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May 11,
2003
ERP KIM Newsletter
11-05-03
CONTENTS:
Editorial:
ETHNIC TERROR IN KOSOVO AND METOHIJA CONTINUES
Just in the past three
weeks, a series of new incidents demonstrated that the situation in the
southern Serbian province is not improving but instead is becoming
increasingly difficult and uncertain - ERP KIM Editorial
SERBIAN CHURCH OF ST. NICHOLAS IN PRISTINA STONED
Until one month ago St.
Nicholas Church was under constant KFOR protection. Provocations began as
soon as the security patrol was removed. Bishop Artemije personally sent a
written warning to international representatives in Pristina that KFOR
should resecure the church and the parish hall. Regrettably, this appeal
did not result in a favorable response and the church, as well as the few
remaining Serb houses immediately next to it, was left without permanent
protection.
KOSOVO SERBS CRITICIZE ALL AND SUNDRY
The Kosovo Union
of Serb municipalities and settlements held a session in Zvecan today,
assessing that the general situation in the province has worsened and that
coexistence with the Albanian community is proving to be all but
impossible.
SNC - COUNT LAMBSDORF'S SCANDALOUS STATEMENT IS REVEALING
STEINER'S HIDDEN AGENDA IN KOSOVO AND METOHIJA
Nikolaus Count Lambsdorf, chief of cabinet of Michael Steiner, Special UN
Secretary General representative in Kosovo, said that "Kosovo will never
again be a part of Serbia" on an international meeting on Kosovo in Vienna
(Austria) on May 09. By such a statement Count Lambsdorf is seriously
overstepping his authorities and prejudicing future status of Kosovo and
Metohija before any negotiations, claim SNC leaders in Kosovo and
Metohija. In fact, this shocking statement reveals true goals of Michael
Steiner's administration which is no longer hiding its open pro-Albanian
agenda and support of unilateral changes of Serbia-Montenegrin
internationaly granted borders.
SERBIAN LEADING COALITION WILL NO LONGER ENGAGE STEINER
BELGRADE --
Sunday _ Speaking after last night_s DOS presidency session, minister
Rasim Ljajic said that DOS will insist that wanted militant Albanian
Shefqet Musliu, arrested in Kosovo recently, be handed over to Serbian
authorities. In an interview with agency Beta, Ljajic said DOS leaders had
concluded that UNMIK governor Michael Steiner had displayed no readiness
to discuss the Kosovo issue with the Serbian Government, as he had still
not replied to Kosovo MP Momcilo Trajkovic_s suggestion that discussions
commence.
More News
Available on our:
KOSOVO DAILY
NEWS LIST (KDN)
KDN Archive
This newsletter will be available soon on our
ERP KIM Web-site:
/erpkiminfo.html
ARTICLE ERP KIM INFO SERVICE
1
The cry of Serb children from Lipljan - GENEVE WAKE UP!
EDITORIAL
ETHNIC TERROR IN KOSOVO AND METOHIJA CONTINUES
Just in the past three
weeks, a series of new incidents demonstrated that the situation in the
southern Serbian province is not improving but instead is becoming
increasingly difficult and uncertain
TOP
ERP KIM Info Service
Gracanica, May 10, 2003
In Kosovo and Metohija there are still two realities, which have little in
common. On the one hand, there are official statements by some
international representatives and Kosovo Albanian leaders describing the
continuous improvement of the situation and the need to transfer UNMIK
competencies to the local population as quickly as possible. On the other
hand, for the Kosovo-Metohija Serbs and largely for other at-risk minority
communities continuing to live under a state of siege, the situation is
not improving but life is actually becoming increasingly difficult and the
future more and more uncertain.
