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April 04,
2003
ERP KIM Newsletter
04-07-03
CONTENTS:
 MICHEAL
STEINER'S END OF MISSION: POOR RESULTS BEHIND MANY PROMISES
COURYARD
OF ST. NICHOLAS CHURCH IN PRISTINA SHOWERED WITH STONES AGAIN - PARISH
HOME WINDOWS BROKEN
ANAN:
ESTABLISHING RIGHTS A KEY CHALLENGE FOR UNMIK
FORMER
KLA OFFICER CHARGED WITH WEAPONS POSSESION
ALBANIA
NABS TOP BALKAN REBEL SUSPECT
More News
Available on our:
KOSOVO DAILY NEWS
LIST (KDN)
KDN Archive
This newsletter is available on our
ERP KIM Web-site:
/erpkiminfo.html
MICHAEL
STEINER'S END OF MISSION: POOR RESULTS BEHIND MANY PROMISES
Hardly any Serb will shed tears after Steiner leaves Kosovo. He will be
remembered as a person who essentially failed to place himself above
ethnic divisions and act as an objective and unbiased international
representative
TOP
ERPKIM
INFO-SERVICE
APRIL 04,
2003
(photo: Michael Steiner-
poor result behind many promises)
 During
his two years' mandate as a Special Representative of the UN Security
Council in Kosovo Michael Steiner has failed to implement essential
requirements of the UNSCR 1244, and hardly any objective observer could
claim that Steiner leaves Kosovo with his job well done.
Despite
certain success in formal establishing of interim Kosovo institutions,
these institutions, including Kosovo Parliament and Kosovo Government, are
still not in function of building of true multiethnic and democratic
society and remain dominated by exclusively Albanian nationalistic agenda
(such as independence of Kosovo and glorification of the terrorist
UCK/KLA). Steiner tolerated these Albanian whims as an "expression of the
democratic will of people" although such acts seriously undermined moral
credibility of Kosovo institutions (if they had any at all). Despite
symbolic Serb presence in these forums, Kosovo Serbs still do not have any
confidence in these institutions and quite understandibly do not consider
them as their own. For Kosovo Albanians, on the other hand, these
institutions succesfully serve as a tool for establishing independent
Kosovo state and not as a bridge of tolerance and reconcilliation with
other ethnic communities. Especially alarming situation is in local
municipal councils in which local Albanian administration is often not
even ready to tolerate Serb language and elementary needs of the Serb
community.
For two years
Steiner is presenting to Kosovo Serbs his favourite "colorfull lie" -
return of returnees and improvement of security for non-majority
population. Both promises have not been fulfilled because number of
Serb returnees during his rule hardly exceeds 1000 persons out of 230.000
IDP's, while the returnees and the remaining Serbs are still being
targeted by Kosovo Albanian extremists, especially terrorists of ANA. The
recent massacre of the Stolic family, attacks on Serbs in Vitina and
Lipljan, and the pervasive discrimination of Serbs in all parts of Kosovo
are hardly encouragement to Serb returnees. Steiner's attempts to ascribe
his personal failures to the Belgrade Government and the Serb community in
general are most cynicall and hypocritical attempts to present to the
world a false reality as truth. His last and desperate move to improve his
rating before the session of the UN Security Council was his deal with the
K/Albanian leaders to issue a formal appeal to Serb returnees. Anyone who
is well acquainted with the Kosovo situation cannot but see behind this
rethoric a joint attempt of Steiner and his Albanian friends to deceive
international community in order to obtain further support for creation of
independent Albanian state in Kosovo.
Another
smoke-screen of Steiner's administration is his famous phrase: standards
before status. In fact everythnig in Kosovo goes exactly in the opposite
direction. In the province which is defined by the UN SC REsolution 1244
as a region within Serbia-Montnegro Steiner continued building
institutions which have absolutely no link to the state they officially
belong. Kosovo is rapidly becomming de facto an independent ethnic
Albanian state in which hardly any Serb will be able to live at peace and
hardly any Christian church survive. With implementation of security and
human-rights standards in the limbo and rapid transfer of competencies to
institutions which continue pursuing policy of ethnic exclusivism and
discrimination of Serbs and minorities, Steiner has practically left only
one option for the negotiation table. That is in reality the goal of
Kosovo Albanian politicians who want to face Serbia with already
accomplished fact on the ground and have independence recognized without
any serious negotiation process. When observed in this context, Steiner's
phrase has become a smoke screen behind which Kosovo Albanians continued
building of a society taylored exclusively for themselves. Kosovo Serbs
can only hope that Steiner's successor will give more meaning to this
motto, which in reality should mean that without essential improvement of
the human rights and security situatikon, and returning of the
institutionalization process within the context of the UNSCR 1244,
Kosovo's status cannot be seriously tackled.
