Informazione
(srpskohrvatski / english / brevissimi titoli in italiano)
Neverending pogroms in Kosmet (2)
1. U slučaju proglašenja nezavisnosti Kosova UN se spremaju za novi
egzodus Srba
(SUL PIANO ONU PER LA ESPULSIONE DI TUTTI I SERBI DAL KOSMET)
2. NEWS (mostly distributed by R. Rozoff through yugoslaviainfo @
yahoogroups.com):
- Three injured in Kosovo blast, sparking fears of fresh violence /
TRE FERITI PER ESPLOSIONE
- Another Bus with Serbs Pelted with Stones / SASSAIOLA CONTRO I SERBI
- Wounded young Serbs in critical condition / IL BENZINAIO SERBO
FERITO IN CONDIZIONI CRITICHE
- Serbia War Crimes Prosecution interested in arrested KLA
commander / SUL COMANDANTE UCK IN ARRESTO IN GERMANIA
- Kosovo to Become Independent By the End of the Year /
"INDIPENDENZA" ENTRO IL 2006
- Kosovo set to open office in Brussels / "UFFICIO DI RAPPRESENTANZA"
A BRUXELLES
- Former NATO commander, retired Gen. Wesley Clark to visit Kosovo /
CRIMINALE DI GUERRA NATO WESLEY CLARK IN VISITA DI CORTESIA, GLI
DEDICANO UNA STRADA A PRISTINA
- Kosovo Serb convoy stoned, UN fires tear gas / NUOVA SASSAIOLA
ANTISERBA, INCIDENTI
- Kosovo To Be Independent in Months: Clark / CLARK: VI
"INDIPENDENTIZZO" IO TRA POCHI MESI
- Kosovo's premier says that province's independence is inevitable /
"PREMIER" KOSOVARO: "INDIPENDENZA" INEVITABILE
- Dnevnik: DUI, PRP to Take Part in Macedonian Elections Together /
NELLA FYROM CAMPAGNA PAN-ALBANESE
- Shekulli: Sali Berisha and Agim Ceku Say Kosovo’s Independence
Certain / BERISHA E CEKU, GRANDE ALBANIA!
- Kosovo Parliament Speaker: Serbia Is Hampering Kosovo Status Talks
Intentionally / INUTILE LA FARSA AUSTRIACA DEI "COLLOQUI"
- UN braced for Serb exodus from Kosovo: report / L'ONU PREPARA LA
PULIZIA ETNICA FINALE ANTISERBA SOGNATA DA HITLER
- UN preparing to leave Kosovo, Jessen-Petersen says / L'ONU SI
PREPARA A LASCIARE IL KOSOVO AI CRIMINALI UCK
- Kosovo Serb Killed in Northern Kosovo / SERBO AMMAZZATO PRESSO
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA PERCHÈ SERBO
- Bridge Connecting Serbian Villages in Kosovo Blows up / SALTA IN
ARIA PONTE IN ZONA SERBA
=== 1 - SRPSKOHRVATSKI ===
Dnevni list „Politika“, 31. maj 2006., izvod
U slučaju proglašenja nezavisnosti Kosova
UN se spremaju za novi egzodus Srba
„Politika“ je došla u posed internog i poverljivog dokumenta
Ujedinjenih nacija koji predstavlja plan postupanja svih lokalnih
agencija svetske organizacije u Srbiji i Crnoj Gori u slučaju da se
pregovori o statusu Kosova okonačaju proglašenjem nezavisnosti
južne srpske pokrajine. Ujedinjene nacije predvifjaju da će srpski
živalj masovno da beži sa Kosmeta i za svaku eventualnost se
spremaju za prihvat izbeglica, medju kojima će, kako piše u tajnom
dokumentu, biti najviše žena, dece i staraca.
UN predvidjaju da će, u slučaju da Kosovo i Metohija dobije
nezavisnost i albanski ekstremisti napadnu Srbe u pokrajini, čak 70
000 ljudi potražiti spas bekstvom u Srbiju. S prvom verzijom „Plana
za hitne slučajeve za potencijalni priliv interno raseljenih lica sa
Kosova u Srbiju i Crnu Goru“, koji je načinjen 1. aprila ove
godine, upoznate su sve nadležne organizacije UN koje brinu o
raseljenim osobama, od UNDP-a, Unicefa, Svetske zdravstvene
organizacije, kancelarije UN u Beogradu, UNHCR-a, kao i relativno
tehničko osoblje.
Činjenica da se u dokumentu pominju tri moguće (*) opcije
statusa, kao i da se srpski egzodus predvidja samo u slučaju
nezavisnosti, ukazuje da su svi medjunarodni čelnici savršeno
upoznati s tim da bi nezavisnost Kosova mogla da znači i kraj
multietničkog sastava Kosmeta.
Plan do kojeg je došla „Politika“, prvi medjunarodni dokument
u kojem se razmatraju posledice eventualne nezavisnosti Kosova odnosi
se samo na prihvat raseljenih na teritoriji centralne Srbije i Crne
Gore. Gotovo je sigurno da je sličan plan pripremljen i za samo
Kosovo,gde bi, ako dodje do progroma Srba, Roma i ostalih manjina,
trebalo osigurati koridore za njihov do bezbednih teritorija. U
izveštaju se uopšte ne pominje mogućnost da vojnici Kfora
eventualno spreče nasilje i izgon.
(*) 1. Nezavisnost Kosova bez menjnja granica, sa dve varijante-
jedinstvenom Kosovskom Mitrovicom ili sa autonomnim srpskim oblastima
pod valšću Prištine. Planovi za prihvat izbeglica detaljno su
razradjeni za slučaj nezavisnosti: A) U slučaju političkog rešenja
koje bi dovelo do nezavisnosti Kosova u sadašnjim granicama i bez
nasilja, očekuje se da bi 57 000 ljudi promenilo mesto boravka, od
čega bi 33 000 prebeglo u Srbiju; B) U slučaju da dodje do nasilja
prilikom sticanja nezavisnosti KiM nad Srbima, UN procenjuje da bi
oko 70 000 ljudi pobeglo u Srbiju 2. Nezavisnost sa podelom
pokrajine, što bi značilo da bi neki delovi ostali pod
nadležnošću Srbije. 3. Teritorijalna autonomija u okviru Srbije
=== 2 - NEWS IN ENGLISH ===
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/ABES-6PQNY6?OpenDocument
Agence France-Presse May 12, 2006
Three injured in Kosovo blast, sparking fears of fresh violence
PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro - Three people, among them
a child, were injured in a blast of unknown origin in
the Kosovo capital Friday, sparking fears of fresh
violence amid talks of the province's future status,
an official said.
Kosovo police spokesman Veton Elshan told AFP that an
explosion "happened at 1:00 pm (1100 GMT) in the
Vranjevac area, wounding badly three females in their
home."
"One of the wounded is a four-year old child. They
were immediately transferred to the hospital," Elshan
said.
The site of the blast was close to an elementary
school in the area, but Elshan said there had been no
casualties among the pupils.
"Police and NATO-led peacekeepers removed children
from the school and have sealed off the area and begun
an inquiry," Elshan said.
However, he refused to speculate on the type of
explosive or device that had caused the blast.
The explosion was the latest in a series of incidents
in the past weeks. On Wednesday, two Serbs were
seriously injured in an armed robbery in the
Serb-populated northern part of the mostly ethnic
Albanian province, run by the United Nations since
1999.
....
Kosovo, with an ethnic Albanian majority, has been
under UN administration since NATO bombing forced the
end of the 1998-1999 war between Serbian forces and
ethnic Albanian separatists.
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=88266&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - May 12, 2006
Another Bus with Serbs Pelted with Stones
Kosovska Mitrovica - A large group of children threw
stones at a bus transporting Serbs from village of
Osojane to Kosovska Mitrovica, Montenegrin agency MINA
informs.
None of the passengers was injured. The bus with UN
signs on it is damaged.
This is the second similar case this week, the agency
notes.
http://www.blic.co.yu/danas/broj/E-Index.htm#4
Blic (Serbia and Montenegro) - May 12, 2006
Wounded young Serbs in critical condition
Jovan Milosevic, 19, and Jablan Jevtic, 21, who were
seriously wounded yesterday by an unidentified
attacker who opened fire on them at petrol station in
the village of Grabovac, are still in critical
condition.
'They are stable as far as their vital functions are
concerned, however, we are expecting complications and
their lives are still at risk. In Milosevic's body
there are still parts of the exploded bullet not taken
out yet and that is why complications are expected',
Doctor Milena Cvetkovic said.
Regional spokesman of Kosovo Police Sami Mehmeti said
that the motif of attack was robbery and that certain
sum of money was taken.
However, the owner of the petrol station Dragisa
Milovic claims that the attack on two young Serbs was
a terrorist act.
'No money has been taken. The attackers were shooting
to kill', he said.
http://www.blic.co.yu/danas/broj/E-Index.htm#3
Blic (Serbia and Montenegro) - May 12, 2006
Serbia War Crimes Prosecution interested in arrested KLA commander
The Serbian Prosecution for War Crimes shall request
from UNMIK insight in court documentation related to
former KLA leader Dzemail Gashi.
He was recently arrested in Germany at the request by
UNMIK for suspicion to have been involved in the
abduction, torture and killing of Serbs in Kosovo in
1998.
According to our source it is possible that the name
of this former KLA commander is connected with some
other crimes in the area of Djakovica and Prizren as
well as with the crimes against the Gypsies committed
by Anton Lekaj presently on court trial in Belgrade.
Several witnesses in Lekaj's court trial mentioned a
man with beard from Germany.
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=88649&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - May 19, 2006
Kosovo to Become Independent By the End of the Year
Belgrade - The member-states of the Contact Group
reached the conclusion the only solution for Kosovo’s
future status is independence.
In July they will give the green light to UN Special
Envoy for Kosovo’s Status Marti Ahtisaari to prepare a
final decision by the end of the year that would be
imposed to Serbia if it rejects this plan, Serbian
newspaper Blic reports citing sources close to the
Contact Group.
It is expected that in July Ahtisaari will introduce
the report to the UN Security Council which will read
that Belgrade and Pristina’s positions have not got
any closer and will request a new mandate during which
to prepare the final plan.
According to this plan Kosovo could become independent
as early as November this year.
Blic’s source points out the biggest problem for
implementing this plan is Russia’s position.
http://www.makfax.com.mk/look/novina/article.tpl?
IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=2&NrArticle=23477&NrIssue=30&NrSection=20
MakFax (Macedonia) - May 24, 2006
Kosovo set to open office in Brussels
Pristina - Kosovo is due to open soon an office in
Brussels, the headquarter of the European Union (EU),
to operate under administration of UNMIK and the
Kosovo's institutions.
This was announced on Tuesday by the UNMIK chief Soren
Jessen-Petersen and Kosovo's Prime Minister Agim Ceku.
"The opening of an Office is especially important in a
period when Kosovo's institutions are due to present
their plan of activities within the European family",
Petersen said. He added that EU High Representative
for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier
Solana, also backed the idea.
According to Kosovo's Prime Minister Ceku, the opening
of the Office will contribute to Kosovo's efforts
aimed at integration in EU and NATO, and the date of
the opening "is merely a matter of technical details".
Petersen, who paid a visit to New York and Washington
recently, announced that UN approved opening of
Kosovo's Office in Brussels, under administration of
UNMIK and Kosovo's institutions.
http://kosovareport.blogspot.com/2006/05/former-nato-commander-
retired-gen.html#comments
Associated Press - May 24, 2006
Former NATO commander, retired Gen. Wesley Clark to visit Kosovo
PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro - Retired U.S. Army Gen.
Wesley Clark will arrive Wednesday for a three-day
visit to Kosovo, officials said.
Clark was the supreme allied commander of NATO from
1997-2000 and was the commanding general in NATO's war
in the Serbian province in 1999 which halted Serb
forces' crackdown on independence-seeking ethnic
Albanians.
He will visit Kosovo at the invitation of Kosovo's
Prime Minister Agim Ceku, said Ulpiana Lama, the prime
minister's spokeswoman.
Clark, who made an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic
nomination in the U.S. presidential elections, is
considered a hero by the province's ethnic Albanians
who want the province to become independent.
He was reviled by many Serbs for his role during the
bombing campaign.
Ahead of his visit, billboards were placed around the
province's capital, Pristina, and local authorities in
the western town of Djakovica named a road after him.
The U.N. is currently conducting talks aimed at
steering ethnic Albanians and Serbian officials toward
settling the final status of the province.
Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority wants independence,
while Serbs want it to remain part of Serbia.
http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=L25654296
Reuters - May 25, 2006
Kosovo Serb convoy stoned, UN fires tear gas
PRISTINA, Serbia and Montenegro - United Nations
police in Kosovo fired tear gas to disperse a crowd of
ethnic Albanians who stoned a convoy of Serbs in the
west of the U.N.-run province on Thursday, police
said.
A Kosovo Albanian police spokesman said two U.N.
personnel were lightly wounded in the incident in the
ethnic Albanian village of Mala Krusa, near Prizren.
"A U.N. police convoy taking Serbs there was stopped
and stoned. Police fired tear gas," said spokesman
Fatmir Gjurgjeala. Two U.N. vehicles were also
damaged.
Witnesses said the main Prizren-Djakovica road was
closed and several villagers had been taken to
hospital for treatment for the effects of tear gas.
The stoning of Serb convoys in Kosovo is not uncommon.
The province, legally part of Serbia, has been run by
the United Nations since 1999, when NATO bombs drove
out Serb forces accused of ethnic cleansing in a
two-year war with separatist guerrillas.
....
Signs of reconciliation are rare. Around half the Serb
population fled a wave of revenge [sic] attacks after
the war and the 100,000 who stayed live on the margins
of society, targeted by sporadic violence.
....
After seven years of U.N.-imposed limbo, the major
powers are pushing for a solution to Kosovo's final
status in direct Serb-Albanian talks that began in
February in Vienna.
The 90-percent ethnic Albanian majority is pushing for
independence, but is under pressure to improve the
security and rights of Serbs.
The U.N. mission says ethnically motivated crime in
2006 is down compared with previous years.
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=1825891&C=europe
Agence France-Presse - May 25, 2006
Kosovo To Be Independent in Months: Clark
PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro - The former U.S. general
who commanded NATO’s 1999 air war against Serbia on
May 25 predicted its southern province of Kosovo would
become independent within months.
Wesley Clark told Kosovo Albanian leaders in Pristina
he had confidence in their “strong, positive and
visionary proposals” to find a solution for Kosovo,
which has been run by the United Nations and NATO
since 1999.
”I am confident that this issue will be solved very
soon, and probably in few months, Kosovo will become
independent and will respect the rights of all
citizens,” said Clark.
