protokoll kosovo osce

8/8/2019 Protokoll Kosovo OSCE

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Kosovo, the OSCE and Others

Drama in two Acts with an Epilogue

Academic Network South East Europe

www.academicnetwork-see.net

Wednesday 1 June Friday 3 June 2005

Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy

Falkenstein 1, Hamburg

Organized and chaired by:

Prof. K.P. Tudyka

Dr. P. Schneider


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Introduction

The simulation on Kosovo entitled Kosovo, the OSCE and Others: Drama in two acts with

an Epilogue took place at the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy on the 2nd

and

3rd June 2005. As preparation for the simulation there was a lecture given by Dr. Helmut

Kramer of the University of Vienna on the 1st June. Students from across the region of South-East Europe participated in the simulation, they came from Albania, Bosnia-Hercegovina,

Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia-Montenegro as well as Britain, Germany, Italy,

Lithuania and Romania.

The simulation took the form of a debate between the various parties both before and in the

wake of the events of March 2004. The final section of the simulation involved a debate about

the prospects for the future. The whole event was carried out in the roles allocated beforehand

with everyone convincingly representing the views of their actor regardless of personal

opinions. This was a rewarding and enriching experience for all both in the simulation itself

and in the exchange of views possible before, after and inbetween.

This protocol takes the form of minutes and should provide the reader with a good idea of the

issues discussed and proposals put forward.

Besides the organisers the following students participated:

Meri Angeleska

Rajna Badeva

Goran Bandov

Selma Belshaku

Elena Bittasi

Max Bornefeld-Ettmann

Arben Coli

Laura Costescu

Joe Dethlefs

Valdet Gashi

Ermin Hadzic

Bernd-Kristian Kaczenski

Klajd Karameta

Anne-Katrin Hinz

Milica Isakov

Marko IvkovicRuta Mockute

Nicholas Parrott

Stanislava Tasheva

Eren Tiryaki

Andreia Tolcio

Aleksandra Zdravkovic

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Kosovo quo vadis? Situation and perspectives of a

UN-protectorate in Europe, Prof. Dr. Helmut Kramer

Minutes by Joachim Dethlefs

Professor Kramer works on Political Science at the University of Vienna and is a known

specialist for Austrian foreign affairs. In connection with this he has regularly and intensively

come in touch with the successor states of Yugoslavia and has a profound knowledge on this

topic. He has finished a book in cooperation with a colleague. It is called Die Kosovo-

Bilanz (Kosovo: An assessment) and is published by the Lit-Verlag Wien in July 2005.

At the beginning of his lecture Professor Kramer presented some interesting facts andinformation about the region. For example he said that the effort of the United Nations in this

area have been surprisingly high. Since the beginning of the intervention there has been a total

number of 100,000 internationals sent to Kosovo. Half of this number have been soldiers of

the KFORcontingent, the other half staff members and activists from both governmental and

nongovernmental organisations. Since 1999 the annual money spent for each inhabitant of

the Kosovo has been around 1000 on average. By way of comparison this figure for Bosnia

Herzegovina is 250 and Afghanistan just 100.

According to Professor Kramer 2005 will be the year of decision for the region of Kosovo. In

the summer there is to be a comprehensive report the results of which could perhaps already

be in the autumn the beginning of EU-accession negotiations. In this context it is aninteresting detail that within the first six months of 2006 with Austria there is to be a country

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taking the presidency of the EUcouncil that always has had close relations to the South-East

Europe.

Compared with the invested expense on human, material and financial resources Professor

Kramers final result is critical :

The securitysituation within the country is stable, but a positive freedom hasnt

yet been reached

From about 250,000 refugees only 12,000 have come back until now. And from

the 5,000 refugees after the riots in March 2004 also only 60 percent have come

back yet

The unemployment-rate is about 80 percent

The energy-supply is disastrous

The presence of more than 100,000 internationals has also caused negative effects

in the country like a destruction of the wage structure and the development of

prostitution

The political result is suboptimal. A democratic and tolerant political culture is still

missing

However : Kosovo is still a story of success in comparison to Haiti and Afghanistan.

Kramer doubts that the UN is capable of rebuilding the country. He criticises the absence of

any long term personnel policy. He calls it a catastrophe that 50 percent of the international

police are partly from undemocratic states and are not accepted by the people of Kosovo. He

tells how in New York only 15 desk-officers in the Office for Peacekeeping-missions are

responsible for the coordination of all peacekeeping-missions. That is in his eyes a reason for

the insufficient organisation and dubious personnel selection in the mission-area. FurthermoreKramer says that some of the internationals are suffering a lack of identification with their

missions, they came with a limited knowledge of the country, culture and mission-subject. A

positive example in this context is the recently appointed Special Representative, Sren

Jessen-Petersen.

He concluded that as long as there is no carefully considered strategy, the effect of having the

internationals as good example in the region disappears. The fast changing foreign-policy of

the European Union also has a bad influence on the situation.

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First Act The Dialogue Departure for Europe?

The OSCE Chairman in Office expressed his thanks for the attendance of all parties and

hopes for a productive discussion over the following days. He handed the floor almost

immediately the United Nations Mission in Kosovo to open the debate.

UNMIK Max Bornefeld-Ettmann

The main responsibility of the UN Security Council is the preservation of global peace and

security. In the case of Kosovo and under the Security Council Resolution 1244 the main aims

of the International Community are:

1. An end to violence against the people of Kosovo

2. Return of refugees and displaced people to their homes

3. Humanitarian Aid

4. Reconstruction and economic development

5. Demilitarisation of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and other Albanian armed

groups

6. Exercise of civil administration through the United Nations

7. Arrangement of provisional institutions for democratic and autonomous self-

administration including the holding of elections8. Arrangement of a security presence to ensure a secure environment and the guarantee

of law and order until this can be passed on to and international civilian presence

9. Advancement of substantial autonomy within the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and

the beginning of a political process with the aim of determining the final status of

Kosovo.

By carrying out the elements of Resolution 1244 alongside the NATO-led troops of KFOR

there should be an international civilian presence through the UN installed, the United

Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). Under the leadership of theSpecial Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG), the following four pillars were

established:

Pillar I: Humanitarian Aid and Return of Refugees (UNHCR), later Police and Justiceissues (UNMIK)

Pillar II: Civil administration (UNMIK)

Pillar III: Democratisation and build-up of democratic institutions (OSCE)

Pillar IV: Reconstruction and economic development (EU)

The international civilian presence established theProvisional Institutions of Self-Government

(PISG), through which democratic standards can be fulfilled in the future. UNMIK welcomes

the attendance of the negotiation parties to take part in the dialogue on the development of

Kosovo. We hope this can be a constructive meeting.

OSCE MiKLaura Renata Costescu

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On taking the floor the representative of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo showed that the

Mission coordinates the activities under the Pillar on institution-building within UNMIK and

emphasized the cooperation with UNMIK in various fields.

Continuing, the speaker indicated the eight principle objectives which are considered to be

necessary to be implemented before considering the question of the political status of Kosovo.The speaker further pointed up the mandate of the OSCE MIK and the progress made from

July 1999. In the field of Human Resources Capacity-building the speaker showed that the

OSCE MIK had established the Kosovo Police Service School and the Kosovo Judicial

Institute (last one in collaboration with the Council of Europe) which was responsible for the

training and education of judges, prosecutors and defence counsels.

