change font size

print version

copyright

Other languages:

Life in Kosovo - Interview with Stephen Heintz from Rockefeller Brothers Fund

07 01 2010  Life in Kosovo broadcast an interview with the head of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Stephen Heintz.

Why did their company spend its first 120 years polluting the environment? Why does the company invest so much in protecting the environment today? Why is the Health Insurance Package causing such a row in the US?

Show moderator Jeta Xharra first asked Mr Heintz how the Rockefeller Brotherhood Fund was created.  

John D. Rockefeller created the fund, Mr Heintz said, as he was a very wealthy person and had spent a lot of his earnings on charity.  

John D. Rockefeller started the business at the age of 16, and expanded the company into the oil industry, refinery, and railways, claimed Mr Heintz.  

However, added Mr Heintz, John D. Rockefeller did not give money to individuals who suffered from disease, for example, but funded the scientists to discover the cure.  

Responding to a question on whether John D. Rockefeller had paid income taxes, Mr Heintz said that income tax was applied from 1911, but John D. Rockefeller had already earned a lot of money and had become one of the richest men in the United States by then.

When asked about RBF’s charitable activities in Kosovo, Mr Heintz said: “I have been active in Western Europe for 20 years, since the fall of the Berlin wall, and the democratic movements happening in Central Europe.”  

The fund was there to support the democratic movements, the transition process, and civil society, added Mr Heintz.  

After joining the Foundation in 2001, Mr Heintz was interested in the development of the Western Balkan.

In fact, Mr Heintz’s first request to the Board of the Foundation was to include Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo. “Since 2001-2003 we have expanded our work even more,” added Mr Heitz.  

Asked if he knew for how long the Fund would continue to invest in the Balkans, Mr Heintz said that they select very carefully the places in which they work, adding that the Fund planned to stay in the Balkans for the next ten or more years.  

The Fund wants to see the Balkans integrated into the EU and the development of the domestic philanthropy before withdrawing from the region.

Regarding Kosovo’s integration into the EU, Mr Heintz said that while he had been working in Central Europe, the integration of these countries seemed to be very far off, but it happened sooner than everyone thought. He added that it is a complex process which with time, effort and hard work can be achieved.

Mr Heintz said strengthening institutions, the rule of law, and transparent governance are substantial issues for Kosovo in its path towards the EU.

 

He added that it is good for Kosovo to have international support, but not to rely on it forever, since it is a sovereign and democratic country, so it must manage its operations on its own, and has capacities to manage the rule of law through the already established institutions.  

Mr Heintz stated that the latest elections showed that Kosovo has the capacity to organise democratic elections, although there had been a few irregularities, but freedom of speech, through the freedom of the media, is a field in which Kosovo needs to focus more and try to create a vibrant culture of democracy.

 

Mentioning the last debate organised by the Fund, on the Islam and the Democracy, Mr Heinzt was asked to elaborate on the relationship in the world between these two.  

Mr Heintz said that there are Muslim populations who live all around the world and in US as well. They are part of public life, members of Congress, state government and are present throughout the bureaucracy. In addition, Mr Heintz added that there are Muslim majority countries that have strong forms of democracy, for example Indonesia and Jordan, which are making progress in developing democratic institutions and culture.   

Asked whether the US was the best example of the treatment of Muslims, Mr Heintz argued that “according to many scholar studies on Muslims in US vs. Muslims in other non-Muslim majority societies, US Muslims have the highest degree of integration and feel more part of the overall society, and less excluded from the institutions and the society”.  

Mr Heintz added that he sees the newly elected President with a great deal of optimism and admits that the former administration has made many fundamental mistakes toward the Muslim world.  

On Climate Change, the Foundation has funded many scientific research projects on the issue. The fund is also trying to build a public awareness of a greener living culture.

The Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, argued Mr Heintz, will achieve the goal of reducing the emission of CO2 gases and prevent a climate change catastrophe, with developed countries and less developed ones joining forces.

Mr Heinzt ended the show by saying that the companies and organisations which receive money from the Fund are selected very carefully in order to avoid conflicts of interest in the future, regarding their position towards world politics.

Life in Kosovo is a co-production between Kosovo Public Television, RTK and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN. It is broadcast every Thursday, starting at 20:20.