[NYC-L] FW: Balkan Crisis Report No. 489

[Jeton Ademaj]

>From: Institute for War & Peace Reporting<info at iwpr.net>
>Reply-To: Institute for War & Peace Reporting<info at iwpr.net>
>To: jeton at hotmail.com
>Subject: Balkan Crisis Report No. 489
>Date: Sat, 27 Mar 2004 01:01:18 -0000
>>
>WELCOME TO IWPR'S BALKAN CRISIS REPORT, No. 489, March 26, 2004
>
>KOSOVO RADICALS TURN ON UN AND NATO  International forces fear they are now 
>the target of Albanian extremists.  By Jeta Xharra in Pristina
>
>BELGRADE CLAIMS KOSOVO DIPLOMACY COUP  New government hopes its handling of 
>the crisis has turned the West against Albanians.  By Zeljko Cvijanovic in 
>Belgrade
>
>PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN THREATENS MACEDONIA WITH PARALYSIS  Crvenkovski's 
>victory likely to lead to months of horsetrading and squabbling over posts. 
>  By Ana Petruseva in Skopje
>
>SERBS WEIGH UP KOSOVO OPTIONS  Violence leaves the Serbian minority 
>wondering whether they will all have to leave.  By Tanja Matic in Gracanica 
>and Tanja Vujisic in north Mitrovica
>
>COMMENT: LET'S MOVE FORWARD  We have seen how hatred can destroy us - now 
>Serbs and Albanians must work together to rebuild Kosova.  By Hashim Thaci 
>in Pristina
>
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>KOSOVO RADICALS TURN ON UN AND NATO
>
>International forces fear they are now the target of Albanian extremists.
>
>By Jeta Xharra in Pristina
>
>UN and KFOR forces in Kosovo are on heightened alert after receiving 
>information that fresh attacks may follow the recent spate of shootings and 
>killings in the region.
>
>The internationals fear extremist groups among the Albanian majority are 
>now specifically targeting them, after two UN police officers were killed 
>and two KFOR soldiers were wounded this week.
>
>Angela Joseph, the UN police spokesperson, said, "We are still in a very 
>seriously dangerous position and we are taking all measures to ensure we 
>are prepared for everything."
>
>The most recent attacks occurred on March 24, when a Serb male threw a hand 
>grenade at KFOR troops in the northern sector of the divided town of 
>Mitrovica, injuring two French soldiers. The man was arrested.
>
>Later in the day, Kosovo Police Service, KPS, officers came under gunfire 
>from a vehicle that rushed through their checkpoint. After an exchange of 
>fire, they arrested an ethnic Albanian male.
>
>However, the most serious blow came earlier with the  double murder of two 
>UN police officers, one from Kosovo and the second from Ghana.
>
>Police reports said the two men were sitting in their car in the village of 
>Sakovica near Podujevo, when another car pulled up alongside and the 
>occupants opened fire with Kalashnikov automatic rifles.
>
>The attack is thought to have been the work of Albanian nationalists living 
>in the Podujevo area, a northern town near the Serbian border.
>
>Podujevo was a Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA, stronghold during the 1998 and 
>1999 conflict. Police shot and wounded one of the assailants as he was 
>running away from the scene.
>
>Neeraj Singh, a UN spokesperson, confirmed that the body of one male - 
>possibly the killer -  was later found in a village near where the 
>shootings occurred. Four other people have been arrested in relation to the 
>murders.
>
>The latest attacks took place well after the ethnic rioting that saw 22 
>people killed and 600 wounded. About 150 international peacekeepers were 
>injured during three days of violence, most of them caught in cross fire 
>between Serbs and Albanians, rather than being targeted deliberately.
>
>About 4,366 people have been displaced, of whom 300 are Albanian and the 
>rest Serbs, Romas and Ashkalis.
