[balkanhr] IWPR'S BALKAN CRISIS REPORT, NO. 134 4/20/00 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Institute for War & Peace Reporting WELCOME TO IWPR'S BALKAN CRISIS REPORT, NO. 134, April 20, 2000 PUTIN'S VICTORY IS BAD NEWS FOR BELGRADE There are signs the Kremlin is distancing itself from Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic who has, once again, backed the wrong horse. Daniel Sunter reports from Belgrade. NEW HOPE FOR RELATIVES OF DISAPPEARED DNA analysis techniques could help to identify many victims of the Srebrenica massacres. Nermina Durmic-Kahrovic reports from Tuzla. NATO BRAWLING UPSETS MACEDONIANS Macedonians say trouble-making NATO troops are abusing their hospitality. Zeljko Bajic reports from Skopje. VILLAGERS BUILDING NEW FUTURE Traumatised by the Kosovo war, residents of Krushe e Madhe are determined to rebuild their shattered homes. Ermal Hasimja reports from Krushe e Madhe. ****************** VISIT IWPR ON-LINE: www.iwpr.net ****************** PUTIN'S VICTORY IS BAD NEWS FOR BELGRADE There are signs the Kremlin is distancing itself from Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic who has, once again, backed the wrong horse. By Daniel Sunter in Belgrade A shift in Russian policy towards Serbia is becoming increasingly apparent since Vladimir Putin took over the helm at the Kremlin last month. Even in the run-up to the presidential elections, observers in Belgrade and Moscow noticed that Putin never once mentioned the Balkans or Serbia during his campaign. Goran Svilanovic, president of the Civic Alliance of Serbia (GSS), commented, "Shortly before the start of the election, the Russian embassy distributed Putin's electoral manifesto to all the political parties in Serbia. It was quite clear from this document that Moscow has no intention of abandoning its policy of co-operation with the West. Putin's victory is bad news for the Belgrade regime." The Milosevic regime, on the other hand, invited the ultra-nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky for an official visit to Belgrade on the eve of the March 26 election. According to all the polls, Zhirinovsky -- who openly styled himself as a would-be dictator -- had no chance of winning the presidential race. The Serbian opposition criticised Belgrade's decision to invite Zhirinovsky, stressing that Serbia should woo parties and leaders who represent mainstream Russian politics and not extremists or communists. The Russian daily newspaper Kommersant wrote at the beginning of April that Moscow had taken a conscious decision to distance itself from the "hated" Yugoslav president. Russia, according to Kommersant, "has no wish to support the regime in Belgrade". According to a well-informed source close to the highest echelons of the Yugoslav Army, Russia has also broken off its military and technical agreement with Serbia. Aimed at restructuring and modernising the Yugoslav forces, the agreement was signed by Marshal Igor Sergeev, the Russian defense minister, and his Yugoslav counterpart, Pavle Bulatovic. Although the source refused to comment further about the details of the agreement, he stressed that Russia had unilaterally put the project on ice. He added, "The signal is crystal-clear. Putin's administration is sending out a clear message to the political and military leaders in Belgrade." The move was also prompted by new controls on the Russian defence ministry which mean that it can no longer act as a separate entity. In future, it will be obliged to co-ordinate its activities with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A gas supply agreement between Russia and Serbia has also run into troubled waters. The Russian company Gasprom has decreased supplies threefold without informing Belgrade. The latest developments have taken Belgrade officials by surprise. An anonymous official from the Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS) told Belgrade media, "I don't know why this has happened, we have not been informed by Russia. There have been no problems up until now." The change in mood is all the more surprising because Russia is currently supplying gas to Serbia on credit, despite existing debts totalling more than $300 million. Shortly after the gas crisis, Russian foreign minister Igor Ivanov met with the Yugoslav ambassador in Moscow, Borislav Milosevic, the brother of President Slobodan Milosevic. He called upon the Yugoslav Federation to show greater flexibility towards the international community in solving the Kosovo problem. Ivanov added that Russia supports UN proposals to give Kosovo greater autonomy within the federation and that Belgrade should play a leading role in the process of stabilising the Balkan region. Sources in Moscow claim that, during the Contact Group summit at the beginning of April, Russia expressed solidarity with Western states over Serbian attempts to destabilise Montenegro. Russia took the side of the Montenegrin president, Milo Djukanovic. Moscow roundly condemned the Serbian blockade of Montenegro, commenting that Belgrade's policies had served to aggravate an already complicated situation. A Serbian government spokesman told IWPR, "Igor Ivanov's behaviour at the meeting with Bora Milosevic, compounded by problems with the gas supply and Russia's support of Montenegro have come as a real shock to Belgrade. Draskovic's invitation to Moscow was an even