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January 10, 2004
ERP KiM Newsletter
10-01-04
Obstruction of Serb
returns still continues
Bishop
Artemije:
"Refugee
return is not up to the good will of the Albanian populations, among
whom are the same people who expelled the Serbs who are now seeking to
return. It is a fundamental human right for which there cannot and must
not be any preconditions. This ignoble behavior on the part Klina
municipal officials and the refusal of top Kosovo leader to respond to
the appeal of Peggy Hicks, best demonstrate that their letter to Serb
refugees of last summer is nothing more than meaningless rhetoric.
Still waiting to be granted right
and free return to their homes, a Kosovo Serb
refugee (photo archive ERP KIM). "They (Kosovo leaders) called us to
return and we did. Nowthey make institutional obstacles and want us
leave Kosovo", said one of Serb returnees to Klina
CONTENTS:
 Organized
obstruction of Serb returns to Jkuna cintunyes 0 /rygiva;s ckaun refyted
by events on the ground
Bishop Artemije: Return is not up to
the good will of the Albanians but a fundamental human right. Bishop
Artemije also criticized Rugova's claim that "Kosovo has already met
most standards": "Such claims only inflict moral shame on Albanian
leaders whose irresponsible claims are refuted daily by events on the
ground."
Albanian National Army of Montenegro launches its
Web Site
Although
further comment is hardly necessary, it is obvious that another bloody
"Albanian spring" is being prepared in the region of eastern Montenegro
and the Ulcinj, Tuzi, Plav and Gusinje areas according to the same
recipe we have already seen not only in Kosovo and Metohija but also in
the Presevo Valley and northwest Macedonia. Currently the biggest bone
of contention among strategists is whether to wait for the independence
of Montenegro or launch a campaign while the state union of
Serbia-Montenegro still exists.
Ethnic Albanians push for Montenegrin regions -
KLA roving around Montenegro
One of the
organisers of the petition said Albanians in Montenegro had "outgrown"
the form of local government provided in the republic's municipalities.
"The only solution for Albanians in Montenegro is for the territory we
inhabit to be divided into three regions," Nik Djeljosaj was quoted as
saying.
Kosovo Serb MP's continue boycott
The Serb member of the Kosovo Parliament's collective presidency,
Oliver Ivanovic, said this afternoon that participation in the working
party on implementation of standards was not possible at the moment.
News
from Kosovo and Metohija, 8-9 January 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
Organized
obstruction of Serb returns to Klina continues - Rugova's claim refuted
by events on the ground
TOP
Bishop
Artemije: Return is not up to the good will of the Albanians but a
fundamental human right. Bishop Artemije also criticized Rugova's claim
that "Kosovo has already met most standards": "Such claims only inflict
moral shame on Albanian leaders whose irresponsible claims are refuted
daily by events on the ground."
ERP KIM Info Service
Gracanica,
January 9, 2004
 The
Diocese of Raska-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija notes with sorrow that the
fate of 26 Serb returnees to Klina who have been waiting for more than
two months without results to be allowed to return their homes still
remains indeterminate.
After a recent
meeting in Pec with Albanian local officials from Klina and advisors to
premier Rexhepi, it appears that there is serious obstruction to the
returns at the municipal level which is controlled by Mr. Rugova's
political party. Namely, the Albanian representatives conditioned the
return of the Serbs to their homes on the impossible demand for
resolution of the fate of all missing Albanians.
Representatives
of the Serb returnees, who are staying in the village of Bicha, eight
kilometers north of Klina, say they understand the pain of the families
of the missing because the fate of more than 1,200 Serbs kidnapped by
the KLA during and after the armed conflict of 1998-99 also remains
unknown. However, it is their opinion that setting of conditions of this
sort is only a rationalization for the unwillingness of the Albanians to
fulfill the recently promoted "Standards for Kosovo".
"The Serbs have
said that they have chosen to live together with their former neighbors
and clearly stated that they recognize Kosovo institutions and respect
the administration of the mayor of Klina," said Peggy Hicks, the head of
the UNMIK Office for Return of Displaced Persons.
