[ALBSA-Info] RFE/RL BALKAN REPORT, Vol. 4, No. 47, 23 June 2000

[Mimoza Meholli]

>RFE/RL BALKAN REPORT
>Vol. 4, No. 47, 23 June 2000
>
>A Twice-Weekly Review of Politics, Media and Radio Free
>Europe/Radio Liberty Broadcasts in the western Balkans.
>
>HEADLINES
>	* Some Thoughts on Kosova
>	* Senior Albanian Socialist Warns Of Defeat
>	* Sarajevo Daily Under Pressure
>	* Round-Up Of Short Items From Croatia And Bosnia
>	* Tito's Yacht Sold
>	* Our Pleasure To Serve You
>
>SOME THOUGHTS ON KOSOVA. This week marked the first
>anniversary of the withdrawal of Serbian forces from Kosova.
>The U.S.-based Kosova Task Force sent out a message raising
>some important points in conjunction with the current Kosova
>debate in some Western countries (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report,"
>16 May 2000).
>	The report noted that many "journalists in leading
>newspapers are suffering from a serious bout of collective
>amnesia. Critics in alliance with the Serbian lobby are
>questioning whether NATO intervention on humanitarian grounds
>was justified. Instead of acknowledging NATO's role in the
>heroic resistance waged by the people of Kosova against
>genocide, the focus is on whether the number of Serbian tanks
>hit were worth the costs of intervention.
>	"The following facts need to be remembered and brought
>forward to the media's attention." There then follows a list
>of nine points, which may be summed up as follows:
>	1. Kosova still does not enjoy self-determination and
>majority rule. Serbia continues to have political sovereignty
>over Kosova despite the overwhelming vote for independence by
>Kosovars in 1991. To deny the aspirations of Kosovars could
>lead to new wars and further atrocities.
>	2. The UN Security Council [in Resolution 1244] assigned
>UNMIK the impossible task of creating a multiethnic Kosova
>subject to Belgrade. Any talk of reconciliation and creation
>of a multi-ethnic society is futile so long as there is no
>acknowledgment of the wrongs done. Even if amends are not
>made, then there should be at least a sense that some measure
>of justice is being done.
>	3. NATO went to war against Belgrade not to create some
>multiethnic and democratic nirvana but to prevent an
>escalation of Serbian attacks against Kosova's civilian
>population.
>	4. A political settlement with ethnic Albanians as full
>partners is needed.
>	5. The upcoming municipal elections are no more than a
>UN plan to assuage Kosovars and a bid for time in the hope
>that some sort of compromise short of Kosovar independence
>will emerge.
>	6. French forces have allowed a de facto partition of
>the mineral-rich region of Mitrovica by the Serbs.
>	7. War criminals have not been arrested. Kosova still
>has no court that can deliver impartial judgments regarding
>war crimes.
>	8. About 1,200 Albanians are still being illegally held
>in Serbian prisons, subjected to mock trials that make a parody
>of justice. Last month, 143 of these prisoners were sentenced
>to a total of 1,632 years in prison. Another 5,000 Kosovars
>are reported missing. The weak international response has
>fostered a profound cynicism among Kosovars regarding the
>prospects for realizing other Western promises such as self-
>governance or real peace.
>	9. Kosovar sources estimate that 20,000 Kosovar women
>were raped by Serbs. None of the guilty men have been
>arrested. Few services are available for these women to deal
>with their personal traumas. Local humanitarian groups,
>including the Red Cross, have estimated that 100 babies
>conceived through rape were born in January alone.
>	Of course, this is only part of the story. The crimes
>mentioned here do not justify the recent violence done to
>Serbs and other non-Albanians who stayed on in Kosova. Any
>moves to prevent the return of non-Albanians to Kosova are
>not acceptable. Kosovar society itself is partly to blame for
>the psychological and other difficulties that many of the
>rape victims--to say nothing of the unwanted children--are
>having. And KFOR's recent discovery of 67 tons arms in the
>Drenica valley has cast more than a shadow over General Agim
>Ceku and his Kosova Protection Corps.
>	But these developments--and sometimes sterile
>discussions about bombing raids--should not obscure the fact
>that NATO intervened in Kosova for sound reasons and
>succeeded in bringing the genocide to a halt. (Editing and
>commentary by Patrick Moore)
>
>
>SENIOR ALBANIAN SOCIALIST WARNS OF DEFEAT. The Socialist
>Party (PS) is losing public support. This comes just three
>years after the PS took office in general elections following
>widespread anarchy after the collapse of fraudulent pyramid
>investment schemes. The party has been slow in improving
>general living conditions, and its term in office has been
>characterized by infighting among its own politicians. Within
>those three years Albania has had three different prime
>ministers from the PS (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 2 May
>2000).