In the domain of the development of Civil Society, the representative showed that the OSCE

had been assisting political parties in developing programmes, organisational structures,

electoral platforms and election campaigns. On the other hand the OSCE MIK had been

supporting the development of local NGOs through the establishment of a network of NGO

resource centres. The speaker further showed the activities of the OMIK regarding thedevelopment of the local media and pointed out the success of the Mission in organizing the

elections for both the municipal level and the provisional assembly.

Continuing, the representative showed that one area of concern is the human rights situation

of Kosovos minority communities. Even though the Mission was active in this field through

different programmes, the evolution was not totally satisfying with the problem of refugees

and IDS and of minority protection not being solved. She also pointed out the cooperation

between OMIK and UNHCR.

Still, the representative of the OSCE MIK reported on a generally stable situation in the

region, in which standards were being achieved and in which the question of the political

future of Kosovo could be considered.

On the last point the representatives of the Union of Serbia and Montenegro and the

representatives of the Provisional Institution for Self Government had some remarks: the first

showed that mixed administrative bodies didnt function and recommended building up

Serbian besides Albanian institutions, the second pointed out that the question of the status of

Kosovo should be settled independently of the achievement of the standards. To the first

remark the representative of the OSCE MIK responded that only one set of institutions were

required (the situation of 1999 with double formal and informal institutions should be

avoided) responding to the needs of the multiethnic society living in the region. To the secondremark the Representative of the OSCE stated that the international community had to ensure

that the standards regarding the functioning of democratic institutions, the enforcement of the

rule of law, the freedom of movement etc would be implemented in Kosovo.

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KFOR OfficerSelma Belshaku and Anne-Katrin Hinz

The KFOR officer began his report with a review of the work done by KFOR from the

beginning of the mission (12 June 1999) and its achievements towards providing a secure

environment in Kosovo.

The first achievement of KFOR was the return of the refugees from Kosovo, who had fled

during the armed conflict and were accommodated in the refugee camps of the neighbour

countries, Albania and Macedonia. KFOR has demilitarised the KLA and initiated the

disarming process, the results of which are the voluntary hand over of thousands of weapons

and the confiscation of a good deal of illegally held ones. The ongoing campaign aims in

convincing the rest part of armed Kosovo-Albanians to give their weapons.

A great contribution for the security in Kosovo is the clearing of major routes and population

centres as well as the border line from the anti-human mines placed by both sides during the

war, the marking of the mine containing areas and sites and the extensive mine awareness

campaign in the media and schools. Worth mentioning was also the contribution of KFOR in

the reconstruction by building and repairing roads, schools and bridges with its engineering

squads, the assistance for UNMIK and NGOs in distribution of humanitarian aid, food,

clothing and rebuilding materials for houses and the medical assistance through KFOR field

hospitals.

By concluding the report the KFOR officer assessed the actual situation as calm and mostly

secure and pointed to the further engagement towards a growing security, with the protection

of minorities and the facilitation of their return as priority. Due to technical changes the last

part of the first act, which was supposed to make a parenthesis of the rioting of March 2004

(with people shouting and screaming and the KFOR officer talking privately to the

Chairman), did not take place.

Representatives of the USJoachim Dethlefs and Katharina Kobilarov

Ladies and gentleman,

Honourable members of the chair

First I want to thank you for the possibility to briefly outline the American position within this

topic. I will try to keep my explanations as structured and clear, as the American position

already is. We welcome the positive developments in the region, but we also see with sorrowthe standstill in some areas like the fight against organised crime. Let us briefly review the

history of the brutal collapse of the former republic of Yugoslavia. We have war in Croatia.

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The actors are the Croatians and the Serbs. Lets go to Bosnia a little later. The situation has

escalated. We have war. The actors are the Bosnian Croats, the Bosnian Muslims and the

Bosnian Serbs which in our eyes can not to be totally divided from the Serbian people in

Serbia. In Kosovo there is an escalating conflict-situation similar to war. The actors are as

well the Kosovo-Albanians and yes: again the Serbs.

So, you all will agree: we have three different conflicts that are generally but not completely

in connection with each other. We have three different constellations of actors and of course

none of these actors is alone responsible for the happenings and crimes. It is common

knowledge that generally seen you always need two people for a conflict.

But one may think about, if after the experiences of the Balkan-conflict it is fair at all to treat

all groups in an equal way. That is one of the real problems behind the situation. It is a

question about realizing the difference between victim and perpetrator. But for the non-

European-members of the United Nations there seems to be no victim and perpetrator. And

our European friends will accept the existence of victim and perpetrator but referring to

their individual history having different ideas about who is victim and who is perpetrator inthe Balkan-context.

This is my main point. The problems existing in the region of Kosovo and the suggestions and

regulations drawn in resolution 1244 cant be solved and seen without realizing and accepting

the different responsibility of the local actors. To underline it: As long, as you treat the

Albanians and the Serbians in the same way, you will not come to a solution neither to a

development in the question of Kosovo.

Please allow me to point out, that it wasnt the Europeans at all who have brought up the

ending of the conflict in Bosnia. It was essentially the initiative of the United States of

America with the direct and admirable engagement of visionary people like Richard

Holbrooke or Bill Clinton choosing Dayton as instrument to build the fundament for freedom

in the region. When I see the results I know that we were right.

And to make it clear as well : It wasnt the Europeans at all who have decided to show the

regime in Belgrade with powerful arguments its borders in terms of Kosovo. The NATO-

Bombardment started as an US initiative. And when I see the results I know that we were

right. I could name a lot more examples but our time is limited.

So lets look on Kosovo with this American view that -against all resistance in the past

several times- has proven completely right. The conflict will go on as long as the economicsituation is not stable. And as long as the economic situation is not stable, the mental focus of

the people with further lay on the hate against their neighbour. What makes the sense in

forcing all these people living together in a country that is part of Serbia, if they just dont

want? We from our side would very much appreciate more realism especially by our

European partners.

Of course the United States are not the only one to decide this, but to us it comes more and

more clear that the only way to make Kosovo a stable country is, to give it independence and

make it a partner integrated in a network of Balkan-countries. Also in Croatia and even more

in Bosnia today Serbians freely live within the local societies. But it is very important that

these countries are independent from Serbia.

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Multiethnic state? Yes! America is the best example for the success of a model like this. But

multiethnic state within the borders of Serbia? Within the borders of the country of people

who didnt prove a lot in the past in showing tolerance towards other ethnics and religions? A

multiethnic state within the borders of Serbia is an illusion.

What I want to come to is that there seems to be still a lot of energy and monetary power leftwithin the European partners to try for several years longer to build up a multiethnic society

in Kosovo with in our eyes not sustainable and ineffective methods.

But the energy in these terms even of a country like the United States of America is

limited. I dont have to explain to you the challenges for the American people connected with

the worldwide war on terror. No doubt that there will be a number of our troops remaining in

the Kosovo area. But we urgently have to reduce our engagement and let the European

countries take more responsibility in solving the conflicts happening directly at their front

door.

Thank you

European UnionElena Bittasi and Nicholas Parrott

Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen,

As you all know the European Union has been present in Kosovo since the very beginning of

the international effort to build a new future for this area and that the European Union is, by

far, the single largest donor providing assistance to Kosovo with 51.5 million for 2004 Annual

Programme and more than 2 billion since 1999.

The EU, including its Member States and the European Commission, is playing the most

prominent role in the reconstruction of Kosovo and to rebuild everyday life for all the people

of Kosovo whatever their ethnic background.