However, this
statement by the Serbs was wrongly interpreted by Mr. Hidajet Hiseni,
who said that the Serbs "recognize the new reality in Kosovo and
understand that Kosovo will never again be a part of Serbia", which
represents a blatant political manipulation and political pressure on
the Serb returnees. The Serbs are prepared to accept the new reality but
a reality according to which all citizens, regardless of their ethnic
origin, are equal before the law and in which everyone has equal
opportunity for a dignified and safe life. The final status of the
Province should be resolved in accordance with UN Security Council 1244,
which recognizes the sovereignty of Serbia in this region, one of the
Serb returnees attending the meeting told ERP KIM.
In the opinion
of Bishop Artemije of Raska-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija: "Refugee return
is not up to the good will of the Albanian populations, among whom are
the same people who expelled the Serbs who are now seeking to return. It
is a fundamental human right for which there cannot and must not be any
preconditions. This ignoble behavior on the part Klina municipal
officials and the refusal of top Kosovo leader to respond to the appeal
of Peggy Hicks, best demonstrate that their letter to Serb refugees of
last summer is nothing more than meaningless rhetoric. It is quite
apparent that the goal of Albanian leaders and especially of their
institutions, government and Mr. Rugova, still remains an ethnically
pure Albanian Kosovo and a policy of presenting the international
community with already accomplished facts. It is their assumption that
when there is no longer a single Serb left in Kosovo, a discussion on
status will become pointless. The international community must not
tolerate such clear violation of human rights and the standards it is
promoting; it needs to introduce urgent measures to sanction such
obstructive and extremist behavior."
Bishop Artemije regrets silence of Albanian leaders
following incident in Decani
Bishop Artemije
expressed his regret for the incident of two day ago in Decani when a
bus carrying Russian pilgrims from a Christmas celebration at Visoki
Decani Monastery came under attack. "It is also regrettable," added
Bishop Artemije, "that not one Albanian official from Decani
municipality, the Kosovo government or parliament has condemned this
act, which UNMIK chief Mr. Harri Holkeri described as an act of
vandalism. By their silence they are expressing the loudest support for
the policy of extremism and violence and undermining the progress of
Kosovo and Metohija toward a democratic and multiethnic future."
Diocese of Raska
and Prizren slams Rugova's claim
Bishop Artemije
also strongly criticized a claim today by Ibrahim Rugova that Kosovo has
already met most standards and should soon be given independence. "This
unprecedented claim is mere fantasy because Kosovo and Metohija have
been ruled for the past more than four years by terror and ethnic
violence with the open support of Mr. Rugova and other Albanian leaders,
and the dumb silence of the international community. Such claims only
serve to further damage interethnic relations and inflict tremendous
moral shame on Albanian leaders whose irresponsible claims are refuted
daily by events on the ground."
TOP
Albanian National Army of Montenegro launches site on the Web
Although
further comment is hardly necessary, it is obvious that another bloody
"Albanian spring" is being prepared in the region of eastern Montenegro
and the Ulcinj, Tuzi, Plav and Gusinje areas according to the same
recipe we have already seen not only in Kosovo and Metohija but also in
the Presevo Valley and northwest Macedonia. Currently the biggest bone
of contention among strategists is whether to wait for the independence
of Montenegro or launch a campaign while the state union of
Serbia-Montenegro still exists.
TOP
ERP KIM
Info Service
Gracanica, January 9, 2004
(Insignia of
the new UKM is almost the same as UCK/KLA)
 The
Albanian National Army (UKM - Ushtria Kombetare Malit Zi) recently
launched a Website at http://www.ushtriamalitzi.it.st/
Although
further comment is hardly necessary, it is obvious that another bloody
"Albanian spring" is being prepared in the region of eastern Montenegro
and the Ulcinj, Tuzi, Plav and Gusinje areas according to the same
recipe we have already seen not only in Kosovo and Metohija but also in
the Presevo Valley and northwest Macedonia. Currently the biggest bone
of contention among strategists is whether to wait for the independence
of Montenegro or launch a campaign while the state union of
Serbia-Montenegro still exists.
A bill has
already been introduced in the U.S. Congress by the Albanian lobby which
emphasizes that Albanians in Montenegro are discriminated against and
seeking greater rights. The UKM (Albanian National Army in Montenegro)
apparently has an even more ambitious goal: the annexation of parts of
Montenegro to the Republic of Albania, which can be seen from the survey
on their home page where 85.1% voted in favor of unification and only
14.8% against it.
