View Full Version : Diplomacia Nderkombetare per Kosoven
"Kosovo: Get It Right, Now "
John Norris in Le Monde Diplomatique
12 October 2005
Le Monde Diplomatique
The soon-to-be-appointed UN special envoy who will negotiate over the status of Kosovo faces an almost impossible task: to satisfy all those with a stake in the region without denying minority rights, and to prevent the region from being frozen in stalemate for decades.
Soon the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, will appoint a special envoy to begin difficult negotiations over Kosovos final status. This post will probably go to a respected senior European diplomat, probably the former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, with as many as three deputies, including an American, a European and a Russian. But as the international community has learned from repeated rounds of high-stakes diplomacy in the Balkans over the past 15 years, some successful and some decidedly not, a lot more than good intentions goes into getting the talks right.
The stakes are high. If the new envoy does not get Kosovo right, it could become perpetually underdeveloped and prone to unrest, or stay frozen in a decades-long stalemate like Cyprus. Equally important (and despite the fact that Kosovo is unusual because of the 1999 Nato military intervention that paved the way for this current process), the international communitys handling of Kosovo will be read around the globe as having broader meaning for what it says about minority rights, self-determination and the way to deal with breakaway territories. So here is some unsolicited advice for the new special envoy.
If you dont have real authority, your mission will fail. After a few rounds of shuttle diplomacy between Pristina, Belgrade, Moscow and points west, dont be surprised if you hit an impasse. At this point, you will need to have the power to put new proposals on the table to get the talks moving. Leaders in this region have seen a string of high-level envoys come and go who did not have the standing to take strong action.
Obviously, you will need to respect the bottom lines that will be deal-breakers for the Contact Group, but if the Serbs, Albanians and Russians see you as little more than a letter carrier from Washington and London, it will not be long before they start dealing directly with these capitals and turning you into a mere figurehead. This is important, because this is one of the first occasions (since Lord Owens rocky involvement in the early phases of the Bosnian war) that a European has been given such pre-eminence in Balkans diplomacy. Unless you have real powers, many in the Balkans will assume that you are simply answering to your US deputy or more powerful handlers in the White House. It will only take a few times when you need to step out of the room to get instructions before others around the table begin to think they should be negotiating directly with the front office.
In a marked shift from its position in its first term, the Bush administration is now much more willing to take on the Kosovo issue, and feels that there is no realistic alternative to moving forward with resolving Kosovos status. The core team of career US diplomats dealing with the issue are seasoned Balkans hands and quite able. That said, it is far from clear how the Bush administration, which never seems to like being the junior partner in anything, will adjust to letting Europe take the lead on Kosovo. Washington has enough on its hands right now, with everything from Iraq to New Orleans crowding for attention, and it should be happy that Europe has taken greater ownership of all issues Balkan. Yet, there also continues to be an almost instinctive dislike within the White House for European leadership on matters of high diplomacy, and a fundamental distrust of Europes ability to stick to tough positions.
The key to dealing with the administration will be to get their full buy-in early, maintain good rapport with your US deputy and convey a sense of professionalism and forward movement that avoids grandstanding. You will also need to maintain a good relationship with the US military officials involved in planning discussions, because most people in the Balkans still see the US military as the most important muscle behind any agreement, even if its long-term presence in the region remains relatively token.
Dealing with Russia is both vital and uniquely frustrating. You will need to endure many long nights and much second-hand smoke before you get Moscows UN security council stamp of approval for any Kosovo deal, regardless of whether you have a Russian deputy or not. There are many Soviet-trained hardliners still in positions of real power in the Kremlin, and most still view Kosovo as yet another loss for Russias broad sphere of influence. But image remains important for the Russians. President Putin is eager to be seen as a heavyweight on the global stage, and he uses such appearances to bolster his sometimes shaky domestic credibility. Your meetings with the Russians should be well publicised and frequent. You would be wise to speak of the Russians as tough negotiators who care deeply about the minority rights of the Serbs, and you should offer Moscow iron-clad guarantees that the West will not accept the creation of a Greater Albania that merges Kosovo and Albania. Whatever new status awaits Kosovo, it is vital that this arrangement not trigger further rounds of irredentism and territorial claims; allowing Kosovo to merge with Albania would only destabilise Macedonia and other states in the region already wrestling with their own ethnic problems.
Russia has learned the hard way that being obstructionist in the Balkans is counterproductive, but it is important to remember that the Russians also fear that any precedent established in Kosovo will eventually be applied to Chechnya. Russia has a large and restive Muslim population in its southern republics, and would be wise to learn the lesson that Serbia failed to grasp in Kosovo: protecting minority rights is the surest means to head off insurrections before they begin.
The key to dealing with the Serbian government will be applying steady public pressure and using your position as a bully pulpit while dealing with Belgrades legitimate concerns. Kosovo remains a hot issue in Serbian politics, and few Serbian politicians have been honest to their constituents about the general situation on the ground in Kosovo over the past 15 years. Many Serbian politicians acknowledge behind closed doors that it would be easier for them if it looked like their arms were being twisted by the international community. The general sentiment is Please impose this rather than make us look like the bad guys in public. Yet, this effort cannot be totally heavy-handed; as one senior US official noted, it will be important to not totally drive the Serbs against the wall. If we drive the Serbs into a corner they will not bend. It is probably better to err on the side of toughness; some of the Serbian officials involved in the talks have been through many similar exercises during the past decade and will be anything but starstruck at your title or the importance of your mission.
Figuring out practical plans to respect minority Serbian rights in Kosovo is the best way to take the wind out of the sails of Serbian complaints. Kosovo is the site of important historic and religious sites for the Serbs, and access to and protection of religious sites will be a central concern. It might also be useful to locate some government ministries in the heavily Serbian city of Mitrovica, and establishing security arrangements that can be trusted to protect Serbs will be a central measure of your credibility. The issue of decentralising government powers in Kosovo will also loom large, but while decentralisation is fine, attempts to partition Kosovo are not. Lastly, the French non vote on the EU constitution will only make your job harder, and the loss of potential early EU membership for Serbia has left the international community with one less carrot to dangle before Belgrade.
Dealing with the Kosovo Albanian negotiating team will be a mess. Getting unity even within the team will be tricky business, and a senior diplomat in Pristina recently complained that the current provisional government of Kosovo spends most of its time trying to appear to be doing something without actually doing anything. The recent announcement that President Ibrahim Rugova is suffering from cancer will only intensify the jockeying among the Albanians for political position, and these party disputes have often veered into violence in the past. Making sure that former Kosovo Liberation Army fighters understand that violence is counterproductive and has no place in the political arena will be key to bringing some harmony to the Kosovar Albanian delegation.
While the Kosovar Albanians will likely get much of what they want out of talks, in that they are unlikely ever to be ruled directly by Belgrade again, do not expect them to go along happily with the process. You will need to be every bit as blunt with the Albanians as you are with the Serbs. Probably the best thing you can do for Kosovo and Kosovars is to develop a reasonable plan for the continued international civilian presence in Kosovo over time. Kosovo is still plagued by cronyism and corruption, with little experience in running government. By pushing the Kosovars to accept the role of a reasonably intrusive continued international civilian presence, particularly in areas such as the justice system, you can help avoid creating a Kosovo that is ripe for failure.
