Danas, Belgrade, Yugoslavia
September 16-17, 2000

Bajram Redzepi, mayor of the southern part of Kosovska Mitrovica and
president of the Mitrovica Democratic Party of Kosovo

Kouchner should have been clearer

INSET:

DPK does not support violence

DANAS: Is the DPK involved in the increasingly frequent political violence
in Albanian circles?

REDZEPI: We are not involved and we have clearly stated as much. We are just
losing political points and we are not interested in such violence. We think
that we will win the elections in the majority of municipalities which is
what we need. This is our goal and we are putting up a fight in the
pre-election campaign against any kind of violence.

I cannot say that there has not been political violence but most of it was
planned and later it was found not be political violence at all. Someone who
does not wish well for Kosovo is launching such stories. Perhaps someone is
presenting himself as the victim of an assassination attempt in order to
gain political points. Those are all second-hand stories or they are from
media or various individuals who want some profit from this situation. I
cannot claim that there will not be any political violence but it will
certainly be minimal.

* * * * *

It is not any warmer in the southern part of Kosovska Mitrovica. There are
no birds there, either. There are piles of garbage there, too. War raged
there as well until one and a half years ago... Close by, even though
nothing is really close when you are unsure who or what will emerge from the
nearest passageway, is the municipal building on the third floor of which is
the office of Bajram Redzepi, the city mayor of the part of the city below
the Ibar River and the president of the Mitrovica board of the Democratic
Party of Kosovo (DPK). During the conflict in Kosovo, he was a member of the
KLA and he says that he knew what he was doing then and that he knows what
he is doing now.

In an interview with “Danas”, Redzepi shared his thoughts on the upcoming
federal and local elections, the actions which he is undertaking as the
mayor of Mitrovica and “the old dangerous” problem of security. “I’ll close
the windows so the noise doesn’t bother us. You can ask me anything, without
censorship,” says Redzepi.

DANAS: Recently you explained the idea that 17 Serb families move to the
southern part of the city, more precisely, into the building across the road
from UNMIK headquarters. Was this idea realized?

REDZEPI: The idea is five or six months old. We wanted it to be realized as
the first step, the first phase in the coming of the Serbs to the south
side. We have done everything possible for the Albanians who occupied those
apartments to sign the necessary documents of their own free will and to
vacate them, while we have taken on the responsibility of finding adequate
housing for those Albanian families. However, nothing has happened yet; most
probably someone from the Serbian side intervened to prevent the loss of
this alibi also for separation and partition of the city.

DANAS: Does that mean that Serbs are safe in the southern part of the city?

REDZEPI: I think that they can be safe in that zone because security there
is at a high level. We spoke with families in the northern part of the city
and we promised them as Albanians what we could do, and that is to free up
those apartments, to ensure a good climate with political leaders and with
the Albanian population, to create a climate of mutual coexistence.
Everything was ready for August 15. The Albanian resident promised to turn
their keys in to me so that I could turn them in to representatives of UNMIK
and so that the Serbs could move in as of September 1. However, a day or two
before the deadline, perhaps because of the situation in Zvecan with the
smelter and everything around it, UNMIK told us, that is, Mr. Wanderstein
advised us that the project had been delayed apparently at KFOR’s request.
For now this initiative has been forgotten but we can renew it any moment,
only a date needs to be given.

The responsibility undertaken by the people who occupied these Serb
apartments will be carried out by them. We have enough power to do this.

DANAS: The attacks on Serb children in the vicinity of Pristina will hardly
speed up the realization of your plan for the return of Serbs to the
southern side.

REDZEPI: I think that it is easier for Serbs to coexist with Albanians in
Mitrovica than in Pristina due to the fact that the majority of Albanians on
the northern side are not in a good situation and that they also are afraid
of Serbian extremists. It is our moral obligation to accept individual
solutions which appear not to be the best ones in order to show solidarity
with the Albanians who lived on the northern side. This pilot project is not
conditional upon the return of Albanian families to the Serb side, at least
not right away. But it will represent a deblocking of the status quo and a
creation of conditions for this process to go further in the future and for
the Albanians to return to the northern part of the city, and the Serbs to
the southern part.

