Kosovo wary of Kostunica

The view from Pristina: Kostunica must "open the hearts of the people"

PRISTINA, Kosovo -- From the streets of Pristina to the United Nations' top official in Kosovo, the message is clear: The election of Vojislav Kostunica as Yugoslavia's new president is not likely to solve the problems faced by the Serbian province.

Kosovo, now under international administration since last year's conflict, is looking for concrete signs that things have changed in Belgrade before they endorse the new leader.

Bernard Kouchner, the head of the United Nations mission in Kosovo, says the lifting of sanctions against Belgrade should be linked to progress in freeing Kosovo Albanians detained or missing in Yugoslavia.

"I don't want the release of all Kosovo Albanian prisoners, no, but a symbolic gesture, yes, that would open the hearts of the people," Kouchner told a news conference after briefing European Union foreign ministers.

"I think that to offer a lifting of the sanctions and, in parallel with that, the release of some prisoners, would be something very important," he said.

Later on Monday, EU ministers announced a lifting of sanctions without any such requirements.

The view of Kouchner, that the new regime would not signal an end to the problems of Kosovo, is echoed by the local people and their ethnic Albanian leaders.

Mehmet, a retired storage worker and Pristina resident says of Kostunica: "He has no importance of any kind for us. Maybe he's important for Serbia, but not for us.

Democratic League of Kosovo leader Ibrahim Rugova

Kostunica has called for a new relationship with Kosovars and hinted he is ready to talk about autonomy, but the Kosovar political leaders have their own agenda.

"No, never autonomy. I don't even use the term anymore," the leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo, Ibrahim Rugova told CNN, indicating the people of Kosovo want to go much further.

"No more new arrangements, just independence."

Kouchner said the ethnic Albanians, who form the overwhelming majority of Kosovo's population, fear any new Western arrangements with Belgrade will scupper their hopes for eventual independence from Yugoslavia.

He sent a warning to Serbia's new regime to tread carefully: "Every Albanian that I meet, moderate or not, wants independence. Therefore, to try to solve the final status of Kosovo now could lead to a new open conflict."

One of the leaders of the militant Democratic Party, which is linked to the former Kosovo Liberation Army, says the past still casts a shadow on the future.

Jakup Krasniqi says the West's enthusiasm for Kostunica is premature.

"We've had bitter experiences from Belgrade," he said. "We want to see concrete changes in the positions from this new regime.

Kouchner told EU ministers: "We need a gesture from the new democratic government."

He said he had informed EU ministers about Kosovo Albanian worries that the resumption of international aid to Serbia proper could divert scarce resources from their province.

"Kosovo remains a society in crisis," he said.

Kouchner said the international community should leave the sensitive issue of Kosovo's final status to one side and continue focusing on the building of civil and political institutions in the war-shattered province.

He said the Kosovo Albanians were highly suspicious of Kostunica, a nationalist who has already made clear that the territory must remain part of Yugoslavia.

"It would be childish to pretend that they have been fighting only against Milosevic," he said.

"They have also been fighting against a regime, against the way in which the two communities (Serb and Albanian) have been unable for centuries to establish a relationship of equality."

The 40,000 allied troops in Kosovo must remain in support of international efforts to give Kosovo a large measure of autonomy within Serbia, he said.

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.

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Kosovo and Metohia - Official Yugoslav Government site
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