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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Decentralisation in Kosovo best way to ensure Serbs return, survival

Belgrade/New York, 24 February 2005

Head of the Coordinating Centre for Kosovo-Metohija Nebojsa Covic said at today’s session of the UN Security Council that the Serbian government firmly believes that decentralisation of power in Kosovo-Metohija is the best possible way to ensure the survival, security, and return of Serbs and other non-Albanians in the province.

Decentralisation in Kosovo best way to ensure Serbs return, survival

Covic pointed to the difficult position of the Serb population, their lack of confidence in Kosovo’s interim institutions and the indifference they face from them in seeking help to achieve their interests.

Covic recalled that the reasons why only 0.3 percent of Kosovo Serbs turned out in the October provincial elections stem from the failure to create a multiethnic Kosovo-Metohija and the events that took place on March 17 and 18 of 2004.

He said that human rights of Serbs and other non-Albanians are still violated in Kosovo-Metohija and that these minorities have no freedom of movement in the province.

More than 2,100 of them are not in their own homes and around 500 internally displaced Serbs and other non-Albanians have been housed in collective centres since March 17, 2004, said Covic, while noting that half of the houses demolished in the March riots have not yet been rebuilt.

According to Covic, only additional and better institutionalisation of the position of the Serbian community can guarantee the survival of a multiethnic society in Kosovo-Metohija. If the right to autonomously decide on some of their vital interests is granted to the Kosovo Serbs, entrance into other institutions of self-rule will be much easier and more probable. "Along with an increased engagement of Belgrade in the process of harmonisation of UNMIK's plan for decentralisation with the Serbian government's plan, this is the only solution that could lead to normalisation and stabilisation of the overall situation in the province", Covic stressed.

He said that recent statements alleging that the countdown has already begun and that the process goes on with or without Belgrade, with or without Serbs, is a cause of great concern.

The recommendations concerning Kosovo-Metohija, which UN Secretary General Kofi Annan addressed to the Security Council on November 17, and in which he pointed out that there must be respect of UN SC Resolution 1244 and that the initiation of talks on the province's status is unacceptable until standards have been reached, are giving hope, but largely differ from the real situation on the ground, Covic said.

He said that reducing Belgrade's role to that of an advisor or observer is not a constructive approach.

"The Belgrade authorities have shown many times so far that they sincerely support the idea of establishing a modern multiethnic society in the province and that they are willing and open for cooperation with the international community and the interim institutions in the province", Covic said.

He reiterated that the international community has a true and reliable partner in Belgrade, but warned that cooperation is a two-way process, in which both sides are respected and responsibilities assumed have certain weight.

A solution made without active participation of Belgrade will not be sustainable because the problem of security and stability in the region will be swept under the carpet for a short period, Covic warned in a speech at today's session of the UN Security Council dedicated to Kosovo-Metohija.