Finally,
during Steiner's mandate not a single serious crime against Serbs and
non-Albanians has been sucessfully resolved. UNMIK police has remained
helpless in front of the pervasive "conspiracy of silence" and fears that
any decisive move aganist Albanian extremism might result in terrorist
attacks against UN and KFOR personnel. The judicial system is still more
or less undeveloped while other services, like health and education
remained exclusively a priviledge of the majority population. In a
situation in which almost all educational and medical institutions
controlled by K/Albanians remain inaccessible for Kosovo Serbs, co called
"Serb parallel institutions" inevitably remain the only way for Serbs to
receive a minimum of these services in their isolated enclaves.
Putting all
pieces together, hardly any Serb will shed tears after Michael Steiner
leaves Kosovo. He will be remembered as a person who essentially failed to
place himself above ethnic divisions and act as objective and unbiased
international representative.
The commentary is reflecting
views of the ERP KIM and the Serb National Council of Kosovo and Metohija.
TOP
COURTYARD OF ST. NICHOLAS CHURCH SHOWERED WITH STONES AGAIN - PARISH HOME
WINDOWS BROKEN
"Early morning I called police to make an inquiry but no one has come yet
(16.00 p.m) to see what happened. I get the impression that they tolerate
these attacks and do not care about us here", said Fr. Miroslav for the
ERP KIM Info-service.
TOP
ERPKIM INFO-SERVICE
GRACANICA, JULY 04, 2003
Fr. Miroslav Popadic informed today the Diocese of Raska and Prizren that
in the night between 3rd and 4th of July the courtyard of St. Nicholas
Serbian Orthodox church in Pristina was showered again with stones. During
this attack by Kosovo Albanian hooligans three windows on the parish home
were broken. "All courtyard is full of stones", said Fr. Miroslav adding
that provocations occur almost every night and that his church is left
completely unprotected.
"Early morning
I called police to make an inquiry but no one has come yet (16.00 p.m) to
see what happened. I get the impression that they tolerate these attacks
and do not care about us here", said Fr. Miroslav for the ERP KIM
Info-service.
Only several
days ago St. Nicholas church was stoned and several windows on this shrine
were broken as well as the entrance door. After protests of the Serbian
Orthodox Church no one from the international represetnatives made any
effort to protect this only functioning Serbian Orthodox church in
Pristina.
TOP
ANAN: ESTABLISHING RIGHTS A KEY CHALLENGE FOR UNMIK
Annan highlighted that
ethnic minorities, in particular Serbs, were not enjoying freedom of
movement; he added that the guiding principle of UNMIK would remain
"standards before status", as defined by outgoing governor Michael
Steiner.
Full report by K.Anan:
UNSC Report of the Secretary General on the UN Interim
Administration
TOP
www.b92.net
Beta News Agency, Belgrade
July 3, 2003
NEW YORK -- Thursday -- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has assessed that
four years after the UN's Mission in Kosovo assumed interim control of the
troubled province Kosovo has achieved significant progress in realising
essential autonomy, but that the establishment of rights remain a central
challenge for UNMIK to face.
Speaking at today's UN Security Council Kosovo-dedicated session, Annan
said that UNMIK is more focused on the fight against organised crime and
terrorism, as the overall crime rate in the province in gradually falling.
However, he stressed that ethnically motivated crime and violence still
represents a serious problem.
According to a report discussed by the Council, incidents such as the
Obilic triple murder and the explosion that destroyed the Zvecan railway
bridge are preventing the normalisation of the situation and the
reconciliation process among the various communities.
Annan warned that such acts of violence were unacceptable and that Kosovo
leaders and citizens had to act resolutely to prevent repetition.
Annan highlighted that ethnic minorities, in particular Serbs, were not
enjoying freedom of movement; he added that the guiding principle of UNMIK
would remain "standards before status", as defined by outgoing governor
Michael Steiner.
The Secretary General welcomed the willingness expressed by Belgrade and
Pristina to hold a constructive dialogue. Pointing out that this was
needed because Kosovo-Albanian leaders were constantly calling for faster
independence, while Belgrade seeks joint management with UNMIK, support to
parallel structures and boycotts of UNMIK policy programmes.
