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May 31 -
June 01, 2003
ERP KIM Newsletter
31-05-2003
INDEPENDENCE OF KOSOVO LEADS TO
MONOETHNIC SOCIETY AND FURTHER CONFLICTS IN THE BALKANS WARNS SERB NATIONAL
COUNCIL
CONTENTS:
SERBIA'S SUPPORT ESSENTIAL
FOR SURVIVAL IN KOSOVO - SNC
SNC DIRECTIVES REGARDING THE FINAL STATUS OF KOSOVO AND
METOHIJA
SNC STRONGLY PROTESTS INCLUDING NAMES OF SERB LEADERS ON THE
BLACK LIST
POVRATAK COALITION DISAPPOINTED WITH SLOW RETURNS
Leadership of the Serb National Council at press conference
in Belgrade Media Center, May 30, 2003
(from left to right: Dr. Marko Jaksic, Dr. Rada Trajkovic, Bishop
Artemije, Dr. Milan Ivanovic)
Beta News
Agency, Belgrade
May 30, 2003
SERBIA'S SUPPORT ESSENTIAL FOR SURVIVAL IN KOSOVO
BELGRADE, May 30, 2003 (Beta) - Representatives of the Serb National
Councils (SNC) of Kosovo and Metohija and of Northern Kosovo asked for
support from the Serbian state for survival in the Province and urged
Belgrade officials to act against Kosovo's slipping into independence.
Rada Trajkovic, an SNC officer and deputy in the Kosovo parliament, said
at a press conference in Belgrade that Serbs must have the same rights as
Albanians in the building of the future of the Province.
"In the event that the formation of an ethnically based state is allowed,
the Serbs will demand the right to correct the borders everywhere
according to the ethnic principle," said Trajkovic.
In her opinion, if the Albanians have the right to decide on the future of
Kosovo by referendum, the Serbs in the federal union must also have the
right to decide what kind of Kosovo they want by voting.
"A country and its leaders who readily renounce their own territory to
achieve short-term integrational and economic goals have no credibility
and are automatically reduced to semi-colonial status," said Trajkovic.
By way of analogy, she said that a ship can reach its destination more
quickly by throwing all the passengers and luggage overboard.
Trajkovic warned that disintegrational processes may have consequences in
other parts of Serbia and Montenegro as well, marginalizing the country
regionally and globally.
"It would be inaccurate to say that such a Serbia and Montenegro could not
join Europe but it would be more in the capacity of a semi-dependent
region than of a real, independent state," emphasized Trajkovic.
At the same meeting, Milan Ivanovic, the president of the Serb National
Council of Northern Kosovo, criticized the Belgrade government for UNMIK's
intention to include one Albanian and one Bosniac on the advisory body for
northern Mitrovica, in addition to six Serbs.
"Our officials from Belgrade have made an agreement that the Albanian and
the Bosniac are not immediately included, but that they join the body,
appointed by UNMIK chief Michael Steiner yesterday, at a later date.
"This is a tactic of verbal cosmetics. It is a rash tactic, in addition to
which there is also an attempt to disqualify Serbs who think differently.
This has happened too often to be a coincidence and generally appears when
we are in disfavor with someone in the Coordinating Center for Kosovo and
Metohija," said Ivanovic.
He said that he had the impression that the Belgrade government was
indoctrinating certain Serb political representatives from Kosovo in order
to attack those with different opinions without specifically naming any
politicians.
"We will name names in the near future," emphasized Ivanovic.
Bishop Artemije of Raska-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija told reporters that
the persecution against Serbs and violence are continuing in Kosovo
undiminished.
"It's as if we were returning to 1999 when the exodus of the Serbs
occurred," said Bishop Artemije. He emphasized that attacks on Kosovo
Serbs are especially apparent in Vitina area villages in Kosovsko
Pomoravlje.
"The Serb people are astounded," said Bishop Artemije and called on
Belgrade authorities to initiate processes in the international community
to stop terror, warning that "Kosovo and Metohija soon may be monoethnic
and lost."
TOP
The text of the SNC directives
distributed to the press at the press conference in Media Center, Belgrade
SNC DIRECTIVES REGARDING THE
FINAL STATUS OF KOSOVO AND METOHIJA
TOP
ERP
KIM INFO-SERVICE
May 30, 2003
BASIC DIRECTIVES OF THE SERB NATIONAL COUNCIL OF KOSOVO AND METOHIJA
REGARDING THE FINAL STATUS OF KOSOVO AND METOHIJA
1. We support the multiethnic and democratic solution opposing the
formation of an ethnically pure Albanian state of Kosovo and Metohija.
In the event that the formation of such an ethnically based state is
permitted, we demand the recognition of the right of all Serbs everywhere
to alter borders according to ethnic principles.
2. The Albanians are seeking an ethnic and undemocratic solution based on
the concept of ethnic cleansing and domination. This concept is
inconsistent with the idea of European integration and the transcendence
of ethnic problems within the framework of existing borders. Therefore, we
suggest A CHANGE IN THE WAY OF THINKING, NOT A CHANGE OF BORDERS.