The campaign
continued with recent testimony by a sizeable group of Albanians from
Montenegro who are making liberal use of statements by Montenegrin
separatist forces desiring to withdraw from the state union with Serbia.
Déjà vu...
According to
the program of the Albanian separatists who wish to create a so-called
union of Albanian territories in the Balkans, the hardest part of the
task would come after Montenegro, considered to be a small morsel in the
event of its separation from Serbia: the annexation of northern Greece,
i.e., so-called south Epirus or Chameria, which in the opinion of the
architects of pan-Albanian unification, would lead to the drawing of the
border already drawn on the map of the American Albanian Association.
A key and central element to this strategy is the independence of
Kosovo, which would become the main cohesive element of the newly
acquired territories. Hence the impatience with the formation of an
independent state of Kosovo, which would enable the realization of a
broader regional plan with the support of powerful lobbies in the West.
Link on Albanian pretension in
Chameria (northern Greece):
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Congress/1633/Cameria.HTML
TOP
Ethnic Albanians push for Montenegrin regions
One of
the organisers of the petition said Albanians in Montenegro had
"outgrown" the form of local government provided in the republic's
municipalities. "The only solution for Albanians in Montenegro is for
the territory we inhabit to be divided into three regions," Nik
Djeljosaj was quoted as saying.
TOP
SRNA News
Agency, Bijeljina
January 9, 2004
PODGORICA -- Friday - A petition has been launched among ethnic
Albanians in Montenegro calling for the creation of three regions,
Podgorica daily Vijesti reports.
One of the organisers of the petition said Albanians in Montenegro had
"outgrown" the form of local government provided in the republic's
municipalities. "The only solution for Albanians in Montenegro is for
the territory we inhabit to be divided into three regions," Nik
Djeljosaj was quoted as saying.
He announced the establishment of an NGO to work on the proposal.
The Democratic Union of Albanians, which is represented in the
Montenegrin parliament, has distanced itself from the petition, reports
Vijesti.
========================================
Related texts:
"KLA"
Roving around in Montenegro?
Kosovo terrorist syndrome spreads to Gusinje, Plav, even Podgorica.
Uniformed Albanian terrorists observed in hills of Gusinje. “KLA”
Internet threat. “UCK” graffiti in downtown Podgorica
Vecernje
Novosti, Belgrade, Yugoslavia
March 20, 2001
PODGORICA (Tanjug) - Members of the self-styled “Kosovo Liberation Army”
(KLA) have been observed during the last three days in the hills of
Gusinje municipality which is located in Montenegro near the border with
Kosovo and Albania, Tanjug was advised by well-informed sources in
Podgorica.
According to the source, uniformed groups of men bearing the insignia of
the “KLA” were observed on several occasions during the last three days
in the villages of Gusinje and Plav municipalities, both of which border
on Albania and have a majority population of Albanians and Muslims.
That fear of the spread of Albanian extremism is not unjustified is also
proven by the fact that yesterday at the secondary school for
engineering technology in Podgorica, which is located near the state
police (MUP) in the city center, graffiti was painted reading
“UCK-Greater Albania” as well as several other slogans glorifying this
terrorist movement from Kosovo and Metohija.
The school responded immediately by painting over the graffiti.
Published last week on the KLA’s Internet site, in addition to a map of
Greater Albania which includes many territories of the southern Yugoslav
republic [of Montenegro], was information that “in Montenegro there are
four units” of this organization “completely trained and ready for
action who are just waiting for a signal from the headquarters in Kosovo
to begin operations”.
Terrorist Graffitti
In the hamlet of Gusinje, Plav municipality in the north of Montenegro,
many housing objects and businesses were painted with graffiti bearing
the signature of the so-called “Liberation Army of Plav and Gusinje”,
the daily “Glas Crnogoraca” [Voice of Montenegrins] wrote in yesterday’s
edition.
The paper assesses that these messages are part of the context of the
most recent developments in Macedonia and that they represent “a serious
warning to Montenegro and her security”.
