PREVENTING MINORITY RETURN IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: The Anatomy of Hate and Fear (ICG Report N° 73)

PREVENTING MINORITY RETURN IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: The Anatomy of Hate and Fear (ICG Report N° 73)

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

Keywords: minority returns;

This paper examines the motives driving the attitude of Bosnian authorities, ranging from simple racism to the genuine need to protect displaced people already occupying the property of potential returnees. It then looks at the factors underlying the decision of the individual prospective returnee whether to go back or not. It goes on to examine the record in several locations in Bosnia and suggests which factors have been at work in these cases. The report concludes that many of the arguments used by Bosnian authorities to obstruct return appear reasonable to the authorities themselves but may conceal less reasonable arguments which are actually more important. It would be better to remove these ‘justifiable’ reasons from the argument altogether. Against this background the report examines the policy responses available to the international community, and advocates an approach based on treating return not as a separate problem but as an aspect of the more general question of rule of law throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina. The report suggests that, without sacrificing successful elements of the existing policy, this might change the terms of the debate, making opposition to return much more difficult to defend with reasonable-looking arguments, since rule of law is an ideal endorsed (in public) by all forces in BiH, and accepted as a necessary condition of entry into the Western family of nations and, in due course, the European Union

TRANSFORMING SERBIA: The Key to Long-term Balkan Stability (ICG Report N° 75)

TRANSFORMING SERBIA: The Key to Long-term Balkan Stability (ICG Report N° 75)

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

Keywords: SPS party; JUL party; political class in Serbia;

This paper furnishes an overview of the economic and political situation in Serbia and examines in detail the effect of recent events on the linchpins of Milosevic’s power - his political network and its tentacle-like infrastructure, his circle of cronies, the military and police. The paper also looks closely at the ambiguous roles of the Serbian Orthodox Church and the ultra-nationalist right and at the state of the opposition and the movement to remove him from office. An appendix offers essential background and analysis of key opposition figures and groups.

WHO'S WHO IN KOSOVO (ICG Balkans Report N°76)

WHO'S WHO IN KOSOVO (ICG Balkans Report N°76)

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

Keywords: political parties in Kosovo;

This paper offers a brief guide to the leading indigenous political organisations and personalities in Kosovo/Kosova. The authority of the international civil and military presence in Kosovo rests on UN Security Council Resolution 1244 of 10 June 1999. Under international law no other authority enjoys any legitimacy until the UN administration grants it. Specifically, the international civil presence is tasked with: “Organizing and overseeing the development of provisional institutions for democratic and autonomous self-government pending a political settlement…” The UN, as a step towards fulfillment of this task, has created an advisory and consultative Transitional Council, composed of representatives of Kosovar Albanian political parties and leaders from minority communities. It has had a shaky start, meeting only once in July and twice in August, though meetings are now planned weekly.

MACEDONIA: Gearing up for Presidential Elections (ICG Balkans Report N°77)

MACEDONIA: Gearing up for Presidential Elections (ICG Balkans Report N°77)

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

Keywords: 1999 presidential elections in Macedonia;

Six candidates will contest the 1999 presidential elections, all of them backed by political parties. A number of independents who earlier declared their intention to run in the elections either failed to gather the necessary signatures or withdrew before submitting the necessary documentation to the State Electoral Commission. Plans by the ruling coalition to field a common candidate fell apart, and all three coalition parties nominated their own candidates. The opposition also failed to agree on a joint candidate, as did the two major Albanian parties (one of which is in the government, the other in opposition).

VIOLENCE IN KOSOVO: Who's Killing Whom? (ICG Balkans Report N°78)

VIOLENCE IN KOSOVO: Who's Killing Whom? (ICG Balkans Report N°78)

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

Keywords: Bujar Bukoshi; KLA; KFOR; Roma in Kosovo; Gorani in Kosovo;

In protest at the formation of the KPC, Kosovo Serb leaders walked out of the UN-backed Transitional Council saying that the transformation of the KLA into the KPC had "violated the declared multiethnic nature of Kosovo".5 Kosovo Serb leader, Momcilo Trajkovic, claimed that: "As long as the decision on the formation of the Kosovo Protection Corps was not withdrawn, then the Kosovo Serbs would not return to the Council, nor would they cooperate with those that were the creators of the transformation of the KLA."6 Some Kosovo Serb leaders have also put forward the idea of forming a rival “Serb Protection Force,” though that idea has been rejected by the international community, which insists that the KPC will include 10% minorities.7 The question remains who is doing the killing and, in consequence, furthering the destabilisation of Kosovo? NATO and the UN blame most of the crimes on a small number of extremists. That assumption appears plausible, but there are several distinct groups who may, for different reasons, be responsible for most, or part of, the continuation of violence in Kosovo. They are: radicalised ethnic Albanians; the KLA8; criminals from Albania proper; participants in internal ethnic Albanian conflict; and Serb paramilitary groups,