”I believe that Kosovo will be welcomed into the
family of the nations and that there will be many
opportunities for the citizens of this country to
prosper, raise big families and make their dreams come
true.”
Clark, who is on a three-day visit to the disputed
province, met Kosovo’s President Fatmir Sejdiu and
Prime Minister Agim Ceku, who said Clark was a great
friend of Kosovo, who stood by it in its most
difficult times.
”He is and will always be honored by the people of
Kosovo,” he said.
Clark commanded the 1999 NATO air strikes that drove
Serbian forces loyal to former Yugoslav leader
Slobodan Milosevic out of Kosovo....
http://kosovareport.blogspot.com/2006/05/kosovos-premier-says-that-
provinces.html
Associated Press - May 27, 2006
Kosovo's premier says that province's independence is inevitable
TIRANA, Albania - Kosovo's Prime Minister Agim Ceku
said on Friday at the start of a two-day visit to
neighboring Albania that the province's independence
was inevitable.
"Montenegro's independence was an inevitable process
and Kosovo's independence also is a very natural and
inevitable process," Ceku told a news conference after
meeting with Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha.
Last weekend Montenegro decided in a referendum to
separate from Serbia-Montenegro, which was the last
union between republics of the former Yugoslavia after
that federation collapsed in a series of wars in the
1990s.
Ceku said that Belgrade should understand that the
"Balkans configuration has changed," adding that
Albania also shared the same stand on Kosovo's future
status - full independence.
"The only solution that would guarantee peace and
stability in Kosovo and the region is the one that
comes out from the right of self-determination of the
Kosovo people, that is, respecting the Kosovo
citizens' will, which is repeated continuously, for
independence," said Berisha.
U.N.-sponsored talks to determine Kosovo's future are
under way in Austria. Kosovo's ethnic Albanian
majority wants independence, while Serbs want it to
remain part of Serbia.
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=123&newsid=89301&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - May 29, 2006
Dnevnik: DUI, PRP to Take Part in Macedonian Elections Together
Tetovo - The Democratic Union for Integration (DUI)
and the Party for Democratic Prosperity (PDP) will
take part in the coming parliamentary elections in
Macedonia together, Macedonian newspaper Dnevnik
reported.
DUI leader Ali Ahmeti [former Kosovo-based KLA-NLA
chieftan] and PRP leader Abdulhadi Vejseli signed
Sunday a declaration for a joint participation in the
elections.
Vejseli noted that the coalition was a result of the
common concept and identical programs of the two
parties.
The two leaders refused to comment whether their
election program will defend the idea about
establishing a trade alliance between Albania,
Macedonia and Kosovo. Vejseli had earlier said that
idea would be the main issue of the campaign of PDP.
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=89211&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - May 29, 2006
Shekulli: Sali Berisha and Agim Ceku Say Kosovo’s Independence Certain
Tirana - Tirana and Pristina have the same stand on
the Kosovo status issue.
They think the independence of the province is
certain.
Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha and his Kosovo
counterpart Agim Ceku voice the stand during talks
Saturday in Tirana, Shekulli reports.
During the meeting, Berisha stated Albania would
present the Albanian port of Shengjin on the Adriatic
Sea at the disposal of Kosovo.
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=89297&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - May 29, 2006
Kosovo Parliament Speaker: Serbia Is Hampering Kosovo Status Talks
Intentionally
Pristina - Serbia is hampering the talks on Kosovo’s
status intentionally because it knows what the outcome
will be, Speaker of Kosovo Parliament Kol Berisha
stated today, Serbian radio station B92 reports.
According to him Serbia knows what the outcome of the
talks will be and thus makes efforts not only to
prolong them but to also block them.
“In case Serbia continues with its actions the
international community has another variant according
to which it will unilaterally proclaim Kosovo for an
independent and sovereign state,” Kol Berisha said.
Commenting on the possible influence the result of the
independence vote in Montenegro might have on the
Kosovo issue Berisha said that any process in the
region may influence it.
According to him the talks between Belgrade and
Pristina are actually talks about the living
conditions of the Kosovo Serbs and not about Kosovo’s
status.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/31/
AR2006053100507.html
Reuters - May 31, 2006
UN braced for Serb exodus from Kosovo: report
By Matt Robinson
BELGRADE - The U.N. has contingency plans for an
exodus of thousands of Serbs from Kosovo in the event
that the majority Albanian province wins independence
from Serbia in talks this year.
According to the Belgrade daily Politika, the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is
braced for up to 70,000 leaving the province if Serbia
loses sovereignty.
Despite Belgrade's strong opposition, Kosovo is widely
expected to win independence in U.N.-mediated talks
that began in February and could finish within the
year.
A UNHCR spokeswoman told Reuters an internal document
did exist, in order to "be ready to help a certain
number of people who may be affected by a decision."
But she declined to divulge details of the plan.
"Extending assistance is a logistical operation and
the aim of such plans is for the organization to be
ready to provide protection if it proves to be
necessary. It is possible that nothing happens at
all," the UNHCR's Vesna Petkovic said.
Politika quoted the plan as saying Kosovo's
independence "could provoke further political
instability and civil disturbance and result in fresh
movements of minorities from Kosovo toward the Serbia
and Montenegro interior."
Even if Kosovo gets independence without large-scale
violence "it is expected that 57,000 people would
change their place of residence, of which around
33,000 would come to Serbia," Politika quoted the
contingency plan as saying.
But if Albanians attacked Serbs, as many as 70,000
could seek safety in Serbia, it forecasts.
VERY LITTLE LEFT
On Tuesday, Serbia-Montenegro Foreign Minister Vuk
Draskovic warned major Western powers not to force
Kosovo's independence on Belgrade, predicting
"turbulence" across the Balkans if it was amputated
from a sovereign Serbia.
There are around 100,000 Serbs left in Kosovo. An
exodus on the scale foreseen would leave only pockets
of Serb land.
Outnumbered 20-1 by two million ethnic Albanians, many
Serbs say they would simply leave Kosovo, the
territory considered Serbia's religious heartland
dating back 1,000 years.
NATO bombed Yugoslavia in 1999 to drive out Serb
forces...in a two-year war with Albanian separatist
rebels....
As Western alliance forces deployed, about half of the
Serb population in turn fled a wave of Albanian
revenge [sic] attacks.
Those who stayed on have become increasingly
marginalized. They fear for the future and point to
NATO's failure in March 2004 to prevent Albanian mobs
from overrunning Serb enclaves, torching homes and
churches. Nineteen people died in the riots.
The United Nations and a 17,000-strong NATO peace
force stationed in Kosovo say a repeat is impossible.
Politika said the UN plans three contingencies:
independence within current borders, autonomy within
Serbia, and independence for Kosovo below the River
Ibar, partitioning the Serb-dominated north.
Major powers have ruled out partitioning Kosovo but
there are indications that contingency plans exist for
a breakaway attempt by Serbs in the divided city of
Mitrovica.
(Additional reporting by Beti Bilandzic)
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/europe/article_1168704.php/
UN_preparing_to_leave_Kosovo_Jessen-Petersen_says
Deutsche Presse-Agentur - June 1, 2006
UN preparing to leave Kosovo, Jessen-Petersen says
Pristina - The United Nations Mission in Kosovo
(UNMIK) was preparing to leave the province once its
future status is defined, the UNMIK head Soren
Jessen-Petersen said Thursday.
'I think that the destiny of Kosovo is clear, it is in
the hands of the political leaders and the people of
Kosovo,' Jessen-Petersen said after meeting the Kosovo
Prime Minister Agim Ceku in Pristina. 'I think that
our role is changing rapidly - which is good.'
UNMIK arrived in Kosovo in June 1999, days after NATO
expelled Belgrade's security forces from the
province....
The UN has since governed Kosovo, based on the
Security Council resolution 1244. They have however
been transferring authority over to provisional local
provincial institutions.
The talks on the future status of Kosovo were launched
earlier this year under UN auspices in Vienna - six
rounds were held so far.
Serbia insists on retaining sovereignty over Kosovo
and offers a wide autonomy.
Kosovo Albanian leaders want full independence quickly
and are hoping to win it before the year expires.
Both the UN and NATO have reduced their presence in
Kosovo, which however remained ethnically troubled and
plagued by spates of violence, now mostly targeting
the minority Serbs.
'UNMIK has been engaged in downsizing, now for almost
one year. This is logical, because we are preparing
for exit when the Security Council defines Kosovo's
status,' Jessen-Petersen said.
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=89475&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - June 1, 2006
Kosovo Serb Killed in Northern Kosovo
Zvecan - 23-year-old Kosovo Serb was killed last night
on the road from the town of Zvecan to the village
where he lived, UNMIK police in Kosovska Mitrovica
confirmed today cited by RTS.
Some trees were put to block the road from Zvecan and
this made the man stop his car.
At that moment someone fired at his car.
A lot of 7,65 caliber cartridge-cases were found at
the incident site.
UNMIK police teams are inspecting the site.
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=89453&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - June 1, 2006
Bridge Connecting Serbian Villages in Kosovo Blows up
Kosovska Mitrovica - Unknown perpetrators mined the
bridge that connects the Serbian villages of Grabac
and Bica in Kosovo, Serbian radio station B92 reports.
The explosive device blew up yesterday.
The bridge is extremely damaged.
A KFOR unit arrived at the incident scene and is
investigating the motives and the level of the
damages.
Neverending pogroms in Kosmet (2)
1. U slučaju proglašenja nezavisnosti Kosova UN se spremaju za novi
egzodus Srba
(SUL PIANO ONU PER LA ESPULSIONE DI TUTTI I SERBI DAL KOSMET)
2. NEWS (mostly distributed by R. Rozoff through yugoslaviainfo @
yahoogroups.com):
- Three injured in Kosovo blast, sparking fears of fresh violence /
TRE FERITI PER ESPLOSIONE
- Another Bus with Serbs Pelted with Stones / SASSAIOLA CONTRO I SERBI
- Wounded young Serbs in critical condition / IL BENZINAIO SERBO
FERITO IN CONDIZIONI CRITICHE
- Serbia War Crimes Prosecution interested in arrested KLA
commander / SUL COMANDANTE UCK IN ARRESTO IN GERMANIA
- Kosovo to Become Independent By the End of the Year /
"INDIPENDENZA" ENTRO IL 2006
- Kosovo set to open office in Brussels / "UFFICIO DI RAPPRESENTANZA"
A BRUXELLES
- Former NATO commander, retired Gen. Wesley Clark to visit Kosovo /
CRIMINALE DI GUERRA NATO WESLEY CLARK IN VISITA DI CORTESIA, GLI
DEDICANO UNA STRADA A PRISTINA
- Kosovo Serb convoy stoned, UN fires tear gas / NUOVA SASSAIOLA
ANTISERBA, INCIDENTI
- Kosovo To Be Independent in Months: Clark / CLARK: VI
"INDIPENDENTIZZO" IO TRA POCHI MESI
- Kosovo's premier says that province's independence is inevitable /
"PREMIER" KOSOVARO: "INDIPENDENZA" INEVITABILE
- Dnevnik: DUI, PRP to Take Part in Macedonian Elections Together /
NELLA FYROM CAMPAGNA PAN-ALBANESE
- Shekulli: Sali Berisha and Agim Ceku Say Kosovo’s Independence
Certain / BERISHA E CEKU, GRANDE ALBANIA!
- Kosovo Parliament Speaker: Serbia Is Hampering Kosovo Status Talks
Intentionally / INUTILE LA FARSA AUSTRIACA DEI "COLLOQUI"
- UN braced for Serb exodus from Kosovo: report / L'ONU PREPARA LA
PULIZIA ETNICA FINALE ANTISERBA SOGNATA DA HITLER
- UN preparing to leave Kosovo, Jessen-Petersen says / L'ONU SI
PREPARA A LASCIARE IL KOSOVO AI CRIMINALI UCK
- Kosovo Serb Killed in Northern Kosovo / SERBO AMMAZZATO PRESSO
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA PERCHÈ SERBO
- Bridge Connecting Serbian Villages in Kosovo Blows up / SALTA IN
ARIA PONTE IN ZONA SERBA
=== 1 - SRPSKOHRVATSKI ===
Dnevni list „Politika“, 31. maj 2006., izvod
U slučaju proglašenja nezavisnosti Kosova
UN se spremaju za novi egzodus Srba
„Politika“ je došla u posed internog i poverljivog dokumenta
Ujedinjenih nacija koji predstavlja plan postupanja svih lokalnih
agencija svetske organizacije u Srbiji i Crnoj Gori u slučaju da se
pregovori o statusu Kosova okonačaju proglašenjem nezavisnosti
južne srpske pokrajine. Ujedinjene nacije predvifjaju da će srpski
živalj masovno da beži sa Kosmeta i za svaku eventualnost se
spremaju za prihvat izbeglica, medju kojima će, kako piše u tajnom
dokumentu, biti najviše žena, dece i staraca.
UN predvidjaju da će, u slučaju da Kosovo i Metohija dobije
nezavisnost i albanski ekstremisti napadnu Srbe u pokrajini, čak 70
000 ljudi potražiti spas bekstvom u Srbiju. S prvom verzijom „Plana
za hitne slučajeve za potencijalni priliv interno raseljenih lica sa
Kosova u Srbiju i Crnu Goru“, koji je načinjen 1. aprila ove
godine, upoznate su sve nadležne organizacije UN koje brinu o
raseljenim osobama, od UNDP-a, Unicefa, Svetske zdravstvene
organizacije, kancelarije UN u Beogradu, UNHCR-a, kao i relativno
tehničko osoblje.
Činjenica da se u dokumentu pominju tri moguće (*) opcije
statusa, kao i da se srpski egzodus predvidja samo u slučaju
nezavisnosti, ukazuje da su svi medjunarodni čelnici savršeno
upoznati s tim da bi nezavisnost Kosova mogla da znači i kraj
multietničkog sastava Kosmeta.
Plan do kojeg je došla „Politika“, prvi medjunarodni dokument
u kojem se razmatraju posledice eventualne nezavisnosti Kosova odnosi
se samo na prihvat raseljenih na teritoriji centralne Srbije i Crne
Gore. Gotovo je sigurno da je sličan plan pripremljen i za samo
Kosovo,gde bi, ako dodje do progroma Srba, Roma i ostalih manjina,
trebalo osigurati koridore za njihov do bezbednih teritorija. U
izveštaju se uopšte ne pominje mogućnost da vojnici Kfora
eventualno spreče nasilje i izgon.
