(Fwd) "Der Spiegel": intervista completa rilasciata da Ibarhim

["Davide Bertok" <davide.bertok@adriacom.it>]

Ambasciator non porta pena!!
Danica mi manda il testo completo perchè pare abbia ancora 
problemi. Per cortesia se avete qualcosa da contestare fatelo 
ancora con lei, io inoltro semplicemente questo messaggio 
nell'interesse della lista! :-))
Ciao,
Davide

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent:      	15 Dec 00 04:10:56 MET
From:           	Danica Razlag <razlag@usa.net>
To:             	"Davide Bertok" <davide.bertok@adriacom.it>
Subject:        	"Der Spiegel": intervista completa rilasciata da Ibarhim Rugova

DER SPIEGEL (Hamburg)
11 December 2000

[Translated from German]

Interview with Kosovo leader Ibrahim Rugova 
by Renate Flottau, Martin Doerry and Hans Hoyng in Pristina

 NATO Is Our Private Army

Kosovo leader Ibrahim Rugova over the fight for his
country's independence, the relationship with the new rulers in
Belgrade, the impossibility of reconciliation between Albanians and
Serbs and the deadly struggle for power with his rivals

(Der Spiegel) Mr. Rugova, you have fought for the independence of
Kosovo for over ten years. What have you achieved?

(Rugova) Thanks to the presence of KFOR peacekeeping troops, NATO's
support and the UN's reconstruction assistance Kosovo today is de
facto independent. We control the country and after the parliamentary
and presidential elections scheduled for next year also expect formal
recognition. This is an inexorable process, one we want to realize at
any price...

(Der Spiegel) ...but one that contrasts with almost all statements by
Western politicians, who continue to see Kosovo as part of the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia.

(Rugova) I am convinced that this view will change very quickly. I
have already called on the EU to show more courage. Those who want to
become independent should also BECOME independent -- starting with
Montenegro and Kosovo. But the international community is presently
seeking a consensus for this problem. That is why no one wants to rush
ahead alone.

(Der Spiegel) Kosovo also belongs to Yugoslavia according to UN
Resolution 1244, and no one wants to change that.

(Rugova) This resolution was just a compromise to gain Yugoslavia's
agreement to peace. Why can there not simply be a new referendum under
international supervision on the question of Kosovo's independence?
Negotiations on the issue strike me as meaningless and unnecessary.

(Der Spiegel) Is that why you are not replying to the invitation to
meet from new Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica?

(Rugova) Now is not the right time for negotiations, neither for us
nor for the Serbs. After the elections in Serbia, when the new forces
have more authority, we can talk about a normalization of relations,
but initially only at a relatively low level of representation at
most. It would be very helpful if the Serbs would recognize our
independence beforehand.

(Der Spiegel) You do not seriously hope for that?

(Rugova) No one will ask the Serbs, and no one needs their agreement.
They have to accept the decision of the international community.

(Der Spiegel) And if the West calls on you to accept a status of
autonomy for Kosovo?

(Rugova) That is completely unthinkable. In the past, every agreement
with the Serbs has turned into a tragedy for us. Most recently
Belgrade conducted a ten-year war against us in which thousands of
Albanians were killed, harassed and beaten.

(Der Spiegel) Would not an independent Kosovo then destabilize the
entire region? The Albanians in Montenegro, Western Serbia and
Macedonia would certainly want to join the new state immediately.

(Rugova) On the contrary. The situation would become less tense. Just
a few neighbors, like the Serbs in Macedonia, are stirring up such
fears. There is an agreement between all Albanian political parties of
the former Yugoslavia under which they support the independence of
Kosovo in the present borders.

(Der Spiegel) Have not the Albanians in Macedonia already threatened
to revolt?

(Rugova) They just want to receive a constitutional guarantee that
they will enjoy the same rights as all other citizens of Macedonia.
What could become genuinely dangerous for Macedonia would be to
preserve the previously uncertain, undefined status of Kosovo. That
strengthens the extremist currents among the Albanians who are
demanding more than we are, such as unification with Albania.

(Der Spiegel) For Germany as well, ultimately reunification was
normal.

