Albanians and Serbs Meet for First Time After March Riots

Most of the participants in the meeting of Albanian and Serbs leaders and international representatives were convinced that Serbs had decided to return to Kosova institutions. But Serb representative did not confirm this, saying that they had been expecting better conditions.

Allen Kassof, President of the Project on Ethnic Relations (PER) said he was satisfied with the first meeting of Albanian and Serb representatives after the March riots, organized by the U.S. Office in Prishtina. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the possibility of relaxing interethnic relations in Kosova.

Ibrahim Rugova, head of Democratic League of Kosovo © Radio Netherlands

Kassof said that issues of joint interests and available means for solving issues of concern were discussed at the meeting. Kassoff said that this was the best and most successful meeting he had in Kosova to date. According to Kassof, it is up to political leaders to continue to work on this issue. The hostess of the meeting, Marcie Ries, Chief of the U.S. Office described the meeting to be open and sincere. Ries said that the U.S. supports the dialogue, which is part of the standards.

Fernando Gentilini, Solana's special envoy to Kosova said that interethnic dialogue is the most important thing in order to move the process forward. Ibrahim Rugova, Kosova President said that Kosova Serbs have decided to participate in Kosova institutions and working groups.

Oliver Ivanovic

"I appreciate the Serbs' willingness to come here and discuss issues they consider worthy of being discussed," said Rugova. Kosova Serbs leader, Oliver Ivanovic did not confirm that Serbs would return to Kosova institutions. "We have been expecting from the majority of Albanians to offer us better conditions to return to Kosova institutions, "Ivanovic said. "We do not want to be only a d�cor."

Bajram Rexhepi, PM of Kosova pledged that all houses and clinics that were damaged during the riots would be repaired by September. PDK Chairman, Hashim Thaci said that all leaders expressed their readiness to reach an internal agreement with Kosova Serbs for all problems to be addressed in Prishtina. "Such meetings will take place in the near future, with the support of the U.S. and EU," said Thaci.

This was the first meeting of Kosova Albanian and Serb leaders since the March 17-18 riots, which were considered to be interethnic crime. "Many issues can be solved through this way of communications," PM Rexhepi said. Project on Ethnic Relations (PER) is a U.S. -based non-profit organization whose mission is to encourage the peaceful resolution of ethnic conflicts in the new democracies of Central and Eastern Europe and the Russian Federation.