Kosovo parliament plays with fire

EURONEWS.NET (FRANCE)
17/11/05 19:06 CET

The parliament in Kosovo has reaffirmed the will of the people of the Serbian province to assert their autonomy by passing a resolution backing full independence. The parliamentary move comes just days before talks brokered by the UN on the future of Kosovo begin. At about the same time, a bomb went off under a truck in a crowded Kosovan Serb market, injuring four people. Serb leaders blame this and other recent attacks on Albanian extremists pushing for freedom for Kosovo by force.

International leaders have been trying to warn Kosovo off driving for full independence, as some say this could encourage separatist movements elsewhere in a fragile region. Failure to resolve the issue though remains a thorny problem at the heart of an otherwise peaceful Europe. It could prevent an eventual EU membership deal for Serbia-Montenegro and, until it is resolved, it remains a near war-zone with patrolled frontiers within the EU.

The West warily agrees to help negotiate Kosovo's future

TRIBUNE DE GENEVE (SWITZERLAND)
18 novembre 2005 02:52

BRUSSELS, Nov 18 (AFP)

Disturbed by continued unrest in Kosovo, the international community has agreed to help run delicate talks on the province's future but fears that giving it independence could ignite the Balkans again.

Six years after NATO's war on Belgrade, followed by warnings Kosovo would not get independence, talks about the future status of the UN-administered Serbian region are to begin on Monday under new envoy Martti Ahtisaari.

Officially, western leaders are not leaning toward any particular outcome fearful that they could compromise Kosovo's "future" by prematurely outlining what shape it might take.

Privately, however, they confide that there are few good alternatives to independence if this burning issue in a historically volatile region is to be resolved.

"Washington is probably leaning toward some kind of conditioned independence but it recognises that it is not going to be easy to get the Russians on board," said John Norris, from the International Crisis Group in Washington.

Russia, which is a traditional ally of Belgrade, is part of the international Contact Group on Kosovo, along with the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Italy.

Moscow wants Kosovo's status to be decided in negotiations between the authorities in Belgrade and Pristina, something the latter rejects, or for the solution to be what Serbia calls "more than autonomy, less than independence."

As for the Europeans, they know it is vital to definitively resolve a problem in their own back yard but their only demands so far are for a "stable, tolerant, multi-ethnic and democratic" Kosovo.

"I think the attitude of the United States is shared by the European Union; that is in private they say there is no other option but conditional independence," said Georges Berghezan, from the research and peace information group (GRIP) in Brussels.

He said the international community "will do everything it can to soften Belgrade's stance by saying: 'get rid of Kosovo and the EU will open its door to you in exchange.'"

Whatever happens, everyone agrees the process called democratic "standards before status" has its limits and that it has helped create an unsatisfactory status quo. It is also agreed that the talks will be long and difficult.

The ethnic Albanians, who make up almost 90 percent of the province's two million population, want nothing less than independence but Belgrade considers Kosovo nothing less than the cradle of Serbian culture and history.

"We don't know where this process is going to lead, but it has to lead to something better than the status quo that has not been conducive to either stability or peace in Kosovo over the course of the past several years," said US undersecretary of state for political affairs Nicholas Burns.

In that context, the international community has set its limits, making the protection of Kosovo's Serb minority a central point of the talks, and rejecting its partition or any future unification with Albania.

"Any solution which was unilateral or resulted from the use of force, as well as any changes to the current territory of Kosovo would be unacceptable," the EU's 25 foreign ministers said in a joint declaration early this month.

But while leaders like Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov call for a cautious approach, amid fears over what an independence might do to the region, Slovenian President Janez Drnovsek has submitted a plan for full independence.

"In the long term, that will not make the region stable but could act like a time bomb because the ethnic Albanian issue will not have been resolved," warned Berghezan.

Violence shakes up Kosovo

SERBIANNA (USA)
Friday, November 18, 2005

November 17, 2005 -- A wave of bombings, shootings and assassination attempts shakes up Kosovo as the Albanian dominated Kosovo assembly voted for a resolution stating that they will accept nothing less than independence in the UN-mediated talks on the future of the province.

