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Kosovo agreement should be changed to halt border violence |
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December 20, 2000
BELGRADE--(AP) - President Vojislav Kostunica called Tuesday for changes in the Kosovo peace agreement that would allow Yugoslav forces to operate closer to the provincial boundary where ethnic Albanian rebels are threatening key transport routes in southern Serbia. Four days ahead of elections in Serbia, the main Yugoslav republic, Kostunica said that the volatile Kosovo border remained one of the most burning issues threatening his fledgling pro-democracy administration. He suggested changes in a provision of the Kosovo peace agreement that ended last year's NATO bombing of Yugoslavia establishing a 5 kilometer (3 mile) security zone between the NATO-run province and Serbia proper. Serbian police patrols are allowed into the buffer zone with light arms only - a fact that has enabled ethnic Albanian rebels to operate with near impunity in the area and launch an offensive last month that claimed the lives of four Serb policemen. "A possible solution is to have the five-kilometer zone reduced to two or one kilometers and free the communication route to the south," he said. "That would help return stability into the zone." The clashes in the zone sparked fears of renewed Balkan bloodshed despite recent democratic changes in Yugoslavia beginning with the ouster of former hardline president Slobodan Milosevic, who conceded electoral defeat in October. "Our goal is to cleanse the southern Serbian region of terrorists," Kostunica said, referring to Albanian militants. NATO troops in Kosovo - despite their "overwhelming presence" - have "shown themselves incapable of the tíEČnf stopping violence. "And if they failed in Kosovo, what can we expect in the Presevo Valley," Kostunica added, referring to the buffer region. "This can evidently not be achieved single-handedly with the presence or intervention of (NATO's) Kosovo Force," Kostunica said. "Other solutions should be sought." The Kosovo peace agreement foresees no NATO role outside Kosovo Yugoslav Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic will outline his country's plan when he addresses a U.N. Security Council meeting on Kosovo later Tuesday, said Kostunica. "It is not realistic to expect the changes in the entirety of the (peace agreement) text, that would only lead to further instability" Kostunica said. "We believe that an amendment, a change, that envisages more modest aims, is needed." Speaking at the first of what are planned to be monthly press briefings and ahead of the Dec. 23 Serbian elections, Kostunica said much needed to be done to undo the wrongs committed by Milosevic. "When I took this office, I was aware of the scope of our problems," Kostunica said. "Democracy - which we all coveted the most - is still slow in coming ... and many issues will have to be solved on the road ahead." With Serbian elections Saturday, there have been calls in Belgrade for military action after the balloting. But Kostunica has so far resisted, apparently opting for democratic measures and negotiations instead. Seeking to exploit the tensions, Milosevic's supporters have been pointing to the failure of Kostunica's government to act against Albanian militants. Since he replaced Milosevic, Kostunica's federal government has also been grappling with trying to smooth relations between the two constituent republics, Serbia and pro-independence Montenegro, and pressure to extradite Milosevic to the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, which has indicted him for alleged atrocities in Kosovo. Kostunica has indicated that Milosevic's extradition has far less priority than economic and social problems at home.
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