bigger surprise." Vuk Draskovic, leader of the Serbian Renewal Movement, SPO, opposition party, was the first Serbian politician to visit the Russian Federation following Putin's election victory on March 26. A SPO spokesman said Draskovic met with officials from the Russian foreign ministry to discuss early elections in Serbia, Kosovo and Montenegro as well as the lifting of sanctions against the Yugoslav Federation. Draskovic later said that he had gained Russian support for plans to hold early elections at all levels. Ivanov stressed that Russia stands firmly behind the democratisation of Serbia and opposes any policies of terror and repression. Belgrade was quick to react to Moscow's diplomatic manoeuvrings. Milutin Stojkovic, defence committee president and a senior member of the ruling Socialist Party of Serbia, SPS, accused the Russian foreign minister of pandering to the United States government. "If Ivanov's diplomacy represents nothing more than attempts to appease America, then Russian interests," Stojkovic told a Russian Duma delegation in Belgrade. Some of Milosevic's more reckless ventures may have cost him Russian support. In the past, his policy towards Russia has been littered with misjudgments. During the attempted coup against Mikhail Gorbachev in 1991, Belgrade voiced open support for the rebels who wanted to rebuild the Soviet Empire. Then Milosevic decided to throw his weight behind Zhirinovsky, hoping that a nationalist regime in Russia would guarantee Serbia a nuclear arsenal of her own. At the time, the Serbian media buzzed with rumours of a secret weapon which Zhirinovsky had allegedly presented to the government. After Zhirinovsky, Belgrade championed the Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, who showed every sign of posing a real challenge to Boris Yeltsin in the 1996 presidential elections. But there may be more pragmatic motives behind the shift in Russian foreign policy towards Serbia. Putin may be attempting to show the West that his relationship with Serbia is based on sound economic judgments rather than emotional and ethnic ties. The Milosevic regime would therefore be forced to turn to the Far East and China in search of new allies. Daniel Sunter is a journalist with the VIP agency in Belgrade NEW HOPE FOR RELATIVES OF DISAPPEARED DNA analysis techniques could help to identify many victims of the Srebrenica massacres. By Nermina Durmic-Kahrovic in Tuzla Sixty-year-old Almasa Alihodzic is still looking for her three sons who disappeared after Serb troops seized Srebrenica in July 1995. They were among some 8,000 people declared missing following the capture of the UN-protected town in northeastern Bosnia. Most are believed to have been murdered. To date, just 2,000 massacre victims have been found, however, there's been little progress in identifying their remains. Now a new project, a collaboration between international and local organisations, may provide a breakthrough. Scientists are to use DNA analysis techniques to try to put names to the thousands of victims. The new approach has brought hope to the relatives of the disappeared. "Deep inside, I feel they're probably among the exhumed bodies. If so, I want to be informed, so that I can give them a proper burial," said Almasa, her eyes betraying nothing of the years of pain she has been through. Since 1996, 2,000 bodies have been exhumed from numerous mass and individual graves in the nearby villages of Kravica, Pilica, Lazeta and Nova Kasaba, while human remains have been found in the vicinity of the villages of Vrtaca, Suljici, Jelah and Pobudje. The authorities have placed both the corpses and the human remains in tunnels at a commemoration centre in Tuzla. The arrangement has outraged relatives of the disappeared. It was said that identifying the remains of the Srebenica victims would be beyond the capabilities of both local and international experts. It was estimated that the cost of putting names to fragments of bone would run to hundreds of millions of dollars and take over 50 years to complete. Even when investigators found personal documents close to the bodies, such as in the exhumation of a mass grave in near the village of Kravica in 1996, none could be identified. Scientists had hoped that's the discovery of bodies with distinctive characteristics would assist the identification process. But this was not always the case. In one case, for instance, investigators found the body of one man with a false leg and teeth. They imagined that the identification would be straightforward, but the discovery of two more bodies with exactly the same features complicated the task. The case was only solved when a relative managed to accurately describe the victim's false teeth. Problems were made worse when 'secondary graves' were discovered in 1998. With the aid of bulldozers, the executioners had tried to cover up their crimes by relocating the bodies. The heavy machinery broke up the corpses, making it even harder to connect body parts together. Almasa Alihodzic and thousands of mothers like her have organized into various associations to campaign for names to be given to bodies and for them to receive a proper burial. They want the bodies, which lie in bags, to be removed from the commemoration centre tunnels which, they say, are an insult to human dignity. The joint project between The International Commission on