The latest news articles on Kosovo Part 2

Beta News Agency, Belgrade
March 26, 2004

(Photo AP: Death to Serbs, Albanian graffiti around the burned cathedral of St. George. Last week's pogrom was an orchestrated operation activated thanks to a collective media manipulation. Failure to identify the organizers and perpertrators of the crimes would be a greatest blow to the authority of NATO and UN. Before radical operation in which the criminals will be arrested Serbs are not ready to participate in any kind of political process in Kosovo institutions. Bishop Artemije and Covic said that for Serbs there institutions do not exist any more, except on paper)

PRAGUE - Behind last week's violence in Kosovo and frequent false information appearing in the local press there are the same militant groups and provocateurs, stated the commander of Czech-Slovak battalion in Kosovo, lieutenant-colonel Jozef Kopecki, commenting on a scandal involving the Pristina Albanian language daily "Zeri", Czech media reported.

On Thursday Kopecki asked for an explanation and an apology from the editors of the Pristina paper for what he called "lies" in an article on how Czech and Greek soldiers, during a search of the house of Fejzulah Krasniqi in Obilic on Monday, broke the windows and hurt his two daughters.

Kopecki denied that Czech soldiers were involved in conducting searches of Albanian houses in the search for the leaders of last week's violence at all and added that Czech and Slovak soldiers were primarily engaged to assist Serbs in moving.

"Similar lies and provocations appear in the papers frequently," said Kopecki, describing the state of Kosovo (Albanian) media.

Pristina Corps knew violence in Kosovo was being planned

Beta News Agency, Belgrade
March 26, 2004

BELGRADE - The commander of the Serbia-Montenegro Army's Pristina Corps general Mladen Cirkovic said that the Army had information on preparations for the escalation of violence in Kosovo and that it had informed appropriate military and civil officials in a timely fashion.

In an interview for the weekly "Vojska" (Army), Cirkovic accused the UN civil and military mission in Kosovo and Metohija, who are responsible for security in the province, of failing to take these warnings seriously and failing to undertake appropriate measures to protect the population and property.

"The situation is slowly settling down but to the detriment of everything Serb - houses burned, holy sites, people expelled, killed, without protective measures undertaken at the right time and without informing the global community of the possible consequence of the activities of separatists and terrorists," said Cirkovic.

The general said that the Pristina Corps has undertaken all necessary measures in its area of responsibility to prevent possible spillovers of violence and extremist provocations, especially on the territory of three municipalities in the south of central Serbia - Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja.

Cirkovic emphasized good cooperation with local and state police and assessed that security forces are on top of the situation and there is no possibility of any surprise that would threaten the safety of civilians living along the administrative line with Kosovo.

"Of course, I am not discounting the possibility of staged and faked pseudo-incidents but that would only be a signal that something serious is being prepare. We would respond to this accordingly and no one should doubt it," Cirkovic told "Vojska".

Ivanovic: Kosovo ruled by armed groups who have sole authority

Beta News Agency, Belgrade
March 26, 2004

PRISTINA - Kosovo parliament deputy speaker Oliver Ivanovic assessed today that the province is ruled neither by the provisional insitutions nor by UNMIK but by armed groups who have sole authority.

"They avoid mentioning this fact in the institutions of Kosovo and in UNMIK but it's obvious," said Ivanovic after meeting with officials of the UN mission in Pristina today.

Ivanovic and other members of the Return Coalition (Povratak) asked UNMIK deputy chief Charles Brayshaw and other mission directors to determine who is responsible for violence and attacks on Serbs for "the trail leads to the top of the political pyramid and those who head organized crime".

"The same pople are responsible for the ethnic cleansing of Serbs from Kosovo since 1999. The problem of unresolved ethnic cleansing has now come back to haunt us and it will be back until it is solved once and for all," said Ivanovic.

The Return Coalition believes that lack of knowledge and ability on the part of UNMIK and the institutions cannot absolve them.

