Holkeri isn’t returning to Kosovo (Balkan)

UNMIK Head Harri Holkeri is not returning to Kosovo, Balkan learned from well-informed sources. This Finnish diplomat, who is at the moment in one Helsinki hospital where he is recovering from a serious heart attack (and not a light one as the western media reported) that he suffered in Strasbourg seven days ago, as the same source asserts, is afraid of returning to the southern Serbian province over threats by Albanian terrorists that they will kill him. Although all west European agencies have reported that Holkeri was admitted in Strasbourg last Wednesday due to exhaustion and some other medical check-ups, stories that the UNMIK head will not return anymore have been going around Kosovo for days, as well as that his duty until the arrival of Holkeri’s successor will be taken over by American Brayshaw, Holkeri’s deputy. “I’ve heard that Holkeri will not be returning because he suffered a serious heart attack in Strasbourg,” the vice-president of the Lipljan municipality Borivoje Vignjevic confirmed. Regional SNC leader Milan Ivanovic says that he had also heard that Holkeri will not be probably returning to Kosovo, but that he doesn’t know whether he will not be returning because of the heart attack or something else, referring to the stories that Albanians had threatened the UNMIK head, i.e. that they will kill him for not advocating independence of Kosovo.

Gallows next to Serbian Church (Glas/Tanjug)

Belgian KFOR troops have built a cafe named "In Purgatory," decorated with gallows and a rope above the cafe's sign, in front of the Serbian Orthodox Church St. Sava in Kosovska Mitrovica, burnt last March by Albanians. This was strongly condemned by SNC leader Milan Ivanovic, who had said that someone should be held responsible for such a behavior by the Belgian soldiers. KFOR spokesperson Chris Penn has stated that “this problem is being resolved.”

Report by KP to Contact Group (Blic)

During ethnic violence on 17 and 18 March this year, eight Serbs lost their lives while 143 of them were injured. More than 740 houses have been burnt or demolished and 4500 Serbs were expelled. The remaining Serbs were cleansed in Pristina, Prizren, Obilic, Kosovo Polje, Urosevac, Djakovica, Pec, and from eight Serb return villages. Twenty-seven Serbian churches and monasteries have been burnt or damaged, three Orthodox cemeteries were damaged as well as several schools and medical premises, it is stated in the report by KP, made at the request of Contact Group. However, its submission to international officials has been postponed due to different opinions over the security situation and the level of reconstruction of damaged Serbian houses. The ten-page report especially refers to the role of KFOR, UNMIK, provisional Kosovo institutions, KPC and the Kosovo police. Special attention has been also paid to the contribution of media in inflicting ethnic hatred against Serbs. Definitely, the UN mission has failed to fulfill the mandate given to it by UNSCR 1244 because it failed to protect the lives, freedom, security, property, religious facilities, cultural and historic heritage of the Serb community in Kosovo and Metohija. Five million euros provided by the Kosovo government are not sufficient for the renewal of the destroyed property, because only the damage caused to churches and monasteries is over 40 million euros, the KP report concludes.

Red Cross from Bujanovac delivers aid to Gnjilane (Danas/Beta)

The Red Cross from Bujanovac has delivered 25 tons of humanitarian aid to the village of Partes near Gnjilane. Aid to Serbs who live in the municipalities of Gnjilane, Kosovska Vitina, Novo Brdo and Kosovska Kamenica, is composed of ten tons of flour, larger quantities of food products, hygiene remedies, conserved milk and juices. Deputy Secretary of the Red Cross in Bujanovac Damjan Popovic has stated that around 250 tons of aid had been delivered to this region through this organization since 17 March.

Regular Assembly of Bishops of Serbian Orthodox Church ends (Politika)

The statement from the just ended session of the Serbian Orthodox Church Assembly reads that the Assembly, looking at all aspects of the present situation of the Serb nation and its sanctities in Kosovo and Metohija, especially after the wave of terrorism and violence from 17 to 20 March this year, sent an appeal to the governments of Serbia and Montenegro, the EU and the UN to do everything necessary to “ensure the right to life and elementary human rights to Serbs and other non-Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija, to protect and renew cultural goods and to ensure the return of the expelled population to their century-old homes.”

Competition for teachers at Pristina University (North Mitrovica) (Vecernje Novosti)

The Pristina University (temporarily dislocated to North Mitrovica) needs teaching staff in order to respond to its purpose, the new dean of the University in Pristina Radivoje Papovic told a press conference. “People have only been leaving this place since 1997, which has been caused by the fact that many departments remained without the best teaching staff, so each of the professors lectured three subjects on the average, and some of them even seven. That is why there will be a competition for 262 vacancies for teachers and associates,” said Papovic.

Visoki Decani Monastery celebrates Accession Day (Politika/Beta)

The Accession Day has been celebrated at the Visoki Decani Monastery. In the presence of more than 300 believers, who arrived from different regions of central Serbia and Kosovo and Metohija with KFOR escort, the holy liturgy was served at which more than 100 believers took Communion. Princesses Elisabeth and Linda Karageorgevich with Prince Michael, the son of the late Prince Tomislav, also attended the holy liturgy and formal lunch at the Visoki Decani Monastery.