Info
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Press
Briefing
held
on 24 April 2002
at the NATO Press Centre in Skopje
Statement by Craig Ratcliff:
I apologise for the short delay. I missed last week because I was at
a conference in Belgium. And, I think I am glad to be back.
We have a couple of guests onstage today: of course, Ambassador Jenness
with the OSCE and Ambassador Butler from the US Embassy. And they are
here to address questions and anything in general concerning recent events
or any questions you might have overall.
As all of you know and I think all of you have reported on, there have
been strong protests in the Tetovo region that have interfered with the
re-entry process.
While we encourage the process of peaceful and civil expression in a democratic
society, we strongly condemn the recent actions that have interfered with
the implementation of the peace process.
There have been many examples of very positive reports and activity concerning
the re-entry process. Overall, I think it’s gone very, very well.
Recent example in the Kumanovo area are an example of co-operation and
success recently.
The recent blockades in the Tetovo region, however, are not a positive
act. The blockades and the activity, actually, work against the interest
of the people in the region by denying them the basic services of police
protection and government services that they deserve.
The majority of persons in that area support the return of the security
forces. The majority of people in that area want a return to normalcy
and peace. And the majority of people in that area want the demonstrations
to stop.
So, we strongly condemn those actions to prevent the return of the police
and security forces and we encourage those persons involved to use more
appropriate means to resolve any issues or concerns that they may have
concerning the implementation of peace process, or any other issues in
general.
That concludes my statement and I’ll pass to Irena.
Statement by Irena Guzelova:
Thanks, Craig, and good morning.
I just want to reinforce some of the comments that Craig made about the
road blocks. And I think that the international community’s position
is very clear and we made it very clear in a joint statement issued this
weekend. These road blocks are an impediment to the implementation of
the Framework agreement. As we’ve said many times, the Framework
agreement is not a document from which people can choose certain elements
and discard others. The signatories to the Framework agreement agreed
to its implementation to full last August. And police re-entry is an integral
part of it. I just want to make one other point regarding the implementation
of the laws foreseen in the Framework agreement. When Prime Minister Georgievski
and Foreign Minister Slobodan Casule met with the EU leaders last week,
the EU leaders pressed for the need to speed up the implementation of
the Framework agreement. They expressed their wish that the necessary
legislative changes will be adopted by parliament as soon as possible.
And they still expect the government to fulfil its commitments laid down
in the Framework agreement, so that the necessary legislation can be adopted
in a speedy way as possible. And that concludes my statement. Over to
Ambassador Jenness.
Statement by Craig Jenness:
I’ll just say a couple of points. I know people would prefer that
they ask questions, but I will just make a very brief statement. Obviously,
the position that we have jointly with the United States, NATO and the
EU is fairly clear and we have stated it a number of times. Peaceful demonstrations
are, of course, allowed in democracies, but that right has limits. These
road blocks are an impediment of the Framework agreement and its implementation,
and therefore, in our view, are completely unacceptable. Other means can
be chosen to express concern or discontent, but we do not accept that
anyone can obstruct the Framework agreement, as means of expressing their
concerns. I would add, and this message is aimed directly to the organisers
of this particular demonstration, we’ve stated many times, the international
community, very clearly that we only support those people and groups that
support the implementation of the Framework agreement. This is an obstruction
of the Framework agreement, therefore their strategy is far from being
something that is going to help their cause. Frankly, it’s going
to hurt their cause.
If I can just add very briefly on the…there has been some speculation
in some of the media about the Semsevo incident and the OSCE role as that
particular investigation moves forward. We’ve all expressed our deep
concern about the incident. Of course, despite what you might read in
some newspapers, I think we all know that OSCE has no executive enforcement
authority in this country. In this particular case, we are working very
closely with the Ministry of Interior, both on the ground and in Skopje,and
with the local community leaders so that they can jointly work out an
approach to this problem. And I think they will work out an approach and
that we, sitting at this table will, as we always do, completely support
whatever approach they can agree upon. And I’m sure there will be
more questions on that later.
Statement by Lawrence Butler:
Good morning. I am here because Ambassador Jenness also represents the
United States. Just as Mr Ratcliff speaks for the US as a member of NATO.
And because the US and the European Union together form the world’s
largest economic and political partnership known to man so far.
