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September 23, 2006
KiM Info Newsletter 23-09-06 Sanda Raskovic-Ivic and Bishop Teodosije visit Serb returnees in Pec area Bishop Teodosije stated for the KIM Info-Service that Dr. Raskovic-Ivic's visit was of great importance for the Serb people in this region because it is an opportunity for representatives of the Coordinating Center to see the situation on the ground first-hand, and also a source of great encouragement, especially for Serb returnees, that the state is demonstrating concern for them and their needs 
Sanda Raskovic-Ivic with Bishop Teodosije and associates in Belo Polje near Pec
(click on photo to enlarge) KIM Info-Service
Decani, September 22, 2006 Coordinating Center for Kosovo and Metohija president Sanda Raskovic-Ivic and her associates visited Visoki Decani Monastery the evening of Thursday, September 21, where she attended the Paraklesis to the Holy King Stefan of Decani, and then spoke with Vicar Bishop Teodosije (Sibalic) of Lipljan, the abbot of the monastery, about the conditions in which Serbian Orthodox holy shrines and the faithful are living in the region of Metohija. This morning following liturgy in Visoki Decani Monastery Dr. Raskovic-Ivic and her associated were accompanied by Bishop Teodosije on a tour of Serb returnee villages in the Pec area. After visits to the villages of Belo Polje, Brestovik and Ljevosa, the Coordinating Center president visited the monastery of the Pec Patriarchate, where Abbess Fevronija and her sisterhood welcomed the guests. During the tour of the Pec area villages Pec district coordinator Radojko Dunic from Gorazdevac also joined the Coordinating Center delegation and Bishop Teodosije. 
Sanda Raskovic-Ivic, Bishop Teodosije and Radojko Dunic talk to Serb returnees
in Belo Polje near Pec (click on photo to enlarge) In conversations with Serb returnees to the villages of Belo Polje and Brestovik the Coordinating Center president learned of the problems confronted by these communities. Although the security situation is better now than it was before the returnees lack rudimentary conditions for living and working. The returnees were especially concerned regarding the status of Kosovo and Metohija. Dr. Raskovic-Ivic informed them regarding the efforts of the state and the Coordinating Center for Kosovo and Metohija to improve the lives of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, especially with respect to decentralization and protection of human rights, as well as plans to strengthen the economic life of Kosovo and Metohija Serbs. Bishop Teodosije stated for the KIM Info-Service that Dr. Raskovic-Ivic's visit was of great importance for the Serb people in this region because it is an opportunity for representatives of the Coordinating Center to see the situation on the ground first-hand, and also a source of great encouragement, especially for Serb returnees, that the state is demonstrating concern for them and their needs. After the tour of Serb returnee villages in the Pec area Bishop Teodosije again visited the wounded members of the Pavlovic family in Pec Hospital. The Pavlovices are successfully recovering and physicians hope they will soon be released to recover at home. 
Sanda Raskovic-Ivic, Bishop Teodosije and Radojko Dunics talk to Serb returnees
in Brestovik near Pec (click on photo to enlarge)
Abbess Fevronija and Dobrila Bozovic welcome guests to the monastery
of the Pec Patriarchate (click on photo to enlarge)
Bishop Teodosije took advantage of the opportunity to again visit wounded members
of the Pavlovic family in Pec Hospital (click on photo to enlarge) 
Bishop Teodosije and Sanda Raskovic-Ivic during today's tour of Serb returnee villages
in the Pec area (click on photo to enlarge) RASKOVIC-IVIC: INDEPENDENCE WOULD PROVE THERE IS NO INTERNATIONAL LAW Radio Television Serbia, Belgrade
Friday, September 22, 2006 20:34 Coordinating Center for Kosovo and Metohija president Sanda Raskovic-Ivic assessed that an independent Kosovo would prove that "there is no international law but only conventions of the great powers". It is essential for Serbia to invest in Kosovo and Metohija, and Serbia will always be there to help, to invest and to lend a hand, said Raskovic-Ivic in Kosovska Mitrovica. Serbian state authorities, she said, are insisting that negotiations on Kosovo be carried forward to next year because in the past seven months there was no agreement reached in the talks in Vienna on technical issues. How can negotiations on technical issues and the status issue be resolved in the next three months, she asked, when we have not managed to resolve this in the past seven months. "We must not be slaves to artificial deadlines as to when negotiations must be finished," she said, adding that direct negotiations are something very important. Intensification of negotiations and international influence on the Albanians to become more flexible may at least result to an agreement on technical issues, said Raskovic-Ivic. She said she was not completely satisfied by the pace of restoration of churches and monasteries in Kosovo, emphasizing that everything is very late, that some things have just been begun and that the building season is almost at an end. Commenting on the return of refugees and displaced persons to Kosovo and Metohija, Raskovic-Ivic said that returns were exceedingly few and that this is especially apparent in Prizren where the return project has failed. Information about alleged returns being given by individuals from the international community is inaccurate, said the president of the Coordinating Center. Raskovic-Ivic spent the last three days in Kosovo where she visited many Serb communities. Today in Kosovska Mitrovica she attended the opening of the National Theater from Pristina, which has been displaced to Leposavic. 