The European Unions presence in Kosovo has taken three major forms:

1) The HUMANITARIAN AID OFFICE

2) The EUROPEAN AGENCY FOR RECONSTRUCTION

3) As part of UNMIK, the EU is in charge of revitalising economic activity in Kosovo,

rebuilding what has been damaged by the war and creating the conditions for a modern, open

market economy.

In the initial period after the war, the HUMANITARIAN AID OFFICE donated more than

400 million for emergency assistance, such as rehabilitation of rural areas, accommodationfor displaced persons, equipment of schools and the provision of medical supplies. ECHO

reduced its programmes in Kosovo substantially in 2001.

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The EUROPEAN AGENCY FOR RECONSTRUCTION from February 2000 is managing

sustainable reconstruction and development programmes in Kosovo. Nearly a billion euros

have been available for reconstruction and institution-building, with half of the funds

dedicated to the re-establishment of electricity supplies. Besides, other activities include the

rehabilitation of railways and road patching, housing, economic development, water and

environment programme, health care reform and the creation of credit facilities.

As a part of UNMIK, the European Union is in charge of economic development in Kosovo.

In the immediate post conflict phase, this focused on the repair and restructuring of basic

infrastructure. With a large part of the major reconstruction work now complete, the EU pillar

is seeing a gradual shift in the focus of its work. The development of an open, market

economy and of a framework for the development of modern enterprises is seen as

fundamental in order to establish a sustainable private sector, which will create employment

and be the main engine for growth. Therefore, the long term perspective in the European

Unions pillar activities is to provide solid foundations to bring Kosovos frameworks closer

to European standards.

Before passing the floor to my colleague, I would like to state that there have been a number

of substantial improvements: the economy in Kosovo is growing, even if at a lower rate than

in the post-reconstruction boom.

The contribution of the EU both as member states and as a unit through the commission and

agencies have therefore been outlined. At this initial juncture we would also like to briefly

outline some of the elements we see as necessary into the future :

EU membership is a big question for countries of the region. Clearly, Slovenia has

already joined as a successor state to Yugoslavia and Croatia is well on the way. The

European vocation of all countries of the region is clear and membership in the

foreseeable future should be both a goal and an expectation.

However, the situation of Kosovo leaves considerable work to be done. We have heard

various proposals on the way forward this morning and the position of the EU is very

much that the current state of affairs is no longer sustainable.

Our member states within the Contact Group are taking a role in pre-discussions

towards final status.

The position of the EU is that we see economic and social development still as key.

This does not imply standards before status in the former sense but rather that we see

the route of Kosovo to the EU as being built upon the establishment and

reestablishment of sustainable industry and jobs.

In conclusion we are absolutely convinced that the entire western Balkans will join the EU,

including Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo in whatever form. Reform in the direction of EU

membership should be paramount in all places and necessary compromises should be made to

that end.

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UNHCRRuta Mockute and Eren Tiryaki

1) Mandate of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

The representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

introduced the mandate of the Office of the UNHCR. They underlined that UNHCR is a

humanitarian, non-political organization which is engaged in the following regions

worldwide: Europe, The Balkans, North Caucasus, The Palestinian Issue, Iraq, Afghanistan,

Sri Lanka, Horn of Africa, Central Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa and Columbia. The

basic aims that had been mentioned in this meeting are as follows:

to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and their rights;

to resolve refugee problems and to safeguard well-being of refugees worldwide.

The representatives accentuated that the UNHCR strives to ensure the right to seek asylum

and find safe refuge in another State, with the option to return home voluntarily, integrate

locally or to resettle in a third country. It was also said that UNHCR promotes international

refugee agreements and monitors government compliance with international refugee law.

Moreover, the representatives pointed out that through its activities for refugees and returnees,

UNHCR promotes international efforts in prevention, conflict resolution and peace building.

2) Definition of a refugee

The UNHCR representatives characterized refugees as people who are outside their countriesor homes within the country borders (internally displaced persons) because of a well-founded

fear of persecution based on their race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership

in a particular social group, and who cannot or do not want to return home.

3) Long-term solutions

The representatives informed the other participants of the meeting that UNHCR seeks for

long-term or 'durable' solutions. Firstly, by helping refugees repatriate to their homeland if

conditions warrant (only voluntary repatriation); secondly, by helping them to integrate in

their countries of asylum or to resettle in third countries (in which individuals, families and

even communities are voluntarily resettled into a new, third-party country and are integratedinto its social fabric). It was stressed that being able to return to their country of origin in

safety and dignity is widely recognized as the most desirable durable solution, and the one

generally preferred both by UNHCR and most refugees.

The representatives generalized that although the protection of refugees remains the mandate

of UNHCR, the ultimate goal has always been to work for durable solutions so that refugees

no longer need the agencies protection. In other words, to help them re-establish that most

basic of human needs, a place to call home free of threats to life and liberty.

The major components of the Framework for Durable Solutions were presented. These are:

"DAR" Development Assistance for Refugees for protracted refugee situations; "4Rs"

Repatriation, Reintegration, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction for voluntary repatriation;

and, "DLI" Development through Local Integration for local integration.

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4) Early warning system

Another important scope of the organization was stressed that it devotes resources for trying

to avert crises by anticipating and preventing huge population movements from global trouble

spots. One approach is to put in place a so-called early warning system establishing an

international monitoring presence to confront problems before conflict breaks out.As humanitarian crises have become more complex, UNHCR has expanded both the scope of

organizations it works with. For example, the World Food Program (WFP), the U.N.

Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.N. Development

Program (UNDP), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

(IFRC), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and others; also more than 570

non-governmental organizations.

OSCE-OSHIR-DirectorAleksandra Zdravkovi and Goran Bandov

In recent years, organizing and supervising elections in Kosovo was one of the most important

tasks of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo. As part of this process, the Department of Elections

(DE) played a major role in two Municipal elections in 2000 and 2002 and the Kosovo

Assembly election in 2001 and 2004. Through the process the Mission gradually handed over

its elections related responsibilities to the local institutions.

The 2004 elections for the Kosovo Assembly were held in October 2004 and were organized

by the Central Election Commission Secretariat (CESC). The OSCE continued to be

responsible for the specific operational activities such as: Voter Registry, by mail voting for

out of Kosovo voters, political party registration as well as planning and running of the Count

and Results Centre, and the financial audit office. These responsibilities are to be transferred

by the end of 2005.

Representative of the Government of the Union of Serbia and Montenegro Andreia

Tolciu and Bernd-Kristian Kaczenski

Having the floor, the Representative of the Union of Serbia and Montenegro (SCG) first

expressed his gratitude to the OSCE Chairman in office for the invitation and then he thanked

the former speakers, esp. the orator from the Russian Federation for their appropriate reports.

It followed a spell binding address.

From the of point of view of SCG the actual evidence is that the international community

already creates an independent Kosovo and Metohija while taking away the sovereignty from

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Belgrade. SCG accused the international community of doing it not coincidentally, but rather

consciously. The speaker also blamed the PISG for bad collaboration with Belgrade and for

the discrimination towards Serbians in Kosovo and Metohija in the legislation. Furthermore

he reproached the international community with not meeting their obligations as they are

stipulated in the resolution 1244 which he is recalling subsequently. The independence of

Kosovo and Metohija would not only mean its breakdown but also the destabilisation of thewhole region, SCG annotated, that it could even have negative effects on the problem with

Basks in Spain.

