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The weekly Koha (The T imes) was published in Prishtina (Kosovo) between 1994 and 1997. E dited by VetonSurroi, a young Kosovar journalist and one of the pioneers of democratisation in former Y ugoslavia, Koha

soon became a symbol of quality among the region's media. In 1997 it started to be published daily under the

name of Koha Ditor. With the kind permission of Mr. Surroi, Koha digests were originally posted on

http://koha.estudiosbalcanicos.org.

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Koha Digest # 62

EDITORIAL

THE CLOSENESS OF THE ICE-CREAM SELLER

by VETON SURROI

Last time I used my annual leave, Eastern German tourists in

Bulgaria were planning to stop over in Hungary and seek for

political asylum instead of going back home; the central square

of Burgas was crowded with ethnic Turks with Bulgarian names who

were desperately after their documents for emigration; "Havana

Club" rum was still cheap as ever, thanks to the "UniqueSocialist Market" and finding "Coca Cola" to combine it with this

famous Cuban export good was almost as winning a prize.

Year after year, there were strong reasons not to go on holidays,

since the events in 1990 there was always this feeling of

insecurity combined with a burden in one's conscience ("How can

we go on holidays in this situation?"). Thus, in the past years,

I believe that one of the columns of the Kosovan Socialist middle

class got lost forever: holidays were taken for granted, planned

beforehand and impossible not to take place. As well as the wholeritual of preparing things and food, the excessive sunburn and

healing it with yoghurt, the return to Prishtina with a dark tan,

a several days long talk about the experiences at the seacoast.

And, naturally, the not such a good feeling when asceratined

that, as usual, this vacation has cost more than one could spare.

With the beginning of the heat, the talk about vacations starts

again. This society of Kosova now, is not the one it used to be,

and many can't even imagine vacations on the seacoast. First,

because there are only a few that work. Second, consequently,

because there is no more socialist middle class while thecapitalist one is not formed yet. Annual leave doesn't exist as

an institution any longer.

But, the people who will take some vacations at the seacoast,

what category do they belong to? The ones who will be lucky, I

think, are somewhere between the old collective code about the

annual leave as a normal state and the future state when, I hope,

many people will see it normal and possible to have some

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vacations at the seacoast, without thinking about anything more

than the closeness of the ice-cream seller on the beach.

KOSOVA

A "CHECKER" TO PRISON

by YLBER HYSA / Prishtina

After the first postponement of the trial against the 72 accused,

mainly due to irregularities (the defending attorneys had

received the summons to trial two or three days before it

started), the second spectacular round of the largest trial of

a "group" in Kosova continued as "smooth". Thus, in the first dayof the resumption of the trial, on Monday, June 12, of 61

indictments (11 people are tried in absence), only two were

signed by both the Investigative Judge, Danica Marinkovic and the

court clerk. This was a strong reason for the majority of the

attorneys, of over 40 participating in it, to complain before the

chairman of the Jury, Dragoljub Zdravkovic, asking him to

evidence these failures and take measures. But, this fact didn't

upset Zdravkovic nor prosecutor Jovanovic, for they didn't even

get nervous after being accused that they were presenting only

papers on trial. Jovanovic said that a trial is composed ofseveral phases, therefore this is not such a serious mistake,

despite the remark of attorney Ms. Drita Hajdari that any

procedural mistake is liable to sanctions. The cold-bloodiness

of the Jury was proven later, during the break, when Zdravkovic

informed the attorneys that the papers had been swamped when

copied and suddenly, by magic, the signatures on the indictments

appeared. The comments of the attorneys about these "autographs"

were accompanied by ironic smiles, but this didn't change the

situation much. A separate "surprise" was the forgery of the

documents on the preventive detention. It had actually expired,

but something happened, and they were not released. Complaintsand remarks also referred to the interrogations which were

conducted in prison and in late hours of the night, however

prosecutor Jovanovic replied with a basic postulate: "The Court

is where the Judge is!". Grounded on this logic, the trial was

organized in the building of the Parliament of Kosova, which was

filled up with attorneys, members of families of the accused,

journalists, and inevitably by organs of uniformed and the other

security as decoration. This forced attorney Xhafer Maliqi to

protest because, as he said, the Law on Criminal Procedure (LCP)

forbids the presence of other uniformed men apart from the prisonguards, but this was without effect, for as Zdravkovic said - any

important trial has to look like this.

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And thus the trial started with the interrogation of the first

accused Avdi Mehmedovic, who according to Art. 116:1 of PCY is

accused of being one of the "coordinators of the Ministry of

Interior of the Republic of Kosova". Mehmedovic rejected the

accusation as a whole and started telling his story from thebeginning, explaining that not many things were known about the

policemen since the day they were arrested, and even more, there

were abuses in a part of the media, alluding clearly to the

publication of the statements given to the State Security Organs

of Serbia by Belgrade's weekly "Telegraf". "I was arrested on

Nov. 20, 1994..." Mehmedovic started his presentation, in order

to prove something that doesn't fit the time in which the trial

is being held. After the raid, I was taken to the building of the

State Security and taken over by Miomir Jevtovic, deputy head of

the sector and his counsellor Dragoljub Mijolic, who started

beating me without saying a word - said Mehmedovic, and it wasindicative that since the first moment they called me

"coordinator"...! The tortures had continued on in room 45 where

Mehmedovic had been beaten without interruption, and each time

he fainted, they would throw full toilet buckets on his face.

They wanted to break my spirit, they wanted to "prepare" me

better for the trial" said Mehmedovic, who later explained also,

how far could the "creative imagination" of the State Security

go. In order to convince him to sign a statement and admit the

accusation about the "Ministry of Interior of the Republic ofKosova", his father, bleeding, was brought before him while he

was cuffed and couldn't move. One of his relatives, who had been

tortured, had also been taken to him. He was threatened with

liquidation and told that his body would be found in Macedonia,

Albania or Bulgaria, but the worst threat was the one referring

to the liquidation of his brothers and their children. This

affected me, to a certain extent, and of course it had

consequences in my attitude later on. Mehmedovic said that among

many who had tortured him, he would state in public the names of

Dusan Jovanovic, deputy head of the State Security from Sremska

Kamenica (who had told him that he had come here especially forMehmedovic), Dusan Jovanovic from Prishtina and Momcilo Dojcilo

from Lipjan (the latter was also my student - said Mehmedovic).