Missing Persons, ICMP, and the Bosnian authorities has recently raised hopes of a breakthrough in the identification process. The ICMP, headed by the former US senator Robert Dole, is supporting attempts by international and local scientist to use DNA analysis - comparing the DNA of corpses and human remains with blood samples of relatives of missing people - to put names to the Srebrenica victims Every member of the families of missing persons - around 100,000 people - will soon be giving blood samples, to be analyzed abroad. The less-equipped Bosnian laboratories will concentrate on the exhumed remains. The joint project is expected to take between 5 and 7 years. In the meantime, the bodies can be buried. Dr Rifat Kesetovic, who heads the team working on Srebrenica victims, says when he started the job he was overwhelmed by the challenge, but is now optimistic. "I believe for the first time that we can bring this process to an end." Nermina Durmic-Kahrovic is assistant professor of journalism at the University of Tuzla. NATO BRAWLING UPSETS MACEDONIANS Macedonians say trouble-making NATO troops are abusing their hospitality. By Zeljko Bajic in Skopje Outbreaks of violence involving unruly NATO troops in Macedonia are worsening relations between the western military alliance and local people. The trouble is being caused by some of 4,500 NATO troops stationed in Macedonia and visiting Alliance troops from Kosovo. A German soldier stationed in the Macedonian capital, Skopje, says the " Kosovo soldiers are isolated, two three months at a time, so when they get here, they are prone to getting drunk and getting into fights." In one incident at a Skopje cafi last week, a large group of drunken American marines, who had been pestering girls on neighbouring tables, brawled with customers at a nearby square. A policeman who tried to intervene was hit by a brick. The fight was stopped by police reinforcements who took away the American soldiers to be sobered up. According to unofficial information, all the soldiers involved in this and a string of similar disturbances had participated in recent NATO exercises in Kosovo. A KFOR spokesman in Skopje confirmed that the American military and Macedonian civilian police were investigating the incidents which, some US military officials believe, were provoked by locals. "KFOR deeply regrets the incidents. We wish to stress that such behaviour is not what we expect from our troops," Reinicke said. For its part, KFOR has complained that 22 of its vehicles have been stoned since the beginning of April. A series of violent altercations involving KFOR troops have been reported over the past year. "They sing, shout and bang the car doors," said Skopje resident, Aco Kitanovski. "They act abnormally and mainly provoke the girls." Another resident, Kire Manevski, says trouble-making KFOR soldiers are a disgrace, "What sort of behaviour is that - drinking away and attacking people? They definitely abuse our hospitality." At the height of the NATO campaign in Kosovo, 19 elite British soldiers were beaten up after picking a fight with five waiters at a posh Skopje restaurant. Two of the soldiers ended up in hospital. At the time, the extreme nationalist Serbian leader, Vojislav Seselj, congratulated the Macedonian waiters, saying they had taught the "British occupier" a lesson. In Kumanovo last summer, several Danish KFOR soldiers stripped off and jumped into the town fountain. They were beaten up by residents appalled by their behaviour. According to police sources, NATO troops have been involved in 182 traffic accidents and were the cause in nearly 75 per cent of cases. The most tragic of all was a collision between a KFOR vehicle and a government car carrying Minister Radovan Stojkovski, his wife and daughter. The family along with their driver were killed. The Norwegian KFOR driver caused the accident, but will be tried in his own country, much to the anger of the Macedonian public. Particularly infuriating was the Norwegian prosecutor's ruling that the KFOR driver would be tried for careless driving, not involuntary manslaughter, the charge Macedonians expected him to face. Legal experts were warning the government right at the start of the NATO mission in Macedonia that it had paid insufficient attention to the details of the terms and conditions under which the international force was to operate in the country. One key oversight, some Macedonians believe, was the government's agreement to allow NATO troops who commit crimes here to be tried by courts in their native countries. Many in Macedonia believe the authorities have been lenient towards NATO in the hope of speeding up its membership of the Alliance. Professor of Constitutional Law at the Law Faculty in Skopje, Svetomir Skaric, has warned that the status of KFOR troops in the country is in violation of the Macedonian Constitution. Former minister and legal expert, Djordji Naumov, proposed at a recent meeting of the government's advisory body, the Legal Council, new legislation obliging the government to compensate citizens affected by the actions of NATO troops. Zeljko Bajic is a regular contributor to IWPR. VILLAGERS BUILDING NEW FUTURE Traumatised by the Kosovo war, residents of Krushe e Madhe are determined to rebuild their shattered homes. By Ermal Hasimja in Krushe e Madhe The elementary school in Krushe e Madhe was one of the first war-damaged