Ethnic Serb homes in Kosovo are shown burning in this file photo from 2004, torched by an ethnic Albanian mob. Over 20 Churches have been destroyed in one day, most a heritage of the medieval Europe.

An explosion went off in downtown Pristina, near the UN and Kosovo Police headquarters confirms the Kosovo Police Service (KPS) official for the Pristina region, Sabrije Kamberi. The explosion occurred in Ljuana Haradinaj Street at about 8:30 pm and one vehicle of the KPS was damaged in the blast.

Another bomb planted under a truck in the market in a southern Kosovo town of Strpce exploded injuring four people. Strpce Mayor said that the bomb injured three ethnic Serbs, Boban Markovic, born 1990, Darko Ivkovic, born 1989, and Milos Basaric, all from the village of Sevce near Strpce, as well as an ethnic Albanian, a truck owner Kadri Guri, born in 1956 from Kacanik near Urosevac.

In the Kosovo village of Suvi Do, unknown attackers opened fire on an ethnic Serb, Ilija Petronijevic, in the yard of his house.

Kosovo Police Service said that on the regional road from Pristina to Gnjilane near the village of Bresalce, an unknown person opened fire on a green Mazda, killing one person and seriously injuring another.

In a separate incident, a bomb planted in a Kosovo police vehicle detonated late Wednesday, but didn't injure the officer inside. Top police commissioner Kai Vitrupp said Thursday the device had been "big enough to kill a man inside."

Kosovo is a Serbian province that has been administered by the UN since 1999 when NATO attacks forced Milosevic troops out of the province. Since then, Albanians have engaged in violent attacks on ethnic minorities and demand independence.

Analysts say sporadic bomb blasts and shootings in Kosovo, often targeting U.N. vehicles, their facilities as well as ethnic Serbs are part of an Albanian campaign to warn the U.N. that in case their desire for independence is not granted more violence will be rendered.

November 17, 2005 06:29 PM (20:29 GMT)

Fanning the flames in the Balkans

THE BALTIMORE SUN (USA)
OPINION

By Ted Galen Carpenter

Originally published November 6, 2005

R. Nicholas Burns, undersecretary of state for political affairs, recently put Balkan issues back on the front burner when he pressured Bosnia's Serb, Muslim and Croat leaders to replace the country's three-person, multiethnic presidency with a single president.

That step is needed, he said, to create a stronger, more cohesive state. He added that there should be a firm commitment to such reforms by the time Balkan leaders visit Washington this month to mark the 10th anniversary of the Dayton accords that ended the Bosnian civil war. Dayton, Mr. Burns intoned, has served its purpose and now needs to "evolve."

Mr. Burns apparently never heard the adage, "Let sleeping dogs lie." At best, his proposal is unwise. At worst, it could re-ignite the Bosnian civil war.

It's true that the Dayton accords are far from perfect. Dayton created a political structure reminiscent of the waggish definition of a camel - a horse designed by a committee.

Bosnia consists of the Bosnian Serb republic and the Muslim-Croat federation, each with a high degree of autonomy, which are tenuously linked by a weak central government. Most real power resides with the two sub-state units - and even more so with an international high representative backed by a NATO army of occupation.

A decade after the Dayton accords, Bosnia is still largely a pretend country. There is almost no sense of nationhood. The economy is heavily dependent on international aid and the spending of the military personnel and international bureaucrats who infest the country. Indeed, nearly half of Bosnia's gross domestic product consists of such international inputs.

The reality is that Bosnia is not significantly closer to being a viable country today than it was when the Dayton accords were signed. But Dayton did provide one very important benefit: It ended a three-sided civil war that had consumed tens of thousands of lives. The new U.S. proposal threatens to undo that achievement.