>	Kastriot Islami, the chairman of the PS Election
>Committee, has warned his fellow party members that they
>could lose the upcoming local elections, "Albanian Daily
>News" reported on 19 June. Islami said in an interview to
>"Koha Jone" that the PS "lacks solidarity" and is going
>through a "moral crisis." He added that "cliques formed on
>the basis of various kinds of interests" dominate party
>politics and that "there is also an absence of principles."
>	He did not mention names, but apparently he targeted
>most of his criticism at Party Chairman Fatos Nano and
>circles around him. Nano, who embodies an emotional conflict
>with rival Democratic Party (PD) leader Sali Berisha, has
>repeatedly attacked the government of his successor, Pandeli
>Majko, for being too conciliatory toward the PD, triggering
>Majko's resignation in November 1999. Ilir Meta is the
>current prime minister.
>	In what was an apparent reference to the Nano-Majko
>conflict, Islami remarked that "there are tendencies to oust
>outstanding party figures while keeping servile people and
>yes-men around." He warned that as a result, "the internal
>problems of the factionsSmay well bring about a split in the
>party ranks and reduce the size of the PS electorate."
>	Islami went on to say: "With time the Socialist Party
>has lost its leading qualities, at all levels. And its
>government is mostly composed of mediocre officials. There
>has been a tendency to oust the intellectuals, and this has
>caused an impoverishment in all respects. The PS is making
>preparations for the forthcoming local elections, and I
>notice that many of its leaders are euphoric, but there is no
>reason for them to feel that way. There is a desire to win,
>but there is also a gap between the wish and the systematic
>work required to make this wish a reality."
>	Referring to a tendency in Albanian politics to vote
>against rather than for political options, Islami stressed
>that the last victory of the Socialists was based largely on
>the public dissatisfaction with Berisha: "Unfortunately, the
>strongest card of the PS remains the anti-Berisha card."
>Islami furthermore slammed the PS for failing to "define its
>alternative and strategy" to the PD, adding that: "I find it
>hard to believe that [the PS's] good people will [be able to]
>work out a clear strategy that they could put into practice
>and apply" in time.
>	Islami warned: "If this trend continues, the electorate
>will respond to the overt optimism of the leaders and the
>servile officials with a silent boycottS. Many people who are
>not PS membersSbut who considered the PS as a hope for good
>government after the PD... are disappointed. This is despite
>the fact that [the government made] many positive and
>progressive changes compared to the situation in 1997. But
>the experience and the achievements to date offer little hope
>of guaranteeing victory in the local elections and the
>subsequent general elections. This is how ordinary people see
>thingsS. The smugness of some leaders may thus lead to
>failure."
>	Islami furthermore criticized the fact that many party
>officials are unwilling to make peace with their rivals
>inside the party: "If we serve the narrow interests of a
>clique or specific persons, then failure is certain. [There
>is a] tendency on the part of certain leaders, or cliques
>close to them, to force out those PS leaders who have made a
>significant contribution to the party in the past. This
>policy of ousting politicians will not get the party very
>far. And a complete failure is likely if such an attitude
>envelopes the PS and its strategy as a whole. So far, many
>intellectuals and party leaders have kept silentS,but I
>assume that this will not last for long."
>	Looking ahead, Islami said that an upcoming party
>congress before the elections scheduled for fall "should send
>a signal [that the PS] has broken with the policy of
>excluding leaders and operating on the basis of cliques. If
>[the party fails to generate] a different atmosphere, then
>the present opposition will come to power again and do what
>it feels it must. This will be very painful, especially for
>all honest people." (Fabian Schmidt)
>
>
>CROATIAN LIBERAL LEADER CRITICIZES COALITION PARTNER. Drazen
>Budisa, who heads the Social Liberals (HSLS), told "Jutarnji
>list" of 20 June that state-run television "flatters" his
>senior coalition partners, the Social Democrats. Budisa added
>that "this isn't the way to [set up] public television." He
>expressed the hope that there will soon be a law to establish
>public television according to European norms and with a new
>administration. But former German Foreign Minister Hans
>Dietrich Genscher, who was visiting Budisa in Zagreb,
>cautioned his host against criticizing one's coalition
>partner in public (see "RFE/RL South Slavic Report," 22 June
>2000). (Patrick Moore)
>
>
>CROATIAN EX-MINISTERS STILL ON FULL SALARY? "Jutarnji list"
>reported on 20 June that only one person--Health Minister
>Zeljko Reiner--from the previous government has returned to
>his previous profession in the private sector. All others
>remain in government service in one capacity or another,
>primarily in the parliament, the daily adds. At least five
>ministers continue to draw their full salary although they
>have been out of office for five months.