OLD SERB WOMAN FOUND IN A POOL OF BLOOD
On the eve of the Easter holidays, Orthodox Good Friday on April 25,
Albanian hooligans brutally beat up a Serb woman, Smiljka Andjelkovic
(66), in her home in Lipljan. The attackers broke into the Andjelkovic
home at about 17,00 hours and inflicted serious bodily harm upon Smiljka
Andjelkovic, who was alone at the time. When her husband, Ljubinko
Andjelkovic, arrived home he found his wife lying in a pool of blood in
the kitchen. There was also blood on a chair apparently used to repeatedly
strike the old woman in the head. Emergency medical care was provided at
the Simonida Medical Center in Gracanica, where physicians diagnosed
serious injuries to the skull. The Andjelkovic family has long
been the target of threats from local Albanian extremists using all means
to force then to sell their apartment and move out of Lipljan. This attack
has caused further unrest in this central Kosovo municipality where the
remaining couple of thousand Serbs have lived under the constant ethnic
terror of the Albanian majority for the last four years.
On the same day Albanian police belonging to the Kosovo Police Service
(KPS) detained a convoy of Serb buses and vehicles at the administrative
border of Kosovo and Metohija near Podujevo without any concrete reason.
Even though the convoy had a regular KFOR escort responsible for
accompanying it to Brezovica to celebrate the oncoming holidays with
relatives, the Kosovo police refused to allow the vehicles to pass. Only
after the intervention of Mrs. Svetlana Stevic, a reperesentative of the
Diocese of Raska and Prizren, in UNMIK headquarters in Pristina did the
Albanian police allow the Serb convoy to continue on its journey.
SERB LITERARY CLASSICS IN GARBAGE DUMPSTERS
On the salme day, as Orthodox Christians marked the day of Christ's
crucifixion and suffering on Golgotha through prayer, disturbing news
arrived from Gnjilane that the Albanians had thrown about 1,000 Serbian
language books from the city library into the garbage. Among the books
ending up in garbage dumpsters were works by Serbian Nobel Prize winner
Ivo Andric, Njegos and poetess Desanka Maksinovic. Unfortunately this
barbaric act reminiscent of the burning of the books during the time of
Nazism is not the only incident of this time. Immediately after the end of
the war in 1999 and the arrival of the international UN mission and KFOR
in Kosovo and Metohija, thousands of Serbian language books were ejected
from the libraries of Kosovo-Metohija towns inhabited by an Albanian
majority population and burned. The same occurred with books from private
collections which their Serb owners were unable to evacuate in time. This
latest anti-cultural act best illustrates the horrific contours of the new
state being established in this region, sadly, under the administration
and auspices of the UN. Kosovo Ombudsman Marek Nowicky, a Pole, has orded
an urgent investigation and sought to preserve the remaining Serbian
language books from destruction. As in similar instances in the past, not
one representative of the Kosovo Albanians has condemned this act nor has
the so-called Albanian intellectual community expressed any interest in
the destruction of Serbian language books.
FREQUENT ALBANIAN ATTACKS AGAINST SERBS IN SUVI DO
On May 3, just days after the Orthodox celebration of the Resurrection of
Christ, Milan and Milorad Jeftic, local residents of Suvi Do, a village
not far from Kosovska Mitrovica, were injured when they were intentionally
hit by a bus driven by a Kosovo Albanian. The international police
immediately arrested the driver who is to be indicted by the court within
days. Only three days later, on May 6, a Kosmetprevoz Bus Lines bus
transporting Serb students between Kosovska Mitrovica and Suvi Do was
stoned by Albanians. No one was injured but the bus was demolished.
Serbs from Suvi Do, embittered by the frequent attacks by Albanians,
organized a protest meeting on May 7 to demand more effective protection
from Albanian extremists. In order to disperse the 250 Serbs who gathered
for the protest, members of the Danish KFOR battalion fired tear gas at
the local residents, including women and children. This resulted in the
injury of Gordana Jeftic, who was transported to the medical center in
Kosovska Mitrovica in serious medical condition. What is more, according
to local Serbs, members of KFOR confiscated their bus (which had been
stoned the previous day) thus removing their only means of transportation
to Kosovska Mitrovica.
On the same day, Albanian extremists inflicted serious injuries upon Dejan
Jeftic, a taxi driver from Suvi Do, who is still undergoing treatment in
the medical center in Kosovska Mitrovica.
