Kosovo/a!

2006-09-01T19:19:00.000-04:00

There is so much talk about Kosovo or Kosova and what its name should be! I think I have a compromise for all parties.

KosovoAhhhh!

Its that refreshing...................

No matter how you call it, its beauty and scenery will give you that Ahh feeling. Its an unknown place, a magical place, a place of unimaginable opportunity for all people in the Balkans and around the world.

So please, visit Kosovo or Kosova or better yet

KosovoAhhhh!

And enjoy an experience of a lifetime :)

2006-09-01T15:40:00.000-04:00

Thousands in Serbia protest naming street after Milosevic
The Associated Press

Published: September 1, 2006

NOVI SAD, Serbia Thousands protested Friday against naming a boulevard in Serbia's second-largest city after late President Slobodan Milosevic.

Some 5,000 people, blowing whistles and carrying banners saying "this street should be called the boulevard of Milosevic's victims," marched through downtown Novi Sad, some 70 kilometers (43 miles) north of Belgrade.

Milosevic was ousted from power in 2000 and handed over to the U.N. war crimes tribunal to face charges related to the Balkan wars of the 1990s. He died from a heart attack March 11, before the trial ended.

The initiative to name one of Novi Sad's main streets after Milosevic, who governed Serbia with a heavy hand in the 1990s, was made by his Socialist and Radical supporters, who control the northern town's local government.

They also have proposed that city council change the name of another street, called after former Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic.

Djindjic, who was assassinated in Belgrade in March 2003, was instrumental in ousting Milosevic in 2000 and extraditing him to the tribunal in the Netherlands.

"Djindjic's street is a one way street. Milosevic's street is a dead-end street," said another banner carried by protesters.

The Radicals, who were ousted from power in 2000 together with Milosevic, have regained popularity. Some opinion polls have suggested that the Radicals could win a next election in Serbia.

2006-09-01T10:24:00.000-04:00

Two Israelis beaten in Serbia

(JTA) —Two Israelis were beaten by a group of skinheads at a Belgrade rock festival.

Jariv Avram, 27, and Bojana Petkovic, 23, were attacked Sunday in a downtown park by several men wearing Nazi symbols, police said. Avram suffered serious head injuries and had to go to the hospital, while Petkovic was bruised, the two Israelis told Belgrade media. "They were chanting ‘Auschwitz, Auschwitz' and ‘Go to Germany' as they attacked us,” Avram was reported as saying.

Local media reported that the two Israelis complained that the police were not helpful toward them. The Serbian Jewish community issued a statement calling for the arrest of the attackers and noted that anti-Semitic incidents were increasing.

Indictments in Bytyqi brothers case

2006-08-24T13:16:00.000-04:00

B92 again on the case that received international attention:

24 August 2006 11:16 -> 17:01 Source: B92, Beta
BELGRADE -- Special War Crimes Prosecution announced it has issued indictments in the case of the murder of the Bytyqi brothers.

Sreten Popović and Miloš Stojanović, former special police members, are charged with taking part in the July 1999 murder of US citizens Illy, Mehmet and Agron Bytyqi, members of the KLA’s Atlantic Brigade.

The Bytyqi brothers served a two-week prison sentence in Prokuplje at the end of June and the beginning of July 1999, for entering what was then Yugoslavia illegally from Albania. After they were released from prison, Popović and Stojanović handed them over to unidentified masked MUP members, who executed them next to a garbage disposal site, the indictment claims. “The bodies of the Bytyqi brothers, with hands tied with wire, were found in 2001, in the Petrovo Selo mass grave. The case remains under investigation”, the statement reads. The prosecution has cooperated with the FBI during the two-year investigation.

The Bytyqi case investigation has brought the name of the former police general Vlastimir Đorđević into the media focus. Special war crimes court Prosecution spokesman Bruno Vekarić confirmed that a warrant for his arrest will likely be issued. “I wish to stress his name is also on a Hague indictment. There are indications that he is hiding in Russia. It would be very important for us to have him appear before out courts but, as you know, the Hague tribunal takes precedence. Formally, a warrant is issued by the police on a judge’s order, and that is in procedure. I really cannot anticipate the reaction of the Russian authorities once the warrant is issued”.

The media have also mentioned the then Special anti-terrorist unit (SAJ) commander Goran Radosavljević Guri in connection with the case. Bruno Vekarić for his part said that the Prosecution will not comment on media reports.

Nataša Kandić of the Humanitarian Law Center, engaged in the case for a long time, told B92 that the indictment came as a result of the pressure from the State Department, the US War Crimes envoy and the FBI. However, she stressed that the indictment relates only to the direct perpetrators, instead to those who gave the orders, and who have in the meantime fled the country. “The witnesses who would be wiling to confirm that Vlastimir Đorđević, in cooperation with someone else, made a political decision, which was then executed, do not exist. It defies the logic that it could’ve been realized without Goran Radosavljević Guri’s involvement, who’s HQ stood near the place where the Bytyqi brothers were killed. This is where the investigation hits a dead-end, you can’t go any further, because there is a conspiracy of silence related to the high MUP officials and those who served in the special units deployed in Kosovo. Contrary to the interests of the country and the rule of law, we continue to protect the high-ranking criminals, punishing only the direct executioners”.

B92 reports

2006-08-14T12:20:00.000-04:00

Serbia may have Kosovo Plan B
14 August 2006 10:57 -> 16:08 Source: B92, FoNet

BELGRADE -- According to analyst Slobodan Antonić, it is possible that Serbia has Plan B when it comes to Kosovo.
Sanda Rašković-IvićCommenting on Sanda Rašković-Ivić's statement, Slobodan Antonić told the BBC that it is possible there is a second or spare plan, since Serbia’s official Kosovo plan envisaging broad autonomy is seen by many as unrealistic. “There are nearly two million Albanians there who will be extremely difficult to integrate into Serbia’s political and social system”, Antonić said.