But, I came here today to ask you to pass a message very clearly to the
organisers of the road blocks. The one thing that the three organisations
represented here today represent is democratic dialogue. Last summer,
together, we helped Macedonia achieve an outstanding way forward to promote
democratic dialogue. Road blocks are not dialogue. They are dead-ends.
They are a waste of time and they are a waste of energy. And one thing
that none of us can afford to do is waste our time and our energy as we
help Macedonia complete the return to normalcy and re-launch your economy.
In short, I am not impressed. I’ve spent a lot of time in the crisis
area, I’ve been in many of the villages that are currently blocked,
I’ve been an OSCE monitor myself, where our specialty was listening
people to death. We are still here to listen and to facilitate dialogue.
As I said on Monday after presenting credentials to President Trajkovski,
the international community, which includes the US, has two overriding
goals: complete and rapid implementation of the Framework agreement, and
the prevention of renewal of violence. We are working on that inside the
government, we need cooperation from those who are outside the government.
This is a true partnership.
Ratcliff: At this point we are open for questions.
Guzelova: Would you also mention the name of your organisation.
Question 1: (Dnevnik) Both Ambassadors sent clear messages to
the organisers of the blockades. Do you know exactly who the organisers
are? A question for Ambassador Jenness: in your contacts with the local
community leaders, have you asked them how long do the Albanians plan
to intimidate and maltreats the persons who they recognise as having part
of the police reserve forces?
Jenness: Maybe I should answer the second question first. Of course,
that’s not a question, that’s a statement. And a statement of
frustration. And I can assure you that these road blocks and this incident
in Semsevo frustrate us as well. But the choice of what should be done
in cases like these should not be based on what makes us feel better,
the choice should be based on what is going to be in the best interest
of the peace and reconciliation process and, of course, the further progress
of this country towards European integration. So, I think it’s fairly
clear that in the Semsevo case and in the case of the road blocks, despite
frustration that people might feel, the best thing to do here is to follow
the principles that are outlined, frankly, in your constitution and in
the Framework agreement. And I was looking at the Framework agreement
this morning: only peaceful political solutions can ensure a stable and
democratic future. So, what we have always recommended is a measured and
patient and wise response to all of these problems. As the ambassador
said, to solve problems through dialogue. Let’s be honest and realistic:
this is not the first problem we’ve had, it’s probably not the
worst problem we’ve had. And, of course, we are going to have problems
in the future. It would be naïve if thought otherwise. But, with
the proper approach, I think the government has made a lot progress, this
country has made a lot of progress with a patient and measured approach,
and this problem would be overcome in exactly the same way. So, of course,
we haven’t asked them if they are going to mistreat reservists. But
we have asked them… what they have indicated to us, actually, is
that they see this as a problem, they would like to speak to the police
about how to best approach it; the police have indicated that they would
like to speak to the community about their obligations; this is the way
community policing works. As I say, I expect that they would work out
an approach together and I expect that we will fully support it.
And since I’ve talked for so long, I can’t even remember what
the first question was.
Who’s behind the protest? As far as we are told and as far as we
are concerned, that is an organisation called the Council of the families
of the detained. The point here is that anyone who participates in these
road blocks is blocking the implementation of the Framework agreement
and we are also hoping for and expecting maximum engagement of those leaders
in the area to get these road blocks taken down.
Butler: I am just going to add that the organisers know who they
are, and this message is for them. Just as I said, the US would take any
available action against persons who would use violence to achieve political
goals. We are prepared to use similar responses to those who would use
other means to frustrate or oppose the Framework Agreement. The US is
on the side of every person in this country. And on the side of the legally
constituted government of Macedonia.
Question 2: (Freelancer) So far you were talking about peaceful
demonstrations and protests, however in Tetovo and Kumanovo there is still
shooting and explosions every night and there is also harassment of people
in general, not just of reserve police officers. If it is possible to
negotiate with the organisers of the so-called peaceful demonstrations,
is there a way to negotiate with those who organize those shootings and
harassments. Could the Ambassadors also give their evaluations on whether
they have noticed radical changes in the Albanian political block?