(*) 1. Nezavisnost Kosova bez menjnja granica, sa dve varijante-
jedinstvenom Kosovskom Mitrovicom ili sa autonomnim srpskim oblastima
pod valšću Prištine. Planovi za prihvat izbeglica detaljno su
razradjeni za slučaj nezavisnosti: A) U slučaju političkog rešenja
koje bi dovelo do nezavisnosti Kosova u sadašnjim granicama i bez
nasilja, očekuje se da bi 57 000 ljudi promenilo mesto boravka, od
čega bi 33 000 prebeglo u Srbiju; B) U slučaju da dodje do nasilja
prilikom sticanja nezavisnosti KiM nad Srbima, UN procenjuje da bi
oko 70 000 ljudi pobeglo u Srbiju 2. Nezavisnost sa podelom
pokrajine, što bi značilo da bi neki delovi ostali pod
nadležnošću Srbije. 3. Teritorijalna autonomija u okviru Srbije
=== 2 - NEWS IN ENGLISH ===
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/ABES-6PQNY6?OpenDocument
Agence France-Presse May 12, 2006
Three injured in Kosovo blast, sparking fears of fresh violence
PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro - Three people, among them
a child, were injured in a blast of unknown origin in
the Kosovo capital Friday, sparking fears of fresh
violence amid talks of the province's future status,
an official said.
Kosovo police spokesman Veton Elshan told AFP that an
explosion "happened at 1:00 pm (1100 GMT) in the
Vranjevac area, wounding badly three females in their
home."
"One of the wounded is a four-year old child. They
were immediately transferred to the hospital," Elshan
said.
The site of the blast was close to an elementary
school in the area, but Elshan said there had been no
casualties among the pupils.
"Police and NATO-led peacekeepers removed children
from the school and have sealed off the area and begun
an inquiry," Elshan said.
However, he refused to speculate on the type of
explosive or device that had caused the blast.
The explosion was the latest in a series of incidents
in the past weeks. On Wednesday, two Serbs were
seriously injured in an armed robbery in the
Serb-populated northern part of the mostly ethnic
Albanian province, run by the United Nations since
1999.
....
Kosovo, with an ethnic Albanian majority, has been
under UN administration since NATO bombing forced the
end of the 1998-1999 war between Serbian forces and
ethnic Albanian separatists.
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=88266&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - May 12, 2006
Another Bus with Serbs Pelted with Stones
Kosovska Mitrovica - A large group of children threw
stones at a bus transporting Serbs from village of
Osojane to Kosovska Mitrovica, Montenegrin agency MINA
informs.
None of the passengers was injured. The bus with UN
signs on it is damaged.
This is the second similar case this week, the agency
notes.
http://www.blic.co.yu/danas/broj/E-Index.htm#4
Blic (Serbia and Montenegro) - May 12, 2006
Wounded young Serbs in critical condition
Jovan Milosevic, 19, and Jablan Jevtic, 21, who were
seriously wounded yesterday by an unidentified
attacker who opened fire on them at petrol station in
the village of Grabovac, are still in critical
condition.
'They are stable as far as their vital functions are
concerned, however, we are expecting complications and
their lives are still at risk. In Milosevic's body
there are still parts of the exploded bullet not taken
out yet and that is why complications are expected',
Doctor Milena Cvetkovic said.
Regional spokesman of Kosovo Police Sami Mehmeti said
that the motif of attack was robbery and that certain
sum of money was taken.
However, the owner of the petrol station Dragisa
Milovic claims that the attack on two young Serbs was
a terrorist act.
'No money has been taken. The attackers were shooting
to kill', he said.
http://www.blic.co.yu/danas/broj/E-Index.htm#3
Blic (Serbia and Montenegro) - May 12, 2006
Serbia War Crimes Prosecution interested in arrested KLA commander
The Serbian Prosecution for War Crimes shall request
from UNMIK insight in court documentation related to
former KLA leader Dzemail Gashi.
He was recently arrested in Germany at the request by
UNMIK for suspicion to have been involved in the
abduction, torture and killing of Serbs in Kosovo in
1998.
According to our source it is possible that the name
of this former KLA commander is connected with some
other crimes in the area of Djakovica and Prizren as
well as with the crimes against the Gypsies committed
by Anton Lekaj presently on court trial in Belgrade.
Several witnesses in Lekaj's court trial mentioned a
man with beard from Germany.
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=88649&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - May 19, 2006
Kosovo to Become Independent By the End of the Year
Belgrade - The member-states of the Contact Group
reached the conclusion the only solution for Kosovo’s
future status is independence.
In July they will give the green light to UN Special
Envoy for Kosovo’s Status Marti Ahtisaari to prepare a
final decision by the end of the year that would be
imposed to Serbia if it rejects this plan, Serbian
newspaper Blic reports citing sources close to the
Contact Group.
It is expected that in July Ahtisaari will introduce
the report to the UN Security Council which will read
that Belgrade and Pristina’s positions have not got
any closer and will request a new mandate during which
to prepare the final plan.
According to this plan Kosovo could become independent
as early as November this year.
Blic’s source points out the biggest problem for
implementing this plan is Russia’s position.
http://www.makfax.com.mk/look/novina/article.tpl?
IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=2&NrArticle=23477&NrIssue=30&NrSection=20
MakFax (Macedonia) - May 24, 2006
Kosovo set to open office in Brussels
Pristina - Kosovo is due to open soon an office in
Brussels, the headquarter of the European Union (EU),
to operate under administration of UNMIK and the
Kosovo's institutions.
This was announced on Tuesday by the UNMIK chief Soren
Jessen-Petersen and Kosovo's Prime Minister Agim Ceku.
"The opening of an Office is especially important in a
period when Kosovo's institutions are due to present
their plan of activities within the European family",
Petersen said. He added that EU High Representative
for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier
Solana, also backed the idea.
According to Kosovo's Prime Minister Ceku, the opening
of the Office will contribute to Kosovo's efforts
aimed at integration in EU and NATO, and the date of
the opening "is merely a matter of technical details".
Petersen, who paid a visit to New York and Washington
recently, announced that UN approved opening of
Kosovo's Office in Brussels, under administration of
UNMIK and Kosovo's institutions.
http://kosovareport.blogspot.com/2006/05/former-nato-commander-
retired-gen.html#comments
Associated Press - May 24, 2006
Former NATO commander, retired Gen. Wesley Clark to visit Kosovo
PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro - Retired U.S. Army Gen.
Wesley Clark will arrive Wednesday for a three-day
visit to Kosovo, officials said.
Clark was the supreme allied commander of NATO from
1997-2000 and was the commanding general in NATO's war
in the Serbian province in 1999 which halted Serb
forces' crackdown on independence-seeking ethnic
Albanians.
He will visit Kosovo at the invitation of Kosovo's
Prime Minister Agim Ceku, said Ulpiana Lama, the prime
minister's spokeswoman.
Clark, who made an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic
nomination in the U.S. presidential elections, is
considered a hero by the province's ethnic Albanians
who want the province to become independent.
He was reviled by many Serbs for his role during the
bombing campaign.
Ahead of his visit, billboards were placed around the
province's capital, Pristina, and local authorities in
the western town of Djakovica named a road after him.
The U.N. is currently conducting talks aimed at
steering ethnic Albanians and Serbian officials toward
settling the final status of the province.
Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority wants independence,
while Serbs want it to remain part of Serbia.
http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=L25654296
Reuters - May 25, 2006
Kosovo Serb convoy stoned, UN fires tear gas
PRISTINA, Serbia and Montenegro - United Nations
police in Kosovo fired tear gas to disperse a crowd of
ethnic Albanians who stoned a convoy of Serbs in the
west of the U.N.-run province on Thursday, police
said.
A Kosovo Albanian police spokesman said two U.N.
personnel were lightly wounded in the incident in the
ethnic Albanian village of Mala Krusa, near Prizren.
"A U.N. police convoy taking Serbs there was stopped
and stoned. Police fired tear gas," said spokesman
Fatmir Gjurgjeala. Two U.N. vehicles were also
damaged.
Witnesses said the main Prizren-Djakovica road was
closed and several villagers had been taken to
hospital for treatment for the effects of tear gas.
The stoning of Serb convoys in Kosovo is not uncommon.
The province, legally part of Serbia, has been run by
the United Nations since 1999, when NATO bombs drove
out Serb forces accused of ethnic cleansing in a
two-year war with separatist guerrillas.
....
Signs of reconciliation are rare. Around half the Serb
population fled a wave of revenge [sic] attacks after
the war and the 100,000 who stayed live on the margins
of society, targeted by sporadic violence.
....
After seven years of U.N.-imposed limbo, the major
powers are pushing for a solution to Kosovo's final
status in direct Serb-Albanian talks that began in
February in Vienna.
The 90-percent ethnic Albanian majority is pushing for
independence, but is under pressure to improve the
security and rights of Serbs.
The U.N. mission says ethnically motivated crime in
2006 is down compared with previous years.
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=1825891&C=europe
Agence France-Presse - May 25, 2006
Kosovo To Be Independent in Months: Clark
PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro - The former U.S. general
who commanded NATO’s 1999 air war against Serbia on
May 25 predicted its southern province of Kosovo would
become independent within months.
Wesley Clark told Kosovo Albanian leaders in Pristina
he had confidence in their “strong, positive and
visionary proposals” to find a solution for Kosovo,
which has been run by the United Nations and NATO
since 1999.
”I am confident that this issue will be solved very
soon, and probably in few months, Kosovo will become
independent and will respect the rights of all
citizens,” said Clark.
”I believe that Kosovo will be welcomed into the
family of the nations and that there will be many
opportunities for the citizens of this country to
prosper, raise big families and make their dreams come
true.”
Clark, who is on a three-day visit to the disputed
province, met Kosovo’s President Fatmir Sejdiu and
Prime Minister Agim Ceku, who said Clark was a great
friend of Kosovo, who stood by it in its most
difficult times.
”He is and will always be honored by the people of
Kosovo,” he said.
Clark commanded the 1999 NATO air strikes that drove
Serbian forces loyal to former Yugoslav leader
Slobodan Milosevic out of Kosovo....
http://kosovareport.blogspot.com/2006/05/kosovos-premier-says-that-
provinces.html
Associated Press - May 27, 2006
Kosovo's premier says that province's independence is inevitable
TIRANA, Albania - Kosovo's Prime Minister Agim Ceku
said on Friday at the start of a two-day visit to
neighboring Albania that the province's independence
was inevitable.
"Montenegro's independence was an inevitable process
and Kosovo's independence also is a very natural and
inevitable process," Ceku told a news conference after
meeting with Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha.
Last weekend Montenegro decided in a referendum to
separate from Serbia-Montenegro, which was the last
union between republics of the former Yugoslavia after
that federation collapsed in a series of wars in the
1990s.
Ceku said that Belgrade should understand that the
"Balkans configuration has changed," adding that
Albania also shared the same stand on Kosovo's future
status - full independence.
"The only solution that would guarantee peace and
stability in Kosovo and the region is the one that
comes out from the right of self-determination of the
Kosovo people, that is, respecting the Kosovo
citizens' will, which is repeated continuously, for
independence," said Berisha.
U.N.-sponsored talks to determine Kosovo's future are
under way in Austria. Kosovo's ethnic Albanian
majority wants independence, while Serbs want it to
remain part of Serbia.
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=123&newsid=89301&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - May 29, 2006
Dnevnik: DUI, PRP to Take Part in Macedonian Elections Together
Tetovo - The Democratic Union for Integration (DUI)
and the Party for Democratic Prosperity (PDP) will
take part in the coming parliamentary elections in
Macedonia together, Macedonian newspaper Dnevnik
reported.
DUI leader Ali Ahmeti [former Kosovo-based KLA-NLA
chieftan] and PRP leader Abdulhadi Vejseli signed
Sunday a declaration for a joint participation in the
elections.
Vejseli noted that the coalition was a result of the
common concept and identical programs of the two
parties.
The two leaders refused to comment whether their
election program will defend the idea about
establishing a trade alliance between Albania,
Macedonia and Kosovo. Vejseli had earlier said that
idea would be the main issue of the campaign of PDP.
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=89211&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - May 29, 2006
Shekulli: Sali Berisha and Agim Ceku Say Kosovo’s Independence Certain
Tirana - Tirana and Pristina have the same stand on
the Kosovo status issue.
They think the independence of the province is
certain.
Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha and his Kosovo
counterpart Agim Ceku voice the stand during talks
Saturday in Tirana, Shekulli reports.
During the meeting, Berisha stated Albania would
present the Albanian port of Shengjin on the Adriatic
Sea at the disposal of Kosovo.
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=89297&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - May 29, 2006
Kosovo Parliament Speaker: Serbia Is Hampering Kosovo Status Talks
Intentionally
Pristina - Serbia is hampering the talks on Kosovo’s
status intentionally because it knows what the outcome
will be, Speaker of Kosovo Parliament Kol Berisha
stated today, Serbian radio station B92 reports.
According to him Serbia knows what the outcome of the
talks will be and thus makes efforts not only to
prolong them but to also block them.
“In case Serbia continues with its actions the
international community has another variant according
to which it will unilaterally proclaim Kosovo for an
independent and sovereign state,” Kol Berisha said.
Commenting on the possible influence the result of the
independence vote in Montenegro might have on the
Kosovo issue Berisha said that any process in the
region may influence it.
According to him the talks between Belgrade and
Pristina are actually talks about the living
conditions of the Kosovo Serbs and not about Kosovo’s
status.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/31/
AR2006053100507.html
Reuters - May 31, 2006
UN braced for Serb exodus from Kosovo: report
By Matt Robinson
BELGRADE - The U.N. has contingency plans for an
exodus of thousands of Serbs from Kosovo in the event
that the majority Albanian province wins independence
from Serbia in talks this year.
According to the Belgrade daily Politika, the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is
braced for up to 70,000 leaving the province if Serbia
loses sovereignty.
Despite Belgrade's strong opposition, Kosovo is widely
expected to win independence in U.N.-mediated talks
that began in February and could finish within the
year.
A UNHCR spokeswoman told Reuters an internal document
did exist, in order to "be ready to help a certain
number of people who may be affected by a decision."
But she declined to divulge details of the plan.
"Extending assistance is a logistical operation and
the aim of such plans is for the organization to be
ready to provide protection if it proves to be
necessary. It is possible that nothing happens at
all," the UNHCR's Vesna Petkovic said.
Politika quoted the plan as saying Kosovo's
independence "could provoke further political
instability and civil disturbance and result in fresh
movements of minorities from Kosovo toward the Serbia
and Montenegro interior."
Even if Kosovo gets independence without large-scale
violence "it is expected that 57,000 people would
change their place of residence, of which around
33,000 would come to Serbia," Politika quoted the
contingency plan as saying.
