort. They are between
>Albanian and Serbian neighbors.
>	The village priest, Don Lush Gjergji, says coexistence
>is possible as long as it is based on three points:
>international protection for all ethnic groups,
>demilitarization and disarmament, and the local tradition of
>good multiethnic relations: "So now, this is not the time for
>war or fighting, but rather it is a time to struggle for
>values and virtues. The time has come to go forward by
>increasing [emphasis on] these values and to defeat evil."
>	Don Lush Gjergji adds that "there must either be freedom
>for all or freedom for none." He says the post-war period is
>difficult for everyone. "First of all we have to conserve
>what has been built over the centuries, so that nothing is
>destroyed. We have to condemn evil in the direction whence it
>came and we must seek and build for the common good, because
>life, truth, justice, peace, love, forgiveness are neither
>Serbian nor Albanian but universal [values]."
>	The Catholic priest says he cooperates well with the
>Orthodox priest and the Muslim imam. He says that after the
>Yugoslav Army (VJ) withdrew one year ago, he told his Serbian
>Orthodox colleague that if anyone were to threaten him, he
>would always have a place to stay in the Catholic priest's
>home. "Now, the security of Serbs is threatened. As long as
>even one citizen of Kosova is threatened, I personally feel
>threatened. Because, as a Catholic cleric, as a writer, as an
>intellectual, I am on the side of the little people, the
>persecuted, the devastated."
>	As Don Lush Gjergji puts it, "the international
>community did not come here to pit Albanians against Serbs,
>but for the good of everyone." He says he feels he represents
>everyone in the community, not just the Albanian Catholics,
>adding: "as long as there is no love between us we are all
>orphans, regardless of whether they killed us or we killed
>them, because every killing is self-destruction." (Part II
>will appear on 4 July 2000.) (Jolyon Naegele
>naegelej at rferl.org)
>
>
>QUOTATIONS OF THE WEEK.
>These are all taken from the Security Council debate of 23
>June. Thanks to RFE/RL's UN correspondent, Bob McMahon.
>
>"There's no room in this debate, Mr. President, for a
>representative of this regime, which continues its repressive
>tactics at home and its policies of nationalistic extremism
>abroad." -- U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke
>
>"It is impossible to deny that the [Federal Republic of
>Yugoslavia] de facto remains a party to every track of the
>peace process in the Balkans." -- Ukrainian Ambassador
>Volodymyr Yelchenko (in English)
>
>"Gagging people's mouths is not the best way to discuss acute
>international problems." -- Russian Ambassador Sergei Lavrov
>
>"There is still far more of the rule of the thugs than the
>rule of the law. And although the local Kosovo Albanian
>leadership has condemned acts of violence, there is still a
>climate of tolerance of the terror that we must never
>accept." -- UN Special envoy Carl Bildt
>
>Serbia and Montenegro "are today on a slow but steady course
>towards a collision. This might not be imminent but the
>trends are very clearly there. I believe it is of key
>importance that we all give support to the elected
>authorities in Montenegro in their efforts to pave the way
>for the new deal they seek." -- Bildt again.
>
>(Compiled by Patrick Moore)
>*************************************************
>Copyright (c) 2000. RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved.
>The RFE/RL Balkan Report is prepared by Patrick Moore
>based on sources including reporting by RFE/RL's South
>Slavic Service.
>
>Direct content-related comments to Patrick Moore in Prague at
>moorep at rferl.org or by phone at (4202) 2112-3631.
>
>Technical queries should be emailed to listmanager at list.rferl.org
>For information on subscriptions or reprints, contact Paul
>Goble in Washington at (202) 457-6947 or at goblep at rferl.org.
>Back issues are online at http://www.rferl.org/balkan-report
>
>NEWS BROADCASTS ONLINE
>Listen to news for the South Slavic region daily at RFE/RL's
>24-Hour LIVE Broadcast Studio on the RFE/RL Web site:
>http://www.rferl.org/realaudio/index.html
>
>See also South Slavic Report at http://www.rferl.org/southslavic/
>
>HOW TO SUBSCRIBE
>Send an email to balkanreport-request at list.rferl.org with
>the word subscribe as the subject of the message.
>
>HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE
>Send an email to balkanreport-request at list.rferl.org with
>the word unsubscribe as the subject of the message.
>___________________________________________________________
>RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
>
>

________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: winmail.dat
Type: application/ms-tnef
Size: 9796 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://www.alb-net.com/pipermail/albsa-info/attachments/20000701/59e6313f/attachment.bin>