The principal reason why the Dayton agreement has maintained the peace is that the Bosnian Serbs received an extensive degree of autonomy. Their fear of being dominated by the country's Muslim community (the largest single

faction) was the primary reason they had waged a war for independence during the early 1990s. While many of them grumble about some aspects of the Dayton system (especially the often arbitrary conduct of High Representative Paddy Ashdown), they are not sufficiently discontented to resume the armed conflict.

Washington's desire to create a single-member presidency and establish a more "cohesive" and powerful Bosnian central government poses a clear threat to the Serbs. They see such centralization as a direct attack on the autonomy they have enjoyed for the past decade.

What U.S. officials have never understood is that all factions in Bosnia see politics as a zero-sum game. Since Muslims are the most numerous faction, centralization would play into their hands, creating an opportunity for them to dominate the state. That prospect, however, is anathema to the Serbs (and to the even more decisively outnumbered Croats).

Instead of trying to create a unified state where there is no sense of nationhood, Washington should be moving in the opposite direction. Dayton is indeed just an interim solution. Since Bosnia has never been and never will be a viable country, Dayton should be the prelude to a three-way partition.

The Bosnian Serb republic and the Muslim portion of the federation should each become independent countries recognized by the international community.

The Croat portion of the federation should be allowed to merge with Croatia.

Partition is the only hope of a truly lasting solution to the Bosnia problem.

If U.S. policymakers cannot bring themselves to make such a bold move, they can at least let the Dayton accords lumber on a while longer. The one thing they should not do is revive the old interethnic struggle for power. Yet, tragically, that is what Washington seems poised to do.

Ted Galen Carpenter, vice president for defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute, is the editor of NATO's Empty Victory: A Postmortem on the Balkan War. His e-mail address is tcarpenter@cato.org.

Colonized Kosovo: Muslim demands and Western servitude

SERBIANNA (USA)
Friday, November 18, 2005

By Boba Borojevic

Ottawa, November 14, 2005 - The violence that started Oct. 27 among Muslim youths in the dreary industrial suburbs northeast of Paris soon grew into a nationwide insurrection in the banlieus, of arson and clashes with police.

Prime Minister de Villepin said the nation faced a "moment of truth" over its failure to integrate Arab and African immigrants and their children into its mainstream.

A thousand miles away and 16 months ago, on March 17, 2004, Albanian mobs burned down hundreds of Serbian houses and some thirty Serbian Orthodox churches. They also expelled over 2000 non-Albanians from Kosovo. Some voices in the "international community" tried to explain this violence as the result of Albanian frustration for not getting independence from Serbia.

Is there any significant similarity between demands and actions of Albanian Muslims in Kosovo and Muslim "youths" in France?

Dr Srdja Trifkovic, director of the Institute for International Affairs at The Rockford Institute in Illinois says that the difference is two-folded.

The riots in Kosovo in 1981, 1989, in the 1990s and than on several occasions following the NATO occupation but most notably on March 17, 2004, are based in a combination of nationalist and Islamic motives. It would be inappropriate to ascribe them completely to the influence of religious teaching, just as it would be wrong to exclude Islam from the mix of emotions that drive the Albanian political mainstream. Significant segments of the Albanian Kosovo youths active in the KLA and associated groups are primarily driven by the desire to declare independence from Serbia, to expel the remaining Serbs and other non-Albanians, and to have a mono-ethnic Kosovo. Their murderous antagonism is not fully explicable, however, without some reference to the gap that Islam breeds between Muslims and non-Muslims, in the Balkans and elsewhere.

In France by contrast, many of the North African youths of Arabic origin, most of them of an Algerian, Moroccan or Tunisian parentage, want their self-rule within France, rather than independence from France. For at least some of them the ultimate objective is to take over France and the rest of Europe altogether, but for now they have one key political demand that is not sufficiently publicized in the Western media: the acceptance of no-go areas for the police in certain "difficult" areas with a Muslim majority, and de facto autonomy for those areas. Young Muslims want their turf to be governed by themselves, within the boundaries of the French state but definitely outside the French society. Their community leaders, imams and sheikhs, hope that eventually the application of the Sharia law within their communities will be only a matter of time.