In the meantime, the accused had been interrogated 41 times, and

the last time it happened on April 9, two days before the

indictment was issued by the Regional Prosecutor's Office. But,

he was promised that he would be seeing the State Security people

even after the verdict. Mehmedovic also complained about this

health condition, as well as the humidity of his cell (#8) in the

Regional Jail, which he shared with a man who had killed his wife

and was in an altered state of mind! In regard to the indictment,he said that this was a constructed trial by the Serbian

political center, aiming at the incrimination of the Albanian

political positions and the peaceful policy and that the whole

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campaign coincided with the appearance of the Serbian

"petitioners". Therefore, it has a character of internal

consumption to prove that it really has to do with determined

actions of the government against Albanians, as well as the

external use, to discredit the Albanian positions before apossible overture of Kosova's issue. In fact, it is not what we

are accused of in the indictment, but for our trade-union

activity which started in 1990, when we formed our trade-union

organization within the legally registered UITUK. Our TU

organization happened after we were massively dismissed, or

rather "the ethnic cleansing of Kosova's MIA", as Mehmedovic

stated, to what we had appealed and had informed the highest

political instances of Yugoslavia then...

What can conditionally be referred to as an "evasion" of our TU

activities, should by all means looked upon within the events andthe space in which we live in. The TU evidenced the cases of the

endangerment of the integrity of the former policemen (he

mentioned 130 evictions, 700 "informative talks", 300 cases of

physical repression, 1 mortal victim, 200 searches of apartments,

over 20 searches of TU offices, 7 confiscations of materials and

two computers, 650 forced emigrations) and the violation of human

rights of Albanians in Kosova which could escalate, and in 1992,

it also followed the activities of the different paramilitary

groups lead by Arkan, Seselj and Pllana, not only in order to

inform the local TU activists, but also the international public.In this sense, the 10 radio stations which were discovered were

used passively, to listen the radio-connections of the Serbian

police in Kosova, especially in extraordinary circumstances when

there could be an eventual escalation of a conflict. Radio-

stations were not used for our own communication. Asked by the

attorneys to explain, he said that these devices can follow the

frequencies that can be also captured by a simple radio-

transistor, and especially having in mind that every information

that is transmitted on "ether", can't be classified as "secret".

This connection is usually used for quick communication, and, as

replying to Jovanovic's question, these frequencies haven't beenchanged by the Kosova police since ten years ago.

In regard to these activities, the third accused Blerim Olloni

will also pronounce himself later in the procedure. When it comes

to incriminating materials found in the confiscated disks, which

apart from containing information of the movement of the Serbian

police also contain information on the collaborators of the

police, Mehmedovic said that the "Bulletin" was prepared by the

informing commission and were used only for the needs of the TU,

and not the Government of Kosova. He also mentioned that one ofthe incriminating materials used by the Serbian police was the

"Police Declaration", which is a statement signed by European

states including former SFRY! Finally, before we were arrested,

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we had been subjected to harsh intervention of the Serbian police

as was the case of our colleague in Gjakova, whose three ribs

were broken and this culminated with the abduction of Bilall

Idrizi. We also pronounced ourselves in "KOHA" about this and

other facts we had information about, shortly before we werearrested. The fact that this is a well prepared action of clear

political background is proven by the fact that we knew its name:

"Checker"!

After Mehmedovic, on the second day of the trial, the second

accused Sheremet Ahmeti took the stand. He categorically rejected

the indictment, and said that if he really was dealing with

activities he was accused of, he would have ran away a long time

ago, for he had enough time for that.

Even, after the arrest of my colleagues, I tried to engage someattorneys for my colleagues, said Ahmeti, explaining the way he

was forced to sign the statement before the Investigative court.

Apart from the inhuman beating he was subjected to, on November

24, 1994 "after I was beaten and thrown buckets of water, I was

subjected to electro-shocks. I was asked to admit that I was a

kind of `boss in the MIA of the Republic of Kosova', but I was

only Chairman of the Executive Council of our TU, and in this

function, I had visited our branches in the field, said Ahmeti

after being asked by the prosecutor whether he had participated

in the meetings mentioned in the indictment. There is no"Ministry...", and whatever I have signed in the first minutes,

I have signed under pressure, violence, direct threats - and the

worst threat was when I was told that my children would be thrown

from the balcony. The violence applied against him has caused

him injuries on the head and ears. "I must remind you how did we

organize ourselves in a TU, since our dismissal in 1990...

Finally, our appeal is still waiting to be discussed at the First

Court in Belgrade", said this accused, stating that he belong to

no illegal organization which deals with violence, but he is only

a member of the TU which is legally registered. Asked byattorneys Maliqi and Vllasi whether he was suggested by the

members of the State Police who interrogated him the title of

Head of Public Security, he replied affirmatively. Even more,

when I explained that we dealt with no measure of violence, I was

told by an inspector that all insurrections should be stopped by

blood.

On the third day of the trial, Blerim Olloni appeared before the

Jury. He is accused of having committed many sins and that he was

the head of the State Security of the MIA of the Republic ofKosova, and that as he was in this function, he had prepared the

diskettes with information on the Serbian police and army and

many other things. Blerim admitted to have signed the first

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statement, but rejected many things in the second statement he

also signed, changing them with additional explanations or by

denying them fully. Olloni spoke of his dismissal, when he was

thrown on the street without any income, and said that his appeal

had never been decided upon by the judicial organs. This accusedspoke of the brutal mistreatment he was subjected to: severe

beatings and electro-shocks. He was also threatened that he would

be killed, along with his family. After the interrogations in the

Regional Court on November 24, 1994, I was interrogated another

14 times. Olloni spoke also about the episode when he was taken

downtown, beaten, and later was taken to his sister in law's

apartment, where the diskettes were confiscated while he was

being beaten in front of his family. He also spoke of a special

form of psychical pressure when he was forced to walk down the

corridors of the State Security building wearing only his

underwear in wintertime, while nationalistic songs were playedand yells and cries of tortured people were heard. The accused

also described the tortures, i.e. the times of modern

inquisition. He also said that there was a full coordination

between the connections between the prosecution and the courts.