After this, the speaker took up again the violent events from March 2004 and blamed the

international community for having known in their secret services about the undertakings of

the Albanians and for not having prevented the brutal riots. Given that Albanians were

burning down orthodox churches in front of the KFOR, he invoked the cultural heritage in

Kosovo and Metohija and demanded its protection. As a result, he presented the main issues

of the passed resolution from March 2004 of the Serbian government which comprised that

SCG pledges itself to protect Serbians in Kosovo and Metohija, to protect the borders and to

establish its own institutions to facilitate the return of their refugees. In order to achieve thisgoal, SCG asked to send around 1000 soldiers into Kosovo.

A further point was the question of the status. SCG pleaded for the determination of the final

status of Kosovo and Metohija in order to guarantee economic growth and direct investments

in both Serbia and Kosovo.

SCG requested the western world for cessation of the undertaking to build up a multinational

society in Kosovo and Metohija. The West is obliged, the speaker said, to respect the fact that

in Kosovo drastic cleavages subsists on an ethnic basis. Due to the fact that mixed

administrative bodies would not function the speaker recommended building up Serbian

among Albanian institutions in fields such as health care, education, security and judicial

system. In accordance to the resolution 1244 the goal must be to form surroundings in which

refugees could return.

Perorating the speaker summed up his allegations, demands and his assistant added

guarantees.

After SCG had finished its speech, the Representatives of the PISG got in a flap and disturbed

the following conversation. A speaker of the UNMIK challenged the neutrality of the

Representatives and accused them of making a campaign for their party. The speaker of the

OMIK rejected the critics and said it was too early to talk about the question of the status.

The OSCE Chairman in Office expressed his thanks for the calm and productive manner in

which he felt initial views had been put forward. He stressed his hopes for this to continue

throughout the discussion before closing the meeting and inviting the participants to the

following press conference.

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Intermediate Act: Press Conference ABC: Accusation, Blames, Confusion

Group of Orthodox Church leadersMilica Isakov

After receiving the floor from the Speaker of the Chairman in Office, the Orthodox Churchleaders reported about witnessing the poignant reality left in the wake of extreme Albanian on

Serbian violence in Kosovo during the exile of 17-19 March 2004. According to UN and

Church statistics, 50,000 Albanians in the presence of 18,000 NATO peacekeepers drove

4,500 Serbs and other non-Albanians from their homes, injuring 900, including 150

peacekeepers, and killing 19 persons. With 33 synchronized flashpoints, all of Kosovo was

engulfed in flames, as over 800 homes, many of which had recently been rebuilt by the

International Community for repatriated Serbs, were looted and demolished.

In addition to the loss of precious human lives, Church had emphasized the desecration of

cemeteries and graves, in which uncontrollable crowds of people converged to obliterate

anything bearing the sign of the Cross, which was in complete violation of the internationalnorms on the manifestation of religious symbols. As Christian representatives, the Church

suffered the most seeing the destruction of 35 additional churches and shrines, some of them

under UNESCO protection, including those, dating to the 12th and 14th centuries.

Than Church gave the statistics of destruction and atrocities in Kosovo in the last 6 years,

that is from the time of the 1999 NATO-brokered international peacekeepers, which

witnessed the expulsion of 250,000 refugees, 1,000 kidnapped and 1,200 murdered, and a

sustained attempt at expunging the sacerdotal Serbian presence: of the original 1,657

churches, monasteries and monuments, over 115 were destroyed, added to the 35 above for a

total of 150; 211 Orthodox cemeteries desecrated and 5,177 monuments smashed, with many

graves opened and earthly remains of deceased tossed aside, all during the time of peace and

not war.

The Orthodox Church leaders pledged to reach out and extend a hand of cooperation in this

Kosovo and one again stressed that without cohabitation and realisation that Kosovo belongs

to all of its citizens, there can not be a long lasting peace in the province.

At the end of its speech, the Church pledged for the repatriation of 200,000 exiled Serbs and

50,000 other non-Albanian ; the restitution of confiscated church properties and

subsidiaries, and the resettlement of an otherwise non sustainable IDP population to the same

areas ; the reconstruction of churches, homes, schools and other destroyed buildings, byimplementing The Memorandum of Understanding signed on 24 March 2005 and the

implementation of local self-rule, which would allow for the sustainability and security of

resettled refugees, while encouraging Serbian participation in the provisional governmental

institutions of Kosovo and Metohija.

In the conversation that followed, the Church was accused of influencing the political

decisions involving the Serbian population in Kosovo by the representatives of the LDK. The

representative of OMNIK asked about relations with other churches, and Group of Roma

protested that they were not mentioned in the Churchs speech.

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Group of Roma/Gypsies peopleAleksandra Zdravkovi and Goran Bandov

In the second part of Simulation Intermediate Act: Press Conference ABC: Accusation,

Blames, Confusion they presented the position of the Group of Roma /Gypsies people (ngo)

which claims to be victimised by all parties and being marginalized and forgotten by the

international community. The Roma minority is one of the biggest minority on Kosovo. Romaaren't protected and their rights are not under protection of Framework for protection of

national minorities of Council of Europe in Kosovo. 50000-70000 Roma are refugees and

they haven't possibility to come back on Kosovo. It was also pointed out that Roma people do

not have any state on their own where they would be welcome in contrast to Serbian refugees.

While Serbs also have the possibility of safer living in the northern part of Mitrovica, there is

no region for Roma to retire in peace.

Representative of the former UCKJoachim Dethlefs and Katharina Kobilarov


First of all, my colleague and I want to enter a protest about the seating

arrangements. We see it as an unreasonable demand, that you forced us to sit right

here in one room, so shortly after the tragic occurrences in March and to have to

face the murderers of our children. This shows a lack of sensibility of the

organizers.

But we rather want to talk about our brave soldiers. Fathers, sons and grandfathers,

who defend their families and their ground like heroes. And that with their bare

fists against the Serbian soldiers or the Serbian police, which is basically the same.

Anyway both are well armed from the western states. We speak in a direct voice

for the people of Kosovo. The only people with a legal claim on the country,

which is illegally occupied by violent, orthodox peasants. How can you talk with

someone, who burnt down your mosques? Dont be deceived by their

affirmations! We have seen in March, where this leads to.

The only lesson which is to draw from these occurrences is a free Kosovo. Give us

the responsibility for our land. Give us the responsibility for our lives. Then we

will soon be able to reach economic growth and rebuild the infrastructure. Without

the international protectorate we could be a full member of the European Union in

a short period of time, and fill up the over-aged labour-market with our young andtalented people.

We sincerely want to thank our true friends. The only countries which havent let

themselves be deceived by the Serbian propaganda and came to help our innocent

people in need. We say Faleminderit to our brave American friends. We sayFaleminderit to our brave and courageous friends: to the European states,

Germany and the United Kingdom, as well as to the NATO, who brought us peace

with their bombs of justice.

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Speaker of the Albanian GovernmentMax Bornefeld-Ettmann

The Albanian government absolutely rejects accusations of involvement in the renewed

violence in Kosovo. Such suggestions have been made against the Albanian government since

the time of the 1981 problems and always without basis. The Albanian government rejects all

forms of violence and calls for peace among the people of Kosovo.

Speaker of the FYROM GovernmentSelma Belshaku and Anne-Katrin Hinz

The speaker of the Government of FYROM made in this press conference a declaration,

where he stated the position of its government related with the tense situation in Kosovo after

the rioting of March.

In the declaration the Macedonian Government condemned the desecration of the orthodox

churches and their symbols and demanded the stop of the violence from the part of Kosovo

Albanians against the Serbs and other minorities. The KFOR was asked to enhance thesecurity measures for a more efficient protection.

