Situation in Kosovo: Quotes of the day

[Andrej Tisma]

SITUATION IN KOSOVO
Quotes of the day


______________________________________________________
From: Branka josilo-perry [mailto:1branka at tiscali.co.uk]
Sent: March 20, 2004 12:23 AM

KFOR is not only looking on but assisting in the arson and destruction
of churches from the 11th and 12th Century. Two thousand KFOR soldiers
in the village of Svinjare stood in silence and allowed the Albanians to
enter
and torch the village.  Father Miroslav from the church of St. Nicholas in
Pristina has called by mobile phone to say that the church is on fire
and he is sheltering in the cellar of the church. If he tried to leave that
would
be certain death from the Albanians waiting outside. We do not know what has
happened to him.


______________________________________________________
ERP KiM Newsletter 20-03-04c
KOSOVO POLJE BURNED

- They burned my house after the houses of my three brothers were already in
flames. Then, while firing from machine guns and with torches in their
hands, they headed to burn the homes of brothers Dr. Zoran and Ljubo Grujic,
Milosevic and the other neighbors. When they saw that the police could not
stop them, they went to the nearby Health Center and hospital where Russian
physicians worked until a year ago and razed them to the ground - stresses
Bora Velickovic, the director of the Medical School, adding that the nearby
St. Sava Secondary School was also burned to the ground, as well as the post
office.

[...]
EVEN IF YOU DIE LIKE ANIMALS

- I asked the police commander if he could do anything for us to get us back
to our homes - says elderly Trojan Kovacevic from Priluzje. - He answered, I
cannot do anything even if you die here like animals. All this was
translated by a fellow Serb. And then I said to him: If that's the case, you
should not have even come.

Milena MARKOVIC


______________________________________________________
Food running out (Blic)

Humanitarian disaster is a threat for more of 20000 Serbs from the central
part of Kosovo. Starvation and illness are threatening to kill the Serbs
that Albanians have not managed to kill. The Serbian Crisis Headquarter of
central Kosovo sent request to International Red Cross and Red Cross of
Serbia to urgently send food, water, and medical drugs into the central part
of Kosovo, Strpce and Kosovsko Pomoravlje. “Serbs are running out of food
while the shops are almost empty. We are cut off from the world and have no
communication. We cannot leave, because UNMIK and KFOR are refusing to
provide us escort on our way to central Serbia,” the Crisis Headquarter says
in its appeal.


______________________________________________________
Little Zivojin has not managed (Blic)

On Thursday afternoon two years old Zivojin Filipovic was admitted to
emergency department of the hospital in Prokuplje. The little boy from the
vicinity of Lipljan, died on the way to the hospital in Nis. Zivojin was
taken to the hospital in Gracanica with symptoms of poisoning. The doctor on
duty said the boy should be transported urgently to the hospital in Nis.
Doctors requested KFOR escort, but were rejected. Emergency vehicle with
little Zivojin was driven around Serbian enclaves in central Kosovo. At
Merdare checkpoint members of UNMIK police kept the vehicle longer than
necessary. Without adequate medical treatment the boy died shortly before
arrival to the hospital in Prokuplje. On Friday Merdare was again a crossing
for Serbs running away from Kosovo and looking for safety in Serbia.



______________________________________________________
German soldiers protected Serbs (Blic/Beta)

German KFOR soldiers prevented larger group of Albanians from entering the
village of Novake near Prizren. According to Beta sources from Kosovo,
German soldiers clashed with a group of Albanians near Novake in the
morning. Using tear gas and shock bombs the soldiers managed to suppress
Albanians. After that German KFOR offered Serbs to be evacuated from the
village what Serbs refused. The latest news from Prizren is that German
soldiers have stayed to guard Serbs in Novake.


______________________________________________________
Novosti commentary (Vecernje Novosti)

Albanian extremists and terrorists have planned for months and organized in
detail the latest ethnic cleansing of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija.
According to some intelligence data, the rampaging should stop in two days.
According to the Novosti information, members of the international forces in
Kosovo and Metohija, under the veil of saving the Serbs, are actually
helping the Albanians. The Serb population is being transferred, allegedly
to safer places, with the help of trucks and other KFOR and UNMIK vehicles.
This frees the space to terrorists who are setting on fire and destroying
everything that is Serbian, so Serbs would have nowhere to return.


