PRESS CONFERENCE BY FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA

Unless urgent measures were taken, the ethnic tensions of Kosovo could spill over its borders and destabilize the entire region, Zoran Zizic, Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this morning.

Mr. Zizic was at Headquarters to convey that warning in talks with Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the Security Council, and to advocate measures that could stem the crisis.  At the press conference, he was joined by Momcilo Trajkovic, Chair of the Committee of the Federal Government for Kosovo and Metohija (the formal name of the Kosovo province).  Mr. Zizic was introduced by Thérèse Gastaut, Director of the Public Affairs Division, Department of Public Information.

The urgent measures Mr. Zizic advocated included closer cooperation between the Government, the Kosovo force of NATO -- KFOR -- and the United Nations Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK).  They also included the reduction or elimination of the so-called Ground Safety Zone, along with a less porous Yugoslav border adjacent to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Albania.  That was in addition to the measures provided for by Security Council resolution 1244 (1999) and the Kuminova Military-Technical Agreement, which specified certain conditions in the Safety Zone, including the removal of factions he termed "extremists". 

At the same time, to restore confidence, he was proposing Federal Government initiatives to create a new language of communication between the members of the Albanian and Serbian communities, as well as other non-Albanian ethnic communities in Kosovo.  The extension of federal administration, as described in Security Council resolution 1244, would also strengthen confidence. 

"All those measures were urgent", he said, "but I realize that the road to establishing confidence in Kosovo and Metohija is a long one."  He had proposed, however, the immediate commencement of dialogue with legitimate representatives of Kosovar Albanians.  He was personally ready, he said, to talk to those representatives under the auspices of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, be it in Pristina, Belgrade or New York.

A correspondent asked if Bernard Kouchner, the former Special Representative of the Secretary-General General in Kosovo, had failed at restoring confidence in the region by letting the Serbs down.  Mr. Zizic agreed that Mr. Kouchner's mission was unsuccessful.  Little of resolution 1244 had been implemented.  Admittedly, though, there was not enough time for it.  

Mr. Trajkovic, whose committee was in charge of cooperation with UNMIK and KFOR, added that Mr. Kouchner was responsible for the failure to establish a multi-ethnic society in Kosovo.  Instead of being part of the solution, he was part of a deepening crisis.  There was satisfaction, however, with the recent changes at UNMIK.  Of course, the democratic changes in the Yugoslav Republic also helped.  While the Milosovic regime wanted to defeat the mission, the new Government wanted it to succeed.  That is why they had established a new form of cooperation with Hans Haekerrup.  He expressed great satisfaction with the approach that Mr. Haekerrup had taken towards his Government and the solution of the crisis in Kosovo and Metohija.

Wasn't there anything positive to be said about Mr. Kouchner? a correspondent asked.  Mr. Trajkovic said his motives were good, but the results were not.  Two hundred sixty thousand Serbs had been expelled from Kosovo

during his watch and about 1,000 had been killed, with many abducted.  Nearly

100 churches, some dating from the Middle Ages, had been destroyed.  No one had ever been caught or punished for those atrocities.  Mr. Kouchner had commanded a strong police force, but he had no policies to establish multi-ethnic institutions and peace for all.  Of course, Mr. Kouchner wasn’t completely responsible -- there were forces working against a peaceful resolution -- but politicians must be measured by their success.

A correspondent asked Mr. Zizic's reaction to yesterday's statement by the Secretary-General of NATO, who advocated that the Federal Republic withdraw some of its forces from the border in southern Serbia as a confidence-building measure.  Mr. Zizic said they were ready to talk about it, keeping in mind, however, that the residents of the area needed to be protected from the extremists, who had recently bombed a bus and planted mines that blew up a jeep, killing civilians and policemen.  Abrupt withdrawal would mean the flight of the Serbian population.

Asked about the Security Council's reactions to his proposals, Mr. Zizic said that the members of the Council had been very supportive of the policies of his Government for a peaceful solution to the crisis.  Furthermore, in order to correct the mistakes of the past, the Government was ready to cooperate with international institutions, such as The Hague Tribunal.  The Government also had a programme for the development and stabilization of democratic processes.

A correspondent asked how the “genie” of Albanian nationalism could be put back into the bottle.  Mr. Zizic said that establishing democratic institutions and restoring confidence were the keys.  It was important to hold elections in Kosovo once the right conditions and legal framework were created, and when the hundreds of thousands of displaced persons were able to be included in the voting.  For stability, it was also important to preserve the territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.  The Government of the Federal Republic was also ready to cooperate with the Macedonian authorities in taking similar measures to restore confidence.

Another correspondent asked if the talks with the Albanian Kosovars envisioned by Mr. Zizic would be the beginning of a long process of negotiation or just the resolution of certain technical problems that existed.  Mr. Zizic replied that the overriding goal would be a restoration of confidence and a solution to the problem of creating a multi-ethnic society in Kosovo.  That could not happen without dialogue between all concerned parties.

Would that include the extremists who were fomenting tension in southern Serbia?  It would include, he said, all legitimate representatives, but it was hard to talk to those who planted bombs and landmines.

"Perhaps this is an opportunity to inform you that right now, while we have been talking, a truck has run onto a landmine outside the Safety Zone", Mr. Zizic then announced, concluding the conference. "Two soldiers were killed and two officers were wounded.  And one officer died."

* *** *