>
>As police and troops gear up for the possibility of fresh attacks, barbed 
>wire and sandbags have been used to secure KPS, UN police and KFOR 
>buildings in Podujevo.
>
>A Czech soldier on duty in the town said, "We have been told we are in 
>danger, that more attacks can take place. So we are taking precautions."
>
>As recently deployed British reinforcements patrol  Pristina, several 
>streets in the centre of the city around the UN headquarters and UN police 
>central station have been sealed off for civilian vehicles.
>
>Analysts fear the security forces can expect new attacks in revenge for UN 
>police arrests of more than 200 people following the riots.
>
>More than a week since these clashes, officials are still giving out little 
>information concerning the names of those who died, the places where they 
>died, or their ethnic background.
>
>Both KFOR and UN police appear reluctant to reveal this information, 
>fearing it might incite a fresh revolt among the extremists.
>
>The danger of further attacks was confirmed by Bajram Rexhepi, the prime 
>minister of Kosovo.
>
>"We are appealing for calm but we fear more revolts will follow if the 
>situation remains in this limbo and the status quo does not change," 
>Rexhepi told a press conference on March 25, referring to the current 
>political impasse over the territory's future.
>
>While the precise identity of the extremists responsible for the recent 
>violence remains unclear, the finger of suspicion points at a couple of 
>far-right extremists, such as the National Movement for the Freedom of 
>Kosovo, LKCK, whose rhetoric appears to be hardening towards the UN and 
>KFOR.
>
>Fatmir Humolli, the head of LKCK, openly predicts new revolts against the 
>UN and KFOR, which he describes as an occupation force.
>
>"It is obvious political means have failed, so we are ready to use other 
>means," Humolli was reported as saying in the March 26 edition of the main 
>newspaper, Koha Ditore.
>
>Extremist politicians like Humolli do not appear ready for any compromise. 
>Their rhetoric demands that the international administration and KFOR 
>troops pull out of Kosovo.
>
>Whether a fresh revolt can count on popular support is debatable. However, 
>not all the people of Kosovo are hostile to the international forces.
>
>Earlier this week, Luljeta Vuniqi, 46, handed a bouquet of daffodils to a 
>British soldier at a demonstration held in front of the National Theatre in 
>Pristina to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the NATO bombing, which led 
>to the Serbian withdrawal.
>
>"I am here to show not all Albanians are ungrateful to NATO for liberating 
>them," she said. "Some people may have thrown stones at them last week but 
>I give them flowers today."
>
>If the worst-case scenario does unfold, UN officials have drawn up an 
>evacuation plan, which involves staff keeping money aside for immediate 
>withdrawal to Thessaloniki in northern Greece and restricting their travel 
>around the territory so that they can be pulled back to Pristina rapidly.
>
>"I have already packed my most valuable things in case I need to leave 
>fast," one UN official said.
>
>Jeta Xharra is an IWPR project manager in Pristina.
>
>
>BELGRADE CLAIMS KOSOVO DIPLOMACY COUP
>
>New government hopes its handling of the crisis has turned the West against 
>Albanians.
>
>By Zeljko Cvijanovic in Belgrade
>
>Serbia's new government under Vojislav Kostunica has successfully 
>marshalled public anger over the Kosovo crisis, defusing a situation that 
>threatened to radicalise public opinion and give rise to nationalist 
>passions, analysts say.
>
>Defying predictions that the multi-party minority administration would 
>quickly succumb to its internal strains, Kostunica's team handled the 
>inflammatory news from Kosovo with a sense of purpose that has surprised 
>even its supporters.
>
>After first reports of clashes broke on Serbian radio and TV in the night 
>of March 17-18, about ten hours after violence against the Kosovo Serbs 
>erupted, there was, however, a threat of political radicalisation and even 
>the new government's collapse.
>
>As large crowds staged violent protests in Belgrade and Nis, in southern 
>Serbia, setting fire to two mosques, the situation seemed to be slipping 
>out of control.
