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February
20, 2004
ERP KiM Newsletter
20-02-04
Two Serbs murdered in
Lipljan
The Diocese of Raska and Prizren
has been warning on a daily basis of a deterioration of the security
situation which the result not only of the existing ethnic terrorism on
the part of the Albanians, who have carried on their activities
unhindered and unpunished during the past five years despite the
presence of the UN mission and KFOR, but also of the unwillingness and
unreadiness of international forces to implement Resolution 1244 and
carry out the mandate they were deployed to carry out in Kosovo and
Metohija.
Deputy PM of Serbia Dr. Nebojsa
Covic blamed KFOR and UNMIK for the murder, emphasizing that their
officials are falsely portraying the security situation in Kosovo. "Who
has the right to give false reports to the UN Security Council on the
security situation in Kosovo? Who has the right to accuse monks for
expressing their fear when they say that the Kosovo Police Service
cannot protect them?" asked Covic.
Since arrival of KFOR to Lipljan
22 Serbs were killed in Lipljan
Kosovo Serbs gather in Staro Gracko and stage a protest against the
yesterday's mureder and continuation of Albanian ethnic terror against
Kosovo Serbs (photo: Serbs in front of Lipljan 14th century church)
Two
rounds of shooting
BETA News Agency, Feb. 20
Lipljan deputy mayor
Borivoje Vignjevic said last night that the bodies were
found after two rounds of shooting were heard in Lipljan.
The first shooting at
around 20,30 was aimed at Serb houses in the village of
Staro Gracko and coming from the Albanian village of
Alas.
According to Vignjevic, no
one was hurt in this attack but there was material
damage. A little later, shots could be heard on the
other side of Lipljan near the firestation.
KFOR and UNMIK have
blocked all roads to Lipljan, and patrols have also been
reinforced on the road to the village of Staro Gracko.
|
CONTENTS:
 Zlatomir
Kostic and Milijana Markovic murdered near Lipljan
The bodies of
the victims were found near the fire station in Lipljan on the outskirts
of the city. According to the same sources, they were ambushed and
killed on a transit road while in Kostic's automobile.
Diocese of Raska and Prizren most strongly
condemns murder in Lipljan
The Diocese of Raska and Prizren
has been warning on a daily basis of a deterioration of the security
situation which the result not only of the existing ethnic terrorism on
the part of the Albanians, who have carried on their activities
unhindered and unpunished during the past five years despite the
presence of the UN mission and KFOR, but also of the unwillingness and
unreadiness of international forces to implement Resolution 1244 and
carry out the mandate they were deployed to carry out in Kosovo and
Metohija.
Oliver Ivanovic - Murder in Lipljan a horrible and
unjustifiable crime
Ivanovic said that
UNMIK and KFOR are responsible for this latest murder of Serbs,
assessing that "by failing to do anything, they made these crimes
possible. They have not established law and order in Kosovo nor solved
previous crimes."
Covic condemns Lipljan murder, slams UNMIK and
KFOR
Covic blamed KFOR and UNMIK
for the murder, emphasizing that their officials are falsely portraying
the security situation in Kosovo. "Who has the right to give false
reports to the UN Security Council on the security situation in Kosovo?
Who has the right to accuse monks for expressing their fear when they
say that the Kosovo Police Service cannot protect them?" asked Covic.
IWPR (UK)_Blood Feuds revive in unstable Kosovo
Honour killings are deeply rooted in Albanian society and were given
formal recognition in the collection of medieval tribal laws known as
the "Canon of Lekė Dukagjini". This states that "if one man kills
another, a male member of the victim's family must respond in kind".
News from Kosovo and Metohija, Feb 17-19, 2004
More News Available on our:
Kosovo Daily News
list (KDN)
KDN
Archive
This newsletter is available on our ERP
KIM Web-site:
http://www.kosovo.net/erpkiminfo.html
|
Albanians have so much weapons and KFOR searches our
homes
ERP KIM Info-Service
February 20, 2004
The local Serbian Orthodox
parish priest in Lipljan Fr. Randjel Denic said for the ERP
KIM Info-service that the yesterdays tragic event was not a
surprise for the local Serbs.
