THU, 20 SEP 2001 02:01:05 GMT

Registration of Kosovo's Displaced and Exiled

What Serbs Stand to Gin or Lose in "Albanian Elections"

By the end of September Yugoslavia will take an official stance on Serb participation in elections in Kosovo, despite the controversy raging in Serbia over this issue. Only a few have understood that by participating in elections Kosovo Serbs can secure some influence on conditions in the province and that the only question is whether they will be able to vote on an equal footing. Others are still firmly convinced that Serbs should form their own government, and their key argument is that Serbs cannot protect their vital interests by controlling 14 or 16 seats in Kosovo's Parliament.

AIM Belgrade, September 14, 2001

When you have a clear goal nothing else is much of a problem. This was shown during the registration of people displaced and exiled from Kosovo that began, under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), on July 30, 2001. Since Kosovo's Serbs boycotted last year's local elections, ahead of elections for Kosovo's Parliament scheduled for Nov. 17, the OSCE planned a six-week period in which Serbs and other non-Albanians could "correct" their mistake, and 901,000 ethnic Albanians registered last year are to confirm their registration. Those eligible for registration are people who in addition to being over 18 on election day and having resided in Kosovo on Jan. 1, 1998, also have to meet the following four conditions: that they were born in Kosovo, that one of their parents was born in Kosovo, that they have lived over five years in Kosovo or that they have been exiled from the province. To prove this, potential voters have to submit one of 46 documents ranging from identity cards and passports, to telephone and electricity bills, to bank cards, or even fishing permits.

Although all parties from the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) bloc stressed in their election campaign last year that Kosovo was their priority, it turned out that when the registration process began they did not have unified stance on whether Serbs should participate in the elections or not. The chairman of the Federal Committee for Kosovo, Momcilo Trajkovic, called the OSCE-sponsored registration "an attempt by the international community to trick Serbs into voting, instead of meeting the Serbs' demands." The Serbs in Kosovo have said they would not vote for Thaci and "Rada Trajkovic, who is a traitor." "If we do not intend to vote, and we will vote under no circumstances, then we have no reason to register either," said Marko Jaksic, Kosovo-based vice president of the Democratic Party of Serbia.

At the beginning of August the state called Serbs to register, stressing that registration did not mean they would have to participate in elections. In mid-August, at a meeting of 17 associations of internally displaced people from Kosovo and Metohija, Serbian Commissioner for Refugees Sandra Raskovic Ivic and Nebojsa Covic, the coordinator of the Yugoslav Coordinating Center, seemed to have convinced refugee representatives to support registration because "the West does not care about history but respects statistics, and we have to show them our true numbers and clearly demonstrate we are not abandoning Kosovo, and that we still claim it as our land." In other words, the refugee commissioner said what was to become the foremost argument of all other appeals coming from top state officials and church dignitaries: "If you do not respond to registration, you will be considered as never having lived in Kosovo, which will mean you will lose all your other rights."

Only two days later, however, the Kucni Prag Association of Kosovo Serbs, from Nis, said the continuation of registration was unacceptable, and asked that all exiled since April 6, 1941, should be registered, including their descendants, and urged the newly-founded Alliance of Serbian Non-Government Organizations to call parallel elections for the Serbian Parliament of Kosovo on Nov. 19. It turned out that Socialist Party of Serbia and Yugoslav Left party officials were acting under the guise of various organizations. They were taking advantage of the weaknesses and misunderstanding inside DOS on how the problem of Kosovo should be resolved, doing everything in their power to obstruct the registration process, under the pretext, as Milan Ivanovic, a senior official of the Association, explained, that over 70 percent of representatives of 25 Kosovo Serb associations were against registration."

The Democratic Party of Serbia, led by Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica, joined the parties of the former regime in opposing registration. At a tumultuous session of the Coordinating Center for Kosovo and Metohija held at the end of July, senior Socialist party official Zoran Andjelkovic spoke out against registration, saying it was part of the election process. Democratic Party of Serbia vice president Marko Jaksic agreed with him, adding: "I respect the stance of my party and my president, but both I and the Serbs of Kosovo and Metohija, do not want to accept registration pertaining to elections scheduled by the OSCE."