KOSOVO PROTECTION CORPS RESPONSIBLE FOR TERRORIST ATTACK
In the meanwhile, UNMIK representatives finally officially confirmed that
two members of the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) were responsible for
planting explosives under a bridge in the village of Loziste near Zvecan.
This news appeared in the wake of increasing attempts by KPC
representatives to create an impression in public that this organization
should be transformed into the future Kosovo army. The Coordinating Center
for Kosovo and Metohija immediately called on Kosovo Serbs not to join the
Kosovo Protection Corps because "it is the direct heir of the Kosovo
Liberation Army and an organization responsible for numerous terrorist
attacks on members of the Serb and other non-Albanian communities". "All
Serbs need to be cognizant of the fact," cites the Coordinating Center in
its statement, that the KPC is providing "logistical support to the ANA, a
terrorist organization responsible for recent terrorist attacks in
northern Kosovo".
Unofficial confirmation that the KPC really has strong ties to the
so-called Albanian National Army, placed on the list of terrorist
organizations last month by the chief of UNMIK, was also given by
international represenatives of the UN mission who informed the public
that due to the involvement of members of the KPC in the terrorist attack
in Loziste, they are cancelling the training program abroad for members of
the KPC. According to Kosovo Serb leaders, the notorious ANA is in fact a
phantom organization serving as a front for the human resources and
logistical support of the Kosovo Protection Corps itself.
SERB CEMETERY NEAR VITINA DESECRATED
Unfortunately this recap of tragic news concludes with the latest
instances of desecration of an Orthodox cemetery in the village of Zitinje
near Kosovska Vitina, where unknown persons have completely destroyed
eleven tombstones. According to Zoran Stankovic, a displaced person housed
not far from his village in neighboring Klokot, the desecration of the
tombstones most probably occurred during the May Day holidays. Among the
tombstones destroyed was that of his son, who was killed four years ago on
the threshold of his home by Albanian extremists. The Serbs of Zitinje
were forced to leave their village in the summer of 1999 under pressure
from local Albanian extremists; since then, the village has been inhabited
solely by Albanians.
In all these instances, as in the past, an appropriate response by Kosovo
institutions has been completely lacking; apparently, they are more
concerned with how the Province can become an independent Albanian state
as soon as possible than with the living conditions of its population.
Respect for the rights of the non-majority population, law and order have
long ago been put on the back burner by leading Albanian politicians. At
the same time, they are seeking to project a completely different image
abroad not corresponding at all to the real situation in the region and
cover up the bitter truth that since 1999 a regime of terror and ethnic
discrimination was established in Kosovo and Metohija, which continues on
to this day with the silent acquiescence of international circles.
PRISONERS IN THEIR OWN HOMES
That these most recent incidents are not isolated cases and the exception
in Kosovo reality is also confirmed by the latest report of the U.S. human
rights organization Amnesty International, published in April of this year
under the title "Prisoners in Their Own Homes" providing detailed
descriptions of the position of the Serb people and minority communities
in Kosovo and Metohija in the last two years. The report, the most
complete international effort of its kind to date, discusses in detail
attacks on the non-majority population, destruction of churches and
cemeteries, ethnic discrimination and the most brutal trampling of basic
human rights.
In the conclusions of this report it is clearly emphasized that UNMIK and
KFOR "have failed in their task to ensure respect for human rights by
failing to undertake timely and appropriate measures against their
violation" and appeals to members of international UN mission and KFOR "to
bring those committing crimes to justice and undertake more effective
measures of protection for the at-risk population".
After last month's report by the UN Security Council, in which for the
first time a harsher tone is used to criticize the behavior of the Kosovo
Albanians, and indirectly the work of the UN mission itself, which
tolerates the excesses of the extremists, the hope remains that the
international community will not continue to ignore the catastrophic
situation existing for the past four years under its protectorate.
To what extent these words of criticism and warning by UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan will influence representatives of the UN
mission and KFOR, as well as the local population, remains to be seen in
upcoming months which will be of key significance for the fate of the one
of the most burning crisis areas in the Balkans.
S.M.D.
TOP
SERBIAN CHURCH OF ST. NICHOLAS STONED BY ALBANIANS
DIOCESE OF RASKA AND PRIZREN MOST STRONGLY CONDEMNS STONING OF ST.