As the world has learned painfully in the Balkans, just because everyone agrees to a plan does not mean that it is necessarily a good plan. One need only think back to the creation of safe havens and the fiasco of Srebrenica to appreciate that fact. There will be times when all of the capitals with which you are dealing are so eager to reach a deal that they will sign almost anything. The devil is in the detail and if you do not resist the many half-baked sovereignty options with which you will be presented, Europe could be left with Kosovo as a problem for decades to come.
Even the EU itself has recognised that Kosovo will need to have such fundamentals as treaty-making powers and distinct borders if it is ever to be integrated into the EU and other European institutions years down the road, and this is likely its best hope looking forward.
Welcome to your new job.
John Norris is the Washington Chief of Staff for the International Crisis Group and author of Collision Course: NATO, Russia and Kosovo.
Martti Ahtisaari, eshte kryesues Emeritus, i ICG (International Crisis Group), organizate kjo e cila ne menyre konsistente ka bere lobi per pavaresine e Kosoves, dhe ka kritikuar punen e te gjitha institucioneve te huaja dhe vendore per zvarritjen e proceseve demokratike ne pavaresimin e Kosoves!
Arsyeja kryesore e kundershtimit Serb, per te pranuar Ahtisaarin si kryesues te bisedimeve Kosove-Serbi, ka te beje me pozicionimin e vete Ahtisaarit i cili eshte perkrahes i fuqishem i pavaresise se Kosoves; por Bashkesia Nderkomebtare ia ka bere te ditur Serbise se nuk eshte ne pozicion per ti caktuar kushte askujt!
ICG eshte organizate e cila ne kuader te saj, grumbullon numer te konsideruesehm diplomatesh perendimore, kongresmene e senatore Amerikane, dhe ka sfere veprimi te gjere, ne shume shtete e regjione te Botes.
Pak me shume per organizimin e ICG-se dhe per punen dhe raportet e tyre per Kosoven, ne linkun ne vazhdim:
(http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=1139&l=1)
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Hague war crimes tribunal acquitted two former rebel Kosovo Albanians of war crimes on Wednesday, one of them -- Fatmir Limaj -- a key figure in the Kosovo Liberation Army, but jailed a third for 13 years.
The acquittals in the tribunal's first judgment on war crimes in Kosovo during the 1998-99 fighting between Serbian forces and the rebel KLA, were greeted with celebrations on the streets of Pristina, the provincial capital.
Limaj, 34, was a senior figure in the KLA and a key ally of ex-KLA commander Hashim Thaci in his Democratic Party of Kosovo, now the main opposition party in the province.
"This is great news," senior government minister Ardian Gjini said of Limaj's release. "Most importantly the court proved that the KLA did not commit systematic crimes against civilians as Serbian forces did," he told Reuters.
Acquitted alongside Limaj was Isak Musliu, also a former member of the now disbanded KLA. The court found Haradin Bala guilty of murder, torture and cruel treatment and sentenced him to 13 years in prison.
The arrest of the three former rebels in early 2003 sparked protests among Kosovo's majority Albanians, who see them as freedom fighters against Serb rule. Violence was feared in Kosovo in the event of guilty verdicts.
Presiding judge Kevin Parker said the prosecution was unable to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Limaj had any role in a prison camp in Lapusnik or that he was criminally responsible for the offences with which he was charged.
There was also little evidence that Musliu, 35, a former KLA guard, had any kind of involvement in the camp, Parker said.
But Parker said the prosecution had proved that Bala, 48, participated in the murder of nine prisoners outside the camp in the Berisa mountains.
He was also found guilty of mistreating three prisoners and aiding in the mistreatment and torture of another prisoner.
UN tribunal jails Kosovo Albanian
BBC News
Thousands marched in Kosovo in support of the three accused men
A UN court in The Hague has jailed the first Kosovo Albanian to be convicted of war crimes committed during the conflict with Serbian forces in 1998.
Haradin Bala received a 13-year jail term for torture and murder at a prison camp run by the Kosovo Liberation Army.
His alleged commander, Fatmir Limaj, and co-accused Isak Musliu were cleared of all charges and ordered to be freed.
The UN court was set up to try war crimes and crimes against humanity from the wars in the former Yugoslavia.
Several Serbs, Croats and Bosnian Muslims have already been jailed by the court.
Serbian politicians have often accused the tribunal of failing to properly prosecute alleged war crimes by Kosovo Albanians.
Mr Limaj, Mr Musliu and Haradin Bala were the first Kosovo Albanians to be indicted.
Thousands of people marched through the streets of Kosovo's capital, Pristina, this week to proclaim the innocence of the three.
Protests first erupted after the men were arrested in early 2003 and there were fears guilty verdicts would spark fresh unrest in Kosovo.
Executing prisoners
Prosecutors had accused the three men of detaining 35 people - including Serbs and alleged Albanian collaborators - in the camp, where they were subjected to torture and inhumane conditions.
Kosovo Albanian guerrillas battled Serbian forces until Nato intervened
The three were also accused of executing several prisoners as they fled a Serb assault on the Lapusnik region.
The presiding judge, Kevin Parker, said the prosecution had successfully proven the existence of a prison camp at Lapusnik, near Pristina.
The judge said Bala's presence at the camp had been proven beyond any doubt, but there was not enough evidence to link Mr Limaj and Mr Musliu to the crimes committed there.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41074000/jpg/_41074562_pristinaprotest_afp203b.jpg
Profile: Ibrahim Rugova
Ibrahim Rugova has spent more than 15 years at the centre of Kosovan politics, pushing to establish the province as a democratic, sovereign state independent of Serbia.
BBC News
Mr Rugova was born in western Kosovo in 1944, the son of a shopkeeper who was executed after World War II by the advancing Yugoslav Communists.
Nevertheless the son prospered, going on to study linguistics at the Sorbonne in Paris, before becoming a writer and professor of Albanian literature.
Ethnic tension boiled over in divided Mitrovica in 2004
He boasts a passion for poetry, mineral rock samples and Sar mountain dogs from the southern Kosovo border area. Rarely seen without a trademark silk scarf, he cuts a distinctive figure.
He was drawn into politics in 1989 after being elected as head of the Kosovo Writers' Union, which became a breeding ground for opposition to the Serbian authorities.
This activism hardened after Belgrade stripped Kosovo of its autonomy later that year, and led to the establishment of Mr Rugova's LDK.
Throughout the 1990s Mr Rugova was seen as the moderate, intellectual face of Albanian opposition to Slobodan Milosevic's Belgrade regime.
His ambivalent attitude and eventual political support for the Albanian guerrillas of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) went largely unquestioned as support grew in the West for military action against Serbia's brutal rule in Kosovo.
But his involuntary appearance alongside Mr Milosevic at the height of the conflict virtually ruined his reputation in Kosovo. Many felt the man who for years had called for Western intervention was now urging Nato to stop the bombing.
Most Albanians were furious, with some accusing him of treason. When the Serb authorities allowed him out of house arrest during the conflict Mr Rugova left the Balkans for Italy, his political career apparently over.
Back in charge
But the man sometimes known as "the Gandhi of the Balkans" returned home and used his experience and pedigree as a proponent of Kosovan nationalism to win the presidency in 2002.
Long before the KLA arrived on the scene in the mid 1990s, Mr Rugova led the parallel government which the Albanians declared at the start of Mr Milosevic's brutal crackdown.
The LDK was as much a party as a popular social movement. He built the loyalty and trust of the people, which lasted the course.
