Serbian president, prime minister inaugurate multiethnic council in tense area near Kosovo

Associated Press, Jun 29, 2005 8:46 AM

BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro-Flanked by Western diplomats, Serbian President Boris Tadic and Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica on Wednesday inaugurated the first session of a local multiethnic government body in a tense area close to the U.N.-run Kosovo province.

Other government, military and police officials also attended the session aimed at promoting local governance by majority ethnic Albanians and minority Serbs in the municipality of Bujanovac, about 250 kilometers (150 miles) southeast of the capital, Belgrade.

The region is adjacent to Kosovo, where a wider Serb-ethnic Albanian conflict over territory erupted in 1998 and ended with the 1999 NATO bombing of Serb forces, followed by U.N. control of the province.

In the Bujanovac municipality and the surrounding region known as Presevo Valley, local ethnic Albanian militants also took up arms in 2000 and 2001 to try unite that territory with Kosovo.

This insurgency was defused through a Western-backed peace deal in 2001 which granted more autonomy to the ethnic Albanians, allowing amnesty for the rebels and introducing confidence-building measures.

Since then, Belgrade had poured 3.2 billion dinars (€40 million, US$47 million) into various projects promoting multiethnic rule and reconciliation in the impoverished area.

"I cannot conceive of clashes erupting here again," Tadic said. "This region is the best example of what can be achieved in multiethnic societies."

Kostunica called the session "historic."

Increased police security was visible on Bujanovac streets during the session.