In regard to the accusations which claim that he was heading the

"State Security within the Ministry of Interior " which was

allegedly established in Pizzeria "A&A" in Prishtina (owned by

Arsim Mehmeti, former state security employee also accused), he

said that it was true that there was a meeting in this pizzeria,

but not of the contents explained in the indictment. This meetingand not assembly, as the Olloni will repeat, trying to amend the

aggravating terms of the indictment, was attended by Mehmedovic,

Shahini, Vitia, Munishi and this is when we agreed upon the need

to establish the TU of the former State Security workers, since

our TU was organized in a structural-professional way, further

adding that in second meeting, apart from the above, was also

attended by Ferizi and Karaxha. However, they didn't manage to

establish a sub-branch, because according to the Statute, 25

members were needed to initiate its creation. This was all, said

Olloni, and he explained that his colleagues and himself had

often discussed about the serious political situation in Kosovaand surroundings. In regard to the data contained in the disks,

Olloni said that he really did prepare the material, that he had

coded it on his own initiative, that the military was not

followed, that the he didn't possess the list of the possible

police and effective which would be engaged by Serbia in a

possible conflict. Asked by the attorney whether he had

participated in the decoding of the diskettes, since the attorney

was not present when this occurred, Olloni said that he wasn't

there either. Asked by the Judge and the Prosecutor for the

reason why was he collecting the data, by whose order and whomdid he handed over to, Olloni explained that he didn't do this

ordered by the Government, that he doesn't know Rexhep Gjergji,

while some data, including the facts on the national break-down

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of the employees of the State Security, and collaborators of this

Sector, are part of my profession. Don't forget that I used to

be an employee of the State Security and that I keep this data,

among others, because this is my profession and I still believe

that sooner or later, I will go back to work - said Olloni. Andwhen it concerns the tasks from the "core" of the "Kosovan MIA",

I must say that neither Mehmedovic, who is present, is not

capable of fulfilling them, because he has never worked in the

State Security sector, and finally, who am I to take over such

a responsible task, even more knowing how is it to create a

"Ministry...", what juridical procedure must be respected. You

know it can't be established with decrees! In regard to article

116...which refers to the use of force, I must say that it is

contradictory - Olloni further said, for we tried to inform the

Serbian police about what we had found out. One of this occasions

was when myself and my colleagues Mehmedovic and Karaxha hadfound out about the false accusations brought up by the

collaborators of the Serbian police, against people for illegal

possession of weapons, by requesting them to pay a certain amount

of money. In regard to the list of the collaborators of State

Security, we had to evidence them, because there were attempts

of infiltration in our rows. In regard to the financial

assistance, I received only 100 DEM from the TU. Olloni concluded

his defense explaining that if there would have been preparedness

and willingness on the other side, this trial wouldn't have taken

place. As to the political convictions, I follow the path of ourPresident. These people must live together, however the policy

we are facing doesn't lead in that direction - concluded Blerim

Olloni.

Hizer Ahmeti, accused of being part of the "State Security" for

the area of Lipjan, rejected the accusation from the start. He

explained that he had been dismissed in 1992 under the pretext

that "he hadn't shown any positive results in the past three

months". Thus he remained without any income, however later he

found a job in a private firm in Prishtina and during his

employment he met his friend Olloni, who never asked him for anyinformation. "I found out about the contents of the diskette from

the investigation organs. I never received any money from the TU,

and I never participated in a meeting" - Hizer said. While

interrogated by Security Organs, Hizer claimed to have been

mistreated and terrifyingly beaten in the same way the others

were, and was communicated that he had been lucky not to have

been executed. He was also told that guys like him should not be

judged, but simply expelled to the other side of the Cursed

Mountains. Judge Zdravkovic, while dictating the text for the

minutes, which were usually transmitted correctly, said that fromnow on he will evade the descriptions of the mistreatment because

it is similar in all cases, and if it continues in this direction

the court will take sides and maybe not be able to find the

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truth, to what reacted attorney Vllasi, explaining that it is

precisely the moments of violence that should be included in the

minutes, for they explain may things in this trial. The last

accused of the third day of trial was Ejup Kamerolli, also

accused of being part of the "State Security Group" in charge ofPodujeva. Kamerolli totally rejected the accusation, and said

that the prosecutor probably confused the theses when he

understood "ministry" instead of "TU". Further on, he said that

in fact he had met Olloni and the others in Podujeva, but they

spoke about the interest of becoming part of the TU, however they

didn't manage to agree, not even after meeting in Prishtina. In

fact, I didn't go to Prishtina very often, and once I met Olloni

I asked for help from the TU because of my difficult financial

situation, I have an eight members family, I received only 20 DEM

and that was it. It is true that in these meetings we spoke of

the political situation with my colleague Olloni, and we couldhave commented some events, but this was all. I ask to be set

free - said Kamerolli - for I feel clean!

It is expected that the accused from Gjakova, Faton Zhubi,

Sejfullah Sahatiu, Bedri Juniku, etc. take stand on the fourth

day of the trial. As the trial goes on, it is expected that over

50 other accused take stand in the largest political trial ever

organized against Kosova Albanians.

And in fact, the room of the Parliament of Kosova which openedits doors for Albanians five years after, for the biggest trial

ever, was full of policemen these days. Journalists were allowed

to follow the trial from the cabins "wrapped" with thick glass

through the phones produced by "Iskra" Kranj (Slovenia), while

the light was penetrating from the only window which has a view

towards the Brotherhood and Unity Monument, while at the top of

the courtroom itself, the seal holding the star was still

standing put!

The trial continues...

TRIAL AGAINST THE 72

ALL THE MISTAKES OF THE PROCESS

Mrs. Nekibe Kelmendi, defending attorney:

What I have noticed, as a jurist and defending attorney in this

trial, is that there are some details in this lawsuit that makeit different from the others constructed so far.

This is the most massive trial ever organized against Albanians

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in Kosova; Despite the fact that the other framed political

trials had been accompanied by brutal torture, especially during

the para-penal procedure, the accused were tortured in order to

admit that they had been engaged in "hostile activities", not

specifying what was the hostile activity. Thus, as beingtortured, Blerim Olloni was told: "You were engaged in hostile

activities, therefore you must admit whatever we ask from you".

This proves that previous torture was used to assure the

confession of the construction made later, after the "hostile

group was formed", as it was proven later with the arrest of the

"Prizren group", "Prishtina group". "Gjakova group", "Peja group"

and "Gjilan group", which was supposed to prove the existence of

the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kosova (MIA).

In fact, all investigative activities, i.e. all interrogationswere done by members of the State Security of the MIA of Serbia,

even though formally they could not have undertaken any

investigative step, because from the moment the accused are

handed over to the investigative judge, the members of the police

have no competencies in the case. This means that the

interrogation of accused by the employees of the Serbian State

Security after they were interrogated and had given statements

before the Investigating Judge, was done only to force them

"confess" and sign the statements which served for their

indictment. Otherwise, how could you explain that the firstaccused Mehmedovic was interrogated 41 times or Olloni 14 times,

after they were interrogated by the Investigative Judge of the

Regional Court of Prishtina. Besides this, these two accused,

after being tortured by the State Security, were taken for the

second time before the Investigating Judge, even though this was

not requested neither by them or their defending attorneys. The

defending attorneys didn't have any access to the files until

they got the indictment, even though this has no grounds on law.