(Rugova) Naturally it is understandable that all Albanians would like
to live in their own country. But we see such integration only in the
framework of a united Europe. Naturally, I cannot rule out the
possibility that some day another option for the future might appear,
perhaps even unification with Albania.

(Der Spiegel) After the change in power in Yugoslavia the West
noticeably shifted its priorities to Belgrade. Do you not fear that
like Montenegro's President Milo Djukanovic you face the danger of
taking a back seat?

(Rugova) I cannot rule out the possibility that Belgrade will now play
the democratic card and want to collect the reward for the change. But
the international community will quickly understand that the old Serb
ideas about Kosovo have not been buried, merely covered up.

(Der Spiegel) So you still see no difference between former dictator
Slobodan Milosevic and the opposition in power?

(Rugova) Unfortunately, on the Kosovo issue they are all the same. But
I do not exclude a possible positive change. The essential thing is
that the Serbian people have finally decided to break out of their
international isolation.

(Der Spiegel) Will you be prepared for a compromise on the Kosovo
question?

(Rugova) The unconditional holding on to Kosovo was just a myth of the
Belgrade elite. The rest of the population was never interested in
Kosovo. Naturally the Serbs also must cope with a few painful changes
in the near future. But despite all reservations I am more optimistic
than before.

(Der Spiegel) Could you imagine the international community offering
Belgrade the division of Kosovo as an option, into a Serb north and an
Albanian south?

(Rugova) Impossible. The borders of Kosovo cannot be changed. The
Kosovo Serbs must adapt to the institutions of our country. They will
then have equal rights in all areas: political, economic and social.
They will be better off than we were in the past. We have had bitter
experiences with an exclusively cultural autonomy.

(Der Spiegel) Why must the Serbs continue to live in ghettos and be
escorted by KFOR when they leave their villages?

(Rugova) Please, the war is just one and a half years in the past.
There is deep bitterness here. Hundreds of Albanians are still locked
up in Serbian prisons. It will take a while yet before we can assure
the Serbs of full freedom of movement. But that is our priority. It is
good that there are still 100,000 Serbs living in Kosovo. Once the
situation becomes more stable then all the Serbs who fled can return.
However, we need proof that these Serbs recognize Kosovo as their
country.

(Der Spiegel) In past weeks there have been sharp clashes on Kosovo's
border with southern Serbia. Does the new Albanian liberation front
want to force an exchange of territory there -- the predominantly
Albanian-populated Bujanovac and the Presevo Valley in exchange for
Serb communities in the north of Kosovo?

(Rugova) The time is not ripe for that. Our people must remain in
southern Serbia. The Milosevic regime tried to ethnically cleanse this
region to control the sea access to Thessaloniki, Greece that was
important to Belgrade.

(Der Spiegel) But the activities of this liberation front have caused
the West to think seriously about Serbia's demand to station about a
thousand troops of the Yugoslav Army in the border region.

(Rugova) That would be absurd. It would also undermine the security of
the KFOR troops. After all, there was a reason why the demilitarized
buffer zone was created. Be that as it may, for Serbia the game is
over. For good.

(Der Spiegel) Your party, the Democratic League LDK, has now won a
clear election victory in the local elections. Does that compensate
you for the attitude of those Western politicians who had already
written you off?

(Rugova) Naturally I was happy about this proof of trust. But the LDK
was always more stable than was perceived in the West. We have created
this state and shaped it for ten years, without violence and without
an aggressive policy of confrontation.

(Der Spiegel) But the USA has clearly tried to build up former UCK
(Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA ) leader Hashim Thaci as a future
political leader of Kosovo. Now his extreme nationalist party has
lost. Why?

(Rugova) I am not sure whether these parties are more radical than WE
are on national issues. Kosovo's citizens have grasped the fact that
the war is over and now a peace with prospects for the future must be
built.

(Der Spiegel) But politics in Kosovo appears to still be dangerous.
Four close friends of yours have been killed.

(Rugova) Our citizens were shocked by these attacks. We used to have
Belgrade as the opponent, and we Albanians were the good guys. Now
that the danger from Belgrade has been banished, the devil in our own
ranks is again making his appearance.

(Der Spiegel) But no one actually doubts that your domestic policy
rivals are behind the attacks. Why are there still no arrests?