Ibrahim Rugova campaigned on a pledge to push ahead with demands for full independence from Serbia; members of Kosovo's legislative assembly believed him and voted him into office.
Just a day after the vote, Mr Rugova declared that his first priority as the leader of the victorious party would be to press as fast as possible for sovereignty, and then attend to the economic reconstruction of a province still shattered by war.
He duelled with Mr Milosevic, his old enemy, when called to the stand during the former Yugoslav president's war crimes trial in The Hague.
His home and car have been attacked by bombers, although he has escaped unharmed from each assault.
Despite all his efforts, though, the future of Kosovo is not yet clear.
EU appears split on Kosovo
Nov. 29, 2005 at 9:34PM
Washington Post
European Union states appear divided on the future of Kosovo as negotiations begin on its status.
The EU's common position is that Kosovo must not be partitioned, the rights of its Serbian minority must be respected and the pre-1999 status of direct rule from Belgrade is not acceptable. But last week, Czech Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek suggested an ethnic partition might be the best solution, the EU Observer reported.
At the same time, Spain, Greece and Italy appear reluctant to push for an independent Kosovo. In Spain's case, officials are reluctant to give its own Basque minority ideas, while Greece and Italy have close economic ties with Serbia.
Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, functioning as a U.N. special envoy, has just begun talks with Serbian and Kosovar Albanian represen
krijuesiii
30-11-05, 23:48
...perkthej moj qike te marrum vesh dicka...
tungiii
AP
15 Companies Put Up for Sale in Kosovo
Wednesday November 30, 11:52 am ET
Fifteen Companies Put Up for Sale in Kosovo in Hopes of Boosting the Economy
PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) -- Kosovo's sunflower oil producer, a brick maker, a pipe factory and two hotels were among 15 state firms put up for sale Wednesday in hopes of boosting the economy in the disputed province.
The Kosovo Trust Agency launched the 11th round of privatization in an effort to sell the companies, which were once owned by their workers and managers under a system set up during communist-era Yugoslavia.
The privatization agency, which has advertised the companies on its Web site, is hoping 16 new firms will be created when the sales are completed.
Privatization is among the most sensitive issues in Kosovo, which was placed under U.N. administration in 1999 following NATO air strikes that ended a Serb crackdown on independence-seeking ethnic Albanians.
The process of privatization in Kosovo is complex in part because it is unclear whether Kosovo will become independent or remain part of Serbia-Montenegro, the successor state of Yugoslavia. Serbia's authorities have fiercely opposed the privatizations.
The Kosovo Trust Agency, the U.N. entity responsible for privatizing the enterprises and putting them on solid legal footing, wants private entrepreneurs to assume the risk of modernizing the industries.
The companies are considered inefficient and dilapidated after years of neglect.
Kosovo Trust Agency: http://www.kta-kosovo.org
Komenti ne kuader te "International Herald Tribune" mbi shkrimin e Hashim Thaqit "Populli im e meriton pavaresine":
The status of Kosovo
International Herald Tribune
Hashim Thaci argues that Albanians in Kosovo are entitled to independence from Serbia ("My people deserve their independence," Views, Nov. 26).
Thaci's main argument for independence is that his Albanian people have suffered so much. But while Slobodan Milosevic's policies were indeed ruthless and indefensible, Thaci's historical account lacks vital elements of Albanian nationalism and separatism, including the fact that Serbs and other minorities in Kosovo have suffered over the last six years.
Thaci claims that minorities will be protected in an independent Kosovo. But the percentage of Serbs left in Kosovo has dropped dramatically in recent decades - including the nearly 200,000 Serbs who left the province in the wake of the 1999 war. Thaci was a leading politician at the time. In contrast, Serbia has remained multi-ethnic. The "old nationalism" that Thaci blames on the Belgrade of today is not exactly eradicated in today's Kosovo.
The world has about 200 countries and thousands upon thousands of ethnic groups. Should we have thousands of new countries, one for each ethnic group? Thaci mentions Serbian war criminals, but there are indicted Kosovo-Albanian war criminals too.
Thaci would like Kosovo to join the European Union with protection from NATO as part of a demilitarized area. The idea of demilitarization is news to us.
Hashim Thaci had the nom de guerre Snake. That, in itself, is very telling.
Thaci, a former leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army, which was once branded a terrorist group by the U.S. government, has now apparently morphed into a sage purveyor of advice via your prestigious newspaper. So, what is behind this sudden transformation?
It is more than obvious that the ongoing terror tactics against the Serbs and other minorities in Kosovo, perpetrated first by the KLA and then by its successor criminal offshoots, continues to be ignored and disguised by the West's mainstream media and politicians. Why? Because, they have no other way to justify NATO's aggression on Yugoslavia in 1999.
If Thaci's people have "earned" sovereignty, then the criteria for independence are murder, mayhem and barbarism. Is Europe ready and willing to embrace an intolerant and terrorist-supported Islamic state in its underbelly?
(Jan Oberg, Lund, Sweden, Aleksandar Mitic, Brussels)
Lajmet e Agjencise se lajmeve Kineze Xinhuanet, raportojne per reagimet e Qeverise se Serbise kunder UNMIK-ut per dorezimin e kompetencave/krijimin te dy Ministrive te reja ne Kosove
Serbia criticizes UN mission decision to create ministries in Kosovo
www.chinaview.cn 2005-12-22 05:19:13
BELGRADE, Dec. 21 (Xinhuanet) -- The Serbian negotiating team for Kosovo's future status criticized on Wednesday a decision by the UN mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) to create ministries of justice and interior in the Serbian province.
The team, led by Serbian top leaders, said in a statement that the transfer of UNMIK's authorities in the field of internal affairs and judiciary to Kosovo's provisional institutions was a hasty and dangerous political move.
"If this really happened, all efforts of the international community and authorities in Belgrade to create an atmosphere of trust and goodwill by opening political talks on the future status of Kosovo would be threatened," the statement said.
Kosovo, a Serbian pro-independence province, has been administered by the United Nations since mid-1999. The direct talks on its future status between Kosovo's Albanian majority and Serbian authorities are expected to be held in early next year under the auspices of UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari.
The UNMIK on Tuesday officially approved the creation of a ministry of justice, a ministry of the interior, and a judiciary council in Kosovo, as the first phase in the transfer of powers from UNMIK to interim institutions of Kosovo in the judiciary and police sectors.
The Serbian negotiating team said the UNMIK's decision violated item No. 39 of a report of Kai Eide, UN special envoy for the implementation of standards in Kosovo, which clearly warned of numerous negative consequences of the possible transfer of authority from police and the judiciary to Kosovo's provisional institutions.
The team called upon the UNMIK to review the decision, since it "threatened the Serb and all other non-Albanian communities in the province and directly hampers the political talks on the future status of Kosovo."
Raporti i Reuters-it mbi reagimet e Serbise, ndaj ketyre dy Ministrive ne kuader te Qeverise se Kosoves
Serbia says new Kosovo ministries "dangerous" move
BELGRADE, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Serbia on Wednesday said it was a "reckless and dangerous political move" to transfer the authority of the police and justice sectors to the ethnic Albanian dominated population of its Kosovo province.
On Tuesday the United Nations, which took over the administration of Kosovo in 1999 after NATO bombing forced Serb forces to pull out, formally established ministries in the two sensitive sectors which had so far been in U.N. hands.