Ivanovic says that the provisional insitutions do not enjoy trust among the residents of Kosovo and that the demonstrated violence against Serbs should be sought in individual responsibility among heads of institutions.

"We expect rapid and concrete measures that will influence a revamping of the framework and approach because everything that has been done in the past will not give results," underscored Ivanovic.

In last week's violence by Albanian extremists in Kosovo 28 people were killed, hundreds were wounded, over three thousand Serbs were expelled from their homes which were then torched.

Over 35 Orthodox churches and monasteries were also demolished and burned.

 

UNHCR: Situation in Kosovo extremely difficult

Beta News Agency, Belgrade
March 26, 2004

GENEVA - The spokesman of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Kris Janowski described the situation in Kosovo as "extremely difficult"

because "despite all international efforts, the number of displaced persons has increased" in the region.

"The result of last weeks attacks is 4,000 new displaced persons, Serbs of Kosovo who were forced to leave their homes. The majority of them are located in parts of Kosovo largely inhabited by Serbs, and about 1,000 people are located in KFOR barracks," said Janowski at a press conference at the United Nations in Geneva.

Janowski stated that some 300 Serbs had returned to their homes this week but that the remaining 4,000 have been unable to do so because their homes have been "either burned or destroyed".

The spokesman of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Jose Luis Diaz said that the situation in Kosovo is "extremely unstable" and expressed "concern for the state of human rights" due to violence, murder and destruction of property and churches.

"We are also disturbed by the violence that has broken out in Serbia, the burning of mosques and other Muslim holy sites and the extremist views that have given voice to racism," said Diaz.

Political leaders of both Serbs and Albanians, as well as the international community, must undertake the responsibility for restoring peace in Kosovo, resolving the issue of displaced and missing persons, punishing war criminals and increasing security, as well as enabling the return of displaced persons, he said.

At a separate press conference the secretary general of the Swiss agency for cooperation and development Walter Fust expressed regret due to the deterioration of the situation in Kosovo and siad that "it would be normal for the displaced Serbs to return to their homes".

"We have also observed that political dialogue in Serbia has changed. It remains to be seen what kind of answer the Serbian government will find when Kosovo is at stake. We don't know what the outcome will be but Switzerland will continue working with Serbia and Montenegro," said Fust.

Solana: Leaders in Kosovo must establish who is guilty for violence

Beta News Agency, Belgrade
March 25, 2004

BRUSSELS - European Union high representative Javier Solana stated in Brussles that the recent violence in Kosovo was "organized" and emphasized that "Kosovo leaders clearly must state who is behind the violence", and the instigators of such deeds must be brought to justice.

"Violence against minorities must be stopped and all people enabled to live together," said Solana at a press conference with Slovene premier Anton Rop.

The EU high representative emphasized that the 15 members of European Union support the policy of "standards before status", "and burning down churches and schools certainly are not standards of the European Union".

Solana added that he had given the same message to Albanian leaders in Pristina, underscoring that "the European Union will continue to assist in the development of Kosovo but minorities must be protected".

The 15 members of the European Union, he reminded, "are investing great amounts in Kosovo" and, he pointed out, "the European Union has never given as much money per capita as in Kosovo".

Solana's associates explained that in the past five years the international community has given 2.6 billion dollars of adi, 65 percent of which came from the European Union.

When asked by a reporter who was behind last week's violence in Kosovo, the EU high representative said that he "could not say exactly who was behind it but that it is clear that it was not spontaneous violence".

It was organized violence," explained Solana, pointing out that local leaders in Kosovo must clear state who was behind it, and the instigators of violence must be brought to justice.

When asked whether the EU did not share in the blame for the tragic events in the province, Solana responded that he did not believe that the EU's lack of action and omissions could have worked to the advantage of the instigators of the violence.

He concluded that UNMIK and KFOR were responsibile for security in Kosovo, while the 15 members of the European Union provide economic and other support.