"We know well that
Albanians have lots of weapons. For the New Year holidays
all around Kosovo Serbs could hear shooting from all kinds
of weapons for almost half an hour from their villages and
neighborhoods. KFOR knows this well but they have orders not
to get into conflict with Albanian extremists. We are the
ones who have to pay the price of their fear and
incompetence", said Fr. Denic.
"Instead of searching
Albanian villages, particularly the village of Alas which is
known for its extremists who killed 14 Serbs in July 1999.
KFOR is exercising their authority and anger over suffering
Serbs in Staro Gracko", said the priest. |
Zlatomir
Kostic, Milijana Markovic murdered near Lipljan
The bodies of the victims
were found near the fire station in Lipljan on the outskirts of the
city. According to the same sources, they were ambushed and killed on a
transit road while in Kostic's automobile.
TOP
BETA News Agency
Lipljan, February 20, 2004
LIPLJAN - A Serb man and woman,
Zlatomir Kostic (36) of Kosovo Polje and Milijana Markovic (24) of
Staro Gracko, were killed last night near Lipljan, unofficial Serb
sources in Kosovo have informed Beta.
The bodies of the victims were found near the
fire station in Lipljan on the outskirts of the city. According to
the same sources, they were ambushed and killed on a transit road
while in Kostic's automobile.
The bodies were found by KFOR and
UNMIK police.
Lipljan deputy mayor Borivoje
Vignjevic said last night that the bodies were found after two
rounds of shooting were heard in Lipljan.
The first shooting at around 20,30 was
aimed at Serb houses in the village of Staro Gracko and coming from
the Albanian village of Alas.
According to Vignjevic, no one was
hurt in this attack but there was material damage. A little later,
shots could be heard on the other side of Lipljan near the fire
station.
KFOR and UNMIK have blocked all roads
to Lipljan, and patrols have also been reinforced on the road to the
village of Staro Gracko.
UNMIK Police report:
by Madeleine Lux
Tel: (381)-38-504-604-5071 or 1-212-963-8442-5071
MURDER
Lipljan 19/02 - 2030 hrs. Police and KFOR found two corpses (male
and female) who both suffered from gunshot wounds inside a civilian
vehicle parked on the road. No further information. No arrest was
reported.
TOP
Diocese of Raska and Prizren most strongly condemns trechereous murder
of Serb man and woman in Lipljan
The Diocese of Raska and Prizren
has been warning on a daily basis of a deterioration of the security
situation which the result not only of the existing ethnic terrorism on
the part of the Albanians, who have carried on their activities
unhindered and unpunished during the past five years despite the
presence of the UN mission and KFOR, but also of the unwillingness and
unreadiness of international forces to implement Resolution 1244 and
carry out the mandate they were deployed to carry out in Kosovo and
Metohija
TOP
ERP KIM Info
Service
Gracanica, February 20, 2004
(Bishop
Artemije: This is outrageous)
 The
Diocese of Raska-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija most strongly condemns last
night's treacherous double murder of two Serbs in Lipljan: Zlatomir
Kostic (36) and Milijana Markovic (24), as well as the attack by armed
Albanians on Serb houses in the village of Staro Gracko.
This latest of a long
series of crimes against Kosovo and Metohija Serbs once again tragically
confirms the fact that there is no safety or freedom of movement for the
Serb population in Kosovo and Metohija, and that statements by Albanian
political leaders and certain international representatives regarding
the supposed improvement of the security in situation are in fact
attempts to cover up the real situation, which has remained essentially
unchanged since 1999.
