Thursday January 25, 2001.

Rasim Ljajic, Federal Minister of National and Ethnic groups

It takes a lot for hatred to disappear

Rasim Ljajic

During the rule of Milosevic, Rasim Ljajic was called Rajko Kljajic by his mates from the then opposition Union of Democratic parties, ("north of Kragujevac" at the time), as a "preventive" joke. Today, Rasim Ljajic is the Yugoslav Government Minister of National and Ethnic Groups.

FS: Federal Government proposed recently the Amnesty Law. Some people expected it to include Albanians who are kept in prisons throughout Serbia without any charges. Does the Federal Government have a solution for this problem?

There are some 600 Albanians in Serbian prisons, 200 of whom will be included by this law. Come cases will also be revised, since we perceived irregularities in the course of investigation. I believe that these are the steps, though not as great and quick as some might expect, leading towards the solution of problems concerning Albanian political prisoners in Serbian jails. I think that the Republic Government will soon propose their Amnesty Law, for the Federal Government passed the law on the offences under the Federal administration jurisdiction. That is also another step towards a definite solution of that problem.

FS: Are the Albanian prisoners kept for a future exchange based upon "all for all" principle?

No, that's not the idea. We simply want to stay in accordance with the legislative regulations and this is the way of doing it. It wouldn't be logical for the amnesty to include those accused of heaviest offences, such as terrorism, although there are trials that have been quite illegal and need to be revised.

On the other hand, we are insisting that, in cooperation with the international organizations, all people who disappeared from Kosovo should be released, and that we obtain information about what had happened to them from the international council. Couple of times we tried to go to Kosovo. Unfortunately, we failed, but we are still making efforts in that direction. It is no longer a matter of high politics, but simply of human faiths, of a humanitarian mission that would come to an aid to the families of people missing from Kosovo. We would at least have a clear conscience, should we give some information on what had happened to those people, however unpleasant it might be.

FS: Rasim Ljajic, President of Sandzak Coallition, could go to Kosovo after the war. Now it seems to be a problem for Rasim Ljajic, Minister of National and Ethnic groups, to go to Kosovo.

As Rasim Ljajic I can still go to Kosovo. I am one of the few people who can travel and speak openly in Kosovo, in Montenegro, Bosnia and here in Serbia or Belgrade. I am proud that my attitudes have never been an insult to one's national, religious or political feelings, for they have always been close to democratic thought, trying to bring the whole thing back to a normal political routine. Those attitudes respect the differences among people, but they are a frame allowing people of different faiths, races or religions to live together. That is the political idea I believe in, and I have always supported those who were under threats or endangered and clearly raised my voice against such cases, no matter who the victims or the executioners were.

FS: It cannot be said that the crisis in south Serbia is facing its end. You are a member and Vice President of Coordination body of Federal and Republic governments. How far did you go with the solution of the crisis, apart from propagating a diplomatic solution and opening the Bujanovac press centre?

First of all I'd like to say that we, as a state, have a completely different standpoint from the standpoint of the previous regime in similar situations. I can suppose what Milosevic's reactions would be, were he in our place. We'd most probably have a full crisis already, a brutal intervention as before. World media would show a humanitarian disaster, processions of refuges leaving the area and a good chance not only for new sanctions, but also for the use of more brutal means by the International Council against Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

We have turned the things the other way round and decided to look for a peaceful political solution, however unwelcome it was in Serbian public eye. You know that we have been accused of irresolution and slowness when solving the problem. On the other hand, that brought us international sympathy and for the first time we weren't on the wrong side, as used to be presented by the International Council during the whole Yugoslav crisis.

We are striving to find a possibility for the Albanians to participate in Bujanovac Community local rule, to make part of organs of justice and of local police. The former policemen of Albanian nationality are publicly invited to go back to work and the new ones are invited to join in, thus balancing the structure of the operative police force.

On the other hand, we want to bring the whole thing back to the field of economy, for where economy stops starts nationalism, almost as a rule. Only last week have we put 31 million dinars on the Presevo Community bank account, while the year budget for this community is 10 million dinars. The US Government Agency for International Development (USAID) is also ready to, with our help, make investments in numerous projects for building of communal infrastructure, roads, sewer system, and telephone network… In other words, we wish to add to the economic revitalization of the region, now in a very poor economic condition. There are villages with 3-4 thousands inhabitants, 90% of whom have no water supply. Representatives of these villages, both Serbs and Albanians, speak the same language when complaining about their problems. There are no differences there. Roads, water supplies, electricity are common for both Serbs and Albanians. They all use them. This is how we try to amortize the national antagonisms that brought to the whole today's situation, to the high level of mistrust that can be called hatred in some of its segments, whether we want to admit it or not.

It will take us a great effort and seriously planned political projects to find channels where this hatred can be drained from the whole region where we live.

