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Ambassador Christopher Hill, U.S. Special Envoy for Kosovo and Ambassador Wolfgang Petritsch, EU Special Envoy for Kosovo Press availability, Pristina, December 9, 1998

Ambassador Hill: Thank you very much. I was just in Washington on Monday, and I flew over to Brussels with Secretary Albright, and I spent some time with Secretary Albright on Tuesday in Brussels, where I linked up with Ambassador Petritsch, and we went to a Contact Group meeting there. I think there is a very strong view that we need to speed up the process, we need to get this political process to the end game. As you know, we tabled a new draft, which reflected some comments we received from both sides, but especially from Belgrade because they had a lot of problems with the November draft. And as you probably know, there was some negative reaction here in Pristina to the last draft. We have spent the last few hours going over that reaction with the Albanian negotiating team. We believe that our negotiations are still on track. We are going to go to Paris tomorrow and report to the Contact Group at the Political Directors' level. And we are going to take it from there, but I think the concept is to try to move as fast as we can on the political side.

Ambassador Petritsch: Before teaming up with Ambassador Hill on Tuesday afternoon, I presented my views and opinions and facts to the 15 European Union foreign ministers on Monday afternoon, rather evening, because it was a very long foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels. Basically, where we stand now on the negotiating track, what the sticking points are -- those we all know -- and what the prospects are. I got away from this meeting with the EU foreign ministers with a sense of urgency on their part. As Ambassador Hill said, the American administration as well as the Europeans were of the opinion that things have to move now. That this is a very decisive point in time, and we must not lose the momentum and see what we can achieve still over the next couple of weeks. This is also the message that we got from the Contact Group on Tuesday afternoon, and after the meetings today we will go off to Paris tomorrow afternoon, and then we will see how we take it from there.

Question: My question is, how you explain the big difference between the drafts of first November and this last draft. Because the reaction of the Albanian side was that there are very big and substantial differences. They are very surprised.

Ambassador Hill: I would say there are some differences. I don't think they are nearly as big as some of those reactions would have suggested. I think there are some wording changes, and also some substantive changes. But this reflects the give-and-take of the negotiating process. And because of the form of shuttle diplomacy, this is what happens. You get the views of one side, you try to incorporate as many of those as you can, then you take the draft to the other side. Lo and behold, you get a negative reaction from the other side on some of the views that are expressed. So I think we had a good discussion today. Sometimes some of the issues were in our views symbolic. But this is a part of the world where symbolism sometimes becomes -- all too often -- the reality. So we had to, I would say, deal more with some of the symbolic words than we did with the actual substance.

Question: Does it mean we can expect another draft? How long will it continue?

Ambassador Hill: Well, exactly. I think we are getting to the point where we have to speed up this process. We have spent a lot of time on the road. We have done a lot of drafts, I think we have a good sense of where the sides are. I think probably there is more we can do in terms of finding some solutions. But I anticipate trying to get closer in the draft very soon.

Question: It is very interesting that in Albanian opinion -- I think it is important to know this -- that people think that you are more close to Serbian side in your work. That your role is more close to Serbian side.

Ambassador Hill: I think that if you ask many Serbs, that you will get the opposite reaction. This is, sort of, life in the Balkans. I think that what one has to do is just do the best job that you can. Try to find agreement where you can between the two sides, keep moving ahead and not worry too much about what people are saying from the side.

Question: Mr. Ambassador, can we talk about the specific deadline, the specific pressure that you will be putting on the two sides to achieve the agreement?

Ambassador Petritsch: For me, again, we are actually confronted with a seasonal deadline, which basically is the winter. And I believe that in particular the next couple of weeks until the end of the year, something should be achieved, as well as in the following weeks. This is up to the parties. They have to get moving. I believe that if there is some sort of movement on both sides -- an indication. Because just to comment in a negative way on proposals that have been made by Ambassador Hill now, that are being supported by the Contact Group -- this is not enough. Of course, one could turn it around and say, both sides reacted in a very negative way, so there must be something to it. Something good in there. So my proposal is, let's go ahead and do something with it.

Question: Does it mean that you will try to push both sides sitting in front of each other and trying to make this negotiation?

Ambassador Petritsch: They themselves have to be ready to do this, and we will assist them.

Ambassador Hill: We don't want to be pinned down to a specific deadline, except to say that we really feel the sense of urgency of moving ahead. Ultimately, the responsibility for reaching a settlement rests with both sides. In short, we can't be in a situation where we are more interested in a settlement than they are. They have to be interested in a settlement, and they need to understand that in order to reach a settlement they need to find ways to compromise with the other side. And we have presented some ideas for how that can be done. And sometimes both sides feel we are asking for excessive compromise. But we feel that both sides have got to take some risks for a settlement here.

Question: Mr. Ambassador, three weeks ago when Serbian side brought up their proposal, Ambassador Petritsch said it's too late for new proposals, because you already had a draft. In the meantime another draft came up. What happened?

Ambassador Petritsch: Can I clarify this? I meant, to come in to this ongoing process, to come in from the outside with new plans. And this is why I rejected an altogether new plan as presented by President Milutinovic. It's not altogether new -- what I said was, no new plans, we have now the Contact Group-backed version number six from Ambassador Hill, and it should be worked on this basis. Every input to this is welcome, but not yet another plan. This is something I believe neither from the Kosovar Albanian side, nor from the Serb side, is helpful.

Question: But Albanians are going to bring a new plan soon -- they announced it.

Ambassador Petritsch: For them, it applies the same. They should work on the basis of the proposals.

Ambassador Hill: If they could bring a new plan that is something they could sell more easily to the Serb side than we can sell our plan, then we would appreciate the help!

Mr. Reeker: The important point there is to see that this is a process. These are not individually, new plans when we present new drafts. This is part of a process.

Ambassador Hill: Think of this whole process as a pendulum. And what you are trying to do as you swing this pendulum is to have the swings of it go ever smaller, such that when it finally stops, both sides are more or less satisfied with where it stops. So we are trying to get the swings of this thing to diminish, so that we can reach an agreement.

Question: How would you describe today's discussion with Albanian representatives?

Ambassador Hill: I think they were very positive, useful discussions, and we are very much engaged in the process.

Question: When did you stop your negotiation with Serbs from Kosovo?

Ambassador Hill: I certainly don't mean to stop that, and we look forward to additional meetings with the Serbs from Kosovo.

Ambassador Petritsch: In fact, we invited the Alliance for Change to Vienna last week. And representatives in this group urged me to talk to the Kosovo Serbs, which I have already done, as well as Ambassador Hill. And we are definitely going to continue. Because our aim is that everybody in Kosovo feels at home here. And the eventual solution has to take care of all the communities living here, and the Serbs of course are very important.

Question: With whom are you meeting in Belgrade tomorrow?

Ambassador Hill: With the Serb side -- we have to confirm with whom. We'll get back to you on that.

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