February 1, 2000
Web posted at: 1:44 p.m. EDT

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CNN/FN: Davos Report World Economic Forum Netscape CNN Special Section: Kosovo

(CNN) -- United Nations Special Envoy to the Balkans Carl Bildt, joined CNN.com as part of the CNN/Netscape series of chats from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Bildt participated in the chat by telephone from Davos on February 1, 2000, and CNN.com provided a typist. The following is an edited transcript of the chat.

Chat Moderator: Welcome Carl Bildt!

Carl Bildt: Hello to the audience all over the world.

Chat Moderator: What do you see as the greatest challenge facing the peace keeping efforts in Kosovo?

Carl Bildt: The ethnic hatred that is still there. Accordingly the problems that we have in protecting the minorities and building a truly multi-ethnic society. If we fail in this, we will have a much more difficult time securing peace in the overall region of the Balkans.

Chat Moderator: Did the international community learn from the conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina when challenged by the situation in Kosovo?

Carl Bildt: No. I don't think we learned enough. > What we should have learned would have been the necessity for political initiatives to prevent a war and I believe that we should have been far more active on the Kosovo issue in 1996 and 1997 before it started to deteriorate. But then the issue was not the focus of attention.

Question from MrPumpernickel: What states in the Balkans are closest to achieving a EU or NATO membership, do you think?

Carl Bildt: Romania and Bulgaria have been invited to open membership negotiations with the European Union starting in mid February. I think this is a signal of great importance for the stability of the region, and it also shows the other countries the world ahead if they are ready to undertake the democratic and economic reforms necessary.

Question from fredrik: What is the most likely status for Kosovo as a region in the future?

Carl Bildt: The UN Security Counsel has agreed that Kosovo should remain a part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. I personally believe that there is no future for any sort of Kosovo being part of Serbia any longer. The question, if it will be possible to reform Yugoslavia so that a democratic Kosovo, a democratic Montenegro and a democratic Serbia can coexist in some form, is still very much open.

Question from Johan: Is there, in your opinion, still a risk for war in the Balkan countries?

Carl Bildt: Yes, definitely. The forces of disintegration are still far stronger than the forces of integration. And we know from bitter and bloody experience, that any moves towards separation and disintegration normally leads to new conflicts and wars. I believe we have to be very much on our guards concerning the risks for conflict this year and the years to come.

Question from Ufstudent: What was your immediate reaction to NATO's decision to start the air to ground strikes?

Carl Bildt: My immediate reaction was great concern for what would happen to the unprotected people of Kosovo facing the reprisals and the actions of the Serb forces. And I also feared a massive wave of refugees both out of Kosovo and in the province itself. I feared that we were heading for an even worse humanitarian catastrophe in the weeks and months to come.

Question from David: Why isn't the UN doing more about the war in Russia-Chechnya?

Carl Bildt: The Secretary General, Kofi Annan, has just returned from talks in Moscow on this issue, having urged the Russian leaders to seek a political solution and expressed the deep concerns of the international community over the suffering of all of the peoples affected by the savage fighting. I would very much hope that the leaders of Russia will see that further military actions only risks aggravating the long term tensions in the Caucasus.

Question from CARLZZON: How long will it take for the Kosovo people to recover from the war ?

Carl Bildt: I think it will take a long time. Those people who have lost their dear ones will perhaps never recover fully. With significant international aid, I would hope that we can bring a better Kosovo economy back within the next few years, but we must remember that Kosovo was always a relatively poor place which had difficulties supporting it's rapidly growing population.

Question from Magnus: What can the European Union do to develop the peace in Kosovo?

Carl Bildt: Short term, the European Union is providing most of the finances for the reconstruction efforts. But I believe its long-term role is even more significant. Most, if not all people in the Balkans, want to be part of normal countries that are members of the European Union as most other European countries are and we must be ready to provide them with the road map for the future which leads them from the Balkanization of the past to the Europeanization of the future.

Question from jbgroove: In how many years do you think it's possible for Bosnia to become a "normal" democracy?

Carl Bildt: That's very much up to the elected leaders of Bosnia. I am disappointed that they have not done more to reform their country in the last few years. I think they themselves must understand that it's their actions that can build a better Bosnia, never the intervention of the international community.

Question from Lundastudenten: What about the refuges in the area? What is going to happen to them?

Carl Bildt: I think it is extremely important that those who want to go back also have the possibility of doing that. In Kosovo since the summer, 800,000 refugees have come back, but at the same time perhaps 200,000 have been forced to leave. I am very much concerned that we today have approximately 700,000 refugees in Serbia from the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo. This is a threat to the long-term democratic potential of Serbia. I am also concerned that many people in Bosnia have not been able to go back. And I am concerned that the previous government in Croatia, to a very large extent, prevented primarily Serbs from going back to their old homes. This is a key issue for the future stability of the region.

Question from Jonas: Is it a future goal according to you that President Milosevic will be facing trial in the Hague and no longer be president?

Carl Bildt: Absolutely. He has been indicted by the tribunal. He should go to the Hague, where he will also begin the opportunity to defend himself. But he cannot defy the law of the international community, and I am convinced that sooner or later he will have to go to the Hague.

Chat Moderator: When, if ever, can the international presence in Kosovo end?

Carl Bildt: I believe the UN mission will have to go on for a very long time. But it will change. Already this year, the purely humanitarian effort will diminish. Reconstruction will be more important. We will also pave the way for local elections. The total costs remains to be seen, but we are certainly talking about overall costs for the international community in the order of several billion dollars or Euros. It has to be said that the cost of the peace operation is only the costs of a couple of days of the bombing campaign.

Question from Arne: What do you think about the situation in Austria?

Carl Bildt: It is extremely complicated, but essentially up to the Austrians to solve in accordance with their longstanding democratic traditions. I do not doubt that the politicians of Austria that I know are fully committed to all of the values and principles of the European Union. And I do not think it is wise to make moves that risks further strengthening the position of politicians of the right or of the left.

Question from Ufstudent: What do you believe UN's purpose will be in 50 years? Is it a stronger or weaker organization?

Carl Bildt: We certainly need a strong United Nations. We are faced with more and more issues that are truly global in nature. Here in Davos, we have been discussing everything from the global governance of the internet of the future, over the needs to provide vaccines to the children in the poorest countries of the world, to the necessity of working together closer for peace in places like Kosovo, Congo or East Timor. All of these issues require a strong and vital brain work in the form of the United Nations. The alternative is global anarchy, and we would all suffer as a result.

Question from Miez: Do you think the Davos meeting has been or will be useful to you?

Carl Bildt: For me it's been a very useful meeting. Not only have I been able to talk with friends from the Balkan countries, I've also been able to explain the importance of and the difficulties with the tasks that we are undertaking in that part of the world. Apart from that, I've also been active in the discussions on the future of their Internet world. My role has been as a co-rapporteur of this year's meeting together with Senator John Kerry from Massachusetts in the United States. Together, we have been leading the discussions here between the senior political representatives and some of the senior CEO's represented here in Davos.

Chat Moderator: Thank you Carl Bildt for joining us today.

Carl Bildt: Goodbye, the sun has just set over the Alps after a magnificent day.