Kosovo Serbs Expect More Guarantees To Go To Polls

Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica is expecting that the Kosovo Serbs will be provided with more guarantees for participating in parliamentary elections in the area on November 17. In his interview to Serbia's radio and television last Saturday, he claimed the guarantees promised recently by the UNMIK's civilian mission chief Hans Haekkerup were not "sufficient." The president has reported about relevant talks of experts to be held this Sunday with the participation of Serbia's Vice-Premier Nebojsa Covic, chairman of the coordinating committee on Kosovo and Metohija. Hans Haekkerup is known to have already held talks last Thursday with officials from Yugoslavia and Serbia in a bid to wrest official Belgrade's permit for the Kosovo Serbs to attend the coming elections. But the sides failed to work out a compromise and agreed to continue the discussion of the problem in the future. Meanwhile, Daan Everts, chief of the OSCE mission in Kosovo, said Saturday at a Kosovo Democratic Union Party meeting that if the Serbs fail to go to the polls on recommendations from Belgrade, neither the Albanians nor the OSCE will be responsible.