We can say that the
total number of crimes has been reduced, since Serbs live in isolation
in their enclaves and move about cautiously, but what we have here is
still the rule of lawlessness and open hunting of Serbs. Albanians from
the village of Alas killed 14 Serb farmers working in their fields from
the neighboring village of Staro Gracko in July 1999. UNMIK police and
KFOR have not managed to find the perpetrators of this gruesome crime to
this day nor, for that matter, the perpetrators of other major attacks
against Serbs (the Nis Express bombing, the slaughter of the Stolic
family in Obilic, the massacre of children in Gorazdevac).
The Diocese of Raska
and Prizren has been warning on a daily basis of a deterioration of the
security situation which the result not only of the existing ethnic
terrorism on the part of the Albanians, who have carried on their
activities unhindered and unpunished during the past five years despite
the presence of the UN mission and KFOR, but also of the unwillingness
and unreadiness of international forces to implement Resolution 1244 and
carry out the mandate they were deployed to carry out in Kosovo and
Metohija.
"We are horrified by
this latest crime against two young Serbs," Bishop Artemije of Raska and
Prizren said in a statement for ERP KIM Info Service. "We ask the
painful question: How many more Serbs must be murdered and massacred in
order for UNMIK representatives to publicly admit the rule of violence
they have allowed to flourish by their silence and unwillingness to
confront fundamental problems for the past five years? This murder
occurred one month after the attempted murder and beating up of Serbs in
Novo Naselje in Lipljan; after that incident, Finnish KFOR and UNMIK
police not only failed to find the perpetrators of the attack but did
nothing to better protect Serbs in the Lipljan area. On top of that,
KFOR has even decided to disband its multinational brigade Center as a
result of 'improved security conditions' and begun a huge reduction of
forces in central Kosovo, withdrawing security checkpoints near Serb
villages and leading not only to a reduction in safety but to the
departure of the Serb population from the Vucitrn area. Whether they
want to admit it or not, international representatives are directly
responsible for the consequences of the present situation; their efforts
are directed toward carrying out an exit strategy from Kosovo, leaving
the Serbs to the mercy of criminals," said Bishop Artemije.
KFOR searching Serb
houses in Staro Gracko
According to the latest information KFOR is conducting
searches of the Serb houses in the village of Staro Gracko.
Following the usual pattern, the perpetrators are being
given time to cover up their crime while the houses of the
victims are being searched. Unfortunately we have already
seen the same scenario in many other places where Serbs have
been killed, including Gorazdevac, Obilic, Cernica and
elsewhere. |
One did not have to be
a prophet to foresee the present course of events. Since the security
situation has not essentially improved and ethnic terror by the
Albanians is ongoing under the aegis of international institutions, the
unjustified reduction in KFOR forces and the irresponsible attitude of
UNMIK must inevitably result in new Serb victims. For international
representatives, whose primary goal has been to save face for their
missions by falsely reporting on the actual situation in the Province,
this appears to be the cheapest solution.
Finnish KFOR uninterested and ethnically biased against
Serbs
Diocese of Raska
and Prizren is continually concerned due to extremely
uninterested and unprofessional work of the Finnish KFOR in
Kosovo, particularly in the recent time. A month ago when
one Serb was seriously wounded and several more beaten by
ethnic Albanians from the village of Asani nr. Lipljan, KFOR
soldiers were passively watching and shooting the lynch with
their camcorders. Their personnel at the military clinic
refused to receive a critically wounded Serb patient.
Several days later a belfry on the Serbian Orthodox church
in their sector was set on fire. When the delegation of the
Church requested to inspect the damage they refused to offer
escort saying that in their sector "security is good and
freedom of movement exists for all". Exposing their lives to
danger a priest with a journalist visited the site and
received an "official" report from UNMIK police that the
fire was a "children's game".