Bishop Teodosije with youngest returnees in Brestovik near Pec
(click on photo to enlarge) 
Jela Pavlovic is slowly recovering from inflicted wounds
(click on photo to enlarge) 
Serb returnees with Bishop Teodosije
(click on photo to enlarge)
Two Serbs wounded near Osojane in incident involving Albanians KIM Info-Service
Osojane, September 23, 2006 Yesterday afternoon at approximately 3:00 p.m. near the Serb returnee village of Osojane an incident occurred involving a group of Albanians who were illegally cutting down the forest near the village and two Serbs who attempted to stop them from stealing, according to information confirmed by the Kosovo Police Service. Two Serb men sustained injuries. Mica Dabetic was injured to the head by an axe and received emergency care at the TIZONA military base in Istok. Predrag Zakic, who was lightly injured received first aid in the village clinic. The incident was immediately reported to Spanish KFOR. An investigation into the incident is being conducted by the Kosovo police from Istok. "We were on the way to our forest, near the village and saw a group of Albanians who had already cut several trees on our property. When we told them that it was our property they attacked us by axes and fists swearing our Serbian mothers", said Zakic. Local Serbs complain that ethnic Albanians are often tresspassing their property and stealing whatever they can. According to our sources several ethnic Albanians were detained for questioning by police after the incident. According to a KPS statement it is believed that the incident is related to illegal timbering and that it is not directly ethnically motivated. An investigation is in progress. Osojane is a Serbian returnee village in Western part of Kosovo, Istok municipality. It was devastated by Albanians extremists in 1999. First Serb refugees returned to Osojane in 2003.
Serbs From Klina Region Scared
Klina, 22 Sep (Glas Javnosti) Three days after the bomb attack against the Pavlovic family, Serbian returnees from Klina and surrounding villages are scared and worried for their safety, stated Sveto Dabizljevic, an SDP member from Klina.
There is no doubt that the statement of the Kosovo parliament president, who by the way is from Klina, caused the attack on the Pavlovic family, and it is only a question of when a new attack will happen. Serbs from this region are aware of this. An additional concern is caused by the KFOR announcement that it will withdraw from the base in the returnee village in Bica. If this happens, there is no doubt that the Serbs will once again have to leave their homes. After the attack, the police did not increase their presence, said Dabizljevic.
He claims that attack against the Serbs which have become more frequent, are organized, and that Serbs which recently returned to their homes now do not know what to do because they cannot address anyone for help.
I have the impression that for Prishtina authorities these attacks come as nifty promotion material because every time there is an attack against Serbs, their politicians take cameras and news reporters and star visiting injured Serbs. This means that Ceku and his company first throw bombs on Serbs and then cure them so that it can be seen how they care about them. If Serbs do not bother them, why are throwing bombs on them, asked Dabizljevic.
ADN KRONOS INTERNATIONAL (ITALY) Pristina, 22 Sept. (AKI) - Kosovo police have arrested seven people in connection with March 2004 violence, when 19 people were killed, hundreds of Serb homes and churches destroyed and thousands of Serbs displaced, local media reported on Friday. Kosovo police said in a brief statement the arrests took place on Thursday with the help of international police stationed in the province, which has been under United Nations control since 1999. Neither the identities of the arrested nor the location were disclosed. The seven have been under investigation for some time and the arrests were ordered by a public prosecutor, the police said. Riots by majority ethnic Albanians, who demand independence from Serbia, on March 17 and 18, 2004, left some 4,000 Serbs homeless and hundreds of people injured. Serbian forces were pushed out of Kosovo by NATO bombing in 1999 and Belgrade has no more authority in the province in which ethnic Albanians outnumber Serbs by 17 to one, but it opposes the independence. The international community is keen to have a decision on the final status of Kosovo by the end of this year and incidents of ethnic violence have increased again as the decision date nears. The six-nation Contact Group for Kosovo has set a number of requests concerning democratic and human rights standards to be fulfilled by the Kosovo ethnic Albanian authorities before the decision on the status was reached. One of the demands was to arrest and punish the culprits and instigators of the 2004 violence. The Contact Group, comprising the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Russia has been has been assigned to make a status proposal to the UN Security Council, which will make the final decision.