Antonić says that many believe Belgrade to favor the partition of the province despite official demands for autonomy, adding that it is too early to estimate whether Sanda Rašković-Ivić’s statement in fact announced a change in the tactics in the Kosovo negotiations. Kosovo political analyst Nedzhmedin Spahiu told BBC that the only way to divide Kosovo without war is to give Serbia the northern part of Kosovo, making the Ibar River the new border. “This, however, would not satisfy the interest of the Kosovo Serbs since two-thirds of them live south of the Ibar.” Spahiu said, adding that every effort to divide Kosovo so that Serbia would maintain territory south of the Ibar would result in violence. The Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) spokesman Andreja Mladenović said that Rašković-Ivić’s statement was taken out of context. “In her interview with the BBC she spoke of essential autonomy and mentioned the two kinds of autonomy included in the Serbian proposal, autonomy for the Albanians in relation to Serbia, and that of Serbs and other non-Albanian communities within Kosovo, related to the decentralization process and local governments”, he said. Mladenović added that Sanda Rašković-Ivić did not mention the partition in the way the BBC interpreted it, only pointing to the fact that essential autonomy for Albanians, within Serbia, is the only and the best compromise solution. The Serbian Radical Party (SRS) secretary-general Aleksandar Vučić said that the government should announce its intentions to change its Kosovo plan if such intentions exist, and let the Parliament decide on it. “Serbian officials should not tell the public about changes in attitudes before such changes are verified by the parliament. If there is intention to change the plan, they must put that proposed change before the parliament first”, Vučić said. Daily Večernje Novosti quote the Kosovo Coordination Center Media Chief Slavko Živanov as saying that Sanda Rašković-Ivić’s statement was twisted and taken out of its context.

“Koštunica and Tadić seek an imposed solution”Georgetown University professor Charles Kupchan believes it is unlikely that the division of Kosovo will take place. “Belgrade is attempting to quietly achieve the partition of Kosovo, while the international community objects to this, trying to avoid opening up the Pandora’s box in the south of Serbia. The partition will probably never take place, but there is a possibility of renewed violence in Kosovo”, Kupchan told VOA. He says that the two sides’ irreconcilable attitudes on Kosovo’s future status leave the international community with little choice but to impose a solution. Such a conclusion can be drawn from the negotiations so far that have yielded no result. “We’re talking about two irreconcilable positions without any common ground and it seems that there won’t be any. The problem is that accepting Kosovo’s independence will spell out political suicide for any politician in Serbia. It seems that both Koštunica and Tadić are asking the international community to simply impose a solution. In a way they’re saying, “We cannot accept independence, and since we in all likelihood cannot prevent it either, you should impose it”, Kupchan says.

Ivanko: Advocating partition not usefulUNMIK spokesman Aleksandar Ivanko said that UNMIK and the international community have always opposed Kosovo’s partition and added that the statements to that end were not useful. “Kosovo’s partition will not be tolerated, period. Such statements are not helpful at all considering that they run against the position of the entire international community, the Contact Group, Martti Ahtisaari and UNMIK”, UNMIK spokesman said. Ivanko said that Belgrade officials should above all consider finding a way for the Serbs to join the temporary local government institutions. “Kosovo Serbs have many legitimate complaints including those related to the economy, employment, healthcare, even some related to security and freedom of movement. But, how do you expect the government to solve these complaints if they refuse to take part in the institutions’ work”, Ivanko said.

LDP: agreement with AlbaniansThe Liberal-Democratic Party (LDP) representatives believe that Minister of the Interior Dragan Jočić’s statement shows that the state leadership has no strength to formulate a policy since it has no ability to implement it: “The state policy concerning Kosovo represents a continuity of Slobodan Milošević’s and Vojislav Šešelj’s policy since it insists on traditional politics, one of the root causes of all the Kosovo problems. Serbs who live there and those who wish to return are victims of an irrational nationalist policy, just as Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia used to be”, LDP statement reads. “Serbia needs to reach an agreement with the Kosovo Albanians, who together with us are a part of the Kosovo problem, but also with the international community, that should guarantee that agreement. Belgrade needs to define a realistic policy, centering on the existence of Serbs in Kosovo. Otherwise, we will be on the collision course with the Albanians and the international community”, LDP says.

2006-08-05T05:36:00.000-04:00

Crossfire War - Serbs in Kosovo Arming Self - Defence Groups

By Willard Payne
Crossfire War - TEHRAN WATCH - Southeast Europe Theatre: Tehran - Belgrade/Pristina - Vienna; Serbs Arming Self-Defense Groups - Former Military and Police Officers
Night Watch: BELGRADE - Reuters reports that the six capitals which make up the Contact Group on Serbia/Kosovo are increasingly concerned at what they call "recent developments". The capitals are: Washington-London-Berlin-Paris-Rome-Moscow. They refuse to specify what the "recent developments" are but ominous reports have been circulating that Serbian communities in Kosovo are strengthening self-defence groups composed of former military and police officers. This is obviously in preparation for the declaration of Kosovo's independence, the majority Albanian Muslim province of southern Serbia. [SWISSINFO]

Serbia Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica is on record as saying Monday that when Kosovo independence is declared he will state Kosovo is an integral part of Serbia, which of course gives his and Belgrade's approval for Serbian armed nationalist groups to open fire. Three Serbian urban communities in northern Kosovo, where Serbs are still the majoirty, have severed all contact with Kosovo's capital Pristina, which is controlled by Albanians. The Serbs in the north of the province, north of the Ibar river, are in a much better position, politically and economically since they have a continuous land link to Serbia. It's quite possible the shooting could start even before independence is declared.

The only question is who will the Serbs target first, Albanians or the Contact Group? Encouraging them in this new war is Tehran, which signed a security agreement with Belgrade last January that received a lot of publicity in both countries. Tehran will use the new fighting as a way of silencing Vienna, the capital that houses the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which had been investigating Iran's uranium enrichment - nuclear weapons program. Fighting in the Balkans will also end the West's attention on the war in Western Asia (Middle East), which Tehran had Hamas-Hezbollah start against Israel. There will be no more talk of an international peace force monitoring Lebanon led by Europe.

2006-08-02T23:01:00.001-04:00

You too could be prime minister of Serbia! - a Feral mini-test

Author: Dejan Ilic
Uploaded: Wednesday, 02 August, 2006

Spoof test in the Split satirical weekly Feral Tribune drawing on the real-life pronouncements of the current Serbian premier and his cabinet colleagues

It is human to wish to hold a position which gives you power without carrying any obligations whatsoever. Such positions are rare. One of them is the post of prime minister of Serbia. However, in order to fill this post you must meet certain conditions, show that you possess the characteristics that make you qualified for it. This test will help you to ascertain whether you are a person suitable to do the job of the Serbian premier. Read carefully the questions and circle the answers that are closest to your views. You will learn from the results of the test whether you too could be the Serbian premier.

1. Suspects in the murder of former prime minister Zoran Đinđić and a cooperative prosecution witness in the murder trial are killed in Belgrade. As prime minister you would:

a) say that the killers will be caught and that the government will do all in its power to complete the trial despite all obstacles.

b) say nothing at all; think you understand Zoran Đinđić and how hard it was for him; recall your words: ‘When you yourself have gone through it all, you get a better picture and view somewhat differently the work of your predecessors.’

c) tell the public that ‘the prosecution witness Zoran Vukojević had insisted that the police should cease protecting him’, and add : ‘We were obliged by law to do as he wished. Were we supposed to guard him against his will?’