Butler: As far as I can tell, there is one question in that, right? I
will give you a response to one. The one thing that I have noticed for
my three months here is a tendency to repeat every unsubstantiated report
of a shot, or a hand grenade or an RPG attack …I must admit that
if I added all the RPG and machine gun reports for the last three months,
I am amazed that we are still standing here. TFF does a very god job in
the cases where there are actual shootings, and we all work very hard
to make sure that it does not happen again. I have not noticed the radicalisation
amongst the Albanian political leadership but I have noticed the approach
of elections. It seems to have a pretty similar effect across the political
spectrum.
Question 3: (Sitel TV) The first question is for Ambassador Jenness.
According to your statement, as far as I understood, the OSCE is not in
any way involved in mediating for the release, or the handover, of the
people who kidnapped officer Stojanovski.
Jenness: Perhaps I did not make myself very clear because obviously
what I said was exactly the contrary of that. The OSCE is and always has
been maximally supportive of the Ministry of Interior, its efforts and
works always with the local communities to try to ensure that they also
understand their responsibilities for law and order. So, frankly, we depend
most of our time doing exactly what you described. So that is actually
what we are doing in this case, we are trying to assist in the dialogue
between the authorities and the local community leaders and the point
that I was trying to make, and perhaps I was not clear enough is that
we are not the police and I think that it would be rather insulting for
this country if wee pretended that we were. Our job is to support the
police, to assist in a dialogue between the police and the local community,
which is what we are doing in this case.
Journalist: Is there any sign of surrender of the suspected persons?
Jenness: I think first of all that surrender is the wrong term;
we are not in a war anymore, although some people would like to characterize
it as such. What there is sign of is an intention that the community leaders
and the police discuss the case, how the investigation needs to be handled,
and work together on an investigation and an appropriate resolution. That
is what community policing is all about, that is the European way. So,
what there is signs of is the community leaders and the police acting
exactly in accordance to the responsibilities and that is a good thing.
Of course, we want to see a resolution in the near future.
Journalist: Thank you. The second question is for Ambassador Butler.
Don’t you feel tricked by the leaders of the Albanian parties due
to the fact that already the next day they have placed or raised new road
blockades?
Butler: I don’t feel tricked by anybody. There are real concerns
that are being expressed by the persons that are obviously behind the
placing of blockades. I am not going to blame the political leaders who
may or may not be directly involved. We will continue our dialogue and
we will continue with our pressure to have the blockades taken down so
that we get on with more important things. The Semsevo incident, I hope
something good comes out of this one that people will be held accountable
for things they do wrong , and this is one of the reasons why we want
to reintegrate the police, get it back at every part, so that they can
protect citizens from being assaulted or abused by other persons, whatever
their ethnic background is and regardless of who your assaulter was.
Question 4: (Makfaks) Two questions for Ambassador Jenness. It
seems that we are in some sort of a vicious circle. When talking about
the ethnically mixed police patrols, do you think that the conditions
are right for their return in some areas so that the police can impose
law and order? Does OSCE expect the Interior Ministry to take its full
responsibilities and do its job properly regarding the road blockades
and their removal?
Jenness: I guess I will answer the second question first. Yes,
we expect that they will take their responsibility but I guess, what you
are really asking is what is the content of that responsibility, what
should they do. Of course, ultimately, the responsibility is to ensure
security and stability here, not just tomorrow but in a long term. Long-term
calculation is important here, the question is whether to continue to
approach this problem and other problems in a peaceful way, in a measured
way, in a wise way, or think only about the next 24 hours? If you are
the Minister of Interior, your question is what is in the best interest
of long-term stability and security here. The correct choice here, is
taking up his responsibilities as you have articulated it. To me, that
is a self-evident and fairly obvious answer, which is the course of patience
and dialogue as a means of overcoming this and other problems.
As to the first question, I hate the answer of that but we have to live
in a real world. It is obvious I think that the conflicts here have deepened
mistrust between a lot of the population in that area and the police service.
