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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 # 53

ROUND TABLE

"KOHA" IS NOT ORGANIZING THE ALBANIAN-SERB DIALOGUE

Much medial noise has been made about the recent initiative of

"KOHA" to organize Round Table "Kosova: perspective and

democratic possibilities". This news has been even broadcasted

by all correspondents of foreign media in Kosova.

The organization of the Round Table, as well as the list of

participants, which was elaborated not grounded on the idea that

their opinion represents the conviction of the Albanian or Serbpeople, but because we considered that their information and

viewpoints would contribute to this Round Table, do not mean that

this is the "Albanian-Serb dialogue" (as Nasa Borba claims).

Finally, "KOHA" Editorial Board does not consider itself to be

a relevant institution which could organize an eventual dialogue

between the confronted parties. We thought that the organization

of such a Table, which would allow the presentation of relations,

disputes and Albanian-Serb perspectives from different

viewpoints, would be reasonable, because following the new

initiatives of the Serbian Movement of Resistance, new tensionsare expected by the end of the month.

EDITORIAL

THREE IMAGES IN AN EDITORIAL

Athens. Omonia, the main square. Asking for a direction in

English, I am replied in Greek. The pronunciation of Central

Albania's "r" is strongly heard. The instructor of the accuratedirections is surrounded by twenty eyes which are still holding

a part of the clay splendor of coppered soil.

Two Greeks stop a van and call the bunch. They choose two,

capable of doing construction work. The others go away. Later,

they will greet a compatriot coming back from the market. Today

he sold more avocados than yesterday. No, he didn't know a thing

about the regulation of their further status in Greece. The radio

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said nothing.

Upsala. An old university town. Two Kosova Albanians enter the

room where the conference on the right of speech in Albanian

lands in organized, and listen to the lectures. One of them, justturned 35, approaches and asks how long with the situation, as

it is, last in Kosova. He is tired, he says. He has spent three

years in a refugee camp, asking himself the same question once

he stepped on Swedish land. There is no answer to his question,

this time neither. He asked it last time when a Swedish professor

and expert of the Albanian question had come to the camp to warn

the Albanians that they were creating a negative image in the

Swedish public opinion. The statistics prove that after these

visits, the number of crimes committed by Albanians decreased

some tens of percents. The fact that criminality among Albanians

has become a statistical category, is serious enough, it accuses.The question without the answer is still more accusing.

Switzerland. A department store and in it, an American blonde

walks from one stand to the other. She looks behind to see

whether someone is following. Several steps ahead, three young

men, with their hands in the pockets show their lack of teeth

when smiling, inviting her, in German, to have a cup of coffee.

"Enough" - screams the American and the whole floor of the

department store turns in her direction. "I don't want to have

coffee with you, understand?". "We lost her too", said the youngmen in Albanian. They just crease their arms and go out on the

street. A couple of steps away there is a young married couple

going to be "interviewed" upon their asylum request.

The Albanian daily that day, speaks of one of the days of the

past five years. A waiter, an Albanian, employed in a restaurant,

the day the Albanian daily started speaking of the ordinary

Kosovan days, goes through it rapidly, smoking a bit and again

going back to work...

REPRESSION

IT IS NOT REPRESSION, BUT GENOCIDE AGAINST ALBANIANS

by BAJRAM KELMENDI / Prishtina

In daily public communication, it has become ordinary to speak

and write about the violation of human rights and freedoms, and

even in occasions when we are referring to premeditated,systematic and organized criminal actions of a state politic,

which aims at the extermination of a people, also, referring to

genocide.

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We can refer to violation of human rights and freedoms in cases

when these rights and freedoms exist in the legal system of a

state, when they are not respected as foreseen by juridical

provisions, when such human rights and freedoms are partially or

ostensibly being violated by state organs, when they are relatedto racial, national, religious or any other discrimination, be

it juridical or societal discrimination in everyday life.

However, when the state organs of a state undertake premeditated,

systematic and organized actions against the members of one

people, aiming at the full or partial extermination of that

people, and in this direction they massively kill people of all

societal structures; when members of one nationality are

subjugated to permanent physical and mental tortures, with

serious consequences for their physical and mental health; when

systematic repressive measures which aim at the massiveemigration of members of one nationality from their homeland and

the change of the ethnic structure of Kosova through ethnic

cleansing; when through planned economic, political, judicial,

administrative, health-care, cultural-educational and other

measures a people is put under such living conditions which lead

towards its partial or full extermination, as the Serbian

repressive government is acting against the Albanians in Kosova,

then we are referring to a statal criminal politic which tries

to eliminate the physical existence of a whole people in its

ethnic lands. This is a typical criminal policy, and the actions,departing from the motive, include the suspicion, that the

official Serbian policy towards Albanians, is lead grounded on

the postulates of Academician Vasa Cubrilovic, author of two

genocidal anti-Albanian elaborates, who says: "It would be good

if we could get rid of all Arnauts (Albanians) from here and at

once".

