Prime Minister, Again!

VREME: You persistently claim that you will be Prime Minister again?

DODIK: I do not doubt this for a moment.  The results we achieved are sufficient guarantee for me to believe that I will remain Prime Minister of the Government after these elections are over.  In any case, we will respect the election results regardless of which way they go.  But the Coalition “Sloga” will take the victory in RS.  The presidential candidate, Biljana Plavsic, will become the new President of the Republic, while Zivko Radisic will win in the political battle with Krajisnik.

Publicly one hears of post-election deals, despite the existence of the present coalition.  For instance, it is claimed that after the elections, Ms. Plavsic could look for a new Prime Minister.

There is speculation on many issues.  Quite naturally, everything depends on the results of these elections.  But I am not familiar with such speculations.

Do you expect increased pressure from the international community on the issue of the return of refugees?

Probably, but what must be kept in mind is what is feasible.  Political proclamations are not enough for the return of refugees, but rather the real situation on ground.  For us this is less and less a political issue, than an economic one.  If conditions are not secured for someone to get not only a roof above their head, but also a job and a normal life, then we have not accomplished anything.  The solution for this problem cannot be reduced to the mere return of refugees.  There are other options — the possibility of exchanging property, for people to get remuneration for their property if they do not wish to return somewhere.

What happened with the battle against crime and corruption?  There has been much talk about this in recent months, but no big fish have been caught in the net.

I think that we are fighting successfully against this.  Don’t forget that at the beginning we had institutions which were not ready for a fight against crime.  Now those institutions are quite ready.  We also did what was most difficult — those who dealt with organized crime have been expelled from RS political leadership.

But none of those individuals have been arrested?

Warrants have been issued, and they are being processed.  What is important is that no one is privileged.

It appears that many of those individuals, like former Prime Minister Klickovic, have fled to FRY.  Have you sought their extradition?

We have — as soon as their warrants were issued.

Have you received any answer?

We were told that he is still being looked for.

Christopher Hill, the US Envoy for Kosovo

Peace Talks Only With the Peaceful

Christopher Hill, the US ambassador in Macedonia and the envoy for Kosovo, had extensive talks with Slobodan Milosevic, but there was little he could say about his meeting with the Yugoslav president. After consultations with the ambassadors of the Contact Group member-countries last Tuesday, this is what he told a group of reporters representing Belgrade's independent media.

Hostages

We absolutely condemn taking hostages. It's inhuman. The biggest problem in dealing with this particular problem is that everybody I talked with said that it was an illegal activity.

The Humanitarian Situation

We are very concerned with the humanitarian situation and we feel that urgent measures are necessary. This is what we told the Yugoslav government, for it's the responsibility of this government to enable these people to go back to their homes and carry on with their lives. Humanitarian organizations are having difficulties in reaching the critical areas. I think the situation has improved to a certain extent, but only the humanitarian organizations can judge that.
The people will not return to their villages until the only living souls there are the police. We can argue whether they are right or wrong, but it is a fact that they don't feel safe. They will have to be reassured with an international monitoring presence on the ground. That is why I believe humanitarian organizations will consider sending more teams outside Kosovo'' capital Pristina.
 
The Peace Talks

We are not trying to confront the two sides. We have realized that the sides to the conflict do not make as much progress as we want them to when we confront them. You can achieve more by negotiating through indirect contacts, which is what we are trying to do. Once we make it possible, the sides to the conflict will have to resolve the conflict themselves. It's almost autumn time and these people must realize that they have to resolve this conflict as soon as possible. This won't be one of those peace processes that go on for years. No one has time for that, least of all the people in Yugoslavia.

It is very demanding to fly from Belgrade to Pristina and back all the time, but I am not discouraged because I really don't see another way to resolve this problem. It is all very frustrating and sometimes I ask myself whether we are making any progress at all. I think Rugova's decision to elect a negotiating team and take the responsibility upon himself is a step forward.

They proposed some very concrete and elaborated ideas on what they want to be done. That's encouraging. The door to that negotiating team is still open to ethnic Albanian political parties that don't accept institutions created by the Democratic League of Kosovo (DSK). Rugova has left a few vacancies for these people and we are trying to reach some kind of an informal agreement with them so that we can be sure that everybody understands what we are trying to do. When an agreement is reached, they can't say something like "We haven't been consulted about this". Adem Demaqi chose not to participate in the negotiations. His positions are different from my own and, in all honesty, from most other people.

The Solution

Kosovo's ethnic Albanians want something that is unacceptable here. They are talking about Kosovo's independence, but that's something neither the international community nor the Belgrade authorities can accept. That's why we want to restore normal life in Kosovo, rebuild its institutions and make sure that everybody's human rights are respected rather than argue about issues in which there are no common stands. If we make that happen, then we will be able to talk about other issues that people want to discuss. That doesn't mean their demands will be accepted, but they will be able to come forward with them and that will create healthy conditions for a debate.

We are working within the Contact Group on the so-called "Principles Paper" and the "Models Paper", elaborating the group's many methods of achieving self-governing in various parts of the world.  One of the problems in the Balkans is that everybody thinks that a particular problem is one of a kind. This may be sad news for you, but these problems aren't unique. People all over the world have dealt with them, in some cases more successfully than you have. Once we finally reach an agreement, the Contact group will be very much involved in it. The USA and the Contact Group countries want a solution to this conflict not only because Kosovo's population is suffering, but also because we believe that this is one of the last remaining problems in the Balkans. We believe that we will be able to bring the Balkans into Europe when we resolve it. We have spent a great deal of our careers in the Balkans and that's why we are aware that the region is a part of Europe and that no one can talk about European unification without including the Balkans.

The KLA

We do not support armed clashes in Kosovo. This is a political problem and must be resolved by political means. We do not support the idea of erecting checkpoints and liberating Kosovo. We believe that Ibrahim Rugova and his aides share our view. We must show that people who support tolerance, democracy and peaceful solutions win in the end. The doors are open to others who want to join this process. Once we reach an agreement, it must be good enough for Rugova to "sell" it to the rest of the ethnic Albanian community. In the end, the ethnic Albanians will have to decide which option is more likely to bear fruit. When people talk about US support, they must understand that we support political methods only. We will not support armed operations.

Without analyzing the KLA, I think you will find hat many people carrying weapons would be more than happy to leave them if negotiations that aren't never-ending stories emerge and result in a genuine solution. I believe, although this is my own impression, that most people want a peaceful solution to the conflict.