The exclusion for the French state, its police forces, judicial and administrative authorities from the areas in which the Muslims comprise a majority would be only the first step. What they are asking for is reminiscent of the Turkish millet system of local authority exercised by different religious and ethnic units within the Ottoman Empire. "It presupposes the right of the Muslims in Europe to be treated as a separate community, guided by its own rules and not subject to the prevailing laws and mores of the secular host society," explains Trifkovic.

Although many rioters in France have rather vague notions of what they reallt want, Trifkovic cautions that we need to look at the statements by their community leaders, by people who are demanding "negotiations" with the French government. "What we are witnessing is the first step of the intifada that will seek to gradually establish pockets of Muslim-ruled areas that will be inhabited solely by Muslims. We have seen the same progression in North Africa and the Middle East in the early stages of Muslim expansion in the 7th and 8th centuries."

The reason why western governments and the mainstream media have failed to address the issue of intifada in Europe, Trifkovic says, is that it would imply the recognition that integration and assimilation have failed miserably.

"What we have witnessed in the past 40 years is a massive influx of Muslim immigrants into Europe. We are talking about 20-plus million people - the greatest migration of people ever recorded in history! It far exceeds the European emigration into North America. Even in the late 19th century, in no single year had more than half a million Europeans migrated to the rest of the world, including North and South America, Australia, South Africa etc.

This massive migratory onslaught has been accompanied by the demand of the European elite class for the newcomers' "inclusion," for the host-nations'

"tolerance" of alien practices and cultural assumptions, for multiculturalism, for an irreversible welcoming mat for the newcomers who have never intended to be integrated. They have compact communities, which can function on their own terms and in their own right without ever learning the language of the host society and without ever accepting any of its cultural assumptions and values," concludes Trifkovic.

Colonial Attitudes

According to Finish newspapers the appointment of Martti Ahtisaari as an UN Special Envoy authorized by the United Nations and the great powers to lead the talks on the future status of Kosovo is another impressive demonstration of the authority and confidence the former President enjoys among the international community in such matters. Trifkovic sees Martti Ahtisaari as the one of ever-present faceless bureaucrats picked up by the so-called international community when they want a process with the preordained outcome to get underway.

"He was already involved in 1999 in negotiating the agreement in Kumanovo that persuaded the withdrawal of Serbian police and military units from Kosovo before NATO came in. The interregnum assured that most of the Serbian and other non-Albanian population would be expelled by Albanians. His subsequent association with the so-called International Crisis Group (ICG), an organization implacably committed to the concept of the Albanian independence, is not promising at all. The Serbian authorities would have been well advised to declare that his services are not welcome for that reason. The Serbs should have demanded someone more evenhanded, less compromised by bias and by prior political activities. There is no doubt that, had the international community appointed someone who has said that Kosovo should stay within Serbia, the Albanians and their cohorts would have cried murder and demanded that person's replacement."

Brelgrade's negotiating team consisting of the prime minister of Serbia Vojislav Kostunica, president of Serbia Boris Tadic and president of the state union Serbia and Montenegro, Svetozar Marovic, includes vastly different and mutually incompatible personalities and views on how to conduct the negotiations and how the future status of Kosovo should look like, says Trifkovic.

"It is enough to look at the well exploited phrase 'more than autonomy and less than independence'. Professor Kosta Cavoski, one of the leading Serbian jurists, has explained that there is nothing in between those two terms. You either have autonomy, which means self-rule that falls short of independence, or you have more than that, which means full sovereignty without even a resemblance or pretence of institutional link between Belgrade and Pristina.

"The phrase more than autonomy and less than independence is very damaging for the Serbian side. It implicitly recognizes that whatever Kosovo gets it will be de facto independence, under whatever name. For as long as Belgrade does not have a specific plan, the one that will be based upon already existing models elsewhere in the world, such as the autonomy for Swedes in Finland, the models of coexistence or, to be more precise, the methods of separation of Greeks and Turks of Cypress, the models of territorial autonomy that the Vatican's institutions enjoy in the Italian republic, for as long as we are always inventing some new models - of which the world remains unaware to this day - we are following one-way street to de facto independence of Kosovo under whatever name," says Trifkovic.