But if Albanians attacked Serbs, as many as 70,000
could seek safety in Serbia, it forecasts.
VERY LITTLE LEFT
On Tuesday, Serbia-Montenegro Foreign Minister Vuk
Draskovic warned major Western powers not to force
Kosovo's independence on Belgrade, predicting
"turbulence" across the Balkans if it was amputated
from a sovereign Serbia.
There are around 100,000 Serbs left in Kosovo. An
exodus on the scale foreseen would leave only pockets
of Serb land.
Outnumbered 20-1 by two million ethnic Albanians, many
Serbs say they would simply leave Kosovo, the
territory considered Serbia's religious heartland
dating back 1,000 years.
NATO bombed Yugoslavia in 1999 to drive out Serb
forces...in a two-year war with Albanian separatist
rebels....
As Western alliance forces deployed, about half of the
Serb population in turn fled a wave of Albanian
revenge [sic] attacks.
Those who stayed on have become increasingly
marginalized. They fear for the future and point to
NATO's failure in March 2004 to prevent Albanian mobs
from overrunning Serb enclaves, torching homes and
churches. Nineteen people died in the riots.
The United Nations and a 17,000-strong NATO peace
force stationed in Kosovo say a repeat is impossible.
Politika said the UN plans three contingencies:
independence within current borders, autonomy within
Serbia, and independence for Kosovo below the River
Ibar, partitioning the Serb-dominated north.
Major powers have ruled out partitioning Kosovo but
there are indications that contingency plans exist for
a breakaway attempt by Serbs in the divided city of
Mitrovica.
(Additional reporting by Beti Bilandzic)
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/europe/article_1168704.php/
UN_preparing_to_leave_Kosovo_Jessen-Petersen_says
Deutsche Presse-Agentur - June 1, 2006
UN preparing to leave Kosovo, Jessen-Petersen says
Pristina - The United Nations Mission in Kosovo
(UNMIK) was preparing to leave the province once its
future status is defined, the UNMIK head Soren
Jessen-Petersen said Thursday.
'I think that the destiny of Kosovo is clear, it is in
the hands of the political leaders and the people of
Kosovo,' Jessen-Petersen said after meeting the Kosovo
Prime Minister Agim Ceku in Pristina. 'I think that
our role is changing rapidly - which is good.'
UNMIK arrived in Kosovo in June 1999, days after NATO
expelled Belgrade's security forces from the
province....
The UN has since governed Kosovo, based on the
Security Council resolution 1244. They have however
been transferring authority over to provisional local
provincial institutions.
The talks on the future status of Kosovo were launched
earlier this year under UN auspices in Vienna - six
rounds were held so far.
Serbia insists on retaining sovereignty over Kosovo
and offers a wide autonomy.
Kosovo Albanian leaders want full independence quickly
and are hoping to win it before the year expires.
Both the UN and NATO have reduced their presence in
Kosovo, which however remained ethnically troubled and
plagued by spates of violence, now mostly targeting
the minority Serbs.
'UNMIK has been engaged in downsizing, now for almost
one year. This is logical, because we are preparing
for exit when the Security Council defines Kosovo's
status,' Jessen-Petersen said.
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=89475&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - June 1, 2006
Kosovo Serb Killed in Northern Kosovo
Zvecan - 23-year-old Kosovo Serb was killed last night
on the road from the town of Zvecan to the village
where he lived, UNMIK police in Kosovska Mitrovica
confirmed today cited by RTS.
Some trees were put to block the road from Zvecan and
this made the man stop his car.
At that moment someone fired at his car.
A lot of 7,65 caliber cartridge-cases were found at
the incident site.
UNMIK police teams are inspecting the site.
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=89453&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - June 1, 2006
Bridge Connecting Serbian Villages in Kosovo Blows up
Kosovska Mitrovica - Unknown perpetrators mined the
bridge that connects the Serbian villages of Grabac
and Bica in Kosovo, Serbian radio station B92 reports.
The explosive device blew up yesterday.
The bridge is extremely damaged.
A KFOR unit arrived at the incident scene and is
investigating the motives and the level of the
damages.
(È almeno dai pogrom panalbanesi del marzo 2004 che la diplomazia
russa sta alzando la voce sulla questione kosovara, con dichiarazioni
molto nette contrarie alla secessione della provincia dalla Serbia e
comunque facendo notare che non è più tollerabile la politica dei
"due pesi due misure" su queste questioni:
KOSOVO: MINISTRO ESTERI RUSSO, INDIPENDENZA DESTABILIZZANTE
(ANSA) - BRUXELLES, 28 APR - Un'eventuale indipendenza del Kosovo
avrebbe ''conseguenze pericolose'' per la regione: e' l'ammonimento
fatto a Sofia, a margine della riunione informale esteri della Nato,
dal ministro degli esteri russo, Serghei Lavrov, secondo quanto
riferiscono fonti diplomatiche. ''Non siamo d'accordo con chi cerca
di convincere i serbi e noi stessi del fatto che non ci siano
alternative all' indipendenza del Kosovo'', ha detto alla stampa il
capo della diplomazia di Mosca. (ANSA) RIG
28/04/2006 17:17
Riportiamo di seguito la documentazione pervenutaci sul tema in
lingua in inglese limitandoci ai soli primi mesi del 2006.)
### The Voice of Russia 2006 ###
(The source of most of the following news was R. Rozoff through
yugoslaviainfo @ yahoogroups.com )
http://en.rian.ru/world/20060130/43247323.html
Russian Information Agency (Novosti) - January 30, 2006
Putin calls for uniformity in Kosovo decisions
MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday
that the six-nation Contact Group monitoring
international policy in Kosovo must make universal
decisions as conflicts remain unresolved in the former
socialist camp.
"We must not follow the way of applying some
principles to solve one problem and others to solve
another," Putin said at a government session.
The Contact Group, which includes the United States,
the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Russia, will be in
session at the level of foreign ministers in London in
the coming days.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that during
preparatory work, certain parties had tried to specify
in the Group's documents that Kosovo, which has been
administered as a UN protectorate since the end of
NATO's military campaign in the region in June 1999,
"is a unique case which cannot serve as a precedent".
Lavrov said the session in London would be an
important stage in the talks to determine Kosovo's
final status.
"We will be seeking a decision that would be
acceptable for both Kosovar leaders and Belgrade. It
is not a simple objective because Albanian leaders in
Kosovo asserted that they would be satisfied with
nothing but independence, which contradicts the
decisions of the UN Security Council," Lavrov said.
He urged the world community to encourage the parties
to seek a mutually acceptable decision.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=11684
Civil Georgia - February 1, 2006
Putin Reiterates to Apply ‘Universal Principles’ to Conflicts
Tbilisi - Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated
Moscow’s position on January 31 that “universal
principle” should be applied while dealing with
resolution of ‘frozen conflicts.’
Speaking at an annual press conference in Kremlin
Putin said that there is the UN Security Council
resolution, which confirms that Kosovo is part of
Serbia.
“If some one thinks that Kosovo can be granted full
independence, than why should we refuse in this to
Abkhazians, or South Ossetians? I am not now talking
about how Russia will act. But we know, for example,
that Turkey has recognized the Republic of North of
Cyprus. I do not want to say that Russia will
immediately recognize Abkhazia, or South Ossetia as
independent and sovereign states, but precedents of
this kind already exist in the international practice.
I am not now assessing these [precedents], but in
order to act justly with considering interests of
those people living in this or that territory we need
commonly recognized, universal principles for solving
these problems. This is exactly what I meant while
speaking at the meeting with government yesterday,”
Vladimir Putin said.
On January 30 President Putin instructed Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov to exert a policy of
“universality” during talks over Kosovo’s future
status, which, as Putin said, can serve as a model for
other conflicts.
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?
cat=Politics&loid=8.0.259586226&par=0
ADN Kronos International (Italy) - February 1, 2006
SERBIA: BELGRADE CHEERED BY PUTIN’S KOSOVO REMARKS
Belgrade - Serbian press gave big play on Wednesday to
Russian president Vladimir Putin’s statement that the
international community should apply the same criteria
to all inter-ethnic disputes in the world. Putin said
that allowing independence for Kosovo, a predominantly
ethnic Albanian province of Serbia under United
Nations control since 1999, could set a dangerous
precedent for other countries. In a front page
article, influential daily Politika carried his
statements in Moscow Tuesday, under the headline “When
I say Kosovo, I mean Caucasus”. Other papers also
carried Putin’s statement in front pages.
“The international community should apply unique,
universal principles in solving multi-ethnic
problems,” said Putin, referring to Kosovo province,
where majority ethnic Albanians demand independence.
“If, for example, Kosovo can become independent, why
couldn’t Abkhazia or South Ossetia,” said Putin,
referring to the turbulent Caucus region.
Serbian officials, who oppose Kosovo independence,
interpreted Putin’s pronouncement as a sign that he
would oppose the partitioning of Serbia and stand for
the preservation of its sovereignty over Kosovo.
Russia is, with the United States, Great Britain,
France, Germany and Italy, a member of a powerful
Contact Group for Kosovo, which is expected to
influence Kosovo’s final status.
The talks on the future of Kosovo were set to begin in
January, but have been postponed for the end of
February because of the death of Kosovo president
Ibrahim Rugova. “It is a good message for Serbs, and I
hope that Putin’s views will be respected by the
entire international community,” said a Kosovo Serb
leader Dragisa Krstovic.
Sanda Raskovic Ivic, Serbian government coordinator
for Kosovo, said that Putin has given a “signal and
warning” to those in the international community who
would like to treat Kosovo as an exception and grant
it independence. “Such a quasi-solution would destroy
international law and cause a chain reaction in many
European and non-European countries, including the
post-Soviet states.”
But James Lyon, controversial director of Belgrade
office of the [infamous] International Crisis Group, a
non-governmental [sic] organization that deals with
prevention of conflicts, said that Serbian
interpretations of Putin’s statement were wrong.
“Russia has more or less given up on Kosovo,” Lyon
told Belgrade radio B92.
He said it would be in Serbia’s interest to give up
Kosovo, just as it was in Russia’s interest to give up
some Caucasus republics, like Chechnya.
“Russia sees in Kosovo a sort of a precedent which it
might use in the Caucases and which would be in its
interest,” said Lyon.
http://www.interfax.com/3/127614/news.aspx
Interfax - February 6, 2006
Lavrov urges Kosovo, Cyprus settlements without external pressure
ATHENS - Any attempts to settle the Kosovo and
Cyprus conflicts by means of exerting external
pressure may create dangerous precedents, Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
"The Kosovo and the Cyprus conflicts are different.
However, they share a common feature in that both
should be settled on the basis of international law
and the resolutions of the UN Security Council," the
minister said.
"What is in common is that both Greece and Russia
consider that only a negotiated resolution, rather
than external pressure, can be long-term as far as
both the Kosovo and the Cypriot settlement is
concerned," he said.
Violating this principle may create a dangerous
precedent," Lavrov said.
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=3069082&PageNum=0
Itar-Tass - February 10, 2006
Russia opposes double standards in Kosovo
UNITED NATIONS - Russian Ambassador to the United
Nations Andrei Denisov called on Thursday to avoid
double standards in settling the situation in Kosovo.
He told a press conference the solution should be
found jointly by Serbia and Montenegro, Kosovo, and
Albania.
At present the variants of resolving the situation in
the province “are moving towards granting independence
to the territory under international supervision”.
“Our partners in the contact group for Kosovo claim
the situation with the status of the province creates
no precedent,” Denisov said. However, it would be
impossible to explain to residents of other regions
with a similar situation that there is no coincidence
with Kosovo.
He refrained from comparing the situation with Kosovo
with that in the breakaway Georgian regions of South
Ossetia and Abkhazia. Commenting on the intention of
the Georgian parliament to stop Russian peacekeeping
mission in South Ossetia Denisov said “such a decision
can be passed only by the executive authority, by the
president. However the head of the Georgian state has
not yet declared his position on the issue”.
If Georgia makes Russian peacekeepers withdraw from
the two breakaway regions “serious problems will
emerge for both sides, including for Russia”, as most
residents of Abkhazia and South Ossetia are Russian
citizens.
Denisov said that despite constant accusations from
Tbilisi Russia “respects the territorial integrity and
sovereignty of Georgia”. “Unfortunately, we hear a lot
of hysteria, of accusations, but such is the reality,
such are Russian partners in Georgia”, the ambassador
said.
http://www.interfax.com/3/137040/news.aspx
Interfax - March 9, 2006
Russian lawmaker says issue of independence for Kosovo premature
MOSCOW - Russian lawmakers think it would be
premature to refer the issue of Kosovo's independence
to the international community, head of the Russian
State Duma international relations committee
Konstantin Kosachyov announced Thursday.
"Last May, a delegation from our committee visited the
Balkans and concluded that problem of standards was
completely unsolved, that's why it would be premature
to proceed to Kosovo's status. Attempts by the
international community to speed up this question
appear to be politicized and can only make things
worse," Kosachyov said during a meeting in Moscow
with head of Coordinating Center for Kosovo, Serbia
and Montenegro Sanda Raskovic-Ivic.
"We are convinced that no decisions on Kosovo could be
adopted by-passing Serbia and Montenegro," Kosachyov
said, adding that Russia had always played an active
role in the Balkan settlement.
The Russian and Serbian positions on the issue
coincide, he said.
Raskovic-Ivic, for her part, said that Serbia was
ready to grant Kosovo broad autonomy, but nothing
beyond that.
The Serbian government and people want Kosovo to
remain part of Serbia, she said.
"We are ready to grant Kosovo more than autonomy, but
less than independence. We will not agree to allow
Kosovo become a subject of international law," she
said.
Despite aggressive sorties on the part of ethnic
Albanian extremists, the Serbian authorities are ready
to continue talks with the Albanian side,
Raskovic-Ivic said.
http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/politics/28.html?id_issue=11484838
Interfax - March 24, 2006
Russia to support Serbia in talks on Kosovo status
MOSCOW - Russia will support Serbia in talks on the
status of Kosovo, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov said.
"We are convinced that any decision [on Kosovo's
future] should be negotiated and not forced. However,
unfortunately, Serbia is not playing a particularly
active role in these talks," Lavrov said at a State
Duma session devoted to the European Council's
convention on the prevention of terrorism on Friday.
Serbia's stance "could have been firmer and were it to
become so we would support it," he said.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060324/44758139.html
Russian Information Agency (Novosti) - March 24, 2006
Russian FM urges Serbs to be proactive in Kosovo status talks
MOSCOW - Russia's foreign minister called Friday for
Serbia to be more proactive in talks over the status
of Kosovo.
