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May 11, 2006
KiM Info Newsletter 11-05-06 Jaap de Hoop Scheffer: KFOR is determined to protect cultural heritage monuments in Kosovo KIM Info Service
Decani, May 11, 2006 (Photos by KIM Info Service - Click on any photo for larger format)  A delegation of the NATO Council headed by Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and the chairman of the NATO Military Committee Canadian General Ray Henault is in Kosovo and Metohija today on a one day visit. After meeting with officials of the Kosovo Government and other political representatives in Pristina, the NATO high delegation visited Visoki Decani Monastery this afternoon, accompanied by the KFOR Commander, Italian General Giuseppe Valotto, and the commander of Multinational Brigade South-West, Italian General Claudio Mora.
The NATO Secretary General met first with representatives of Italian KFOR securing the monastery, and then met in the monastery with the hegumen of Visoki Decani, Vicar Bishop Teodosije of Lipljan. Briefing Mr. Scheffer on the history of the monastery, Bishop Teodosije emphasized that "the preservation of Serbian Orthodox holy shrines is important for the survival of the Serb community in Kosovo and Metohija and the return of displaced persons because the monasteries for centuries have been the treasuries of spiritual and national identity". "However," the Bishop said, "these monuments are important for all the other residents of Kosovo and Metohija, too, because for centuries they have brought together people of different languages and religions. Here around the holy relics of King Stefan both Christians and Muslims have always gathered because the saint helped all with his healing." Bishop Teodosije expressed special thanks to KFOR forces which for the past seven years have protected the most important Serbian holy shrines. He emphasized that he expects the majority population in the future to demonstrate more tolerance for the Serb community and its cultural monuments, despite the destruction or damage since 1999 of 150 Orthodox churches and monasteries. "Tolerance toward Christian monuments, churches and cemeteries is one of the main criteria of the maturity of a society wanting to join Europe, and we believe that your visit will be a strong signal and call that the destruction of Christian holy shrines must stop once and for all time in this region," concluded Bishop Teodosije. On the occasion of the visit of the NATO Secretary General Mr. Nazmi Selmanaj, the mayor of the town of Decani, also arrived in the monastery. Bishop Teodosije thanked the mayor who in a number of recent public statements has given a significant example that the only path to a better future is the path of tolerance and mutual respect. He also added that the monastery should bring the Serb and Albanian communities closer together, as their common treasure but that real progress will be achieved with the return of the first Serb returnees to Decani, as the return of Serbs to this municipality has not yet begun.  In his comments to reporters waiting in front of the church, the NATO Secretary General expressed the firm position that the role of NATO in this region is to provide security for all citizens as well as to assist in the preservation of cultural and spiritual treasures such as Visoki Decani Monastery and other holy shrines in Kosovo. He emphasized that the role of NATO is especially important in this period of the resolution of the future status of Kosovo but that local communities themselves must find a way of working together to preserve what represents their common treasure. Mr. Scheffer explained that the transformation of KFOR currently in progress will in no way reduce the operational capability of the peacekeeping forces in preventing violence which would represent a threat to the security of citizens.
During the course of the meeting in the monastery library Bishop Teodosije and Protosingel Sava informed Mr. Scheffer and his associates with their views of the present position of the Serb community and the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo and Metohija. "It is true that we have been noticing an increasing number of positive signals from Kosovo authorities but there is still a long way to go until words are practically implemented and frequently words are not followed by concrete actions at the local level," said Bishop Teodosije. "Returns to certain parts of Kosovo, especially to urban centers, has practically not even begun and freedom of movement still does not exist in equal measure for all citizens despite the fact that we are now entering the seventh year since the end of the war. ... That is why we recently organized an interfaith conference in the Pec Patriarchate with representatives of other religions so we could send the message that all citizens must enjoy equal freedom and a life of dignity so that we can live in peace regardless of our differences in religion, culture and language," emphasized Bishop Teodosije. "The Serbian Orthodox Church is firmly determined to give its full contribution to the building of confidence and respect among all communities but in our efforts to protect our faithful and holy shrines we do not want to see this issue become unnecessarily politicized," said the Bishop. He explained that the Serbs in Kosovo "need to be provided with an appropriate level of decentralization and the return of all displaced persons, while holy shrines need to be provided with institutionalized protection with special international mechanisms and guarantees". 