The precarious situation in Kosovo could have a negative impact on Macedonia, a fragile

country with 25% of its population ethnic Albanians. The country came up from an armed

conflict between the state and the ethnic Albanians, which could have ended in a civil war if

the international community had not intervened. This conflict was transported over the border

by former fighters of UCK (Kosovo Liberation Army). After less than 4 years Macedonia has

made considerable progresses in the integration process and is working hard for the

implementation of the framework agreement signed in Ohrid. Fearing the spread of any revolt

from Kosovo in its territory, by suspected elements, which would step Macedonia back from

its development the government of Macedonia called the international community with its

organisations to contribute as much as they can for the peace and development in Kosovo and

the whole region.

International Human Rights organisationRuta Mockute and Eren Tiryaki

As the only present international human rights organization the representatives of the Human

Rights Watch (HRW) welcomed this opportunity to express their organizations views on

Kosovo to all participants of the meeting. They stated that first of all, it is of high importance

that violence must be stopped as a prerequisite for the safe and secure return of refugees (andavoiding further migration/displacement) and humanitarian living conditions of minorities.

Police forces such as the UNMIK police or Kosovo Police Service along with KFOR must be

able to establish certain security standards in the region. The Contact Group countries and

involved international organizations (NATO, UN, OSCE, EU) need to increase their

coordination among themselves and also with the regional administrations. The

representatives insisted that, indeed, these parties should show greater engagement with

Kosovo since the situation is still regarded as highly fragile. Second, the dialogue between

Kosovos Provisional Institutions of Self-Government, Kosovo Serb leaders and the

government of Serbia and Montenegro should be improved. The rule of law and especially the

accountability of politically or ethnically motivated crimes must be facilitated by all means. In

this respect, special attention should be given on minorities and returnees who all are to beprotected against treatments such as persecutions. Additionally, the role and regulation of

media organizations should be redefined. As a third and last point, the representatives

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underlined that Kosovo (regardless of its legal status) is a multiethnic region where the

fundamental rights of all inhabitants have to be fully protected and respected.

Representative of the Business CommunityElena Bittasi and Nicholas Parrott

Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen,

as a representative of the Business Community, I want to underline that potential investors

from the region and from the diaspora were showing an increased tendency to see Kosovo not

only as destination of exports, but also for investments.

Nevertheless, we cannot ignore that attempts to attract foreign investors to Kosovo are

suffering severe setbacks after March 2004. Kosovo economy is far from being self-

sustainable and even under the most optimistic scenarios will not become so in the short run.

Although economic indicators for last year were suggesting that the performance of the

Kosovo economy was further improving, unemployment remains a major concern, inparticular in the medium and long term. Also the trade deficit remains substantial, with the

current export/import coverage equal to 3.9%. Besides, several recent surveys have confirmed

a gradual decline in workers remittances and donor spending.

Now you can hear from one business, which has tried investing in Kosovo.

When we opened our battery factory we were very optimistic for the investment opportunities

in Kosovo. We committed a substantial amount of capital and local workforce, creating

crucial jobs in the local economy. We had left Kosovo in 1999 but decided to return at the end

of 2003 and in early 2004. In light of recent events, however, no one is willing to take long-

term contracts because of fears for disruption to our supplies. This is a disaster for our

business.

We are still optimistic in the longer-term but in the short-term we have lost a lot of money.

There needs to be substantial investment in local infrastructure which is still not there and

complicates doing business.

Investment is, what Kosovo needs and on a political level it is crucial that a climate is created

whereby this can be fostered. We appeal for strong, effective and rapid action on the part of

the international community.

Speaker of the EBRDLaura Renata Costescu

The representative of the EBRD expressed his concerns regarding the development of the

political situation in Kosovo and emphasized the implications of the politically insecure

situation on the economical development.

Further the representative confirmed its sustained assistance for the reconstruction of the

region.

He pointed out that until that point the EBRD had been active with two projects: the Kosovo

Reconstruction Equity Fund, which was created to provide local enterprises and potential

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foreign investors willing to invest in the Province with much-needed medium to long-term

financing, and the Pro Credit Bank Kosovo, whose aim was to provide reliable access to

financial services for Micro and Small Enterprises throughout Kosovo and to encourage banks

to enter the same market segment.

In the infrastructure sector, the Bank would continue to assist the authorities with theimplementation of a modern regulatory regime in the telecommunications sector that reflects

best international practice, and would engage in dialogue to identify areas in the energy sector

for potential Technical Cooperation that might lead to investments.

The speaker pointed out the importance of the development of the Small and Medium

Enterprises, as these were considered to be the engine of the economical recovery and

essential for the creation of jobs. He also emphasized the importance of the stabilisation of the

political situation and reconfirmed the future commitment of the EBRD to the development of

the region.

Asked in what the economical importance of the region on international level consisted, the

representative of the EBRD showed that Kosovo was a major junction of the trade routes of

South Eastern Europe and it was added that building up a strong Kosovo from the economical

point of view would reduce the emigration flows from Kosovo to Europe.

OSCE Parliamentary AssemblyAndreia Tolciu and Bernd-Kristian Kaczenski

Being the last speakers of the conference, the delegates of the Parliamentary Assembly of the

OSCE presented the position of the institution they represent with regard of the Kosovo issue.

For a better understanding of the situation in Kosovo, relevant additional material (pictures inPowerPoint) were presented to the audience.

They shortly pointed out the attributions that the Parliamentary Assembly has to fulfil :

(a) assess the implementation of the objectives of the OSCE

(b) discuss subjects addressed during meetings of the Ministerial Council and the summits of

Heads of State or Government

(c) develop and promote mechanisms for the prevention and resolution of conflicts

(d) support the strengthening and consolidation of democratic institutions in the OSCE

participating states

(e) contribute to the development of the institutional structures of the OSCE and of relations

and cooperation between the existing OSCE institutions.

Within these responsibilities, the delegation of the OSCE PA condemned the recent acts of

violence in Kosovo and called for reestablishment of dialogue in order to secure sustainable

stability.

The Assembly representatives called for thorough investigations of the acts of violence which

occurred in March 2004 in Kosovo and also called upon the OSCE participating States to

provide the additional forces to the peacekeeping Kosovo Force (KFOR) that are necessary

not only to maintain stability but also to ensure that all displaced persons wishing to return to

their original homes in Kosovo have a secure environment in which to do so.

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The core messages of the statement was that without democracy there can not be any

stabilization in the region and that without a stabilization of the situation it is impossible to

take further steps towards a democratic society.

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly delegation issued a proposal aimed at organizing, in the

near future, a meeting of OSCE parliamentarians, as well as members of the national and localparliaments of the region, centred on joint cooperation in fighting trans-national organized

crime.

The OSCE PA delegation stressed that inter-parliamentary cooperation is also intended to

facilitate dialogue and mutual understanding in the region. The recent events in Kosovo

evidence that this is very much needed. The proposal was received positively and with

agreement to further pursue the matter.

Second Act After the Disaster the Disillusion

The OSCE Chairman in Office opened the meeting.

OSCE MiKLaura Renata Costescu

Having the word, the representatives of the OSCE MIK pointed out that the year 2005 was the

moment when the question of Kosovos future had to be settled. The speakers described the

events of March 2003 and pointed out the consequences resulting in the destruction of towns,

cultural heritage and in the creation of a new refugee flow. It was also shown that the

international community was confronted with challenges ranging from security, standard

implementation to an accelerated transfer of competencies to Kosovo authorities.

