http://www.centraleurope.com/yugoslaviatoday/news.php3?id=224116&section=Kosovo

EU No Longer Supports Kosovo Election, Kouchner Says

ZAGREB, Nov 25, 2000 -- (Reuters) Western powers no longer support
proposals to hold a general election in Kosovo next spring, the province's
United
Nations administrator said on Friday.

Bernard Kouchner said he had warned EU leaders at their summit in Zagreb with
Balkan states that there was a risk of a return to conflict unless
independence-seeking Kosovo Albanians were given the chance to choose their
leaders.

"If they are cornered they will fight," he said.

Kouchner said United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244, which made the
Yugoslav province a protectorate, called for general elections and he urged they
should happen soon.

Looking tired and speaking with emotion, Kouchner suggested EU leaders were
trying to ignore 1244, the only legal basis for the international presence in
Kosovo, and force the pace towards new regional agreements.

Resolution 1244 was a solemn agreement, he said. "If we do not have an
agreement, tell us the truth," demanded Kouchner, who has told the United
Nations he would like to be replaced.

"It was not a warning, but sort of... it was certainly not a threat," said
Kouchner.

This week has seen a resurgence of political violence in Kosovo and attacks by
separatist Albanians in a neighboring slice of southern Serbia where Albanians
also live.

The attacks have killed several policemen, prompting Serbia to warn on Friday it
would re-impose order there if NATO peacekeepers could not keep the
guerrillas inside Kosovo.

END-OF-MILOSEVIC EFFECT

Earlier in the year, the election proposal appeared to have the general backing
of
the EU and NATO allies. That was while Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic
still held power.

Now that he has been ousted by reformist Vojislav Kostunica, the EU is doing its
utmost to ensure the change is irreversible. That includes appeasing Serbian
claims on Kosovo and if necessary justifying a crackdown on the separatist
gunmen.

Analysts said an internationally sponsored general election in Kosovo would
infuriate some sections of Serbian opinion. "There is no opposition to the
principle
of these elections, but there is some caution and a spectrum of views,
particularly
concerning the timing," an EU diplomatic source told Reuters.

Some countries, such as France and Italy, were not in favor of a Kosovo general
election in the first half of the year, while Britain was less opposed to the
idea and
Germany somewhere in between, he added.

Asked at a news conference which countries now opposed the idea, a frustrated
Kouchner replied that the question was more like: "Who is in favor?"

Kouchner said he had proposed an election to the UN Security Council, "But no
one answered me". United States UN ambassador Richard Holbrooke was
supportive but that did not necessarily mean the Clinton administration backed
the
idea.

"Others are very reluctant, and I think this is a big mistake," the UN envoy
added,
arguing that far from undermining Kostunica, an election in Kosovo would bolster
him.

"For the peace process this is absolutely necessary. It will give Kostunica and
the
Serbian authorities responsible people to talk with."

Kouchner said he welcomed the replacement of Milosevic by Kostunica last
month but complained that "political movements are going too fast for the peace
process" because the wounds inflicted on Kosovo Albanians by Serbs last year
are too fresh.

He denied having warned EU leaders eager for an overall settlement in former
Yugoslavia against pushing Kosovo Albanians back into the arms of Serbia,
saying his message had been "much more positive than that".