>
>While the public first blamed the new interior minister Dragan Jocic for 
>his slow response, the government soon regained the initiative, condemning 
>the burning of the mosques in Serbia in strong terms.
>
>Appeals from some government officials that Serbia-Montenegro's army should 
>even force its way back into Kosovo, regardless of the position of the 
>international community which runs the province, were soon eclipsed by 
>vigorous statements from the government that avoided an escalation of the 
>crisis.
>
>Defence Minister Boris Tadic said it was unacceptable for crowds of thugs 
>to shape Serbia's image abroad. Their only answer to the violence against 
>Kosovo Serbs was to torch other places of worship, he remarked.
>
>"Warmongers, bearing no responsibility for the actions of the state and who 
>keep on calling for military intervention - to the detriment of our 
>security interests and in violation of UN Resolution 1244 - must be 
>silenced," he said.
>
>Claiming the crisis could not be solved without international aid, the 
>Serbian government on March 17 called for an emergency session of the UN 
>Security Council.
>
>The next day, Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic and Kostunica's advisor, 
>Slobodan Samardzic, flew to New York and Washington to urge the 
>international community to prevent a pogrom of Kosovo's remaining Serbs and 
>condemn ethnic Albanian extremists.
>
>At home, Belgrade urged all the parties in parliament on March 18 to rally 
>round a platform that Kosovo could not be defended militarily, but only 
>politically.
>
>According to political analyst Obrad Kesic,  the Belgrade authorities have 
>passed their first big test in Kosovo.
>
>"The government has shown its maturity and successfully tackled its first 
>serious challenge," he said, adding that ministers had succeeded 
>surprisingly well in forging a political consensus.
>
>A benchmark of the government's success in winning over influential 
>nationalist circles and persuading them to support a peaceful resolution to 
>the crisis was the involvement of Amfilohije Radovic, Bishop of Montenegro.
>
>Though best known in public for his strong Serb nationalist views, the 
>Orthodox bishop appeared in front of the burning mosque in Belgrade to urge 
>the angry crowd not to torch it.
>
>Although his appeal fell on deaf ears, his words triggered a chain reaction 
>from within nationalist circles, most of whom then strongly condemned the 
>attack on the Belgrade mosque.
>
>Even the ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party, SRS, Serbia's biggest 
>opposition party, condemned the attack, instead of trying to ride a wave of 
>public protest and toppling the administration, as many at first expected.
>
>By integrating the influential Radicals into the political mainstream, 
>Kostunica has ensured that no party has been in a position to score 
>political points.
>
>Serbia was also rewarded with international condemnation of the Kosovo 
>Albanian extremists.
>
>Peter Schieder, President of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary 
>Assembly, sent an open letter to Kosovo's prime minister, Bajram Rexhepi, 
>rebuking him for failing to clearly condemn violence in the province.
>
>"The absence of clear and unambiguous condemnation by the Albanian 
>leadership of the violence against the Serbs in Kosovo is a disgrace," 
>Schieder said.
>
>On March 19, NATO's commander for Southeast Europe, Gregory Johnson, 
>tellingly described the violence in Kosovo as "ethnic cleansing"; this term 
>became notorious in the 1990s in connection with Serbian attacks on Muslims 
>and Croats in Bosnia.
>
>France, which has contributed the largest contingent of troops to KFOR, 
>also condemned the violence against the Kosovo Serbs.
>
>The chorus of foreign support has created an impression in Serbia that 
>Kostunica's government has succeeded in changing international perceptions 
>not only of Kosovo but of Serbia, too.
>
>Political analyst Zoran Lutovac says it has largely wiped out earlier 
>unfavourable foreign reactions to the new government, based on its decision 
>to rely on the support of Slobodan Milosevic's old Socialist party in 
>parliament.
>
>"We need to be reminded that Serbia's image suffered after the 
>assassination of Zoran Djindjic, the election in December and the formation 
>of a new government with the help of the Socialist Party of Serbia," he 
>said.