Constant Pressure on Serbs by Foreign Powers

Belgrade newspaper "Politika' reported that the American senator Joesph Biden had said at the meeting of the Foreign policy committee of American Senate on November 9, that: "If we do the right thing in Kosovo, it'll remind Muslims round the world the US helped Kosovo Muslim population to build a strong, independent, multi ethnic democracy."

Biden's opinion does not surprise Trifkovic who said that we had witnessed that attitude in the past decade. "Joe Biden was consistently wrong on every Balkan issue and remains wrong to this day. The senator from Delaware does not understand the Balkans or Islam. Giving Muslims a few morsels in the Balkans in the hope that the US will justify itself for the policy in Iraq and the policy of supporting Israel has been proven false under the Clinton administration. People who still maintain the same cause today are either politically very naďve, or deliberately mendacious, or just plain stupid.

"As for the issue of substance the declaration of either the House of Representatives or the Senate that has no legal binding value, that has no character of policy declaration that the administration has to follow is symbolic and should not be treated by the Serbs as a tool of heavy pressure," says Trifkovic.

When push comes to shove, without Serbia's agreement an independent Kosovo cannot function. If the Serbs declare that they will not accept Kosovo's travel documents, customs forms, passports, license plates, etc. it would be impossible for an independent Kosovo to function. The only functional link between Kosovo and the heartland of Europe goes through Serbia to the north and west. And if the Serbs are determined in the defense of their concept of sovereignty, no "independent" Kosovo would be able to function."

According to Trifkovic, the Serbian side strategy at the moment should be defensive. "The Serbs have no need to accept the deadline of 2006, or any other year. There are crisie in the world such as Middle East crisis that has been subjected to many deadlines in the past. We've had Madrid, we've had Camp David I, Camp David II, and Oslo and yet it remains unresolved. Why should the Kosovo crisis be subject to any cut-off date? And why should the Serbs negotiate today if the UNSC Resolution 1244 from 1999 remains unfulfilled? Those two issues have not been answered in satisfactory manner," Trifkovic says. The Serbs can insist on 1244 as the preconditions for negotiations. Belgrade has strong arguments, and that is why the implicit intention of those who want an independent Kosovo is to make Belgrade give up on UNSC 1244," concluded Trifkovic his interview for "Monday's Encounter" on CKCU 93.1 FM in Ottawa.

Tadic And Covic: Forced Solutions For Kosovo – Unacceptable

Belgrade, 18 Nov (Beta) – Serbian President Boris Tadic and President of Social-democratic Party of Serbia Nebojsa Covic met today and discussed about Kosovo. They mutually agreed that “forced solutions could not be acceptable”, announced press service of Serbian president today.
“The best alternative to policy of forced solutions is policy of proposing good and sustainable solutions”, notes announcement.

Also such proposal “respects principle of preservation of borders of internationally recognized democratic states and secures substantial autonomy of Albanian community in Kosovo in accordance to Resolution 1244 of United Nations Security Council.”

“Tadic and Covic have revised policies and documents from 2001 until the present, on which latest concept is based stated by Serbian president at recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin”, is stated in the announcement.

Moreover, both Serbian officials mutually agreed; “Serbia could defend its legitimate interests only with active politics”.

EU Committee Of Regions For General Kosovo Decentralization

Brussels, 18 Nov (Tanjug) - The European Union (EU) Committee of Regions adopted on Friday, at the end of a plenary session in Brussels, a document, in which it advocates for a general decentralization of the southern Serbian province.

The Committee also called on Kosovo authorities to double their efforts so that concrete results could be achieved as regards the issue of return of refugees and displaced persons, as well the freedom of movement of members of all communities.

