October 27, 2004

ERP KiM Newsletter 27-10-04

Jessen-Petersen continues his attacks on the Serbian Orthodox Church

The Diocese of Raska-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija appeals to international officials and to the highest representatives of Serbia and Montenegro to make the UNMIK chief aware that his precipitated and inflammatory statements only serve to further damage relations between ethnic and religious communities in Kosovo and Metohija, and that good sportsmanship calls for recognition of others' right to freedom of opinion on his part without name-calling and mud-slinging

ERP KIM Info Service
Gracanica, October 26, 2004

UNMIK chief Soren Jessen-Petersen continued his attacks on the Serbian Orthodox Church on Monday because of the Church's position that conditions for Serb participation in the Kosovo elections did not exist. As in previous attacks, Jessen-Petersen emphasized that "[t]here are clearly those, both in Belgrade and among the Church, who are determined to block any effort ... to create a multi-ethnic society that is safe and secure for everyone" (Reuters, Oct. 25).

These unfounded and tendentious words show that the UNMIK chief is not only unprepared to recognize the democratic right of those Serbs who did not wish to vote in the elections but that he wishes to make them responsible for his own failure in organizing free, fair and multiethnic elections.

Anyone following developments in Kosovo and Metohija is well-aware of how much the Church has done toward reconciliation and the participation of Kosovo Serbs in provisional institutions, and that Bishop Artemije was the first to insist on Serb participation in elections three years ago. After three years of failure and continuing persecution which culminated in March riots, the lion's part of the blame for the nonparticipation of Serbs in this year's elections falls on the UNMIK chief himself and his sponsors. Their absolutely rigid position on legitimate Serb demands formulated in the Serbian Government's plan for the resolution of the Kosovo problem, along with a strategy based on political pressure and division practically pushed the Serbs not to vote.

With his politically and morally irresponsible statements which de facto call for an open campaign against the Church, Soren Jessen-Petersen is indirectly endangering the lives of those whose used their legitimate democratic right and decided not to vote in the elections. His attacks on Church have already produced a series of highly provocative articles by Albanian extremist media and fanned even more ethnic hatred.

The Diocese of Raska-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija will continue to support every true effort toward the building of a multiethnic society in Kosovo and Metohija, as it has done in the past. However, the Church will not stop witnessing to the truth regarding the injustice and hypocrisy to which its faithful are regularly exposed.

The Serbs demonstrated a very high degree and unity, and thus the Serbian community sent the clear message that violence, denial of elementary human rights, ethnic cleansing, lack of returns, lack of returns, and lack of elementary freedom of movement in Kosovo and Metohija can no longer be tolerated

Tanjug News agency, Belgrade, October 25

President of the Social-Democratic Party Nebojsa Covic said in a statement for Tanjug yesterday that the Serbian community, by not voting in the provincial elections, has sent a clear message of lack of confidence in the international factor in Kosovo and Metohija. "The Serbs demonstrated a very high degree and unity, and thus the Serbian community sent the clear message that violence, denial of elementary human rights, ethnic cleansing, lack of returns, lack of returns, and lack of elementary freedom of movement in Kosovo and Metohija can no longer be tolerated," said Covic. "It's not enough to have the strength and to talk about how you are strongest; you must also do something concrete for the Serbian community," he pointed out. Covic added that the Serbs, having learned a lesson from the previous elections after they were unable to achieve anything by participating in provisional institutions, could not participate in these elections in Kosovo and Metohija.

Legitimacy of elections undermined

"Any international official who says that these election results should be recognized should think well before doing so because it is impossible for the second largest ethnic group on a territory that is supposed to be multiethnic simply not to participate in elections," assessed Covic.

Covic believes that the Serbs' lack of participation this time around completely undermines the legitimacy of the election. "Any international official who says that these election results should be recognized should think well before doing so because it is impossible for the second largest ethnic group on a territory that is supposed to be multiethnic simply not to participate in elections," assessed Covic.

He added that it is up to the representatives of the Serbian community who did participate in the elections to decide what they will do next. "They should have thought about it when they assumed the responsibility and made the decision to participate in these elections," said Covic, who believes it is neither correct nor moral to be a parliamentary deputy in light of the symbolic turnout of Serbs. (Tanjug)

OPINIONS

http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/10/26/opinion/edlet.html

INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE (FRANCE)

LETTERS

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

Kosovo election

The plea by Soren Jessen-Peterson ("Kosovo's Serbs should head to the polls," Views, Oct. 23) that Kosovo's beleaguered Serbs should vote was rightly ignored in elections on Saturday ("Serb ballot boycott snags UN plans for Kosovo," Oct. 25). The current impasse over Kosovo's status is not the Serbs' fault. It lies with the demand of the province's Albanians for an independent and ethnically pure Kosovo. This was an inevitable consequence of NATO's turning a blind eye to the training camps of the Kosovo Liberation Army in Albania.

