November 15, 2006

KiM Info Newsletter 15-11-06

Serbian Orthodox Church in Gojbulja desecrated and robbed

Radio Television Serbia, Belgrade
Tuesday, November 14, 2006 17:39

Late Monday night or early Tuesday morning the church of St. Paraskeva in the village of Gojbulja near Vucitrn was desecrated and looted. This church has been the frequent target of vandals who, as a rule, remain unknown. The broken into church was found yesterday by Serbs who came there on the eve of the feast of the Holy Unmercenary Physicians (Sts. Cosmas and Damian) to light candles.

Protopresbyter Bogomir Stevic said that unknown perpetrators broke down the entrance door and destroyed the church interior, stealing the cross, the chalice and several other church artifacts.

Small change was scattered throughout the church. The incident has been reported to the Kosovo Police Service, which failed to provide an escort for priests from Zvecan to Gojbulja with the explanation that such requests for an escort need to be submitted two days in advance, said Stevic.

UNMIK regional spokesman Larry Miller said that a incident involving theft from a church had been reported to the police station in Vucitrn.

Tongue stolen from church bell

Serbian Press Agency SRNA, Bijeljina
11-11-2006 19:39:57

PRISTINA, November 11 - Local residents of the village of Gornja Brnjica, located northeast of Pristina, noticed this morning upon going to the local cemetery that the tongue has been stolen from the bell on the church of Sts.

Peter and Paul; as a result, the church bell could not ring.

The local residents called the Kosovo Police Service, which also found that the electrical cable providing the church with power had been torn out.

"Unknown persons entered the church via the roof after first removing the protective wiring KFOR had placed around the church," village president Dragi Djordjevic told SRNA.

Local residents have announce that tomorrow they will search the surrounding woods in the presence of the police in an attempt to find the bell tongue.

Protest to Ruecker After Vandalism and Destruction of Serb Property

Serbian Press Agency SRNA
12-11-2006 15:28:57

PRISTINA, November 12 - The Union of Serb Municipalities and Settlements of Kosovo and Metohija sent a letter of protest today to UNMIK chief Joachim Ruecker following the vandalism, destruction and usurpation of Serb property in the province, the Union advised.

The Kosovo Telecommunications Agency, following Ruecker's orders, has turned off the 064 network of Telecom Serbia and practically destroyed its property. With this act Ruecker is continuing the work he began as director of UNMIK's Pillar IV (the division for privatization), it is said in the statement.

The Union of Serb Municipalities is accusing Ruecker, while in the role of director, of stealing, together with the Albanians, approximately 200 Serb companies, continuing to create an independent Albanian state. "But Ruecker must comprehend that he will not succeed in expelling the Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija," it is emphasized in the statement.

Representatives of the Union of Serb Municipalities are suggesting that the director of Telecom Serbia file charges on behalf of the Serbs of Kosovo and Metohija before the International Court in Strasbourg for endangering human rights and violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1244.

Serbian Press Agency SRNA
13-11-2006 19:26:20

PRISTINA, November 13 - The NATO commander for Europe Gregory Jones said this evening at a meeting with Serb List for Kosmet candidate Oliver Ivanovic that KFOR is in complete control of the situation in Kosovo and expressed his conviction that the sort of violence that occurred in March 2004 will not happen again in the province.

Ivanovic told Srna that during the meeting with Jones he received assurances that 17,000 troops under the auspices of KFOR are prepared to react instantly and that they will not permit violence.

He emphasized that General Jones warned that the closing of KFOR bases in Serb areas in the province is causing unrest and fear among Serbs.

"In addition to the regular KFOR forces in Kosovo and Metohija there are an additional 1,200 U.S. special forces deployed. Today a German battalion from so called reserve forces also began its deployment, which should be a guarantee that KFOR will not permit violence," said Ivanovic.

He said that he received assurances that this was not just an organization to boost the effectiveness of KFOR in realizing the safety of all citizens, especially Serbs.

Without electricity since yesterday morning

Serbian Press Agency SRNA
14-11-2006 10:24:59

PRISTINA, November 14 - The region of central Kosovo has been without electricity since 7:30 a.m. yesterday. Electrical power was switched off from the central distribution center in Pristina after we were classified as Group C, that is, non-paying consumers, the manager of the Serbian Power Company task team Ljubisa Bendic told Srna.