>
>Political analyst Dusan Janjic says the government is on a winning course 
>in terms of diplomacy, focusing on "full cooperation with the international 
>community and on negotiations".
>
>The success of Serbia's diplomatic offensive has already led to a more 
>robust response to violence on the part of the international forces in 
>Kosovo.
>
>Belgrade is counting on reaping political gains from this policy. In 
>particular, it hopes the international community will now seriously 
>consider a partition of Kosovo between Serbs and Albanians, staving off 
>Serbia's nightmare scenario of a united, independent Kosovo, ruled by 
>Albanians.
>
>Kostunica is known to support such a plan. Soon after his appointment as 
>prime minister last month, he called for Kosovo to be broken up into 
>cantons and Serbs to be given control over Serbian enclaves.
>
>Talk of "decentralisation" and "cantons" is seen as Serbian code language 
>for partition - a term Belgrade knows the international community dislikes.
>
>"If the process of decentralisation in Kosovo and putting in place the 
>mechanisms needed to protect the Serb community get underway, this would 
>mark serious progress," said Janjic.
>
>A breakthrough on cantonisation is not necessarily imminent. But if it did 
>occur, it would greatly bolster the government's standing, given the 
>public's deep conviction that Serbia must not allow Kosovo to become an 
>independent state dominated by the Albanian majority.
>
>Kesic believes if the Serbian government can contain ethnic violence in 
>Albanian-majority areas in southern Serbia, the West may back off 
>altogether from recognition of Kosovo's independence.
>
>He says the West may then tell the Kosovo Albanians, " 'You burnt down all 
>the churches and drove out all the Serbs from Kosovo while the Serbs 
>managed to preserve a multi-ethnic society in south Serbia - there's 
>something wrong here'."
>
>That may be optimistic, but there is a conviction in Serbia that 
>independence for Kosovo, which the international community has run as a de 
>facto protectorate since 1999, can at least be postponed.
>
>But if the nationalist radicalisation of Serbian society has been prevented 
>in the short term, government supporters are aware this could all change if 
>the public's optimistic expectations are not fulfilled.
>
>If Kosovo once again slips out the government's grasp, the resulting 
>dénouement may cause a fresh deterioration of the situation in Serbia and 
>the first victim to fall prey to such a turn of events could be the Serbian 
>government itself.
>
>Zeljko Cvijanovic is the editor of the weekly Evropa.
>
>
>PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN THREATENS MACEDONIA WITH PARALYSIS
>
>Crvenkovski's victory likely to lead to months of horsetrading and 
>squabbling over posts.
>
>By Ana Petruseva in Skopje
>
>Fears are growing in Macedonia that if Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski 
>wins the presidential election in mid-April, the result will be months of 
>political squabbling as candidates jostle for the premier's vacant post and 
>vital reforms are put on hold.
>
>Crvenkovski officially joined the race for the presidency on March 22, to 
>fill the post following the untimely death of President Trajkovski, who was 
>killed in a plane crash in Bosnia on February 26.
>
>Analysts say that Crvenkovski, faced with weak opponents, has a good chance 
>of winning the upcoming ballot but warn his victory will lead to 
>legislative paralysis and months of political squabbling to elect a new 
>prime minister, government and president of his ruling Social Democrats, 
>SDSM.
>
>Crvenkovski, an engineer by profession, has been prime minister since 2002, 
>though he held the post before from 1992 to 1998. He has headed the SDSM 
>since the former League of Communists changed into a centre-left party in 
>1991.
>
>In the months prior to his candidacy, Crvenkovski had brushed aside any 
>suggestion that he might go for the presidency, saying he was committed to 
>fulfilling his party's election pledges in government.
>
>Western diplomats speak openly of fears that the disruption of the 
>presidency and the competition for the premier's position will delay the 
>passage of decentralisation laws that need to be adopted before local 
>elections in the autumn.