In the report submitted to the Council by Ambassador Dejan Sahovic, head
of the Serbia-Montenegro mission to the UN, the ambassador said: "We hope
that the UN, EU and Contact Group members which show willingness, be
included in the process in the interest of constructive dialogue and
efficient implementation of the agreed measures.
"It seems that the constant efforts of the international community to
influence Pristina to accept the talks on practical issues gave results.
We believe that the dialogue should focus on security, repatriation,
energy and transportation," Sahovic continued.
Contradicting Annan's earlier comment, Sahovic said that Belgrade has no
intention of seeking joint management with UNMIK. However, he insisted
that Serbian authorities are unreservedly dedicated to the improvement of
the overall situation, pointing out that investigations into last month's
Obilic murders had yielded no results.
He requested a more visible presence of KFOR and UNMIK forces, assessing
that such a move would deter potential attackers of minorities.
The ambassador concluded that the overall situation in the province was
still bad, expressing his expectation that Steiner's successor would be
appointed as soon as possible.
TOP
FORMER KLA
OFFICER CHARGED WITH WEAPONS POSSESION
Jetula
Chari was initially arrested in February after being caught with a large
quantity of mines, weapons and ammunition.
TOP
www.b92.net
Beta News Agency, Belgrade
July 1, 2003
PRISTINA -- Tuesday -- The international prosecutor in Prizren, Kosovo,
has issued an indictment against former Kosovo Liberation Army officer
Jetula Chari for the illegal possession of weapons.
Speaking to agency Beta, UNMIK representative Andrea Angelli explained
that Chari was initially arrested in February after being caught with a
large quantity of mines, weapons and ammunition.
Following an investigation lasting several months, Chari - a former Kosovo
police officer - was charged with illegal weapons possession and will be
tried in Prizren this summer.
If he is convicted Chari could face a maximum of eight years imprisonment.
TOP
ALBANIA
NABS TOP BALKAN REBEL SUSPECT - SOURCES
ERP KIM info service subarticle
TOP
REUTERS ALERTNET
02 Jul 2003 11:18:03 GMT
TIRANA, July 2 (Reuters) - Albanian police have detained four ethnic
Albanian rebels, including the suspected political leader of a shadowy
group that has claimed several attacks in the volatile Balkans, police
sources said on Wednesday.
The four were members of a group called the Albanian National Army (ANA),
the sources said. The United Nations mission in Kosovo has branded the
group a terrorist organisation, while Gafur Adili, described as its
political leader, is on a U.S. economic black list.
The sources, confirming a report in the daily Korrieri, said Adili was
held late on Tuesday on charges including "inciting nationalistic hatred"
after he arrived from Macedonia.
"We confirm that Adili was arrested last night along with three of his
friends who are members of ANA," one police source said, adding that Adili
was detained in a Tirana suburb.
The group, dismissed by some diplomats as little more than a band of
criminals, says it wants to unite ethnic Albanian lands in the Balkans.
It has claimed responsibility for attacks in south Serbia's Presevo Valley
and Macedonia, both gripped by ethnic Albanian insurgencies two years ago.
In a move that suggested the West was taking the rebels more seriously,
Kosovo's U.N. governor Michael Steiner called the ANA a terrorist group in
April after it claimed responsibility for a bomb attack on a railway in a
Serb part of the province.
Kosovo's U.N. mission was not immediately available for comment on Adili's
arrest.
Tirana, which has denounced ethnic Albanian insurgencies in the region,
denied entry to Adili in March on grounds that his activities ran counter
to its policy for Balkan stability.
The United States put Adili on an economic blacklist last July, accusing
him of stoking instability in the Balkans.
Kosovo was placed under U.N.-led administration in 1999 after a NATO
bombing campaign to halt Serb repression of its Albanian majority.
TOP
ERP KIM
Info-Service is the official Information Service of the Serbian Orthodox
Diocese of Raska and Prizren and works with the blessing of His Grace
Bishop Artemije.
Our Information Service is distributing news on Kosovo related issues. The
main focus of the Info-Service is the life of the Serbian Orthodox Church
and the Serbian community in the Province of Kosovo and Metohija. ERP KIM
Info Service works in cooperation with
www.serbian-translation.com as well as the
Kosovo
Daily News (KDN) News List
Disclaimer:
The views expressed by the authors of newspaper articles or other texts
which are not official communiqués or news reports by the Diocese are
their own and do not necessarily represent the views of the Serbian
Orthodox Church
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