Instead of serious work
against criminal groups and protection of the Serbian
population Finns spend their time most usually enjoying in
their saunas and bars letting Albanian extremist continue
ethnic cleansing of Serb population. |
TOP
Oliver Ivanovic: Murder in Lipljan a horrible, unjustifiable
crime
Ivanovic said that UNMIK and KFOR are
responsible for this latest murder of Serbs, assessing that "by failing
to do anything, they made these crimes possible. They have not
established law and order in Kosovo nor solved previous crimes."
TOP
Beta News Agency, Belgrade
February 20, 2004
(Oliver Ivanovic: Horrible and
unjustifiable crime)
 KOSOVSKA
MITROVICA - Kosovo parliament deputy speaker Oliver Ivanovic assessed
today that the murder of two Serbs near Lipljan represents "a horrible
crime" that could not be justified in an way.
Zlatomir Kostic (36) of Kosovo Polje and Milijana Markovic (24) of Staro
Gracko were killed last night near Lipljan as they were driving toward
Staro Gracko, unofficial Serb sources from Kosovo informed Beta.
They were ambushed and shot at on the transit road near the fire station
in Lipljan.
Ivanovic said that UNMIK and KFOR are responsible for this latest murder
of Serbs, assessing that "by failing to do anything, they made these
crimes possible. They have not established law and order in Kosovo nor
solved previous crimes."
"One of the greatest single crimes against Serbs in Kosovo was the
murder of 14 Serb harvesters in the village of Staro Gracko in July
1999," said Ivanovic, reminding that the perpetrators of that crime were
never found.
The most recent murders, he added, "can only serve to embolden the
extremists. It is no coincidence that the Staro Gracko area was chosen
so as to discourage the Serbs who still remain there."
"I am afraid that this will have tragic consequences on all other
activities and UNMIK chief Harri Holkeri has no greater priority than
solving this crime and other crimes that have been committed against
Serbs," said Ivanovic categorically.
Since the arrival of KFOR and UNMIK in Kosovo and Metohija in June 1999,
more than 1,300 Serbs and other non-Albanians have been murdered,
according to data from the Serbian Orthodox Church.
TOP
Covic
condemns Lipljan murder, slams UNMIK and KFOR
Covic blamed KFOR and UNMIK for the
murder, emphasizing that their officials are falsely portraying the
security situation in Kosovo. "Who has the right to give false reports
to the UN Security Council on the security situation in Kosovo? Who has
the right to accuse monks for expressing their fear when they say that
the Kosovo Police Service cannot protect them?" asked Covic.
TOP
Beta News Agency, Belgrade
February 20, 2004
(Covic: UNMIK gives false
reports about security situation in Kosovo)
 BELGRADE
- Serbian deputy prime minister Nebojsa Covic said today that the murder
of two Serbs near Lipljan is "a horrible crime" and at the same time
criticized UNMIK and KFOR for not doing their job.
Zlatomir Kostic (36) of Kosovo Polje and Milijana Markovic (24) of Staro
Gracko were murdered last night near Lipljan while driving by car toward
Staro Gracko, unofficial Serb sources in Kosovo told Beta.
They were ambushed and shot while driving in Kostic's Renault on the
transit road toward Staro Gracko.
Covic blamed KFOR and UNMIK for the murder, emphasizing that their
officials are falsely portraying the security situation in Kosovo.
"Who has the right to give false reports to the UN Security Council on
the security situation in Kosovo? Who has the right to accuse monks for
expressing their fear when they say that the Kosovo Police Service
cannot protect them?" asked Covic.
Covic emphasized that no one has the right to ask anything of the
remaining Serb in Kosovo and Metohija until UNMIK and KFOR provide
answers and solve the murder of Serbs in Staro Gracko in 1999, the Nis
Express bus bombing near Podujevo two years ago, the slaughter of the
Stolic family in Obilic, the massacre of Serb children in Gorazdevac and
a series of other crimes.
"The murder of these two Serbs near Lipljan is the result of the failure
to solve a series of other ethnically motivated murders committed in
Kosovo and Metohija," said Covic.