This was the reason why at the beginning of the trial, the

attorneys complained that the 63 minutes of the Investigation hadnot been signed neither by the Investigating Judge nor the court

clerk, as the rules of criminal proceedings request, and their

just request to exclude these documents from the files of the

trial was grounded on the fact that they are nil and can't be

considered as "official documents". But, instead of excluding

them from the files, they were retained by the Jury, under the

pretext that these were copies, and that attorneys didn't have

the chance to see the original documents. This leads towards the

grounded suspicion that they were signed by the Investigative

Judge after the attorneys' complaint, and make many othersuspicions arise...

The President of the Jury, without any hesitation (not to same

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shamelessly) admits that many violations were made in this trial,

but does not do anything to emend them. These violations are

linked to the preparation of the trial and the extension of the

preventive detention of the accused. Thus, the President of the

Jury declared publicly and in the presence of 400 people, thatthe accused are held in detention without any judicial decisions

since June 7, 1995, while the Court decided to extend their

detention until August 7, 1995 in a session held on June 12!

Therefore, even though this decision was made on June 12, it was

written as if the decision was made on June 5, which represents

a clear forgery! Such an act of the Jury doesn't only represent

a violation of the criminal procedure regulations, but also a

crime pursuant Art. 63 - arbitrary arrest, Art. 233 - forgery of

documents and Art. 243 - violation of the Law on Criminal

Procedure of the Republic of Serbia, by the Judge.

The members of the State Security of Serbia, the same ones who

arrested and tortured the accused are constantly inside the

building of the parliament, in the cabins and in other rooms.

This was noticed by the accused, which proves that these

policemen are exerting mental pressure on the accused. These

people are not unknown to the court, especially the prosecutor,

but their presence is silenced and tolerated. The decision to

have this trial organized in the building of the Parliament of

Kosova was not taken by chance. In normal conditions, this roomshould have been used by MPs who would adopt democratic decisions

and laws. But, since Kosova is under the uninterrupted state of

emergency since January 1989, it is "normal" to have all the

cynicism of the Serbian regime towards Kosova Albanians expressed

thus, and have this room converted into a courtroom of a framed-

up political trial. It wouldn't be a chance to have the verdict

made public on July 5, when this building was occupied with the

help the tanks and the Parliament and Government were suspended.

It is strange and offensive not to see the representatives of the

European Parliament, OSCE, the embassies of (democratic) statesand different human rights organizations in this largest trial

ever organized against Albanians, especially after having showed

such serious interest in the case of the trial against the five

ethnic Greeks in Tirana. I think that there should be no

differences, but as you see, there are. It remains to be seen

whether this mistake will be corrected.

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INTERVIEW

IVAN DJURIC, leader of the Movement for Democratic Rights and

Freedoms in Paris

THE FUTURE OF THE BALKANS BELONGS TO THE "NATIONAL TRAITORS"

by DUKAGJIN GORANI / Paris

KOHA: One year after our last conversation and the establishment

of the Movement you lead, how do you perceive the situation in

the Former Yugoslavia?

DJURIC: What was being forecasted and what seemed clear to

everyone, came out true. Among things which I would potentiate

would be the following: the crisis in Bosnia is not only a crisisof Bosnia; Serb-Croat relations are not only relations between

Serbs and Croats; Albanian-Serb relations don't depend only on

the two parties - in one word, the crisis is global and it

includes the territory of the whole Former Yugoslavia. All

important factors have it clear that there is a need for a global

solution. It can't be solved partially. There must be a global

vision of the solution, and then we must have principles of

solutions for special cases, which are not that few: the

Albanian-Serb, Croat-Serb, the issue of Bosnia and Herzegovina,

the issue of Macedonia and the Albanian-Macedonian relations,etc. Further on, the second issue which is clear today is that

the main victim of this crisis, apart from the Albanians who

suffer from repression in Kosova, the people undergoing massacres

in Bosnia and the people subjected to ethnic cleansing, were

precisely the Serbs.

KOHA: Do you believe that the crisis between the former Yugoslav

republics remains only a Yugoslav crisis?

DJURIC: Only partially, at least in the aspect of space. I

believe that the largest part of its substance surpassed Yugoslavborders. I would mention here the relations of the EU with its

partners in Moscow and Washington, the relations between the

members of the EU - and finally, the issue of "Political Europe"

to which we refer and which has never been so far from its

realization as it is today. Naturally, there were always those

who doubted in the creation of a political Europe, in the

durability of the idea, as long as there is no political thought

in the Balkans. Because, what stopped the creation of this

political Europe, I am referring to the EU, was precisely the

Balkans crisis. Let's take the example of Germany, which afterthe ruin of the Berlin wall justly asks not to remain an economic

power and a political dwarf any longer. It is seeking its

political space. In Europe as well as in the world, it has many

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options: it can construct the EU as a political union, which is

an open wish of the present government, and can be happy with a

unique market, which de facto represents the EU. Or, it can

bilaterally build its policy, as a great and independent power.

There are many who support this thesis in Germany, and alsoabroad, especially those who would rather have Germany as an

independent partner, than the EU as a collective partner.

And, the third issue which was proven, were the aggressions

committed against the innocent population. However, such

aggressions can't be used as an alibi by authoritarian regimes,

which I consider fascist - not only in the aggressor state,

Serbia - but also in the attacked states. Croatia is living under

a fascist government.

KOHA: If such unity is taken as a direct consequence of war, thenthe opposition remains as a reflection of political goals in one

state. Nevertheless, it seems to be better organized in

Croatia...

DJURIC: True, there is political opposition in Croatia. But you

could hardly say that Croatia is democratic. And when we refer

to Bosnia, it is one thing to defend Bosnia and something totally

different to defend the concept of Bosnia as seen by Izetbegovic

and his party.

KOHA: The end of war and sharing the responsibilities and the

"final losers"...

