Samardzic: Only direct negotiations can lead to a solution

Radio Television Serbia, Belgrade, Sunday, September 24, 2006 20:41

Slobodan Samardzic, coordinator of the Serb team for negotiations on the status of Kosovo, stated that in the continuation of talks between Belgrade and Pristina international facilitator Martti Ahtisaari would insist on shuttle diplomacy to achieve a solution on Kosovo.

Samardzic, on the other hand, is convinced that international facilitators should insist on direct talks between representatives of the two sides if they want the negotiations to succeed and result in a compromise solution. This means that "representatives of Belgrade and Pristina must negotiate directly, whether it is talks at the highest level or at the level of working groups, whether it is delegations talking about practical and technical issues."

"However, I have the impression that as long as Ahtisaari is heading this thing he will insist more on shuttle diplomacy. He will probably prepare some sort of proposed recommendations for the status solution and then will go back and forth between Belgrade and Pristina with his team, testing what both sides think of it," said Samardzic, who is also an advisor to the Serbian premier.

In his opinion, this is  poor way of conducting negotiations because instead of the sides in the negotiation gradually arriving at a common position, Ahtisaari will propose an abstract proposal that did not come from the negotiating sides themselves but is theoretically supposed to draw them closer to each other. "It's clear to everyone that a solution through negotiations cannot be achieved quickly as we can see from ongoing international conflicts of similar depth and intensity to the Serbian-Albanian conflict. From this it is clear that the negotiating process must take a while, although I am not looking at either the case of Cyprus or the Palestine-Israel."

Samardzic believes that Belgrade and Pristina can achieve a solution more quickly if pressure is not exerted. "However, if there is a deadline involved, then shuttle diplomacy is the better technical solution. However, shuttle diplomacy has never yielded good results and it won't yield them in this case, either." "What we need is someone with a different mandate and a different style, first of all, of facilitating and managing the negotiations than Ahtisaari to take over after his mandate is over and then push for a more intensive, more direct and more serious negotiating process," said Samardzic.

He said that in order to achieve progress in negotiations with Pristina it is necessary for international facilitators led by Martti Ahtisaari "to change their manner of facilitation". "That also means changing the way negotiations are conducted by Ahtisaari's team and removing the pressure of a deadline, with completely clear goals, we need to achieve a consensus or a compromise solution just like the Contact Group, in fact, says in its statement," said Samardzic.

He said that the continuation of negotiations on two levels - status talks and talks on practical issues - would mean a new beginning "which would be a silent acknowledgement that there has not been a lot of progress and mostly an acknowledgement that the facilitators haven't made great strides forward". "For seven months we negotiated on many issues. We've gotten together and informed each other of who is asking for what, who wants what but we haven't gotten any nearer. But now, if the talks continue, I think we have an opportunity not to waste what has already been done," said the coordinator of the Belgrade negotiating team.

He is convinced that time is necessary to achieve a solution in the two-track talks. "Decisions cannot be rammed through and they cannot be made under the pressure of a deadline. What is necessary for this kind of decision is the consensus of the two sides and no matter how much a third side is supposed to assist in achieving that consensus, it cannot continue to cheer for one side or to cover for one side, as Ahtisaari has been doing with the Albanian side. So far we have had the impression that we are negotiating with him, not with the Albanians. This must change if we want to see progress," underscored Samardzic.

When asked to comment on Ahtisaari's assessment that in the course of negotiations thus far Pristina has progressed much more in compromise than Belgrade, Samardzic responded that this is not true. "Ahtisaari is saying that because his team, in fact, was working for the Albanians and helping the Albanians to full extend during the course of the talks. Of course they are praising their protégés in order to justify their own role. Quite simply, the situation is that neither side must have mentors any longer; concretely, the Albanian side must no longer be anyone's protégé. Of course, it is absolutely inappropriate for the facilitator to have a protégé and to be on anyone's side," assessed Samardzic.

He claims that the Albanian side has not made any steps forward toward firm guarantees for Serbs to stay in the province. "If one looks at what the few municipalities have agreed to and the few powers that they have actually agreed to share in those municipalities, one sees that there are, in fact, no guarantees. The facilitators are well aware of this and so is Ahtisaari. It is simply a facade for their appeasement and as such it can only serve for propaganda purposes, something of which Ahtisaari is taking full advantage. Because he is not actually praising the Albanian side, he is only protecting and defending the role of the facilitator," concluded Samardzic.

(Translated on September 28, 2006 by sib)