"Neither UNMIK nor KFOR has managed to solve the crimes, let alone the
Kosovo Police Service," underscored Covic.
|
Serb
journalists boycott tomorrow's Holkeri's visit to Serb
returnee villages of Grabac and Bicha
ErP KIM
Info-Service
Gracanica, February 20, 2004
ERP KIM
Info-Service learned from Mitrovica that a group of Serbian
media journalists who were planning to go with UNMIK's chief
Harri Holkeri on a tour around Serb returnee villages in
Western Kosovo decided to cancel their trip in protest
against the Lipljan murder and false reports on situation in
Kosovo by chief of UNMIK.
In their
letter sent to Harri Holkeri the journalists said: "It is
extremely hypocritical to invite journalists to visit the
returnees to Bicha and Grabac at the same time when violence
against Serbs continues. Thanks to your untrue reports on
alleged improvement of the security situation KFOR continues
with dismantling of checkpoints and leaves endangered Serb
population in Kosovo and Metohija without protection."
The letter was
signed by Nada Mikic the representatives of the Journalist
Association of Serbia in North Kosovo.
According to
the information from UNMIK Harri Holkeri plans to visit Serb
returnee villages of Grabac and Bicha tomorrow with so
called Kosovo's President Ibrahim Rugova and the Serbian
representative for the returns Nenad Radosavljevic. |
TOP
IWPR:
Blood Feuds Revive in Unstable Kosovo
Rise in "Honour killings" blamed on collapse of
respect for law and order.
Honour killings are deeply rooted in
Albanian society and were given formal recognition in the collection of
medieval tribal laws known as the "Canon of Lekė Dukagjini". This states
that "if one man kills another, a male member of the victim's family
must respond in kind".
TOP
Institute for War and Peace Reporting, IWPR (UK)
By Fatos Bytyci in Djakovica (BCR No 481, 19-Feb-04)
There are no signs of life outside the Murati house in Duzhnje village
in south-west Kosovo. The windows are closed and there are no footprints
in the snow in the front of the door.
Sixty-year-old Osman Murati opens the main gate only enough to put his
head out and see who is knocking. He fears people might be out to shoot
him as an "honour killing" to avenge the double murder recently
committed by his 20-year-old son Valon.
Honour killings are deeply rooted in Albanian society and were given
formal recognition in the collection of medieval tribal laws known as
the "Canon of Lekė Dukagjini". This states that "if one man kills
another, a male member of the victim's family must respond in kind".
In the communist era, blood feuds were relatively rare among Albanians
either in Kosovo or Albania. But after the turmoil of the 1990s, the
ideas contained in Leke's canon revived, first in the chaos of
post-communist Albania and then in neighbouring Kosovo, too, after the
NATO strikes and withdrawal of Serbian forces.
For more than three months, neither Valon Murati, nor his brother,
father and grandfather have stirred from their home out of fear that the
murders might incurr a vendetta.
The killings occured on November 10 when Valon, a member of the Kosovo
Police Service, KPS, in Gjakova, shot dead Sadik and Safedin Zeneli,
aged 55 and 30 respectively, while returning from work. The victims were
Veton's cousins and came from the same village.
Isak Zeneli heard the shots. "I saw two people lying on the ground," he
recalled. "Valon was running towrads the village street shouting 'I have
killed two people'.''
While awaiting trial, Murati has been released on bail. The Zeneli
family is furious and believes Murati was released because he was a KPS
officer. Now they are threatening to take the law into their own hands.
Sadik Dobruna, their lawyer, says the court acted foolishly. "This
decision has put the suspect in great danger," he said. "It will do him
more harm than good."
Xhafer Zeneli, Sadik's brother, has not dispelled suspicions that the
family may take revenge on Valon Murati. "There is no justice in
Kosovo," he said. "He murdered my brother and yet he is free. Sadik has
many sons in Germany. They may take revenge when they return."