Serbia said the move came at a very bad time when the Serb and Kosovo Albanian sides were starting U.N.-mediated talks on whether the province becomes independent, as the majority Albanians demand or stays part of Serbia, as it now formally is.
"At the very start of talks on the future status of Kosovo such moves only go in favour of the extremist policy of the Albanian leadership in the province," the government's team for Kosovo talks said in a statement.
The government urged Kosovo's U.N. governor Soren Jessen-Petersen to reconsider his decision which "jeopardises Serb and other non-Albanian communities in the province and directly burdens political talks on Kosovo's future status."
The U.N. officials say the justice and police ministries, which will assume their responsibilities gradually will be subject to a "vigorous accountability policy" and the U.N. governor will have the right to intervene.
The 90-percent ethnic Albanian majority is increasingly impatient for independence, but Serbia says this is impossible and has offered the province wide autonomy.
Last month, U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari started shuttle diplomacy aimed at reconciling the two opposing visions. A decision on whether Kosovo will get the independence the Albanians demand is expected in the second half of next year.
The two sides are expected to meet face-to-face in the second half of January, probably in Vienna where Ahtisaari has set up his headquarters.
Raporti i Marti Ahtisarit ne favor te pavaresise se Kosoves
Kosovo could one day be self-sufficient - UN envoy
Kosovo could one day be self-sufficient - UN envoy
Tue Dec 20, 2005 10:44 PM GMT
By Irwin Arieff
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Kosovo has enough natural resources, including low-grade coal, to one day make it economically self-sufficient, the United Nations mediator for the disputed Serb province said on Tuesday.
Veteran diplomat Martti Ahtisaari, who is leading U.N. talks aimed at determining whether Kosovo gains independence or remains a part of Serbia, said economic development would be a top priority in the negotiations.
Kosovo is heavily subsidised by international donors, and "when the international community knows that there are natural resources which are not exploited, you can't expect the world's taxpayers to finance this forever," Ahtisaari told reporters at U.N. headquarters.
"Everyone wants to create conditions in which these can be properly exploited," he said.
If that happens "I think there is in the future the possibility for sustainable economic development in Kosovo," he said when asked whether it could ever support itself economically.
While still legally part of Serbia, Kosovo has been under U.N. administration since mid-1999, when Serbian forces were driven out to stop what the West said was their persecution of ethnic Albanians during an uprising by Albanian guerrillas.
The province's 2 million Albanians -- 90 percent of the population -- are demanding independence.
Serbs, however, see the mountain-ringed province with its scores of centuries-old Orthodox religious sites as the cradle of their nation and insist it remain a part of Serbia.
Ahtisaari said the World Bank believes that among Kosovo's natural resources were supplies of lignite that would last 50 to 75 years. Lignite is a low-grade form of coal that is used mainly to create steam for power generation.
To exploit the lignite will require significant international help. But when used to generate power, "it will be extremely useful for the economy of Kosovo and also for the provision of energy in the region in general," Ahtisaari said.
DUHET BERE MBULIMIN E MESHKUJVE POSAQERISHT FYTYRAVE TE TYRE, MEQE PA LAKMINE E TYRE PER DCO GJE QE I RRETHON, KJO BOTE DO TE ISHTE NE PAQE PERPETUALE!!!
Ore, para se ta bėsh kėtė, na i pėrkthe ata artikuj
se si t'i kuptojmė ne????...
Artikull i publikuar nga analisti dhe politikani Tim Judah per prapaskenen e politikes nderkombetare mbi zgjidhjen e statusit te ardhshem te Kosoves.Tim Judah eshte poashtu autor i librave "Kosova: Lufta dhe hakmarrja e Serbeve" si dhe "Historia, mitet dhe shakterrimi i Jugosllavise"
Kosovo: behind-the-scenes hard talk begins
As both formal and informal behind-the-scenes talks about Kosovos future status begin, the member countries of the powerful Contact Group seem to have reached a consensus that Kosovo should be granted conditional independence.
(By Tim Judah in London and Paris for ISN Security Watch (24/12/05))
Though UN officials have recently announced that talks concerning the status of Serbias UN-administered province of Kosovo would begin in earnest in January, ISN Security Watch has learned that much of the real work is already being done behind the scenes, with intense discussions between key countries involved in the region and Serbian and Kosovo Albanian leaders.
Over the past few weeks, a series of meetings, both formal and informal, have taken place in key capitals - including the Serbian capital, Belgrade, and the Kosovo capital, Pristina - as diplomats attempt to shape a deal for Kosovo, bolstering the work being done by former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, who has been chosen to head the UN-led status negotiations.
Since the end of the Kosovo war in 1999, the province of some two million people has been under the jurisdiction of the UN, though it legally remains a part of Serbia. Its population is over 90 per cent ethnic Albanian. They have made it clear they want nothing less than full independence for Kosovo.
Serbias official position is that Kosovo can have more than autonomy but less than independence.
Members of the Serbian negotiation team, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and President Boris Tadic, had proposed earlier this month that Kosovo be divided into Albanian and Serbian areas.
According to the Serbian plan, the Albanian areas would be self-governing and independent in all but name, while the Serbian ones would remain linked to Belgrade and the Serbian flag would fly once again on Kosovos frontiers.
In parallel to this, the Serbian leadership has also decided that it would be most advantageous to argue their Kosovo case along legal lines - that is to say that Kosovo is de jure part of Serbia and thus its international frontiers cannot be changed without Serbias consent.
However, Kosovos Albanian leaders are demanding that the province be given full independence in recognition of their right to self-determination.
Over the last few weeks, there have been several meetings - including one between the Contact Group, which was set up to coordinate policy during the Balkan wars in the early 1990s, and Ahtisaari - which have yielded significant results. While Ahtisaari is now the official Kosovo mediator, real power lies with the countries of the Contact Group. :wink:
There appears to be a considerable unity of purpose among the Contact Group members. France and the US, for example, so often at loggerheads over the past few years, have no major disagreement over Kosovo. Russia, too, has been described by diplomats as extremely cooperative over Kosovo. If Serbian leaders were hoping to find backing from the traditionally friendly Russians there is no evidence thus far that they will get it. :wink:
Representatives of the Contact Group countries have decided that the best solution for Kosovo is that it be given so called conditional independence.
This means that the sovereign link with Serbia will be broken but that restrictions on Kosovos independence will remain for a transitional period. These could include, for example, no army and awarding reserve powers to a representative of the international community. The result would be a slimmed down and more focused version of the model that exists in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is effectively governed by the international communitys High Representative, who has sweeping powers.
Diplomats who have talked to ISN Security Watch, on condition of anonymity, say the only disagreement among the Contact Group members is over speed and tactics.
We all know, more or less, where we are going but we just have to be careful of the language used in public, one source said.
At the moment, officials from Contact Group countries say publicly that what they want is an agreement made between and mutually acceptable to Serbs and Albanians. Yet, privately, everyone knows that Serbs and Albanians will never be able to agree on the status of Kosovo.
France is less willing to openly say that the Contact Group countries are in favor of conditional independence because it fears that to do so might prompt the Serbs to withdraw from talks before they have even properly started.