>
>The laws are an essential component of the internationally-backed Ohrid 
>peace deal that ended an armed insurrection by Albanians in the country in 
>2001.
>
>"The process of reform cannot afford to be suspended because of the 
>elections campaign," Sheena Thomson, spokeswoman for the European Union 
>office in Skopje, told IWPR, "but given the unfortunate timing, the 
>elections are likely to have an impact.
>
>"Complete suspension is not an option. The momentum needs to be maintained 
>because the implementation of the Ohrid peace deal is the only way to EU 
>integration."
>
>Analysts echoed fears over the implications of a Crvenkovski victory, 
>saying even if he was elected on schedule in early May, a months-long power 
>struggle will ensue over the posts of prime ministers and SDSM party 
>leader.
>
>"Both the government and SDSM will be left without president, " said on 
>analyst. "That means the entire government will resign and the party will 
>have to choose a leader.
>
>"We are talking about months of political bickering before a new premier is 
>designated and a new government is voted in parliament. In the meantime, 
>parliament will be blocked and unable to proceed with key issues, such as 
>decentralisation."
>
>Tito Petkovski, an SDSM deputy in parliament, told IWPR that concern was 
>justified over whether parliament will adopt the decentralisation package 
>as planned before the annual summer recess.
>
>"Parliament will not work during the elections, while after the president 
>is elected it will be paralyzed because there will be no government," he 
>said.
>
>"It might be July before the government is up and running. But 
>traditionally, in August, the parliament does not work."
>
>"This will be a year wasted on elections, " a senior western diplomat 
>agreed. "The government is continuously wasting time on things that are 
>irrelevant."
>
>Six government ministers, including the ministers of defence, finance and 
>foreign affairs, have announced they are in charge of his campaign, while 
>Radmila Sekerinska, vice-premier in charge of European integration, has 
>been appointed campaign spokeswoman.
>
>Although the state Anti-Corruption Commission has recommended that the 
>ministers also freeze their posts during the campaign, they have all 
>refused, saying they can do two jobs simultaneously.
>
>Even members of the SDSM have expressed frustration. "Not only are we 
>entering an election season that will last by the end of the year but 
>nearly half of the government is working on the premier's election 
>campaign," one party official complained. "That means many important 
>activities, as well as reforms, are halted."
>
>The opposition called Crvenkovski to freeze his current post as premier so 
>regular government activities do not influence the campaign. Crvenkovski 
>has said he will not preside over government sessions during the campaign.
>
>Crvenkovski`s bid for the presidency, a largely ceremonial role, has 
>sparked controversy over whether the decision marks a strategic retreat. 
>Critics say it is linked to his government`s failure to improve the 
>impoverished economy and proceed with much-needed reforms.
>
>"The presidency should not serve as a retreat for failed politicians," 
>Vlatko Gjorcev, spokesman for the nationalist opposition VMRO, told IWPR. 
>"Whenever Crvenkovski was in power in the last 12 years, economic 
>indicators were always falling."
>
>Crvenkovski insists - unsurprsingly - that his motives for changing 
>position are less cynical. "The president is the keeper of the general 
>course and Macedonia simply cannot take risks at these elections," he told 
>a party convention last week.
>
>"The efforts of the government and parliament will have been in vain if the 
>state loses its general direction. I accepted this nomination because I 
>believe my experience can help preserve and speed up of that general 
>course."
>
>Few doubt he will carry off the victor's prize. His main opponent, Sasko 
>Kedev, the VMRO candidate, is a little-known heart surgeon whose modest 
>political career only started in 2002, when he was elected as a deputy in 
>parliament.
>
>Two other candidates are ethnic Albanians, standing mainly to test their 
>respective strengths within the large Albanian minority.