The KLA and its offshoots will continue to call the shots as long as the West is reluctant to rein it in. To discuss Kosovo's status before the province's Albanians demonstrate civilized standards of behavior would reward ethnic cleansing.

Yugo Kovach, Twickenham, England

As long as Serbs in Kosovo remain in desperate fear for their lives from Albanian extremists due to the total lack of protection and security provided by the United Nations' failed effort there, I don't see why they would feel at all comfortable voting to legitimize a shadow government that is doing its utmost best to eradicate them and their culture from the province.

Before anything else we need to resolve the massive failure of security for Kosovo's Serbs that makes them fear Albanians and that prevents any serious dialogue and reconciliation between Kosovo's two indigenous peoples.

Michael Pravica, Henderson, Nevada

Belgrade Media Update, October 27:

Samardzic: Institutions illegitimate to represent Serbs (RTS/Tanjug)
Political Adviser to the Serbian Prime Minister Slobodan Samardzic told Tanjug that PISG, which will be formed following the Saturday elections in Kosovo, will be "illegitimate to represent the interests of the Serb community." "No one who would represent the interests of Serbs will enter the parliament, and if someone takes 10 deputy seats envisaged for Serbs by the constitutional framework, they cannot be legitimate and represent the interests of Serbs, as they are not supported by the Serbian electorate," Samardzic estimated.

Momcilo Trajkovic: Serbs should not accept guarantees mandates (RTS)
SPOT leader Momcilo Trajkovic has stated that Serbs in the province and those displaced have conveyed at the Kosovo Assembly elections that they dont wish to be theatre extras and simulate multi-ethnicity. Trajkovic told a press conference in Belgrade that he demands Serb participants in the Kosovo elections not to accept the verification of the ten guaranteed mandates in the Kosovo Assembly. Otherwise, SPOT will propose, together with PSS, that Kosovo Serbs organize special elections at which they would receive legitimate representatives, of whom the first ten elected would be included in the work of the Kosovo Assembly, he stated.

Milan Ivanovic called Sřren Jessen-Petersen for dialogue with Serbs (RTS)
SNC leader for northern Kosovo has called UNMIK Head Sřren Jessen-Petersen for dialogue with the relevant Serb representatives supported by more than 99% of the Serb community in the province. In an open letter, he warned the UNMIK head that dialogue with Serb representatives supported by less than one percent of the Serb community did not lead towards the stabilization of the situation in the province. We will not accept the non-legitimate Serbs whom we denied support and trust by non-voting. We expect you to accept the will of the people, said Ivanovic. There is no way that the reason for non-Albanians not turning out for the Kosovo elections is the result of the pressure and intimidation of voters, as you easily claim. You are denied by the official reports by the UNMIK police and KPS, as well as the statements by the OSCE Head Pascal Fieschi that everything passed by in the best democratic order, said Milan Ivanovic.

Hungarian MP on Kosovo (RSCG)
A quick solution of the status of Kosovo suits extremists who wish to turn that Serbian province into a European base of the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda, stated Hungarian MP in the European Parliament Gyula Hegy. Hegy, who was a member of the European Parliament Team for monitoring the recent elections in Kosovo, assessed that the results of those elections indicated that the Serb community did not want to be exposed to permanent outvoting by the Albanian side.

Serb List for Kosovo awaiting Belgrade (Tanjug)
Whether the Serb List for Kosovo AMs will enter the Kosovo Assembly depends on the position of official Belgrade, the leaders of the List assessed. Talks with the state leadership as well as with the international community are ahead, Randjel Nojkic, one the List leaders stated. He expressed hope that a rational solution would be found. Slavisa Petkovic, the leader of the Civil Initiative of Serbia, told Tanjug that the final results of the elections should be awaited, and added that he would certainly enter the Kosovo Assembly if any of the mandates would be adopted. In an open letter to the UNMIK Head, SNC for northern Kosovo Milan Ivanovic has pointed out that dialogue with Serb representatives supported by less than 1% of the Serb community does not head in the direction of stabilization of the situation in the province.

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