By taking such a position, the Democratic Party of Serbia once more confused displaced people from Kosovo. Every night they have an opportunity to watch Vojislav Kostunica on their TV screens, urging them to register and stand up for themselves, to prove their presence in Kosovo and Metohija and demand their rights there, and, what is most important, protect their property, whereas his deputy publicly refutes such action. Of about 200,000 refugees officially registered in Serbia a week before registration was supposed to end, only 20,000 had registered, of which 4,200 in Kosovo (where there are 60,000-80,000 non-Albanians) and 134 in Montenegro. Only when Serbian Patriarch Pavle and Metropolitan Amfilohije urged Serbs to register, and when the bishop of Raska and Prizren, Artemije, with all residents of Gracanica, went to the OSCE office, joined afterwards by Momcilo Trajkovic, the leader of the Serbian Resistance Movement, and Oliver Ivanovic, chairman of the Serb National Council of Kosovo and a member of the Coordinating Center for Kosovo, did Serbs change their mind. The day after the Patriarch's appeal over 4,000 people registered. According to OSCE official data some 65,000 people registered during one month and a half if Serbia, in addition to 30,000 in Kosovo. Problems were reported only in the northern half of Kosovska Mitrovica where many Serb leaders are active. According to the OSCE mission chief in Kosovo, Daan Everts, it would be a pity to interrupt the registration process, and the deadline was extended for another two weeks, in the hope that 150,000 displaced people will register in Serbia, and another 60,000 in Kosovo. Estimates of Serbian officials are a bit different. "About 140,000 non-Albanian residents are expected to register in Kosovo, and 200,000-250,000 in Serbia," says Natasa Mandic, from the Serbian Commissariat for Refugees. For years there was different data on the number of Serbs and people of other ethnic background exiled and displaced from Kosovo and Metohija, and on the number of ethnic Albanians living in the province. Figures were blown up or reduced for political purposes. Last year, Albanians registered. Because of this it was also important for the Kosovo Serbs to do the same. Their hesitation to do so was caused on one side by a desire not to comply "with the international community's dictates ," and maybe even by a wish to use arbitrary population figures once again if need be, but apparently also by an inability to understand what is going on in Kosovo and what will occur there in the future. Only when it was understood that information obtained by registration would be considered the only valid source of demographic data on Kosovo, regardless of whether the government in Belgrade likes it or not, and would serve to make plans in the area of education, health care and humanitarian aid, among others, did officials call on Serbs to accept registration. "It is high time," said Nebojsa Covic, "for Serbs to sober up and for us all to act responsibly, at least when Kosovo and Metohija is in question."

The first responsibility test is rapidly approaching. The government has to take a stand in regard to Serb participation in elections. It has been announced that despite the ongoing controversy over the issue in Serbia, a decision will be made by the end of the month. Few have comprehended that only by participating in the vote can Serbs exert some influence on conditions in the province and that the main question is whether they will be able to participate in the elections on an equal footing. Others are still firmly against running in "Albanian elections" and want a government of their own. Their key argument is that Serbs cannot protect their vital interests in the 120-seat Parliament by controlling only 14 or 16 seats.

Bishop Artemije warned that a boycott of official and creation of underground institutions is not possible, because government bodies in the province would not tolerate them as Milosevic used to tolerate such Albanian institutions for a full decade, and would only lead to an exodus of the remaining Serbs. However, this has been rejected by most Serbs, content to live in the myths of the past and obsessed with their desires. A belief prevails that elections scheduled for Nov. 17 are only a way to legalize the current state of affairs in Kosovo. "Serbs will not gain much but boycotting the vote, but they will not lose much either. But a boycott will show that Serbs do not want to recognize the new Albanian community and agree to play a ceremonial role, being simultaneously exposed to discriminatory decisions by Albanian bodies," says Marko Jaksic. "Normal solutions, appropriate to the current situation, should be sought," warns Nebojsa Covic. "It will be a great mistake for Serbs not to accept the chance offered by elections because they will not get another chance, they will be marginalized, isolated, and will suffer great harm," says Daan Everts, urging Serbs to join the race and suggesting that they form a coalition so as not to dissipate their votes. The Social Democratic Union is one of the rare parties that has spoken in favor of participating in the vote, believing that otherwise "we will be silencing ourselves." Only through political cooperation, rather than conflict, can we achieve our goals -- the return of exiles, peace, safety and respect of human rights," says Vlatko Sekulovic, a senior party official.

It is up to the government to not commit the same mistake about registration. It has to decide promptly, not letting Kosovo Serbs down and not letting them make the decision themselves, although it cannot force them to show at the polls. Delay is the worst option.

The international community will not change its rules, nor will it organize any special elections for Serbs. Delay is desired only by those who have profited from scams and manipulation in the past. These are the same people who, using bombastic patriotic rhetoric, left a large Serb enclave in Brezovica with 13,000 people, to the mercy of smugglers of all sorts, only because Serbs refuse to register their companies with UNMIK. In return, UNMIK bars them for supplying their fellow countrymen with staples, which is then done by those who do not mind UNMIK permits.

Tatjana Stankovic

(AIM)