The systematic and brutal repression of the statal organs of

Serbia against Albanians in Kosova - is expressed in these basic

forms: through successive killings of innocent citizens; wounding

citizens by police firearms; serious physical injuries withmechanic means during raids of houses and apartments; massive

torturing during the so called "informative talks" which

endangers the physical and mental health of citizens. This

repression is realized also in the form of the uninterrupted

searches of houses, apartments, shops, and especially during the

so called police expeditions, on which occasions villages,

certain neighborhoods and individual houses are besieged, and

then in early hours of the morning, brutal raids of homes and

shops take place, without the presence of citizens as witnesses,

accompanied by the subjugation of members of families to torture,including women and children, in the form of illegal detention

which may last for hours and even up to three days. The attorneys

are denied the right to be present during the interrogation of

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the accused, the witnesses; they are denied access to the files

starting from investigations and up to the indictment. The

accused are always tortured and forced to sign false confessions;

the members of families are often taken hostage, in order to

force the accused to hand themeslves in; in the cases when theperson concerned is fugitive, then his family is usually evicted

from the apartments which are immediately settled by Serb and

Montenegrin policemen.

Albanians are deprived from the right to dispose of their

property as they wish, because nothing in Kosova can be sold,

bought or rented, if the Ministry of Finances of Serbia doesn't

approve. This approval is usually never issued promptly and it

is prolonged for months, a fact which paralyses any juridical

turnover. This is done with the motivation to prevent the

emigration of Serbs and Montenegrins from Kosova, but what doesthis have to do in the cases when the contracts on the purchase

or rental of real estate are signed between Albanians?!

Finally, it must be stressed that this kind of massive repression

is done exclusively against Albanians. There is no repression

against Serbs and Montenegrins, and this fact is notorious and

needs no proofs. On the contrary, Serbs and Montenegrins are

favored in all aspects, because this is the inertia of the

official policy of the Serbian regime in Kosova. Special

programs, laws and measures have been adopted for this purpose,and are intensively applied in Kosova with the purpose to

populate Kosova with Serbs and Montenegrins.

REPRESSION

PREMEDITATED TERRORIST ACT

B.H./Prishtina

Once, during a conversation about the trial against the Albanian

former policemen, attorney Fazli Balaj had commented that the

organs of State Security are conveying him threats through his

clients. He was transmited the message that his experience will

be worse than that of his clients if he doesn't give up on

talking about their case. Less than a week passed and Balaj

experienced the promised. This didn't affect his determination

to keep on revealing everything the Serbian occupier is doing in

Kosova and it was another occasion to talk to Mr. Balaj.

BALAJ: I don't know whether my case is related to the events

which have happened so far. My colleagues and I have been

threatened by the security organs, but we haven't taken them

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seriously. The reason why we were threatened was that we were

requesting the procedure to be respected. We were deprived of

this right, we were denied the right to participate in all phases

of the procedure. Until this case, the threats had been verbal,

but this didn't make the attorneys hesitate, because we believejustice is on our side and we know that the threats are

premeditated acts of the regime to "discipline" us. The

provisions of the Criminal Procedure Law must be respected.

KOHA: What happened the night you were attacked?

BALAJ: On the critical night, I was home. I just had come in. The

bell rang and I approached the door. It has become normal to ask

who is ringing the bell.

A voice, in Serbian, said: "Neighbor, I have to ask yousomething". I opened the door and stepped half-way out. I saw two

masked persons, armed with hand-guns and I immediately tried to

close the door. In vane, because one of them had put his foot

between the frame and the door, and was pointing his gun towards

my forehead. He hit me with the pistol's butt, I fell. Yet, I

managed to come out to the corridor and instinctively started

yelling, which made my neighbors come out and force these two to

escape. They were riding a white car, I suppose it was a "Lada".

A woman was waiting for them inside.

KOHA: Do you think this act was an attempt to discipline you,

several days before the trial against the ex-policemen starts?

BALAJ: I would say that this is a terrorist attack. We know that

there are such attempts against our colleagues. I don't know

whether this act is directed against Fazli Balaj, the attorney

or Balaj, the member of the Council for the Defence of Human

Rights and Freedoms. For the time being I can't accuse anyone of

this attack. I don't have sufficient proofs. I would like to be

wrong, but these were either para-militaries or some Serb who is

not happy with my activity. I will not exclude the possibilityof having being attacked by an official organ.