______________________________________________________
Violence “aimed at expelling Serbs” (B92/BBC)

Noted Kosovo Albanian journalists Veton Surroi said that Albanians had
organized the current wave of violence in Kosovo with the aim of expelling
the Serb population. Surroi, who published Pristina daily Koha Ditore, said
that the violence had entered a second phase, which is obviously organized
and orchestrated. “The aim is to intimidate the Serb population and expel
them from central Kosovo by destroying their homes and churches. “There is
also accumulated rage directed towards UNMIK and KFOR which would have been
unthinkable before yesterday,” said Surroi.


______________________________________________________
Marovic: To stop ethnic cleansing (Vecernje Novosti/Tanjug)

SaM President Svetozar Marovic has stated that it is important to
immediately stop the ethnic cleansing of the Serb people in Kosovo and
Metohija. After the session of the SaM Council of Ministers, Marovic has
told a press conference that he had talks with French President Jacques
Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on necessity of urgent and
energetic ending of the violence in Kosovo. They provided their convictions
that governments of their countries would do everything at the international
level in order to protect lives and property of non-Albanian population in
the province, Marovic pointed out. He said that in his talks he had pointed
that democratic public in Serbia and Montenegro had condemned the setting
mosques in Nis and Belgrade on fire and that resources had been approved for
reconstruction of these religious objects.


______________________________________________________
No Serbia without Decani (Blic)

Several tens of thousands of Belgraders attended church service held in
front of the St. Sava Temple and dedicated to Serbs in Kosovo. The citizens,
led by Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, members of his cabinet and
representatives of political parties started the protest walk from the
Building of Serbian government through main Belgrade streets and arrived
before the St. Sava temple to attend the service. “At the end of the 20th
and beginning of the 21st century this people were accused for ethnic
cleansing in places in which it is not present today any more. There are no
Serbs in Krajina, Slavonija and probably there will be no Serbs in Kosovo,
either. The last remnants of these people are being destroyed. Their homes
and churches are on fire. It should be clear to all that the Serbian nation
can not exist without the Pec Patriarchate, Decani, Gracanica, Bogorodica
Ljeviska,” the Head of Littoral Montenegrin Church Amfilohije said.


______________________________________________________
Primiseri: Albanians had a plan (Glas/Fonet)

The Commander of MNB Southwest Italian General Alberto Primiseri told
'Corriere de la Serra' that Albanians had a plan for the devastation of
province prepared. "The wave of violence that Albanians have started is not
calming down. I think that they had this 'fire and sword' plan to devastate
the province for quite some time."


______________________________________________________
Schieder writes to Rexhepi (Balkan)

 In his letter to Kosovo Prime Minister Bayram Rexhepi, President of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Peter Schieder has assessed
that the violence of Albanians against Serbs in the province is shameful and
that the fact that Kosovo Albanian leaders have not condemned attacks on
Serbs is shocking. Transfer of responsibilities to the other side and
attempt to use escalation of ethnic violence for promoting political
interests of the majority Albanian population are completely unacceptable,
Schieder stressed. Pointing that the international community will never
allow that the future of Kosovo resembles its past, Schieder warned Rexhepi
that in his capacity of Prime Minister he must represent all citizens of the
province and not just Albanians.


______________________________________________________
Jonathan Eyal: Violence planned for a long time (Blic)

Jonathan Eyal, Director of the Royal Institute of Armed Forces in London,
has no dilemma when he is speaking about the latest Albanian attacks on
Serbs. 'This is a plan prepared in advance and not spontaneous events', Eyal
says. In his interview with Blic he notices that the violence occurred at
the most inconvenient moment. “That has not happened accidentally. There
were ongoing debates about withdrawal of large number of NATO soldiers from
Kosovo and Bosnia. It is clear that for the authorities in Belgrade the
crisis occurred at the worst possible time, only few days after setting up
of new government. On the other hand this is an ideal time for Pristina.
Albanians think that the world has lost interest in Kosovo since the
countries of the West are preoccupied without world spots of crisis,” Eyal
says.

So, you have no dilemma that everything has been premeditated?

“I have no dilemma about that at all. It is characteristic that Kosovo
politicians are silent and that they show not a slightest wish to stop the
violence by Albanians against Serbs. Everything has been directed so to
attract the attention of the US and force it to speed up the settlement of
Kosovo status. There was also large propaganda by Albanian television in
Pristina, which abused the tragic incident with children that lost their
lives in the River of Ibar. World media completely failed. They all know
what is going on but they do not want to say so. They are trying in every
possible way to draw the equality sign between Serbs and Albanians. It is
clear to everybody with good intentions that the Albanians are behind the
violence and that they initiated it. Media do not want to say that.”

