Kosovo Serbs reject the government's local power reform

RELIEF WEB (SWITZERLAND)

Source: Agence France-Presse (AFP)
Date: 22 Aug 2005

PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro, Aug 22 (AFP) - Kosovo Serbs on Monday rejected the government's renewed project for local power reform, one of the main UN-set standards for status talks on the UN-administered province, a Kosovo Serb leader said.

Oliver Ivanovic, head of the Serb List for Kosovo and Metohija (SLKM), told reporters that representatives of the two Serb enclaves in central Kosovo -- which were to become new municipalities -- had not been satisfied with the government's project.

"They were of the opinion that the project did not meet their demands for a clear definition of their municipalities' boundaries," Ivanovic said.

He explained that the Serb representatives had demanded connection of their enclaves to nearby Serb settlements and disconnection with ethnic Albanian communities.

"The decision of local representatives from Gracanica and Partes is final, and SLKM will respect it," he said.

The UN mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) in July adopted a law on local government reform, one of the key points of the UN-set standards for the province.

The project, which set up five pilot municipalities -- among them two Serb ones -- is considered as test case for Kosovo government and its outreach to the province's minority communities.

The United Nations in June has begun to review whether Kosovo authorities had met a set of democratic standards, a precondition for the opening of talks on the majority ethnic Albanian province's final status.

One key issue is the reform of local administrations, notably in areas populated by minority Serbs.

So far only about 12,500 of some 200,000 Serbs who Belgrade says have left the province since 1999 have returned home, fearing revenge attacks from Albanians for years of Serbian oppression.

Kai Eide, UN Secretary General's special envoy for evaluating standards in Kosovo said in Belgrade on Monday that it "was necessary to achieve greater progress not only in the field of inter-ethnic relations, but also in the area of the rule of law in Kosovo."

Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations since a NATO-led bombing
campaign ousted Serbian troops from the mainly ethnic Albanian province in 1999 to end a Serbian crackdown on rebels.

Inter-ethnic tensions have remained high as Kosovo's ethnic Albanian authorities are keen for talks to open to push for independence, while Belgrade wants the territory to remain part of Serbia and Montenegro.