Translated by S. Lazovic (March 20, 2001)
=============================================
Montenegro census offers
surprising results
People
who regard themselves as Montenegrins are a minority in their own
republic, according to results of a census released Friday (19 December
2003). An estimated 30 per cent described themselves as Serbs, 9.4 per
cent as Bosnians, 4.3 per cent as Albanians, one per cent as Muslims,
and 0.4 per cent as Croats.
TOP
Southeast
European Times (USA)
quoting AFP - 19/12/03
PODGORICA, Serbia-Montenegro -- People who regard themselves as
Montenegrins are a minority in their own republic, according to results
of a census released Friday (19 December). Of a total population of
672,656, 40.6 per cent said they were ethnic Montenegrins. That’s a
decline of 30 per cent since the last census, in 1991. An estimated 30
per cent described themselves as Serbs, 9.4 per cent as Bosnians, 4.3
per cent as Albanians, one per cent as Muslims, and 0.4 per cent as
Croats. Nearly 70 per cent said they were Orthodox Christian, compared
to 20.9 per cent Muslim, and 4.2 per cent Roman Catholic.
TOP
Kosovo Serb MPs continue boycott
The Serb
member of the Kosovo Parliament's collective presidency, Oliver Ivanovic,
said this afternoon that participation in the working party on
implementation of standards was not possible at the moment.
TOP
B92, Belgrade
January 9, 2004
PRISTINA -- Friday - Kosovo governor Harri Holkeri today sought from a
delegation of the Serb Return Coalition that they take part in preparing
for the implementation of Kosovo standards.
The Serb member of the Kosovo Parliament's collective presidency, Oliver
Ivanovic, said this afternoon that participation in the working party on
implementation of standards was not possible at the moment.
He told B92 that the Kosovo Standards document which is to be
implemented was not one which Serbs had accepted.
Serb leaders also object to what they describe as the precipitate
transfer of authorities from the United Nations mission to the interim
institutions of Kosovo.
Holkeri is expected to meet the head of Belgrade's Kosovo Coordination
Centre, Nebojsa Covic, before Kosovo Serb leaders decide on whether to
take part in planning the implementation of standards in Kosovo.
==============================
Kosovo
Serbs Meet UN Administrator
Serbian
Government
Pristina, Jan 9, 2004 - Representatives from the Kosovo Serb political
coalition Povratak told UNMIK Chief Harri Holkerri on Friday that the
transfer of authority from the UN Administration in Kosovo-Metohija to
the provincial interim institutions was a "careless" move, given that
those institutions were still unprepared to assume the responsibility.
A Serb minister in the Kosovo government, Goran Bogdanovic, told the
Tanjug news agency following the meeting that Holkerri had tried to
justify the move by saying that UN Security Council Resolution 1244
required that he ensure the transfer by the end 2003.
According to Bogdanovic, Holkerri insisted during the meeting that
Kosovo Serbs take part in working groups on the implementation of
international standards that are to be reached before launching talks on
Kosovo's final status.
Holkerri said he would visit Belgrade soon, to meet with representatives
of the Serbian government and the Coordinating Centre for
Kosovo-Metohija.
TOP
News from
Kosovo and Metohija, 8-9 Jan
TOP
I*Net News, Belgrade
Friday 09 January 2004
21:00 A fire was set under a Kosovo Police Service vehicle near North
Kosovska Mitrovica, Pristina electronic media reported.
20:40 Klina municipal officials and representatives of Serbian displaced
persons seeking to return to Klina have agreed to form a special task
group to work on the unconditional return of 26 Serb families to that
municipality.
20:20 Kosovo premier Bajram Rexhepi announced that Serbs in Kosovo must
decide whether they will be members of the Kosovo government or the
Serbian Parliament.
20:00 Kosovo president Ibrahim Rugova assessed that Kosovo has already
met some of the standards set by the UN Security Council [sic] but that
their implementation has yet to be measured.
19:40 UNMIK chief Harri Holkeri called on members of the task groups for
implementation of standards in Kosovo to speed up their work and warned
provincial government officials that there must be no delay in dialogue
between Pristina and Belgrade.
12:40 Albanians in Montenegro are signing the petition for establishing
three regions - the municipality of Ulcinj with Krajina, Malesija and
region of Plav-Gusinje, wrote the Podgorica daily "Vijesti".