KOHA: Is there any similarity between your case and the previous

ones: Bukoshi, Krasniqi and Kadolli?

BALAJ: I don't know whether there are any similarities, but I

know that these forms will not make our determination to struggle

for independence and freedom disappear. I will not subjugate to

these threats and, with my work, I will reveal the Serbian

speculations and tortures against Albanians. This is my duty.

KOHA: Do you fear from another similar action?

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BALAJ: No reason for that. I am determined to stay in Kosova,

despite the threat. It would be a great weakness to leave and

surrender to the occupier.

KOHA: Could this become a phenomenon in the future?

BALAJ: I don't believe so, but it is likely to believe that such

forms can be used. This doesn't mean that something among the

people would change. It is not more tragic nor is it an

additional repression against us. I am sure we will resist this

one too. The important thing, for us, is to remain in Kosova.

REPRESSION

ARGENTINEAN SYNDROME OFFSHOOT?

by BATON HAXHIU / Prishtina

"On April 8, at 20,45 min. in Prishtina, in my flat located in

"Dardania", four unidentified persons, including one woman,

attacked me". This is what attorney Fazli Balaj writes in his

criminal charges form.

This is the fourth time, according to the documentation of theCouncil for the Defence of Human Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF),

that our public and political personalities are subjected to such

attacks. The other three were Bujar Bukoshi, Abdyl Krasniqi and

Abdyl Kadolli.

Is the continuity if the Serbian repression entering a new phase

of repression and intimidation of Albanians, giving repression

the dimension of terrorism, as an extra-institutional and

mystified form, a phenomenon which is an offset of Falange

attacks and the Argentinean syndrome. Thousands of disappeared,

abducted and killed with never identified attackers, are theworst forms of intimidation. As if the Serbian regime has worn

out all forms of institutional repression, and is now going

towards this new form of repression which, if continues, will

probably become a phenomenon.

An expert on these issues and the similar circumstances, the

veteran journalist Nehat Islami, euphemizes the fact that we have

the Argentinean syndrome appearing in Kosova. Giving this attack

against attorney Balaj the dimension of a non-ordinary attack,

he believes that the Serbian government is applying this form ina very legal way, therefore there are no reasons to apply the

methods that cause the anger of the international public - the

Argentinean methods. The Serbian forms of terror are open, they

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don't fear anyone, and this repressive regime does not have any

need to use secret attacks because it is trying to achieve its

goals through the legal forms which it covers with the "Albanian

articles" in the Criminal Code.

This regime is conscious, continues Islami, that the spiral of

the Argentinean syndrome could create, further on, counter-

actions, which could cause the Lebanese atmosphere, which does

not suit this regime. Here, there can't be organized forms of the

Argentinean type, because the terror against the Albanian people

is applied through legal forms, because it is not responsible to

anyone: international organizations nor resolutions, rejecting

any corroborated accusations of genocide against Albanians.

Judged upon this and linking it to the recent attack against

attorney Balaj, his colleague, Destan Rukiqi, adds that these are

known forms applied by occupying regimes to prevent the politicaland professional activity of the activists who are openly

fighting against this occupier.

Looking into it realistically, this repression is entering a new

phase and does not differ much in the sense of continuity, but

since this regime has not found a new form to intimidate

Albanians and their subjugation, maybe it will try to make such

attacks that can be defined as terrorist attacks. This proves

that the Serbian authorities ate trying to capitalize the

repression for hegemonic purposes.

The classification of the "Balaj case" as a terrorist attack is

also done by Islami from the CDHRF. He claims that it is so and

that it is still hard to define who ordered or conducted it.

There are indicators that it was committed by Serbs, the police,

para-militaries, but it is hard to define it.

It is not the first case of the kind in Kosova. The previous

victims were Bujar Bukoshi, Abdyl Krasniqi and Abdyl Kadolli. The

first was kidnapped by security organs and no one knew of his

whereabouts for several days, Krasniqi was kidnapped on thestreet and "disappeared" for some time and finally Balaj was

beaten in his own apartment and was saved by his neighbors. The

only dilemma is whether there is any parallelism between these

cases and could this become a phenomenon? Rukiqi considers that

the previous cases are similar to the recent one because there

was an attempt to kidnap Balaj, and the act proper had elements

of terrorism, aiming at the intimidation of the public

personality. All of them were subjected to psychological violence

and were threatened with execution. In his opinion, it is still

not certain whether it will become a phenomenon or not.

Islami, on the other hand, considers that there is parallelism

between the mentioned cases, but differ from one-another from the

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modus operandi. Krasniqi was taken on the street by the police

and taken to the police station, which does not make it a

kidnapping case, meanwhile the last case is a terrorist attack

against a public personality.