This is the philosophy of the 21st century, whereas the prevalent Albanian
philosophy belongs to the 19th century.
3. Serbia is the most multiethnic state in the Balkans, and the Serbian
people removed Milosevic and his associates from power by their own will.
The fact that Serbia preserved its multiethnicity even during the time of
Milosevic suggests that today it has even greater credibility in ensuring
that various ethnic communities can find a secure future within her
borders.
4. If the Albanians demand a referendum on independence, we will demand
a REFERENDUM to keep Kosovo and Metohija in Serbia-Montenegro, to be held
throughout the territory of the state. This is our democratic right
because Serbia and the Serbian people have legitimate interests here, and
Kosovo and Metohija has never been an independent state.
5. A referendum where Kosovo Albanians would vote in favor of independence
through sheer force of numbers is not and cannot be a just solution.
Although modern European legislation recognizes the right to
self-determination, it also recognizes the right to the territorial
integrity of sovereign states. In the twentieth century there have
been numerous examples of clashes between these two principles, although
they are not necessarily contradictory nor mutually exclusive.
6. The right to self-determination does not necessarily mean secession.
A national group does not have to be independent and in its own
nation-state to control its own fate. If this was the case, Europe would
look very different than it does today and there would be constant armed
conflicts in one senseless and misguided attempt after another to create
ethnically pure nation-states.
7. A country which readily and cheaply renounce a part of their territory
to achieve short-term political and economic goals loses its credibility
as a state and is automatically reduced to the level of a semi-colonial
territory, which as such will never become a full-fledged member of the
European Union. This concept can be likened to the logic according to
which a passenger ship will reach its destination more quickly if the
passengers and their baggage are promptly tossed into the ocean. Once the
selling of land where Serbs have centuries-old historical rights and their
most important cultural monuments begins, the disintegration process will
gain momentum in other parts of the country, too, as everyone begins to
grab as much as they can take or pay for. There is no need to mention that
such a Serbia will disappear more easily into the proverbial melting pot
and be marginalized, finally, as a political power in the Balkans. It
would be inaccurate to say that such a Serbia and Montenegro could not
join Europe but it would be more in the capacity of a semi-dependent
region than of a real, independent state.
8. The position of Serbia should be KOSOVO CAN ONLY BE FORCEFULLY TAKEN
FROM US BUT WE WILL NEVER GIVE IT UP. As long as Serbia has not
officially renounced Kosovo and Metohija, there is always the hope that it
will be restored to its formal constitutional and legal position. If it
should be surrendered, God forbid, and renounced in writing, Serbia and
the Serbian people will lose their moral and historical rights to this
land for all time. PROPERTY DEEDS SHOULD BE KEPT BECAUSE HISTORY
CHANGES.
9. We should not naively accept stories that anyone will guarantee the
rights of Serbs if there are no Serb authorities here. Is the considerable
presence of KFOR and UNMIK police not the best indicator of this? Every
guarantee for Serbs in any agreement transferring Kosovo to the Albanians
is not worth the paper on which it is printed.
AN INDEPENDENT KOSOVO MEANS AN ETHNICALLY PURE KOSOVO
10.The goal of the Albanians is not only the independence of Kosovo and
Metohija and the creation of a little banana-republic but the
affirmation of an independent Kosovo as the bastion of pan-Albanian
national interests. IT IS NOT A GREATER ALBANIA THEY WANT TO CREATE BUT A
GREATER KOSOVO WITH CAPITALS IN PRISTINA AND TETOVO.
11. An independent Kosovo means THE END OF MACEDONIA. If the
Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija are granted the right to the ethnic
definition of borders, sooner or later the same model will be applied in
other so-called Albanian territories, in Macedonia and Montenegro, and
perhaps even in Greece.
THE INDEPENDENCE OF KOSOVO IS THE ETHNIC SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM AND
COMPLETELY INCONSISTENT WITH CONCEPTS OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION AND
DEMOCRACY.
OUR GOAL IS PEACE AND THEREFORE WE EMPHASIZE: AN UNJUST SOLUTION IS CAUSE
FOR FUTURE WARS.
Serb National Council of Kosovo and Metohija
May 30, 2003
TOP
SNC
STRONGLY PROTESTS INCLUDING NAMES OF DR. MARKO JAKSIC AND DR. MILAN
IVANOVIC ON THE BLACK LIST OF PRESIDENT BUSH
This is nothing but
a pressure against democratic will of the Serbian people and an attempt
to silence alternative political voices in the Province - SNC
TOP
Serbian National Council of Kosovo and Metohija
May 31,
2003
On May 28, 2003, President George W. Bush signed an Executive Order on the
Balkans. The Order supersedes previous executive orders passed on in 1992,
1998, and 2001 and revises the list of names included on those orders.
Among over 150 names of persons and organizations indicted by the ICTY,
material supporters of those indictees, persons promoting extra-legal
institutions that obstruct the peace process in the Balkans, or persons
providing material support to violence and obstructionism in the region
are placed the names of two leaders of the Serbian National Council from
North Mitrovica: Dr. Marko Jaksic and Dr. Milan Ivanovic.