>	In another case, the daily noted that five of the
>generals who recently lost their status as war invalids had
>between them 48 orders and medals. The current government
>believes that President Franjo Tudjman and his administration
>gave many politically loyal officers war invalid status so
>that they could collect pensions and have access to
>privileges that they would otherwise not receive. (Patrick
>Moore)
>
>
>PADDED PAYROLLS IN BOSNIA, TOO. "Dnevni avaz" of 20 June
>reported that a careful comparison of government documents
>indicates that several hundred non-existent people are
>"drawing" government salaries. It is not clear who is
>responsible for the inflated figures and who is pocketing the
>pay of "dead souls." Total salaries of all government
>officials come to $41 million for the year 2000.
>	And there's mischief in Banja Luka as well. Vesti"
>reported on 21 June that it has obtained access to a
>confidential internal report suggesting that large sums of
>money have been misappropriated in the government of Prime
>Minister Milorad Dodik. The report noted that the government
>spends $800 per day on flowers and that its daily allowance
>for public affairs expenses is $2,300. The daily added that
>if the figures were correct, it would mean that the
>government bought at least 47 large bouquets of flowers per
>day at local prices. (Patrick Moore)
>
>
>SARAJEVO DAILY UNDER PRESSURE. Bosnian tax authorities have
>frozen the bank accounts of Sarajevo's "Dnevni avaz,"
>"Oslobodjenje" reported on 20 June (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16
>June 2000). The daily is thus unable to pay for shipments of
>newsprint and may be forced to stop publishing soon. Staff
>have agreed to work without pay for as long as is necessary.
>The tax police recently searched the offices of "Avaz," which
>until recently had long been considered close to the
>governing Muslim Party of Democratic Action (SDA).
>	The editors-in-chief of several leading periodicals
>issued a joint statement in Sarajevo on 21 June to protest
>recent financial and other pressures by the Muslim
>authorities on the press, "Oslobodjenje" reported. The
>editors of "Oslobodjenje" and "Avaz" and of the weeklies
>"Slobodna Bosna" and "Dani" expressed solidarity with each
>other in the face of "every form of pressure against the
>freedom of the press." They demanded that the authorities act
>only in accordance with the law and called upon local
>representatives of the international community to
>"energetically" respond to any attempt to curtail the freedom
>of the press. The editors specifically called on the
>authorities to unblock the bank accounts of "Avaz." (Patrick
>Moore)
>
>
>TITO'S YACHT SOLD. An unidentified Greek buyer has paid
>$750,000 for the "Galeb" (Seagull), which was once the yacht
>used by Josip Broz Tito on trips to Europe, Africa, India,
>and Indonesia. The 5,100-ton and 117-meter-long ship began
>life as an Italian minelayer and was later converted into a
>training ship for the Yugoslav navy.
>	Since the collapse of former Yugoslavia, the ship has
>been moored in the Montenegrin harbor of Bijela, where its
>condition has been deteriorating, AP reported. Efforts in
>1995 to save it as a museum failed. The late U.S. President
>Franklin D. Roosevelt's yacht "Potomac" was more fortunate,
>having been turned into a museum in Oakland, California, but
>only after decades of decline including a stint as a drug
>smuggler. (Patrick Moore)
>
>
>OUR PLEASURE TO SERVE YOU. A frequent compliant about living
>in post-communist countries is that old attitudes about
>service sometimes take awhile to disappear among shop clerks.
>On 20 June, "Jutarnji list" reported a story from Sibenik
>that illustrated a rather extreme case.
>	It appears that a 30-year-old woman customer complained
>to a 45-year-old woman clerk in a shoe store that the shoes
>available were far too expensive, considering their quality.
>The clerk began shouting at the customer, and then proceeded
>to beat her up. The customer was admitted to hospital with a
>concussion and bruises. The clerk is in police custody and
>will be tried for assault. (Patrick Moore)
>
>
>QUOTATION OF THE WEEK.
>
>"The Bosnian was respected as [though he were] a Brazilian,
>and now the Italians want him." -- "Danas" on 20 June about
>Yugoslav national soccer team star Savo Milosevic and his
>reputation during the regular season as a player in Spain.
>The daily added that Milosevic, who comes from the Bijeljina
>region of eastern Bosnia, can expect a "seven- or eight-
>digit" price when his Spanish team "auctions him off" to an
>Italian team in the near future. The Yugoslavs played
>pitifully in their first Euro 2000 match and were behind
>underdog Slovenia 3-0 when they came from behind and scored
>three goals in six minutes, two of the goals coming from
>Milosevic. One wag wrote to "Danas" about the irony of a hero
>named Milosevic playing so close to The Hague.
>
>*************************************************
>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.
>
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