[ALBSA-Info] [Kcc-News] Independence the Real Issue in Kosova; Kosova Set to Gain Self-Rule in Landmark Election

[Mentor Cana]

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1. Independence the Real Issue in Kosova

2. Kosova Set to Gain Self-Rule in Landmark Election

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>>> 1.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011114/wl/kosovo_elections_1.html
Wednesday November 14 2:26 AM ET

Independence the Real Issue in Kosovo
By GARENTINA KRAJA, Associated Press Writer

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (AP) - Independence isn't on the ballot for Saturday's
elections in Kosovo, but it's very much on the minds of ethnic Albanians
like Zeqir Azemi.

Voters in the first province-wide elections will choose legislators to
govern them alongside the U.N. administrators and NATO (news - web
sites)-led peacekeepers who have run Kosovo since 1999, when the West broke
former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic (news - web sites)'s grip on
the province.

But for many, dreams of sovereignty and an end to Kosovo's political limbo
have overshadowed the business at hand: electing a 120-seat national
assembly that in turn will choose a president and form a provincial
government.

``We argue over who is more capable to make independence a reality,'' said
Azemi, sipping coffee with friends in a cafe in Pristina, the provincial
capital.

``Independence is what we really care about,'' he said.

Security will be tight in the province of 2 million, where ethnic Albanians
vastly outnumber the Serbs they once battled. Last year's Western-sponsored
municipal elections were marred by politically motivated attacks and
intimidation.

Although there have been only minor incidents in a campaign that has
included 328 rallies attended by tens of thousands, the 38,000 NATO-led
peacekeepers based in Kosovo will increase patrols. At least 7,000 local
and international police officers also will be on duty election day,
patrolling and guarding 1,600 polling stations.

``We do not expect any widespread disturbance, but we have to have
contingency plans,'' said Derek Chapell, spokesman for U.N police in
Kosovo. ``Quick response teams and special crowd control units, should
there be a need, will be deployed all around.''

Despite assurances of safe and secure elections - and the setting aside of
10 assembly seats for Serbs and 10 for other minorities - many Serbs remain
disillusioned, distrustful and apathetic about their future as an
often-persecuted minority in a province they view as the heart of Serbia.

About 200,000 Serbs and other non-Albanians have fled since 1999, fearing
revenge attacks for Milosevic's crackdown that claimed the lives of up to
10,000 ethnic Albanians.

Dozens of Serbs were killed; about 1,300 remain missing. Many of the
estimated 100,000 still here see the elections as pointless.

``Albanians were boycotting Serbian elections for 10 years and they
achieved what they wanted. Why should I take part now in their elections?''
asked Branko Miletic, a 49-year-old exiled Serb who said ethnic Albanians
burned down his home in southern Kosovo after he fled in 1999.

International officials are walking a tightrope.

Hans Haekkerup, chief U.N. administrator in the province, has tried to
mollify both Serbs and ethnic Albanians by saying independence is not on
the ballot - but also suggesting Kosovo's future status remains open.

That has satisfied no one. Apparently fearing that Serbia was again gaining
a foothold in Kosovo, ethnic Albanians condemned the recent agreement with
Yugoslav leaders giving security guarantees to Serbs in exchange for their
participation in the voting.

Independence is the talk of the town in Pristina's bars and cafes, where
ethnic Albanians bemoan daily power cuts, double-digit unemployment and an
economy kept alive only by international aid.

Many Kosovo Albanians realize prosperity is far away and are skeptical of
vague pledges by the main ethnic Albanian parties: the Democratic League of
Kosovo, the Democratic Party of Kosovo and the Alliance for the Future of
Kosovo.

``I am not sure if they will live up to their promises, but I have to place
my hope somewhere,'' Gani Fazlija, 54, a municipal worker and father of
eight said while gathering leaves on Pristina's main street.

``I have to feed my children.''


>>> 2.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20011115/wl/yugoslavia_kosovo_election_dc_1.html
Thursday November 15 5:42 AM ET

Kosovo Set to Gain Self-Rule in Landmark Election
By Andrew Gray

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (Reuters) - Kosovo holds a general election on
Saturday placing power in the hands of its people, the most important event
in the U.N.-governed Yugoslav province since NATO (news - web sites)
bombing ended Serb rule in 1999.

Campaigning has been dominated by the issue of the territory's future
status even though the fledgling 120-member Kosovo assembly being chosen
will have no power to change it.

Parties representing the ethnic Albanian majority have portrayed the poll
as a key step toward independence and vowed to push hard for Kosovo, which
has an estimated population of more than two million, to be recognized as a
sovereign state.

Serbs, who boycotted local elections last year, have been urged by the
reformist leadership in Belgrade to take part in this poll with the message
that a vote for the Serb coalition is a vote to return Kosovo to Serbia and
Yugoslavia.

Diplomats believe neither side will hasten to turn its words into actions,
as both are heavily dependent on aid and political support from Western
powers which want the sensitive question of Kosovo's ultimate status left
in limbo for now.

But the work of Kosovo's new self-governing institutions is bound to have a
bearing on whether the province eventually gains independence, analysts
say. Saturday's poll will also give Kosovo's leaders the clout of
democratic legitimacy.

``It is true that Kosovo's status will not be determined in the November 17
election,'' leading Kosovo Albanian commentator Skelzen Maliqi wrote in the
Koha Ditore daily this week.

``But it is also true that without these elections the process of
determining the status cannot begin.''

U.N. HAS FINAL SAY

After years of Serb repression of Kosovo Albanians, NATO's air war drove
out Belgrade's forces in June 1999. Although it legally remains part of
Serb-dominated Yugoslavia, the province was placed under a United Nations
(news - web sites) administration.

The U.N. retains substantial powers and overall control in the self-rule
plan but responsibility for areas from finance to agriculture goes to the
assembly and other new institutions such as a Kosovo president, prime
minister and government.

The Democratic League of Kosovo party led by Ibrahim Rugova, which
spearheaded a campaign of passive resistance to Serb rule throughout the
1990s, is widely expected to emerge as the strongest party in the new
assembly.

Two parties with roots in the Kosovo Liberation Army guerrilla group, whose
emergence prompted a fierce crackdown by Serb forces which ultimately drew
NATO into the province, are expected to come second and third among
Albanian voters.

Minority Serbs, the target of numerous post-war attacks by ethnic Albanians
embittered by years of repression, have the potential to elect a
substantial group in the new parliament but it is unclear how many will
vote.

Local leaders are divided over whether Serbs should take part despite
pressure from Belgrade, with some arguing their precarious living
conditions in heavily guarded enclaves mean the basic democratic framework
for elections does not exist.

International officials fear violence could erupt between the Serb pro and
anti-election camps.

Some 105,000 Serbs and other minorities who fled Kosovo to other parts of
Yugoslavia after the war are also eligible to vote at special polling
stations in Serbia proper and Montenegro. Another 70,000 can vote inside
Kosovo.

``I think less than half of registered Serbs will take part in the
elections, despite an extreme media campaign, threats, blackmail and
lies,'' declared Milan Ivanovic, an anti-election leader in the northern
Kosovo city of Mitrovica.

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