buildings in the village to be rebuilt. Its reconstruction is of great symbolic importance to local people who've long regarded the education of their children a priority, even under the former Serb regime of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. "We had parallel institutions in Kosovo throughout the 90s and have done our utmost to keep our schools running," said language teacher, Nasip Gashi. "During the last two years we used our salaries to keep the schools functioning. They're very important for us, for our future." The school, which accommodates nearly a thousand pupils, betrays little sign of the war. Hundreds of houses in Krush e Madhe, a once prosperous village, have been repaired with the help of international organisations, but the physical and emotional scars of last year's conflict are much in evidence. Roofless, burnt out houses line the streets. Not far from the school, scores of fresh wreaths drape war-graves and Italian aid workers have built a rehabilitation center for traumatized children. As one of the command centers for the Kosovo Liberation Army during the war, the village was heavily shelled by Serb troops, forcing residents to flee to neighbouring Albania. Just over two hundred local people were killed. Some went missing and are presumed dead. Many of the graves have no names. Scores of corpses could not be identified. "Have you heard of Ukshin Hoti?" said mathematics teacher Avdyl Duraku, pointing to the burnt house of the former lawyer, a well-known campaigner for Albanians' rights before the war. Posters asking for information about his disappearance are scattered throughout Kosovo. All the men in neighbouring Krushe e Vogel were murdered during the war. The village is now populated by their womenfolk who have been trained in running things on their own. In the Krushe e Madhe cemetery, Duraku walks dutifully along the line of graves. While pointing out whole families murdered by the Serbs, he stops briefly at one burial plot - that of his 16-year-old son, killed by Serb soldiers. "They killed many people from the village," said Duraku, who is also the head of the children's rights protection center based in Prizren. "They killed four colleagues - nine others have disappeared." The whole community has been involved in rebuilding the village, while financial contributions from relatives living abroad have helped to keep the local economy going. Some houses have only been partially rebuilt. Short of manpower and resources, the priority at the moment is to ensure that families have just enough shelter to survive the harsh winter. Elsewhere in Kosovo, the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, has rebuilt 2,767 houses at a cost of $9 million since August last year. Some of the $2.3 billion donors recently pledged for the rebuilding of the Balkans will be spent in Kosovo. - key projects include the development of trade and transport infrastructure and a regional television network. In addition to assisting with the reconstruction, UNMIK has helped to establish local government across Kosovo. Councils are now operating in 22 out of Kosovo's 30 municipalities. These authorities, set up following consultations with representatives of political parties and the municipalities, meet regularly, addressing major issues of concern to the local population. UNMIK administrators, who chair the councils, rely heavily upon their advice in taking decisions that affect the local population. Krushe e Madhe villagers are grateful for all the outside help they've received, but now they want more control over their own destiny."We're determined to overcome our bloody past and move on," said Duraku. Ermal Hasimja is a freelance journalist in Pristina. ****************** VISIT IWPR ON-LINE: www.iwpr.net ****************** IWPR's network of leading correspondents in the region provides inside analysis of the events and issues driving crises in the Balkans. The reports are available on the Web in English, Serbian and Albanian; English-language reports are also available via e-mail. For syndication information, contact Anthony Borden . Balkan Crisis Report is supported by the Department for International Development, European Commission, and Swedish International Development and Cooperation Agency and other sources. IWPR also acknowledges general support from the Ford Foundation. For further details on this project and other information services and media programmes, visit IWPR's Website: . Editor-in-chief: Anthony Borden. Managing Editor: Yigal Chazan. Associate Editor: Gordana Igric. Assistant Editors: Christopher Bennett, Alan Davis and Heather Milner. Kosovo Project Manager: Llazar Semini. Translation: Alban Mitrushi and others. The Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR) is a London-based independent non-profit organisation supporting regional media and democratic change. Lancaster House, 33 Islington High Street, London N1 9LH, UK Tel: (44 171) 713 7130; Fax: (44 171) 713 7140 E-mail: info@iwpr.net; Web: www.iwpr.net The opinions expressed in "Balkan Crisis Report" are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the publication or of IWPR. Copyright (C) 2000 The Institute for War & Peace Reporting *** VISIT IWPR ON-LINE: www.iwpr.net *** IWPR'S BALKAN CRISIS REPORT, NO. 134 -- ### -- ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nyteeu-04.21.00-10:40:27-22156