Under the Canon of Lekė Dukagjini, a murderer must request security from
the victim's family - in the form of a word of honour known as "besa" -
that he will not be shot if he steps outside his home.
In Murati's case, the deceased's family has refused to subscribe to such
a pledge, leaving the men of the Murati family wondereing if they will
be victims of a vendetta killing.
Valon fears precisely such an outcome. Appearing at his front door, he
insists he shot the two men in self-defence and urges the Zelenis to
understand. "How can I convince them I was attacked and only defended
myself?" he asked.
From the end of the war in Kosovo in 1999 until late 2003, Kosovo
recorded around 40 murders related to blood feuds, according to the
Council for the Defence of Human Rights and Freedoms, KLMDNJ.
"Cases of blood vengenance are reappearing as a consequence of the poor
functioning of law and order and the institutions that regulate the
law," said Pajazit Nushi, the council's president.
Some local experts blame the legal and political vacuum that has
prevailed since 1999, when Serb officialdom withdrew, and the
international community proved reluctant to hand power to Kosovo
Albanian institutions that might assert their independence. The legal
system itself, including judges, public prosecutors and police, is
widely viewed as corrupt and open to intimidation.
As murders go unpunished, many people openly say neither the law nor the
courts deserve respect. In November 2002, Radio Television Kosovo
broadcast a crime programme in which a father whose son was murdered
warned that if killers were not punished "we will solve the issue
without police according to the Canon (of Leke)".
From 1990 to 1997, hundreds of families involved in bloodfeuds were
reconciled through a mass campaign initiated by the late Anton Cetta, a
retired professor from the University of Pristina. Cetta toured hundreds
of villages, convincing men to forget their family feuds and organising
ceremonies of reconciliation that featured feasting, music and dance.
It was tough work. Cetta said at the time, "It is not easy for families
required to draw blood to forgive, because for many centuries, families
who did not take vengeance were considered cowards." But they were
helped by a widespread feeling that Albanians needed to unite against
the Serbian government.
That feeling has not survived the transition to a new century or the
departure of the Serbs. "Many people who became reconciled in the 1990s
have become enemies again and restarted the old family blood feud," said
Pajazit Nushi said.
Sadik Dobruna says that members of the Zeneli family are not after a
blood feud, if justice can be seen to be done. But there is a veiled
warning, when he adds, "If the court takes the side of the police
officer, then the situation might change."
Fatos Bytyci is a journalist with Radio Television Kosovo, RTK.
TOP
News from
Kosovo and Metohija, 17-19 Feb
TOP
I*Net News, Belgrade
Thursday 19 February 2004
23:40 German defense minister Peter Struck announced that the German
Army will not decrease its presence in southeastern Europe, first of
all, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in Kosovo where it will continue to
provide security for members of the Serb community.
23:00 The plan for implementation of the Standards for Kosovo prepared
by the Kosovo government and UNMIK will be delivered tomorrow to the UN
Security Council for review, stated the coordinator for standards in the
Kosovo government Ilir Deda.
22:00 The Albanian Democratic Party of Albanians assessed that trial of
the former commander of the so-called Liberation Army of Presevo,
Medvedja and Bujanovac Sefcet Musliu before an UNMIK court in Gnjilane
is based on "political facts staged two years ago".
21:00 The president of the executive council of the Serb National
Council of Northern Kosovo Rada Trajkovic said that she has been
receiving threatening email with insulting content for two days.
15:45 His Holiness the Serbian Patriarch Kyr Pavle has called on senior
officials of the United Nations and their representatives in Bosnia and
Herzegovina to prevent future possible searches of churches in Bosnia
and Herzegovina during searches for Hague tribunal indictees like last
month in Pale during a search for Radovan Karadzic.
14:00 UNMIK chief Harri Holkeri repeated in Tirana that the world
organization has sole authority to decide on the final status of Kosovo
and Metohija on the basis of UN Security Council Resolution 1244. "The
final status of Kosovo will be decided by the UN Security Council on the
basis of its Resolution 1244," Holkeri told reporters after a meeting
with Republic of Albanian president Alfred Moisiu.
