TV Duel: Tadic on Kosovo (RTS)

“Kosovo is one of the most painful issues in our modern political history. In 1999 our country went through a major ordeal. We had to sign the Military Technical Agreement in Kumanovo and when the UN SC passed resolution 1244 we have practically lost our legal jurisdiction over Kosovo. Even today there are no army, police, customs and other representatives of our state in Kosovo. Now we have to rely on a new generation of politicians to fix all the damage that has been inflicted to our people and our state. We can achieve this only through taking part in the political integrations, through the partnership with the key international factors and only if they help us realize our legitimate national, political and state interests. The Democratic Party has supported the plan for the resolution of the Kosovo problem that has been passed by the Serbian Parliament. I have to be fair and say that the Serbian Radical Party and all the other parliamentary parties have also supported the plan. When it comes to Kosovo, this fact can be considered as the first sign of our national maturity. On the other hand, we have another problem - the international community in Kosovo, especially UNMIK and somewhat KFOR have demonstrated a total inefficiency. All the SRSGs have mostly paid attention to their own safety, but have failed to protect our compatriots in Kosovo. The EU has a huge responsibility to reconstruct everything that has been destroyed in Kosovo. UNMIK has the greatest responsibility to facilitate this, as well as to exert strong pressure on the Kosovo Government to make sure that everything destroyed in Kosovo, including our homes, monasteries and hospitals, is reconstructed. Without this, there will be no chance for us to stabilize the situation in Kosovo and to return, not only the people displaced during the March violence, but also more than 200 thousand people that were forced to leave Kosovo in 1999,” said the DS presidential candidate Boris Tadic.

TV Duel: Nikolic on Kosovo (RTS)

“There is no need for me to elaborate on the importance of Kosovo for our collective national and historical identity. There is no Serbia without Kosovo and Metohija. As President of Serbia, I am going to launch a wide diplomatic offensive to finally make sure that UN SC resolution 1244 is implemented. Our diplomats throughout the world should not waste their energy on speaking against people who do not think the same way as they do, especially against me. Instead of doing the dirtiest work for the regime, our Ambassadors, Counsellors, our entire Ministry of Foreign Affairs and our Government should be focused on the Kosovo issue. The status of Kosovo, in terms of the final solution has already been defined. It is interesting that I cannot hear other Serbian politicians saying that resolution 1244 defines KiM as the integral part of SCG and confirms that SCG has sovereignty over its entire territory. Regretfully, I was the first one to say this to the world in Strasbourg when I criticized Harri Holkeri’s work in Kosovo. Besides its international activities, Serbia needs to improve its economy, as well as economic, political and social status of Kosovo Serbs. Serbia has to participate in the construction of apartments, as well as in financing income-generating projects that will bring huge benefits for Kosovo Serbs. Finally, the first and the most basic condition that we all must insist on is keeping this territory within the State Union and within the Serbian legal system. Secondly, we have to ensure the economic prosperity of our people in KiM. Thirdly, we also must ensure safety for every non-Albanian in Kosovo, regardless whether he is a Serb or member of some other ethnic community. The condition number four is ensuring that they can fully exercise their human rights and freedoms. My rival has deceived the citizens of Serbia by telling them that according to resolution 1244 our army and our police have no right to return to Kosovo. Then he has offered a different story to the Serbian public - that our soldiers and policemen would become clay pigeons if they would return to Kosovo. The clay pigeon is the little Dimitrije from Gracanica, as well as all other Serb children when their parents dare to send them to buy some groceries. Let the Serbian Army and Police guard Kosovo Serbs and let NATO guard Kosovo Albanians and there will be no more conflicts and then we shall be able to initiate negotiations on the level of autonomy for Kosovo,” said Tomislav Nikolic during the TV duel between the Serbian presidential candidates.

Serbs and Albanians hold first meeting since March violence (B92/Beta/Danas)

For the first time since the March violence, Serbs and Albanians from Kosovo set around the same table to discuss the current situation in the province. The KP member in the Kosovo Assembly Presidency Oliver Ivanovic said that Serb representatives have conveyed to the Albanian leaders that they hold them to be the most responsible for the situation in Kosovo and that they are the only ones who could fix it: “We have told them that the PISG have not exactly been a good place for Serbs, that we have not had any conditions for normal work, but that we are expecting that these problems could be fixed. It is up to them and the international community whether Serbs will participate in the PISG or not,” said Ivanovic and added that it was “extremely important that Serbs and Albanians bring out their views of the situation to each other, along with their ideas of how it could be fixed.” Ivanovic said that the Albanian leaders had mostly agreed with the Serb representatives, whereas the President of Project for Ethnic Relations Allen Kassof and the Head of US Office in Pristina Marcie Ries were only listening to the conversation and asking questions. Danas reports that Serbian PM Vojislav Kostunica is due to receive KP AMs today.

Anti-secessionist provisions in SCG defence strategy are not related to Montenegro (RTS)

The SCG FM Prvoslav Davinic dismissed the allegations that the new defence strategy was aimed at preventing the secession of Montenegro, explaining that the secession related provisions of the strategy had more to do with Serbia: “This is not about the secession of either Montenegro or Serbia, but rather about the existing secessionist threats in certain parts of Serbia,” underlined Davinic.

SCG expresses readiness to regain full control of its borders (RTS)

Terrorist acts in kosovo.netbined with organized crime, which includes the human and drug trafficking and arms smuggling, represents an increasing threat, the SCG Assistant FM Zeljko Perovic assessed in Vienna. Addressing the participants of the 2^nd Annual OSCE Conference on Security, Perovic underlined that in spite of all efforts that have been invested in the fight against terrorism, SCG is still faced with continuous terrorist acts in Kosovo. The March violence has clearly shown that it is necessary for the international forces in Kosovo to intensify measures against terrorism and human rights violations, said Perovic. The control of border with FYROM and Albania by the SCG authorities would contribute to suppressing the organized crime, which is in the best interest of the entire region, said Perovic.

Serbian Orthodox Church appeals to IC and K-Albanians to enable returns (Radio Belgrade 1)

Serbian Patriarch Pavle and the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church have once again called upon the international community and Kosovo Albanians to make possible for Serbs to return to the province and help them reconstruct their destroyed houses and sanctities. The Serbian Orthodox Church recalled that since the arrival of international forces in Kosovo, over 130 Orthodox churches and monasteries have been destroyed and that Serbs were forced to abandon hundreds of towns and villages.

Solana to meet with Jessen-Petersen (Tanjug)

The EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana is to meet with the newly appointed Head of UNMIK Soren Jessen Petersen in Brussels on Thursday to discuss the situation in Kosovo created after the upsurge of ethnically motivated violence in the province. Solana has already discussed this issue with the UN S-G Special Envoy Kai Eide in charge of conducting the investigation of consequences of the March violence.