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Mitrovica Debate Breaks the Mould

Mitrovica

26 04 2006  Over 40 Albanians and Serbs from the volatile town of Mitrovica in northern Kosovo took part in an unprecedented BIRN-organised debate on April 26 at the local headquarters of the UN Mission in Kosovo, located close to the bridge that divides the two communities.

The televised debate - which will be broadcast by B92 TV in Serbia and RTK - was the first time that Serb and Albanian politicians have taken part in a public forum involving members of the town's divided communities.

Mitrovica, 50 kilometres north of the Pristina capital, is a divided town - Serbs and Albanians live respectively north and south of the Ibar/Iber river which runs through the centre. Inter-ethnic violence has flared up here often since Serbian troops were forced out of the entity in 1999.

The debate, moderated by Jeta Xharra, BIRN Kosovo Director, lasted for two hours, but continued even after the cameras were switched off, with politicians fielding a flood of questions from participants.

The main speakers at the forum included politicians, sportsmen and musicians such as Nebojsa Jovic, of the Serbian National Council, SNC; Bajram Rexhepi, of the Democratic Party of Kosovo and former Kosovo prime minister; Miomir Dasic, the trainer of the BAMBI basketball team; Taip Kabashi, the trainer of the TREPCA handball team; Edon Ramadani, a Kosovo Albanian musician from the band Marigona; and Miodrag Radovic, a musician from the group Lazy.

The main area of concern for attendees was the limited freedom of movement for both ethnic communities.

Dasic provoked a degree of controversy when he said that he didn't care about the outcome of the Kosovo final status talks, as he was only interested in sport, playing Albanian teams and visiting Albanian colleagues.

"Let me be clear, I am not here representing the Serbian community or the Serbian position...I am here only representing myself and my basketball team, that is all I care about," said Dasic sparking boos from SNC members in the audience.

Although the majority of questions were put to politicians, Albanian and Serbian musicians spoke of their fears of playing in areas where their respective communities were no longer living.

Miodrag Radovic, Lazy's drummer, said he still does not feel safe play in the Kosovo capital.

"Fear is real and much more time would have to pass and some other things to occur before I would feel secure to come and play a gig in Pristina," he said.

Hakif Mehmeti, an Albanian from the southern part of town, said that he was delighted with the debate, especially because the media normally only showed an interest in Mitrovica when violence breaks out.

"I, as a Mitrovica citizen, got the chance for first time in last seven years to talk to a representative of the Serbian National Council and openly ask him when his people will give Albanians unrestricted freedom of movement in the north," he said.

"This is first time members of the Serbian National Council and an Albanian politician have sat down together, and this gives me hope of a solution for this town."

Petar Miletic, of the newly founded Serbian political party Independent Liberals, said that he enjoyed the debate, but pointed out that there were tensions all the way through.

Vladete Idrizi, an Albanian from the north who works with the non-governmental organisation Community Building Mitrovica and helped to arrange the debate, said such events were necessary if there's to be progress in the town.

"I see this debate as a first step only and I believe that when this is shown on RTK, it will have a lot of impact in Kosovo. People should realise that seven years of division are behind us and that we should move forward," Valdete said.

The debate will be broadcast on B92 on April 30 at 20:00 and on May 3 at 22:00 on RTK.

This event would not have been possible without the help of UN HQ in Mitrovica, Community Building Mitrovica who organised the guests from both sides of the bridge and, in particular, the International Crisis Group who helped to persuade politicians from the north to engage in the discussion with Albanians.

BIRN would personally like to thank Gerard Gallucci and Georgy Kakuk from UNMIK, Valdete Idrizi and Ivana Lazarevic from Communtiy Building Mitrovica and Senad Sabovic from the International Crisis Group

This event was part of a BIRN Serbia minority training and reporting project, financed by the British Embassy in Belgrade, and BIRN Kosovo current affairs TV debates, financed by Balkan Trust for Democracy, Foundation for Democratic Initiative, IREX and USAID.