Vienna Meeting No Guarantee For Serbs
by D.D.
Glas Javnosti, Belgrade, Serbia, Serbia-Montenegro, September 27, 2004
As the persons who are deeply involved in Kosovo problems Nebojsa Covic and Dusan Janjic stated for Glas Javnosti that early next week Belgrade will be faced with international representatives who will continue to apply pressure in order to secure Serbs' participation in the elections. But, neither Covic nor Janjic them will attend today's meeting in Vienna that is supposed to address technical questions in connection with parts of the Serbian Government Plan which eventually could be included in the UNMIK Decentralization Plan for Kosovo.
DISHONEST PROCESS
"I was invited to the meeting, but I will not go. I do not see any good it can bring. I do not think that anything important will happen in Vienna and that Serbs in Belgrade and in Kosovo and Metohija can hope to obtain anything but empty promises. Consequently, Belgrade should not change its stand. Those who are calling on Serbs from Kosovo to participate in the elections are taking full responsibility for what might happen at the end of this dishonest process, and that is independence of Kosovo," warns Covic.
"A lot of important international representatives will arrive in Belgrade, Solana, Patten, and Grossman. The pressure on Belgrade to change its views regarding the elections and to invite the representatives of the Serb community in Kosovo to participate in the election will be very strong. I think our policy should not change until we get written guarantees from the Security Council that Kosovo will not be granted independence. I will not change my position, whatever the price may be, personal and political," stated Nebojsa Covic, president of the Serbian Government Coordination Center for Kosovo and Metohija.
Dusan Janjic, the Coordinator of the Forum for Ethnic Relations and the man who was seen as a chief of the new government experts' team dealing with Kosovo problems, now believes that the Vienna meeting is "a deserved punishment for all our mistakes".
"Based on formulations it can be seen that at the meeting in Vienna, Belgrade will be represented by the advisors from Vojislav Kostunica's cabinet. That is not good even for that cabinet. I would like to see Covic earn his paycheck at that meeting," says Janjic. He believes that the Coordination Center is not doing its job, but he also blames the politicians.
KOSOVO - WITHOUT ANSWER
"Whatever the sages in Belgrade think, they do not have a solution for the Kosovo problem. Starting with Wednesday these sages have to make a very difficult decision, which will in the same time be a test for Tadic-Kostunica alliance," said Janjic and warned that when it comes to Kosovo the current administration is only reacting to external pressure, just like Slobodan Milosevic in the past. The consequence of such policy is they let others create policies on their behalf.