DJURIC: One year later, again, another thing which is not new was

proven: the need to diversify and classify the responsibilities

for the caused destructions. Not all can be grouped in the same

place and have the same responsibility, I agree. However, there

is no doubt that no one is still innocent among the participants,

and this is undisputable. Since I myself am Serb, even coming

from Serbia, I can say that the past year has proven that the

biggest losers will be Serbs and Serbia, on a long run. Why doI say this? The territorial gains of the Serbs, aim at

strengthening the illusion that Serbs have won the war. But, if

things are analyzed deeply, then one will see that right now

there are 50% less Serbs in Croatia than there were before the

war; in Bosnia too, their number has been cut in half - and the

trends of emigration from both states show a tendency of having

Serbs disappear from there in several years. Thus, Serbs will

disappear from territories they inhabited for centuries. In the

name of the creation "of a state for all Serbs" as it was

proclaimed, the Serb "Fathers" managed to really construct sucha state, even though I fear it will be reduced to the size of the

"Belgrade Pasaluk". The catastrophic consequence for Serbia and

Serbs exists is hiding behind the emigration process, because the

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majority of refugees coming from war seized territories arrived

to Serbia which is anyways overcrowded. Finally, the use of the

Serb fears - often reasonable, especially in Croatia - resulted

with the division inside the Serbian people. I still believe that

the return of Slobodan Milosevic and the SPS to Serbia means astep closer to the Serb-Serb war. Today, he plays the card of the

"peace-creating Serbia" and is using it against Serbs abroad. I

also consider the deterioration of relations with its neighbors

and the isolation from the international community as a serious

consequence. In regard to the truth that Serbia has a key role

in the crisis in the former Yugoslavia, this can be stated only

because of its geo-strategic position. If I were a German or a

French official, I would also give advantage to conversations

with Belgrade, despite the fact who is in power there - and not

because I love Serbs, but because it is objectively thus. They

can't be evaded geo-strategically. Nevertheless, we should notunderstand this Western determination as its approximation to the

civilized world: Saddam Hussein was also a collocutor, because

he was important, but this didn't help Iraq much to come closer

to the civilized world, nor to its neighbors. It remains

isolated. An this may be the perspective of the state of Serbia.

KOHA: It seems as if Milosevic will be in power for some time...

DJURIC: In the unchanged circumstances and having in mind a part

of the arguments that I offered, I fear that we will be facinga duel in Serbia, between SPS, which is not only the ruling party

but a system of thought, grounded on the former Communist parties

which identified themselves with the political system, and the

others. I would make a small digression: the same syndrome

appeared within the ruling party in Croatia, which is not only

in power, but also an identification of the system with the

territory. The same thing happens in Bosnia, where the, without

any doubt, legitimate government of Bosnia intends to equal SDA

to the state...

KOHA: Lets' go back to your prognosis on the eventual Serb-Serbconflict...

DJURIC: So, we have SPS, as I described it and besides it, first

of all people wearing uniforms. On paper, the police and army

should remain loyal to the SPS. However, this is only on paper.

Because, taking into account that the largest part of militaries

are people coming from the devastated territories in Croatia and

active participants in military actions - I am not sure that

they will not turn their back on Milosevic and the SPS when he'll

show the first signs of weakness. In those blocs, of the SPS andthe generals - I would also list, contrary to their will, what

I call the remains of the political opposition in Serbia, which,

when it decided to stay in the Parliament and accept the

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compromises - found themselves in a situation today, where they

have to vote for a less evil option and which provisionally holds

the name of Slobodan Milosevic. Thus, they will objectively

disqualify themselves in relation to a third option - the only

one remaining, democratic and just - and in which they can beonly treated as collaborationist. This is closed circle and not

much depends on them. But, I must be precise: if I were in the

Serbian parliament and if I would have accepted to be part of it,

then there would be nothing else for me than vote thus. It is

another issue whether I would accept to enter and remain in the

parliament... However, the truth is that we have to choose

between the less and more evil.

KOHA: What is "more evil " in your opinion?

DJURIC: On the political surface you can see Seselj, mobsters anddifferent characters who work for certain parties. One of them

is lead by an honest nationalist - Vojislav Kostunica, who is

honest, in my opinion, but without a doubt a great nationalist.

On the other hand , there is another party, which has turned and

tossed a lot, lead by a person which I doubt is a real

nationalist, but who believes that such an option has some

prospects - Zoran Djindjic. Here too we are referring to a bloc,

which brought on the surface a group of political parties which

were and remain Milosevic's spiritual puppies and of the SPS. But

you see today, with some honesty and some calculations - theyaccuse Milosevic for national treason. Unfortunately, here I

would include the largest part of the hierarchy of the Serbian

Orthodox Church, and again unfortunately, the largest part of the

Academy of Sciences and Arts of Serbia. However, I fear that the

real leader is none of Milosevic's puppies: it is probably

another of his spiritual puppies, Radovan Karadzic in Pale, weak

and conscious that there will be no mercy for him on the first

day of peace - political nor physical, is trying to find his

chance imposing himself to the "nationalist" wing as its

political godfather. In fact, with the affair of the UN

hostages, Karadzic in reality sent a message to Belgrade, ratherthan the world. This is very important in my opinion. If the

underground conflict will explode then the question is - who are

the real losers? First of all the Serbs!

The Serb-Serb conflict, not to say the Serbian civil war is

almost inevitable because non of the existing political

tendencies is offering any positive prospects...

KOHA: Are you trying to evade this option and how?

DJURIC: From here. The Movement I lead is not a political party,

but it is a political organization which assists all those who

deserve it, all political forces and democratic concepts which

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seek the third and only functional and peaceful option.

KOHA: What could this "third option" offer?

DJURIC: Peace with all neighbors, and none of the two mentionedblocs can't offer this. They can offer only problems and in the

worst of the cases complete isolation. Therefore, we offer to be

in peace with everybody. Second, it was proven in practice, how

catastrophic was the option offered by the SPS or the radicals.

The battle-fields have reduced the number of Serbs to half and

the day will come and there will be no more Serbs there. In this

sense, we can offer only one thing: not Serbia from Daruvar to

Koprivnica, but an autonomy for Serbs as they deserve it within

the sovereign states of Bosnia and Croatia. If they were deprived

of something, it should be given back to them, and we insist theyhave equal rights and status. This is what we can offer and this

is why we created the Civic Council in Sarajevo. Our intention

was to have Serbs stay in Sarajevo, and not leave it, which is

unfortunately a direct consequence of the attitude of those

vagabonds in Pale. Serbs used to live in Pale long before

Karadzic came to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

KOHA: How functional can such a council be in present

circumstances?

DJURIC: I don't have any illusions that it is an ideal body. It

has its weaknesses - first the pressure from the inside and

outside to have it turn into the Party of Good Serbs (!) and, on

the other hand, since there are also people in it and who are

part of the government, there is a fear that it could turn into

its tool.

On the other hand we offer the return of fled refugees, an acute

problem for Serbia, but the condition is that the concepts of

changing borders by force, the creation of Greater Serbia, whose

consequences we feel today, should be given up. Then, under theclose observation of the international community we would win,

what is known as the ultimate right of the minorities recognized

by the civilized world, when referring to Serbs in Croatia and

the status of equal citizens in Bosnia.

These have been my thesis since four years ago. I don't think

that I have changed anything in them.

The third thing we offer is to slowly, but surely enter the

civilized word of the European Union, and this third option ofours would make us achieve it much faster than any option offered

by Milosevic, Seselj or Karadzic.

