Transcript of the PRESS CONFERENCE of EU, NATO and OSCE held on 9 July 2003
NATO
9 July 2003
Statement of EU Spokesperson Irena Guzelova:
Good morning, sorry for being late this morning, I will turn it over
to my colleagues, because I know that my colleagues have a couple of
things to say.
Statement of NATO Spokesperson Kjell Odegard:
Good morning from NATO. We have a short statement here. I thought
this was the last press conference before the summer, so I prepared one
but as I understand there will be one more, but Irena will take care of
this. OK, as part of the Integrated Border Security Management
Process, the Senior Military Representative in Macedonia, Major General
Del Manzano, has completed his visits to the different border brigade
posts. At the end of June, the Commander visited the posts of Tanusevci
and Kodra Fura. One week ago he accomplished his trips by visiting the
border brigade in Kumanovo. His aim for these visits was to familiarize
with the border operations by receiving briefings from the different
commanders on challenges they have with the conduct of their
responsibilities along the borders. The Commander has been provided
detailed briefings on a lot of topics regarding their operations and he
has also been given key information on issues like smuggling operations
and illegal border crossings. These different visits have been of great
mutual importance, and especially for Major General Del Manzano it has
been of great interest to get information from the grass roots level.
Also these meetings have been of importance when it comes to exchange of
ideas and opinions on future border management and the transition from
the military to the police control of the borders. Commander Del Manzano
is very pleased with the visit in general, he is impressed with the
dedication of the border brigades and the conduct of their missions
despite many difficulties with manning, money and logistics.
Border security is a difficult process for any country, but especially
difficult along porous unmarked border. Commander Del Manzano wished to
commend the border brigade for its service and its dedication. Overall,
the briefings and visits were conducted in an atmosphere of transparency
and cooperation and willingness to find solutions for current and future
challenges in border security and management, and my Commander and the
Border Brigade Commander are very satisfied with the results of this
process. And that concludes my statement, thank you.
Statement of EUFOR Spokesperson Philippe Soulie:
Nothing to report, good morning first, nothing special to report this
week. Only an information. Concordia opened a web page which is linked to
the delegation web site. There you will find basic information concerning
missions, strength, equipment, deployment, but also an agenda and a few
media opportunities for the coming weeks. That is all from me.
Statement of OSCE Spokesperson Harald Schenker:
Good morning. Sorry for being late but technicalities.I do have a
statement on something that may sound like old news for you.
Nevertheless, we think that it is important and this is related to the
results of the Ministry of Interior Commission working on the Sopot
issue. So, I will read it out, I will be very slow, we will have
hopefully by the end of the press conference the translations brought
here. The OSCE Mission was pleased to participate in the work of the
Commission of Inquiry formed by the Minister of Interior to report to him
on the circumstances surrounding the house searches in the village of
Sopot on 26 May. The overall assessment of the OSCE experts is that the
Commission, which was ably chaired by Mr. Aziz Shaqiri, and was
multi-ethnic in nature, conducted itself in a professional, competent and
unbiased manner. The OSCE Mission associates itself to the overall
findings of the Commission, which were presented to the public on 2 July,
and which can be generally summarized as follows: The action was carried
out in furtherance of police investigations into the mine attack
involving a NATO vehicle which killed four persons near Sopot in March
this year. The Commission found that that the action was initiated
on the basis of orders from the relevant court in Kumanovo. The
Commission determined that police conducting the searches were from a
single ethnicity and did not include female officers, despite the fact
the searches involved interaction with woman and children. The Commission
determined that searches in the premises of three families were on the
basis of court orders. However, the searches conducted in two other
homes one of which was on the same property appear to have
taken place without a court order. The Commission concluded that two of
the homes were entered without force. Three homes were entered using
force, resulting in minor damage to the door and door frames. However the
Commission concluded that the force used was not excessive and the damage
was not extensive. The Commission found that some of the searches
conducted within the premises, could, and should, have been carried out
in a more competent and professional manner. This lead to
unnecessary property damage, and possible omissions in the provision of
documents and receipts for personal items seized by police for
evidentiary purposes. The Commission concluded that there was no
persuasive evidence of excessive use of force against any person.
Three persons were injured in the action, for which there is medical
documentation, and the injuries were characterized as "minimal and
possible" in these types of circumstances. The Commission expressed
concern that the detention of two citizens from Sopot may not have been
strictly in accordance with legal procedures. They expressed particular
concern regarding detention without charge beyond the legal time limits,
and an apparent inability to access a lawyer and notify family
members. The Commission did not report on any evidence of physical
or psychological maltreatment. The Commission generally received full and
open cooperation within the Ministry, with other state organs, and from
the citizens involved. However, the Commission characterized the
cooperation of the Department for Security and Counterintelligence (DBK)
as insufficient, particularly in the early stages of the
investigation. The OSCE Mission supports the immediate action taken
by the Minister of Interior to investigate allegations of police
irregularities, to accept the findings of the Commission and to take
measures to address its concerns. In particular, it welcomes orders
to ensure multi-ethnicity and female officers in similar actions, and
steps to ensure any legal or procedural irregularities are remedied in
this case and prevented in the future. Police operations especially
those designed to deal with serious crimes - can be difficult and
controversial because of their very nature. Public trust and
confidence demands the highest standards of police conduct, full
cooperation between law enforcement agencies and citizens, and
responsible and accurate reporting by media and interest groups. This
inquiry and the implementation of the recommendations -
demonstrates an important commitment to accountability and transparency,
and to working with all communities to avoid future misunderstandings.
End of text.
Guzelova: Questions?