By contrast, the British believe that the sooner the I word (for independence) is pronounced, the more flexible the Albanians will become. The British theory, according to informed sources, is that given a guarantee that independence (conditional or otherwise) is coming, the Albanians will be more amenable to granting the Kosovo Serbs concessions such as extensive decentralization. :wink:
As to whether moving Kosovo towards independence might provoke a nationalist radicalization of Serbia, one source in favor of moving faster rather than slower, simply sums up the Serbian dilemma as one of Belarus or Brussels. That is to say that Serbia has a choice between renewed isolation or continuing along its current path towards European integration. :twisted:
It is clear to Serbian leaders that US policymakers have little sympathy for the Serbian efforts to keep Kosovo. However, what is unclear is that there appears to be no compelling reason (other than realpolitik,) as to why the US should favor independence for the Kosovo Albanians but oppose it for Iraqi Kurds, for instance.
Serbs have looked for support in meetings in Moscow and with the French. The Russians, while promising Serbian leaders that they would oppose anything Belgrade does not agree with, say in private talks with their western counterparts that they will not oppose conditional independence for Kosovo.
France then was perhaps the last best hope for the Serbian leadership, but here too, in a series of meetings this month, the Serbs have been disappointed. According to ISN Security Watch sources, the Serbs were told that France would support Serbian interests but that those interests had to be realistic. Holding on to Kosovo, in any form, was not considered realistic. :P :wink:
In public and private, the Serbs are now pursuing different lines of attack. Predrag Simic, Serbia and Montenegros ambassador to France and a member of the Serbian Kosovo negotiating team, evokes the situation leading up to the Second World War to argue against independence for Kosovo.
In 1938, he says, the Western powers, fearful of Hitler, accepted his demand to annex the Sudetenland, the predominantly German inhabited area of Czechoslovakia. But this appeasement brought neither peace nor security to Europe.
However, in private, according to western diplomatic sources, Serbian President Tadic is exploring a more flexible agenda. He wants any settlement to secure the future of the Kosovo Serbs and wants to try and steer proponents of conditional independence into making sure that if this cannot be avoided then, at least for the foreseeable future, Kosovo will have no army or highly symbolic seat at the UN.
But Western diplomats are fearful of what they call the disaster scenario, which foresees the talks failing to gain traction and hardliners on either side opting for violence.
The disaster scenario sees either Serbian or Albanian hardliners provoking an exodus from the Serbian enclaves in Kosovo. There are some100,000 Serbs in Kosovo, of which 30,000 live in the solidly Serbian north, while the rest are scattered in enclaves in central and southern Kosovo.
Albanian hardliners could decide to attack the enclaves and provoke the flight of the Serbs there, so as to prevent the areas from becoming autonomous regions that would remain, in their view, like Serbian claws in a future independent Kosovo.
By contrast Serbian hardliners could seek to provoke a Serbian exodus from the enclaves in a bid to solidify the Serbian population of the north. Their hope would be that many years down the line the de facto partition that already exists along the Ibar river would one day be recognized as the international frontier between the part of Kosovo that Serbia managed to save and the Albanian part, which would be independent.
It is precisely because they want to avert such a disaster scenario that the diplomats are now talking intensively to the Serbs and Albanians and among themselves.
Indeed, the message diplomats are now delivering to the Kosovo Albanians might come as a surprise to some. According to one source, the Albanians have been warned not to let hardliners provoke violence, but they have also been told that since conditional independence is the aim, The talks are not about the status of Kosovo. What they are really about then, is negotiating the status of the Serbs in Kosovo, the source said. :wink:
R u online signorita?
Great article by Judah -he's a high calibre analyst
and a very positive attitude from the Britts:
By contrast, the British believe that the sooner the I word (for independence) is pronounced, the more flexible the Albanians will become. The British theory, according to informed sources, is that given a guarantee that independence (conditional or otherwise) is coming, the Albanians will be more amenable to granting the Kosovo Serbs concessions such as extensive decentralization.
Reana pershendetje
Mundesisht nje permbledhje te shkurter ne shqip te ketyre artikujve qe ke postuar?Nja 10 rresdhta
Reana pershendetje
Mundesisht nje permbledhje te shkurter ne shqip te ketyre artikujve qe ke postuar?Nja 10 rresdhta
Lali, po supozoj se te gjithe e dine nga nje gjuhe te huaj, anglishtja nuk eshte shume e veshtire; e njekohesisht jane artikuj te gjate, keshtuqe nuk po e shoh te arsyeshme perkthimin e te gjithe artikujve!!!
Do ta permblidhja ne disa fjali artikullin e fundit nga Tim Judah :wink: , me siguri te gjithe keni degjuar per librin e tij per Kosoven per tendencat kolonialiste Serbe ne Kosove.
Ne kete artikull ai kryesisht e trajton poziten e shteteve perendimore ndaj statusit te ardheshem te Kosoves, ku sipas tij, te gjithe (shtetet antare te Grupit te Kontaktit) kane arritur koncesus per statusin e ardhshem te Kosoves si nje shtet i pavarur me kushte te caktuara, dhe ku soveriniteti i Serbise mbi Kosoven do te eliminohet ; te vetmet mospajtime egzistojne rreth modaliteteve/taktikave te arritjes deri te kjo!!!
Sa i perket diskutimeve te tashme te ashtuquajtura "negociata Kosove-Serbi" te udhehequra nga Marti Ahtisari, ato jane ne esence jane formale dhe jo negociata per pavarsine e Kosoves por kryesisht diskutime per poziten dhe ruajtjen e te drejatve te minoritetit Serb ne Kosove :lol: 8)
Sa i perket qendrimit te Serbise, perendimi i ofron DY zgjidhje: Brukselin apo Belarusine, i.e. (qe dmth) ose BASHKEPUNIM te plote dhe respketim te vullnetit te Perendimit nga ana e Serbise, ose te ballafaqohen me IZOLIM dhe sansksione te reja :!: :idea: :arrow:
Rusia dhe Franca si dy shtete (ne kuader te grupit te kontaktit) te cilat konsiderohen te kene pasur qendrime tradicionale miqesore me Serbine, NUK E PERKRANIN qendrimin zyrtar te qeverise serbe, dhe jane ne te njetin tabor me qendrimin Amerikan dhe at Britanez, qe sygjerojne pavaresine e Kosoves!!!
Reana
Shume faliminers per kta artikuj. Vertet ma knaqe Zemren. :)
Reana te falenderoj per mundin qe ke bere ,urojme qe edhe ashtu te jete ,dhe te perfundoje si eshte me mire zgjidhja e statusit te Kosoves , siq e ka deshiruar populli yne me shekuj.
World leaders mourn Kosovos president death22/01/2006
Lideret Boterore (te Bashkimit Evropian, Komisionit Evropian, Kombeve te Bashkuara, NATO-s SHBA-ve, Britanise se Madhe, OSBE-se )perkujtojne Kryetarin e Kosoves, zotin Ibrahim Rugova;
(Brussels, DTT-NET.COM)-Leaders of EU, UN, NATO, US and OSCE have expressed their sadness on the death of Kosovo president Ibrahim Rugova, who died Saturday from lung cancer.
The Commission and its President are saddened by the death of President Rugova. On behalf of the Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso presents his condolences first and foremost to the family. President Rugova was a highly respected leader of Kosovo. The Commission appreciated his work for a peaceful solution to the problems of Kosovo, and encourages all leaders to continue to work in this spirit. (European Commission).