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Finally, we are not in favor of the alteration of borders, but

in favor of their relativization. We are in favor of weakening

the inter-ethnic pretensions within the existing borders. Here

I mentioned the territorial autonomy for Serbs in Croatia, but

with the status of Croatian citizens inside the Croat state.

KOHA: Wasn't this offered in the Z4 plan?

DJURIC: So far, the ruling party in Croatia has not showed any

will to offer Serbs something more than cultural autonomy. We ask

for more, but within the frames of the Croat state and the

internationally recognized borders.

KOHA: It seems as if this were approaching the concept of the

regionalization of the Balkans...

DJURIC: ...and it represents my political weakness. This would

be helped by the decentralization of a state as Croatia, e.g.,

where the problem of the Serbian minority would not be a separate

one, but only an issue inside the decentralization process. I

believe there are objective reasons to, give Istria, for example,

its individuality. I believe the case is the same with Dalmatia,

for historical, economic and cultural reasons. A compromise

between two extremes should be sought: between the suicidal

policy of Knin and the exterminating policy of Croatia, which we

oppose strongly.

KOHA: Do you believe that the same pattern would be applied in

the case of Kosova. Kosova Albanians don't think that there

should be any parallelism between Kosova and Knin, for many

reasons...

DJURIC: It is a completely different situation there. You have

an undisputable majority of population in the former autonomous

province of Kosova, and I say so because Kosova has no autonomy

any longer - it was suppressed by force. Further on, 35-36% of

the population in Serbia are not Serbs. This is often forgotten.In Serbia, there is a tendency of creating exclusively national

states which, in the Serbian case, but also the Croat, proved to

be catastrophic. Insisting, based on the principle of majority,

to change the borders and create a national state as Greater

Serbia would be, is only a tendency to justify the aggression

against Croatia and Bosnia. In the case of Albanians, taking into

account the demographic situation, it would be a natural reflex

to say that Albanians, who make over 90% of the population in

Kosova would have the right to create their own state. It should

be said that the majority of the Serbian nationalists was notagainst the secession of Kosova - with the condition that the

same criterion could be applied in all cases. I will say, with

full responsibility, that Dobrica Cosic was ready to give up on

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a part of Kosova, if he would have won all the other territories

on the other sides. Anyhow, let's elaborate the principle of

secession till the end: so, Kosova is divided and is converted

in a separate sovereign part, as it is, in its existing borders;

then, no one, not Ivan Djuric nor anyone could state an argumentwhich would oppose similar requests in other parts, including

Serbs outside Serbia and their requests...

KOHA: Does this mean that the Serbian territorial pretensions to

create a Serbian national state are a direct consequence of the

requests of Albanians for independent Kosova?

DJURIC: No, no. But, let's go back to another issue. That of

political realization. The principle of non alteration of

borders. Of the existing ones today, and which, as the

international community looks at it, will remain the same. Ibelieve that the borders shouldn't remain as they are, but they

should become more relative. What would this relativization mean

in the case of Serbia? Maybe it will sound as a surprise, but it

is something very similar to what communists tried to do with the

1974 Constitution: to make a difference between the Serbia

composed of three equal units and Serbia proper. Meaning that

Serbia should not be the same as the state of Serbia, that Kosova

- regardless of whether it is a province of republic, would

dispose with what in politics is known as internal independence.

And, that the majority of the population, of Albanians would be

responsible before the Serbian state for the eventual

endangerment of the Serbian minority there. Because any violation

of the rights of the Serbs there would mean putting at stake the

rights of Albanians. Why do I believe that this solution is

adequate? because Albania itself, which is interested in the fate

of the fellow Albanians, hasn't, so far, supported the concept

of secession and the unification of Kosova with Albania, but has

always insisted on the full political identity of Kosova within

a compound state. I'll say it clear: the present leadership of

the state of Albania is under the deep influence of Washington,but both America and Moscow support one doctrine: formally,

borders should not change! Why otherwise, all that massacre in

Chechenya didn't cause any exaltation of the public? I don't

believe that the reason is that the West has turned deaf and

blind, but because there is a principle: Chechenya is a part of

Russia. You can criticize the Russian attack against Chechenya

in the humanitarian aspect, but as Washington sees it

politically, you shouldn't criticize Moscow's competencies in

Chechenya.

KOHA: So, how do you perceive the process of the solution of

Kosova's problem?

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DJURIC: In brief, I believe that we must find a solution between

the Albanian radical secession and the repressive Serbian rule

which refuses to ease up and even grant an cultural autonomy and

postpones the solution by continuing with its repression. How

would this compromise be applied? If Serbia wouldbe defined as a compound state and as Serbia proper, then an

Albanian from Podujeva, as opposed to the Serbian state, would

have the same rights as the Serb from Sumadija, with the

difference that the Albanian would have its political integrity -

Kosova and the person from Sumadija would have Serbia proper.

Naturally, the same thing would count for Vojvodina.

I still believe that we should all give up on huge national

ghosts. On both sides. I believe that people should be explained

that the concept we offer can make us enter Europe much faster,

and Albanians would come closer to Albania also more rapidly.This is the compromise which is inevitable, if we insist on peace

and political rational. This takes us back to a form of a

possible future Balkans federation, which I believe that is a

necessity. States as Albania, Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro

should overcome the concepts of national states, especially

within the existing borders, because a considerable number of

their people live outside those borders. Thus, symbolically I

have to say that the real future of the Balkans in general and

the former Yugoslav republics relies on the viewpoints of the

"national traitors", of those who refuse to think within thenarrow horizon of national exclusiveness. I don't see another

solution...

MACEDONIA

POLITICAL PEACE LUNCH

by SELADIN XHEZAIRI / Shkup

Even though as of now one could say that Macedonia has stepped

with one foot in the Council of Europe, nevertheless the letter

of the parliamentarian group of the PPD directed to this European

organism is a signal that despite the epilogue, both Macedonians,

first of all, but also the Albanians should approach the problems

more seriously. Albanian MPs state the following; "Macedonia does

not fulfil the criterions determined by the documents of the

Council of Europe and other international organizations",

expressing the conviction that "the attempts to become member of

the EC will be accompanied by the beginning of the realdemocratization of the Republic of Macedonia and the equal

treatment of its citizens". To achieve this, consider the

Albanian MPs, Macedonia "should make radical changes in the

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juridical-constitutional and political-social treatment of the

ethnic non Macedonian communities, especially of Albanians"...

