RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 8, No. 93, Part II, 18 May 2004

SERBIA CONTINUES TO PROMOTE KOSOVA PLAN. Serbia and Montenegro's
Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic told European ambassadors on 17 May of
the Serbian government's plan to decentralize the administration in
Kosova and grant autonomy to Serbs and other minorities, Tanjug
reported. The government plans to ensure minority rights by granting
a mixed system of territorial, personal, and cultural autonomy, he
said. The Kosovar Albanian majority has rejected the plan (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," 29 and 30 April and 6 and 12 May 2004). UB

EU INSISTS ON MULTIETHNIC KOSOVA... During a 17 May meeting in
Brussels of the European Council on general affairs and foreign
relations, the EU's foreign and defense ministers reiterated their
"strong support for the work of [the UN civilian administration in
Kosova (UNMIK) and its head, Harri Holkeri,] in the implementation of
[UN Security Council Resolution] 1244," according to an EU news
release the same day. "[The European Council] emphasized its
commitment to the policy of Standards before Status, welcomed the
Kosova Standards Implementation Plan, and called upon the [Kosovar]
Provisional Institutions of Self Government (PISG), with the support
of UNMIK, to speed up the active implementation of the standards,
including effective local government." The press release added, "The
Council again urged the PISG to demonstrate in an unambiguous manner
their commitment to a multiethnic Kosova and to the security and
rights of members of all communities in Kosova." UB

...AND REVIEWS STABILIZATION AND ASSOCIATION PROCESS. The Council of
Europe also reviewed the Stabilization and Association Process (SAP)
for Southeast Europe, the EU news release of 17 May added. The
council "reconfirmed that the SAP will remain the overall framework
for the European course of the Western Balkans countries, all the way
to their future accession" but "noted that progress in the region
remains uneven. It noted in particular the need for improvement in
the levels of cooperation with [the Hague-based international war
crimes tribunal] and for greater progress in the fight against
organized crime and corruption." In its individual assessments of
Balkan countries' progress, the news release said the implementation
of necessary reforms in Albania "had been limited." It said that, in
Bosnia, "government at state level remained underdeveloped
and...public administration reform had just begun." The council
called on Macedonia to strengthen its judicial system and to reform
its security sector. It also "regretted that the Constitutional
Charter [of Serbia and Montenegro] had not yet been fully implemented
and that the Internal Market and Trade Action Plan remained
uncompleted." It also stated that the reforms of the judiciary and
police are insufficient (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 29 March and 14 May
2004 and "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 14 February and 27 June 2003). UB

MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT CALLS COOPERATION WITH ALBANIA 'EXTRAORDINARY.'
Speaking after a meeting with visiting Albanian Prime Minister Fatos
Nano in Ohrid on 17 May, Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski said
he wishes to continue the excellent cooperation with Nano, "Utrinski
vesnik" reported. The talks focused on the two countries' NATO and EU
integration as well as on the improvement of regional cooperation.
Crvenkovski said he introduced his successor as prime minister, Hari
Kostov, to Nano in order to ensure continuity. Nano welcomed that Ali
Ahmeti of the ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration --
which is a junior coalition partner in the Macedonian government --
also participated in the talks, as the relations between the
Macedonian majority and the Albanian minority play an important role
in the relations between the two countries. UB