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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Government calls on Serbs not to take part in Kosovo election

Belgrade, 29 July 2004

On behalf of the Serbian government, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica has called on Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija not to take part in the parliamentary elections in the province due in October this year. Otherwise, the Serbian government’s Plan for a political solution to the situation in Kosovo-Metohija “would definitely and finally be buried down,” and the government is firm not to let that happen, he said. He also said that the draft of the local administration reform, proposed by UNMIK and adopted by Kosovo’s government, is not a solution to the difficult Kosovo problem. He also pointed out that the draft is “utterly inappropriate in comparison to the current situation in Kosovo.”

Author: Fonet

Presenting the Serbian government’s report on implementation of the Plan for a political solution to the current situation in Kosovo-Metohija, adopted by the government today and forwarded to the parliament for adoption, Kostunica said it is time to show what has been carried out and what remained undone. The idea to come up with this report was borne following the recent draft of local administration reform in Kosovo-Metohija as well as pressures on Kosovo Serbs to take part in the forthcoming election for the province’s parliament.

The Prime Minister noted that the five percent of the Serb population who remained in Kosovo-Metohija can be protected only through institutions. Considering the present situation, there is no point in participating in the forthcoming Kosovo elections, he said.

The policy of stillness, unaccountability and not objecting to extremists among Kosovo Albanians has prevailed this time when it comes to members of the international community, he said.

Kostunica said that the government’s Plan clearly notes that Serb participation in the election for new regional authorities would encourage them to take part in the parliamentary elections as well. As no institutional framework has been set, Serbs cannot be encouraged to participate in the Kosovo election; they are discouraged, he said.

Kostunica said that prior to the government’s decision he had met with Povratak coalition representatives, officials of Serb municipalities in Kosovo-Metohija, as well as with other Serb representatives from the province. The Prime Minister also discussed this issue with Serbian President Boris Tadic.

Reflecting on the draft of the local administration reform in the province, Kostunica pointed to one abstract term, called the citizen of Kosovo, which has no ethnic background.

He said that the plan does not deal with consequences of March 17 violence against non-Albanians and is written as if Kosovo was a happy land, with no minorities, ethnic communities, inter-ethnic tensions, or ethnically motivated violence. According to the Prime Minister, this document completely disregarded all that.

“To make things even worse, it starts from the concept to conduct it in several pilot projects in several municipalities, and that process is going to last. The situation in Kosovo is very difficult and it is necessary to come up with concrete instruments in order to protect the Serb community,” said Kostunica.

Although many have described the Serbian government’s Plan as a good starting point for talks, it seems that it only served as a phrase, he said, adding that the proposal of UNMIK, approved by the Kosovo government, is no solution at all.

He stressed that it is obvious once again that the international community, or international organisations that took part in the preparation of the Draft of local administration reform, “very often, in the most difficult situations, do not take any responsibility, something characteristic of a normal, democratic political life.” According to Kostunica, secretaries are changing, while no one of them is accountable for the results of the policy that brought no improvement.

Kostunica added that the Serbian government was waiting for anything that may resemble a response to the Serbian government’s Plan from Kosovo Albanians or UNMIK so as to discuss both proposals in a normal conversation. However, Pristina’s Draft of local administration reform came to annul the Serbian government’s Plan. According to Kostunica, the Draft does not even refer to the Serbian government’s Plan, and that is why the government has put forward this report.

The Prime Minister recalled that neither non-Albanian nor Serb ethnic communities are protected at any level of government, and that protection cannot be obtained through local administration reform. Protection could have been provided through the work of the Kosovo parliament, but, as he said, this was not the case.

Kostunica recalled that the Serbian government’s Plan for a Political Solution to the Situation in Kosovo-Metohija, which would offer a concrete plan and provide solid institutional guarantees for non-Albanians, especially for Serbs in Kosovo, was unanimously adopted in the Serbian parliament on April 29 this year. He said that the Plan was thoroughly prepared, well-grounded, and that solutions proposed are in line with Resolution 1244 and the Constitution. The Serbian government has taken on a responsibility to direct activities of state organs towards the implementation of the Plan and to submit a report on its implementation, which it did today.

The Prime Minister said that the government is about to mark five months since it took office, recalling that the parliament has passed 40 bills in the meantime, proposed by the government. They are mostly systemic laws, regulating economy, finance, and judiciary, he explained.

This period of the government’s work is characterised by cancellation of some of Serbia’s debts, such as those to the London Club, Russia as well as the Russian debt to Serbia. He recalled that the Serbian government and Minister of International Economic Relations Predrag Bubalo have mediated in talks between carmaker Zastava and Italian Fiat, which resulted in writing off some of Zastava’s debts to Fiat.