2. The citizens of Montenegro have decided in a referendum that their republic should be an independent state. As prime minister of Serbia you would:

a) recognise the new state, wish the citizens of Montenegro much happiness and success in the new state, and work to establish inter-state relations as soon as possible, for the sake of both the citizens of Montenegro and the citizens of Serbia.

b) state that Serbia is busy with itself, that ‘there is a priority at this moment that is above it all, which means that there exists something which for Serbia at this moment is far more important than congratulations or recognition - which, by the way, a state does not need in order to exist.’

c) tell the public that ‘Serbia has not become independent; it is actually Serbia and Montenegro without a part of its territory’.

3. Being prime minister, you are asked [while attending a slava, a semi-religious festivity], when the indicted Ratko Mladić will be delivered to the court in The Hague. You would:

a) say you are doing all you can for Serbia to fulfill this obligation, and try to convince your interlocutors that you are sincere.

b) answer: ‘I can tell you everything in regard to this festivity. I have already made a statement. The advantage of a written statement as opposed to verbal discourse is that the former is very precise. Additional questions should not be put at a slava, don’t you understand? You may get an answer tomorrow or the day after, but at a slava one talks of nothing but the slava, if you know what a slava is.’

c) declare that ‘the question is meaningless’ and add: ‘It is as if you asked me how long I will live.’

4. As prime minister you have made stringent criticism of the European Union, i.e. of its policy of ‘posing conditions’ which you had hoped ‘was finally behind us’. Your criticism earns the riposte: ‘Commissioner Olli Rehn is very glad that Premier Koštunica has not ascribed to the EU also responsibility for the six goals that Serbia and Montenegro got from Argentina during the world cup.’ You would:

a) ask the EU commissioner to take your remarks seriously, because they have to do with the lives and welfare of the citizens of your state.

b) declare that, in contrast to your country’s team, the team from Finland, from where the commissioner comes, had failed to qualify for the world cup, and add: ‘I do not recall the last time it succeeded in doing so.’

c) tell the commissioner that unlike Serbia the EU does not have a football team.

5. The president of Serbia [Boris Tadić] has distanced himself from your criticism of the EU, saying that ‘he has nothing to do with the policy of defying the world and displaying false pride’. You would:

a) ask the president of the republic what his policy is then.

b) declare that the president of the republic ‘is not contributing to the realisation of strategic goals and key elements of national unity’ and that he ‘speaks only for his party’.

c) indulge in musing: ‘There exists a degree of mutual distrust between Tadić and Koštunica and it is up to all of us to overcome this mistrust. Koštunica agrees with this in principle, but doubts that the other side will hold to the agreement, given that agreements are not always respected. But we have to forget the past and turn to the future.’

RESULTS:

A. If you have circled most times the answers under a), then you take politics too seriously and think wrongly that your role in being prime minister consists of creating stable living conditions for the citizens of your state. This automatically disqualifies you from the competition to become Serbian prime minister.

B. If most of your answers come under b), you would be as good a prime minister of Serbia as the current incumbent (since all the suggested answers derive from him or his spokesmen). It is noticeable, however, that you are holding yourself back a little and not bringing your full creativity to the prime minister’s job.

C. If you have circled c) most often, then you have gone one step further than the current prime minister and shown that you are the right person for Serbia. You have correctly deduced, as have the prime minister’s cabinet colleagues (whose actual statements we have used here), that there are indeed no limits and that you can say whatever occurs to you without suffering any consequences as a result. Welcome to Serbia!

Translated from Feral Tribune (Split), 30 June 2006.

2006-08-01T11:56:00.000-04:00

It is with pleasure that I finally post something here. Due to other comittments my posts here will literally consist of a news report and my comment underneath. Nuff said.

Rupel: Koštunica’s statement, a problem
1 August 2006 15:02 Source: B92, Beta
LJUBLJANA, VIENNA -- Dimitrij Rupel said that Koštunica’s statement regarding Kosovo presents a problem.The Slovenian Foreign Minister said that Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica’s statement that Serbia will not give up Kosovo for the sake of becoming a member of the European Union is a problematic one.“I think that the stance that Serbia is prepared to sacrifice its European perspective is from our point-of-view and the point-of-view of the EU and the Western world, a problem.” Rupel said. “In the last phase of the Kosovo status discussions, various statements have been coming from all sides that are doing everything but helping to solve the problem of Kosovo’s final status.” Rupel said. Belgrade wants another postponement.

The Belgrade Kosovo status discussion delegation will be asking the UN’s Special Envoy for the Kosovo Status Talks, Martti Ahtisaari, to postpone the date of the next round of decentralisation and minority rights discussions in Vienna. Ahtisaari’s chief spokesperson Hua Jiang confirmed that Ahtisaari has received Belgrade’s request and that his office is currently discussing the matter with both Belgrade and Priština. Beta found out from sources close to the Belgrade delegation that the delegation is asking for the next meeting in Vienna to be rescheduled from August 7 to August 14. Beta’s source did not give a reason for the request, though the Albanian-language Priština daily Koha Ditore writes that Belgrade is dissatisfied with the amount of planning time it has had for the next round, which will focus around the rights of the Serbian minority in Kosovo.

This is an old chestnut - that Serbia must give up Kosovo in order to join the EU. Lots of armchair Balkanite types have said this, particularly Americans but also Europeans usually of the social democrat variety. (Incidentely a close 'relative' of this kind of statement is that 'Serbia has lost the moral right to govern Kosovo')

When looking further into this connection privately diplomats have tried to persuade the Serbian government with all kinds of arguments. They tell them that Kosovo is the past, that Kosovo is an economic burden. Europe is the present and future and will allow economic prosperity etc. (Presumably the same diplomats arent saying the same things about Kosovo to Kosovo Albanians).

This kind of talk probably works with a pragmatic deal maker like Djindjic but Kostunica doesnt have time for this as has become clear from the talks.

This connection between Kosovo and the EU is in my opnion unhelpful. Both Serbia and Kosovo seek to join the EU. It would be just as invalid to ask Kosovo Albanians to give up on independence in return for EU membership.

Instead the EU should focus on what Kosovo is really all about - people. Wherever possible they should appeal directly to all the residents of Kosovo to drive home the fact that land is a less relevant factor than the right to a job or a regular supply of electricity. The EU should assure the Kosovo Serb, Albanian and other minorities that no matter what their leaders are upto they will not be forgotten and that Kosovo will become a part of the European Union.