WAITING FOR UNMIK: Local Administration in Kosovo (ICG Balkans Report N° 79)

WAITING FOR UNMIK: Local Administration in Kosovo (ICG Balkans Report N° 79)

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

This report seeks to identify the main reasons why this uncomfortable position has been reached, and identify a way forward. UNMIK’s administrators have arrived late in their assigned municipality, with little clear guidance about the job facing them and the circumstances they would be working in. Lack of funding and personnel leaves them in a position where they continuously have to improvise, while still waiting for guidelines from headquarters in Prishtinë/Priština. They are in many cases forced to tell the self-proclaimed Albanian communal authorities, which they cannot formally recognise but must work with on a day-to-day basis, to wait a little longer. The waiting is then handed down to the population, which remains unserved and unserviced into the fifth month. Growing impatience can be observed at every level. This report argues for a negotiated and therefore more pragmatic approach: while the UN should hold the political authority in municipalities, the existing structure should be co-opted as a non-political executive.

IS DAYTON FAILING? Bosnia Four Years After The Peace Agreement (ICG Balkans Report N°80)

IS DAYTON FAILING? Bosnia Four Years After The Peace Agreement (ICG Balkans Report N°80)

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

Keywords: Dayton agreement;

In anticipation of the fourth anniversary on 21 November 1999 of the signing of the Dayton Peace Accords, this report presents a detailed analysis of the agreement and the future of the Bosnian peace process. The report assesses efforts to implement the agreement annex by annex, identifying obstacles to continued progress and setting out key choices facing international policymakers. A traditional peace treaty consists of a cease-fire and arms reduction and boundary demarcation agreements. Dayton went far beyond these goals to create a state, comprised of two multi-ethnic entities. Dayton's aim was to not only stop the fighting, but to reverse ethnic cleansing and provide a blueprint for a new, unified country.

ALL QUIET ON THE SERBIAN FRONT? (ICG Balkans Report N° 81)

ALL QUIET ON THE SERBIAN FRONT? (ICG Balkans Report N° 81)

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

The conclusion of this report, which begins with a journey through recent history, is that an effective strategy vis-à-vis Milosevic must be predicated on a much better understanding of how the dictator plays politics. In the absence of international resolve to liquidate his tenure and his leadership, the first and last recommendation is linked to the observation that the international community IC become more adept at deciphering the dictator’s political chess game. From there, the IC must have a clearer picture of how it wants to cope with the dictatorship. If the aim is merely to unseat him, and to enhance the chances of the reformist opposition, then concrete steps must be taken to avoid open and public linkages with the opposition that will yield only propaganda dividends for the dictatorship.

STARTING FROM SCRATCH IN KOSOVO: The Honeymoon Is Over (ICG Balkans Report N° 83)

STARTING FROM SCRATCH IN KOSOVO: The Honeymoon Is Over (ICG Balkans Report N° 83)

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

In this paper, the International Crisis Group (ICG) examines the performance of the international community in five key areas: security, the provision of basic services, civil registration and documentation, elections, and justice and the rule of law. The paper recommends ways to improve that performance, including: more robust enforcement by NATO’s Kosovo Force of its protection mandate and the accelerated deployment of adequately trained international and local police; the acceleration as well of donor follow-through, the provision of basic services, civil registration, the creation of identity documents, voters’ lists, and applicable criminal and civil legal codes; and a reexamination by the aid community of how best to achieve its desirable goals and outcomes in Kosovo.

RULE OF LAW IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION: Confusion and Discrimination in a Post-Communist Bureaucracy (ICG Balkans Report N° 84)

RULE OF LAW IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION: Confusion and Discrimination in a Post-Communist Bureaucracy (ICG Balkans Report N° 84)

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

The unsatisfactory functioning of municipal and cantonal administrations has a negative effect on both the legal system and the rule of law, and drastically affects the administration's main role -– the implementation of laws and regulations. Many laws go partially or entirely un-enforced. This report makes specific recommendations to strengthen the functioning of public administration. By and large these build on already-existing civil service procedures on the books, both in Republika Srpska and the Federation. These include: enforcing existing civil service laws, enforcing existing hiring procedures, increasing the degree of governmental "userfriendliness," increasing public access to records and documents, de-linking the public administration financing from political party control, and strengthening the municipal oversight system under existing JSAP authorisation.