Meeting with the NATO Secretary General in the monastery library
(click on photo to enlarge)
"This monastery and other Serbian holy shrines in Kosovo and Metohija are a part of the most important cultural heritage of the Serbian people but at the same time this cultural heritage is important for all the other people living in Kosovo, where they are located. That is why we hope that in the words of the guiding principles of the Contact Group during the course of negotiations on the future status of Kosovo appropriate 'status of institutions, objects and other heritage of the Serbian Orthodox Church' (point five of the Contact Group Principles) will be defined."  Commenting on the importance of the decision of the UNMIK chief to declare the area of Visoki Decani Monastery a Special Safety Area, Bishop Teodosije explained to the NATO Secretary General that no one in Kosovo should consider this decision to be a political decision because it is our common goal to preserve the natural beauty and historical ambience around the monastery. "It is this very model of protection that should be applied to other cultural monuments because historical sites are part of the unique natural environment in which they are located," emphasized the Bishop.
After the meeting with the NATO Secretary General, Bishop Teodosije received an extended delegation of ambassadors from NATO member countries who visited the church and the icon painting studio and learned more about the activities of the monks in the monastery. Prior to the visit of the NATO high delegation, Bishop Teodosije also received the farewell visit of General Claudio Mora, the commander of Multinational Brigade South West based in Prizren. With the departure of General Mora, the Italian-German brigade, which also includes members of other nations in smaller number, will be transformed into two Task Forces, an Italian one based in Belo Polje near Pec (Vilaggio Italia) and a German one based in Prizren. General Mora was accompanied during his visit to the monastery by the future commander of the Italian Task Force, General Santo.
Two Serbs Wounded Near Kosovska Mitrovica KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, May 11, 2006 (BETA) - Two Serbs were wounded by unknown armed attackers in the village of Grabovac, several kilometers north of Kosovska Mitrovica, in the morning of June 11, BETA was told by Serb sources in Kosovo.
Jovan Milosevic, 19, and Jablan Jeftic, 21, employees at a gas station in Grabovac, were wounded from automatic weapons. The attack took place around 3:30 a.m. The wounded young men were transported to the hospital in northern Mitrovica and underwent surgery, but, according to the doctors, they are still in critical condition.
BETA's reporter from northern Kosovo said the gas station, owned by a Serb, was full of traces of blood and broken glass.
The police came to the crime scene and they are still investigating. This is the third incident in northern Kosovo during the past few days. In the first one, in the village of Rudare near Mitrovica, the secretary of the diocese of Raska and Prizren was shot at, and later a bus transporting Serbs from Osojane to Kosovska Mitrovica was stoned in the village of Rudnik near Srbica. 
Location where tha attack occured (HCIC, GIS,/Map Cenre - Kosovo Atlas)
Nojkic And Jaksic Comment Attack On Serbs In Grabovac
Kosovska Mitrovica, 11 May (KIM Radio) Kosovo interim institutions must most strongly condemn the attack on the Serbs in Northern Kosovo because otherwise people might come under impression that they support the violence, stated Randjel Nojkic, a member of the Serbian List for Kosovo and Metohija. "At this moment what concerns us most is that the heads of the interim institutions who talked so much about safety and promised they will support peace in the region of Kosovo and Metohija are being silent today. They are not condemning such acts and are not sending clear signals that such things should not happen. This causes suspicion and can be looked at as a support of such acts, especially since they are the ones which are in charge of stopping such attacks," said Nojkic. Marko Jaksic, member of the Serbian negotiation team in the Vienna talks, says that the goal of this as he put it series of attack happening in Northern Kosovo, is to send Serbs a message telling them they have nothing to look for in this region. Jaksic emphasized that very often such attacks happen when high international officials are about to visit the province and that with such acts they are given a clear message. "This message is loud and clear: "If you do not give us independence this regions will be full of unrests. They are also sending the international community a signal that they can choose. If they want peace in the region then Albanians must be given statehood, and if not for starters they will have a lot of killed Serbs, and then later on everyone else. They want to use threats and force in fulfilling their political goals," concluded Jaksic. Jaksic said this attack is ethnically motivated. He said there are no indications that what was at stake is a robbery (claimed by Kosovo police service) but that what is at stake is an ethnically motivate attack.