"Kosovo's fate will depend precisely on how proactive
the Serbs are," Sergey Lavrov said. "So far,
unfortunately, the Serb side has been taking a
hands-off approach to the negotiations."
He said Moscow wanted the status of Kosovo, a Serbian
province with a predominantly Albanian population, to
be determined through negotiations rather than
imposed, and pledged support for the Serb negotiators.
A third round of talks between Kosovo Albanians and
the Serbian government is scheduled to begin April 3,
and will be mediated by former Finnish President
Martti Ahtisaari.
Formally part of Serbia, Kosovo has been a UN
protectorate since 1999, following a NATO military
campaign to drive out Yugoslav forces....
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?
cat=Politics&loid=8.0.279756052&par=0
ADN Kronos International (Italy) - March 24, 2006
KOSOVO: LAVROV PLEDGES SUPPORT TO SERBS IN STATUS TALKS
Belgrade - Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has
denied Western press reports that Russia and China
would not oppose Kosovo independence in the United
Nations Security Council if the issue was put on the
UN agenda, and said that the solution should be a
negotiated one, resulting from direct talks between
Pristina and Belgrade.
Russia and China have promised the United States
secretary of state Condoleezza Rice that they would
not oppose independence of the UN-administered Serbian
province - Western media reported recently. But Lavrov
on Friday told Belgrade weekly NIN that such claims
were “an ordinary lie.”
According to Lavrov, “the future status of Kosovo must
be a result of direct talks between the Serb and
Kosovan authorities. An imposed solution would be
neither stable nor long lasting and would be a
constant cause of destabilisation in the region,” he
said.
Lavrov also reiterated this position when he addressed
the Russian parliament in Moscow on Friday.
He regretted that Serbian side wasn’t sufficiently
active in the Kosovo talks at the moment. “They
(Serbs) should be more determined and we shall support
them,” Lavrov said.
“We can’t be bigger Serbs than the Serbs themselves,”
he pointed out. He emphasised, however, that Moscow
would protect its own interests in Kosovo,
“pragmatically and without needless confrontations”.
Serb and Kosovan officials have this year held two
rounds of talks on the future status of Kosovo, under
the auspices of UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari.
These have focused on ssed on practical issues such as
policing with the aim of decentralising more power to
local authorities.
The ultimate issue of Kosovo's independence - opposed
by Serbs but sought by its overwhelmingly Muslim, 90
percent ethnic Albanian majority - will be conditional
on satisfactory reform of local government and respect
for minorities in the province - where ethnic tensions
persist, according to experts.
The troubled, 90 percent ethnic Albanian majority
province of Kosovo, while still legally part of
Serbia, has been under UN administration since 1999,
when NATO airstrikes and an ethnic Albanian separatist
uprising forced Serb troops to withdraw.
Ethnic riots in Kosovo in March, 2004 left 19 people
dead and 900 injured, 800 homes, 34 churches and
monasteries were damaged, several thousand Serbs were
forced to flee their homes, and a mosque was burned
down.
The riots, in which members of the international
peacekeeping and Kosovo police forces died, broke out
after two ethnic Albanian boys were found drowned in
the Ibar river, near the village of Cabra.
Metropolitan Kirill: Recognition of the independence of Kosovo to
incite a new conflict in the region
Interfax - 30 March 2006, 14:52
Moscow, March 30, Interfax - The independence of Kosovo implies negative
consequences for Europe for many decades and leads to new developments
around the so called ‘unrecognized states’ on the post-Soviet territory,
chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church
Relations Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad said.
‘I believe that if Kosovo gets independence, the consequences would be
disastrous. Kosovo and Serbia will bleed constantly, and the region will
retain its potential for enmity, hatred and thus for conflict’, the
metropolitan said at a news conference in Interfax central office in
Moscow on Thursday.
He referred to the Mid-East conflict as an example, which is an
incessant source of threatening stability in the region. ‘We know about
the developments in the Middle East. The region with its potential of
hatred and confrontation has threatened not only human life in the
region, but peace in the world for over half a century’, the
metropolitan noted.
According to him, it is quite obvious that ‘an unjust solution of the
Kosovo problem would bring about something similar to Europe for long
decades’.
‘I agree with those who think that the independence of Kosovo would lead
to new developments around the so-called ‘unrecognized states’ on the
post-Soviet territory. Europe would encounter multiple problems related
to the attempts of such ‘independent states’ at self-determination,
Metropolitan Kirill stated.
He is convinced that it is necessary ‘to weigh the possible consequences
of an action’. ‘I believe that settlement of the Kosovo problem should
go together with Serbia within the framework of a single state’ a
representative of the Russian Church noted.
He continued that the independence of Kosovo would have a very negative
impact on the Orthodox population and the Orthodox shrines of the
region. ‘Even now, in the presence of international forces in Kosovo,
the shrines continue to be sacrileged, and churches and monasteries of
great cultural significance destroyed’, the metropolitan underscored.
‘If this happens regardless of the presence of the armed forced that are
able to protect Serbian cultural heritage and the Orthodox people, what
would happen after thee forces leave the country and Kosovo becomes
independent? I am afraid the consequences would be tragic’, he said.
According to the hierarch, a stable state and a stable political system
are impossible to build under these circumstances.’
http://eng.primenewsonline.com/?c=121&a=7245
Prime News (Georgia) March 31, 2006
Kosovo Precedent Threatens Russia’s Territorial Integrity, Results Of
Poll
Tbilisi – Most of questioned people by radio station
‘Ekho Moskvi” reckon that the Kosovo precedent
threatens the territorial integrity of the Russian
Federation.
Express-poll held with the frameworks of the
‘Ricochet’ program, revealed that 62% of questioned
people support the abovementioned opinion, 38% reckon
that precedent in Kosovo does not threaten territorial
integrity of the Russian Federation
In total 905 people were interrogated.
On March 30 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia
and Montenegro stated that Serbia agrees to
acknowledge Kosovo’s independence and does not object
to Kosovo’s representation in the international
structures excluding the U.N. [lies]
http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/rtr041306.htm
SENIOR RUSSIAN MP KOSACHEV WARNS OF DANGERS OF KOSOVO INDEPENDENCE
BBC Monitoring International Reports - April 13, 2006 Thursday
Text of report by Russia TV on 13 April
Source: RTR Russia TV, Moscow, in Russian 1400 gmt 13 Apr 06
Copyright 2006 Financial Times Information
All Rights Reserved
Global News Wire - Asia Africa Intelligence Wire
Copyright 2006 BBC Monitoring/BBC Source: Financial Times Information
Limited
Posted for Fair Use only.
[Presenter] Moscow thinks it is inappropriate artificially to set any
deadlines for a change in the status of Kosovo. What is more, any
resolution of the Kosovo problem will inevitably become an
international legal precedent, which will influence the resolution of
other conflicts, including within the CIS.
[Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of State Duma Committee on
International Affairs] If Kosovo is recognized as independent without
Belgrade's agreement, for the first time in the history of post-war
Europe a precedent will have been set of dismembering, dissociating
an autonomous area from an integral state without the agreement of
that state to do this. This will mean that other unrecognized
republics will certainly go down the same road, Abkhazia, South
Ossetia, Nagornyy Karabakh, the Dniester Region, North Cyprus,
possibly certain other regions of Europe. This is very well
understood in the West. They are now attempting to put pressure on
Belgrade to achieve in one form or another the agreement of the
Belgrade authorities to independence for Kosovo.
http://www.interfax.com/3/153622/news.aspx
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=1739116&C=europe
Agence France-Press - April 28, 2006
Kosovo Independence Would Destabilize the Balkans: Russian Official
SOFIA, Bulgaria - Independence for Kosovo would
destabilize the Balkans, Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov warned April 28 after talks with NATO
counterparts in the Bulgarian capital Sofia.
”We don’t agree with those trying to persuade us...
that there is no alternative to Kosovo independence,”
he told reporters.
”That is a fairly dangerous path that could lead to
dangerous consequences for the region and create a
precedent for other conflict situations,” he said.
Still technically a province of Serbia, Kosovo has
been administered by the United Nations since Serb
forces were forced out by NATO-led air war in 1999.
The international community hopes to settle Kosovo’s
status by the end of this year, and talks have begun
between Belgrade and the ethnic Albanian government in
Pristina on the territory’s future status.
Lavrov called on Pristina to respect U.N. Security
Council “standards” and “to create conditions in
Kosovo to guarantee the return of refugees” — Kosovar
Serbs forced out of the territory.
Russia has long sided with Serbia in challenging moves
to proclaim Kosovo independence.
The foreign minister of Serbia-Montenegro, Vuk
Draskovic, said in Paris Wednesday that Kosovar
independence would pose a major obstacle to Serbian-EU
relations.
”It would seen as a humiliation ... Kosovo is the
spiritual cradle of the Serbs,” he said, though he
added that Belgrade was willing to offer “internal
independence.”
But on April 27, Prime Minister Sali Berisha of
neighboring Albania told France’s Le Figaro newspaper
that “no plan other than the independence of Kosovo
can bring peace and stability.”
Interfax-Military - May 4, 2006
Independent Kosovo would aggravate regional conflicts - Kokoshin
MOSCOW - Granting independence to Kosovo will
have very serious consequences, Chairman of the State
Duma's CIS Affairs Committee and former Security
Council secretary Andrei Kokoshin told Interfax-AVN on
Thursday.
"Any decision granting independence to Kosovo will
shake the modern world order," he said.
This is the opinion of many politicians in Russia, the
West and the East, Kokoshin said.
Not only will a precedent be created, but suspicions
about the West's policies regarding sovereignty and
territorial integrity and double standards will
intensify, Kokoshin said.
"An independent Kosovo will naturally exacerbate many
conflicts on the territory of the former Soviet Union
and in other regions, including Asia, Africa and
Europe," he said.
"The situation is made yet more complicated by the
fact that Kosovo is an autonomous region within a
former constituent part of the former federation. Any
evidence Western statesman may produce in support of
the 'uniqueness' of the Kosovo situation cannot
prevent exacerbation," he said.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20060519/48365461.html
Russian Information Agency (Novosti) - May 19, 2006
Prishtina's stance on Kosovo is unconstructive - Russian FM
STRASBOURG - The Kosovan leadership's intransigent
attitude is delaying a solution over the status of the
troubled Balkan territory, Russia's foreign minister
said Friday.
Sergei Lavrov, speaking at a news conference in
Strasbourg, said: "The position of Prishtina's
leadership, which is insisting on the unequivocal
independence of Kosovo, is very unconstructive."
Lavrov said a unilateral approach should not be taken
to talks on Kosovo, and that negotiations must be held
through the UN and the Contact Group.
Talks on the UN-administered territory's status should
be concluded by the end of the year, a view that is
shared by the six-nation Contact Group - the U.S.,
Russia, Britain, France, Germany and Italy - Lavrov
said.
Earlier, some Russian politicians expressed concern
that independence for Kosovo would create a precedent
for recognition of breakaway regions in the former
Soviet Union.
Moldova is dealing with a separatist regime in
Transdnestr, while Georgia has two breakaway regions
in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Nagorny Karabakh, a
largely ethnic Armenian enclave inside Azerbaijan, has
long been a source of friction between the two
Caucasus states.
Formally part of Serbia, Kosovo has been a UN
protectorate since 1999, following a NATO military
campaign to drive out Yugoslav forces....
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=88665&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - May 19, 2006
Balkans’ Fate Depends on Outcome of Kosovo Issue
Moscow - The fate of the Balkans depends on the
outcome of the Kosovo issue and the stake for the
region’s stability is finding a solution that would
fulfill the common international norms and will be a
result from the talks between Pristina and Belgrade.
This is what Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir
Titov stated today cited by Serbian agency TANJUG.
According to him there are some tendencies that bring
hope to the stabilization process, to the
strengthening of trust and to the regional cooperation
but he added that there are also “many risks
concentrated in Kosovo”.
http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/politics/28.html?id_issue=11519342
Interfax - May 19, 2006
Kosovo resolution will form precedent for conflict settlement - Russia
MOSCOW - The approach to the settlement of the Kosovo
conflict should not be unique, Deputy Foreign Minister
Vladimir Titov has said.
"We are resolutely opposed to any policy of double
standards on matters concerning sovereignty or
territorial integrity and are therefore set on seeking
a well-balanced solution," he said in an interview
published in Vremya Novostei on Friday.
"The resolution on Kosovo will create a precedent in
international law that will later be applied to other
frozen conflicts," he said.
"We disagree with the concept that the case of Kosovo
is unique, because such an approach runs counter to
the norms of international law. It is wrought with the
arbitrary application of different rules to the
settlement of each particular crisis undermining
confidence in the international community and creating
the impression of a selective approach to conflicts in
different parts of the world," Titov said.
"Specific as situations may be, the approaches and
rules of settlement should be universal," he said.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20060522/48424329.html
Russian Information Agency (Novosti) - May 22, 2006
Kosovo talks to step up gear after Montenegro vote - Russian MP
MOSCOW - Discussions over the status of Kosovo will
become more intense after Sunday's referendum on the
independence of Montenegro, a senior member of the
lower chamber of Russia's parliament said Monday.
The elections commission has said that 55.4% (with 55%
required) of votes were cast in favor of Montenegro
seceding from its union with Serbia, which on paper
still includes the province of Kosovo, even though it
has been a UN protectorate since 1999.
Konstantin Kosachev, the chairman of the State Duma's
international affairs committee, said the discussions
on Kosovo's controversial status - ethnic Albanians
are pushing for independence from Belgrade - would
inevitably be taken to a new level, though he warned
against making any decision without taking into
account the interests of the minority Serbs.
If this were to happen, he said it would "set a
far-reaching precedent for other situations (northern
Cyprus and the Basque country)."
Kosachev said the status of Kosovo, which NATO troops
first entered after Serbian forces were accused of
committing atrocities against ethnic Albanians, should
be considered as part of a UN Security Council
resolution.
....
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said May 19
that talks Kosovo's status should be concluded by the
end of the year, a view that is shared by the other
members of the six-nation Contact Group: the United
States, Britain, France, Germany and Italy.
Earlier, some Russian politicians expressed concern
that independence for Kosovo in what was once
Yugoslavia would create a precedent for recognizing
breakaway regions in the former Soviet Union.
Moldova is dealing with a separatist regime in
Transdnestr and Georgia has two breakaway regions in
Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Nagorny Karabakh, a
largely ethnic Armenian enclave inside Azerbaijan, has
long been a source of friction between the two
Caucasus states.
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=8692564&PageNum=0
Itar-Tass - May 23, 2006
Kosovo independence to become universal precedent – official
MOSCOW - Kosovo independence will become a universal
precedent, head of the Kremlin department for
inter-regional and cultural relations with foreign
states Modes Kolerov told Moscow University students
on Tuesday.