NICHOLAS CHURCH IN PRISTINA
Yesterday's stoning of the Pristina church once again proves that removing
security patrols protecting religious sites located in risk zones
represents a dangerous experiment possibly leading to serious and
undesireable consequences
TOP
ERP KIM Info Service
Gracanica, May 11, 2003
The Diocese of Raska-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija most strongly condemns
the stoning of the Orthodox Serbian Church of St. Nicholas in Pristina by
Albanian hooligans last night. According to ERP KIM sources in Pristina
the intense attack occurred last night just after dusk. During the stoning
the windows of the church were broken. The church was built at the
beginning of the 19th century on the foundation of the much older Orthodox
St. Nicholas Monastery, mentioned in historical records as having existed
in this location as early as the 16th century.
Unfortunately, this is not the only attack on St. Nicholas Church in
Pristina; since the end of the war in 1999 it has been the target of
vandal attacks on multiple occasions. There have also been previous
multiple attacks on the incomplete Orthodox Cathedral of Christ the Savior
near the University Settlement.
Until one month ago St. Nicholas Church was under constant KFOR
protection. Provocations began as soon as the security patrol was removed.
Bishop Artemije personally sent a written warning to international
representatives in Pristina that KFOR should resecure the church and the
parish hall. Regrettably, this appeal did not result in a favorable
response and the church, as well as the few remaining Serb houses
immediately next to it, was left without permanent protection.
Yesterday's stoning of the Pristina church once again proves that removing
security patrols protecting religious sites located in risk zones
represents a dangerous experiment possibly leading to serious and
undesireable consequences. It should be enough to recall the blowing up of
the Orthodox church in the village of Ljubovo near Istok and the attack on
the church in Djurakovac in December last year.
The Diocese urgently demands that UNMIK and KFOR undertake appropriate
measures to prevent further attacks of this kind and that St. Nicholas
Church be protected to meet the needs of the remaining 200 or so Orthodox
believers who continue to attend Holy Liturgy escorted by KFOR or the
police.
The Office of the Diocese of Raska and Prizren
TOP
KOSOVO-SERBS CRITICIZE ALL AND SUNDRY
http://www.balkanpeace.org/hed/archive/may03/hed5764.shtml
TOP
B92, May 09, 2003
ZVECAN, Kosovo, Serbia -- The Kosovo Union of Serb municipalities and
settlements held a session in Zvecan today, assessing that the general
situation in the province has worsened and that coexistence with the
Albanian community is proving to be all but impossible.
Marko Jaksic, president of the union assembly, told press afterwards that
participants were harshly critical of the international community's
failure to secure conditions enabling repatriation.
He also confirmed that attendees were disappointed with Belgrade's
Coordination Centre for Kosovo and Southern Serbia for failing to realise
its goal of improving living conditions for the remaining Serbs in Kosovo.
Continuing his attack, Jaksic accused UNMIK of applying double standards
to Serbs and Albanians and assessed that the only way to ensure a
functioning multi-ethnic Kosovo would be the creation of two entities.
He explained: This does not equate to the division of Kosovo, just like it
did not mean the division of Bosnia-Hercegovina.
He added that the forming of a separate entity would enable displaced
Serbs to return to regions in which their state's legal system was in
force.
TOP
SNC
- COUNT LAMBSDORF SCANDALOUS STATEMENT IS REVEALING STEINER'S HIDDEN
AGENDA IN KOSOVO AND METOHIJA
TOP
ERP
KIM Info-service
Gracanica, May 11, 2003
Nikolaus Count Lambsdorf, chief of cabinet of Michael Steiner, Special UN
Secretary General representative in Kosovo said that "Kosovo will never
again be a part of Serbia" on an international meeting on Kosovo in Vienna
(Austria) on May 09.
By such a
statement Count Lambsdorf is seriously overstepping his authorities and
prejudicing future status of Kosovo and Metohija before any negotiations,
claim SNC leaders in Kosovo and Metohija. In fact, this shocking statement
reveals true goals of Michael Steiner's administration which is no longer
hiding its open pro-Albanian agenda and support of unilateral changes of
Serbia-Montenegrin internationaly granted borders.