High NATO Delegation Visits Kosovo 11 May (RTK) – At the end of his visit in Kosovo, the NATO Secretary General, Jap De Hoop Scheffer declared that NATO and KFOR are going to have an unbiased role during the negotiation process. According to him the two sides should make a compromise in order to achieve an acceptable solution. However, he did not specify what kind of compromise he meant. "Such a negotiation process can be successful only if the two sides are ready for compromise. Everyone should be ready for such a thing. The majority and the minority need to understand that a compromise is necessary while the international community needs to support and lead this process. In this case, KFOR will remain unbiased but it will support the negotiation process in which the representatives of two sides need to make a compromise", stated Scheffer. According to Scheffer, the decentralization and the fulfillment of standards are only some of the compromises. Scheffer refused to give any more details of what he really means by compromise. Scheffer, who besides meeting with the Albanian representatives, met the Serbian representatives in the Monastery of Decani, and qualified the participation of Serbians in the Kosovo institutions as necessary. He added that Belgrade should play a more positive role relating to this issue. "It is also important for the authorities in Belgrade to stimulate the Kosovo Serbs to participate in the institutions. Only in this way can the Serbs represent their interests. I should say that at the end of all this, everyone should have hope for their future. Therefore, the solution of the status should be satisfactory for both sides," stated Scheffer. At the end of his one day visit to Kosovo, Scheffer and the 26 ambassadors of the North Atlantic Council promised further engagement and support in the negotiation process led by Marti Ahtisaari. Scheffer stated that the main task of KFOR remains securing peace and securing the country while the negotiations continue. Meanwhile, he did not comment on what KFOR’s role will be after the definition of the status. "We are thinking about the future. The International Community is going to have a role in Kosovo’s future, but at this phase we cannot predict what this role will be." As for now, we are engaged to end the process that was started." Before visiting Kosovo, Scheffer stated that he is waiting for Ahtisaari’s suggestions about the role of NATO in Kosovo after the definition of the status.
Bomb Thrown At a Serb House in Prizren Vicinity Prizren, 11 May. (Beta) An explosives device was thrown at a house of a Serb, Cedomir Spasic, a returnee in the Smac village, in the vicinity of Prizren. There were no human causalities amongst the Spasic family and only their house suffered damage. The former lead coordinator for the return of displaced persons in the Prizren municipality, Spasa Andrejevic, confirmed to Beta on Tuesday that only the house was damaged in this incident.
UNMIK Expects A Wave of Violence PRIŠTINA May 11, 2006 (B92) UNMIK police say that the recent increase of attacks on Serbs is a reason for concern in Kosovo. "After the stoning of the bus, we are practicing in order to react quickly in unforeseen situations, and the mission chief is continuing the investigation." UNMIK representative Nirad Sing told the daily Glas Javnosti, adding that conflicts do not serve in the best interest of Kosovo and that it is time for both sides to realize that.
Commenting on the most recent attack on a bus full of Serbs, UNMIK said that these actions are initiated by people who want to see the Kosovo status discussions called off. They added that the situation is getting more and more critical everyday, and that UNMIK will be preparing its police officers for similar incidents.
"On the same night that the United Nations bus which was carrying Serbs was stoned, we started to test our forces to see how fast we can react in unexpected situations." said UNMIK spokesperson Kelly Collins Mcmurry, adding that UNMIK’s task is to protect all people in Kosovo. She added that the police are not able to stop all crimes in any region of the world, and that UNMIK is well aware of the potential problems in Kosovo, adding that its forces will be well-prepared.
KFOR Completing Transformation, Prepared to Respond To Riots PRISTINA, May 11, 2006 (BETA) NATO stated that it has rationalized its command and control structure in Kosovo, with the aim of responding more quickly to possible inter-ethnic violence, as the decision of the future status of the U.N. run province is approaching. KFOR, with around 17,000 troops, was fiercely criticized because of its inadequate response to the March 2004 violence, when groups of Albanian extremists attacked Serb enclaves, burning houses and churches.
A KFOR spokesman stated that the NATO-led force would complete the transfer from the present four brigade system to that consisting of five rapid-reaction task forces, in five days. The transformation started at the end of 2005.
With the new structure, the KFOR commander will be able to "urgently deploy troops from one place to another and respond to any threat, while the NATO member countries would be able to quickly send reinforcements to their troops," explained the chief KFOR spokesman, Col. Pio Sabeta
Plan Exists To Resolve Kosovo Status Problem BRUSSELS, May 11, 2006 (BETA) Diplomatic officials in Brussels told BETA that U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari had a three-phase plan for the case of failure of the status solving process, which envisages that he presents his own proposal as a compromise between the Albanian and Serb stands.
In September, Ahtisaari plans to ask the Albanian and Serb sides to state whether and in what measure they would accept this proposal. If their stands remain irreconcilable, Ahtisaari would submit the plan to the Contact Group at the end of September or the beginning of October, with possible additions, with a demand to adopt it and forward it to the U.N. Security Council. According to the sources, the third phase of "forcing" or imposing a solution would only be activated if Ahtisaari was convinced that there was no possibility for the negotiating sides to agree and consent to a compromise.
A similar scenario for the solving of the Kosovo status was mentioned at the international Transatlantic Forum, held in the past few days in Brussels. It was said that the Contact Group would have to "cut things short" and impose its own solution for the future of Kosovo.
The Contact Group would then adopt a proposal of the solution and forward it to the U.N. Security Council. If the Council also fails to reach a unified stand, the status issue could then be transferred to the U.N. General Assembly and the U.N. member countries. This means that each country would decide separately on whether to recognize the proposed status of Kosovo.
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