We have a very good and concrete cooperation with KFOR. We want them to be a part of everything as well. They are partly responsible for what had happened, for it was them who allowed the armed extremists to enter the buffer zone. They should set right their mistakes and, naturally, we should together see what we could do to get things back to normal.

FS: Why did you miss the chance to involve the Albanian representatives in the coordination body?

They could not be included for it is the body of Federal and Republic Governments. But we have a permanent communication with Albanian political representatives and representatives of the Board for Human Rights. They are filing their reports daily, objecting to the behaviour of the army, police and other state organs. We react within 24 hours, informing them what we have done concerning these issues. Let me remind you that 22 policemen were suspended because they had misused their official position, and we will continue to be rigorous there. We want to show that this state has the same approach towards everyone. All sorts of illegal operations were performed down there in the South. It is the territory suitable for the growth of all sorts of criminal, corruption, smuggling and all sides did it lavishly. Neither smuggling nor black market knows for national borders. The Serbs and Albanians have often done deals together, in cooperation with a certain number of police members. We want to put an end to it, to return to the sphere of legality.

FS: Like many other officials of the new Government, you are standing for the narrowing of the buffer zone. To what extent is it realistic to expect the International Council to agree with it?

Narrowing of the buffer zone is one of the elements for the long-term solution of the crisis in south Serbia. The buffer zone, supposed to be demilitarised area separating two sides, is now meaningless. After the changes in Serbia, KFOR and Yugoslav Army are no longer enemies and they cooperate daily. From the formal and legal points of view, there is no need for the zone to exist as it does today. However, it is not realistic to expect changes to take place overnight. International Council keeps suggesting that they have limitless trust in our political structures, especially in Mr. Covic as the representative of coordination body, but not in our army and police. They are saying at all the sessions that we have to be patient and exhaust all our political mechanisms before the decision about narrowing the buffer zone is brought. In short, I don't want to give unrealistic promises and terms when things may happen, but we are certainly speaking about the idea that meets positive reactions with the international representatives.

FS: Rade Markovic resigned. Nebojsa Pavkovic gives the impression that he would try to keep his place of the head of Headquarters. What is your opinion on this matter?

It is my opinion that people who were leaders of the former regime can by no means keep their functions regardless to the role they played on October the 5th. We can be grateful for it, but we cannot trust that the institutions under their lead can undergo reforms. The army has to be reformed, it has to undergo considerable changes, not only the men, but the very essence of it has to be changed, for, as I have already said, neither the army nor the police inspire trust with the international authorities, which is specially important. It is our great handicap in the situation in south Serbia and I have been convinced of it at least ten times in conversations with the International Council representatives.

FS: Do the reforms include the replacement of the head of Headquarters?

I believe they do.

FS: It might be too early to talk about new elections, but one of the things DOS have promised was calling early elections after ousting Milosevic's regime. How can the problem of parliamentary representation of ethnic minorities be solved? Is the census going to be reduced or are some special minority lists going to be formed?

The Ministry team of experts are working out several models. We are considering every one of them and they will all be publicly discussed. We want to hear opinions of the minorities. There are many versions, formation of a special minority list, like it was done in Croatia, or the census for the minorities would be reduced to, let's say 1%. We will see which model is most suitable for our country for we are in a specific situation. No European state has so many national minorities or such percentage of minorities and we have to find way for them to actively participate in the political life of the country.

FS: Serbian Renewal Movement was erased from the political scene. Serbian Radical Party and the Socialist Party of Serbia are much weaker than they used to be. Is this the end of turbulence on Serbian political scene?

No, that is not the end. The latest elections gave us another warning signal, when the Party of Serbian Unity managed to enter the Parliament. That is a party that, in my opinion, should be prohibited because of propagating national, racial and religious hatred over the years and during the last election campaign. There are still a considerable number of people giving their votes to such parties, for the Party of Serbian Unity together with the Radical Party won 15% of votes, which cannot be neglected. Until this percentage is reduced to 7 or 8 we have to work very hard in order to neutralize and suppress the influence of such parties.

FS: The Federal Bureau for Statistics listing material for the April registration does not include the category of "Bosniac". You disagreed publicly with this solution. Was your complaint accepted?

The procedure has not finished yet. I talked with President Kostunica and he said that he did not mind. It would be logical to come out with a satisfactory solution.

FS: Will someone who feels an Aborigine be entitled to say so?

Let's not ridicule and make things banal. The fact is that some 200,000 people of this country would say they are Bosniacs and should there be no "Bosniac" option in the questionnaire they would say they are "other", so the whole registration would not be valid. A whole large national group would stay unregistered. I don't know any Aborigines in this country. As far as I am concerned, they can be Eskimo's just as well, but let's go back to the domain of reality. We cannot make Aborigines or Eskimo's equal with Bosniacs who are forming 3,2% of Yugoslav citizens body according to the last registration. The fact is that 95 % of 327,000 of them would claim themselves to be Bosniacs.

Boris Milicevic

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