Unfortunately, the conflict has caused deep mistrust amongst large parts
of the population and trust isn’t built over night. So, obviously
it is a difficult situation where the police are turning to areas where
there are some elements of the population that don’t completely trust
them and that is exactly why the approach to this, taken by the Government,
supported by us, has to be done in a patient way, in a moderate way and
in a way that builds confidence. That is why the Government has insured
in all cases that the patrols be mixed, why they haven’t gone into
these areas with a large amount of armament, they are just going in regular
uniforms and this is intended to rebuild the trust between them and the
police. So, it is a bit of a long-term process and what you need is continued
progress, things don’t change overnight but you must have progress
over time. There is little doubt, and no one can say that there has not
been progress. It is obvious that there has been a lot of progress.
Question 5: (TV Era) A question to Mr. Jenness. Have you asked
the Interior Ministry and the Government whether the amnesty is being
fully implemented. Don’t you think that this is connected with the
road blockades, having in mid that the Amnesty Law hasn’t been properly
implemented and some people who should have been released are not, and
they are still being maltreated?
Jenness: I am actually glad you asked that question. Of course,
we speak to the Government of which DPA and PDP are a part by the way,
on an almost daily basis concerning the Amnesty Law. In our view, and
I think that is a common international community view, the Amnesty Law
was an extremely positive development and we are generally satisfied with
its progress and its implementation. That is the fair assessment. These
people, the cases in question, they may have concerns on whether the Law
has been applied to them and they may disagree with the assessment that
the law has been completely implemented. People are allowed to disagree.
But you cannot block implementation of the most fundamental document that
this country has seen because of your concerns about one particular case.
This is shortsighted, it is damaging to the cause of the individuals who
are in custody, it causes into question the international community support
on this particular matter. I cannot see any benefit to this action. Including
for the people who are in custody. So fine, they may disagree, but surely
anyone can see the wrong strategy.
Question 6: (Sky Net TV)I have two questions, one for Ambassador
Jenness and one for Ambassador Butler. Ambassador Butler, you are the
US representative here, and US is also the leading NATO nation, how does
your country plan to respond to the persistent pressure from the Kosovo
local authorities for reviewing the Border Agreement between Macedonia
and Yugoslavia? The question for Mr. Jenness, is that we keep talking
about the problems in Tetovo area, but there are also problems in the
Kumanovo area. The local population asks for the police checkpoints from
there to be removed and if this does not happen, they threaten to block
the police redeployment process, so, what is the OSCE position on this
and would you do anything to calm these obviously emotional outbursts?
Butler: Taking the border question, several months ago, when this
first came up, we said, and our position has not changed since, after
the UN Security Council Presidential Statement of 1999 calling to all
parties to respect the border agreement, the US supported the statement
at that time and our position has not changed since then. I am very happy
to have learnt since I have been back that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
of Macedonia has already had several meetings with their counterparts
in Belgrade on the mixed border commission. The fact that there may be
specific issues related to your border with your neighbour at north, does
not make it different from the US and Canada, where we have a border commission,
which is constantly working on everything from border crossing issues
to migratory fishes that swim up and down but we can usually resolve it
without resorting to shooting or declarations of war. At least not since
1830…We encourage all the parties of the Agreement to work practically
to find solutions that matter to the people who have the most direct interest
to it. UNMIK and Mr. Steiner are well engaged with this issue.
Journalist: If I have understood you well, you are appealing to
Macedonia to cooperate with Pristina on this matter?
Butler: No, you have not understood what I have said. The border agreement
has been signed, it has been accepted, it has been internationally recognized.
It has not actually been implemented and that is what the mixed commissions
are working on. They have already met twice, maybe three times, so the
work has started and I think we need to let them finish their work.
Jenness: As to my question, I am no history major but I think that
the last war fought between our countries was in 1812 and I think Canada
won as a matter of fact. Since then, we have only beaten them in hockey
and that is about it…
Butler: Congratulations on that by the way…
Jenness: Thank you. So, anyway , the second question is interesting,
it is an interesting problem. Of course, as you said, we have many challenges
in many places and this is one of them. The issue there is that a number
of positions of the Macedonian military that are inside the borders of
this country appear to be on locations that are aimed at internal questions
rather than questions related at the security of the border. The one specifically
referred to is in Slupcane where there is quite substantial military positions
with two tanks that are pointed downwards to the village of Semsevo which,
the last time I checked, contains citizens of this country.