"It is with profound sadness that I have heard of the death of President Ibrahim Rugova. With him Kosovo has lost a historic leader who devoted his life to protecting and promoting the rights of the people of Kosovo. President Rugova was a man of peace, firm in the face of oppression, but deeply committed to the ideals of non-violence. For this he was loved by his people and respected all over the world. My deeply felt condolences go to his family and to the people of Kosovo. The loss of President Rugova comes at a particularly challenging time for Kosovo. His wisdom and authority will be greatly missed. At this difficult moment I call on all leaders of Kosovo to show unity and responsibility. This is the best way to pay tribute to the memory of President Rugova." (Javier Solana, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy)
It is with deep regret that I have learned of the passing away of the President of Kosovo, Ibrahim Rugova. In the name of the Presidency of the European Union and in my own name I would like to convey my condolences to his family, to the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government of Kosovo and to the entire population of Kosovo.
During his exceptional political career President Rugova worked tirelessly for the interest of Kosovo. As a staunch and unwavering defender of the principle of non-violence he has continuously pursued his efforts through political dialogue. He was not given the chance to complete his political path. At a time, when the future status of Kosovo is being negotiated, we call on all sides to keep up his political legacy in cooperating and finding a solution which will bring peace, prosperity, security and lasting stability to Kosovo and all its people. (Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, EU Council of Foreign Ministers President).
I wish to express my condolences to the people of Kosovo upon the death of President Ibrahim Rugova. President Rugova led his people through challenging times and earned the world's respect for his advocacy of democracy and peace. Even while battling his final illness, President Rugova worked to bring unity to Kosovo's leaders and hope to its people. The United States has lost a great friend today. The people of Kosovo have lost a great leader. President Rugova's death comes just as Kosovo enters a political process to determine its future. Despite the loss of his leadership, this process will go on. The United States will continue to work with all the people of Kosovo to build a society based upon the principles of democracy, human rights and inter-ethnic tolerance that President Rugova valued so deeply. (US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice).
"It is with deep regret and sadness that I learned of the passing of President Ibrahim Rugova. I wish first of all to extend my heartfelt condolences and sympathy to President Rugova's family and to the people of Kosovo. Kosovo has lost a historic leader at this crucial time, as the negotiations on Kosovo's status have entered an important phase. He was the symbol of the aspirations of Kosovo's people and devoted his life to promoting the rights of the people of Kosovo through peaceful means. I was very impressed by his vision for the future, his determination to work for a better Kosovo, and his leadership of the negotiation team. I have fond memories of our meeting in Pristina during my first trip to Kosovo after being appointed Special Envoy. I expect the momentum generated by President Rugova to be sustained, and that Kosovo's political leaders assume the responsibility to remain unified and actively support our common efforts to realize Kosovo's status. I reiterate my commitment to leading the status process to culminate in a political settlement that determines the future status of Kosovo." (Martti Ahtisaari, Special Envoy for the Future status process for Kosovo.
On behalf of the NATO Alliance, I wish to express my profound condolences at the death of President Ibrahim Rugova of Kosovo after his long illness. President Rugova will be remembered as a man committed to the idea of a fully democratic, peaceful and multi-ethnic Kosovo. Mr. Rugovas opposition to violence, including during the difficult years that deset the former Yugoslavia, was both brave and remarkable. Until the very end, he served the people of Kosovo with conviction. He played a key role in helping Kosovo down the long and often painful road towards reconciliation, lasting peace and stability. I am confident that his example will continue to guide the people of Kosovo at this important time, and into the future. (NATO Secretary General Jaap De Hoop Scheffer)
"I am struck by a feeling of immense loss over the untimely death of a person who came to embody the search for a peaceful and democratic future for his beloved Kosovo.. Over a lifetime as a dedicated pacifist, through the violence of the Second World War when both his father and grandfather were executed, to the decade of repression in Kosovo before the NATO intervention in 1999, he has always led by his personal example. Truly, he has been an outstanding figure in the history of the Balkans region. We must show our respect for him by not allowing his death at such a sensitive time to alter the very real prospects for a lasting solution. The OSCE will maintain its strong support." (OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht).
I want to express my deep sympathy and condolences to all the people of Kosovo on the death of President Ibrahim Rugova. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this difficult time.
President Rugova was one of the most popular figures in Kosovo. He created an international awareness of, and concern for, the plight of the Kosovo people. In so doing, he always pursued his goals through peaceful means. His death comes as a process to determine Kosovo's future status has just begun. This is something that President Rugova long wanted and argued hard for. All the people of Kosovo should continue to work for a stable and multi-ethnic society where all people, regardless of ethnic background, race or religion, are free to live in peace and security. This would be a fitting legacy for President Rugova. (UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw).
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today mourned the passing of Kosovo's President, Ibrahim Rugova, and urged that his legacy of peace be sustained in the period ahead.
In a statement released by his spokesman, the Secretary General hailed the late politician for having "demonstrated true leadership and advocated a peaceful solution for Kosovo."
He noted that Mr. Rugova passed away at a crucial moment, with final preparations now underway for talks on Kosovo's future status. "The Secretary General trusts in the maturity of Kosovo's institutions and believes that the loss of Kosovo's President will not disrupt this process," the spokesman said.
The Secretary General also called on the Kosovo political leaders to maintain their unity and continue cooperating with his Special Envoy, Mr. Martti Ahtisaari, and his Special Representative, Mr. Soren Jessen-Petersen.
Zvicra perkrah njohjen formale te pavaresise se Kosovesdeklarate e Ministres se Puneve te Jashtme te Zvicres, Micheline Calmy-Rey per gazeten Vieneze "Prese".
Switzerland supports formal Independence of Kosovo
VIENNA -- Friday -Swiss Federal Councilor ( Foreign Minister) Micheline Calmy-Rey has said that the problems in Kosovo represent a huge burden for the entire region and that Independence of the province would help resolve many issues there. Her comments were published in an opinion piece in the Viennese newspaper "Prese".
"“As long as its status remains undefined, property and legal problems cannot be solved. As long as there are is no legal authority or order, no one will want to invest in Kosovo"” Calmy-Rey said.
Calmy-Rey said that Kosovo cannot afford to owe anyone money with its current status, because it cannot offer any guarantees that the money will be returned, added that this includes all monetary outlets, including international financial institutions, which is why much of the population remains unemployed.
She reminded that Switzerland stated before the United Nations Security Council on May 27, 2005, that it supports the immediate beginning of the Kosovo status discussions, and that putting Kosovo back under the sovereignty of Serbia is unimaginable and unwanted.
"“Because of this, Switzerland supports the formal independence of Kosovo and supports the fact that the UN, through its Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari, is ready to begin the future status discussions"” Calmy-Rey said.
B92,RTK
Kosova kerkon kompensime lufte nga Serbia
Kosovo to seek war compensation from Serbia
PRISTINA -- Monday - Albanians are expected to demand millions of euro from Belgrade for damages inflicted on the territory's economy since 1989.
Kosovo's delegation plans to throw Serbia onto the defensive at final talks on the future political status of the United Nations protectorate by presenting Belgrade with a huge bill for damages. The Kosovar delegation has set up a special team to handle economic issues, a subgroup of which is now itemising the damages for which they say Serbia is liable.
This group, which first met on January 6, consists of 30 experts in economics, law and engineering, including officials from the presidency, the parliament, the Kosovo Trust Agency, which handles privatisation, and the director of the Trepca mines.
The team is chaired by Muhamet Mustafa, director of the Riinvest Institute, a not-for-profit research institute.
"The experts will be divided into eight groups to organize their work better and approach each issue separately," Mustafa explained.