>
>No one is expected to win in the first round, as that requires taking 50 
>per cent of the total electorate. Instead, it is expected that Crvenkovski 
>and Kedev will go through to second round on April 28, at which point 
>Albanian voters will probably shift their support to one of the Macedonian 
>candidates.
>
>Ana Petruseva is IWPR`s Macedonia project manager.
>
>
>SERBS WEIGH UP KOSOVO OPTIONS
>
>Violence leaves the Serbian minority wondering whether they will all have 
>to leave.
>
>By Tanja Matic in Gracanica and Tanja Vujisic in north Mitrovica
>
>Marija, aged three, is running around with her friends in the courtyard of 
>the medieval monastery of Gracanica. She and her mother have spent the last 
>two days there, after fleeing the village of Sljivovo in Kosovo's latest 
>wave of ethnically-inspired violence.
>
>While Marija spends her time with 30 children from other Serbian 
>settlements at Novo Brdo, Bresje and Kisnica - most evacuated along with 
>their mothers and grandmothers - Marija's 29-year-old mother Suzana has to 
>decide whether their future lies back in Sljivovo or in Serbia proper.
>
>"When we fled to Serbia in 1999 we didn't fare very well," Suzana said. 
>"They called us 'Shiptars' (a pejorative expression for Albanians). I don't 
>want to go through that again, but if we return home [to Kosovo] we'll be 
>in fear of our lives every day."
>
>"Our village is poor," she added. "We have nothing much to sell so I'm 
>afraid we will be forced to stay."
>
>She breaks off to talk to her husband on the mobile phone. He plans to 
>return to Slivovo on his own by car, as neither KFOR nor the police are 
>willing to provide an escort.
>
>Life in temporary exile in Gracanica is frugal. Suzana and her daughter 
>share a four-bed room with eight other girls and women, lying on shabby 
>mattresses and sharing dirty bathrooms. The other evacuees from Novo Brdo, 
>Bresje, Kisnica share similar rooms.
>
>According to the United Nations Mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, three days of 
>violence in the protectorate have left 28 dead and 600 wounded, while 3,226 
>Serbs and other non-Albanians - mostly Roma - have been forced from their 
>homes.
>
>Of that number, around a thousand are seeking sanctuary in KFOR bases in 
>Kosovo, while the others have fled to Serbia, or larger Serbian enclaves 
>within Kosovo.
>
>Suzana's temporary roommate, Zivana Velickovic, from Bresje, ten kilometres 
>south of Pristina, is even more confused about her choices. With four 
>daughters, aged four, six, seven and nine, she feels she has no future back 
>home or in Serbia.
>
>Her home village sustained severe damage at the hands of Albanian 
>arsonists. "Only a few Serb houses were left in Bresje," she said.
>
>"After this, I cannot go back home and our school has also been burned 
>down. I don't know what we will do, as we cannot stay here for ever."
>
>The fear for people's lives, which has dominated Serb minds over the past 
>few days, has left all the remaining Serb villages in Kosovo feeling 
>anxious.
>
>Apart from the people who have been forced to move from their homes, the 
>violence has made many others question the point of remaining in such a 
>troubled region.
>
>Aleksandar, aged 25, from Gracanica, who has been working for an 
>international organisation for more than a year, has already resigned from 
>his post and decided to move to Belgrade, where he owns a house. "I cannot 
>go on like this," he said. "My decision is almost definite."
>
>He laughs ironically at the sight of a cigarette lighter bearing the logo 
>of a recent UNMIK promotional campaign. "I am also Kosovo," it reads in 
>Serbian and Albanian. "They should change that to: `I was also Kosovo' - at 
>least the Serbian part."
>
>Aleksandar is exhausted after three sleepless nights. He has not yet told 
>his close friends that he plans to leave. But he believes many them have 
>made a similar decision, even if no one has yet had the courage to bring 
>the issue into the open.
>
>The confusion among both displaced Serbs and those still in their homes has 
>been compounded by the policies of the international community and the 
>local Serbian leadership.