(Rugova) The UN administration UNMIK and the international police are
conducting their investigations, and I expect the culprits will be
quickly apprehended and sentenced. We have had a functioning judicial
system for eight months, but none of the culprits has yet been taken
into custody. If this continues it will not be possible to stop the
murders.

(Der Spiegel) Is the international community really interested in
punishment of the culprits, or do they possibly enjoy political
protection, for example from the USA?

(Rugova) I do not believe there is foreign protection. But I do not
rule out the possibility that a few political parties in Kosovo are
protecting the murderers. That is why UNMIK must have an interest in
this being solved quickly, because otherwise violence will get the
upper hand in Kosovo.

(Der Spiegel) Are you afraid?

(Rugova) I would like to see the people who are indifferent to such
threats. But as a politician you have to accept this danger. The last
murder was aimed directly at my office and at me.

(Der Spiegel) Isn't that a bad omen for the coming elections?

(Rugova) The goal of these groups is in fact to block the elections
through such acts of violence. In a democratic law-based state and in
normal times these extremists and war profiteers would have lost their
position a long time ago.

(Der Spiegel) So you believe your rival Thaci is behind these
incidents?

(Rugova) Until the investigations have ended I cannot accuse anyone.

(Der Spiegel) Most Albanian politicians are harshly critical of UNMIK
and feel they are being dictated to. What could be done better?

(Rugova) We have to be realistic. UNMIK encountered a destroyed
country and has achieved a great deal: Today we already have 20
ministries, including finance, justice and education. But initiatives
in the area of foreign investment are stagnating. Our Kosovo police
could also be better.

(Der Spiegel) Is it influenced too much by Thaci's former UCK
fighters?

(Rugova) Some parties wanted to see only former UCK members in the new
security forces. It would clearly have been more advantageous to also
integrate our former Kosovo police. But we will soon have a police
academy of our own, based above all on professional criteria, not
political ones.

(Der Spiegel) How long will the UN continue to be present in Kosovo?

(Rugova) After the parliamentary and presidential elections our
Albanian politicians will obtain more power and responsibility. UNMIK
will stay a while longer to help with the transition, but with fewer
personnel.

(Der Spiegel) Republican George W. Bush has already announced he will
withdraw the American KFOR troops. What happens then? A new war?

(Rugova) NATO must stay forever in Kosovo, whatever it calls its
mandate. For example, fixed NATO bases to protect the entire region
are conceivable.

(Der Spiegel) Do you seriously expect NATO to accept this role as
Kosovo's private army?

(Rugova) NATO is already our private army. But in the future we will
share responsibility and also develop an army of our own as a
protective power.

(Der Spiegel) Mr. Rugova, thank you for this interview.

With 8,600 troops in Kosovo and neighbouring Macedonia, the United
States is by far the largest single contributor to the 44,000 strong
NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping force.

KFOR has been responsible for the security of the breakaway province
since the end of the 1998-1999 conflict between ethnic Albanian
sepaprtist rebels and Yugoslav security forces.

Kosovo's Albanian majority regards the continuing US presence as their
best guarantee against the return of the forces of Belgrade, which
continues to insist on its sovereignty over the territory.

"With calls for the removal of US forces from Europe, the Albanian
question could be left in the hands of European states traditionally
closer to the Slavs," notably France, Zeri warned.

But the main Kosovo Albanian parties, who all back independence, were
less dismayed by the US result. Hajredin Kuqi, the vice-president of
the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) which sprang from the guerrilla
movement, dismissed Rice's intervention as an "electoral tactic."

And Skender Hyseni, spokesman for Kosovo's largest party the
Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), told AFP: "We are expecting US
policy to show continuity as long as the problems here are
unresolved."

Bujar Dugolli, a member of the ruling council of the Alliance for the
Future of Kosovo (AAK) whose leader Ramush Haradinaj is in close and
regular contact with US officials, said "The Americans have spent too
much money in Kosovo to pull out now."

The main US military base in Kosovo, Camp Bondsteel, is the largest
constructed by the United States since the Vietnam war. Contractors
employed to build some of its facilities told AFP they had been told
it had to last for at least 15 years.

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