In September 1999, 42 percent of citizens of Montenegro were supporting the independence of that republic, while 40 percent of poll participants were for a common state with Serbia. However, according to the poll conducted by "Meduim" at the end of December 1999, the mood has changed in the meantime so that in the most recent poll 47 percent of participants were for a common state with Serbia, and only 36 percent for secession.
According to the mentioned poll, mostly "less wealthy, older and less educated citizens" were for the preservation of the Federation, while mostly "wealthy, young and highly educated citizens" supported independent Montenegro.
Thus, among less wealthy citizens 23 percent support secession and 59 percent the preservation of a common state, while the wealthier citizens are evenly split (42 percent for independence and 42 percent against). Younger population mostly supports independence (48 percent for and 38 percent against), while the older citizens express much higher desire for common life (21 percent for secession and 58 percent for the Federation). The smallest percentage of those supporting independence can be found among people with some primary school education (14 percent for secession and 58 percent against) while 50 percent of respondents with university education support independence and 37 percent of them are for the preservation of a common state with Serbia.
It is interesting that the mood of the supporters of the ruling coalition is not unanimous: 51 percent of the supporters of the ruling "To live better" coalition support independence while 31 percent of them are for a common state with Serbia. Had general elections been held in December, [according to the poll] 40 percent of voters would have supported the ruling coalition whereas 22 percent would have supported SNP and SNS [pro-Milosevic Montenegrin political parties].
As far as the mood of the citizens of Serbia is concerned, according to the poll conducted by "Medium", as many as 43 percent of them believe that FRY "must be preserved at any cost", while 34 percent are against use of all means for the preservation of the Federation.
"At 1pm sharp at the KFOR base in the village of Medare, three Albanians for whom it was established that in the clashes with the Police and the Yugoslav Army they hadn't 'bloodied their hands', but had been mostly active in village guards, were turned over to their relatives. At the same time, three Serbs were released in Rozaje: two from the Pristina region and one from Djakovica. Thus, our agency successfully completed the search for three missing Serbs that started in October 1999," said owner of "Ozna" Zivorad Jovanovic.
The identity of exchanged Serbs, according to Jovanovic, cannot be revealed for now because two brothers and the father of one of released Serbs are still held in Albanian-run prisons in Kosovo. The exchange went without incidents. According to Zivorad Jovanovic another exchange of prisoners is to be expected soon. He also stated that the "competent state bodies" were "offering assistance" in these exchanges.
"Last year, an ethnic Albanian from Srbica contacted me and offered DM 20,000 to find his son. I declined money and said that I would accept the job if in return he found some Serbs. He offered ten Serbs for his son. That's how it started and with time we earned the Albanians' trust. For example, the Mishkari family offered the release of a significant number of Serbs in exchange for their sons. We sent an inquiry to the Ministry of Justice and are now waiting for their reply," said Jovanovic.
"Ozna" searches for missing persons all over the world, and the data in connection with Kosovo are forwarded by the agency to the Center for Peace in the Balkans in Toronto and via this organization to the International Red Cross, the Albanian government and KFOR.
The mechanism for exchanges, claimed Jovanovic, is fully in accordance with Yugoslav laws.
"After a request from our ethnic Albanian clients, we approach the Third Army, judicial institutions and our secret contacts in order to find out where the sought Albanians are," related Jovanovic, adding that "the cooperation of state and military bodies has been exemplary".
"In connections with the recent triple exchange, we received information that the two Albanians sought by us were in Pozarevac and one in Sremska Mitrovica. First we established that they hadn't committed war crimes, and then engaged the services of our lawyer. All three were sentenced to 12 to 14 months in prison. After they served their sentence, we took them to Merdare to be exchanged. In return we earned the release of three Serbs," claimed Jovanovic.
In the agency, they expect a successful exchange for two policemen, Miodrag Krstic and Ljubisav Biocanin. For them, the Albanians are demanding the release of two compatriots with longer prison sentences. "According to our information, Biocanin was abducted by Fadilj Suljevic, a former employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs [Police] in Pristina, also a student of the UNMiK Police academy in Vucitrn," added Jovanovic.
"There is a lot of manipulation with the missing Serbs. We have material evidence about the murder of four soldiers and their families have been informed. For other, there is no material evidence. Ethnic Albanians are guarding the abducted Serbs well, in order to exchange them for true terrorists, because they are aware that 'foot soldiers' who haven't committed war crimes, will be released by the end of the year," said the owner of "Ozna", but added that "there is a solution for that as well". According to Jovanovic, KFOR representatives have expressed readiness to react to adequate information about imprisoned Serbs:
"In KFOR they could not believe that there is a private investigation agency in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. They thought that we were a state agency. However, now they are prepared to assist us. The problem is with ethnic Albanian translators. For example, KFOR was informed that there were 160 Serbs imprisoned in Musutiste, but by the time KFOR got there, the terrorists had already been informed and there was nothing there any more."
Jovanovic emphasized that the exchanged Serbs had said that they had not been tortured or mistreated in Albanian-run prisons in Kosovo and that "the chances for the continuation of these exchanges are high".