ALBANIANS in SERBIAN PRISONS. Ksosovo’s unfinished Business. (ICG Balkans Report N° 85)

ALBANIANS in SERBIAN PRISONS. Ksosovo’s unfinished Business. (ICG Balkans Report N° 85)

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

While the international community does not itself have the capacity to free these prisoners, it must find ways to exert maximum pressure on Milošević to order their release. Thousands of Albanian lives are at stake: reports from recently released prisoners and from family members make clear that the prisoners' conditions in the Serbian facilities are appalling, their health has been severely compromised, they are routinely subjected to mistreatment and torture, and their trials are travesties. In addition, many prisoners’ families have been effectively ransomed by Serbian lawyers, who have promised to secure the release of prisoners for sums ranging from 10,000 to 50,000 DM. The emotional and material strain on prisoners' families contributes to Kosovo's continuing unrest and to the immense frustration Kosovars feel toward the international agencies which, in part out of a dearth of options to pursue, have not made a top priority of locating the prisoners or advocating on their behalf. // In this paper ICG attempts to clarify the somewhat complex situation with regard to the Albanian prisoners, to make available first-hand information about Serbian prison conditions gathered in interviews with ex-prisoners and prisoners' family members, to elucidate the pertinent legal issues, and to propose a series of measures that governments and non-government organisations might take toward identifying the prisoners and securing their release.

DENIED JUSTICE: Individuals Lost in a Legal Maze (ICG Balkans Report N° 86)

DENIED JUSTICE: Individuals Lost in a Legal Maze (ICG Balkans Report N° 86)

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

Thousands of people try to find their way daily through an immensely complicated labyrinth established by the three separate and very often conflicting legal systems in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Evidence presented in this report, the third in the ICG legal project series, proves that unexplained time delays, dubious application of law and blatant ethnic discrimination contribute greatly to the ad hoc nature of Bosnian justice. This report scrutinises six individual cases of ethnic and political discrimination. Recommendations are presented to counteract the violations committed by judges and prosecutors in these cases and to ensure that such violations are prevented in the future, through the strengthening of the concept of rule of law and of judicial and prosecutorial independence. Data on the cases contained herein was provided by ICG partner organisations based throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina. All are Bosnian NGOs providing, inter alia, free legal aid to Bosnian citizens.

ALBANIA: STATE OF THE NATION (ICG Balkans Report N° 87)

ALBANIA: STATE OF THE NATION (ICG Balkans Report N° 87)

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

Keywords: Albanian nation - Albanian state;

In an effort to consolidate the gains made during the last year – namely the ‘liberation’ of Kosovo from Belgrade’s rule – Albanians from both sides of the Kosovo border are endeavouring to weaken the structural division between Albania and Kosovo. The improvement of transportation and communication links is aimed at providing Kosovo with access to an Adriatic sea port, whilst helping to alleviate the chronic unemployment in Albania’s northern districts by re-establishing traditional trading links between towns on both sides of the border. Such moves, however, are being interpreted by some of Albania’s neighbours as the first steps in the process of creating a Greater Albania. This is strenuously denied by both Albanian and Kosovo Albanian leaders who, despite acknowledging their nation’s desire at some point in the future to see a unification of all Albanians into one state, recognise that for the foreseeable future the Albanians of Albania have different and far more pressing issues to address from those in the former Yugoslavia, and vice versa.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE KLA / UCK? (ICG Balkans Report N° 88)

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE KLA / UCK? (ICG Balkans Report N° 88)

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

Keywords: Kosovo Liberation Army;

The end of the war over Kosovo brought the transformation of the guerrilla army that started it. The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA – or UÇK in the Albanian acronym) has been formally demilitarised, but in various manifestations it remains a powerful and active element in almost every area of Kosovo life. Some welcome its continued influence; others fear it; many are concerned about it. This report focuses on the period since mid-1999, after the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) was deployed and the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) was installed. It traces the nature and extent of the influence the KLA still wields; evaluates that influence and the way the international community, through UNMIK and KFOR, has dealt with it; and suggests how it might be dealt with in future.

MONTENEGRO: In the Shadow of the Volcano (ICG Balkans Report N° 89)

MONTENEGRO: In the Shadow of the Volcano (ICG Balkans Report N° 89)

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

Keywords: Milo Djukanovic;

Montenegro has been a crisis-in-waiting for two years now, with Belgrade opposing efforts by a reform-minded government under President Milo Djukanovic to distance itself ever further from its federal partner Serbia. Federal President Slobodan Milosevic has steadily escalated the pressure against Djukanovic, probing the extent of NATO support for Montenegro and pushing the Montenegrins toward a misstep that might undermine their international backing. Djukanovic is under some domestic pressure to move faster towards holding a referendum, but all his foreign contacts are advising him to go carefully and not provoke Belgrade into a response, and for the moment he is being patient. For its part, the Belgrade regime seems content for now to play a cat-and-mouse game with the Montenegrin government and population, keeping them nervous and not knowing what to expect. Montenegro’s dualcurrency system—with both Deutschmarks and dinars as legal tender—appears to have stabilised the economy at the cost of unwelcome if temporary inflation, but Serbia has intensified its trade and financial blockade.