12:20 Two activists from the German neo-Nazi scene have opened a
business in Kosovo whose activities include, among other things, the
sale of weapons. According to the daily "Mitteldeutsche Zeitung", Frank
Kerkhoff, the former head of the radical right wing National Democratic
Party of Germany for the Saxony-Anhalt region, and Harald Bornschain, a
weapons dealer and neo-Nazi activist, opened the business with offices
in Djakovica and Magdeburg. The paper's claims were confirmed by the
Office for the Protection of the Constitutional Order of the Federal
Province of Saxony-Anhalt based in Magdeburg.
12:00 UNMIK officials and the Kosovo provisional government confirmed on
Thursday in Pristina that the plan for implementation of standards will
be completed in a few weeks.
Thursday 08 January 2004
21:40 The Diocese of Raska and Prizren has demanded a public apology
from UNMIK police commissioner Stefan Feller for blatantly falsifying
and concealing the truth about the attack on Russian humanitarians
following their visit to Visoki Decani Monastery on Orthodox Christmas
Day.
21:20 Local officials are conditioning the return of Serbs to Klina on
resolution of the fate of missing and kidnapped Albanians from the
municipality, stated the regional coordinator for returns to the Pec
area, Milivoj Ribac.
20:20 The year 2004 will be the year in which Kosovo needs to achieve
the standards set for it by the international community, not the year
that Kosovo will become independent, stated the head of the German
Office in Pristina, Peter Randorf.
20:00 Premature recognition of Kosovo independence would not solve the
Province's problems, the German Institute for Foreign and Security
Policy in Berlin concluded in a new study.
19:40 Kosovo Serb political representatives are scheduled to meet
tomorrow in Pristina with UNMIK chief Harri Holkeri regarding the
formation of task groups for implementation of standards and transfer of
UNMIK competencies to Kosovo provisional institutions.
17:40 An UNMIK representative expressed regret today for an incident
that occurred yesterday in the town of Decani in which a bus carrying
members of the Russian-Serbian Friendship Society was stoned.
16:20 The Balkan region is one of the most dangerous in Europe,
Serbia-Montenegro Army Chief of Staff General-Colonel Branko Krga said
in an interview published in the weekly "Vojska", and warned that
threats are primarily coming from terrorist and extremist forces in
Kosovo and Metohija which are perpetuating violence despite the presence
of international forces. "Regardless of the fact that certain dangers
are now behind us, the region in which we live is among the most
dangerous in Europe. There are many conflicts of interest and even
mention of the redrawing of borders, which may be a serious blow to the
very foundation of European security policy," said General Krga. He
emphasized that the Army, faced with such circumstances in its immediate
surroundings, is seeking to act as a factor of peace and stability,
first of all, by consistently carrying out its duties in securing the
administrative line between central Serbia and Kosovo and Metohija.
15:20 Kosovo Serb MP Rada Trajkovic assessed that during this year
Kosovo provisional institutions may also get a minister of foreign
affairs and a minister of internal affairs unless Serbian policy is
prepared to respond very clearly to what UNMIK chief Harri Holkeri has
done so far, .
15:00 Local Albanians in Kosovo stoned a bus transporting a delegation
from the Russian Foundation of St. Andrew the First-Called, which has
been visiting the Province since January 4 on a humanitarian mission.
According to a Russian Information Agency Novosti (RIAN) report from the
scene, a bus carrying mostly representatives of Russian media was stoned
by Albanian residents of the town of Decani. No one was injured in the
incident, which occurred following Christmas liturgy, although a window
on the bus was shattered.
11:00 Fatmir Mejdiu, the chairman of the Albanian Parliament's
Integration Committee, announced that the victory of Vojislav Seselj's
Radical Party in the December parliamentary elections in Serbia will
"seriously impede dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade".
10:00 UNMIK press representative Isabella Karlowicz rejected the
possibility that the Kosovo Constitutional Framework may be amended by
representatives of Albanian political parties in the Kosovo parliament.
In a statement for the paper "Zeri i Populi", Karlowicz said that the
Constitutional Framework can be modified only after the establishment of
Kosovo's status by decision of the UN Security Council.
09:30 Religious believers of the Serbian Orthodox Church, who celebrated
Christmas Day yesterday with their families, today celebrated the second
day of the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord, the Synaxis of the Most
Holy Theotokos.
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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