What is your message to the authorities and people in Serbia?

“Serbian hands are completely tied and it has very small maneuvering space.
What Pristina would like to see is violence and destruction in Belgrade and
Serbia. In Pristina they are trying in every possible way to make impression
that Kostunica is another Milosevic. That is pure propaganda. I understand
the people in Serbia, but the Government cannot do more than it is doing.”


______________________________________________________
Russia demands return of Serb troops to Kosovo (B92/AP)

The Russian parliament unanimously passed a resolution saying the
Serbian-Montenegrin military should be allowed to help defend the Kosovo
Serbs. The resolution also condemned the failure of international
organizations to stem the ethnic violence between Serbs and Albanians in
Kosovo.
The lower house of parliament, the Duma, said a new UN resolution on Kosovo
should be passed to reaffirm the Belgrade government's sovereignty over
Kosovo and that "the military units of Serbia-Montenegro should take part in
defense of the Serb population of the region, of Orthodox churches and
guarding borders." "So far all measures taken by KFOR and the UN mission
have in fact brought nothing but a temporary freeze of the conflict," the
Duma said. The lawmakers, who passed the resolution by a 397-0 vote, said
they were also ready to offer "any necessary assistance on Russia's part,
including emergency measures to evacuate Serbs from the conflict zone and
humanitarian aid" if Serbs are forced to flee Kosovo. Russia's Emergency
Situations Minster Sergey Shoigu was to travel to the Balkans soon to
discuss the situation in Kosovo, said the head of the Duma's international
affairs committee, Konstantin Kosachyov, Interfax news agency reported.


______________________________________________________
Tadic met with Admiral Johnson (RTS)

The SaM MoD Boris Tadic met with NATO's South Flank Commander Admiral
Gregory Johnson in the vicinity of the Ground Safety Zone to discuss the
situation in Kosovo. Johnson informed Tadic and the SaM Army Chief of Staff
Branko Krga on the situation in Kosovo. The meeting lasted for more than an
hour and was held behind closed doors. Tadic and Johnson emphasized that it
is the common goal to calm down the situation and ensure peace and stability
of all citizens in Kosovo, especially the Serb and non-Albanian population.


______________________________________________________
Galyak: EU foreign ministers to adopt conclusions on west Balkans (Radio
SaM)

EU foreign ministers will adopt on Monday, at a meeting in Brussels,
conclusions on the west Balkans, focused on the latest situation in Kosovo
after the surge of violence in the province, Christina Galyak, spokesperson
of Javier Solana, told Tanjug. She confirmed that Solana had talks over the
telephone with Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and with interim
Kosovo PM Bajram Rexhepi, but did not mention the details.


______________________________________________________
UNSC statement (Politika/Beta)

The UN Security Council strongly condemned the violence in Kosovo and
Metohija at its session in New York, scheduled at the request of Serbia and
Montenegro, and stated that it must be stopped at once, adding that
establishing multi-ethnic, democratic society in the province still remains
the aim of the international community. In a statement issued after the
session it is pointed out that assaults on members of international security
forces represent an assault on the entire international community, and that
extremism cannot have a role in the future of Kosovo and Metohija. The
Security Council reiterated that it is necessary for interim institutions in
Kosovo and Metohija to take efficient measures in enforcing the rule of law,
to provide true security for all ethnic communities and to bring to justice
the perpetrators of criminal offences. The Council also called for full
cooperation between interim institutions in Kosovo and Metohija,
representatives of the Belgrade authorities and all the parties involved.


______________________________________________________
Holbrooke: US and UN to be blamed for situation in Kosovo (Danas)

In an exclusive statement to Danas, Richard Holbrooke, the key creator of
the Kosovo solution, said the US and the UN were to be blamed for the
situation in Kosovo. “I think the international community is to be blamed,
first of all the US and the UN that, despite the knowledge that there is
only illusory peace, had not undertaken anything for some solutions for the
situation to be found,” said Holbrooke. Holbrooke assessed that the unrest
in Kosovo and Metohija was actually the result of “the impatience by
Albanians because the problem was being indefinitely postponed.”