Question 1: (Dnevnik) A question for Harald. Since as you said
this was old information, I would like to ask whether you have some new
information regarding Tanusevci and the blockades there, since as we
heard, you had teams present there.
Schenker: Yes indeed, we did have teams present as well as
Concordia did and the EUMM. Basically what happened there is publicly
known, it was reported in the media, the blockade went on, as far as our
information are concerned, we were talking about some 20-25 people there,
and intervention from politicians and officials did not manage to
persuade them to lift the block. These are the facts. As you know, there
have been roadblocks and demonstrations on the other side of the border
as well. As far as we are concerned, I guess we support the effort of the
Government to open this border crossing. This was done upon the request
of the villagers. And at the end, it is a local problem.
Journalist: Since you are on the terrain all the time in
the so-called former crisis regions, I would like to additionally ask
whether representatives of your teams spoke to the villagers and tried to
persuade them to lift the blockades?
Schenker: Yes of course as you said, our teams are quite
frequently in hat area as well, we are in constant and pretty good
contact with the villagers in all these villages in the border
area. We know what their problems are, we now what their requests
are, we are at the same time in contact with the authorities of this
country about these issues. We report them in our reporting, i.e. through
our reporting channels, and of course one of our interests is, what in
the OSCE language is called rule of law. Which means, that
roadblocks are not an appropriate way to achieve anything.
Journalist: Did you try to persuade the residents of
Tanusevci to lift the blockades?
Schenker: Look, this is part of a concentrated effort if
you want. Yes, we were talking to them, we were trying to get them to the
point that a roadblock there does not make much sense. But the again, it
is their decision.
Guzelova: And to support what Harald was saying, I mean
ultimately I think we have expressed full support for the Government's
initiative to open this border crossing. And the initiative to open the
crossing was a direct response to the demands of the local residents and
the Government, the Ministry of Interior, various elements of the
international community have worked very hard to respond to the calls of
the local residents and open this crossing.
Question 2: (Sitel TV) OK, I will simplify this question, first
for Irena and then for Harald. Will you go there today and try to
persuade them to lift the blockades?
Guzelova: Work is ongoing, I mean the OSCE monitors, EUMM
monitors, Concordia are on the terrain, that is part of their job.
Schenker: To make it clear, as an answer to your question,
no, we are not negotiating any solutions there. The solution is there
with the opening of the border crossing, if they want to use it, and I
really want to underline once more it is a local problem, let's not blow
it out of context. It is a border crossing that is meant for the local
villagers up there and for nobody else.
Question 3: (Makfax) I am sorry, I have to remind you that this
local problem started to be an ethnic conflict in 2001. So, the problem
is, do you find it absurd that the people demand to open a border
crossing and then they are protesting against that. Do you find any
relations in what is going on the Kosovo side, with Debalde, together
with Tanusevci? The question is both for the EU and the OSCE.
Guzelova: I think the local residents are confusing the
issue of border demarcation and a simple border crossing. And the issue
of a local border crossing, is as Harald said a local matter.
Schenker: Yes, I support that of course. Of course there is
a connection, of course the problem is on both sides of the border but
they seem different to me. The motivation seems different but whatever,
it is not up to me to comment that and it is certainly not up to the OSCE
to finds something absurd or not, I may have my private opinion but that
is not up to this forum. We are observing the facts, we are trying
to deal with them or report about them and that is it, I mean, as far as
we are concerned, the solution is there.
Guzelova: And the solution is the border crossing, the
Government has offered the solution.
Journalist: Do you think that there is any kind of
political motivation or background to the protests, bearing in mind that
there is a coordinated action on both sides of the border?
Schenker: Obviously there is a communication. About
the political motivation of it, I do not want to speculate. As I said,
the solution has been presented, whether it is an ideal solution or not
is not up to us to discuss again here in this forum. There is a solution,
it seems not to be accepted by the villagers, oh well.
Question 4: (Makfax) Harald, this is going to be a question for
you. Why do you appear one week later with the findings of what the
Ministry of Interior had announced on the Sopot inquiry?
Schenker: I guess the appropriate answer would be that the
last press conference took place before the Ministry of Interior's press
conference, so it would have been unprofessional.
Question 5: (Utrinski Vesnik) Harald, you said that there is
communication but that you would not speculate about political motives,
so what kind of motives would you be speaking of when having in mind that
all day yesterday the 20-35 people there and on the other side could not
have been convinced to lift the blockades.
Schenker: I guess you will have to ask them why. I got your
question. They explained what their motivation is. I guess if you want to
find out if there is any political background to that you will have to
ask them.
Guzelova: There are two separate issues. One is the border
crossing and the other is border demarcation for which there is a clear
agreement with the UN.
Question 6: (MTV-3) Could I have your comment on the talks between
the political parties regarding the territorial division of Macedonia,
bearing in mind that there were meetings between the Albanian parties and
the Macedonian parties?
Guzelova: I think everyone is very pleased that there is
an open public debate on the issue of municipal boundaries. And the issue
of decentralization has actually not been much in the headlines but it is
an incredibly important part of the Ohrid Agreement. And the whole
issue of decentralization was very important for the various parties that
signed the Framework Agreement. The idea that many responsibilities taken
by central Government would devolve and hence be taken in an environment
which is closer to the average person. And clearly, there is a fairly
broad political agreement that the number of municipalities will be
reduced, but their exact component, like where they would be marked and
how they would be amalgamated, this is something for the Government
coalition to decide and then for the other parties as well. But, a public
debate is I would say a positive development, it is much better than
having a so-called fait accompli presented on the table.
Guzelova: OK, that is it.
