European Voice, Brussels
9-15 April 2006
EU told to up the pressure on Kosovo
Senior Serbian officials have called for EU pressure to force Kosovo's
prime minister-designate, Agim Ceku, to answer charges of war crimes.
Ceku's nomination, made after the resignation of Bajram Kosumi on 1
March, threatens to disrupt the talks on Kosovo's final status, which
were launched in Vienna in February. A further round of UN-sponsored
talks is scheduled for 17 March.
Ceku, who is currently head of the Kosovo Protection Corps – seen by
many as a nascent army – is considered a war criminal by Belgrade
because of his role in the Kosovo Liberation Army and earlier fighting
against Serbs during the war with Croatia.
On a visit to Brussels this week Dusan Batakovic and Aleksandar Simic,
who are part of Belgrade's negotiating team in the Kosovo talks, said
Ceku's appointment could be seen as a « provocation » for Kosovo's
Serbs.
The first round of United Nation's mediated talks held in Vienna in
February focused on decentralisation of power from Pristina to Seb
areas.
With many in the international community advocating full independence
for Kosovo, Serbian leaders are under intense domestic pressure to
negotiate a good deal for Kosovo's Serbs.
According to Batakovic, an adviser to President Boris Tadic, Ceku's
appointment can only be divisive.
"Politically speaking, his nomination is aimed at consolidating the
Albanian community in Kosovo and not at encouraging reconciliation and
mutual trust between the two communities.
« The problem is that we are all interested in building a civil
society in Kosovo and if you are nominating General Ceku who was
fighting against Serbs both in Croatia and Kosovo, he is obviously not
the person who will enjoy support and confidence in the Serbian
community," he said.
While stopping short of calling for talks to be suspended , Simic, who
advises Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, said that Belgrade would
reassess the situation after Ceku is sworn in.
« We will reconsider all the facts after he manages to be elected in
Pristina", he said.
Belgrade is also under pressure because of the continued hunt for Serb
war crime indictee Ratko Mladic, who is wanted by the International
Tribunal in The Hague (ICTY).
Simic said that the international community should hold Ceku to
account in the same way that Serbs were held to account at the ICTY.
EU foreign affairs chief Javier Solana has described Ceku's
appointment as « an internal matter ».
If confirmed, Ceku will be the third prime minister in the space of a
year. In March 2005 Ramush Haradinaj was extradited to the war crimes
tribunal in The Hague.
Serbian News Network - SNN
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http://www.antic.org/