It is also said that the attack against Balaj is a warning

directed to the attorneys telling them to be careful about their

statements and their work, especially in relation to the trials

taking place in Prishtina against Albanian ex-policemen. Their

statements were published in the West, and have even more

affected the image of Serbia in the eyes of the West. The

question is: is there any similarity between this case and

similar cases occurred in Palestine?

Nehat Islami says that Palestine has experienced a very few cases

of the Latin-American syndrome. Nevertheless, the Israeli secretservices have eliminated the Palestinian activists in other

forms. Then, in many other cases, the former heads of information

agencies, as MOSSAD for example, claim that in 1973, in Beirut,

they eliminated three PLO political leaders, the head of the

Palestinian police Abu Hassan and finally Abu Jihad, the

responsible person of the Palestinian armed forces. This happened

in Tunisia. Not to mention tens of PLO representatives around the

world. There is no parallelism between Kosova and Palestine, in

this sense, right now. It is well known that during Communism,

UDB (State Security) has liquidated many opponents throughout theworld, including Albanians, however, in the past years similar

cases have not been evidenced or clarified.

REPRESSION

INTIMIDATION AS WAR

by ZENUN ELAJ / Prishtina

Totalitarian dictatorship grounds itself on terror, and it is

destroyed without terror - Czech philosopher Ivan Svitak used to

say. This would be one side of the medal, which reflects the

intensification of the terror applied against Albanians in Kosova

by the Serbian military-police regime. The other side is fully

transparent - the expansion of domination on alien lands and

people, in our case, the rapid and quiet ethnic cleansing of

Kosova, differing from the other directions of the Serbs

pretensions, where, because of the armed resistance, Serbia has

engaged all its warring machinery just to achieve it's purposes,and it is making one of the worst and barbarian wars in history.

With all its evident effects, but also provisional, of this

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Great-Serbian strategy, Serbia seems to be dissatisfied with what

is has achieved in Kosova. Since it probably expected an armed

resistance from Albanians in Kosova, which would give it enough

grounds to act freely in the sense of the realization of its

intentions, as it did at the end of the last century when itexpelled hundreds of thousands of Albanians from Toplica and

spread southwards, it was not ready for this kind of war, and in

the past five years it applied all sorts of terrorist methods

which didn't bring anything expected.

It poisoned people massively; it killed; it is struggling to make

people starve; it is arresting and sentencing people to prison;

it has applied segregation and apartheid; it has violated

brutally every individual and collective right. Now it has

started applying Mafia's methods: attacking individuals

perfidiously, as in the case of the human rights activist FazliBalaj, several days ago.

The method of intimidation through the savage campaign of the

alleged search of weapons, which were not found, in Albanian

homes, and the escape before this terror, seem not to have given

the expected results, and neither did the forcible draft of young

Albanians to the Serbian army which doesn't and will not need

them. The Kosovan villages were not emptied and the land is still

ploughed; as if schools and faculties don't notice much the

temporary absence of young students. The intellectuals stillremain unshaken. Kosova is not settled by hundreds of thousands

of Serbs, as colonization plans foresaw it. The installed police-

military regime can't escape the suspicion that it is applying

Falangist methods to scare Albanians off, not to make them leave

any more (fortunately all doors towards the West are closed

down), but to shut their mouths, to discipline them in accordance

with their aspirations, even though so far, it has not been

successful. Fazli Balaj stated that what happened to him

motivates him to get even more engaged in the defense of human

rights and freedoms of Albanians.

This occasion proves a statement of a French philosopher, Franz

Fanon. In his work "The Humiliated of the World", speaking of the

effects of the French terror in Algeria and using the words of

a colonized Algerian, ascertained: "The fighting, terrorizing or

killing of our brothers only strengthen our determination to

struggle until we achieve the victory, renews our emotional life

and enriches our imagination. When the whole nation is moving,

then the new man is not borne as an additional consequence of the

creation of that nation, but on the contrary, he is created with

it, it develops and triumphs". We fear that the terrorist - mafiamethods of the regime might inspire the oppressed to fight with

the arm of the oppressor. Then the regime would have to have a

policeman or a soldier for every Albanian. Will that be possible?!

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KOSOVA

HUMANITARIAN MONITORING FOR KOSOVA

by ASTRIT SALIHU / Prishtina

Kosova is not part of the war seized territories, but is part of

the regions under constant threat of war. There are not hundreds

of thousands of refugees in this part of the Former Yugoslavia.

Nevertheless, the Kosovan population, if we take the presence of

international humanitarian agencies in Kosova as a parameter, is

by all means endangered, and is one of the most vulnerable

populations on the territories of the Former Yugoslavia,

following Bosnia and some parts of Croatia.

