Daily press briefing of the Serb National Council of Kosovo and Metohija (October 25, 2000)

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The Information Service of the Serb National Council of Kosovo and Metohija

Daily press briefing of the Serb National Council of Kosovo and Metohija

Gracanica, October 25, 2000

Dr. Rada Trajkovic attends meeting with Ambassador Holbrooke

SNC most strongly condemns rocket attack on Yugoslav program building in Pristina two days ago

DR. RADA TRAJKOVIC ATTENDS MEETING WITH AMBASSADOR HOLBROOKE

On behalf of the SNC, today Dr. Rada Trajkovic participated in a meeting with the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Richard Holbrooke. A Serb delegation consisting of all representatives of democratic Serb forces in Kosovo and Metohija spoke with Mr. Holbrooke on a variety of issues related to the position of the Serbs in post-war Kosovo. The issue of missing and kidnapped Serbs was also discussed and the Serb representatives signed a memorandum asking for the urgent resolution of all missing, kidnapped and imprisoned persons regardless of their ethnic origin. The Serb representatives also strongly insisted that the international community enable the return of expelled Serbs to their centuries-old homes, as foreseen by Resolution 1244, as soon as possible.

SNC MOST STRONGLY CONDEMNS ROCKET ATTACK ON YU PROGRAM BUILDING IN PRISTINA TWO DAYS AGO

The Serb National Council of Kosovo and Metohija most strongly condemns the rocket attack by Albanian extremists on the YU program building in Pristina two days ago. This building is one of the last remaining locations in Pristina where Serbs still live under the strong protection of British KFOR. An attack against civilians who for more than a year and a half have been living in this ghetto where they are denied the most basic human rights and freedoms is the best indicator of the true situation in which Kosovo lives today. The most extreme discrimination against all Serbs and other non-Albanians, violence and organized crime have become some of the most apparent achievements of the “freedom” which arrived followed NATO’s intervention in Kosovo. Such attacks by extremists and collective disregard for the difficult position of the Serbs are the shame not only of the Kosovo Albanians but also of the international community which due to its failure to stop ethnic terror by those whom it came here to help is now in a position where it must assume a considerable part of the responsibility for the number of crimes committed and attacks on innocent civilians and destruction of the spiritual and cultural legacy of the Serbs itself. It is pathetic that no one in Kosovo today is prepared to accept responsibility for the violence which is taking place under an international protectorate. The Kosovo Albanians are transferring all responsibility to the UN mission and KFOR, saying that they do not have their own institutions, while the international mission and KFOR are seeking to minimize the lack of accomplishment by the mission in terms of security and human rights. The judicial system is still not working and consequently perpetrators of numerous crimes are usually not brought to justice.

The YU program building is a place where international visitors rarely venture precisely because this miserable residence of desperately unhappy people says the most about the true situation in Kosovo and Metohija. Visitors would rather observe that the streets of Pristina are lively and that the cafes and discotheques are full of young people while no one wants or has the courage to say that this internationally sponsored “FREEDOM” is valid for only one ethnic group. At a time when various purportedly independent groups of intellectuals and politicians are writing reports in which they attempt to demonstrate that Kosovo has supposedly matured to where it is ready for independence and that a democratic society exists, this attack, which is only one of a series of attacks against innocent Serb civilians, openly disproves such claims and demonstrates that in an “independent” Kosovo there will be no room for anyone besides the Albanians. Will the international community, after allowing this situation to develop after the war into what it is today, make yet another mistake and reward ethnic violence and terror with statehood or will it finally begin acting in accordance with moral and international principles and decide in favor of implementing Resolution 1244, the resolution that it itself passed, in Kosovo and Metohija?