Wednesday 18 February
2004
22:00 UNMIK chief Harri Holkeri repeated the objections of the UN
mission in Kosovo to the monoethnic national motifs on display in the
renovated building of the Kosovo parliament. "Since the Kosovo
parliament is a multiethnic institution, it must have monoethnic
symbols," said UNMIK spokeswoman Isabella Karlowicz. The Serb deputies
from the Return Coalition (Povratak) have decided not to participate in
parliamentary sessions in protest because they consider the pictures
hung in the parliamentary hall to be discriminatory and ethnically
biased. The pictures depict the League of Prizren and the return of
Skenderbey to Albania.
21:00 On Wednesday international investigating judge in the Prizren
district court Lin Stratengren (sp?) began questioning four members of
the Kosovo Protection Corps arrested on Monday in southwest Kosovo.
Among those arrested is the regional commander of the Kosovo Protection
Corps for Prizren, Selim Krasniqi. The suspects, all members of the
former Kosovo Liberation Army, are accused of having committed war
crimes against Albanian civilians in Kosovo during the summer of 1998.
Associations of KLA veterans have announced ongoing protests against the
arrest of former KLA members and present KPC employees in a number of
Kosovo municipalities beginning on Wednesday, assessing that this
represents an attack on the values for which the KLA fought.
18:00 At a meeting held in Pristina on Wednesday representatives of the
Return Coalition decided who will represent the Serb community in Kosovo
and Metohija in the Pristina delegation during upcoming negotiations
with Belgrade officials. The Pristina delegation will include Goran
Bogdanovic, minister of agriculture in the Kosovo government; Milorad
Todorovic, repatriation co-minister in the Kosovo government; Nenad
Radosavljevic, the UNMIK chief's advisor on returns; and Kosovo
parliament presidency member Oliver Ivanovic, confirmed a source close
to the Return Coalition.
12:20 Speaking on Tuesday evening in Ljubljana, Albanian president
Alfred Mojsiu said that the Republic of Albania strongly supports the
upcoming dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade and efforts to fulfill
democratic standards demanded by the international community in Kosovo.
12:00 UNMIK chief Harri Holkeri expressed doubt on Tuesday that the
standards for Kosovo will be fulfilled by 2005 due to complexity and
difficulties, and repeated that talks on the future status of Kosovo
will depend on the degree to which the standards are realized.
Tuesday 17 February 2004
21:40 Nebojsa Covic, the head of the Serbia-Montenegro and Republic of
Serbia's Joint Coordinating Center for Kosovo and Metohija, met today
with Slovak president Rudolf Schuster.
18:00 His Holiness the Serbian Patriarch Kyr Pavle has sent a letter to
European Union high representative for foreign policy and security
Javier Solana and the special representative of the UN secretary general
for Kosovo Harri Holkeri asking them to protect the rights of the
Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo and Metohija following attempts by
Kosovo provisional institution to usurp church land in Pristina where
the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of Christ the Savior and the St. Sava
Cultural Center are being built.
11:00 The Kosovo parliamentary assembly hall was formally opened on
Monday in the absence of UNMIK representatives and members of the Serb
Return Coalition, who did not attend because the refurbished hall is
dominated by pictures showing scenes from Albanian history.
09:30 EU high representative Javier Solana announced in Brussels that he
will soon visit Kosovo and Metohija in order to convey the support of
the European Union for dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina. Solana
said that the EU attaches great importance to the continuation of the
dialogue, which began on October 14 of last year in Vienna, adding that
Brussels is aware of the fact that the process will be neither quick nor
easy, taking into account the process of the formation of the Serbian
government among other things.
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
Additional information on
our Diocese and the life of the Kosovo Serb Community may be found at:
http://www.kosovo.net
Copyright 2004, ERP KIM Info-Service
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