TRANSCRIPT OF THE INTERVIEW WITH STEFAN LEHNE, EU SPECIAL ENVOY for Kosovo Status
00:00 On the nomination of the successor of S. Jessen-Petersen
I think what everybody understands is that UNMIK remains in charge until the status process is finalized and therefore we expect the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan to make a decision in the coming days on the successor. I think he will also consult with the EU and other important international partners on who that person should be, but ultimately this is his decision, I think it will come pretty soon.
00:32 On the Contact group statement that the solution for Kosovo will be in the interest of the majority of the population and on the negotiation process
Well the Contact Group said a number of things, they said that a return to the situation prior to 1999 is not acceptable, it said that the partition of Kosovo is not acceptable and it said that a union of Kosovo with a neighbouring state is also not acceptable. These are sort of parameters for the final outcome. I think at this point it is not very wise to prejudge the outcome. As you know the negotiations in Viennahave so far focused on issues that are not directly status relevant such as decentralization, protection of religious heritage, questions related to the economy, to minority rights. We will only probably in the summer see the first negotiations on the actual status issues. Of course these will be very difficult negotiations because the positions are quite far apart but I’m not going right now to guess what the final outcome will be. We have established a certain framework for these talks and it will be up to the negotiations to find out what the outcome will be in the end.
01:49 On the possibility to bring negotiating positions closer to each other and what are the options if this doesn’t happen
I think this is the very point of negotiations, that’s why one sits down together and it’s always a difficult process and on an issue which is so controversial it’s particularly difficult but I know that Martti Ahtisaari who is in charge of this process but also the EU, the US and other international partners are very much committed. These negotiations will be conclusive, will be fruitful, will bring the positions closer together in the end. That will be an agreed settlement in the end. However, I think the Contact Group has also said that while there is a very strong preference to a negotiated outcome, ultimately there might be a situation where the Security Council will have to face up to its responsibilities, the process has been started in the Security Council, it might end in the Security Council. Of course, it’s in everybody’s interest that every effort is made to achieve a negotiated settlement. This is probably in terms of sustainability, in terms of general acceptance by far the better option than an option with a decision of the Security Council. We will put all our energy to make sure that the negotiations really have a chance.
03:06 Serbia’s platform for negotiations
Recently we have received the platform of the Belgradegovernment, I think it is supported both by the Prime Minister and by the President and it basically provides for a solution based on autonomy. You know the slogan in Belgradehas always been: “more than autonomy, less than independence”. However, if you look at this paper it is an autonomy solution, there is no question about, you know, I think it is also for the time being President Tadic’s position. However, this is a starting position, obviously you would not expect every negotiator to show all your cards at the very beginning, so we expect things to evolve over the time as he positions are discussed.
04:01 On Serbia’s engagement in the negotiations
Serbia is in a very difficult situation on the question, the society is under a lot of strain with many problems but they have accepted to negotiate, they sit at the table, they develop positions, they defend them quite well, they have a lot of capacity in terms of intellectual power, they have many experts that are doing a good job in the negotiations. I hope that this constructive engagement will continue.
04:40 On the Albanian political capacity to implement the required standards
We see significant progress over the last few months. You have now a new leadership team in Pristine which is quite energetic, quite capable and really trying to make a difference, we hope the Petersen’s last report to the Security Council on June 20th will be able to point some significant progress on some areas and we also are quite happy that the Kosovo leaders have decided to create this Unity Team which gives a role to all main parties in Kosovo, and this Unity Team has been quite successful in maintaining its coherence and coming with joint positions which are then jointly defended also the delegations that come to Vienna always have representatives coming from practically all parties in Kosovo. So I think the conditions are quite good that we’ll get a constructive engagement also from their side. If you look at the proposals on religious heritage, decentralization, there seems to be a genuine willingness to accommodate the key requirements of the Serb minority and the other minorities. I think these proposals don’t go far enough as far as we are concerned, we think that they should be more developed but in principle they go in the right direction and I think we are so far not pessimistic on the ability of Pristine to actually participate constructively in the status progress.
06:16 On the restitution of the Serbian church properties in Kosovo
One very critical issue is the question of the restitution church property and that. I think this is an extremely complex issue. Most of the transition countries in central Europe and SEE have had enormous problems with coping with these issues which have very complex historical, legal implications and I think Kosovo is at the very beginning of trying to resolve these problems and I think this cannot be expected in the context of the status process, this is probably a process that will need many years but we can maybe help setting up the legal framework and the mechanism that can take these issues further.
07:03 What has been done to encourage return of refugees
I believe that enough has been done to encourage the returns, there’s no question about it. This is one of the areas where we are not happy about the record in terms of standards implementation. I think recently we’ve seen some progress, Kosovo Albanian politicians have tried to reach out, they visited communities, they visited displaced persons, they appealed for people to return and frequently it’s the economic conditions that are the main obstacle because people return and there are no jobs. This is certainly a huge constraint and a huge obstacle. I think there is a new development, a protocol on returns signed by both Pristine and Belgrade, I think it was signed last week which introduces an important new principle, I think so far the International Community but also Pristine took the position that displaced persons have to return to the place of origin. I think in this new protocol it is clearly stated that people can return where they want to return to which gives a lot more flexibility and could allow a great improvement of the return process. We’re not at all happy on where we stand with returns so far but we see a certain amount of improved good will on the Pristine side and we hope this protocol will help to get the return process moving forward more rapidly.
08:44 On the participation of Kosovo Serbs in the institutions and Belgrade positions
Unfortunately this is one of our main criticisms of the Belgrade position. I think they have ever since the last elections consistently discouraged the participation of Kosovo serbs in the political process in Pristine and that I think is a very bad mistake. The Kosovo serbs can really defend their rights and present their positions if they’re part of the political process. If they stand aside and boycott the institutions, they’re not heard, they’re not taken seriously so I think this position that Belgrade has taken, discouraging the Kosovo Serb representatives to be in the institutions in Kosovo is a very bad strategic mistake. The International Community, the EU have frequently encouraged Kosovo Serbs to return to the institutions and also to Belgrade to give the green light on this but unfortunately this has not happened, we continue to push this but we are very disappointed that Belgrade has taken this line; I think it’s absolutely counterproductive from the point of view of the real interest of the Kosovo Serb community.
10:01On the future international military presence in Kosovo
I think what is clear is that and there’s an agreement in the International Community, that following the status settlement, continued military presence will be necessary and I would say probably for a number of years. There’s also agreement that at least during an initial period it will be NATO again that takes the lead, it’s well established that NATO is a very well appreciated factor of stability, appreciated not only in Kosovo but also in Serbia and I think there’s a continued need for their involvement for a while. I would not exclude that in a longer term the EU might at one point, like in Bosnia, take over this role but at the moment I think few people are talking about it because the main point is that the continued role of NATO is necessary and there is general universal agreement on this.
11:00 END OF TRANSMISSION
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