Currently there are over 14 organizations and humanitarianorganizations working in Kosova. They are of different profiles,

starting from the ones offering medical assistance up to UNHCR.

The wide spectre of these organizations proves that a large part

of the population is being assisted. Because, a simple

calculation of the assistance provided by 14 organizations and

associations, should lead us towards the total value of what

enters Kosova, not in money, but in different forms of assistance

in medicines, food and clothes, among others.

In order to find out more about what was previously mentioned,we approached these organizations and asked them three questions

of the same content about their character, whom do the

organizations/associations assist and what is the (amount of)

assistance they have offered since they opened their offices in

Kosova.

However, it is very strange that we have not received any

concrete answers from any organization, but UNHCR. In a way, all

of them have evaded the answers and concrete facts, either

because this data is available in their central offices in

Belgrade, or because they didn't have the time to meet with us.The impression we get is that asking for data on humanitarian

assistance is as if we were trying to discover a top secret. One

of the humanitarians we spoke about the evasions to give

explanations, gave us a very interesting answer: "We are talking

about the humanitarian market (!) of goods and means for

humanitarian assistance. Thus, for example, we have UNHCR and

ECHO, which in a kind of financing race, conceal the data on the

distributed assistance".

Nevertheless, a large amount of humanitarian aid is distributed.

This is an undeniable fact.

The list of humanitarian organizations and associations also

includes SOROS Foundation which, apart from cultural and

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informative projects, has its humanitarian programs. This

Foundation distributes assistance in Kosova too, as they told us,

"for refugees and the Albanians in general". However, the

assistance distributed to Albanians goes through "Mother

Theresa". The assistance dedicated for Kosova is equally dividedbetween the Clinical-Hospital Center and "Mother Theresa" and

this includes medicines and other medical equipment. This also

involves non-material help, as is the foundation of psychological

counsels for refugees, refugee newsletters, etc. The humanitarian

assistance of this Foundation covers the refugee collective

centers in Kishnica, Peja, Lesak, Istog but, differing from the

others, also the one in Dean inhabited by refugees or asylum-

seekers from Albania (1200 people who are not comprised in the

lists of the other international organizations and institutions,

since they don't have status of refugees coming from war seized

territories). The responsible in this Foundation claim that in1994, Kosova has received assistance in medicines and other forms

worth 200 thousand dollars, not including the financed project

of the construction of the hospital in Shtrpce, worth 600

thousand dollars, which is being done in cooperation with Doctors

of the World.

Differing from humanitarian organizations which are dealing with

concrete distribution of material assistance in Kosova, there are

two more which must be mentioned: Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)

and Doctors of the World (DOW), not doing any concretedistribution, but are offering their professional medicinal

assistance. MSF is present in Kosova since 1992 and is mainly

researching the reasons why diseases are spreading in Kosova.

They are mainly centered on collecting epidemiologic data and

following the hygienic and sanitary situation. As Franois

Darolles declared, this organization has centered its work mainly

in Mitrovica, doing research. All research is done in cooperation

with the official structures. However, the explorations are only

the first phase, then the detection of the diseases also attracts

the distribution of medicines. The project they just closed lastweek, and which lasted about 8 months, was worth cca. 8 thousand

ECUs. "Naturally, it is hard to determine the value of the

assistance in medicines, because we receive them and we don't

know how much they cost", says Darolles.

Doctors of the World, on the other hand, are also very active in

Kosova, and are also mainly concentrated on the epidemiologic

data and following up on the situation, mainly in regard to

Tuberculosis. DOW is active in Kosova since May 1994. In July

1994, it opened a dispensary in Ferizaj. As Dr. Waichi Wong,epidemiologist, says, this organization "does not bring medicines

and medical equipment, but only makes the research and necessary

evidence for further prevention". Carolyn Cline, also from DOW

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says that "they see to it that the field work evidence is data-

processed, so the doctors in Kosova could use them once DOW

people leave Kosova".

The assistance offered by this organization can't be comprisedin determined material figures, but can only be evaluated

according to their professional effects, determining and fighting

against infectious diseases, especially TB.

When it comes to material assistance offered by international

organizations, we must mention the International Federation of

Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the International

Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and also UNHCR. The Red Cross

organizations didn't offer us many figures about their activities

in Kosova. ICRC - Belgrade Office, offered us only general

information about the activities of this organization, however,it referred to the Former Yugoslavia in general. It is very hard

to know what would the percentage of participation of Kosovans

be in all these figures, since the categories of people

endangered during the period of war have increased so much that

Kosova can't participate in these figures only with the

percentage of its population. This is why any attempts to try and

figure our the assistance provided in Kosova were a priori

unsuccessful. The data ICRC offers is the following: in 1994,

ICRC has distributed on the territory of the whole Former

Yugoslavia 33 metric tons of food and non-food items. It is notknown what is the assistance that Kosova got, if any.