U.N. envoy says time short on Kosovo talks but offers no timeline Associated Press
Friday, September 22, 2006 4:18 PM UNITED NATIONS-The chief U.N. envoy for Kosovo said Friday that time was short on U.N.-brokered efforts to determine the province's future status but that he had no "fixed deadlines." "We have a lot of work to do, and there's not that much time," former Finnish President Maarti Ahtisaari told reporters after he gave a closed briefing for the Security Council. "I would be very hesitant to say your exact dates." Kosovo is entering the final phase of U.N.-brokered talks that many believe will give it independence from Serbia. Ahtisaari is working to present to the council his idea of what a future Kosovo should look like. That work, he said, would "have to continue, and, therefore, there's nothing specific that I could put to anybody at the moment. We will have to discuss with the parties still." He said withdrawal from the talks was unlikely. "Both sides have assured me that they will come," he said. "I don't expect them to pull out of the talks." Ethnic Albanians, who make up 90 percent of Kosovo's 2 million people, are seeking independence. While Serbs are willing to grant Kosovo broad autonomy, they see it as the heart of their ancient homeland and want it to remain a part of Serbian territory. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told the U.N. General Assembly that "stability cannot be achieved if only the will of the majority population is expressed. Kosovo Serbs have to be guaranteed adequate minority protection." U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said the people of the region "deserve to have their status resolved, and that's certainly the view that we'll be supporting."
UNITED NATIONS NEWS CENTRE Security Council holds closed meeting on Kosovo status talks 22 September 2006 - The Security Council today held a closed meeting on Kosovo at a time when fresh violent incidents have shaken the Albanian-majority Serbian province which the United Nations has run since 1999, and talks to determine its final status - hoped to have been completed by the end of this year - are still at the technical phase. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special envoy on the status talks, former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, told reporters the meeting was important in light of a call from interested States for him to prepare a comprehensive proposal for a settlement and for all possible efforts to be made to achieve a negotiated settlement this year. The so-called Contact Group - the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and the Russian Federation - had met with Mr. Ahtisaari at ministerial level at UN Headquarters earlier this week. In his latest report earlier this month, Mr. Annan called for more flexibility from all sides in deciding the final status of Kosovo, where Albanians outnumber Serbs and others by 9 to 1. Independence and autonomy are among options mentioned for the province, which the UN has run since Western forces drove out Yugoslav troops in 1999 amid ethnic fighting. Serbia rejects independence and the country's President Boris Tadic also briefed the Council session. One of the technical issues that the Kosovo and Serbian sides have been discussing - decentralization and the creation of new municipalities with Kosovo-Serb majorities to encourage the return of hundreds of thousands of Serbs who fled - was highlighted this week by a bomb attack that wounded four members of a Serb returnee family in the western town of Klina/Kline. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) noted today that this was the third violent attack over a short period of time targeting Serb returnees in the municipality. A returnee was shot dead in front of his house in June and earlier this month the newly constructed home of a returnee family was blown up. "Each and every security incident has dire consequences on the overall return process, with a ripple effect spreading among the non-Albanian displaced population," Agency spokesman Ron Redmond told a news briefing in Geneva. "UNHCR considers it imperative that perpetrators of such acts are found and prosecuted in accordance with the law." In early 1999, Kosovo was the scene of atrocities and the forceful displacement of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians. After a three-month intervention by NATO, culminating in the arrival of troops, most of Kosovo's Albanian population returned to their homes within days. "In contrast, the return of non-Albanians, which started in 2000, has been painfully slow," Mr. Redmond said. "To date, only some 15,600 minority returns have been registered - out of the estimated 250,000 ethnic Serbs, Roma and others who left the province after the withdrawal of Serbian forces in 1999." Apart from the attack on Serbs, Kosovo has also seen other violence in recent days, including a bomb attack on the car of ethnic Albanian Interior Minister Fatmir Rexhepi.
