Serbian Party Pushes for Talks on State Union's Future
Posted 24.09.2004

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus advocates talks on the future of Serbia-Montenegro.

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus and his G17 Plus party are calling for talks to begin on the future of the Serbia-Montenegro state union, saying it is no longer functioning. But others disagree, including EU leaders.

Talks on the future of the Serbia-Montenegro state union should be held this fall, according to Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus. The G17 Plus party, which Labus leads, is one of the signatories of the Belgrade Agreement, which provided the basis for establishing the current federation. However, the party now says that the joint state is not functioning and that the time has come for negotiations with Podgorica.

"It is quite certain that we must sit down to the negotiating table, above all within the state union committee for joining the EU, and we must talk openly about what to do next," Labus said.

Serbian President Boris Tadic, however, takes the opposite stance. According to Tadic, the state union is currently "the most functional solution for both member states and their citizens".

Tadic announced that he intends to "initiate a series of political projects and actions that could, above all, help along the adoption of a comprehensive national-state strategy".

"The parliament, the government and the president must define what our legitimate and national-state objectives are under the new political circumstances of globalisation and under the changing balance of power in the world," he said.

Since the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), the strongest member of Serbia's ruling coalition, persistently rejects any possibility of splitting Serbia and Montenegro, it is not clear how Labus intends to proceed. The head of the DSS parliamentary group, Milos Aligrudic, said there were no discussions within the ruling coalition on dividing the union.

"The position of DSS on this issue is very clear, which means respect for the Constitution, respect for the Belgrade Agreement, for all deadlines and actions that need to be carried out within those deadlines," Aligrudic said.

The most concrete proposals for a division have come from Miodrag Vukovic of the Democratic Party of Socialists, who suggests three solutions. One is simply to split up the union. Another is to create a union of two internationally recognised states. A third alternative is to preserve the existing union until the Belgrade Agreement expires next year, at which point a referendum would be called.

The EU, meanwhile, has repeatedly insisted that the integration process requires the joint state of Serbia-Montenegro. If a referendum leads to independence for one of the constituent republics, the new state will have to start again from scratch, negotiating membership in all European institutions.

By Davor Konjikusic

Annan: Broad Agreement Reached on Integrated Strategy for Kosovo

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan says broad agreement has been reached during consultations with key member states and partner organisations on an integrated strategy for Kosovo.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said Wednesday (22 September) that a general consensus was reached this week on an integrated strategy for Kosovo.

Following talks in New York with representatives of the international community, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said Wednesday (22 September) that a general consensus was reached this week on an integrated strategy for Kosovo.

"There was broad agreement on the need to focus on the economy and on security, the need to engage with Belgrade and to bring the Kosovo Serbs into the process, and the importance of the standards process," a UN press statement quoted Annan as saying.

He held two separate meetings Monday with officials from key UN member states and with the leadership of the EU, NATO and the OSCE. Also participating in the consultations were UNMIK head Soren Jessen-Petersen and the Norwegian Ambassador to NATO, Kai Eide, who conducted a UN assessment of the political situation in Kosovo after violence broke out there in mid-March.

Eide's report, presented to Annan in July, recommended speeding up the transfer of authority to Kosovo officials and expediting preparations for talks on the province's future status.

During Monday's meetings, Annan briefed the participants on possible adjustments to the UN reform plan for Kosovo. The plan, known as "standards before status", lists targets in eight areas -- including democratic institutions and the rule of law, freedom of movement, refugee returns and the economy -- that Kosovo must meet before talks on its final status can begin. A review of the province's progress in meeting those goals is set for mid-2005.

Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Geona said participants at the meetings stressed the need for stronger efforts on the part of the international community in preparing Kosovo for next year's review.

"We just cannot stay idle and wait for the time to go by and then eventually decide on various topics," Geoana told RFE/RL, adding that the discussions focused mainly on the process of decentralisation in Kosovo and the transfer of powers to the provisional institutions of self government.

Annan suggested that the UN would consider further areas of responsibility that could be transferred to the provisional institutions, but added that "a more coherent capacity-building policy" would be essential. "This transfer policy cannot work without accountability and uniformity of application" on the part of the provisional institutions, he said.

Meanwhile, the month-long campaign ahead of the 23 October parliamentary elections in Kosovo kicked off on Wednesday.

"This may well be the most important election in Kosovo so far," Jessen-Petersen said in a special address marking the launch of the campaign. "An assembly and government will be elected which will be governing Kosovo as we progress towards the mid-2005 Standards Implementation Review. If the outcome of that review is positive, then the way will be open to talks on resolving Kosovo's future status in which your elected representatives will be playing a vital role."

Also Wednesday, OSCE Chairman-in-Office and Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy urged all of the province's voters to go to the polls, stressing that the international community is "trying to do its best to support the democratic process in Kosovo". He also asked Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica to "encourage" Kosovo Serbs not to boycott the vote.

"It is essential that all sections of the community should be represented in the new parliament that will be elected on 23 October," Passy said in a telephone call to Kostunica.