>
>Both are trying publicly to dissuade the remaining Serbs from leaving, 
>while offering no lasting solutions to their worries.
>
>The Serbian politicians and church leaders have strenuously urged remaining 
>Serbs in Kosovo to stay. Bishop Artemije of Prizren said they should not 
>leave unless it was vital.
>
>"Stay where you are, as God is our best ally who will save and help us," 
>the Bishop said on March 19.
>
>Oliver Ivanovic, a Kosovo Serb leader, admits such calls need to be treated 
>cautiously. They are mainly designed "to encourage people", he told IWPR.
>
>The view from KFOR is slightly different. Their policy is to "protect 
>people rather than property" and they have moved endangered communities to 
>military bases or to safer Serbian areas.
>
>In some KFOR bases, fights have broken out between Serbs over whether they 
>should go back home or leave for Serbia proper.
>
>The international community does not want to appear to condone ethnic 
>cleansing. At the same time, it does not wish to force people to return to 
>insecure communities.
>
>"Law and order will be restored and then we will make an arrangement with 
>relevant organisations and those people over where they want to go," KFOR 
>spokesperson Peter Appleby told Serbia's B92 television.
>
>Some displaced Serbs have already gone home voluntarily. In Caglavica, near 
>Pristina, where ten Serbian houses were burned on March 17, most people 
>remained in their village, after sending away the women and children.
>
>But in such a fragile situation, only the smallest incident could trigger 
>the flight of the remaining Kosovo Serbs to Serbia, however uncertain their 
>prospects.
>
>Goroljub Savic has no obvious options ahead of him. The 60-year-old man 
>from Slatina village was hospitalised in northern Mitrovica after a barrage 
>of stones thrown at his house left him with a broken hand and perforated 
>eardrum.
>
>His home was burning before his eyes as French KFOR soldiers led him from 
>the premises. "Where will I return to?" he asked. "To what house?"
>
>Tanja Matic is an IWPR project coordinator in Pristina and Tanja Vujisic is 
>an IWPR contributor.
>
>
>COMMENT: LET'S MOVE FORWARD
>
>We have seen how hatred can destroy us - now Serbs and Albanians must work 
>together to rebuild Kosova.
>
>By Hashim Thaci in Pristina
>
>On Wednesday March 17, I was giving a lecture to the United States 
>Institute of Peace about my vision of an independent Kosova. That country 
>would be a multi-ethnic society, in which people of different races lived 
>and worked together peacefully with equal rights and with tolerance and 
>respect for different religions. It was a very different vision from what I 
>discovered had actually been going on in Kosova that day: people 
>demonstrating, shooting and killing; burning houses, churches and mosques; 
>mobs on the rampage.
>
>I came home immediately to help end the violence. I spent the next few days 
>going out in Kosova, asking Albanians to get off the streets and go to 
>their homes and reassuring Serbs that it was safe to return to theirs. I 
>was not alone; many people from the Democratic Party of Kosova went round 
>the country calming people down. Both Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi and 
>Minister Jakup Krasniqi took on angry mobs and calmed them.
>
>I absolutely condemn the violence. It was wrong and has brought us down in 
>the eyes of the world and allowed them to accuse us of being oppressors. 
>Any Kosovar who believes this is the route to independence is wrong. This 
>sort of behavior can only help Belgrade.
>
>It is important to move forward. However, first we must understand why the 
>violence happened. The tragic drowning of the three boys was only the final 
>spark that caused the explosion.  The flammable situation has been growing 
>steadily for five years. For five years, the people of Kosova have waited 
>for the international community to proclaim our final status; for five 
>years nobody in the country has known their future. This uncertainty has 
>led to instability for all of us, whatever our ethnicity. And it has led to 
>fear. It is difficult to underestimate how frightened the Albanians of 
>Kosova are of being ruled again by Belgrade.
