‘Step-by-step changes are best for Kosovo,’ says Stability Pact’s regional coordinator
After the invasion of Serbia in 1999, the Southeastern Europe Stability Pact was set up by the European Union, the US, the UN, NATO, the International Monetary Fund and the Balkan states to handle the postwar situation. The pact’s main aims were the democratic process, open borders and preparing Balkan nations for entry into the European Union. The pact’s coordinator, a former vice chancellor of Austria, Erhardt Busek, was in Athens last week and gave this interview to Kathimerini. Can you tell us about your meeting with Transport and Communications Minister Michalis Liapis? We agreed to hold a ministerial conference in Thessaloniki in June on «Electronic Southeastern Europe,» aimed at improving electronic communications networks. I am in contact with governors of banks in Serbia who cannot talk on the telephone while they are on the Internet, as they can only do one of these at a time. Yet the region is keen to have new technology; everyone has a mobile telephone, a computer. Particularly the young people want everything at once. There is a great desire for investments, but governments want to maintain control and we are telling them this is not the right way. You put an emphasis on modern electronic telecommunications but in Kosovo, for example, there are still serious problems with electricity supplies. The problem in Kosovo is that because of its temporary status it does not have its own mobile telephone provider and so all mobile calls are via roaming through Munich, at a very high cost. We have asked the UN for a separate provider for Kosovo to make the calls less expensive. Independent countries have their own providers. Isn’t your request politically sensitive? Unemployment in Kosovo stands at 50-60 percent. Under the circumstances, one looks for cheap solutions, one does not consider political repercussions. As for power supplies, previously there were four hours with power and two hours without. Now there is power for five hours and one hour without. We are trying to construct a power station that burns lignite, but for that we need the cooperation of Serbia. What is your view regarding the eventual status of Kosovo? We have to exclude two extreme solutions. The first is incorporation into Serbia, which would create problems for the latter as it would lead to civil war and the province would be difficult to govern. The second is immediate independence. The Kosovars have to move step by step toward assuming greater authority, which includes protecting the Serbian minority and the Orthodox monasteries. Where would this step-by-step approach lead? Somewhere between autonomy and full independence. Much depends on what the Serbs want. What if the Serbs want the province to be divided and for Belgrade to keep the areas inhabited by Serbs? We have to be very careful when we talk about divisions, because if we talk about separation, we are risking the unity of Bosnia or Macedonia. Did you say «Macedonia»? You know, we also have the US in the Stability Pact. As well as Greece and the EU. I do not imagine that it comes as a surprise to you that some countries of the EU, such as Slovenia, have recognized [that country] with the name Macedonia. Our official position is to go by the name with which it has joined the UN (as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia[FYROM]). I have heard from the Greek government that discussions of the name are continuing. Regarding the situation between the different ethnic groups, do you think FYROM is a time bomb? No, I don’t. The real time bomb is the unemployment rate of up to 37.5 percent. A great deal has to be done about the country’s economic growth and we are working in that direction, because political upheaval in any country is directly related to the economic situation, even in the EU. I believe that the referendum, although less than 50 percent of voters participated, was a success and that most ethnic Albanians want joint government. The nationalist card will not be successful; we have already had four wars in the region. Recently, accession talks between Croatia and the EU were broken off. What about the applications [for EU membership] from Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia-Montenegro? In reality, Bosnia is not one state but two and a half. It has two armies, two police forces, two economic areas and no Interior Ministry. How can we undertake police cooperation programs with two police forces? How can we prepare the country for accession (to the EU) when they have not presented any proposals for programs? There is money available, but they have not asked for it. I am not convinced that the Bosnians really want Bosnia. In Serbia-Montenegro, the problem is that Serbia and Montenegro do not have enough in common. They will either unite or separate. Are divisions acceptable here, then? The country’s constitution provides for a referendum to determine its status in 2006. It is up to them. However, a great obstacle to Serbia’s accession to the EU is Kosovo. What are the different views within the Contact Group at the moment regarding Kosovo’s future? They are not very clear. At the moment there is no plan on the table. We are gaining time. Greece’s part What is Greece’s role in the Stability Pact? Greece is being asked to make a major contribution. We want it to help in planning, staffing, funding, training. Our alternate headquarters, which are in Thessaloniki headed by Benjamin Karakostanoglou, have been a great help. I am able to announce that we have decided on Thessaloniki as the seat of the Business Advisory Council, if we get enough support from the Greek government. The Stability Pact will conclude its mission at some point so we are leaning toward the idea of local management, for which the main agent will be the Inter-Balkan Conference, which includes only the states in the region. Greece assumes its presidency in April.