REUNIFYING MOSTAR: Opportunities for Progress (ICG Balkans Report N° 90)

REUNIFYING MOSTAR: Opportunities for Progress (ICG Balkans Report N° 90)

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

Keywords: Mostar;

Reunification of Mostar is key to the reintegration of separatist Herzegovinian Bosnian Croats into Bosnia. After years of fruitless post-Dayton efforts to wean the Bosnian Croats from Zagreb and reorient them toward a constructive role in Bosnia, the international community at long last has the capability to achieve this goal. The success of the democratic forces in Croatia in the January-February elections there has brought reliable partners to power with whom the international community can work in Bosnia. Policy initiatives in Herzegovina will not require new resources and, if achieved, can lead to a reduction in the international profile in Bosnia. Failure to act on these opportunities will cripple the Bosnian peace effort and weaken the new government in Croatia. These issues present serious policy challenges.

BOSNIA'S MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS 2000: Winners and Losers (ICG Balkans Report N° 91)

BOSNIA'S MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS 2000: Winners and Losers (ICG Balkans Report N° 91)

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

Keywords: Republika Srpska;

The international community can draw a degree of comfort from the results of Bosnia’s 8 April 2000 municipal elections. Overall, the voting was free of violence and more free and fair than any previous election held in Bosnia. Nationalism may not be on the run yet—witness the strength of indicted Bosnian Serb war criminal Radovan Karadzic’s Serbian Democratic Party (SDS)—but moderate leaders are making inroads and increasing numbers of voters seem to be paying attention to their messages. In Bosniak areas support shifted from the ruling Party of Democratic Action (SDA) to Haris Silajdzic's Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina (SBiH) and Zlatko Lagumdzija's moderate Social Democratic Party (SDP). As a result, Silajdzic positioned himself as king-maker in numerous Bosniak majority municipalities, and as heir apparent to the ageing Alija Izetbegovic among the Bosniak electorate.

MONTENEGRO’S SOCIALIST PEOPLE’S PARTY: A loyal Opposition? (ICG Balkans Report N° 92)

MONTENEGRO’S SOCIALIST PEOPLE’S PARTY: A loyal Opposition? (ICG Balkans Report N° 92)

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

Keywords: Milo Djukanovic;

The assertion of the primacy of Serbian rights over all other peoples by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has driven nearly every nationality of the former Yugoslavia toward the Republic’s exits. Even Montenegro, once Serbia’s closest political and military ally, has not been immune from the turmoil that Slobodan Milosevic has created and has opted to distance itself from Belgrade’s controlling influence. The resulting political tensions have reshaped Montenegro’s political landscape. The Socialist People’s Party (SNP), which enjoys the support of about one-third of the Montenegrin public, was formed as the result of a split within Montenegro’s ruling party, the Party of Democratic Socialists (DPS). The SNP is a party increasingly on the defensive, caught between the initiatives of Montenegrin President Djukanovic to define pro -Western, democratising and reformist policies; and the intimidation tactics of federal President Milosevic who seeks to bring Montenegro to heel and thus salvage the Federation.

SERBIA'S GRAIN TRADE: Milosevic's hidden Cash Crop (ICG Balkans Report N° 93)

SERBIA'S GRAIN TRADE: Milosevic's hidden Cash Crop (ICG Balkans Report N° 93)

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

Keywords: international sanctions;

In recent months the international community has taken a hard look at its use of sanctions3 against pariah states with a mind toward toughening restrictions on the regimes in question while softening their impact on the respective civilian populations, be they Iraqi, Libyan, or Serbian. In early April the European Union refined and more sharply focused its own sanctions program against the Belgrade regime, in an effort to clarify to the Serbian people that Milosevic, not the population itself, is the intended target of the international community’s punishing strategy, which will remain in place until he is out of power. The inclusion of the Serbian grain trade in this more refined application of sanctions can significantly enhance the program’s effectiveness in constricting the financial resources available to Milosevic. ICG's recommendations are directed at further strengthening this potentially powerful tool.

SERBIA'S EMBATTLED OPPOSITION (ICG Balkans Report, N° 94)

SERBIA'S EMBATTLED OPPOSITION (ICG Balkans Report, N° 94)

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

The recent crackdown by the Belgrade regime on Serbia's independent media and political activists suggests that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic is more vulnerable than it would appear. Since the Kosovo war ended, Milosevic has proven unable to expand his support base and must struggle with diminishing resources to keep restive constituencies intact. Despite its recognised weakness, the Serbian opposition is capable under certain conditions of removing Milosevic from power and offering better governance. The message of numerous public opinion polls over the past eight months is that there is an anti-Milosevic majority in Serbia, but that the opposition must work together in coalitions to exploit it.