If Kosovo is declared independent and then abandoned my personal anger will be intense - not because Serbia lost 'ownership' but because the people will not see any improvement - after all the promises. What will be the use of Kosovo changing its name, gaining a flag etc if the economic situation remains the same? Ordinary people need to get the politicians focussed on this before its too late because if you dont hold them to it the 'West' has a habit of abandoning an area / country after intervention.

2006-07-30T09:47:00.000-04:00

Ultra-nationalist party threatens fight for Kosovo

Jul 28, 2006, 15:51 GMT

Belgrade - The strongest opposition party in Serbia, the ultra-nationalist Radicals, said Serbia would have to take up arms if Kosovo is proclaimed independent.

Radical president Tomislav Nikolic said taking up arms would be the extreme measure if all else fails.

'If they want to take away Kosovo and Metohija (a part of Kosovo), the whole world has to know that Serbia will begin to fight for the return of the province,' Serbian media quoted Nikolic as saying Friday.

Nikolic also said the Radicals would take to the streets and bring down the government if it does nothing if Kosovo is declared independent.

Nikolic has 'neither the moral nor any other capacity' to decide the fate of the Serbian people, Dusan Petrovic, vice president of the Democratic Party, which is headed by Serbian President Boris Tadic, said in comment of Nikolic's statements, according to the Beta news agency.

Petrovic also pointed out that Nikolic was the Serbian deputy prime minister during the 1999 Kosovo war.

A province in southern Serbia administered by the UN since 1999, when NATO intervened to end the war, Kosovo is viewed by Serbs as the heartland of Serb culture, history and spirituality.

The vast majority of the population in Kosovo who are ethnic Albanians insist full independence is the only viable solution for the province's future status.

Months of talks on Kosovo's status have resulted in almost no progress in bringing the positions of Belgrade and Pristina closer.

© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

2006-07-21T18:26:00.000-04:00

Atossa
Beware the ides of March

Registered: Aug 2003
Location: standing on the sea and on the earth
Posts: 13483

Arrow Double-Headed Eagle Flag Offends jew and Sends Man to Court

Flag gesture lands pensioner in court

CHARLOTTE THOMSON

A PENSIONER who flew a foreign flag in the window of his home ended up in the dock yesterday accused of "racial aggravation".

A neighbour complained to police that the flag was the eagle emblem of Imperial Germany which offended her Jewish roots.

But Ebenezer Melville, 65, claimed it was the double-headed eagle of the Albanian national flag, which he flew to pay tribute to his new son-in-law.

After his trial was adjourned at Banff Sheriff Court, he protested: "This is the most stupid thing I have ever heard in my life. "The flag is Albanian and I can-t understand why anyone would be offended by it."

The neighbour, Christina Foster, had called in the police believing the emblem represented the German Imperial army. Officers seized the flag and Mr Melville was charged with acting in a "racially aggravated" manner.

2006-07-06T20:20:00.000-04:00

Kosovo's limbo suits both sides

Mirjana Tomic International Herald Tribune

Published: July 6, 2006
MADRID Negotiations under way in Vienna, Brussels and New York on the future political status of Kosovo are expected to end this year. While Kosovo Albanians want independence, Serbia's prime minister, Vojislav Kostunica, declared during his recent controversial trip there that Kosovo "will always be part of Serbia."

Kostunica visited Kosovo on June 28, the day Serbs mark the 1389 Battle of Kosovo, when the defeat of the Serbs enabled the Ottoman Turks to invade the Balkans and stay there for almost five centuries.

When Western news media refer to Kosovo, they often remind their audience that for Serbs, it represents the cradle of Serbian civilization. They repeat what Serbian politicians tell them. But as the liberal Belgrade monthly Republika writes, Kosovo was "the heart of Serbia during Middle Ages." Today, "80 percent of the population has never been to Kosovo and has no links to the region, except for the mythology that has been consciously produced."

I am the only one among my friends and acquaintances who has actually been to Kosovo on vacation. Like most people of my generation, who attended Belgrade schools during the 1960s and early '70s, I had to memorize epic songs about the Kosovo battle and Serbian heroes. In our free time we listened to the Beatles and dreamed about visiting Western Europe. I never heard anyone say: "Let's spend our vacation visiting Kosovo."

In the absence of massive tourist demand to visit Kosovo, Yugoslavia's Communist authorities organized trips for employees and schoolchildren to visit the region. It was the only contact that most Serbs had with the "cradle of civilization."

The first time I visited Kosovo was in the late '60s. My parents took me on a tour of Serbian medieval monasteries, sources of culture and literacy before the Ottoman invasion and defenders of Christianity and tradition during the Muslim domination. Most monasteries were left to rot, but thanks to the efforts of monks and nuns, they functioned. In my early teens, Kosovo was a cultural shock: I remember veiled Albanian women in traditional costume selling food and crafts on filthy sidewalks.

Thirty years later, when I traveled to Kosovo as a journalist for a major Spanish daily and witnessed omnipresent underdevelopment, I wondered what had happened to the aid that had gone to Kosovo. According to a friend who had a leading position in the League of Serbian Communists, before Slobodan Milosevic came to power, all development aid was channeled to Kosovo Albanian Communist officials. Belgrade had no say on how it was spent.

As a reporter of Serbian origin, I did not feel welcome in Kosovo. In Albania, however, where I also went on a professional assignment, this was not the case. Our common Balkan cultural heritage created an immediate bond. My conclusion was simple: It was politics that created animosity, rather than a difference in cultural heritage.

Nowadays, after the 1999 war, deaths, expulsions, massacres and innumerable violations of human rights, the chance is small that young Kosovo Albanians and young Serbs would ever meet. If they did meet, it would be abroad. And if they became friends, they would not boast about it. A Vienna-based Albanian from Kosovo told me: "My mother's best friend is Serbian. When we go to Kosovo she has to hide it."

The Serbs who remained in Kosovo live in enclaves protected by international troops, while hundreds of thousands of Serbs, poor and rich, have emigrated from Kosovo during the past decades.

The poor live in Serbia's shantytowns; local Serbs consider them primitive. Some would like to go back, but fear prevents them. The rich, on the other hand, do not plan to return to Kosovo, where crime prospers and the electricity supply is unreliable.

Serbia's foreign minister, Vuk Draskovic, claims that the future status of Kosovo is of utmost importance for Serbia's future, but like other Serbian politicians, he does not specify why it is so important. Does Serbia's economic or political future depend on the status of Kosovo? Or would the loss of Kosovo mean that Belgrade politicians had to face the real issues affecting Serbia's population: crime, corruption, quality of education, unemployment, health care, democracy and human rights, low living standards, isolation from the European Union?