On the other hand, IFRC has assisted around 400 refugees and 1000

institutionalized social cases per month. So far, this

organization has distributed 130-300 metric tons of food,

clothes, hygienic items and medicines per month.

UNHCR has complete data on the distribution and humanitarian

assistance. The first category of beneficiaries, because of the

character and mandate of this organization, is made up of

refugees. According to UNHCR data, there are 3114 refugees which

are being assisted in all municipalities of Kosova, in collectivecenters or host families. Naturally, this organization assists

social cases in the regions where it works. In Kosova, UNHCR has

been assisting 4.798 institutionalized social cases. Finally, the

number of UNHCR beneficiaries comprises 7.912 people.

It is still uncertain what would really be the amount of

assistance which has reached Kosova and which has been

distributed here. Maybe in the near future, the presentation of

this data will be possible, but for the time being, there are no

accurate figures on this.

Nevertheless, despite the attempts of the Serbian government to

present the Albanians as a non-endangered population, the sole

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fact that there is such a concentration of humanitarian

organizations and associations in Kosova proves that the Kosovans

are a vulnerable population of the Former Yugoslavia. The

insisting of the relevant Albanian political forces to have

Kosova under an international trusteeship or be provided withinternational monitoring of the political situation, has been

realized only in one unfortunate segment, humanitarian

monitoring.

MACEDONIA

GERMANS IN MACEDONIA: THE WISH IS THERE

by IBRAHIM MEHMETI / Shkup

If there were a practice or need to name weeks according to the

main events, then last week would have been named "Kinkel's

week", in honor of German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel, who

visited Shkupi on April 11. Kinkel's visit was announced one week

beforehand in all media, while "Puls", a weekly in Macedonian,

published an interview with Kinkel five days before he arrived.

On of the reasons for the big publicity was the fact that Germany

is precisely one of the states which has the least understandingfor Greek's embargo against Macedonia. Then, the interests

increased after a series of speculations claiming that Kinkel was

arriving with a package of solutions of the Greek-Macedonian

contest and that he was willing to take over the role of the

mediator. On the other hand, the interest for Kinkel's visit also

arose with the speculations about the eventual change of the

composition of UNPROFOR in Macedonia (renamed to UNPREDEP),

meaning, having German soldiers as members of these forces.

During his one day visit, Kinkel met with the highest ranked

officials including President Gligorov. After the meetings, hehad a press conference and informed about the contents of the

conversations. From what he said at the press conference, it

comes out that the excitement was exaggerated, however Kinkel

mentioned some things that might justify the public's interest.

After expressing the usual courtesy words about the bilateral

relations, the German minister did not hide his concern about the

Greek-Macedonian bout, which, as Kinkel put it, is of

extraordinary importance for the maintenance of stability in this

part of the Balkans. He repeated Germany's standpoint about

Greek's blockade and it's veto on Macedonia's admission in OSCE.

We, he said, became solidary with Greece, our partner, however,

we have never concealed our dissatisfaction with such a step and

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we have openly declared ourselves against this posture. In this

press conference, the German minister denied the speculations

that he might have come with a package of solutions and at the

same time declared that his country will try to help as much as

possible in the solution of this contest. In regard to thespeculations about UNPROFOR, Kinkel said that nothing of the kind

has been requested from Germany, and if this happens then the

German government will discuss it and make a proper decision. On

this occasion, he did not comment whether his country would be

happy if such a request comes or not.

Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning that in this press

conference, Kinkel said something that caused a new wave of

speculations. It refers to his statements after meeting Greek

Foreign Minister Papulias and his deputy Mangakis: "...my

impression is that there may be an eventual improvement of therelations between two states (Greece and Macedonia)". However,

he didn't clarify which were elements that caused this

impression, and thus gave enough grounds for different

speculations before the awaited Greek-Macedonian conversations.

Finalizing his visit, the German minister met with the Macedonian

opposition parties and had a joint meeting with Albanian parties,

regardless of their position. Gert Arens was also present in

these conversations, but only as an observer. Even though this

(brief) meeting didn't produce a concrete conclusion, theAlbanian collocutors do not conceal their satisfaction because

the foreign minister of such an important state, Germany, has

expressed special interest to meet with the Albanian political

representatives and be informed about their societal status. The

truth is that the German minister mentioned the inter-ethnic

relations the least, although he did mention them, praising

Macedonia, which, as he said, could serve as an example for the

regulation of inter-ethnic relations in other former Yugoslav

states. On this occasion he expressed also the contribution of

Germany with the fact that mediator Arens is a German diplomat.