The document was adopted by a majority of votes, with one vote against, Branislav Stanicek, official of the Foreign Affairs Department of the Committee of Regions, told a Tanjug reporter in Brussels.

Reporter for Kosovo-Metohija at the Committee for Regions Tomaz Stebe, who is also mayor of the Slovenian town of Menges, said that the document advocated for a decentralization on the whole of the territory of Kosovo.

The document urges temporary Kosovo-Metohija authorities to prepare a reform of local government in the whole of Kosovo. The Committee of Regions also demands that Pristina authorities ensure the preservation and promotion of the languages and cultural heritage of all Kosovo inhabitants. The clause which demands that the participation of all kosovo.netmunities in the local government be favored is of particular importance for Kosovo Serbs, Stanicek said.

Belgrade Media Update, November 18, 2005

Kosovo Assembly proclamation (RTS)
The Kosovo Assembly has adopted the Proclamation on the confirmation of the citizens’ will of the people of Kosovo for an independent and sovereign Kosovo. According to Kosovo Assembly Speaker Nexhat Daci, this proclamation is based on the UN Charter of Nations’ Rights from 1944. It has been said in the Assembly that this document should represent a platform of the Pristina negotiating team in negotiations with Belgrade on the future status of Kosovo. Representatives of the international community previously objected the adoption of such a proclamation underlining that it would not be accepted.

Sřren Jessen-Petersen on Kosovo proclamation (RTS)
UNMIK Head Sřren Jessen-Petersen has stated that the Kosovo Assembly, by adopting the proclamation that is giving the platform to the Kosovo delegation for the upcoming talks on the status, “has undertaken its responsibility in an adequate way.” “Now is the time for Kosovo political leaders to accelerate the preparations for the process around the status, especially having in mind that UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari is arriving on Monday,” said Jessen-Petersen. 

Serbian Government: Kosovo Assembly position unacceptable (RTS)
The Serbian Government assesses as unacceptable the position of the Kosovo Assembly and the adoption of the proclamation on an independent and sovereign state, stated Serbian Minister for the Economy Predrag Bubalo after the government session. Such an act contradicts UNSCR 1244, Bubalo said. Representatives of the parliamentary parties in Serbia assessed that the proclamation was expected and that such a decision does not contribute to the forthcoming negotiations on the status of Kosovo.

Kosovo Serbs ask for annulment of Kosovo Assembly Proclamation (RTS)
Kosovo Serb representatives have assessed that UNMIK Head Sřren Jessen-Petersen must annul the Proclamation of the Kosovo Assembly that confirms the political will of the people of Kosovo for an independent and sovereign state. SLKM Head Oliver Ivanovic said that this document is against UNSCR 1244 and adopted positions of the Contact Group. Ivanovic believes that this Proclamation serves only daily political purposes and has no legal value, but does great political harm. Minister for Return and Ethnic Communities in the Kosovo government Slavisa Petkovic assessed that the move of Albanian AMs is absurd, as all international community representatives have pointed out that it would not be recognized and would lead to destabilization of the situation in the province.

Reactions to Albanian proclamation (Tanjug)
DSS caucus whip Milos Aligrudic has stated that “the adoption of the Kosovo Assembly proclamation doesn’t contribute to negotiations.” SRS caucus whip Tomislav Nikolic has stated that “Albanians will not have on their side NATO for this proclamation, and if they start seizing Kosovo with arms, they will also have to be stopped with arms.”

Declaration For Survival adopted (RTS)
The Union of Serb Municipalities and Settlements of Kosovo in Kosovska Mitrovica has adopted unanimously the Declaration For Survival of Serbs in Kosovo. It was unilaterally concluded at the session that Kosovo has been, is and will be part of the state territory of Serbia. “Unilateral proclamation of an independent Kosovo is unacceptable and non-binding for Serbia and represents an attack against UNSCR 1244 that outlines that Kosovo is an integral part of the Serbian state.”