He said that approximately 15,000 Serbs in the region of the municipalities of Pristina, Kosovo Polje and Lipljan are without power and they do not know when it will be turned on again because power is not released unless there is an excess of electrical power, and at present no such excesses exist.

In addition to the regular power shutoffs by the Kosovo Electrical Corporation, the Serbian Power Company's task team has been forced to selectively cut power to some consumers in Serb villages near Gracanica because the distribution stations and low voltage network is in bad shape.

"We are forced to cut off lines because distribution stations are burning up as a result of increased consumption which follows the reactivation of electricity, which is sometimes shut off for up to two days," said Bendic.

Spain, Italy and Romania against Kosovo's independence

Serbian Press Agency SRNA
14-11-2006 08:35:28

BRUSSELS, November 14 (SRNA, BBC) - Diplomatic sources reprot that Britain and Belgium favor conditional independence for Kosovo and Metohija, while Spain, Italy and Romania are opposed to it.

After yesterday's report by Martti Ahtisaari to the EU foreign ministers it was leaked to the public that differences in opinion had emerged among the

25 members of the European Union regarding whether conditional independence or limited sovereignty is the right solution.

British foreign secretary Margaret Beckett reiterated at the meeting that London is advocating some form of independence, not quite full, for Kosovo, i.e. the same idea as Ahtisaari. Her views were fully supported by her Belgian counterpart, Karel de Gucht.

However, Spanish secretary of state (for European affairs) Alberto Navarro told reporters that Spain is against the proposal that Kosovo gain the right to self-determination or limited sovereignty, and emphasized that "there is no legal basis for this in the Serbian Constitution". He warned of dangerous consequences that an eventual proposal for some form of Kosovo independence might have for other regions in the world.

According to Navarro, the president of Republika Srpska is "already asking for the same rights of self-determination" for the Serb entity in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Romanian minister Mihai Razvan Ungureanu warned that the independence of Kosovo would represent a violation of the Helsinki Act on the inviolability of borders in Europe, and Italian deputy foreign minister Famiano Crucianelli asked for conditional reinitiation of negotiations on the Agreement on Stabilization and Association with Serbia, which would help in "overcoming the shock of the possible independence of Kosovo".

According to the BBC, during yesterday's meeting Ahtisaari explained what he had done so far and his principal ideas regarding the status of Kosovo.

Dutch foreign minister Bernard Bot told reporters that Ahtisaari does not believe that a solution can be achieved through negotiations and that a solution will have to be imposed even though he claims that he will attempt to convince the Serbian and Albanian sides to bring their positions nearer to each other.

Navarro: For Spain independence is not the only solution for Kosovo

Radio Television Serbia, Belgrade
Monday, November 13, 2006 22:18

The Spanish secretary of state for European affairs Alberto Navarro stated in Brussels that Madrid does not see the independence of Kosovo and Metohija as the only possible solution for the status of the province, emphasizing that the principles of the Helsinki Final Act on the inviolability of borders is still in force.

"We do not believe that independence, even if limited, is the only option for Kosovo," said Navarro after a meeting of the EU Council of Ministers.

The Spanish minister also assessed that imposing a solution for Kosovo "would not be the most rational thing". He emphasized that the case of Kosovo is not the same as the case of Montenegro and that the principles of the Helsinki Final Act on the inviolability of borders "is still in force".

In this context, Navarro reminded that Serbia recently adopted a Constitution in which Kosovo is defined as an integral part of Serbia.

Romanian foreign affairs minister Mihai Razvan Ungureanu stated, also after the meeting of the Council of Ministers, that increasing numbers of EU members are supporting the Romanian position that the solution for the future status of Kosovo and Metohija must be agreed upon and acceptable to both sides.

Ungureanu emphasized the support of Greece and Spain for the Romanian position and reiterated that Romania supports the principle of inviolability of borders for historical reasons as well as because of the negative consequences that a decision not respecting the territorial integrity of countries might have in the Balkans.