In regard to Arens, as we were informed, he will visit Macedoniawithin a fortnight, and it can be supposed that his visit will

be dedicated maybe fully to the inter-ethnic relations,

especially the University of Tetova, which seems to have

hibernated after the arrest of Rector Sulejmani and his

collaborators, who are awaiting trial.

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MACEDONIA

TWO THEMES WITH MANY DILEMMAS

by SELADIN XHEZAIRI / Shkup

Public opinion in Macedonia usually gets first hand information

about events concerning Macedonia from Greek sources. This is not

only referring to the (non) continuation of the Greek-Macedonian

negotiations, to which Shkup's official diplomacy has reacted

late, but also events which, according to unwritten rules, must

be of main importance for Macedonian officials and media.

Such a thing happened with an article published in New York

Times, originally qualified as sensationalistic, which arrived

in Macedonia as a retransmissions of Athens' press (!) about thevoyage of an equipment for fuel extraction, starting from Iran,

with Serbia, i.e. Eastern Slavonia as final destination!

The above mentioned equipment loaded on 100 trucks, actually

should go through, at least, three Balkans states: Bulgaria,

Greece and Macedonia. Following the rumors, on April 10, your

correspondent was confirmed the news by the Macedonian Customs:

high-ranked official Shaban Zendeli said that Macedonian

authorities, as well as SAMCOM (sanctions' monitors)

representatives knew about this unusual transport, and while the

other organs claimed not to know a thing, Zendeli admitted thaton April 6, six train wagons carrying suspicious goods, similar

to the one mentioned by the Greek media, grounded on the

discoveries of New York Times, were stopped at Gevgelija. "The

perforation equipment", claims our collocutor, "was confiscated

in the presence of international monitors". However, Macedonian

authorities have still not made any public statements about the

matter- which is deeply against the UN resolution on the

sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro- and thus allow the media

to built up this serious mosaic pursuant to information coming

from reliable sources. Thus, the result was that there were not

6 or 13 wagons, respectively trucks, but a total of 16 trucks.

There is also information that some of the "suspicious" trucks

have reached their final destination (daytime or nighttime, it

is not important), thus opening a series of nasty questions.

In fact, when all of this was revealed, it came out that the load

had changed addresses several times, and that several Macedonian

enterprises are mentioned as recipients of the cargo; there are

also rumors "about implications of high-ranked officials of

neighboring countries" and also rumors that this "project" had

been well planned long ago; that the enterprises implied in thismatter were barely found in the register, and that even some of

them disappeared, while analysts don't exclude the fact that they

might have been created "for these particular capital ventures"...

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And while there still is no end to this story, there are many

dilemmas about who might be implied, because there are strong

grounds to believe that the whole contingent could not have gone

through without the "blessing of someone from above"... The

implication of other states, Iran, Greece and Bulgaria, is alsodiscussed. It is known that the Iranians discussed with Greek

officials, and the latter, it was not hard for them to "talk to

as old friends and allies" with Belgrade officials, not leaving

aside the fact that the contacts of Macedonian and Serbs

economists have started intensifying.

Last week, a long article in the pro-governmental "Nova

Makedonija" re-actualized the functioning of the "rule of law":

it informs about the expulsion of four nationals of Jordan,

activists of the IGASE humanitarian organization, seated in

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It is claimed that the expelled, includingthe head of the Shkupi office - Muhammad Iktal, had acted in

Macedonia from the positions of Islamic fundamentalism. This

organization is also accused of having had the Belgrade Mufti,

political leaders from Sandzak and Kosova and of some legal

parties in Macedonia on it's "payroll". No further details are

given.

ECONOMY

OVERWHELMED POLICE

by I.R./ Prishtina

The Financial Police has collected much more than expected in

Kosova. In the first three months of this year, either in

organized raids, or the regular cash in, 29,3 million dinars, or

according to Avramovic's rate, that many German Marks, have been

poured in Serbia's budget from Kosova alone. The largest amount

comes from the taxes on salaries, turnover taxes, different othertaxes and finally confiscation of goods, which later became cash

money. During extraordinary check-ups alone, the police collected

7,8 million dinars, which is a huge amount of money knowing what

the volume of payments and turnover of goods in this poor area

is like.

Compared to other centers, where without any doubt the consuming

ability of citizens is much bigger, then Prishtina, i.e. Kosova,

is in the last place. As it was expected, the largest amount of

money was gathered in Belgrade - 92 millions, then in Kragujevac(tax region that includes Sandzak) - 70 millions, Nish - 54,7

millions and Novi Sad - 53,5 millions. Regardless of the fact

that Kosova, in all these amount, participates with only 9,7%,

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nevertheless, this is a big burden it was subjected to through

plunders, because Kosova could never make up one tenth of the

turnover or payments of the self-proclaimed Yugoslavia.

