1.6.2007 by admin.

Russia rejects revised Kosovo draft

01/06/2007

Western nations circulated a new draft resolution on Kosovo’s future Thursday, saying they want the UN Security Council to vote on it next week. But Russia immediately rejected the document and suggested it might exercise its veto power.

(Reuters - 01/06/07; AFP, AP, DPA, BBC, Xinhua - 31/05/07)

US Ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad said “there were changes, but the essential part of the resolution still calls for Kosovo entering a new phase in its road towards independence.” [UN]

Western nations introduced on Thursday (May 31st) a revised draft of a UN Security Council resolution backing a plan to grant internationally supervised independence to Kosovo, but Russia rejected it immediately.

The new document, drafted by Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Slovakia and the United States, is an update of a version circulated last month and includes changes aimed at addressing some of Russia’s concerns.

The new text, which was formally introduced by Britain, says the Council “supports” instead of “endorses” UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari’s proposals for Kosovo’s future status and “calls for its full implementation”.

Reflecting a suggestion made by Russia, it also proposes that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appoint a special envoy to deal with the issue of refugee returns and the situation of internally displaced people in the region.

Furthermore, the new version “demands” rather than “underscores the importance” of Kosovo’s full compliance with the obligations as set out in Ahtisaari’s plan, which the province’s assembly has endorsed and accepted.

Serbia has firmly rejected the former Finnish president’s proposals, which would put Kosovo on the path to independence. Insisting that it should retain some sovereignty over the province, Belgrade has called for new UN-sponsored negotiations, a demand supported by Russia.

“The introduction of this updated version of the draft has not changed anything as far as we are concerned,” Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said on Thursday. “We should think in terms of continued effort to find a mutually acceptable solution to the future of Kosovo.”

Asked by a reporter whether his country would thus veto the new draft resolution, he hinted that such a move was possible unless some radical changes are made in the document. “Under those circumstances, unfortunately, the outcome would be obvious,” Churkin said.

According to Reuters, the main sticking point is a provision in the draft that calls for replacing Resolution 1244, which was adopted after the end of the 1998-1999 conflict and affirms Serbia’s sovereignty over Kosovo.

“We now need to get into serious negotiation,” Britain’s UN Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry told reporters Thursday. “It is for Russia now on the basis of the [new] text to tell us what it wants. On the basis of that we can then respond to see if anything is possible.”

US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said the new document would be discussed by Council experts at a meeting Friday, promising also that “every effort” would be made to “accommodate the constructive ideas from our Russian colleagues”.

“The process to move forward has started, Kosovo independence is inevitable,” German news agency DPA quoted him as saying.

Western nations want the draft resolution to be put to a vote next week.

Some diplomats, however, were sceptical that this could happen before the three-day Group of Eight summit opens in Germany on Wednesday.

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1.6.2007 by admin.

Bulgarians weary of gangland killings

01/06/2007

High profile assassinations are starting to lose their power to shock, a Bulgarian blogger suggests. Also this week: the benefits of a bus strike.

By Ivan Tchomakov for Southeast European Times – 01/06/07

Dimitar Yankov was the municipal council chairman in the resort town of Nessebar. [AFP]

Early in May, Bulgarians awoke to news of yet another high-profile assassination. Dimitar Yankov, municipal council chairman in the resort town of Nessebar, was the second official in the last six months to be shot dead. The growing list of victims includes sports team owners, business tycoons and mafia honchos.

As though to flaunt their power, Yankov’s killers committed the murder in downtown Burgas, pumping seven bullets into the victim’s head. Five months earlier, the mayor of Elin Pelin, a town near Sofia, suffered a similar fate.

“There is probably no link between the two incidents,” comments taralejite. “The only link perhaps is the attitude of the public or rather the absence of an attitude. It is frightening but it is a fact — a high-profile murder is nothing more to us than a boring statistic.”

“We have ceased to hear the shots — they are simply an episode in the news. We have seen this film before and cannot be moved by it. Good has not prevailed over evil and the film’s finale is open-ended as always. The audience has grown bored and has reached for the remote control.”

On a different note, Thomas takes a moment to look at the brighter side of public transportation strikes, such as the one narrowly averted in mid-May. The benefits, he suggests, are numerous.