Journalist: You said Semsevo, and it is actually Slupcane
Jenness: sorry, it is my mistake. So, again, we have to leave in
a real world, we understand that there is a history here, but what we
have recommended to the Government of this case is that maybe the moment
is upon us to consider that maybe these positions are not in the best
interests of unity of the country. At least not in the present configurations
and that I thin is a legitimate concern of the community in Slupcane,
that they feel uncomfortable with tanks and guns down at their village.
They may be at legitimate positions but perhaps the moment now is to change
the configuration a little bit and what we are doing in this case as in
others is helping facilitate dialogue between the army and the local community
to allow them to discuss their concerns and we are hoping that they will
find a resolution whereby the local community can feel a little bit more
comfortable without having to feel security concerns, and that is the
approach that we are taking. I mean the point is that if this country
is moving towards normalization and you are telling investors that things
are returning to normal, and you are encouraging communities to move freely
and become loyal citizens of a united country, maybe, the configuration
of some of these military positions is not going to assist in that process.
So, we are encouraging a gradual approach, where military positions are
replaced by police and regular policing activities, which I think is in
everyone’s interest.
Ratcliff: One other thing, what is a rare comment apparently today
from me, is that the US is one of 19 member-nations that comprise NATO.
They are not the leading nation, they are one of the team, and I have
to stress that. Although we all appreciate the US involvement and integration
in the community, they are one of 19 nations and every nation has the
right and privilege to come on stage and to represent NATO.
Question 7: (MTV- Albanian) I want to go back to the message you
sent to the organizers of the road blockades. You told them to remove
the blockades however, I want your advice, what if they remove their blockades,
to whom should they address in order to solve their concerns and when?
Jenness: Like in every country, the concerns need to be addressed
through the legitimate organs of the state, those can be judicial, legislative
or executive. I am not going to give them an advice on how to best articulate
their concerns, but what we are doing is giving them advice on how not
to articulate their concerns.
Guzelova: We have been advising people on the field who have specific
questions about amnesty and want to know whether the amnesty law will
apply to them and whether it applies to them specifically as individuals,
to just get a lawyer.
Question 8: I want to go back to Ambassador Butler’s answer
regarding the radicalisation of the Albanian block. What I mean by radicalisation
is first of all the stepping put of DPA from the Coordinative Council
of Albanians, secondly, the not very gentle messages that the parties
exchanged, accusing each other of speculations, corruption , crime and
so on, thirdly, the dangerous messages that the so-called NLA commanders
are sending to people from the Albanian party block. Do you think that
this is all for the forthcoming elections, having in mind that they re
not planned for too soon?
Butler: I don’t have the opportunity of seating in party councils
to give you a very direct answer as to what is going on within the Albania
parties, which is I think the focus of your question. The US and all 19
states of NATO and the 54 members of the OSCE believe in democratic pluralism.
I think that some of what we see, whether the DPA participated yesterday
in the Coordinative Council or not, indicates that they probably have
some significant political differences among them. That can only benefit
the citizens of Macedonia who are offered more choices when it comes to
elections.
Ratcliff: I think that what we are going to do is one more question,
based on time constraints…
Question 9: (TV Era) A question for the US Ambassador. Referring
back to one of your previous questions, you said that the US Government
was willing to take appropriate measures against the roadblocks. Does
this mean that the US government will put blockades on other roads? Having
in mind that this is a case of road blockades only…As it is for the
shootings, there are shootings everywhere, even in Veles, so do you know
who is shooting there? So, a question for Mr. Jenness and Ms. Guzelova,
how many monitors do you intend to send for the monitoring of the elections,
has that issue been decided?
Jenness: The last question, ODIHR will be leading the monitoring
effort as you are aware. The final decisions have not been made on the
numbers yet but ODIHR’s plan will reflect the wishes of the Government.
There will not be monitors at every election polls but it is important
to ensure appropriate monitoring.
Ratcliff: As far as the first part, it is not about US action,
it would be an international community action, and that will be discussed
after we see how the people who these comments are addressed to will respond.
Journalist: So what, more streets will be blocked?
Butler: A collective goal of the IC, which includes the US as an
equal partner, is to remove the blockades and to facilitate dialogue,
because we want everybody to succeed. There has been a lot of progress
accomplished since last year and we want to see that continue.
Ratcliff: This is the end of this press conference, thank you
for attending, if you have any more question, please come to the stage…
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