“Not only us will have to recognize the universality
of the Kosovo precedent,” he said.
The Kosovo situation may be applied to unrecognized
republics on the former Soviet territory. “Obviously,
Kosovo will be a precedent for the CIS,” he said.
However, it would not be easy to make independent
Abkhazia, the Dniester region and South Ossetia, he
said.
“For instance, a referendum in Abkhazia will not be
accepted by the European Union as quickly and clearly
as the recent referendum in Montenegro,” he said.
http://www.regnum.ru/english/648217.html
Regnum (Russia) - May 29, 2006
Natalia Narochnitskaya: Russia should welcome refugees from Kosovo
The situation in the newly founded independent state
of Montenegro and the outlook for the situation in the
Balkans was discussed at a round-table conference held
in Moscow on May 29, 2006.
Yelitsa Kuryak, Minister-Counselor at the Embassy of
Serbia and Montenegro to the Russian Federation, told
REGNUM correspondent that Serbia has already admitted
about 250,000 refugees from Kosovo.
They “have neither jobs, nor housing, nor subsistence
means.”
“Serbia cannot handle this,” the Minister-Counselor
stated.
Natalia Narochnitskaya, deputy speaker on the State
Duma Foreign Affairs Committee and head of the
Historical Perspective foundation, commented that her
foundation “advocates welcoming Serbian refugees from
Kosovo in Russia and giving them an opportunity to
survive and fit in. I am inclined to raise this issue
in the concerned governmental agencies of the Russian
Federation. Russia should initiate accepting refugees
from Kosovo.
"This is a real opportunity to help Serbia solve at
least part of her problems. I am convinced that Russia
is quite capable of receiving even hundreds of
thousands of Serbian refugees.”
http://www.interfax.com/3/161051/news.aspx
Interfax - May 30, 2006
Kosovo settlement should be based on UN resolution - Lavrov
MOSCOW - The decision settling the status of
Kosovo should be made only on the basis of a UN
resolution, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
said at a Tuesday meeting with Martti Ahtisaari,
Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United
Nations for the future status process for Kosovo.
"The decision must rely on a UN mandate in compliance
with UN Security Council resolution #1244," Lavrov
said.
As in any conflict, any decision on Kosovo must be
reached through talks and understandings acceptable to
both sides, he said.
A settlement for Kosovo should stem from long-standing
practices of the United Nations and the international
community and "deviation from these principles would
create a bad precedent," he said.
Ahtisaari thanked Lavrov for the possibility of
continuing dialogue on the future status of Kosovo,
saying an agreement had been reached on launching
talks on Kosovo in Vienna.
The purpose of these talks will be to find out whether
a solution suiting all sides can be found, he said
http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/politics/28.html?id_issue=11524725
Interfax - May 29, 2006
Lavrov sees EU double standard in Transdnestria customs dispute
MOSCOW - Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
believes that the European Union applies different
standards to Transdniestria, on the one hand, and to
Kosovo and Northern Cyprus, on the other.
He told a Monday meeting of the bureau of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)
in Moscow that Russia cannot support the blockade of
Transdniestria.
He said Europe would hardly agree to Kosovo trading
with the rest of the world according to the rules of
Serbia.
He added that the EU actively supports the customs
openness of Northern Cyprus.
"I think one can notice double standards in these
actions by European politicians," he said.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20060601/48929638.html
Russian Information Agency (Novosti) - June 1, 2006
Kosovo decision to set precedent - Russian CE representative
STRASBOURG, (France) - A decision on the status of
the Serbian province of Kosovo will set a precedent in
Europe, Russia's official representative at the
Council of Europe said Thursday.
Alexander Orlov said the decision on granting it
independence "could become universal for the rest of
Europe."
Kosovo has been under the administration of the UN
since 1999 but it is widely assumed the
Albanian-majority population will be granted
independence from Serbia, which should mark the final
carving up of the old Yugoslavia following
Montenegro's May 21 vote to secede from Serbia.
Orlov said this could set an example for
decision-making on the status of other provinces,
including Transdnestr, a breakaway region in Moldova,
and South Ossetia and Abkhazia, self-proclaimed
republics in Georgia.
Orlov said the United Nations was playing the key role
in talks on the status of Kosovo but added that the
Council of Europe could help the province determine
its constitutional system, control the observation of
human rights and the rights of ethnic minorities.
Russia has consistently advocated the rights of Serbs
living in Kosovo, many of whom have been driven out of
the province, and highlighted the plight of the
Orthodox Church, whose buildings have often been
attacked.
russa sta alzando la voce sulla questione kosovara, con dichiarazioni
molto nette contrarie alla secessione della provincia dalla Serbia e
comunque facendo notare che non è più tollerabile la politica dei
"due pesi due misure" su queste questioni:
KOSOVO: MINISTRO ESTERI RUSSO, INDIPENDENZA DESTABILIZZANTE
(ANSA) - BRUXELLES, 28 APR - Un'eventuale indipendenza del Kosovo
avrebbe ''conseguenze pericolose'' per la regione: e' l'ammonimento
fatto a Sofia, a margine della riunione informale esteri della Nato,
dal ministro degli esteri russo, Serghei Lavrov, secondo quanto
riferiscono fonti diplomatiche. ''Non siamo d'accordo con chi cerca
di convincere i serbi e noi stessi del fatto che non ci siano
alternative all' indipendenza del Kosovo'', ha detto alla stampa il
capo della diplomazia di Mosca. (ANSA) RIG
28/04/2006 17:17
Riportiamo di seguito la documentazione pervenutaci sul tema in
lingua in inglese limitandoci ai soli primi mesi del 2006.)
### The Voice of Russia 2006 ###
(The source of most of the following news was R. Rozoff through
yugoslaviainfo @ yahoogroups.com )
http://en.rian.ru/world/20060130/43247323.html
Russian Information Agency (Novosti) - January 30, 2006
Putin calls for uniformity in Kosovo decisions
MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday
that the six-nation Contact Group monitoring
international policy in Kosovo must make universal
decisions as conflicts remain unresolved in the former
socialist camp.
"We must not follow the way of applying some
principles to solve one problem and others to solve
another," Putin said at a government session.
The Contact Group, which includes the United States,
the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Russia, will be in
session at the level of foreign ministers in London in
the coming days.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that during
preparatory work, certain parties had tried to specify
in the Group's documents that Kosovo, which has been
administered as a UN protectorate since the end of
NATO's military campaign in the region in June 1999,
"is a unique case which cannot serve as a precedent".
Lavrov said the session in London would be an
important stage in the talks to determine Kosovo's
final status.
"We will be seeking a decision that would be
acceptable for both Kosovar leaders and Belgrade. It
is not a simple objective because Albanian leaders in
Kosovo asserted that they would be satisfied with
nothing but independence, which contradicts the
decisions of the UN Security Council," Lavrov said.
He urged the world community to encourage the parties
to seek a mutually acceptable decision.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=11684
Civil Georgia - February 1, 2006
Putin Reiterates to Apply ‘Universal Principles’ to Conflicts
Tbilisi - Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated
Moscow’s position on January 31 that “universal
principle” should be applied while dealing with
resolution of ‘frozen conflicts.’
Speaking at an annual press conference in Kremlin
Putin said that there is the UN Security Council
resolution, which confirms that Kosovo is part of
Serbia.
“If some one thinks that Kosovo can be granted full
independence, than why should we refuse in this to
Abkhazians, or South Ossetians? I am not now talking
about how Russia will act. But we know, for example,
that Turkey has recognized the Republic of North of
Cyprus. I do not want to say that Russia will
immediately recognize Abkhazia, or South Ossetia as
independent and sovereign states, but precedents of
this kind already exist in the international practice.
I am not now assessing these [precedents], but in
order to act justly with considering interests of
those people living in this or that territory we need
commonly recognized, universal principles for solving
these problems. This is exactly what I meant while
speaking at the meeting with government yesterday,”
Vladimir Putin said.
On January 30 President Putin instructed Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov to exert a policy of
“universality” during talks over Kosovo’s future
status, which, as Putin said, can serve as a model for
other conflicts.
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?
cat=Politics&loid=8.0.259586226&par=0
ADN Kronos International (Italy) - February 1, 2006
SERBIA: BELGRADE CHEERED BY PUTIN’S KOSOVO REMARKS
Belgrade - Serbian press gave big play on Wednesday to
Russian president Vladimir Putin’s statement that the
international community should apply the same criteria
to all inter-ethnic disputes in the world. Putin said
that allowing independence for Kosovo, a predominantly
ethnic Albanian province of Serbia under United
Nations control since 1999, could set a dangerous
precedent for other countries. In a front page
article, influential daily Politika carried his
statements in Moscow Tuesday, under the headline “When
I say Kosovo, I mean Caucasus”. Other papers also
carried Putin’s statement in front pages.
“The international community should apply unique,
universal principles in solving multi-ethnic
problems,” said Putin, referring to Kosovo province,
where majority ethnic Albanians demand independence.
“If, for example, Kosovo can become independent, why
couldn’t Abkhazia or South Ossetia,” said Putin,
referring to the turbulent Caucus region.
Serbian officials, who oppose Kosovo independence,
interpreted Putin’s pronouncement as a sign that he
would oppose the partitioning of Serbia and stand for
the preservation of its sovereignty over Kosovo.
Russia is, with the United States, Great Britain,
France, Germany and Italy, a member of a powerful
Contact Group for Kosovo, which is expected to
influence Kosovo’s final status.
The talks on the future of Kosovo were set to begin in
January, but have been postponed for the end of
February because of the death of Kosovo president
Ibrahim Rugova. “It is a good message for Serbs, and I
hope that Putin’s views will be respected by the
entire international community,” said a Kosovo Serb
leader Dragisa Krstovic.
Sanda Raskovic Ivic, Serbian government coordinator
for Kosovo, said that Putin has given a “signal and
warning” to those in the international community who
would like to treat Kosovo as an exception and grant
it independence. “Such a quasi-solution would destroy
international law and cause a chain reaction in many
European and non-European countries, including the
post-Soviet states.”
But James Lyon, controversial director of Belgrade
office of the [infamous] International Crisis Group, a
non-governmental [sic] organization that deals with
prevention of conflicts, said that Serbian
interpretations of Putin’s statement were wrong.
“Russia has more or less given up on Kosovo,” Lyon
told Belgrade radio B92.
He said it would be in Serbia’s interest to give up
Kosovo, just as it was in Russia’s interest to give up
some Caucasus republics, like Chechnya.
“Russia sees in Kosovo a sort of a precedent which it
might use in the Caucases and which would be in its
interest,” said Lyon.
http://www.interfax.com/3/127614/news.aspx
Interfax - February 6, 2006
Lavrov urges Kosovo, Cyprus settlements without external pressure
ATHENS - Any attempts to settle the Kosovo and
Cyprus conflicts by means of exerting external
pressure may create dangerous precedents, Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
"The Kosovo and the Cyprus conflicts are different.
However, they share a common feature in that both
should be settled on the basis of international law
and the resolutions of the UN Security Council," the
minister said.
"What is in common is that both Greece and Russia
consider that only a negotiated resolution, rather
than external pressure, can be long-term as far as
both the Kosovo and the Cypriot settlement is
concerned," he said.
Violating this principle may create a dangerous
precedent," Lavrov said.
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=3069082&PageNum=0
Itar-Tass - February 10, 2006
Russia opposes double standards in Kosovo
UNITED NATIONS - Russian Ambassador to the United
Nations Andrei Denisov called on Thursday to avoid
double standards in settling the situation in Kosovo.
He told a press conference the solution should be
found jointly by Serbia and Montenegro, Kosovo, and
Albania.
At present the variants of resolving the situation in
the province “are moving towards granting independence
to the territory under international supervision”.
“Our partners in the contact group for Kosovo claim
the situation with the status of the province creates
no precedent,” Denisov said. However, it would be
impossible to explain to residents of other regions
with a similar situation that there is no coincidence
with Kosovo.
He refrained from comparing the situation with Kosovo
with that in the breakaway Georgian regions of South
Ossetia and Abkhazia. Commenting on the intention of
the Georgian parliament to stop Russian peacekeeping
mission in South Ossetia Denisov said “such a decision
can be passed only by the executive authority, by the
president. However the head of the Georgian state has
not yet declared his position on the issue”.
If Georgia makes Russian peacekeepers withdraw from
the two breakaway regions “serious problems will
emerge for both sides, including for Russia”, as most
residents of Abkhazia and South Ossetia are Russian
citizens.
Denisov said that despite constant accusations from
Tbilisi Russia “respects the territorial integrity and
sovereignty of Georgia”. “Unfortunately, we hear a lot
of hysteria, of accusations, but such is the reality,
such are Russian partners in Georgia”, the ambassador
said.
http://www.interfax.com/3/137040/news.aspx
Interfax - March 9, 2006
Russian lawmaker says issue of independence for Kosovo premature
MOSCOW - Russian lawmakers think it would be
premature to refer the issue of Kosovo's independence
to the international community, head of the Russian
State Duma international relations committee
Konstantin Kosachyov announced Thursday.
"Last May, a delegation from our committee visited the
Balkans and concluded that problem of standards was
completely unsolved, that's why it would be premature
to proceed to Kosovo's status. Attempts by the
international community to speed up this question
appear to be politicized and can only make things
worse," Kosachyov said during a meeting in Moscow
with head of Coordinating Center for Kosovo, Serbia
and Montenegro Sanda Raskovic-Ivic.
"We are convinced that no decisions on Kosovo could be
adopted by-passing Serbia and Montenegro," Kosachyov
said, adding that Russia had always played an active
role in the Balkan settlement.
The Russian and Serbian positions on the issue
coincide, he said.
Raskovic-Ivic, for her part, said that Serbia was
ready to grant Kosovo broad autonomy, but nothing
beyond that.
The Serbian government and people want Kosovo to
remain part of Serbia, she said.
"We are ready to grant Kosovo more than autonomy, but
less than independence. We will not agree to allow
Kosovo become a subject of international law," she
said.
Despite aggressive sorties on the part of ethnic
Albanian extremists, the Serbian authorities are ready
to continue talks with the Albanian side,
Raskovic-Ivic said.
http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/politics/28.html?id_issue=11484838
Interfax - March 24, 2006
Russia to support Serbia in talks on Kosovo status
MOSCOW - Russia will support Serbia in talks on the
status of Kosovo, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov said.
"We are convinced that any decision [on Kosovo's
future] should be negotiated and not forced. However,
unfortunately, Serbia is not playing a particularly
active role in these talks," Lavrov said at a State
Duma session devoted to the European Council's
convention on the prevention of terrorism on Friday.