Since illegally parked cars usually occupy the bus lane, buses normally clog the second lane as they stop to pick up and let off passengers. With no buses in service, traffic can now move at more than 3km per hour.

And that’s not all! Pedestrians “will not be able to jaywalk between buses and startle car drivers when they emerge right in front of their bumpers from behind some stopped bus”. Cabbies, with more work to do, will feel less inclined to head for the airport and “stalk unsuspecting and naive foreigners”. Heart disease will decline because walking is good for you; the public will become slimmer and fitter.

Finally, Thomas notes, “we will stop hearing all these complaints about how overcrowded, uncomfortable and smelly our buses are.”

Emil Georgiev comments on the influx of Romanian visitors to Bulgaria’s Black Sea resorts. Rumour has it that hotels are going bankrupt because they are not prepared for the “invasion”.

In particular, the hoteliers gripe that Romanians eat and drink “two or three times more than their Western counterparts”. As a result, all-you-can-eat specials are proving costly.

“In fact,” comments Georgiev, “what we are witnessing is the unprecedented integration of two nations that had lived in isolation from one another. Bulgarians are seeking employment in Bucharest where salaries are twice as high as in Bulgaria”.

“Again for financial reasons, Romanians are shopping in Ruse and spend their vacations in Varna. We are thus seeing a perfectly European process unfold in a Balkan environment. Given the fact that the distance between Bucharest and Varna is much shorter than the distance between Varna and Sofia, the future of Bulgarian-Romanian integration looks very bright indeed…”

“The Bulgarian travel industry would be much better off if it devises a strategy to accommodate these potential customers who live just next door instead of complaining about the large volume of their stomachs,” he concludes.

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1.6.2007 by admin.

Russland lehnt auch überarbeitete Resolution ab

UNO-Sicherheitsrat befasst sich mit neuem Entwurf - Weitere Verhandlungen gefordert - Treffen Steinmeier-Tadic in Berlin

1.6.07

New York - Russland hat am Donnerstag im Sicherheitsrat auch den jüngsten überarbeiteten Entwurf für eine UNO-Resolution zur Zukunft des Kosovo abgelehnt und weitere Verhandlungen gefordert. Die USA und mehrere europäische Länder hatten den Resolutionsentwurf zuvor eingebracht. Über den Vorschlag sollte am Freitag in New York diskutiert werden. In der überarbeiteten Resolution hieß es - als Zugeständnis an die Vetomacht Russland - unter anderem, der Sicherheitsrat der Vereinten Nationen “unterstütze” den Kosovo-Plan des UNO-Vermittlers Martti Ahtisaari und nicht, der Rat pflichte Ahtisaaris Plan bei, wie es zuvor geheißen hatte.Für den Kosovo müsse ein für alle Seiten akzeptabler Kompromiss gefunden werden, forderte der russische UNO-Botschafter Witali Tschurkin erneut. Er verwies dabei auch auf einen “wichtigen Brief” des serbischen Außenministers Vuk Jeremic an UNO-Generalsekretär Ban Ki-moon. Auch Jeremic fordert darin weitere Verhandlungen, um die langfristige Stabilität des Kosovo zu garantieren. Die Unabhängigkeit der Provinz lehnt er weiter ab.

Expertengespräche am Freitag

Der UNO-Botschafter der Vereinigten Staaten, Zalmay Khalilzad, erklärte, Experten würden am Freitag über die Resolution sprechen. Tschurkin bemerkte dazu, Russland werde nur zuhören. Über die Resolution könne nicht gesprochen werden, da grundlegende Zweifel Russlands nicht berücksichtigt seien. Er deutete an, dass Russland die Resolution mit seinem Veto blockieren werde. Auf die Frage eines Journalisten nach der Haltung Moskaus bei einer Abstimmung über den Resolutionsentwurf erklärte Tschurkin, unter den gegebenen Umständen wäre das Ergebnis offensichtlich. Er wolle das Wort Veto nicht gebrauchen, “aber Sie erraten gut, was ich im Kopf habe”.