The pro-governmental Macedonian media, reacting against this

pronouncement (Vecer), called it as an act which is contrary to

the state interest of this country, while in a comment made byMirce Tomovski, published in the last issue of weekly "Puls", it

is said that it is pure cynicism having ascertained in the letter

sent to the EC, that "Albanians in Macedonia had played the role

of the stabilizing element, conscious of their responsibility for

the peace and stability in the Republic and broader". How could

this affirmation be understood, continues the author, when the

same letter claims that "Albanians didn't participate in the

referendum and didn't vote in favor of the Constitution"...

Naturally, "Puls" doesn't offer its readers the justification

contained in this document, that "Albanians didn't participate

in the Referendum because the republican parliament didn't acceptthe Declaration on the equality of all, proposed by Albanian

MPs!".

This act was also discussed in the meeting behind closed doors

of the ruling coalition partners - Social-Democratic League of

Macedonia, of Premier Crvenkovski and the PPD leadership headed

by Abdurrahman Aliti. Unofficially, the meeting was full of

mutual accusations for the lack of reality and rational on the

occasion of discussing the problems and deciding about the

requests of Albanians...

Last week also evidenced an event in the grey mosaic of

activities of the Albanian political parties: Albanian

intellectuals in Macedonia finally organized a long-expected

meeting: for the first time they organized a round table where

they gathered the leaders of the political parties, A. Aliti, A.

Xhaferi, I. Halimi, Xh. Idrizi and Q. Mazllami (while N. Halili

gave no explanations for his absence). And after this meeting,

all agreed to issue a communique stating that the present

situation of Albanians in Macedonia was influenced by two

reasons: "..first - the Macedonian political parties in powerroughed their course towards the vital, democratic and legitimate

requests of the Albanians, and second - Albanian political

parties didn't coordinate well the cooperation among themselves".

In order to overcome this situation, the agreement was reached

that from now on, "Albanian political parties will jointly

present the main issues, the ones that are related to the

promotion of the position of Albanians in Macedonia, before the

domestic and external factors. Intellectuals and chairmen of

parties will participate in the harmonization of postures" - itis said in the Union of the Albanian Intelligence in Macedonia

along with the League of Albanian Language and Literature

Teachers' Associations and the Albanian Women's League, with the

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posture that the public will be informed about the activities

through communiques; that party leaders should not make any

public articulations and all ended with a joint "journey" to

Restaurant Amadeus, and the "peacemaking lunch"...

The reaction of the Macedonian media was not special: Macedonian

TV even broadcast the misinformation that the meeting had been

attended by Dylber Vrioni, a political official from Tirana.

"Koha" was informed that there were no visitors from abroad;

what's more, Vrioni was not allowed to enter Macedonia because

of, as it was said, his implication in the split of PPD. It was

also communicated that the initiators of this meeting (Remzi

Nesimi, Xhevat Gega and Ali Aliu) were warned a fluent Macedonian

speaker that "they as professors shouldn't see themselves

involved in these things...".

The meeting was welcomed by Albanian circles, taking it as a

challenge for all political parties which, some more and some

less, understand that "no one can do miracles", but that a common

language for common problems - seems to have become a necessity.

In this direction, the labor in this form of consultation will

be of "intellectual, moral and even national responsibility" and

that "this is the last chance to emend the mistakes". At the same

time, there are also pessimistic opinions about the activation

of "this form of consultations", which intends to "replace the

scientific institutions", which the Albanians are lacking for thetime being. Even though it is too early, the reservation is that

this Council will suffer the same fate as the Coordinating Body

of the Albanian Political Parties in the Former Yugoslavia.

Anyhow, the two main actors, Abdurrahman Aliti and Arbn Xhaferi

are expected to speak out...

INTERVIEW

SLAVKO PEROVIC, Chairman of the Liberal League of Montenegro

MONTENEGRO WILL NEVER BECOME A REGION

Interviewed by NAIL DRAGA / Ulqin

KOHA: You just celebrated the fifth anniversary of the foundation

of LLM. How satisfied are you with the achieved results?

PEROVIC: Taking into account all circumstances in which it was

created and in which it functions, we must be satisfied with theachieved results between 1990 and 1995. In 1990, LLM had 57

members, and now it has grown into a strong political force with

22 thousand registered members. On the other hand, today we

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represent the most respected opposition force in Montenegro, and

with deep sorrow I must say that we are the only real alternative

in the present situation in Montenegro, as well as in Serbia,

with which, as wished by the rulers in Podgorica, we are

unhappily married and the ground of which is a huge deception inthe 1992 referendum. We have become members of the Liberal

International, we are connected to the world and despite the war,

we are still in contact with the other former Yugoslav republics.

We publish our weekly "Liberal". I could say many things, but it

would take us too much time. I am satisfied, even though there

is a huge land to plough ahead of us. The Montenegrin youth and

intelligence are the best warrants of success which is

awaiting...

KOHA: As a citizen and as a Montenegrin, how do you feel in

Montenegro?

PEROVIC: The Republic of Montenegro is presently totally

marginalized in regard to the statehood status. It is exposed to

Greater-Serbian assimilation every time things refer to the

Montenegrin national issue. Our President, Bulatovic, is

propagating the folkloric notion of the Montenegrin people which

is identified with the notions "Krajisnik", "Macvanin",

"Sumadinac", etc. Montenegro and the Montenegrins are exposed to

the militant assimilating campaign of the Serbian Orthodox Church

in Montenegro, headed now by Amfilohije Radovic. All these facts,and especially the fact that Radovic is now sitting in the sacred

throne of the Petrovic, are the precise description of the

Montenegrin defeat. The victory is that all this monstrous

instrumentarium gives no results. The fact that Montenegro, along

all these, as well as the forces turned against it, is rotating

to itself trying to become part of the civilized Mediterranean

world. Such a Montenegro could help the stability of the whole

region and be the best channel for the democratization of Serbia.

Without a democratic Serbia, there is no peace in the Balkans,

while a democratic Serbia will not exist without independent

Montenegro.

KOHA: You declared that Montenegro is occupied by the media. Is

it only under their occupation?

PEROVIC: No. Around 60 thousand soldiers are in our territory,

and there are several military bases of interest for the military

machinery of Serbia. All of this, unfortunately, is essentially

in collision with our concept of Montenegro as a demilitarized

zone, which would be involved in a regional security system. On

the other side, we think that the army would also find its placein the Montenegrin sovereignty, and that the Montenegro we are

after, would do everything within its possibilities to have the

military officials, presently in its territory, re-qualify to do

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other important things in civil life. This is our concept.

We won't fight for Montenegro with weapons, at no cost. We act

in the evolutive way as the only and most qualitative way to come

out from the existing, more than tragic situation to which wehave come thanks to the crazy, militant and national-chauvinist

policy which is anachronic and barbarian.