Among the issues he highlighted were income lost to Kosovars on account of anti-Albanian discrimination in the form of lost salaries, pensions and savings, war damage to property, foreign debt and the issue of succession to the old Yugoslav state.
The chairman said the team would also prepare a report on Kosovo's overall economic sustainability.
A member of the group, Muhamet Sadiku, said Kosovo ran up a foreign debt of 850 to 900 million dollars before 1989, when Serbia effectively scrapped the province's autonomy.
Until then, he said, the province of Kosovo managed its own foreign debt, much like the republics of Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"Since 1989 Serbia has managed Kosovo's debts illegally, which means that since then the institutions of Kosovo have had no direct access to information on this issue," Sadiku said.
Sadiku added that the topic of Kosovo's debts needed to be discussed with the involvement of international financial institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund, IMF, the World Bank and others.
"We expect the starting point of these discussions with the IMF and World Bank to be 1989, whereas all speculation [about Kosovo's debts] after this date belongs solely to the Serbian government," he said.
Kosovo lost its right to assume responsibility for part of the assets and debts of the old Yugoslav federation in the early Nineties, when the Badinter Commission, established by Brussels to establish the criteria for European Union recognition of the independence of the Yugoslav republics, declined to recognize Kosovo as an equal constituent part.
This had serious negative consequences for Kosovo, since it legitimised Serbia's right to hold onto Kosovo's share of the resources of the former Yugoslavia. Now, Kosovo wants its succession rights to be restored and the team believes that future independence for Kosovo will force all partners to re-examine the issue.
As one of their main arguments, the expert team say, records clearly show that Kosovo contributed in the same way as the other federal units to the common assets of the old Yugoslav state.
Veton Surroi, leader of the opposition ORA party, and Ethem Ceku, the minister of energy and mines, agreed that the economics of Kosovo's divorce from Serbia have been insufficiently studied.
In December, they said the value of key economic assets, such as the Trepca mine complex in northern Kosovo, needed to be assessed and included in the final-status negotiations.
"Belgrade has made repeated claims regarding Trepca and the KEK [Kosovo's power company]," Mr Surroi said.
"But the Kosovo delegation has to make them aware of the damages they inflicted on both those fields during 1989 and 1999," he added.
Kosovar experts consider that Pristina should demand the return of pension funds worth 300 million euro, 150 million euro deposited on Kosovo's behalf in Serbian banks and several million euro to pay for other damages inflicted on Kosovo's public enterprises and property since 1989.
One member, Murat Mehaj, said information in the possession of the expert team undermines Serbia's overall claim to Kosovo, and especially its claims on Kosovo's formerly socially owned property.
While Mustafa said more experts may be enlisted into the team, the exclusion of certain names has invited criticism.
Kujtim Dobruna, of the Vienna-based Economic Initiative for Kosovo, ECIKS, who was not included in the team, argued that there are not enough young people on board.
"Young experts were left aside," he said. "Yet, they are more dynamic and do not carry any burdens from the past."
Arbana Xharra is a journalist for the Economy supplement of the Pristina daily Koha Ditore.
Turqia nuk perkrah pavaresine e Kosoves :evil: :evil: :evil:
Perkunder gjithe dobive qe ka pasur perendoria otomane prej shqiptareve si qe tregon shkrimi ne vazhdim, duke i dhene trimat dhe luftetaret me te shquar te ushtrise se tyre te poshter, Turqia NUK e perkrah pavaresine e plote te Kosoves, por nje autonomi te zgjeruar ne kuader te Serbise dhe Mali te Zi!!! :evil: :evil: :evil: me arsyetimet se kane frike per asimilimin e pakices turke ne Kosove :evil: :evil: :evil: dhe se nuk deshirojne ti prishin raportet me shtetet sllave :evil: :evil: :evil: dhe se nuk do te deshironin ti respektojne te drejtat kurde sikurse Serbia qe nuk ka respektuar te drejtat e shqiptareve!!! :evil: :evil: :evil:
Turqia frikesohet se po te pranoje pavaresine e Kosoves, mund te ballafaqohet me kerkesen e mundshme per te drejta kombetare te kurdeve, te cilet edhepse muslimane sikur turqit, shtypen institucionalisht, ne menyre barbare, sikur shqiptaret dikur nga Serbet :evil: :evil: :evil: !!! Keshtuqe sipas qeverise turke, ata kuptojne rendesine qe paska Kosova per palen serbe qekur kane qene pushtues ne Ballkan, dhe nuk do te ishte e mudnur te tejkalohej urrejtja sllave, poqese Turqia njeh pavaresine e Kosoves :evil: :x :evil:
Turkeys Kosovo Policy ?
Can Karpat, AIA Turkish and Balkan Section
There are strong historical and psychological ties between the Turks and the Albanians. As to the antagonism between the Turks and the Serbs, it is well known from history. However it seems that Ankara prefers separating emotions from foreign policy nowadays. Turkey, caught between the Ottoman heritage and the European perspective, follows a highly prudent policy about the final status of Kosovo.
Turkey supports the full implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244. Turkey has been contributing to security and stability of Kosovo by providing troops, civilian police and specialists to KFOR (Kosovo Force), UNMIK (UN Mission in Kosovo) and the OSCE (Organisation of Security and Cooperation in Europe) Mission in Kosovo. Turkey, with its centuries-long historical and cultural ties with the region, closely follows the developments relating to Kosovo. In this respect, Turkey attaches great importance to the preservation of the acquired rights of the Turkish national minority as well as their fair and equitable representation in the political and administrative structures of Kosovo
This highly diplomatic language, though, tells much about Turkeys own anxieties in this matter. Turkeys anxieties match with those of Russia. Like Turkey, Russia has a long history related to the Balkans as the protector of the Slavs. Therefore, apart the purely Russian interest of hindering the full independence of Kosovo for fear that it be a perilous precedent for its Chechen problem, Moscow does not contradict itself defending the Serbian cause, which is also a Slav cause. On the contrary, Turkey, which is supposed to defend the Ottoman legacy in the Balkans, namely Turkish, Muslim Slav and Muslim Albanian existence, defending the idea of a strong autonomy within the Serbian borders for Kosovo, seems to contradict herself. Especially when one knows the strong cultural and moral relations between Albanians and Turks coming from history... Albanian Diaspora in TurkeyKosovo Albanians and Albanians in general were the most loyal subjects of the Ottoman Empire. Guards of Sultans were always chosen amongst Albanians for their courage and loyalty. It is used to be told in Turkey that when Abdulhamit II finally gave in and declared the Second Constitutional Monarchy (Mesrutiyet) in 1908, he did it only when he heard about the Albanian revolt in Kosovo village Verisovic (Ferisaj). When Albanians revolted, this meant the end for the Sultan. Turkish-Albanian relations are strongly rooted in history. Albanian presence on Anatolian soil goes back as early as 15th century. A considerable number of Albanians from Albania, Macedonia and Kosovo immigrated in Turkey following conjectural crises since 1913 when the Ottoman rule ended in the Balkans. The most significant aspect of the Albanian Diaspora in Turkey is that they have neither social nor political problem with the Turkish majority. Since 1999 Turkey asks for a larger autonomy than that Kosovo enjoyed between 1974 and 1989. With this formula, the rights of Kosovo Turkish minority and other non-Albanian minorities may be secured on equal basis.