Further the representatives made four points:

Security it was admitted that the security of the region had badly suffered from the

events of March 2003, but it was also said that the situation had become more secure

during the last months, that the cooperation between the KFOR, UNMIK and the KPS

had been intensified and that the operational preparedness and refined contingency

planning were at hand after March 2003. It was also stated that the security in Kosovo,as well as the situation of the minorities were still very fragile and that the

international community would still need to remain committed in the region.

Democratic institutions were considered to have been well functioning. The

multiethnic Government elected in December 2004 had embraced Standard

Implementation. In the Kosovo Assembly there was for the first time a political

opposition

Implementation of Standards it was shown that the Standards were not only the

ticket to the discussions about the status of Kosovo, but also facts, that would define

the future type of the society in Kosovo. In the end the role of the standards was to

ensure improved living conditions and security for the population of Kosovo. Theevaluations of the OSCE MIK showed that standards implementation could be

achieved

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Transfer of authority it was shown that the UNMIK had transferred more

competences to the local administration and that the OSCE MIK supported the

ministries with coaching regarding strategic planning, strengthening management

capacities, etc.

The speakers showed that the new draft of a constitution contained clear norms regardingminorities rights, which were in concordance with the standards of the Council of Europe,

this being considered to be a step forward towards the democratisation of the society.

In the end the representatives indicated that there was a need of dialogue with major

international actors and institutions and pointed out the importance of the Contact Group and

expressed that the region would rise to the challenge of putting an end to the conflicts of the

past.

The Russian Federation and the PISG expressed their disaffection regarding the activity of the

OSCE MIK in the region and considered that, given the events of March 2003, it had failed toprovide for security in the region and for the freedom of movement of the minorities. The

representatives of the OSCE MIK admitted that the international community had failed in this

regard, but showed that in the period following March 2003 there had been made progress.

The representatives of the Union of Serbia and Montenegro complained about the little

involvement of the Serbs in the political life of Kosovo and about the fact that there had been

politically motivated murders taking place. The representatives showed that there had been

created the conditions for Serbs to be actively involved in the political life (10 places for the

Serb minority in the Parliamentary assembly) and showed that support of the Serbian and

Montenegrin Government in this regard would be welcome. It was also said that politically

motivated murders took place also in other regions and that it was regrettable that they hadnt

been avoided.

KFORSelma Belshaku and Anne-Katrin Hinz

KFOR presented the reductions made in the total number of the soldiers from 1999 until

March 2004 and the changes as response measures to the lately events. In the beginning of its

mission KFOR had 50,000 soldiers. After the return of the Kosovo-Albanian refugees and the

establishment of a certain security environment the number of KFOR forces was reduced

continuously. The number reached 17,500 soldiers in the early March and another reduction

was planed. Due to the widespread rioting 90 Soldiers from United Kingdom, France, Italy,

Germany and USA were sent as reinforcement to Kosovo.

The KFOR delegation admitted that the rioting of March caught KFOR by surprise, as they

were unprepared for such a situation. Because of the few reserve forces to sustain the

operations and other deficiencies in the organisation the KFOR could not intervene as it

should. Being aware of the big challenge, the prevention of other events of this nature in the

future, KFOR intends to undertake various changes in the organisation towards better reaction

capabilities. Concretely these measures consist on the improvement of the alarm system,

improvements in the chain of commands and the organisation of intervention companies in

alert cases, the use of helicopters and other vehicles, such as sappers and lorries, for road

blocks.

KFOR stressed in its answer to the representatives of the Government of Serbia and

Montenegro the good acceptance of KFOR as security provider by the people in Kosovo, as

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well as the minorities. KFOR soldiers accompany the Serb children and children other

minorities to school and are engaged in the protection of every individual who feels

threatened by racism and ethnically motivated attacks.

There was a dispute later on with the representative of the Russian Federation caused by his

pronouncement on the presence of KFOR in Kosovo. The representative said that KFOR hadcompletely failed in providing security and protecting the Serb population and its religious

symbols ignoring that way unfairly the efforts and achievements of a 5-year work.

As a multinational force charged with the establishment and maintenance of security in the

place, KFOR was committed to keep its neutrality and not interfere in the discussions between

the parties involved in the conflict and those supporting them about the status of Kosovo.

OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities HCNMRuta Mockute and Eren Tiryaki

1) Mandate of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities

The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) representatives started their

report by reminding the mandate of the HCNM as an institution which task is to identify and

provide solutions in time to certain ethnic tensions within or between OSCE participating

States. The HCNM is aware of the fact that ethnically motivated conflicts are one of the main

sources of violence and crime in Europe and that these crises also have the dangerous

potential to spill-over to neighbouring regions causing further catastrophic outcomes. To

respond to this challenge, the participating States of the then so-called Conference for

Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) decided on the Helsinki Summit in 1992 to

establish the institution of High Commissioner on National Minorities. The mandate defines

his role as "an instrument of conflict prevention at the earliest possible stage". In other words,

the High Commissioner's task is to provide "early warning" and, as appropriate, "early action"

at the earliest possible stage being relatively independent in his actions (e.g. without approval

of the Senior or Permanent Council or of the State concerned). Moreover, the High

Commissioner has to preserve his impartiality at any time in order to be truly effective as a

third party. It is equally essential that he fulfils the condition of confidentiality, which means

that the HCNM acts through preventive diplomacy. Furthermore, explicitly excluded from the

High Commissioner's mandate are individual cases concerning persons belonging to a

national minority or national minority issues in cases involving organized acts of terrorism.

2) Definition of a minority

The representatives of the HCNM stated that the mandate does not provide a specific

definition of what constitutes a national minority. According to the words of Max van der

Stoel, the first High Commissioner who was appointed in 1992, the existence of a minority is

a question of fact and not of definition. (...) First of all, a minority is a group with linguistic,

ethnic or cultural characteristics, which distinguish it from the majority. Secondly, a minority

is a group which () also tries to give stronger expression to that identity. The

representatives of the HCNM noticed that the participants of the meeting did not come to an

agreement on this issue at all - except the Roma representative.

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3) Recommendations

The representatives pointed out that the High Commissioners role of silent diplomacy and

conflict prevention is crucial in order to guarantee the full respect of human rights and

especially minority rights. Lack of communication, misperceptions, and broken trust are

factors that might create inter-ethnic tensions. Therefore, a structured dialogue betweenmajority and minority groups has to be established and maintained since the HCNM follows

also a long-term perspective. Moreover, minorities must be able to participate in the decision-

making processes and bodies. It should be stressed that the integration of minorities in

Kosovo (e.g. Serb, Roma, Turks and other communities) due to several reasons still lacks

behind in these terms. The individual right to learn its mother tongue on the one hand and the

need to know the State language on the other hand serves as an example of this integration

process where diversity should be seen as an enriching rather than an alien element. The

European perspective is regarded as an important policy aim for the post-communist Balkan

States as it provides incentives to develop democratic standards and to comply with human

rights including minority rights. Finally, the legal status question of Kosovo or in general

that of Serbia and Montenegro after the international communities involvement represents achallenge of self-determination vs. territorial integrity in which the rights of minorities in a

democratic framework should never loose its relevance (e.g. appropriate administrative

capacities dealing with minority issues).

OSCE-Representative on Freedom of the Media Aleksandra Zdravkovi and Goran

Bandov

Even in a society with no ethnic conflict, linking the media to loss of life entails walking the

thin dividing line between defending freedom of expression and condemning hate speech. But

in a post-ethnic conflict society such as Kosovo, biased reporting alone could lead to violence.