Process of appointing Ahtisaari formally completed (RTS/Tanjug)
The process of appointing Martti Ahtisaari as the UN Special Envoy for the negotiations on Kosovo has been formally completed, UN Secretary-General’s spokesperson Brenden Varma confirmed to Tanjug. “The UN Secretary-General has sent a letter on the appointment of Martti Ahtisaari and his deputy, so that Ahtisaari has been officially appointed, as well as his deputy Albert Rohan,” said Varma on the occasion of the information that this process has not been formally completed yet.

Tadic: Security situation in Kosovo deteriorated (RTS)
Serbian President Boris Tadic has expressed concern over the deteriorated security situation in Kosovo, assessing that frequent attacks and explosions are aimed at intimidating Serbs and other non-Albanians on the eve of the commencement of negotiations on the future status of Kosovo. Tadic has most severely condemned the incident in Strpce. Such and similar terrorist attacks drastically show to what extent security and freedom of movement are jeopardized for all citizens in Kosovo, the Serbian President warned.

Tadic: Kosovo is not for sale (RTS)
Serbian President Boris Tadic said that Serbia was not ready to agree to Kosovo’s independence in exchange of an accelerated admission to the EU. “Kosovo is not for sale. It is inconceivable that any democratic state should enter the EU under such conditions,” Tadic said in an interview to Rossiyskaya Gazeta. He emphasized that Serbia was fully entitled to be admitted to the EU as any other state and that it should not concede part of its territory for that, but should expect EU assistance in resolving the Kosovo problem.

Draskovic: Kosovo Serbs most threatened minority in Europe (RTS)
Serbia and Montenegro Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic said in Strasbourg that there is no national community in Europe that is in such a tragic position as Kosovo Serbs. Speaking at the session of the CoE Ministerial Committee on human rights, Draskovic said that Serbia was asking for international guarantees that the terror against Serbs and other non-Albanians in Kosovo would stop, protection of minority rights according to European standards and the integrity of the SCG’s borders with Albania and Macedonia. He reminded that since 1999 one thousand Serbs in Kosovo had been killed or kidnapped, more than 200,000 had been expelled and 40,000 Serb houses and 150 Serb churches and monasteries had been torn down.

UNMIK police: Aggravated security (RTS)
UNMIK police commissioner Kai Vitrup said in Pristina that security in Kosovo had been aggravated due to a series of terrorist attacks on UNMIK and KPS vehicles and staff. The attacks started immediately after the publication of the report of UN Special Envoy Kai Eide on the situation in the province, Vitrup told a press conference. He assessed that the terrorist attacks had been organized by those who wish to impose their own solution to the future status of Kosovo. He said that security forces, which have raised the level of combat readiness, would decisively fight that form of terrorist activity.

KPS vehicle damaged in explosion (RTS)
In an explosion downtown Pristina, in the vicinity of UNMIK and Kosovo police headquarters, a KPS vehicle has been damaged, RTS reports. KPS spokesperson for the region of Pristina Sabrije Kamberi said that the explosion had occurred on Wednesday evening. The police still do not have information on the explosive device used.

Scheffer: KFOR will strongly react to violence in Kosovo (RSCG)
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hop Scheffer has invited all sides involved in the process in Kosovo to reason and show readiness for compromise, warning that KFOR will strongly and seriously respond to an attempt of any side to achieve political changes by violence. Scheffer has stated in Brussels that this pertains to the majority and minority in Kosovo, as well as to official Belgrade and Pristina and that all of them must realize that it is a necessary compromise.

Euobserver: Independent Kosovo – recipe for future troubles (Danas)
 Complete independence of Kosovo cannot be the result of negotiations, it can only be imposed, and it would be a dangerous precedent for the region and international law, assesses the Brussels magazine Euobserver. In an article published on the website EUOBSERVER.com, the question is posed why the international community had given up its policy that talks on Kosovo will not commence before defined standards are fulfilled. “Why did this fail through? Because of fear from the threats by Kosovo Albanians that they will retreat to violence if negotiations on the status of Kosovo don’t commence soon, or was this policy a bluff from the very beginning,” writes Euobserver.