(30/01/06) RUGOVA DIES, KOSOVARS MOURN, STATUS TALKS IMPACT UNCERTAIN. (Balkan Watch)

• 2006-01-31
• Europa in de wereld

RUGOVA DIES, KOSOVARS MOURN, STATUS TALKS IMPACT UNCERTAIN. Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova died of lung cancer on January 21 at the age of 61. The UN envoy for Kosovo final status talks, Martti Ahtisaari, announced that a preliminary meeting scheduled for January 25 in Vienna would be postponed until February. In the interim, parliament speaker Nexhat Daci will take Rugova’s place at the talks. Rugova was long an advocate for an independent Kosovo, discouraging the use of violence to attain independence. This led many to nickname him “Kosovo’s Gandhi.” Daci also described Rugova as the most influential person in Kosovo’s recent history. UNMIK chief Soren Jessen-Petersen urged unity among the Kosovars after Rugova’s death. Serbian President Boris Tadic expressed hope that Rugova’s death would not hinder attempts to bring peace to the Balkans and not diminish EU accession efforts undertaken by many people in the region. President Tadic asked to attend Rugova’s funeral in Pristina, to honor the leader of the Kosovo Albanians. Tadic, however, continued to reiterate his position that Kosovo was a part of Serbia, angering many Albanians and leading Rugova’s family to request that Tadic not attend the funeral, noting that his presence would be inappropriate. Tadic continued to express his disappointment at not being able to attend the funeral, claiming that it could have been an opportunity to begin a process between Serbs and Albanians in which members of each group would more readily accept each other.



Other international figures weighed in on Rugova’s death, including UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. In Washington, Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns praised Rugova’s work for not espousing violence and encouraged officials in Kosovo to continue their work to promote cooperation and peace. Secretary for Housing and Urban Development Alphonso Jackson was selected to represent the US at Rugova’s funeral. Burns was scheduled to attend a meeting with other members of the Kosovo Contact Group—France, Great Britain, Russia, Germany, and Italy—in London.

Many Kosovo Serbs, however, remained skeptical about their future in Kosovo after Rugova’s death. Sandra Raskovic-Ivic, Serbian government representative in Kosovo, warned that other Kosovo Albanian leaders did not entirely share Rugova’s commitment to peace and non-violence. Rugova’s political party, the Democratic League of Kosovo, is reportedly suffering from divisions that Rugova’s death might exacerbate.