This report offers ideas and recommendations as how to repair the evident deficiencies of the

media in order to prevent similar situations in the future and provide for a free, fair and

balanced media landscape in Kosovo. The media has a responsibility to react properly and

professionally to serve the best interests of the population of Kosovo.

They give a long list of Proposal of Measures. A few of them are presented here:

A full investigation into the performance of the electronic broadcast media, Kosovo

Albanian and Serbian during the events of 16/17 March, should be conducted. This

should not only investigate the content of the footage aired, but also look at footage,

statements and evidence that were not aired. The findings of this investigation should be presented to the public in Kosovo and to

the donors, as well as to the journalists in question.

Serb-language media in Kosovo relies mostly on information provided by broadcasters

in Serbia. Media broadcasting news programming generated out of Kosovo should be

held accountable for content, regardless of origin, according to the regulations valid in

Kosovo.

A local Kosovo-wide Serb-language broadcaster should be established.

UNMIK Public Information components need to take action in order to ensure that

UNMIK's message is represented in a fair and consistent manner in the future.

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US DelegationJoachim Dethlefs and Katharina Kobilarov


Honourable members of the Chair

As representatives of the United States of America we have to make a clear contradiction in

one point. We just heard a phrase concerning the events of March 2004 in Kosovo: While

displaying the weaknesses it did, the media was not, of course, intentionally investigating

violence.

Considering the events of March 2004 in Kosovo and also in some areas within the union of

Serbia and Montenegro, we definitely see the main problem within the local media. The local

media was instigating the violence. Maybe not completely, but in some cases for sure it was

also intentional. Without the intense covering, especially in newspapers with emotionally

touching pictures and without the unreflective coverage within the TV, the local riots would

have never reached the shocking extents. Of course the word would have also been spreadwithout the media. The people of Kosovo do have their own enormous effective news-

network based on a mouth-to-mouth system personally or by phone. But analyzing the media-

coverage, it seems evident to us that the consumption of the thrilling, sensational and

instigating reports has caused a further development which fastened the process of escalation.

And we are sure that this has been the aim of some responsible persons who instrumentalised

the media for their political aims.

We dont think that only the local journalists themselves are completely to blame for that, as

most of them are in comparison to the situation in the western countries, young and extremely

uneducated. At the end of this, we all have to see the responsibility to support thedevelopment of a free, independent and competent media in Kosovo as one of the main-tasks

in the next years. Connected to that it has to be a matter to discuss that the freedom media

ends and has to end where the journalism ends and the political agitation begins.

The United States of America are proud to support the development within the several

institutions in the OSCE.

Thank you

European UnionElena Bittasi and Nicholas Parrott

We take the view that the problems should be seen not only as a challenge but also as an

opportunity. Recent events have provided us all with a warning of how the situation can

deteriorate rapidly, but fortunately it has not yet spiralled out of control. The very fact that all

the parties are contributing constructively to these discussions is great progress.

Although the EU sees its role as a facilitator rather than driver of the process, my colleague

will outline briefly some of the EUs thoughts on the way forward.

Since Kosovo is a part of Europe, we have to give a European perspective to it. The EU is the

right actor to guide the international mission in Pristina and, differently from the UnitedNations, the European Union has a lot of experience in coping with States in transition.

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Doris Pack, head of the delegation of the EU Parliament for the South-East Europe, has

requested that, as soon as possible, the UNMIK administration should be substituted by a EU

structure.

Brussels is considering the possibility to create a European protectorate in Kosovo, which

would simplify the process towards the integration in the European union and could give tothe Serbs the possibility to effectively participate to the institutions of Kosovo.

An idea of micro-regions is being developed: this idea is based on a corporative concept, on

the renewal of ZADRUGA as basis of the economic units. The aim of such an organisation is

the aid to stabilisation of the societal basis of society and the stimulation of small and

medium-size enterprises, with which a rapid economic development would and could happen.

The micro-regions stabilize society, they re-enforce the local economy and they reduce the

importance of borders. Besides, these micro-regions should block the way to illegal

trafficking. For this kind of plan, some time is necessary, but also the creation of a coalition

between the Albanian and the Serbian parties, because without this, no positive change can beexpected. EU aids and investments through projects are also playing a fundamental role to

guarantee a credible solution.

Representative of the Government of the Union of Serbia and Montenegro Andreia

Tolciu and Bernd-Kristian Kaczenski

After the lunch break the Chairman refused to give the floor to Representative of SCG who

demanded for discoursing. SCG considered appropriate to have a reaction to the previous

speakers (especially to the latter speaker of the PISG). After talks and negotiations with the

Chairman, SCG was given the floor.

SCG said, it has been pleased with the positive course of the meeting and thanked

exceptionally the Representative of the Russian Federation to have bolstered SCG and to have

come up with very good points.

In respect of the PISG and their accusation that SCG is not collaborating with them and the

international community, the speaker referred back to the good cooperation with Den Haag

and the European Union as well as to the multitudinous attempts to seek after the dialogue

with the PISG. As a further contentious issue was mentioned, the Albanians hold the pivotal

departments in the PISG and Serbians hold just insignificant ones. SCG taunted the PISGslack of competency.

Moreover the SCG rejected the reproach by the PISG to be responsible for the cruel deeds in

March 2004. The suspects are probably on higher positions in their own ministries said the

spokesman. Then, he rejected the statement that Kosovo was promised in the past to the

Kosovo-Albanians. He said that the democratic government of SCG is not responsible for any

statement the Croatian statesman Tito made.

Furthermore, the spokesman demanded an apology for having been abused by the OSCE

HCNM speaker, who called him racist and undemocratic. With respect to the report by the

OSCE HCNM the speaker of SCG felt misunderstood and not heard concerning what he saidin his first speech about multinational community in Kosovo and Metohija. He repeated the

quintessential issues of his first speech and added that Serbians trust neither policeman from

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Zimbabwe or India, nor Albanian doctors or benches, which send summons in the Albanian

language.

Responding to the positive report by the OMIK, the Representative of SCG summed up that

the situation, as he pleaded Belgrades case in his first address, is not as good as it is

presented. Only a small number of Serbian refugees returned to their homes in Kosovo andMetohija. He also criticized above all the deficits of the freedom of movements and the

moderate progress of the history workup. In his opinion the situation for Serbians did not

change at all.

Coming to an end he said that SCG should be granted more competencies in all fields and

areas.

After his report, there was a cross-talk between the PISG and the Representatives of SCG.

The OMIK representatives also responded to the report, defending the correctness of their

speech.

Representative of the EBRDLaura Renata Costescu

Due to delays the representative of the EBRD did not come to word anymore. The Chair

offered to take over the declaration of the EBRD made during the press conference in March

2003.

Still, the main points the representative intended to refer to are:

- the lack of de facto guarantee of the property,

- the country risk, given by the instable judicial situation, making it difficult to plan

ahead,

- the law enforcement of the law,

- the organised criminality and local mafia

- and the lack of infrastructure (telecommunication, logistics, transports, financial).

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Epilogue Future II

The OSCE Chairman in Office opened the meeting and reminded speakers that at this last

session they should seek to provide opportunities for the way forward and not simply return to

the arguments discussed in previous sessions.

US DelegationJoachim Dethlefs and Katharina Kobilarov

Ladies and gentlemen,

Honourable members of the Chair.