Expressing figures statistically, the engagement of the FinancialPolice in Kosova in the first three months is as follows: there

were a total of 5.695 controls, 1.664 irregularities, 23

enterprises were banned and misdemeanors charges were pressed

against 799 persons. It is characteristic that the participation

of Kosovan enterprises is the highest in the area of "ban of

activities", for Nish and Kragujevac experienced a smaller amount

of cases.

ECONOMY

"TREPA" IN DREAMS

by IBRAHIM REXHEPI / Prishtina

Once, late Tomislav Sekulic, had declared at the Parliament of

the self-proclaimed Yugoslavia that "Trepa" produced for the

British, later for Germans and after World War II for Albanians,

and "when we cleansed it from separatists, ie. when we took it

in our hands, it was destroyed". Such an ascertainment has muchin common with reality, since from the first day exploitation

started, somewhere before the forties, this metallurgic and

mining giant, had never been in a deeper crisis, or almost facing

a dead end. Despite the statements which march down the Serbian

media, that "Trepa" is resuscitating, that the Serbian state is

investing in new production, the truth is totally different:

6.500 people are employed in "Trepa", and 2.800 people are on

compulsory or sick leave, for a long period of time no metals

have been extracted, it seems as if the refinishing chain is

totally out of function, except in some rare cases when Vushtrri

tin appears in the market. This situation can't be characterizedotherwise but as the silent destruction of "Trepa".

Looking at it realistically, "Trepa's" perspective starts being

affected in 1988/89, in times of political events which were

started by the miners, from the marches through towns up to the

hunger strike. It was clear then, that nothing could be said

about its economic prosperity. Even though not only during these

years but even earlier, many things in the economic aspect were

unclear, there were some visions on how to overcome the difficult

situation and strengthen this giant which once employed 27thousand people.

Aziz Abrashi, the last Albanian director, says that the material

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basis then was poor, but he potential we grounded ourselves on

was giving hope. The lead refinery had the capacity of 151

thousand tons of metal ore, lead electrolysis could produce 50

thousand tons of metal, and we were working on the extension of

its capacities and the increase of production for additional 30thousand tons, we produced 34 thousand tons of batteries, and at

the same time we produced 113 tons of silver and 273 kilograms

of gold, of high quality. Therefore, what we achieved then,

should have not been underestimated, and "the fact that the gold

that Trepa produces is not good even for a pair of teeth" was

not a true statement.

However, everything is linked to the general events in Kosova.

The expulsion of miners and their replacement with miners from

Serbia, Montenegro and even from Bosnia and Herzegovina failed

at the start. A forcible manager of Trepa in 1991 had declaredthat "instead of getting miners we got drunkards, and the most

exploited raw material is alcohol". On the other hand, any

ignition of the high-ovens was announced pompously, qualifying

it a victory of the new rule in Kosova - the Serbian rule.

If there were condition to bring back all the dismissed workers

to Trepa, to open the market and have even foreign capital

flowing in, it is very hard to say when would it become strong

enough again. The fact that the majority of the galleries are

flooded since some time, as is the case with Stantrg, Kishnica

and Novobrda mines, and that part of the equipment hasdeteriorated, has been destroyed or demolished since it quit

being used. However, the old problem is the lack of

synchronization of capacities. The lead metallurgy, zinc

electrolysis as well as the other producing capacities were very

large compared to the possibilities the mines had. This meant

that the producing capacities didn't have enough raw material,

and this is why Trepa often bought lead or zinc concentrate.

Otherwise, the explored reserves are large, i.e., they promise

a long life for this combine. The supposition is that Stantrg

has 18,9 millions of tons of reserves of different metal ores,

Novobrda has around 10 million tons and Kopaonik mines around5,6 million tones of ore. The analyses made ten years ago

ascertained that this quantity of ore could allow the production

of 227,4 tons of silver per year, while the amount of gold which

could be produced was top secret.

If we purposely leave aside the economic logic, which in these

circumstances can't help us draw a normal conclusion, it should

be nevertheless said that the ore is waiting for the miners, and

which will they be, Serbs, Albanians, English, Germans or any one

else, will depend on the political solution for this area.

Serbia attempted to convert Trepa into state property through

transformations. According to the documents, it managed to do it,

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families from Stantrg who knocked on the doors of the Trade-

Union officials of the Republic of Kosova asking for assistance,

said: "Finally, 22 families got 25 kilos of flour each. This is

what we gained".

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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