Serb National
Council strongly protests against this completely unjust decision because
these two respectable Serb political leaders and physicians do not deserve
to be treated as criminals and obstructionists. For the Serbian people
of Kosovo and Metohija this decision is nothing but a pressure against
democratic will of the Serbian people and an attempt to silence
alternative political voices in the Province. The only sin of Marko
Jaksic and Milan Ivanovic seems to be that they have constantly pointed
out that it is UNMIK (under open support of some Governments) who
systematically obstructs implementation of the UN SC Resolution 1244 and
not the Serbian side. After four years UNMIK has failed to implement basic
provisions of the UNSC Resolution. The most important provisions which
have not been fulfilled are the following:
1. Return of
all refugees is not allowed. More than 200.000 Serbs remain in exile
because UNMIK and Albanian leaders do not want them back. Return process
has become a farce.
2. Kosovo Serbs are systematically denied basic human rights and are
exposed to discrimination on all levels. Ethnic violence continues which
makes Serbs continually leave the Province under terror of extremists and
terrorists, which is more or less tolerated by UNMIK and KFOR.
3. Although Kosovo Province officially remains a part of Yugoslavia (now
Serbia-Montenegro), Belgrade is not allowed to retain a single element of
sovereignty on the territory of the Province.
4. Serb security personnel which according to the 1244 Resolution was
supposed to be deployed around cultural sites and on the border passes is
not welcome by UNMIK in Kosovo and Metohija. A legitimate right of Serbian
police and army to be allowed deployment on the part of its sovereign
territory, at least in Serb areas, is denied. Serbs who insist on
realization of this provision are branded as nationalists and extremists.
5. Instead of building multiethnic society UNMIK is creating a monoethnic
Albanian state, monoethnic institutions, monoethnic army and standards
tailored only for ethnic Albanians. UNMIK's policy of so called
multiethnicity and institutional building is nothing but a smoke screen
behind which is the bleak reality of oppressive society without rule of
law and order.
Without
any doubt the decision of the US Government to punish Serb leaders from
North Kosovo just for speaking truth was taken on the suggestion of UNMIK
and some Western diplomats in Pristina, which actively work on
marginalization of the Serb National Council only because its agenda does
not fit into their plans to force Kosovo Serbs live in an independent ethnic
Albanian state of Kosovo.
At the same time on the Black Lists are
not the names of major Kosovo Albanian criminals who occupy the leading
political positions in the Province despite substantial
proofs of their criminal behavior during and after the war. For the SNC
this is nothing but an open support of Albanian extremism
and their encouragement to pursue the policy of ethnic cleansing and
violence. Why are two Serbian physicians who have not hurt anyone more dangerous for
the U.S. from KLA murderers who are proclaimed overnight "democratic political
leaders"?
Serb National Council of Kosovo and
Metohija strongly appeals on the US Government to revise the so called Black
List and allow normal expression of democratic will to the Serb people
of Kosovo and Metohija. Pressures of this kind will not make Serb
people more cooperative but will only radicalize them more.
Serb National
Council remains fully committed to the implementation of the UN SC
Resolution 1244 and will continue with strong opposition to obstructionist
policy of Michael Steiner and some international offices in Pristina which
openly support establishment of a monoethnic Albanian state
in Kosovo, systematically denying legitimate rights of Serb population.
TOP
OLIVER
IVANOVIC: POVRATAK COALITION DISAPPOINTED BY SLOW RETURNS
TOP
BETA
Belgrade, May 30,
2003
Representatives of the Serb Coalition POVRATAK in the Kosovo Parliament
said on Friday to the chiefs of US, British, German, French and Italian
offices in Pristina that they are deeply disappointed with the present
dynamics of the return of displaced and expelled Serbs. "We said to the
diplomats of the Quint that the pompously announced action of returns in
this year has not given expected results. We have expressed our concern
that there would be probably no return at all", said to BETA the member of
the Kosovo Parliament Presidency Oliver Ivanovic.
He said that POVRATAK Coalition requested from the foreign diplomats
stronger support of the Serb returns and asked them to relate Serb
concerns to the Governments of their countries. Ivanovic said to BETA that
from his personal experience he knows "that frequent changes of heads of
Commissions and Working Groups for the returns are a good trick, because
with every new officials in duty we always start from the beginning".
"We have also asked the chiefs of the offices to warn Kosovo Albanian
community and their leaders that with their present position towards
returns they cannot build multiethnic society and that instead of verbal
statements they should speak more openly and take steps against all those
who obstruct the process of returns", said Ivanovic.
TOP
ERP KIM
Info-Service is the official Information Service of the Serbian Orthodox
Diocese of Raska and Prizren and works with the blessing of His Grace
Bishop Artemije.
Our Information Service is distributing news on Kosovo related issues. The
main focus of the Info-Service is the life of the Serbian Orthodox Church
and the Serbian community in the Province of Kosovo and Metohija. ERP KIM
Info Service works in cooperation with
www.serbian-translation.com as well as the
Kosovo
Daily News (KDN) News List
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which are not official communiqués or news reports by the Diocese are
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