Kosovo and Belgrade
DECLINING INFLUENCEThe U.N. civilian mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and international forces in Kosovo (KFOR) are still faced with an extremely complicated situation on the ground which is difficult to control. Strong animosity between two ethnic communities has not yet decreased, nor has the tension lessen. Both the Serbs and the Albanians, each in their own way, declare wrong all measures undertaken by the international community or are attempting to use them for achieving their own goals and strengthen their respective positions, with both their compatriots and the international community.
The first major project of the UNMIK was the forming of temporary judiciary bodies, and of KFOR the control of the disarming and demilitarization of the Kosovo Liberation Army and its transformation into the Kosovo Protection Corps. So far, these projects have produced only limited results. The Serbs have left en masse all the temporary judiciary bodies, dissatisfied with the way they are treated and the way the courts are operating. They claim that the initial decree by UNMIK head Bernard Couchner that the laws that were valid in the province before March 24 this year will continue to be applied is not respected. Serb judges are dissatisfied because the Kosovo Penal Code, revoked by a 1989 decision of the Serbian legislature, is now being applied.
Kosovo Protection Corps
According to sources close to the UNMIK, members of the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) should soon be sent to France for training. An official call to the Serbs, sent through their representatives, to join this organizations was flatly refused. Sources close to international representatives in Pristina told BETA that there are differences between the UNMIK and KFOR in viewing the KPC's future role. A high ranking UNMIK official said that in that respect nothing is final, while a senior KFOR official rejected such views. The former political leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army and self-styled premier of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci said at a rally in Gnjilane that the KPC will be "the nucleus of the future Kosovo Army," announcing that his government will also form a military academy, where KLA officers would serve as instructors.
The international community also experiences problems in organizing basic utility services in Kosovo. Namely, utility services employees in Pristina are seriously considering launching a general strike because of low salaries. The Kosovo Television, announced to broadcast according to European standards, has still not began to operate. Also unresolved are the issues of education and health care, and there is not a single multi-ethnic hospital in Kosovo left. The Serbs, thus, except in the divided town of Kosovska Mitrovica, can obtain medical services only in improvised and poorly equipped medical facilities.
UNMIK sources say that the mission's head, Bernard Kouchner, is faced with unsolvable problems, and is doing his best to organize as soon as possible at least some sort of polls in the province, in order, later on, to leave the post. There are no precise announcements as to when the announced census in the province will begin. The date set for its starting was Oct. 1, and a new deadline is now Nov. 1. The preparations for its taking, however, have not yet began.
Serbs
The Serbs in Kosovo are still facing daily pressure, and their leaders are ever more seriously considering the establishment of a joint platform in dealing with the international community. Their political activity is still strongly burdened by the intentions of Belgrade to maintain control over them. Serb representatives from several Serb enclaves in Kosovo met on Oct. 5 in Gracanica, near Pristina, and agreed not to cooperate in any way with the authorities in Belgrade, nor anyone else connected with them.
The Gracanica meeting was attended by Serb representatives from Kosovska Mitrovica, Gnjilane, and places around Pristina. Observers in Belgrade and Pristina interpret this meeting as yet another attempt to free the Serbs in Kosovo from the dominant influence of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, but are not convinced that such results would be achieved easily and quickly.
The resolving of the situation in the Kosovska Mitrovica enclave will be crucial for the future of the Serbs in Kosovo. The Ibar river divides the town in two sections, the northern, controlled by the Serbs, and southern, controlled by the Albanians. In four towns in northern Kosovo -- Mitrovica, Zubin Potok, Zvecan, and Leposavic -- there are some 35,000 to 40,000 Serbs, and any larger movement of them would have catastrophic consequences upon the remaining Serb population in other parts of Kosovo.
Political representatives of the Serbs in northern Kosovo, gathered around the Serb National Council, believe that their fate is closely linked to international military, police and civilian organizations. The situation in this town is slightly different: the local Serbs do not wish for any stronger ties with Belgrade, which is still intent on consolidating its influence over them. In this town on Oct. 6, a session was held of the Presidency of the Serb National Assembly, a body composed of presidents of municipalities, the region, and republican and federal representatives from the province. This body was formed by the Belgrade authorities to counter the actions of self-organized Serbs in Kosovo, but it has no true strength or foothold in the province, particularly because all its members have left Kosovo. Therefore, Belgrade is trying to take advantage of incidents, such as was the one that took place in the village of Supkovac, near Kosovska Mitrovica, on Oct. 5, when the local Albanians, after burying 18 of their compatriots whose bodies were discovered in a mass grave near that town, intercepted a column of Serb vehicles escorted by Russian troops and attacked it. The incident left one Serb dead an ten injured. Eighteen members of international forces were also hurt on this occasion.
The Serbs in northern Kosovo are trying to establish cooperation with international representatives on their own. They have sent their representatives to the UNMIK regional body and the Interim Council. They are resolved to defend themselves as best as they can in the territory they control, but are also aware they cannot afford to have international forces for enemies. The Serbs in Mitrovica claim that they organize occasional blockades of the hospital and other public institutions located in the northern part of the town only when Albanians throw out their compatriots from companies located in the southern part of the town.
(BETA)
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