Bishop of Raska-Prizren Artemije advocated yesterday the participation of Serbs in the Temporary Administrative Kosovo Council (TAKC) explaining that "if Serbs reject this government, it is questionable that they would get anything else from the International Community in Kosovo". President of the executive council of the SNC for Kosovo and Metohija Momcilo Trajkovic emphasized that it is necessary that Serbs participate in the temporary Kosovo government, since the government is a transitional solution until the elections in Kosovo are held. "We have to protect Serb interests in Kosovo in all available ways; the Kosovo government does not affect the future status of Kosovo, since the final status of Kosovo will be discussed later," stated Trajkovic.
Members of the SNC for Kosovska Mitrovica district unanimously, in their discussions, rejected any mode of participation of Serbs in the TAKC. A member of this council from Kosovska Mitrovica, Dr. Marko Jaksic, said that the participation of Serbs in the Kosovo government would legalize the expulsion of Serbs from Kosovo and that "Kouchner is in charge of the dismantling of the Serbian state and is consistently violating the UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and the interests of the Serb people in the southern Serbian province"
In the conclusion, the SNC for Kosovska Mitrovica district stated that the rejection of the participation of Serbs in the TAKC does not imply the end of further discussions of Serbs with the International Community in Kosovo, above all at the local level; it was again emphasized that the only solution for Serbs are cantons. Incidentally, the TAKC has 19 departments, out of which two, the Ministry for Agriculture and the Ministry for Work, would be headed by Serbs while the others would be headed by Albanians.
"We shall not stop discussions with the International Community in Kosovo, since it is common knowledge that the sovereignty of Serbia has been temporarily suspended in Kosovo. We must have contacts and discussions with the International Community in order to protect the interests of all Serbs in the province and enable expelled Serbs from Kosovo to return to their homes," said the president of the Executive Council of the SNC for Kosovska Mitrovica district, Oliver Ivanovic.
Expressing his satisfaction with conclusions adopted at a meeting of this council with the representatives of the SNV for Kosovska Mitrovica two days ago, Trajkovic emphasized that the meeting was dedicated to the discussion of the living conditions of the Serbs living in ghettos, or Serb majority enclaves in Orahovac, Gracanica, Kosovo Polje, Strpce and Gorazdevac.
"All Serbs from Kosmet, represented by the SNV, support the concept of coexistence in organization of local administrative bodies but for now the conditions for participation of Serbs in the TAKC do not exist; until the Kosovo Protection Corps is abolished or, if Kouchner insists on the existence of this organization, until Serbs are allowed to form a similar organization, the Serb Protection Corps, the Serbs will not be able to participate in the work of the TAKC. There is no need to state some extraordinary arguments for this demand, since that is completely clear to both the International Community and the UNMiK officials," said Trajkovic. He added that "Kouchner has been clearly told that Serbs demand minimal concessions to offset constant accommodation of Albanian demands by the UNMiK".
"We want and will persevere in that, that the problem of the Serb national community be resolved in parallel with the solution of the status of the Albanians. In other words we demand that the status of Kosovo, rather than the status of Albanians, be resolved. We have deep roots in this region, and others want to extirpate whose roots thanks to mistaken actions of the regime in Belgrade and certain representatives of the International Forces," said Trajkovic.
He especially stressed the need to persist in efforts to influence the UNMiK chief to withdraw all decisions that violate the Resolution 1244, especially those that violate the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
"We do not want to make decisions regarding the status of Serbs in Kosmet, especially those concerning statehood, without our motherland Serbia and FRY. All those who insist on confrontation with the International Community must be aware that they are actually helping the Albanian side by doing that. Simply, we want to and demand to, with assistance of the International Community, Serbia and Yugoslavia, that is democratic forces in Serbia and Yugoslavia, establish a new organization in the southern Serbian province in which all citizens will be equal, as opposed to the present situation of the suppression of minorities and lack of law and order. With that goal in mind, the SNC for Kosovo and Metohija will in the future support all proposals that provide conditions for the survival and return of Serbs to Kosovo and Metohija," concluded Trajkovic. The president of the Executive Council of the SNC for Kosovo and Metohija emphasized "readiness to continue all contacts and negotiations with the International Community and UNMiK, provided the goal of those contacts is to ensure survival and return of Serbs to Kosovo and Metohija".
"We do not support the policy of isolation. Some aspects of the concept for coexistence are only a transitional solution that leads to the setting up of conditions for the continuation, of better said, return of all those who used to live in the province, and the creation of a multiethnic community within Serbia and FRY," said Trajkovic.
"By aligning our views with those of the Serbs from Kosovska Mitrovica we made a conscious act: more than 50 percent of all Serbs currently living in Kosmet live in that region; however, a lot of Serbs in Kosmet do not have a direct connection with the motherland Serbia and FRY. In Kosmet there are still 50,000 Serbs who are imprisoned in enclaves, left to their own devices and are used as a bargaining chip during elections and struggle for survival of the regime in Belgrade," said Trajkovic.