Serbia's stance "could have been firmer and were it to
become so we would support it," he said.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060324/44758139.html
Russian Information Agency (Novosti) - March 24, 2006
Russian FM urges Serbs to be proactive in Kosovo status talks
MOSCOW - Russia's foreign minister called Friday for
Serbia to be more proactive in talks over the status
of Kosovo.
"Kosovo's fate will depend precisely on how proactive
the Serbs are," Sergey Lavrov said. "So far,
unfortunately, the Serb side has been taking a
hands-off approach to the negotiations."
He said Moscow wanted the status of Kosovo, a Serbian
province with a predominantly Albanian population, to
be determined through negotiations rather than
imposed, and pledged support for the Serb negotiators.
A third round of talks between Kosovo Albanians and
the Serbian government is scheduled to begin April 3,
and will be mediated by former Finnish President
Martti Ahtisaari.
Formally part of Serbia, Kosovo has been a UN
protectorate since 1999, following a NATO military
campaign to drive out Yugoslav forces....
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?
cat=Politics&loid=8.0.279756052&par=0
ADN Kronos International (Italy) - March 24, 2006
KOSOVO: LAVROV PLEDGES SUPPORT TO SERBS IN STATUS TALKS
Belgrade - Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has
denied Western press reports that Russia and China
would not oppose Kosovo independence in the United
Nations Security Council if the issue was put on the
UN agenda, and said that the solution should be a
negotiated one, resulting from direct talks between
Pristina and Belgrade.
Russia and China have promised the United States
secretary of state Condoleezza Rice that they would
not oppose independence of the UN-administered Serbian
province - Western media reported recently. But Lavrov
on Friday told Belgrade weekly NIN that such claims
were “an ordinary lie.”
According to Lavrov, “the future status of Kosovo must
be a result of direct talks between the Serb and
Kosovan authorities. An imposed solution would be
neither stable nor long lasting and would be a
constant cause of destabilisation in the region,” he
said.
Lavrov also reiterated this position when he addressed
the Russian parliament in Moscow on Friday.
He regretted that Serbian side wasn’t sufficiently
active in the Kosovo talks at the moment. “They
(Serbs) should be more determined and we shall support
them,” Lavrov said.
“We can’t be bigger Serbs than the Serbs themselves,”
he pointed out. He emphasised, however, that Moscow
would protect its own interests in Kosovo,
“pragmatically and without needless confrontations”.
Serb and Kosovan officials have this year held two
rounds of talks on the future status of Kosovo, under
the auspices of UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari.
These have focused on ssed on practical issues such as
policing with the aim of decentralising more power to
local authorities.
The ultimate issue of Kosovo's independence - opposed
by Serbs but sought by its overwhelmingly Muslim, 90
percent ethnic Albanian majority - will be conditional
on satisfactory reform of local government and respect
for minorities in the province - where ethnic tensions
persist, according to experts.
The troubled, 90 percent ethnic Albanian majority
province of Kosovo, while still legally part of
Serbia, has been under UN administration since 1999,
when NATO airstrikes and an ethnic Albanian separatist
uprising forced Serb troops to withdraw.
Ethnic riots in Kosovo in March, 2004 left 19 people
dead and 900 injured, 800 homes, 34 churches and
monasteries were damaged, several thousand Serbs were
forced to flee their homes, and a mosque was burned
down.
The riots, in which members of the international
peacekeeping and Kosovo police forces died, broke out
after two ethnic Albanian boys were found drowned in
the Ibar river, near the village of Cabra.
Metropolitan Kirill: Recognition of the independence of Kosovo to
incite a new conflict in the region
Interfax - 30 March 2006, 14:52
Moscow, March 30, Interfax - The independence of Kosovo implies negative
consequences for Europe for many decades and leads to new developments
around the so called ‘unrecognized states’ on the post-Soviet territory,
chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church
Relations Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad said.
‘I believe that if Kosovo gets independence, the consequences would be
disastrous. Kosovo and Serbia will bleed constantly, and the region will
retain its potential for enmity, hatred and thus for conflict’, the
metropolitan said at a news conference in Interfax central office in
Moscow on Thursday.
He referred to the Mid-East conflict as an example, which is an
incessant source of threatening stability in the region. ‘We know about
the developments in the Middle East. The region with its potential of
hatred and confrontation has threatened not only human life in the
region, but peace in the world for over half a century’, the
metropolitan noted.
According to him, it is quite obvious that ‘an unjust solution of the
Kosovo problem would bring about something similar to Europe for long
decades’.
‘I agree with those who think that the independence of Kosovo would lead
to new developments around the so-called ‘unrecognized states’ on the
post-Soviet territory. Europe would encounter multiple problems related
to the attempts of such ‘independent states’ at self-determination,
Metropolitan Kirill stated.
He is convinced that it is necessary ‘to weigh the possible consequences
of an action’. ‘I believe that settlement of the Kosovo problem should
go together with Serbia within the framework of a single state’ a
representative of the Russian Church noted.
He continued that the independence of Kosovo would have a very negative
impact on the Orthodox population and the Orthodox shrines of the
region. ‘Even now, in the presence of international forces in Kosovo,
the shrines continue to be sacrileged, and churches and monasteries of
great cultural significance destroyed’, the metropolitan underscored.
‘If this happens regardless of the presence of the armed forced that are
able to protect Serbian cultural heritage and the Orthodox people, what
would happen after thee forces leave the country and Kosovo becomes
independent? I am afraid the consequences would be tragic’, he said.
According to the hierarch, a stable state and a stable political system
are impossible to build under these circumstances.’
http://eng.primenewsonline.com/?c=121&a=7245
Prime News (Georgia) March 31, 2006
Kosovo Precedent Threatens Russia’s Territorial Integrity, Results Of
Poll
Tbilisi – Most of questioned people by radio station
‘Ekho Moskvi” reckon that the Kosovo precedent
threatens the territorial integrity of the Russian
Federation.
Express-poll held with the frameworks of the
‘Ricochet’ program, revealed that 62% of questioned
people support the abovementioned opinion, 38% reckon
that precedent in Kosovo does not threaten territorial
integrity of the Russian Federation
In total 905 people were interrogated.
On March 30 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia
and Montenegro stated that Serbia agrees to
acknowledge Kosovo’s independence and does not object
to Kosovo’s representation in the international
structures excluding the U.N. [lies]
http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/rtr041306.htm
SENIOR RUSSIAN MP KOSACHEV WARNS OF DANGERS OF KOSOVO INDEPENDENCE
BBC Monitoring International Reports - April 13, 2006 Thursday
Text of report by Russia TV on 13 April
Source: RTR Russia TV, Moscow, in Russian 1400 gmt 13 Apr 06
Copyright 2006 Financial Times Information
All Rights Reserved
Global News Wire - Asia Africa Intelligence Wire
Copyright 2006 BBC Monitoring/BBC Source: Financial Times Information
Limited
Posted for Fair Use only.
[Presenter] Moscow thinks it is inappropriate artificially to set any
deadlines for a change in the status of Kosovo. What is more, any
resolution of the Kosovo problem will inevitably become an
international legal precedent, which will influence the resolution of
other conflicts, including within the CIS.
[Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of State Duma Committee on
International Affairs] If Kosovo is recognized as independent without
Belgrade's agreement, for the first time in the history of post-war
Europe a precedent will have been set of dismembering, dissociating
an autonomous area from an integral state without the agreement of
that state to do this. This will mean that other unrecognized
republics will certainly go down the same road, Abkhazia, South
Ossetia, Nagornyy Karabakh, the Dniester Region, North Cyprus,
possibly certain other regions of Europe. This is very well
understood in the West. They are now attempting to put pressure on
Belgrade to achieve in one form or another the agreement of the
Belgrade authorities to independence for Kosovo.
http://www.interfax.com/3/153622/news.aspx
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=1739116&C=europe
Agence France-Press - April 28, 2006
Kosovo Independence Would Destabilize the Balkans: Russian Official
SOFIA, Bulgaria - Independence for Kosovo would
destabilize the Balkans, Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov warned April 28 after talks with NATO
counterparts in the Bulgarian capital Sofia.
”We don’t agree with those trying to persuade us...
that there is no alternative to Kosovo independence,”
he told reporters.
”That is a fairly dangerous path that could lead to
dangerous consequences for the region and create a
precedent for other conflict situations,” he said.
Still technically a province of Serbia, Kosovo has
been administered by the United Nations since Serb
forces were forced out by NATO-led air war in 1999.
The international community hopes to settle Kosovo’s
status by the end of this year, and talks have begun
between Belgrade and the ethnic Albanian government in
Pristina on the territory’s future status.
Lavrov called on Pristina to respect U.N. Security
Council “standards” and “to create conditions in
Kosovo to guarantee the return of refugees” — Kosovar
Serbs forced out of the territory.
Russia has long sided with Serbia in challenging moves
to proclaim Kosovo independence.
The foreign minister of Serbia-Montenegro, Vuk
Draskovic, said in Paris Wednesday that Kosovar
independence would pose a major obstacle to Serbian-EU
relations.
”It would seen as a humiliation ... Kosovo is the
spiritual cradle of the Serbs,” he said, though he
added that Belgrade was willing to offer “internal
independence.”
But on April 27, Prime Minister Sali Berisha of
neighboring Albania told France’s Le Figaro newspaper
that “no plan other than the independence of Kosovo
can bring peace and stability.”
Interfax-Military - May 4, 2006
Independent Kosovo would aggravate regional conflicts - Kokoshin
MOSCOW - Granting independence to Kosovo will
have very serious consequences, Chairman of the State
Duma's CIS Affairs Committee and former Security
Council secretary Andrei Kokoshin told Interfax-AVN on
Thursday.
"Any decision granting independence to Kosovo will
shake the modern world order," he said.
This is the opinion of many politicians in Russia, the
West and the East, Kokoshin said.
Not only will a precedent be created, but suspicions
about the West's policies regarding sovereignty and
territorial integrity and double standards will
intensify, Kokoshin said.
"An independent Kosovo will naturally exacerbate many
conflicts on the territory of the former Soviet Union
and in other regions, including Asia, Africa and
Europe," he said.
"The situation is made yet more complicated by the
fact that Kosovo is an autonomous region within a
former constituent part of the former federation. Any
evidence Western statesman may produce in support of
the 'uniqueness' of the Kosovo situation cannot
prevent exacerbation," he said.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20060519/48365461.html
Russian Information Agency (Novosti) - May 19, 2006
Prishtina's stance on Kosovo is unconstructive - Russian FM
STRASBOURG - The Kosovan leadership's intransigent
attitude is delaying a solution over the status of the
troubled Balkan territory, Russia's foreign minister
said Friday.
Sergei Lavrov, speaking at a news conference in
Strasbourg, said: "The position of Prishtina's
leadership, which is insisting on the unequivocal
independence of Kosovo, is very unconstructive."
Lavrov said a unilateral approach should not be taken
to talks on Kosovo, and that negotiations must be held
through the UN and the Contact Group.
Talks on the UN-administered territory's status should
be concluded by the end of the year, a view that is
shared by the six-nation Contact Group - the U.S.,
Russia, Britain, France, Germany and Italy - Lavrov
said.
Earlier, some Russian politicians expressed concern
that independence for Kosovo would create a precedent
for recognition of breakaway regions in the former
Soviet Union.
Moldova is dealing with a separatist regime in
Transdnestr, while Georgia has two breakaway regions
in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Nagorny Karabakh, a
largely ethnic Armenian enclave inside Azerbaijan, has
long been a source of friction between the two
Caucasus states.
Formally part of Serbia, Kosovo has been a UN
protectorate since 1999, following a NATO military
campaign to drive out Yugoslav forces....
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=88665&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - May 19, 2006
Balkans’ Fate Depends on Outcome of Kosovo Issue
Moscow - The fate of the Balkans depends on the
outcome of the Kosovo issue and the stake for the
region’s stability is finding a solution that would
fulfill the common international norms and will be a
result from the talks between Pristina and Belgrade.
This is what Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir
Titov stated today cited by Serbian agency TANJUG.
According to him there are some tendencies that bring
hope to the stabilization process, to the
strengthening of trust and to the regional cooperation
but he added that there are also “many risks
concentrated in Kosovo”.
http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/politics/28.html?id_issue=11519342
Interfax - May 19, 2006
Kosovo resolution will form precedent for conflict settlement - Russia
MOSCOW - The approach to the settlement of the Kosovo
conflict should not be unique, Deputy Foreign Minister
Vladimir Titov has said.
"We are resolutely opposed to any policy of double
standards on matters concerning sovereignty or
territorial integrity and are therefore set on seeking
a well-balanced solution," he said in an interview
published in Vremya Novostei on Friday.
"The resolution on Kosovo will create a precedent in
international law that will later be applied to other
frozen conflicts," he said.
"We disagree with the concept that the case of Kosovo
is unique, because such an approach runs counter to
the norms of international law. It is wrought with the
arbitrary application of different rules to the
settlement of each particular crisis undermining
confidence in the international community and creating
the impression of a selective approach to conflicts in
different parts of the world," Titov said.
"Specific as situations may be, the approaches and
rules of settlement should be universal," he said.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20060522/48424329.html
Russian Information Agency (Novosti) - May 22, 2006
Kosovo talks to step up gear after Montenegro vote - Russian MP
MOSCOW - Discussions over the status of Kosovo will
become more intense after Sunday's referendum on the
independence of Montenegro, a senior member of the
lower chamber of Russia's parliament said Monday.
The elections commission has said that 55.4% (with 55%
required) of votes were cast in favor of Montenegro
seceding from its union with Serbia, which on paper
still includes the province of Kosovo, even though it
has been a UN protectorate since 1999.
Konstantin Kosachev, the chairman of the State Duma's
international affairs committee, said the discussions
on Kosovo's controversial status - ethnic Albanians
are pushing for independence from Belgrade - would
inevitably be taken to a new level, though he warned
against making any decision without taking into
account the interests of the minority Serbs.
If this were to happen, he said it would "set a
far-reaching precedent for other situations (northern
Cyprus and the Basque country)."
Kosachev said the status of Kosovo, which NATO troops
first entered after Serbian forces were accused of
committing atrocities against ethnic Albanians, should
be considered as part of a UN Security Council
resolution.
....
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said May 19
that talks Kosovo's status should be concluded by the
end of the year, a view that is shared by the other
members of the six-nation Contact Group: the United
States, Britain, France, Germany and Italy.
Earlier, some Russian politicians expressed concern
that independence for Kosovo in what was once
Yugoslavia would create a precedent for recognizing
breakaway regions in the former Soviet Union.
Moldova is dealing with a separatist regime in
Transdnestr and Georgia has two breakaway regions in
Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Nagorny Karabakh, a
largely ethnic Armenian enclave inside Azerbaijan, has
long been a source of friction between the two
Caucasus states.