In starting with our opinion concerning the future of Kosovo, we have to stress out that we see

ourselves as initiators, not as followers. Our statement is that we want a full independence

within current borders. And we want it the fastest as possible. Yes, we are thoroughly for aspeedy independence of Kosovo, whereby everything will be done in agreement with our

European partners. Some options should be ruled our and the process should be soon

concluded.

We claim first of all, to clear the status in order to get Kosovo back on track towards stability

and prosperity. We finally want an agreement and a solution for the status of the province of

Kosovo. So far standards have been before status. But what we want now is the combination

of standards and status and to set a new emphasize. People in Kosovo are unsatisfied with the

current status and have the wish for independence.

But also after the agreement of the status the international community should stay civil and

military in Kosovo, in order to watch and control the realization of the agreed solution and to

control that the rights of minority are protected.

We want to take the leadership concerning solving the problems and especially in order to

bring in a resolutions draft concerning the final status of Kosovo.

And at last, I want to emphasize that this will also be in the interest of the EU because it will

open the way for Kosovo to the EU and NATO.

Thank you

European Union Elena Bittasi and Nicholas Parrott

Initially to look at this from a European perspective - before my colleague goes on to provide

some more detailed proposals - we would like to stress various factors.

We first want to emphasise and outline how the EU is, should, can and will play a role in

assisting the whole region into the Union in coming years. This is certainly the case for both

Serbia and Kosovo. The EU accession process itself cannot begin in the same way that it has

with Croatia and is with Macedonia because of territorial issues.

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It is clear that neither Serbia nor Kosovo can join, or even begin the process properly, without

status being determined. However, that status should be seen in the context of the fact that the

whole region will become part of the EU in the future. That does not mean to undermine the

integrity of future autonomy of Kosovo, but in the process of EU accession protection for

minorities on both sides should and will be guaranteed. The EU should be seen as an example

of shared sovereignty. It provides an alternative to the emergence of classic nation states inthe region.

The European Union is considering creating a Euro-region in Kosovo, which would be

under European monitoring. The final status is conceived related to the European perspective

to Kosovo and Serbia, while the process of stabilisation and association with the EU should

be conducted for Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo.

Coming to the solution for the division of Pristina, we suggest the model which has been

adopted in Belfast or in Nicosia, with the inclusion of the organisations of the civil sector.

This will contribute to the solution of the aspects concerning security and economic

development, with the organised society of both parts of the city.

Our political analysts affirm that the institutions in Kosovo cannot resolve any crucial

problem on their own. We need an international agreement. The Euro-region Kosovo means

that Kosovo would have some representatives in Belgrade, but also a high level of autonomy.

Representative of the Government of AlbaniaMax Bornefeld-Ettmann

The achievements of the international community in the region and specifically in Kosovo

have been great in recent years. The Albanian government thanks the international actors for

their contribution. The Albanian government is a stabilising factor in the region and wants to

create greater stability. The Albanian government rejects false accusations made against it.

We welcome the measures in the Stability Pact through which we believe the poor economic

situation in the region can be made better. The poor economic situation together with the lack

of knowledge about the future status of Kosovo are a key reason for the lack of satisfaction

among the people of Kosovo. Great care must now be taken as problems such as those in

March 2004 can destroy the progress on the way to Europe.

Representative of the Government of FYROM Selma Belshaku and Anne-Katrin Hinz

In the pre-conference on the future of Kosovo the Government of Macedonia didnt come

with any concrete proposal for the solution of the status issue. It began its short statement by

thanking the international community for its help to Macedonia and its presence in the region

and underlined further the very important role of EU as the main donator in rebuilding

Kosovo and a promoter of the development in all the countries of the region.

At the end relating to the Kosovo issue the representative declared that the Government of

Macedonia would agree with any decision made by the international community and accepted

by both parties, the Kosovo-Albanians and Serbs, which would end the conflict and bring the

permanent stability and prosperity in Kosovo.

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Representative of the EBRDLaura Renata Costescu

The representative of the EBRD showed that the EBRD was the largest investor in South-

eastern Europe, mobilising also significant Foreign Direct Investments. She showed also the

fact that the EBRD used the tools of investment to build up democracies and market

economies.

Further the speaker stated that the mandate of the bank stipulated that it could be only active

in countries that had committed to democratic principles and that its purpose was to foster the

transition towards market economies and to promote private and entrepreneurial initiatives.

Going on the representative briefly outlined the projects the bank had implemented in Kosovo

and underlined the engagement and commitment of the bank in supporting also other projects

in the future.

The representative concluded that, in concordance with its statutes, the bank would welcome

any solution that would support Kosovo on its way towards an market economy and towardsthe implementation of democratic principles, in the same time ensuring political, juridical

stability for the region.

No questions or comments were asked regarding the statement of the EBRD.

Representative of ODHIRAleksandra Zdravkovi and Goran Bandov

The Representative of the ODIHR recalls the unfeasibility of a partition along ethnic lines

also because of the existence of more than two ethnic groups. Mentioning that especially

minorities on Kosovo have been a target for the organized crime and attempts of burning

houses down from the Albanian population, the representative pointed out that Kosovo is not

ready for a status of a state. The representative of the ODIHR approved the approach of

standards before status. The question of protection of minorities on Kosovo must be solved

before any attempt for solving the problem of status can be undertaken.

Representative of the Government of the Union of Serbia and Montenegro AndreiaTolciu and Bernd-Kristian Kaczenski

Having the floor, the representatives of the Union of Serbia and Montenegro firstly

summarised the proposals regarding the future status of Kosovo presented by the EuropeanUnion delegates, the Russian representatives and the PISG.

At this point, the delegates of Serbia and Montenegro stressed that the cornerstone of the state

policy of Belgrade is that the state borders cannot be changed and that the sovereignty and

territorial integrity of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro in the process of finding the

solution for the future status of Kosovo and Metohija, cannot be questioned.

Responding to a question of a PISG delegate, the Serbian government is ready to search, in

cooperation with all international factors and through direct dialogue with Pristina, for a

peaceful, comprehensive and permanent solution of the Kosovo and Metohija problems,

which includes full implementation of the 1244 United Nations Security Council Resolution.

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The delegates extended invitations to both the President and the Prime Minster of Kosovo and

Metohija for a direct dialogue. Although there has been no positive reply from Pristina, the

invitation for dialogue, deprived of any conditions, remained open. It is hoped that the leaders

of the Kosovo and Metohija Albanians will demonstrate in this case too "the growing political

awareness" and readiness for a dialogue.

Further on, the representatives of the Union presented the solution offered to the Kosovo issue

by the Belgrade government:

The Serbian part rejects any secession incentive made by the Kosovo-Albanian

representatives. Equal rights to all Kosovo population will be guaranteed within an

autonomic province of Kosovo, but still a part of the Union of Serbia and

Montenegro.

A compromise could be reached, if, in case of secession, the northern part of

Kosovo (the city of Mitrovica) will be handed to the Serbian part.

Meanwhile the International Community should recognize the right of auto-

determination within a referendum of the Serbian population in the SrpskaRepublic.

With other words, the Serbian government remains by its statement less than independence,

more than autonomy when dealing with the Kosovo future status.

Further on, questions regarding Kosovo coming from the other participants at the meeting,

especially the PISG delegates and UNMIK, were answered. The Serbian representatives

stressed once again the idea of a Kosovo province, part of the Union Serbia and Montenegro,

but let a door open to other proposals.

The OSCE Chairman in Office closed the meeting without any firm conclusions but

expressed satisfaction at the discussion of the issues and optimism for the future.

protokoll kosovo osce

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