NAAC DECRIES ANNAN OPPOSITION TO INDEPENDENCE FOR KOSOVA
PRESS RELEASE, National Albanian American Council, October 14, 1999
Thursday October 14 10:14 AM ET_______________________________________________________________________Annan Opposes Kosovo Independence
By GEORGE JAHN Associated Press Writer
PEC, Yugoslavia (AP) - The United Nations will not endorse the concept of an independent Kosovo, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today as he visited neighborhoods destroyed by Serb forces.
``We are not here to prepare the people for independence,'' he told journalists at the end of his two-day visit - his first visit to Kosovo.
``That is not my mandate,'' Annan said. ``A multiethnic Kosovo is our mandate.''
Kosovo is administered by the United Nations, backed by a NATO-led peacekeeping force. But it formally remains a province of Serbia - the main republic in Yugoslavia.
Although Kosovo Albanians, the province's overwhelming majority, fervently support independence from Serbia, the U.N. resolution on Kosovo calls only for autonomy.
Annan toured a residential suburb of the western Kosovo city of Pec that was destroyed during the 18-month Serb crackdown on the province.
That crackdown ended after NATO pounded Yugoslavia with a 78-day bombardment. Serb troops withdrew from the province in June and peacekeepers moved in. Belgrade has since accused the United Nations and NATO of undermining its sovereignty over the province.
Annan hinted that the ultimate status of Kosovo was not yet decided, even as he turned down the idea of giving the province its own U.N. seat.
``As of now,'' Kosovo is not independent, he said, explaining why it could not be represented at the United Nations.
Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders have pushed the idea of a Kosovo seat at the world body, and they have also sought a greater role in decisionmaking in the U.N. administration of he province.
Senior U.N. officials with Annan today refuted reports that the head of the banned Kosovo Liberation Army, Hashim Thaci, would be given substantial authority in the province - in effect made co-administrator along with U.N. mission chief Bernard Kouchner, according to some newspapers.
``I don't think the United Nations is in a position ... to hand over executive power to anyone,'' said an official in Annan's party on condition of anonymity.
``Elections will decide'' which political figures will govern the province, he said.
After meeting Wednesday with Annan to discuss the administration in Kosovo, Thaci said an executive group with representatives of all political parties would soon be formed.
Granting authority to Thaci would infuriate Serbs and Thaci's Albanian rivals, and would escalate tensions already high in the province.
Annan, who was met by cheering and clapping ethnic Albanians on his stops, spoke of the wonder of seeing a society rising from the ashes after touring reconstruction in the Pec suburb.
``I saw for myself ... people rebuilding their lives,'' he said. ``For me, it was a real miracle.''
He condemned ethnic violence that has plagued the province since the peacekeepers took control. He said leaders must get the ``message across, that revenge is not the answer.''
Much of the violence now targets Kosovo's dwindling Serb minority, attacked by ethnic Albanians seeking revenge for the Serb crackdown that killed 10,000 people.Copyright © 1996-1999 The Associated Press
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NAAC DECRIES ANNAN OPPOSITION TO INDEPENDENCE FOR KOSOVA
Washington, October 14, 1999: The National Albanian American Council issued the following statement in response to remarks made to the press in Peja by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan opposing independence for Kosova.
We are very dismayed that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan believes that the United Nations should attempt to impose a final status for Kosova that is completely contrary to the wishes of at least 95 percent of the population there. His statement is contrary to principles of self-determination and to UN Resolution 1244.
Kosova is not a part of Serbia. Serbia annexed Kosova forcefully in the early part of this century. Since then, Serbia has controlled Kosova only because it has been willing to repress the Albanian people through intimidation, threats, imprisonment, and ultimately mass murder. Just this year, Serbia launched a campaign of genocide in Kosova, during which Serbs slaughtered over 11,000 people (mostly women, children, and the elderly), destroyed entire cities and villages, and displaced over 1.2 million Albanians. Given this history, the people of Kosova refuse to live under Serb control. They want independence.
We cannot believe that the United Nations would attempt to force the Albanians against their will to submit once again to Serb occupation.
We are also astonished that the Secretary-General believes his mandate is to restore Serb control over Kosova. Article 10(e) of UN Resolution 1244 specifically states that the UN administration in Kosova will facilitate "a political process designed to determine Kosovo’s future status, taking into account the Rambouillet accords" (emphasis added). The Rambouillet accords clearly recognize that "the will of the people" of Kosova will be the principal factor in deciding its final status. Annan is trying to circumvent the political process foreseen in Resolution 1244 and is ignoring altogether the reference to the Rambouillet accords.
Today, less than one percent of the destroyed homes in Kosova have been rebuilt, Mitrovica is still being held hostage by Serb gangsters and criminals, random acts of murder against individuals from all ethnic groups are taking place, and the Trebca mine is still controlled by Serbia. The UN should focus on solving these critical problems instead of trying to impose a final status for Kosova, which ultimately can only be decided by the people themselves.
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