At the same time, the ambivalence about the status of Kosovo suits politicians: Serbian politicians evoke the Kosovo myth in order to postpone addressing their real problems; their Kosovo Albanian counterparts can always blame the lack of independence as the source of all evils, including unemployment, crime, corruption, crumbling infrastructure and the failing economy.

Mirjana Tomic, a freelance media consultant, lives in Madrid.

MADRID Negotiations under way in Vienna, Brussels and New York on the future political status of Kosovo are expected to end this year. While Kosovo Albanians want independence, Serbia's prime minister, Vojislav Kostunica, declared during his recent controversial trip there that Kosovo "will always be part of Serbia."

Kostunica visited Kosovo on June 28, the day Serbs mark the 1389 Battle of Kosovo, when the defeat of the Serbs enabled the Ottoman Turks to invade the Balkans and stay there for almost five centuries.

When Western news media refer to Kosovo, they often remind their audience that for Serbs, it represents the cradle of Serbian civilization. They repeat what Serbian politicians tell them. But as the liberal Belgrade monthly Republika writes, Kosovo was "the heart of Serbia during Middle Ages." Today, "80 percent of the population has never been to Kosovo and has no links to the region, except for the mythology that has been consciously produced."

I am the only one among my friends and acquaintances who has actually been to Kosovo on vacation. Like most people of my generation, who attended Belgrade schools during the 1960s and early '70s, I had to memorize epic songs about the Kosovo battle and Serbian heroes. In our free time we listened to the Beatles and dreamed about visiting Western Europe. I never heard anyone say: "Let's spend our vacation visiting Kosovo."

In the absence of massive tourist demand to visit Kosovo, Yugoslavia's Communist authorities organized trips for employees and schoolchildren to visit the region. It was the only contact that most Serbs had with the "cradle of civilization."

The first time I visited Kosovo was in the late '60s. My parents took me on a tour of Serbian medieval monasteries, sources of culture and literacy before the Ottoman invasion and defenders of Christianity and tradition during the Muslim domination. Most monasteries were left to rot, but thanks to the efforts of monks and nuns, they functioned. In my early teens, Kosovo was a cultural shock: I remember veiled Albanian women in traditional costume selling food and crafts on filthy sidewalks.

Thirty years later, when I traveled to Kosovo as a journalist for a major Spanish daily and witnessed omnipresent underdevelopment, I wondered what had happened to the aid that had gone to Kosovo. According to a friend who had a leading position in the League of Serbian Communists, before Slobodan Milosevic came to power, all development aid was channeled to Kosovo Albanian Communist officials. Belgrade had no say on how it was spent.

As a reporter of Serbian origin, I did not feel welcome in Kosovo. In Albania, however, where I also went on a professional assignment, this was not the case. Our common Balkan cultural heritage created an immediate bond. My conclusion was simple: It was politics that created animosity, rather than a difference in cultural heritage.

Nowadays, after the 1999 war, deaths, expulsions, massacres and innumerable violations of human rights, the chance is small that young Kosovo Albanians and young Serbs would ever meet. If they did meet, it would be abroad. And if they became friends, they would not boast about it. A Vienna-based Albanian from Kosovo told me: "My mother's best friend is Serbian. When we go to Kosovo she has to hide it."

The Serbs who remained in Kosovo live in enclaves protected by international troops, while hundreds of thousands of Serbs, poor and rich, have emigrated from Kosovo during the past decades.

The poor live in Serbia's shantytowns; local Serbs consider them primitive. Some would like to go back, but fear prevents them. The rich, on the other hand, do not plan to return to Kosovo, where crime prospers and the electricity supply is unreliable.

Serbia's foreign minister, Vuk Draskovic, claims that the future status of Kosovo is of utmost importance for Serbia's future, but like other Serbian politicians, he does not specify why it is so important. Does Serbia's economic or political future depend on the status of Kosovo? Or would the loss of Kosovo mean that Belgrade politicians had to face the real issues affecting Serbia's population: crime, corruption, quality of education, unemployment, health care, democracy and human rights, low living standards, isolation from the European Union?

At the same time, the ambivalence about the status of Kosovo suits politicians: Serbian politicians evoke the Kosovo myth in order to postpone addressing their real problems; their Kosovo Albanian counterparts can always blame the lack of independence as the source of all evils, including unemployment, crime, corruption, crumbling infrastructure and the failing economy.

Mirjana Tomic, a freelance media consultant, lives in Madrid.

2006-07-03T10:29:00.000-04:00

Disappointed Serbs plan to leave Montenegro

Angry over the referendum result and fearful for the future, many Serbs are emigrating to central Serbia.

By Bojana Stanisic in Pljevlja (03/07/06)

The villagers of Seoce, near Andrijevica, in northern Montenegro, are angry. The reason is the outcome of the 21 May referendum on independence, which Montenegrin separatists won by a large margin.

Such is the indignation in Seoce, which voted "en masse" against sovereignty, that many locals have decided to sell up and emigrate to Sumadija, in central Serbia.

They plan to move the whole village over the border and rename their new home Seoce.

Villagers have made it clear that if any one buyer is interested in buying up the entire village, they would offer a substantial discount of up to 15 percent.

One would-be ex-Montenegrin is Stanoje Stijovic. "As soon as I sell my property I will move to Serbia," he said. "We plan to buy a whole village in Serbia and rename it Seoce out of love for our native land."

The villagers protest that their departure is not a sign of indifference to the place many were born in, and in which many invested all their savings.

"I invested my entire capital in my native village," said Vujica Mitrovic, who came all the way from Denmark, where he works, to vote in the referendum.

"But I am deeply disappointed with the result, which is why I have decided to sell my whole estate - three houses in Andrijevica, a house in Seoce, another in Sutomore on the Adriatic coast and a country home in the Balja Mountain."

Thirty-five villagers from Beranselo, near the town Berani in the north of Montenegro, have also put up their land and houses for sale, hoping for Albanian buyers.

Milan Korac, a Beranselo representative, says the village is on sale solely to Albanians - reflecting the bitter convictions of many Serbs that ethnic minority votes secured victory for the separatists in the 21 May poll.

Potential Albanian buyers have already come forward, the Tahiraj, Salihovic and Brucaj families from the village of Grncari in northern Montenegro.

"They saw the houses for sale and said they will call us and come again. We did not speak about the price, but I told them that there would not be any problems. They liked what they saw," Korac told Balkan Insight.