On the other
hand Lambsdorf easily dismisses an idea of division of Kosovo claiming
that "division of Kosovo could encourage Albanians to request Albanian
inhabited territories in Macedonia and South of Serbia by force". Howver,
he seems to forget that the very request of proclaiming independence of
Kosovo and Metohija province which is still a part of Serbia-Montenegro by
itself constitutes a precedent that is directly encouraging secessionist
claims in many other European and non-European countries.
After four
years of interantional-Albanian rule in Kosovo it is more than evident for
Kosovo Serbs that the only kind of states Albanians can make in Kosovo is
an ethnically clean Albanian society which will be one of the most
monoethnic and repressive societies in Europe. Supporting of such ideas by
an UN official is simply scandalous and is additionally eroding allegedly
non-biased image of UNMIK, claim SNC officials in Gracanica.
After the
mandate of the former UNMIK chief Hans Haekerrup Steiner's admnistration
did everything to obstruct implementation of the UN SC Resolution 1244 and
encourage ethnic Albanian claims for secession of Kosovo and Metohija. The
famous Steiner's slogan Standards-before-status has become nothing but a
smoke screen behind which UNMIK intends to hand over most important
competences to almost ethnically clean ethnic Albanian institutions which
openly continue with their gross violations of minority rights and
actively pursue a policy of creating a second ethnic Albanian state in the
Balkans.
Therefore,
this statement of one of Steiner's closest associates brings an urgent
need to replace a present UNMIK leadership by more evenhanded and
constructive representatives who will finally start working on
implementation of the Resolution 1244 and creating of proper conditions
for all ethnic communities in Kosovo.
The statement
of Count Lambsdorf was also strongly condemned by the Serbian-Montenegrin
ambassador in Austria Mihailo Kovac who explained to the participants of
the meeting in Vienna that Serbia has undergone very important democratic
changes and that it is headed now by people who strongly fought against
Milosevic's policy and pursue a policy of tolerance and human rights
respects which can be seen in South Serbia. On the other hand in Kosovo,
under UNMIK's policy of transfer of competences a monoethnic society is
emerging and its politicians only pursue a policy of independence without
readiness to grant minimum of rights to non Albanians, Kovac stated.
This fact was,
also recognized by UNMIK's chief Michael Steiner himself who said a few
days ago that Kosovo is ruled by organized crime in which also some
international representatives are involved.
"Many
criminals and terrorists put on uniformes of Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC)
and keep throwing bombs and arming Albanians in South Serbia and
Macedonia, said Kovac, adding that in Kosovo there is "a tragic lack of
democratic potential and positive authority among local Albanians. He also
said that international representatives hipocritically refuse to confront
such reality and implement the Resolution 1244 which constitutes their
mandate in the Province.
TOP
SERBIAN
LEADING COALITION (DOS) WILL NO LONGER ENGAGE STEINER
TOP
SRNA,
FoNet, Beta
May 11, 2003
BELGRADE -- Sunday - Speaking after last night's DOS presidency session,
minister Rasim Ljajic said that DOS will insist that wanted militant
Albanian Shefqet Musliu, arrested in Kosovo recently, be handed over to
Serbian authorities.
In an interview with agency Beta, Ljajic said DOS leaders had concluded
that UNMIK governor Michael Steiner had displayed no readiness to discuss
the Kosovo issue with the Serbian Government, as he had still not replied
to Kosovo MP Momcilo Trajkovic's suggestion that discussions commence.
Accordingly, DOS will no longer request UNMIK co-operation in that area,
although they will continue to insist that Musliu be delivered.
The Saturday evening DOS session also saw the acceptance of an initiative
for the forming of a state council for Kosovo, discussion of the Action
Plan for the Montenegrin harmonisation negotiations and confirmation of
the Social Democratic Union's membership of the ruling coalition.
The next session will focus on the drafting of the new Serbian
Constitution and Ljajic said that he expects laws governing a ministerial
council and a high court of the state union to be formed as soon as
possible.
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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