DANAS: Is the policy of the DPK or are you doing this as the city mayor of
Mitrovica?

REDZEPI: Both as the city mayor and as the president of the local board of
the DPK! I have no prejudices. Even though the rest of my colleagues do not
like some of what I am doing, I stand behind it and I am attempting to
finish it. I have enough credibility and my goals are completely clear,
regardless of whether anyone likes what I am doing or not. I am advocating
what I think is leading toward progress, a deblocking of the city and the
creation of conditions for a normal life for everyone.

DANAS: How do you view the most recent events regarding “Trepca”? What kind
of position are the Albanians in it?

REDZEPI: I think that this is a good step and that it is the greatest
success of UNMIK in this post-war period. I think that both Albanians and
Serbs have illusions about “Trepca”. It will never be what it was for 10-15
years but it is an important facility for the future of Mitrovica, and of
Kosovo also, and without control, pollution would certainly be at a very
high level. The people who managed the smelter before were not concerned for
human lives. No one gave them the right to poison the environment for a
small profit and therefore the operation of UNMIK and KFOR was essential.

DANAS: What do you think of the decision of Bernard Kouchner to allow the
Yugoslav elections to be held in Kosovo?

REDZEPI: As far as the federal elections are concerned, Albanians are not
interested in participating in them.

DANAS: Are you familiar with the fact that the voter lists which will be
used are from 1996 and that they include Albanian voters?

REDZEPI: As far as manipulations are concerned, I know that they will
happen. I think that Milosevic will win the elections again. First, because
the Serbian opposition is disunited and, second, because he has the police
and the courts, as well as all institutions which can manipulate the
results. The very fact that he changed the constitution says that he will
certainly do everything possible to win the elections and I think that he
will win them, with the Albanians or without them. Albanians are not at all
willing to participate in these elections, we have local elections in which
we will participate. I think that the Serbs who are in Kosovo will be used
only as objects of manipulation in the Yugoslav elections because the
technical conditions do not exist for them to vote freely which, in my
opinion, is unacceptable. Kouchner should have been clearer in his decision.

Some Serbs will participate in those elections, perhaps in Serbia, perhaps
voting stations can be organized for them here as well but to organize a
campaign or the arrival of Gorica Gajevic in Gracanica is unprecedented and
it is completely unacceptable. It is common knowledge that Kosovo is a
protectorate, both in the military and the civil sense, and that until the
final resolution of its status Kouchner and the international community must
be much more clear, first and foremost with regard to competencies.

DANAS: On what will the DPK base its campaign and what do you expect from
the Kosovo local elections?

REDZEPI: We do not expect a lot but with respect to relations with the
Serbs, we hope for some progress. I have proposed that a certain number of
Serbs participate in the council which is being created, regardless of the
fact that this is undemocratic, if this is acceptable to the international
community. Albanians and other minorities will participate in these
elections and, as a result, they will have legitimacy. Serbs will be
appointed for practical reasons, so that the administration is integral and
so that it is together with UNMIK. For the documentation to be valid, we
have accepted their appointment; however, whether they will come, I do not
know.

I expect that, after our elections, it will be much more stable in the city,
that the majority of services will begin functioning, I am thinking
primarily of utilities and city services, and traffic which is now
catastrophic: there is no vehicle registration, for example, and people are
driving without driver’s licenses. Our task will be to create much better
security conditions. Perhaps we will not have control over the police but we
will be able to officially request that normal conditions be created so that
we can carry out our competencies. I think that many things which are
important in life will be much better. In relations with Serbs I think that
there will be some progress but I am not expecting miracles after these
elections. The fact is that they are rejecting the elections which is, I
think, wrong, because we did not call the elections but the international
community and UNMIK. Therefore, rejecting is rejecting the international
factor, not the Albanians.

By Jelena Bjelica

Translated by S. Lazovic (Sept. 19, 2000)

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