He pointed out that the prospective buyers liked the fact there was a school in the village, as all three families have large numbers of children.

The residents of Seoce and Beranselo may sound like an extreme example but their case is not unique. Many of the inhabitants of Pljevlja, a town in northern Montenegro, have also declared they will move to Serbia.

Serbs are the majority in this northern municipality and have strong links to the town of Prijepolje, on the Serbian side of the border, which they fear may be jeopardized now the old republican border is an international frontier.

Dragan Paldrmic, vice-president of the Pljevlja assembly, said in the first few days after the vote he had received information that about a hundred local residents were planning to move.

Students pursuing courses in Serbia had already changed their addresses to ensure they were registered as Serbian domiciles, he went on.

"Around 700 students from the Pljevlja area who are studying at universities in Serbia went before the referendum, as they expected an unfavorable outcome," he said. "People are deeply disappointed and have started moving out."

Bosko Bjekovic, financial officer in the municipal administration of Pljevlja, is among those planning to sell to an Albanian buyer before moving to central Serbia.

"I would like to sell all my property in Sumani [a village] to Albanians," he said. "If the Albanian buyer has more than ten children, I will give him a ten percent discount."

Ethnologist and anthropologist Radoman Manojlovic voiced similar bitterness over the role of minorities in the referendum.

"Albanians and Muslims made a decision affecting crucially the lives of my children," he said. "I will take the first opportunity that occurs to move to Serbia."

What lies behind this bitterness is the fact that Montenegrins who were permanent residents in Serbia could not vote in the 21 May poll.

Under the referendum legislation, accepted by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, only citizens registered as resident in Montenegro could cast ballots.

But Albanians and Bosniaks who had kept their residency in Montenegro came home in large numbers for the referendum and cast votes. Now, some Serbs say they intend to boycott their shops and cafes in revenge.

"So far we have made no distinction," said Petar, a resident of Pljevlja. "We used to buy things in those shops where we found what we needed, regardless of whether the owner was a Serb, Muslim or Bosniak.

"But since 21 May this has not been so and now I exclusively buy goods in shops owned by Serbs, just like the majority of my friends and relatives."

Bosko Bjekovic, the town's financial officer, said a boycott of Muslim shops was to be expected - especially if locals found the price of goods from Serbia going up as a result of independence.

"Almost all the goods in Pljevlja, from food to cosmetics, come from Serbia," he noted.

Apart from anger about the result of the referendum, many Serbs say they want to abandon northern Montenegro because they are afraid for their safety.

They say slogans such as "Montenegro, my dear mother, we will slay the Serbs tonight", "Hang Serbs" and "Traitors, go to Serbia" were routine in the pro-independence camp and could be heard at their celebrations in Pljevlja.

"Nothing will be the same after the songs and slogans we heard being sung and chanted," said Mirko, a Pljevlja resident. "I feel threatened and I don't want my children to have problems just because they are Serbs."

Sanja, a local shopkeeper, agreed she no longer felt comfortable in her native town. "They were singing about slaughtering Serbs," she said. "I am afraid and I want to leave."

Some residents of Pljevlja did not wait for the independence referendum to put their homes on the market but sold up before, correctly anticipating the outcome.

"I expected this result so I sold my property on time and secured a roof over my head in Serbia," said Radoman Brasanac.

"Everything I had earned and acquired I sold and invested in Serbia. I did not want to wait for the referendum results and then have to weigh up the options."

In the village of Seoce, which is entirely Serbian, locals are also prey to security fears. Their immediate neighbors in Plav and Gusinje are mainly Albanian. Some fear the repeat of the Kosovo scenario, in which Albanians drove out Serbs by force, following the arrival of international troops ending the conflict between Serb forces and Kosovo Albanian guerillas.

Velimir Guberinic, a refugee from Kosovo who lives in the village, has already suffered at the hands of Albanians. "I don't want to go through the same ordeal again," he said. "I want to get a new life in Serbia."

Other northerners want to leave simply because they fear that they will not gain a decent livelihood in an independent Montenegro. The north is already disproportionately poor, housing 45 percent of the republic's poorest citizens although it has only 31 percent of the total population.

Ljubisa Guberinic wants to leave Seoce because he says the Montenegrin government could not care less about the interests of the local Serbs.

"I used to work at the [nearby] Soko Stark factory but am now jobless and on the brink of disaster," he said. "I have to seek refuge in Serbia."

"We have received nothing from the Montenegrin government because we are Serbs."

Pljevlja possesses two large employers, a thermoelectric plant and a coal mine. But they are not enough to employ all the people now seeking jobs and many locals live a hand-to-mouth existence. They fear independence will deepen the region's malaise.

Jovan, a greengrocer in Pljevlja, says a tighter border with Serbia will damage trade and push up prices. Several years ago he lost his full-time job and now he lives from selling the fruit and vegetables that he imports from Serbia.

"If customs duties and taxes go up, I won't be able to support my family," he said.

"I can't afford to play with those things so I have put my land and house on sale. As soon as the first buyer comes, I will sell everything and move to Serbia."

This article originally appeared in Balkan Insight, produced by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR). Balkan Insight is supported by the UK Foreign Office and the US State Department.

2006-07-02T19:30:00.000-04:00

WORDS OF FLORA BROVIINA

TRIAL IN NIS - 9 of December '99

On this trial on 9th of December 1999, in Nis, Serbia, Flora Brovina, Albanian poet and medical doctor from Pristina, Kosovo, was sentenced to 12 years of inprisonment by serbian authorities for "organizing the enemy and terrorist acts in the period of Martial law". For this trial, several feminists and human right activists from Belgrade were present: Stasa Zajovic, Women in Black, Radmila Lazic, poet, Natasa Kandic, Humanitarian Law Fund, and the others.

This is what she said:

":I dedicated my whole life to children and children do not choose their ethnicity, children do not know what ethnicity they are if their parents do not tell them. With my patients, I have never divided them according to their ethnicity, according to religion or the ideological choice of their parents. I feel proud because of this and even if I was not an Albanian I would have done the same thing. I am one of the persons most involved in humanitarian work in Kosovo; I have sacrificed my health in order to help women and children. If I were free, I would have had much work, I would help those that are suffering more now; now it is not Albanians that are suffering the most, now it is others, and I would work with all my strength in order to help them, Serb, Roma people.