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=8692564&PageNum=0
Itar-Tass - May 23, 2006
Kosovo independence to become universal precedent – official
MOSCOW - Kosovo independence will become a universal
precedent, head of the Kremlin department for
inter-regional and cultural relations with foreign
states Modes Kolerov told Moscow University students
on Tuesday.
“Not only us will have to recognize the universality
of the Kosovo precedent,” he said.
The Kosovo situation may be applied to unrecognized
republics on the former Soviet territory. “Obviously,
Kosovo will be a precedent for the CIS,” he said.
However, it would not be easy to make independent
Abkhazia, the Dniester region and South Ossetia, he
said.
“For instance, a referendum in Abkhazia will not be
accepted by the European Union as quickly and clearly
as the recent referendum in Montenegro,” he said.
http://www.regnum.ru/english/648217.html
Regnum (Russia) - May 29, 2006
Natalia Narochnitskaya: Russia should welcome refugees from Kosovo
The situation in the newly founded independent state
of Montenegro and the outlook for the situation in the
Balkans was discussed at a round-table conference held
in Moscow on May 29, 2006.
Yelitsa Kuryak, Minister-Counselor at the Embassy of
Serbia and Montenegro to the Russian Federation, told
REGNUM correspondent that Serbia has already admitted
about 250,000 refugees from Kosovo.
They “have neither jobs, nor housing, nor subsistence
means.”
“Serbia cannot handle this,” the Minister-Counselor
stated.
Natalia Narochnitskaya, deputy speaker on the State
Duma Foreign Affairs Committee and head of the
Historical Perspective foundation, commented that her
foundation “advocates welcoming Serbian refugees from
Kosovo in Russia and giving them an opportunity to
survive and fit in. I am inclined to raise this issue
in the concerned governmental agencies of the Russian
Federation. Russia should initiate accepting refugees
from Kosovo.
"This is a real opportunity to help Serbia solve at
least part of her problems. I am convinced that Russia
is quite capable of receiving even hundreds of
thousands of Serbian refugees.”
http://www.interfax.com/3/161051/news.aspx
Interfax - May 30, 2006
Kosovo settlement should be based on UN resolution - Lavrov
MOSCOW - The decision settling the status of
Kosovo should be made only on the basis of a UN
resolution, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
said at a Tuesday meeting with Martti Ahtisaari,
Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United
Nations for the future status process for Kosovo.
"The decision must rely on a UN mandate in compliance
with UN Security Council resolution #1244," Lavrov
said.
As in any conflict, any decision on Kosovo must be
reached through talks and understandings acceptable to
both sides, he said.
A settlement for Kosovo should stem from long-standing
practices of the United Nations and the international
community and "deviation from these principles would
create a bad precedent," he said.
Ahtisaari thanked Lavrov for the possibility of
continuing dialogue on the future status of Kosovo,
saying an agreement had been reached on launching
talks on Kosovo in Vienna.
The purpose of these talks will be to find out whether
a solution suiting all sides can be found, he said
http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/politics/28.html?id_issue=11524725
Interfax - May 29, 2006
Lavrov sees EU double standard in Transdnestria customs dispute
MOSCOW - Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
believes that the European Union applies different
standards to Transdniestria, on the one hand, and to
Kosovo and Northern Cyprus, on the other.
He told a Monday meeting of the bureau of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)
in Moscow that Russia cannot support the blockade of
Transdniestria.
He said Europe would hardly agree to Kosovo trading
with the rest of the world according to the rules of
Serbia.
He added that the EU actively supports the customs
openness of Northern Cyprus.
"I think one can notice double standards in these
actions by European politicians," he said.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20060601/48929638.html
Russian Information Agency (Novosti) - June 1, 2006
Kosovo decision to set precedent - Russian CE representative
STRASBOURG, (France) - A decision on the status of
the Serbian province of Kosovo will set a precedent in
Europe, Russia's official representative at the
Council of Europe said Thursday.
Alexander Orlov said the decision on granting it
independence "could become universal for the rest of
Europe."
Kosovo has been under the administration of the UN
since 1999 but it is widely assumed the
Albanian-majority population will be granted
independence from Serbia, which should mark the final
carving up of the old Yugoslavia following
Montenegro's May 21 vote to secede from Serbia.
Orlov said this could set an example for
decision-making on the status of other provinces,
including Transdnestr, a breakaway region in Moldova,
and South Ossetia and Abkhazia, self-proclaimed
republics in Georgia.
Orlov said the United Nations was playing the key role
in talks on the status of Kosovo but added that the
Council of Europe could help the province determine
its constitutional system, control the observation of
human rights and the rights of ethnic minorities.
Russia has consistently advocated the rights of Serbs
living in Kosovo, many of whom have been driven out of
the province, and highlighted the plight of the
Orthodox Church, whose buildings have often been
attacked.
Dobro dosli na J U G O I N F O !
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italiano. Una voce autogestita, effettivamente autonoma da
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(see archive: http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/)
With around 700 subscribers distributed over a few mailing lists,
the newsletter JUGOINFO is one of the best known voices of information
about international issues from an anti-imperialistic perspective on the
Italian scene. Ours is a self-managed activity, really independent
from any institutional logics, free of "political correctness" and
any kind of "jugo-liquidationist" pressures.
Our effort to keep you informed through the net is continuing
without interruption (even if under different denominations)
since 1997. This has a chance to go on only if you support us.
MAKE A DONATION for JUGOINFO and the other activities of the
Coordinamento Nazionale per la Jugoslavia by contributing to:
Conto Bancoposta n. 47595665
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For any contacts: j u g o c o o r d @ t i s c a l i . i t
GRAZIE / HVALA / THANKS
AVVERTENZA ai sensi del Codice in materia di protezione dei dati
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Gli indirizzi e-mail presenti nel nostro archivio provengono da
contatti e richieste di iscrizioni pervenute al nostro recapito
e nelle quali e' stato prestato il consenso in base al vigente
Dlgs n. 196/2003 (art. 23, 24, ) oppure da richieste e consensi
prestati ai sensi della normativa precedente e non piu' in vigore
dal 31.12.03. I dati raccolti vengono utilizzati esclusivamente
per l'invio della presente newsletter e trattati mediante sistemi
automatizzati e sistemi informatici, secondo quanto previsto dal
Codice in materia di protezione dei dati personali introdotto con
Dlgs n. 196/2003. Per le cancellazioni della iscrizione e dei dati
dal nostro archivio e' sufficiente una richiesta in tal senso.
Tutti i contenuti di JUGOINFO sono a responsabilita' e copyright
dei siti linkati o di chi li ha scritti.
JUGOINFO e' il bollettino sulla Jugoslavia ed i Balcani curato dal
COORDINAMENTO NAZIONALE PER LA JUGOSLAVIA - https://www.cnj.it
(vedi archivio: http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/)
Con circa 700 iscritti, distribuiti su varie liste, JUGOINFO rappresenta
una delle voci piu' note nel campo della informazione sulle questioni
internazionali da una prospettiva antimperialista nel panorama
italiano. Una voce autogestita, effettivamente autonoma da
logiche istituzionali, libera da ogni "political correctness" e
scevra di ansie "jugo-liquidazioniste" di qualsiasi tipo.
La nostra attivita' di informazione via internet continua
ininterrottamente (seppur con diverse denominazioni) dal 1997.
Essa puo' continuare solo con il vostro sostegno.
SOTTOSCRIVETE per JUGOINFO e per le altre attivita' del
Coordinamento Nazionale per la Jugoslavia usando il:
Conto Bancoposta n. 47595665
intestato ad Anita Krstic, Milano.
Causale: sostegno per Jugoinfo
Per contattarci: j u g o c o o r d @ t i s c a l i . i t
JUGOINFO is the bulletin on Yugoslavia and the Balkans edited by the
ITALIJANSKA KOORDINACIJA ZA JUGOSLAVIJU - https://www.cnj.it
(see archive: http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/)
With around 700 subscribers distributed over a few mailing lists,
the newsletter JUGOINFO is one of the best known voices of information
about international issues from an anti-imperialistic perspective on the
Italian scene. Ours is a self-managed activity, really independent
from any institutional logics, free of "political correctness" and
any kind of "jugo-liquidationist" pressures.
Our effort to keep you informed through the net is continuing
without interruption (even if under different denominations)
since 1997. This has a chance to go on only if you support us.
MAKE A DONATION for JUGOINFO and the other activities of the
Coordinamento Nazionale per la Jugoslavia by contributing to:
Conto Bancoposta n. 47595665
intestato ad Anita Krstic, Milano.
Causale: sostegno per Jugoinfo
For any contacts: j u g o c o o r d @ t i s c a l i . i t
GRAZIE / HVALA / THANKS
AVVERTENZA ai sensi del Codice in materia di protezione dei dati
personali Dlgs n. 196/2003:
Gli indirizzi e-mail presenti nel nostro archivio provengono da
contatti e richieste di iscrizioni pervenute al nostro recapito
e nelle quali e' stato prestato il consenso in base al vigente
Dlgs n. 196/2003 (art. 23, 24, ) oppure da richieste e consensi
prestati ai sensi della normativa precedente e non piu' in vigore
dal 31.12.03. I dati raccolti vengono utilizzati esclusivamente
per l'invio della presente newsletter e trattati mediante sistemi
automatizzati e sistemi informatici, secondo quanto previsto dal
Codice in materia di protezione dei dati personali introdotto con
Dlgs n. 196/2003. Per le cancellazioni della iscrizione e dei dati
dal nostro archivio e' sufficiente una richiesta in tal senso.
Tutti i contenuti di JUGOINFO sono a responsabilita' e copyright
dei siti linkati o di chi li ha scritti.
GLI ASSASSINI DI CAMP DARBY MINACCIANO I GIORNALISTI DELLA RAI
http://www.rainews24.it/Notizia.asp?NewsID=61977
Rainews. Recapitato un proiettile in redazione. Morrione: messaggio
intimidatorio
Roma, 31 maggio 2006
Un bossolo di proiettile calibro 9 millimetri, contenuto in un plico
indirizzato al direttore di Rainews 24 Roberto Morrione e all'inviato
Sigfrido Ranucci, è arrivato in forma anonima alla redazione del
canale all news della Rai, a Saxa Rubra a Roma. Lo rende noto la
stessa direzione di Rainews 24, spiegando che il plico contenente il
bossolo risulta spedito da Pisa. Morrione ha informato l'autorità
giudiziaria dell'episodio. "E' un avvertimento: sono i rischi del
nostro mestiere. Andremo avanti come sempre", commenta il direttore.
Tra le inchieste-scoop realizzate dal canale all news della Rai,
molte delle quali firmate dallo stesso Ranucci, ci sono quelle
sull'uso dei proiettili all'uranio impoverito in Iraq e delle armi al
fosforo bianco su Falluja; sulle testimonianze dei reclusi nel
carcere di Abu Ghraib; e sulle armi misteriose, compatibili con
quelle ad energia diretta (basate su onde elettromagnetiche, onda
acustiche o raggi laser) che sarebbero state sperimentate in
Afghanistan e anche in Iraq.
Il Cdr di Rainews24 e l'Esecutivo Usigrai, in una nota, "denunciano
il grave episodio di intimidazione del quale sono stati vittime il
Direttore della testata, Roberto Morrione, e l'inviato Sigfrido
Ranucci, destinatari di un bossolo di proiettile recapitato in
redazione. Il 'messaggio' inequivocabile, scritto in cattivo inglese,
mira evidentemente a colpire due giornalisti e un'intera redazione,
il canale 'all news' della Rai, che si sono sempre contraddistinti
per l'impegno nel giornalismo d'inchiesta: sul fosforo bianco usato a
Falluja, sulle nuove armi sperimentate in Iraq, sull'attività dei
nostri militari a Nassirya, sul morte di Nicola Calipari". Il Cdr di
Rainews24 e l'Usigrai "esprimono solidarietà al Direttore Roberto
Morrione e all'inviato Sigfrido Ranucci. Respingono con fermezza ogni
tentativo di intimidazione e ribadiscono la volontà della redazione
di continuare a svolgere il lavoro con rigore, correttezza,
indipendenza e scrupolo professionale", conclude la nota.
http://www.rainews24.it/Notizia.asp?NewsID=61977
Rainews. Recapitato un proiettile in redazione. Morrione: messaggio
intimidatorio
Roma, 31 maggio 2006
Un bossolo di proiettile calibro 9 millimetri, contenuto in un plico
indirizzato al direttore di Rainews 24 Roberto Morrione e all'inviato
Sigfrido Ranucci, è arrivato in forma anonima alla redazione del
canale all news della Rai, a Saxa Rubra a Roma. Lo rende noto la
stessa direzione di Rainews 24, spiegando che il plico contenente il
bossolo risulta spedito da Pisa. Morrione ha informato l'autorità
giudiziaria dell'episodio. "E' un avvertimento: sono i rischi del
nostro mestiere. Andremo avanti come sempre", commenta il direttore.
Tra le inchieste-scoop realizzate dal canale all news della Rai,
molte delle quali firmate dallo stesso Ranucci, ci sono quelle
sull'uso dei proiettili all'uranio impoverito in Iraq e delle armi al
fosforo bianco su Falluja; sulle testimonianze dei reclusi nel
carcere di Abu Ghraib; e sulle armi misteriose, compatibili con
quelle ad energia diretta (basate su onde elettromagnetiche, onda
acustiche o raggi laser) che sarebbero state sperimentate in
Afghanistan e anche in Iraq.
Il Cdr di Rainews24 e l'Esecutivo Usigrai, in una nota, "denunciano
il grave episodio di intimidazione del quale sono stati vittime il
Direttore della testata, Roberto Morrione, e l'inviato Sigfrido
Ranucci, destinatari di un bossolo di proiettile recapitato in
redazione. Il 'messaggio' inequivocabile, scritto in cattivo inglese,
mira evidentemente a colpire due giornalisti e un'intera redazione,
il canale 'all news' della Rai, che si sono sempre contraddistinti
per l'impegno nel giornalismo d'inchiesta: sul fosforo bianco usato a
Falluja, sulle nuove armi sperimentate in Iraq, sull'attività dei
nostri militari a Nassirya, sul morte di Nicola Calipari". Il Cdr di
Rainews24 e l'Usigrai "esprimono solidarietà al Direttore Roberto
Morrione e all'inviato Sigfrido Ranucci. Respingono con fermezza ogni
tentativo di intimidazione e ribadiscono la volontà della redazione
di continuare a svolgere il lavoro con rigore, correttezza,
indipendenza e scrupolo professionale", conclude la nota.