Tadic Speaks About Preserving Borders In Region
New York, 21 Sept (BETA) Serbia sincerely stands for the territorial integrity of all Balkan countries and preserving their existing borders, Serbian President Boris Tadic said on September 21st, at the session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
"Serbia believes in the common successful future of the Balkan countries," and, therefore, "when it comes to any Balkan issues, the opinions of all countries in the region should be heard and taken into account," Tadic said.
He further stated that Serbia stood for the territorial integrity of all Balkan countries, both Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia itself.
"A unified Bosnia-Herzegovina, based on the Dayton Accords, in which its citizens can only change it with the mandatory consensus of all three constitutive peoples, is an important stability factor in the region," he stated.
The president of Serbia added that, in the same way, "preserving the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia can only be in the interest of the democratic development and prosperity of all of South East Europe."
According to Tadic, regional stability is "founded on the principle of the co-responsibility of all Balkan countries" and therefore "none of the Balkan countries should feel itself a loser in the creation of a common European future."
"Serbia is offering broad autonomy for the Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija, such as is currently enjoyed by no other area, region or federal unit in Europe," the Serbian president stated.
Tadic took a stand for an approach which starts from the universally accepted principles of international law and universal democratic values, saying that "if we do not do so, we will not manage to get out of the vicious circle of old enmities and mutual accusations."
Before the future status is determined, Tadic said, "it is of key importance to establish the rule of law and abolish the seven year long discrimination against the Serbs as well as the remaining non-Albanian communities" in Kosovo.
Tadic: I will present our offer New York, 22 Sept (B92, Beta) Boris Tadic said he will reiterate Serbias position on the countrys territorial integrity at the UN Security Council meeting.
In a statement to state television, President Tadic said that he will tell the UN Security Council that Serbia offers and wishes for a peaceful and sustainable Kosovo status solution. Tadic said the discussion will certainly reflect the recent Contact Group meeting and their position that Kosovos status should be resolved by the end of the year.
Each Contact Group country, while considering Kosovo and the Balkans, considers their own interests as well. In that sense, no one in Serbia should have the illusion that someone else has Serbias interests in mind. We need to take care of that, we need to defend our interests, but also to find out how to view our interests as an integral part of the big powers interests. That is the task ahead of Serbia today and that is how the Contact Group communiqué should be read, Serbian president said.
Tadic also said that the deadline for Kosovos final status solution has in a way been relaxed, but not as much as the citizens of Serbia would wish. Besides Russia, and the U.S., Germany also gave much significance to the Contact Groups statement, and we should bear that in mind, Tadic said, adding that the situation demanded a careful and responsible approach to the negotiations.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he spoke with Serbian President Boris Tadic in New York on Thursday evening about the situation in Serbia and the countrys new constitution. We had a very good discussion about the situation in your country, Solana said.
After the meeting with Solana, Tadic said Serbia wished to become a EU member. I am accelerating that process; Solana is making it more realistic.
Tadic Strongly Opposes Conditional Independence For Kosovo
New York, 22 Sep (Tanjug) - At the UN Security Council session on Friday, Serbian President Boris Tadic strongly opposed statements by representatives of some Security Council member-countries who spoke about conditional independence as a solution for the future status of Kosovo-Metohija.
''I presented our position that no deadlines for the resolution of this problem should be imposed. We are optimistic, but are in a complicated situation. We strongly oppose such a solution,'' Tadic told reporters after closed consultations of the UN Security Council.
The consultations were attended by the UN special envoy to the negotiations on Kosovo's status Martti Ahtisaari and UNMIK head Joachim Ruecker.
Due to the nature of the meeting, the details regarding the statements of the member-state representatives have not been disclosed to the public.
Tadic also said that ''there has been no real improvement of our international position'' even six years after the toppling of the Milosevic's regime.
It is ''extremely important'' that the Serbian public understand that Serbia is in a complex position in the international political scene, Tadic said.
''I stressed the importance of regional cooperation, in which Serbia is regarded as a leader,'' the Serbian president said.
He said that major efforts and a lot of time will be needed to improve Serbia's international position through international cooperation, investments, and integration programs.
The Serbian delegation to New York, which also consists of Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic and the advisor for Kosovo Leon Kojen, will meet with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday.
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