My duty has been to dedicate myself also as a woman, as a doctor, as a poet to the emancipation of the Albanian woman, to her consciousness, to women's human rights, to help them fight for their freedom, to understand that without independence economics cannot succeed nor can freedom. In the League for Albanian Women, I have created bridges of friendship in the country and in the whole world. We have cooperated the most with Serbian women. Serbian women have given me the strongest support, perhaps they knew our problems best, and they have presented our problems best. The Albanian women of Kosovo should never forget this.

I am very sorry that the court underestimates the role of women in the world. It is very important that women enjoy the same equality as men. I will never renounce the right to fight for the rights of women. I will always fight for women's rights.

What the court has accused me of having fought for the secession of Kosovo and the annexation of Albania, I repeat: My country is where my friends are and where my poems are read. My poems are read in Switzerland, India, Brazil, Poland, in each of these countries it is as if I am in their own house. My poems have been published in the Encyclopedia of Poets of Yugoslavia (ex-Yugoslavia) and it is something very important for Albanian women.

The Albanian community has never behaved in this manner with their neighbors, women, and children. Right now in Kosovo, they have gone back to revenge at the end of the twentieth century. I am very sorry for not being free, for being in jail, for not being able to influence more what is happening now in Kosovo, for not being able to do more to lend a hand, to help those that are expelled, displaced. I believe that they will do it as if I were with them; I hope that they will make it because they are women, I hope that they behave in a just manner. I would do anything for them so that they could return to their houses, I would do anything so that the Serbian community and the Albanians reconcile. The intellectuals of Kosovo should give their support to reconciliation, other communities have also fought, they have made even larger wars between each other and now they have reconciled."

Flora left the court walking slowly; the police showed with harsh and arrogant words to the family and friends of Flora that they were not permitted to have any contact with her. Flora's two sisters that arrived from Kosovo, the poet Radmila Lazic, and I went to accompany Flora up to the police car. For a moment, we succeeded in putting the palms of our hands on the window of the police car. At that moment one of the policemen said with an insolent voice, "She's in safe hands. . ." Two policemen were in the front seat of the vehicle. Before my eyes surged imprisoned women: Leyla Zana, Kurdish, imprisoned in Turkey, Rigoberta Menchu, Aung Suun Ki . .. . . We waved goodbye to Flora until the police vehicle was gone, while we could see it. I was in a state of "black shame," as Ana Ahmatova says, because each one of us could have been on her place.

Stasa Zajovic
Women in Black
Belgrade, 14. december 99
autonomous women's center against sexual violence
belgrade, tel/fax: +381.11.687.190

2006-06-28T01:44:00.000-04:00

What is an inventor to do??????

Ananova:
Women wanted to test sex machine

A Serbian man who has invented a sex machine for women is appealing to western women to test his device.

Nesa Proka, from the central town of Krusevac, made the appeal after failing to find any willing Serbian women.

He has taken out a patent on what he says is the "ultimate sex aid" for lonely women after spending three years working on it.

The machine, which runs on a 390 volt electric engine, simulates sex and has a seven and a half inch artificial 'penis'.

He said: "My sex machine has an artificial penis that can make up to 180 moves in a minute. A man can only manage that intensity of movement for about five seconds but the machine can do it for as long as the woman wants.

"And it comes with a set of controls to fully regulate the speed and intensity a woman for individual sex."

But Proka said he would have to market it in the west because he had not been able to find any Serbian woman to test it out.

"Western women are more liberal. I couldn't find a woman here to try the sex machine," he told local daily Glas Javnosti.

But he did admit that some local women were curious about his invention and a few had come into his garage where he keeps it locked away just to look at it.

One reportedly told the newspaper: "If I had a machine like that at home I would never go outside the front door."

LOOK AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE!

2006-06-23T02:28:00.000-04:00

For all of those individuals that would like to take out their frustrastions or just simply vent your anger towards each other. I found the perfect game for you all! Now go on and shoot yourselves or rob each other whatever you have to do to get along!!!

Peace to all!

2006-06-22T18:56:00.000-04:00

Kosovo Serb returnee found dead

21/06/2006
(Prishtina, DTT-NET.COM)- A Kosovo Serb was found dead on Tuesday at his home, sparking anger among some 50 returnees in the central Kosovo town of Klina who warned to leave their homes and go to Serbia because of lack of security.

“Yesterday a Kosovo Serb man (68) was found dead in his house in Klinë/Klina. Victim had what appears to be wound consistent with a gunshot,” UN mission (UNMIK) spokesperson Neeraj Singh told reporters on Wednesday.

He said that according to police authorities Dragan Popovic who returned in Klina last year from Serbia, was living alone at his home.

Autopsy report is awaited and the case is being investigated by Kosovo Police along with International investigators and Forensics experts from the UN police.

Klina Serbs have asked for the motives of the murder to be clarified and warned that if Popovic was killed for ethnic motives they would leave their homes. UNMIK and NATO-led international peacekeeping force (KFOR) are trying to convince them to remain in Kosovo, promising an adequate investigation on the murder and more security measures.

All Serbs of Klina left the town and the surrounding villages by mid June 1999 as the war ended, fearing from attacks of their neighbours following the killings of near 200 Ethnic Albanians boys and men of the area, killed by Serb forces.

Before the war Albanians represented a majority of more than 80 percent of some 55000 inhabitants of the municipality. Around 200 Serb families have returned so far.

Kosovo Serbs have been accusing Ethnic Albanians for standing behind the latest attacks but UNMIK officials have refuted their claims calling to avoid early conclusions on the incidents and leaving the matter to the investigations.

In response to incidents, Serbs in northern part of Kosovo have cut all their ties with Kosovo institutions and have announced creation of their own security structures.

Reuters on Wednesday quoted representatives of Serbs for hiring around 300 former Serbs soldiers to assure the security of local population in Kosovo north.

But UNMIK spokesperson said that “there is no evidence of such actions” as so far.

Neeraj Singh said that UNMIK has told northern Serb leaders that “any unilateral security measures not within the bounds of law, will be unacceptable.”

“There are adequate legal mechanisms in place to ensure participation of communities in organizing their own security and the Kosovo Serbs should use such legal channels to engage constructively, “ with the Kosovo institutions, he said.

The latest murder in Klina comes at the same day the UN Security Council members were discussing the security for Serbs and the future of Kosovo.

2006-06-22T18:52:00.000-04:00

US President supportive to Kosovo’s majority 'dream' for independence

22/06/2006
US President George W. Bush said he is going to tell to Serbian Prime Minister that the solution of Kosovo status must meet the will of (Ethnic Albanian) majority for independence.

“We believe that dialogue between Serbia and those who aspire for an independent country in Kosovo need to be ongoing, in such a way that there is a resolution that meets the needs of the majority, and at the same time, enhances minority rights inside Kosovo,” Bush said in a roundtable with Foreign Students held in Austrian capital of Vienna, on Wednesday (21 June).

