ALBANIAN AMERICAN CIVIC LEAGUE
For Immediate Release
Contact: 914-762-5530, www.aacl.com


AACL COORDINATOR AND HARVARD STUDENT ENCOUNTERS SERBIAN PRESIDENT, CHALLENGES HIS ARGUMENTS ON THE FUTURE OF KOSOVA


New York, October 12, 2005—During his participation at
the UN General Assembly in New York recently,
President of Serbia Boris Tadic, visited one of the
world’s top schools of politics – the Kennedy School
of Government, Harvard University in Cambridge, MA.
Tadic appeared at the Kennedy School for a public
address late last month. He did address the Kennedy
School community at the JFK Junior Forum, and
students, such as Faton Bislimi, Civic League’s
Student and Youth Coordinator, had the chance to
address him any questions related to the topic of his
speech. His address's title was "Serbia: Consolidating
Democracy and the Future of Kosovo."

Initially, Tadic was introduced by the Dean of the
Kennedy School of Government, David Ellwood, as a man
of great vision, a true democrat, a man of new ideas
and innovation, a man of courage and political
bravery, etc. Following that kind introduction, Tadic
began his address. His main point throughout the
speech was that he supports Balkans integration into
EU and NATO. He thinks about the "region" and “not
only Serbia.� Tadic wants to see Albania, Macedonia,
and Bulgaria enter the European Union and NATO as soon
as possible. He thinks that countries in the region
are to cooperate in getting ready faster for EU
membership. Tadic said that he sees the future of the
region in the EU. And, certainly, he is against any
partition -- it is his constitutional duty to defend
the territorial integrity of Serbia, Tadic strongly
emphasized. Therefore, he is ruling out any solution
for the future status of Kosova that could mean, in
Serbs terms, a “partition� of “their territory.�
Furthermore, he pointed out that he also is against
the partition of Kosova itself.

The only way democracy can be consolidated in Serbia,
he believes, is through a peaceful and mutual
agreement on the future status of Kosova. He said that
if Kosova were to become independent ever, then
democracy in Serbia would vanish and ultranationalist
forces could most likely come onto power, which in
turn could cause problems not only for Serbia itself,
but for the entire region as well.

He then went on to portray Kosova as a "safe haven"
for organized crime, drug dealing, human trafficking,
etc – and all this, according to him, because Serbia
does not have the ability to control this “part of its
territory.� Furthermore, he raised the issue of the
possibility of "terrorist nests" being created within
Kosova that could strike any European major city at
any given time.

Finally, Tadic concluded that the only solution for
the future of Kosova that would save the region is
something less than independence, and more than its
existing autonomy of 1970s and 1980s. He also stressed
out the fact that “reconciliation [between Albanians
and Serbs] is a must� and that he has invited Kosovar
leaders to meet with him, but his invitations have
been declined so far by the Kosovar side.
“Independence�, he said, “would mean partition,� and
that would have major consequences in different parts
of the world, beyond the Balkans.

Bislimi’s Encounter and Challenge

Thankfully, Faton Bislimi, who is currently pursuing a
Master’s in Public Administration and International
Development at the Kennedy School, had the chance to
encounter him and challenge his arguments against the
independence for Kosova. In his remarks, Bislimi
pointed out that Tadic must be lacking access to a
real picture of Kosova today in order to say that
Kosova is a safe haven for criminal activity, given
that Kosova has a presence of 17,000 NATO troops and
over 2,000 international policemen on top of a
modernized Kosova Police Service, Customs, etc. If
such high rate of criminal activity were to exist in
Kosova under these circumstances of a heavy
international presence, then Serbia must be even worse
with no international presence, and so must be the
entire region. But, “facts on the ground prove exactly
the opposite of what you said,� asserted Bislimi
addressing Tadic and the participants in the Forum.

Moreover, regarding Tadic’s position on "partition,"
Bislimi said that no partition is needed for Kosova to
become independent. Kosova borders are there in place
now and have been there long enough. “All independence
would mean is to upgrade the status of the existing
borders – from provincial to state borders,� Bislimi
said, adding “and this causes no partition of any kind
whatsoever.�

In regards to his reconciliation idea, Bislimi pointed
out the following facts, in addressing the Serbian
President: “Mr. President,� he said, “you were
introduced here as a man of courage and new ideas
etc..., and has it ever occurred to you to go public
and apologize to the Albanian people of Kosova for the
suffering that your previous regime has brought upon
them? And, furthermore, while you are insisting on
reconciliation, why are you then still keeping dead
bodies of civilian Kosovar Albanians (including women,
children, and elderly) that were brutally murdered
during the war, and are only returning them in patches
of about a dozen each time? Isn't this a way of
keeping the scars of the wars open and still
bleeding?,� at which point, the participants in the
Forum applauded heavily. Bislimi then continued, “Mr
President, for as long as so many Albanian mothers’
hearts beat under the misery of not knowing anything
about the fate of their children, no true
reconciliation can ever be achieved.�

At the end of Bislimi’s remarks, Tadic had nothing to
say but that he thinks the Albanians are to apologize
as well, and went on to the next question from someone
else in the audience.

Even though President Tadic did not directly respond
to Bislimi’s remarks, the encounter painted a vivid
picture of the reality in Kosova for the Forum
participants and did not leave them under the illusion
that what Tadic said in his address was all realistic.

Faton Bislimi has been voluntarily serving as a
Student and Youth Coordinator for the Albanian
American Civic League since March 2002, and has
participated in many international youth and
leadership conferences and seminars representing the
youth of Kosova. He is a member of the World Youth
Summit, the Atlantic Association of the Young
Political Leaders, and other international leadership
organizations. In May 2005, Bislimi graduated summa
cum laude with a BS in Computer Science and a BA in
Mathematics from Texas Lutheran University. He is now
pursuing a Master’s in Public Administration and
International Development as a Kennedy Fellow at the
John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard
University.