UNTYING the KOSOVO KNOT a Two-Sided View Helsinki FILES No
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Helsinki FILES No. 20 UNTYING THE KOSOVO KNOT A Two-Sided View Helsinki FILES No. 20 UNTYING THE KOSOVO KNOT A Two-Sided View Publisher: Helsinki Commi�ee for Human Rights in Serbia For Publisher: Sonja Biserko *** Editor: Seška Stanojlović Authors: Fahri Musliu Dragan Banjac Translated by: Ivana Damjanović Dragan Novaković Cover Page: UNTYING THE KOSOVO KNOT Ivan Hrašovec A Two-Sided View Printed by: Zagorac, Belgrade, 2005 Number of copies: 500 ISBN: 86-7208-111-0 *** This book of interviews has been published within the projecet “Belgrade- Prishtina: Steps to Build Confidence and Understanding” and with the support of the United States Institute of Peace. The opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of inteviewees and other sources, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Institute of Peace. The Helsinki Commi�ee for Human Rights in Serbia thanks the DFA Federal Department of Foreign Affairs - Swiss Liaison Office in Kosovo for its assistance in having this book translated into English. The opinions expressed herein are those of the persons interviewd and other sources, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Swiss Liaison Office. Contents: Editor’s foreword: Framework for Talks ........................................... 7 The author’s preface ............................................................................. 9 Serbian Side Vuk Draskovic ....................................................................................... 13 Goran Svilanovic ................................................................................... 20 Dušan Prorokovic ................................................................................. 24 Cedomir Antic ....................................................................................... 28 Milan St. Protic ...................................................................................... 34 Zoran Zivkovic ...................................................................................... 43 Oliver Ivanovic ...................................................................................... 46 Slobodan Samardžic ............................................................................. 55 Dušan Janjic ........................................................................................... 60 Dušan Batakovic ................................................................................... 68 Latinka Perovic ...................................................................................... 75 Zivorad Kovacevic ................................................................................ 81 Predrag Simic ........................................................................................ 87 Svetozar Stojanovic ............................................................................... 95 Cedomir Jovanovic ............................................................................... 101 Desimir Tosic ......................................................................................... 105 Mileta Prodanovic ................................................................................. 109 Zoran Djindjic ........................................................................................ 114 Rada Trajkovic ....................................................................................... 120 Dušan Mihajlovic .................................................................................. 125 Bosko Mijatovic ..................................................................................... 129 Aleksandar Lojpur ................................................................................ 132 Ivan Ahel ................................................................................................ 135 Nebojsa Covic ........................................................................................ 139 Albanian Side Bajram Kosumi ...................................................................................... 145 Hashim Thaqi ........................................................................................ 151 Ramush Haradinaj ................................................................................ 158 Framework for Talks Enver Hoxhaj ......................................................................................... 165 Ilber Hisa ................................................................................................ 176 Gjergj Dedaj ........................................................................................... 181 Bujar Bukoshi ......................................................................................... 188 The Helsinki Commi�ee for Human Rights in Serbia has striven to start an Albanian-Serb dialogue for over a decade. In 1997 in Ulcinj Edita Tahiri ............................................................................................. 195 (Montenegro), the Helsinki Commi�ee organized, jointly with the Council Rexhep Qosja ......................................................................................... 206 for the Defence of Human Rights and Freedoms in Pristina, the first Esad Stavileci ......................................................................................... 213 conference which brought together Albanians and Serbs in the country Enver Hasani ......................................................................................... 221 itself, then the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). The participants Fadil Maloku........................................................................................... 225 adopted a joint declaration stressing the need to convene an international conference to solve the Kosovo question. The next conference, held in Belul Beqaj .............................................................................................. 233 Belgrade at the end of November 1998 and co-organized by the Helsinki Pajazit Nushi .......................................................................................... 237 Commi�ee, the Kosovo Helsinki Commi�ee and the International Adem Demaqi ....................................................................................... 243 Helsinki Federation, dealt with the ma�er of self-determination. The Albin Kurti ............................................................................................. 246 third conference, scheduled to take place in Pristina in June 2005, is a Azem Vllasi ............................................................................................ 252 logical follow-up to the first two, this time inevitably focusing on Kosovo’s Mehmed Kraja ....................................................................................... 258 status. This unquestionably worthy undertaking has the backing of the US Institute of Peace, and we appreciate its recognition that the Kosovo Skelzen Maliqi ....................................................................................... 266 question cannot be solved without the participation of local actors. Bearing this in mind, the Helsinki Commi�ee has put together Annex a book of interviews with prominent Serbs and Albanians who will be participating in determining the status of Kosovo in some way or another. • Dobrica Cosic - “Proposal for co-existence between Albanian The book offers an overview of the positions of the two sides to be referred and Serb people“ ................................................................................... 273 to by the third conference participants in thinking through the future of • Miroljub Labus – “Twelve principles for Kosovo and Kosovo. Metohija program“ ............................................................................... 281 The past decade marked by turbulent developments in Albanian- Serb relations has laid down the framework for present Serb-Albanian talks. • Group for Kosovo: “The Free State of Kosovo” ............................ 283 However, it was the events in Kosovo in the early 1980s that triggered the Serb question and the subsequent coming to power of Slobodan Milošević. • The US Institute of Peace: “Eight options for Kosovo” ................ 288 The wars that came later were precipitated by the abolition of Kosovo’s and Vojvodina’s autonomy in 1990. The policy of ethnic nationalism plunged • International Commision on the Balkans: “Kosovo’s Final Serbia into international isolation and made its chief advocate end up in Status” .................................................................................................... 290 The Hague. The tragic events in Kosovo during 1998 and 1999, the ruinous • Contact Group Political Directors visit to Belgrade and degeneracy of Serbian society and Serbia’s wholesale political, economic, Pristina”: “Key Messages” ................................................................... 294 societal and moral decline are the results of that policy. Our recent past and our present are marked by these events; our • The International Crisis Group: “Executive Summary present task is to prevent them from marking our future too by coming 297 and Recommendations“ ....................................................................... to terms with our haunting memories. The future status of Kosovo has 7 been determined by these past events and the international community, especially the Contact Group, is quite clear in this regard: there will be no return to the state of affairs existing before