“To this end, we're working with our European partners to try to just bring a sense of stability and a sense of calm so that a rational solution can be worked out, and so that the people, the Kosovars can realize dreams,” Bush added.

US president said he is going to transmit the position of Washington on the future status of Kosovo to Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica soon.

“The Prime Minister of Serbia will be coming to the United States shortly and we will work with him to urge him to listen to the needs of the Kosovars, and at the same time, assure him that our policy is to guarantee minority rights,“ he explained.

Kostunica is expected also to meet in London next week the UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.

UK is at the same position with US on the Kosovo status solution.

Ethnic Albanians who represent around 90 percent of Kosovo population insist on independence but Serbia and Serbian minority in Kosovo are against.

Serbian government recently has been lobbying to Russia and China against the independence of Kosovo.

Russian and China governments on Tuesday told other members of Security Council that the solution on Kosovo’s status should be find through a compromise between Belgrade and Prishtina, signalling their disagreements to US and UK support for a status according the will of Ethnic Albanian majority of UN administrated territory for independence.

Direct UN mediated talks on the status between Serbian authorities and the Ethnic Albanian leadership of Kosovo are expected to begin in July.

If talks between Belgrade and Prishtina aren’t going to produce any compromise then the issue will be send to the UN Security Council.

Western diplomats have said, however, that Moscow and Beijing will not impose their veto on independence.

2006-06-22T18:44:00.000-04:00

Albanian leader in plea for Kosovo independence
22.06.2006 - 15:18 CET | By Mark Beunderman

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The Albanian prime minister, Sali Berisha, has said Kosovo should become an independent state, while rejecting the idea of the territory uniting with his own country.

Kosovo legally belongs to Serbia but has been under UN administration since the EU and the US intervened to stop ethnic clashes in the region in 1999.

The Albanian leader, speaking before the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday (22 June), said Serbia had demonstrated "no realism whatsoever" over the Kosovo issue.

UN and EU-sponsored negotiations on the possibility of Kosovan independence are currently ongoing, but Serbia is only prepared to grant autonomy to the territory – not fully-fledged secession.

"The wish of Kosovo toward independence, demonstrated more than once, should be respected," Mr Berisha said, arguing Belgrade should demonstrate the same kind of "realism" on Kosovo as on Montenegro which declared independence last month.

Ethnic Albanians, pushing for independence, make up 90 percent of Kosovo's 2 million-strong population, with ethnic Serbs making up around 8 percent.

But Mr Berisha rejected a suggestion by UK conservative MEP Charles Tannock that the territory could be partitioned and possibly split between Albania and Serbia.

"All opinions [in Kosovo] are to join Brussels not Tirana," the Albanian leader said. "Since two centuries, two Albanian realities have developed – one in Pristina and one in Tirana," he added.

Some observers have called for an explicit reference in a future Kosovo settlement that Pristina will not in the future seek to join Tirana in a "greater Albania."

The International Crisis Group, a high-profile think tank, in a report last year wrote that a status deal should include that "Kosovo would be explicitly committed not to unify with Albania."

The EU's conditions for a future status include that the territory should not be partitioned, but the bloc has had difficulties sticking to that common position.

The Czech prime minister Jiri Paroubek said in November "A solution could be dividing the territory on ethnic lines. The northern part of the region would belong to Serbia, and the majority of the southern part could be given the status of an independent nation," according to press reports.

The union has recently signalled greater interest for Serbia's feelings after a series of painful events for Serb national pride - including Montenegran independence - with support for the nationalist radical opposition in Belgrade on the rise.

"A peaceful and prosperous Serbia fully integrated into the family of European nations is very important for the stability of the region," last week's EU leaders summit conclusions read, with foreign ministers devoting almost all their summit dinner to the issue.

2006-06-22T17:13:00.000-04:00

Belgrade's "isolationist" attitude toward Kosovo Serbs unhelpful, envoy says

.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The Serbian government has left minority Serbs in Kosovo isolated and unable to make informed choices, a tactic that can only complicate negotiations on the tiny province's future, a U.N. official said Tuesday.

Belgrade bars the 100,000 ethnic Serbs in Kosovo from joining the province's government and sometimes forces them to choose between taking a salary from Serbia or from Kosovo, top U.N. envoy Soren Jessen-Petersen told the U.N. Security Council.

"I do not see any merit to Belgrade's isolationist policy from the point of view of Kosovo's Serbs," Jessen-Petersen told the Security Council.

The briefing was Jessen-Petersen's last before he steps down June 30 as U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special representative for Kosovo, which has been under U.N. stewardship since 1999.

Talks are under way to determine whether Kosovo becomes an independent state or remains attached to Serbia. They have stumbled because Kosovo insists on full independence, while Serbia says it will only allow the province greater autonomy.

A key stumbling block has been the fate of the ethnic Serbs who make up less than 10 percent of the population.

Jessen-Petersen was briefing the council on a report in which Annan said neither the ethnic Albanians or Serbs will benefit unless they show more willingness to make concessions in the talks on Kosovo's future.

Yet Jessen-Petersen said Kosovo is making progress and its leaders showed a "far greater willingness" to reach out to minorities, particularly the Kosovo Serbs.

The problem, he said, is that Serbs are left "confused, exposed and isolated" because of the messages sent by the Serbian government. Many of them want to take part in Kosovo's administration but are barred from doing so.

He suggested that Belgrade makes Kosovo Serbs feel that crimes against them are always motivated by ethnicity, an unfair characterization that "perpetuates a climate of insecurity."

Serbia's representative at the meeting, Sanda Raskovic-Ivic, rejected Jessen-Petersen's remarks, saying that Kosovo Serbs should only participate if they can do so in a meaningful way.

Raskovic-Ivic stressed that Belgrade believes Kosovo Serbs face grave danger from the ethnic Albanians there.

"The very right to survival of Serbs and non-Albanians, a definite minority in the province, has been threatened," she said.

The current talks on Kosovo's future are being held under the auspices of the United Nations, the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Russia and Italy. That group has said it wants a solution by the end of the year.

Kosovo's ethnic Albanians took up arms in 1998 to secede from Serbia, triggering a brutal government crackdown which led to NATO military intervention in 1999 that eventually forced Serbia to hand over authority of Kosovo to a temporary U.N. administration and NATO peacekeepers.

The land of Kosovo/a!

2006-01-06T20:36:00.000-05:00

Why is there so much fear and stereotyping in this small region of the world?