KOHA: The ruling DPS has since 1989 been working perfidiously in

the direction of making Montenegro lose its statehood elements.

PEROVIC: The results of this policy clearly prove this. On the

other hand, our activity has also educated a part of the DPS, and

the situation now has changed quite a bit. But it is an old

axiom, that whoever leads you towards an unbearable situation,

that one can't save you. Montenegrins have learned this and partof DPS's leadership which is trying to gain time, but will not

succeed.

KOHA: An important role, in this sense, was of the Serbian

Orthodox Church. But now the Montenegrin Orthodox Church has been

established, although the government is against it.

PEROVIC: Yes, Montenegrins revived their Church in a great

Montenegrin gathering on 31 October 1993, on which occasion they

chose Antonije for Patriarch. We have fully supported thisproject, and afterwards, because of some things that we don't

like, we have retreated, giving it full principled support.

Montenegrins will have their own Orthodox Church based on the

traditions of Saint Peter and not Saint Sava.

KOHA: Is there any analogy between 1918 and 1989?

PEROVIC: Only at first sight. It is totally different, and

especially in the foreign political circumstances and the

Montenegrin youth. The aggressive Serbian propaganda, mercenary

intelligence agencies and the University of Belgrade managed toproclaim the honest King Nikola a traitor. He was framed the

separate peace treaty with Austria. A part of the Montenegrin

youth, captivated by the network of the "Black Hand", followed

the trend. The circumstances of foreign policy have helped the

Great-Serbian project to ruin the Montenegrin state.

Now the youth is totally in favor of Montenegro, and I believe

that the foreign factor agrees that a more independent Montenegro

means more stability in the region.

KOHA: Albanians are also part of the multi-ethnic Montenegro, and

the relations between the Montenegrins and Albanians have always

been tolerant.

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PEROVIC: It is true. The dominating characteristic of the

Montenegrin relations during old Montenegro, the times of

Aleksandar and Broz's Yugoslavia, not only with Albanians, but

with all nationalities were good. And this was due to the fact

that Montenegrins were a free people, which had reached the levelof civilization. There were also bloody scenarios which intended

to alter the relations. Such a scenario was dedicated to

Montenegro by Milosevic's "Yugoslavia", but it has not been

successful.

KOHA: Albanians and Montenegrins have many traditional things in

common and it is not something you have in common with other

people and this is not by chance, is it?

PEROVIC: We are ancient neighbors. We have coexisted, we have

traded, we married one-another, sometimes we even fought againstone-another, because Albanians, due to the circumstances, were

part of the Ottoman occupying forces, and we often fought these

forces. It is enough to remember Gjergj Kastrioti (Scanderbeg),

his links with the Crnojevic, the Hoti and Kelmendi

insurrections, etc.

KOHA: Albania is a natural neighbor of Montenegro, but there is

no cooperation.

PEROVIC: We must jointly try, respecting the European standards,and as long as we claim that Montenegro is an open society, to

open all borders. We must open our borders to our neighbors. I

am convinced that there will be no problems with Albania, as long

as the borders are opened on both sides and in favor of the

common interest. The present close-down of the borders was of

political character. And politics change.

KOHA: Kosova represents a tight knot. Can it be undone with

diplomatic means?

PEROVIC: I don't see what other means could be used. One must bepatient, despite the pain it may cause.

KOHA: What do you think about the pacifist policy of President

Rugova?

PEROVIC: I believe that this is the optimal selection of

political technology as opposed to the opponent he has. I believe

that this election is political wisdom.

KOHA: Albanians are not satisfied with their position becausethey are discriminated and this is most evident in education.

Albanian schools don't teach Albanian national history. How would

you feel if your child would have to learn about the history of

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other people and not your own?

PEROVIC: Montenegro is in this situation for having learned the

falsified history of the Serbian people and almost nothing about

the history of Montenegro. We are almost in the same situation,and only the LLM can change it, if it takes over the power.

KOHA: The government doesn't ask Albanians about a thing and

imposes the curricula which suit the ruling party.

PEROVIC: We don't have a rule in front of us, because the one who

has power should be responsible to the Parliament. Having many

parties is only a mask for the existing power, which is our

master. The relation you are referring to is not the relation of

Montenegrins towards this issue, but the relation of the power

which admits no characteristics, starting from the national,cultural, educational, etc., but only its own interest,

manipulating constantly with the mentioned categories.

KOHA: The ruling DPS constantly ignores the opposition. Is this

a sign enough to leave the Parliament?

PEROVIC: It can look like a phenomenon. In essence, they fear the

opposition, and especially the "technical unity" which represents

a puzzle for the DPS. This is clear for the time being.

KOHA: The local government has lost power. If you would come to

power, how would local administration look like?

PEROVIC: Our party has European orientation. Whatever Europe has

in its local administration, we will enact. We have nothing to

invent, we would just apply.

KOHA: Would Tuz get back its status of municipality?

PEROVIC: Why not? Not only Tuz, but whoever applies for the

status. After a certain time, we would gain a new quality.

KOHA: In an interview you had declared if Montenegro is united

with Herzegovina, Montenrgins would have it very difficult. What

did you think about, when you said this?

PEROVIC: This idea is on the line with the idea of the

disappearance of Montenegro. Can you imagine us united with

Vucurevic and his conscience?

KOHA: The Serbian policy has been preparing a new "gift" forMontenegro, because according to the new Constitution, it will

gain the status of a region. What will the reply of your party

be?

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PEROVIC: So we heard. But constitutions can't solve an issue, the

will of the people can. The Former Yugoslavia had a constitution.

And what remains of it today? The Yugoslav Army violated it

first, and then all others. Montenegro will never become a

region. This comes out from its centuries long history and thisenergy can't be stopped by any Constitution. We don't give a damn

about such constitutional solutions.

KOHA: In the past two elections, you ran for President of

Montenegro. Almost all Albanians voted for you. Do you have any

moral obligations towards them?

PEROVIC: The same obligation I have towards them, they have

towards me and us. We have defended the interests and rights of

all people in Montenegro, without prejudice. We aim at creating

a civic state. In the next elections, I expect the Liberals towin the local government in Ulqin. We have defended both the

individual and collective rights.

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APPENDIX

J A V O R E / Albanian weekly

P.O. BOX 202

38000 PRISHTINA

Issued by the KOHA Editorial Board

English Edition: KOHA

Contact Person: Filloreta Bytyqi

Phone & Fax: +381 38 31 031

+381 38 31 036

Modem: +381 38 31 276

E-Mail: koha_pr@zana-pr.ztn.zer.de