>
>A few months ago, Belgrade called for the cantonisation or partition of 
>Kosova. To those who say this  is now the solution, I say this: it has 
>failed in Bosnia and will fail in Kosova, too.  Cantonisation is about 
>keeping people apart.  We want to bring people together.  Quite simply, a 
>cantonised Kosova where the different ethnic groups live different lives in 
>their own protected area is not sustainable.  And once it is introduced it 
>cannot be ended.  Cantonisation is giving in to despair. I want more for my 
>country.
>
>I understand the fear that the Serbs have of us. Fear heightens ethnic 
>divisions and distrust. There has been little ethnic integration. Everyone 
>should own up to their responsibility for this. Albanians must take some of 
>the blame. Enclaves breed myths and distrust. Anger has accumulated and 
>illegal parallel structures have stopped local Serbs from integrating. 
>Parallel Serb security and judicial institutions supported by Belgrade 
>operate unhindered in north Mitrovica, under the rule of thugs - which is 
>bad for the Serbs who live there.
>
>A genuine debate between Kosovars and UNMIK has been missing and a huge gap 
>has grown up between Kosovar and international institutions. UNMIK needs to 
>trust locals more; we understand the terms of resolution 1244 but cannot 
>remain in limbo forever.
>
>So far, UNMIK's plans extend only to disciplining society and not 
>democratising it. Almost all requests by Kosovars for more responsibility 
>for their people and country have been blocked by UNMIK.
>
>We all live in a country where tens of thousands are mired in poverty and 
>unemployment is almost 60 per cent. The electricity supply is unreliable.  
>Tap water is undrinkable.  Our school and hospital systems are 
>over-stretched and under-funded. With little hope for the future, our youth 
>- both Albanian and Serb - are left to roam the streets.
>
>Almost all of these areas are under UNMIK control. Yet, living standards in 
>Kosova have declined fast.
>
>A combination of hopelessness, fear and distrust have sown the seeds of 
>ethnic conflict.
>
>So when Serbian teenager was shot in a drive-by shooting, the Serbs assumed 
>it was Albanians - although the perpetrators are still unknown - and 
>protested by holding rallies and blocking roads. No internationals stopped 
>the road blocks, which caused growing resentment. So, when an Albanian 
>child went on television to say he and his friends had been chased into the 
>river by Serbs and his friends had drowned, it was like lighting a tinder 
>box.
>
>Protests against violence turned to violence. Shock and outrage was fuelled 
>by fear and anger
>
>Now we have to build for the future - a future for all Kosovars. We have 
>seen how hatred and division destroy us and we must work together - 
>literally. Albanians will help to rebuild the Serb homes and churches that 
>were destroyed and so begin to rebuild a divided country. The Kosova 
>government has already dedicated 5 million euro for that purpose.
>
>All of us must condemn the violence on both sides unequivocally. In doing 
>so honestly, we must not let this be used for political gain. Those who 
>carried out the violence should be charged. It is important not to punish 
>Kosova's collective will to have an independent and sovereign state.
>
>We must prevent this from ever being repeated.  This does not only mean 
>KFOR being better prepared, but involving Kosovars in the fields of 
>security and judiciary, especially in intelligence-gathering, so that 
>extremist trouble-makers on all sides can be stopped.
>
>We need to engage in a true dialogue with the international community on 
>how to keep the trust of the people in the political process. Kosova 
>politicians also need to engage properly with the people and be seen to be 
>working for the country, not just scoring political points.
>
>We have to confront Belgrade with a clear choice: you either support the 
>integration of local Serbs and be part of the solution or be prepared to be 
>part of the problem and face consequences from the international community.
>
>Hacim Thaci is the president of the Democratic Party of Kosova.
>
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>
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>
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>
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>
>ISSN: 1477-7932 Copyright (c) 2004 The Institute for War & Peace Reporting
>
>BALKAN CRISIS REPORT No. 489
>
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