Der UNO-Gesandte Ahtisaari hatte eine international überwachte Souveränität für den Kosovo vorgeschlagen. Serbien lehnt eine Unabhängigkeit der Provinz, die seit 1999 von den Vereinten Nationen verwaltet wird, jedoch strikt ab. Russland will nur eine Lösung im UNO-Sicherheitsrat akzeptieren, die auch Serbien billigt.

Auf die Frage, ob die von Tschurkin genannten grundlegenden Unterschiede zwischen Russland auf der einen und den USA und den Europäern auf der anderen Seite überbrückt werden könnten, sagte der französische UNO-Botschafter Jean-Marc de La Sabliere: “Ich bin ein sehr guter Ingenieur.” Der britische UNO-Botschafter Emyr Jones Parry meinte, man müsse nun “in ernsthafte Verhandlungen einsteigen”. Russland müsse auf Grundlage des neuen Entwurfes sagen, was es wolle; dann könnten die übrigen Mitglieder des Sicherheitsrates “sehen, ob etwas möglich ist”.

USA: Ball liegt jetzt bei Russland

Khalilzad sagte vor Journalisten, der Ball sei jetzt bei Russland. Dass der Kosovo unabhängig werde, sei “unvermeidlich”. Der Rat wolle sich aber nach Kräften bemühen, “konstruktive Vorschläge” der russischen Kollegen zu berücksichtigen. Die USA wollten in der kommenden Woche über den Entwurf abstimmen.

Am Freitag wollte der EU-Ratsvorsitzende und deutsche Außenminister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin mit dem serbischen Präsidenten Boris Tadic über den künftigen Status des Kosovo sprechen. Bei dem Treffen, an dem auch EU-Erweiterungskommissar Olli Rehn teilnimmt, soll es zudem um die Beziehungen zwischen Serbien und der Europäischen Union gehen. (APA/AP)

Aus anderen Ressorts
EU in der Kosovo-Mühle [Perspektiven\derStandard.at]

Aus dem Archiv
Verhandeln ohne Erfolgsaussicht [23.02.07 \Politik]

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1.6.2007 by admin.

Bosnian Serb war crimes indictee Tolimir arrested

01/06/2007

Former Republika Srpska army officer Zdravko Tolimir is believed to be a key link in the network helping Ratko Mladic elude justice.

By Igor Jovanovic for Southeast European Times in Belgrade – 01/06/07

Former Bosnian Serb General Zdravko Tolimir was arrested on Thursday (May 31st). [Getty Images]

Zdravko Tolimir, a former Republika Srpska (RS) army officer thought to be one of the main organisers of the network helping top war crimes indictee Ratko Mladic elude justice, was arrested in the Bosnian Serbia entity on Thursday (May 31st).

Olga Kavran, spokeswoman for UN war crimes tribunal chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte, confirmed news of the arrest.

Kavran told Belgrade media that del Ponte welcomed Tolimir’s arrest, and voiced hope that the wartime leaders of the Bosnian Serbs — Mladic and former RS President Radovan Karadzic — would also be apprehended soon.

News wires Friday said the suspect has been transferred from Sarajevo to The Hague, with the assistance of NATO. Reuters quoted a spokesperson for EU peacekeepers as saying Tolimir was held overnight at Camp Butmir near Sarajevo, after being brought by helicopter from Banja Luka.

NATO spokesman Derek Chappel confirmed that NATO was “involved in providing safe transfer”, but declined to provide details. Tolimir, a former senior RS army officer, is charged with genocide and other crimes in and near Srebrenica in 1995. The indictment against him was unsealed in 2005.

Belgrade media reports say he was detained on RS territory near the border with Serbia. The head of the National Council for Co-operation with the UN tribunal, Rasim Ljajic, confirmed that RS and Serbian security services had conducted a joint operation on both sides of the border.

Local commentators are linking the arrest with del Ponte’s arrival in Belgrade next week and the hoped-for resumption of Stabilisation and Association Agreement talks with the EU. Analyst Aleksandar Radic believes Tolimir’s arrest means that the talks “will almost certainly continue”.

Speaking to the Belgrade news agency BETA, Radic said Belgrade already could have anticipated a resumption of negotiations, thanks to the new government’s declared resolve. The latest development “will be the deciding factor”, he suggested……………….

http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2007/06/01/feature-02 

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