However, Turkey that recognised rather lately the UNMIK passports is still hesitant about vehicles with the UNMIK license plates. This shows clearly that Turkey, planning her Kosovo policy, takes into account the fact that Kosovo is still legally a part of Serbia-Montenegro. :evil: :evil: :evil:
Turkeys anxieties about a probable independence of Kosovo can be summoned up in three parties. First of all, Turkey has a south-eastern problem since years against the Kurdish separatist organisation, the PKK. In the context of a federal State, one can reason that one federal unit must not harm the territorial integrity of another. Thus, a foreign intervention may be rationalised as Milosevics Serbia was violating the autonomous rights of Kosovo. That was a threat to the general stability in the whole region. It may be that Ankara reasoned in that way too at the time of NATOs intervention. However if then Kosovo is granted independence, this would harm this time the territorial integrity of new democratic Serbia-Montenegro.
On its way to the European Union, Turkey does not want to provoke a Slav-Orthodox bloc against its membership. Ankara must count with this Belgrade factor. After all, Turkey knows by the Ottoman experience what Kosovo means for Serbians. Serbians, who were brought up with Prince-Bishop Njegos The Mountain Wreath, the most famous Serbian epic poem mainly centred on Kosovo Battle of 1389 against the Ottomans, would feel a great resentment in case Kosovo will obtain its full independence. :evil: :evil: :evil:
Pse Kosova duhet tė jetė e pavarur?
Micheline Calmy-Rey*
Nė mesin e 400 mijė njerėzve nga ish-Jugosllavia, tė cilėt sot jetojnė nė Zvicėr, mbi 150 mijė prej tyre rrjedhin nga Kosova. Kėta pėrbėjnė 10 pėr qind tė tė gjithė popullsisė sė Kosovės. Ėshtė e vetėkuptueshme qė Zvicra ka njė lidhje tė veēantė me Ballkanin perėndimor dhe ėshtė e interesuar pėr stabilitet dhe mirėqenie nė kėtė rajon.
Ēėshtja e statusit tė pazgjidhur tė Kosovės peshon rėndė mbi mbarė rajonin. Derisa tė mbesė i pazgjidhur statusi, nuk mund tė zgjidhen, pėr shembull, tė drejtat e pronėsisė. Derisa tė mungojnė drejtėsia dhe rendi, pothuaj askush nuk do tė investojė nė tė ardhmen e Kosovės. Me statusin e sotėm me mandat tė OKB-sė Kosova nuk mund tė marrė kredi, t'i garantojė ato si shtet dhe t'i paguajė. Kjo vlen edhe pėr paratė e institucioneve financiare ndėrkombėtare siē janė Banka Botėrore apo Fondi Monetar Ndėrkombėtar. Njerėzit mbesin edhe mė tutje tė papunė, qė tani mė tepėr se gjysma e tė rinjve nė Kosovė janė e papunė. Me fjalė tė tjera, sa mė shumė qė zgjat situata e tanishme e statusit tė pazgjidhur, aq mė i madh ėshtė rreziku qė gjendja nė Kosovė tė destabilizohet. Pėr kėtė tėrheq vėrejtjen edhe i ashtuquajturi raport i Eides, drejtuar Kėshillit tė Sigurimit tė OKB-sė nė tetor 2005. Zvicra ėshtė deklaruar herėt pėr statusin e ardhshėm tė Kosovės, nė njė deklaratė para Kėshillit tė Sigurimit tė OKB-sė, Mė 27 maj 2005 ajo propozoi fillimin e shpejtė tė bisedimeve mbi statusin e ardhshėm tė Kosovės dhe theksoi se kthimi i Kosovės nėn sovranitetin serb as nuk ėshtė i dėshirueshėm as realist. Pėr kėtė arsye Zvicra mbėshtet pavarėsinė formale tė Kosovės. Ajo shprehimisht pėrshėndet faktin se ndėrkohė nėn ndėrmjetėsimin e tė dėrguarit tė posaēėm tė Kombeve tė Bashkuara, Martti Ahtisaari, kanė filluar bisedimet pėr statusin e ardhshėm tė Kosovės. Nga shumica e popullsisė sė Kosovės Zvicra pret qė t'i respektojė plotėsisht tė drejtat e pakicės serbe dhe pakicave tė tjera. Kur ėshtė fjala te pėrmirėsimi i standardeve, atėherė nuk mund tė ketė kompromise. Statusi i ardhshėm i Kosovės ėshtė po ashtu vendimtar edhe pėr mbrojtjen e pakicave dhe tė drejtave tė njeriut, sepse pėr njė mbrojtje efektive tė pakicave dhe pėr luftėn kundėr krimit tė organizuar dhe korrupsionit kėrkohen struktura funksionale shtetėrore.
Standardet e kornizės institucionale dhe praktike, tė cilat u garantojnė tė drejtat e barabarta tė gjithė banorėve tė Kosovės, duhet tė sigurohen vazhdimisht. Pikėrisht pėr kėtė arsye Zvicra nė vend tė formulės "Standards before Status" parapėlqen formulėn "Standards beyond Status": ajo ēfarė ėshtė me rėndėsi ėshtė qė tė ketė njė plotėsim tė pakufizueshėm kohor tė standardeve. Derisa tė mos jenė tė garantuara kėto standarde, stabiliteti rajonal nuk mund tė pėrparojė. Zvicra ėshtė e vendosur qė me anėtarė tė tjerė tė bashkėsisė ndėrkombėtare tė angazhohet pėr zgjidhjen e ēėshtjes sė statusit tė Kosovės.
(*Autorja ėshtė Ministrja e Jashtme e Zvicrės. Ky editorial u botua edhe nė gazetėn austriake "Die Presse")
Annan kritisiert Stagnation im Kosovo
UNO-Generalsekretär Annan hat die Umsetzung der demokratischen Standards in der südserbischen Provinz Kosovo als zu langsam kritisiert. Selbst nach der Aufnahme der Verhandlungen um den zukünftigen Status der Provinz sei bei der Umsetzung der Standards kein signifikanter Fortschritt erreicht worden, erklärte Annan am späten Donnerstagabend vor dem UNO- Sicherheitsrat in New York.
Parallel zu den Verhandlungen über den künftigen Status des Kosovo, die vom UNO-Chefverhandler Ahtisaari seit Ende November geführt werden, müssen im Kosovo bestimmte demokratische Standards umgesetzt werden, die von den Vereinten Nationen formuliert worden waren und von der dortigen UNO-Mission (UNMIK) überwacht werden. Sie beziehen sich unter anderem auf Menschenrechte, die Rechte von Minderheiten und den Aufbau demokratischer Institutionen und sollen die UNO-verwaltete Provinz in eine gut funktionierende, multiethnische Gesellschaft verwandeln. Ursprünglich war die Umsetzung der Standards als Bedingung für die Aufnahme von Status- Gesprächen vorgesehen.
"Ich bin ernsthaft besorgt, dass es Verzögerungen und Dämpfer in den meisten Bereichen der Standard-Implementierung gegeben hat", wurde Annan zitiert. "Die Implementierung der Standards durch die politischen Führer des Kosovo und die Institutionen ist eine Verpflichtung den Menschen des Kosovo gegenüber und muss energisch verfolgt werden."
Gleichzeitig kritisierte Annan auch Vertreter der serbischen Minderheit im Kosovo; sie beteiligten sich nicht aktiv an der lokalen Regierung. Er rief Belgrad auf, die Kosovo-Serben dazu zu ermutigen.
New York/Belgrad (APA)
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