[Nella speranza di trovare tutela da uno Stato sovrano, in pochi giorni più di 50mila serbi-kosovari hanno presentato richiesta per l'ottenimento della cittadinanza della Federazione Russa...]

Global Research, November 7, 2011 / Balkan Insight

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=27523

23.11.2011 11:00 p.m.: KFOR počeo da razbija barikadu kod Dudinog Krša.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37QDXi5ZKh8

RT - November 23, 2011
http://rt.com/news/nato-dismantle-barricade-kosovo-093/

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2011&mm=11&dd=30&nav_id=77573

JUGOINFO POSTS ON KOSOVO-SERBS DEMONSTRATIONS AGAINST NATO (2011):
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/7119
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/7151
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/7157
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/7175

http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/7196

http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/7199

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http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/11/23/60927581.html

Russian Information Agency Novosti - November 23, 2011

Russia to find way to support Kosovo Serbs - Rogozin

The application of more than 20,000 of Kosovo Serbs for the Russian citizenship is an unprecedented and very alarming situation, Russia’s envoy in NATO Dmitri Rogozin said Wednesday.
“Russia will find a way to support the nation which is spiritually close to us and which found itself in such a difficult situation”,  Rogozin said.
Earlier this month 22,000 Kosovo Serbs put their signatures under collective application for the Russian citizenship as they find that Serbia is not providing them with the required support.

http://www.stripes.com/news/europe/kosovo-disturbances-mimicked-in-training-scenario-1.161166

Stars and Stripes - November 18, 2011

Kosovo disturbances mimicked in training scenario

By Steven Beardsley 

HOHENFELS, Germany: The chaos arrived in the early afternoon, hours after negotiations failed.
As soldiers in riot gear approached a makeshift roadblock and the mob that erected it, they were met with taunts and jeers. “U.S. go home!” the crowd began to chant. Then someone hurled a rock.
The riot that ensued was a training simulation – the “rocks” were sandbags, the mob was a group of role-playing Germans, retired soldiers and an active-duty platoon.
Yet it was a mimic of real events in Kosovo, the newly independent Balkan state — and the destination of a National Guard unit that recently trained at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels. This summer, ethnic Serbs erected barriers on roads in the country’s north, in a dispute over border crossings into Serbia, forcing violent confrontations with local police and a tense standoff with NATO peacekeepers.
Officials at JMRC, which regularly prepares U.S. and multinational soldiers for the NATO force known as KFOR, or Kosovo Force, decided to re-create the events as a training tool after a visit to the country last month.
Important tasks during a civil disturbance include holding formation in a line, minding flanks, responding with appropriate force and generally keeping composure at a time when emotions run high, said Lt. Col. Eric McFadden, a training leader at JMRC.
Judging by the action on Thursday, that’s easier said than done.
The Guard unit, a maneuver company from Georgia, arrived with a track vehicle posing as a tank and several Humvees.
The roadblock — an assemblage of plywood planks, stacked wooden pallets and old tires — was easy enough to handle. The tank pushed through, slowly advancing on the mob, which backed away. Soldiers then formed a line the width of the road, their shields held together to form a barrier.
That’s when the rioters emerged from the crowd, a dozen or so civilians played by a platoon with 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, U.S. Army Europe’s opposition force. Harassment was their tactic, 1st Lt. Todd Pitt, the platoon leader, advised his men before the exercise began.
“Try to steal batons, try to steal shields,” he said. “Don’t go jumping into their lines.”
Platoon members taunted the soldiers. They grabbed at shields while dodging baton swipes, threw sandbags and rolled tires with smoke grenades inside. Someone suddenly hurled a smoking tire into the crowd.
In a pattern that repeated itself several times, the Guard line surged forward with abandon, an apparent effort to push the rioters back. Each time, the 1-4 took advantage of the resulting disorder in the line, gaining clean hits with sandbags and grabbing shields or batons.
...

Some soldiers seemed to take things personally. Several times, a soldier dropped his shield and baton to tackle one of the rioters. JMRC observer-controllers, referees in the exercise, broke each scuffle up to resume the scenario.
...

They also appeared to improve over the course of the exercise. Soldiers began to move in lock-step, counting out each step forward. They moved to protect their flanks, keeping shields up and preventing individual soldiers from lurching forward. They learned to hold their shields properly, preventing them from being pushed against them and causing injuries.
The rioters were eventually thinned out at the discretion of the observer-controllers, taken out by a range of nonlethal weapons — among them rubber bullets — that KFOR soldiers might actually use, but didn’t use in the exercise. The company eventually reached the boundary line that was its goal.
McFadden said the simulation achieved what trainers wanted, making the company adjust to the situation around them.
“It’s better to learn the hard lessons here than have to deal with the hard lessons once you deploy,” he said.

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http://ap.stripes.com/dynamic/stories/E/EU_KOSOVO_TENSE_NORTH?SITE=DCSAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Associated Press - November 23, 2011

NATO in Kosovo moves to dismantle Serb barricade

RUDARE, Kosovo: NATO troops in Kosovo fired tear gas to disperse a crowd of Serbs resisting the dismantling of a concrete barricade put up to block Kosovo authorities from controlling the Serb-dominated area.
An AP reporter witnessed NATO soldiers in riot gear attempting to remove a concrete barrier late Wednesday and stretching barbed wire on the road. Tear gas was fired after several hundred Serb protesters removed the barbed wire. NATO did not immediately comment.
Serbs in Kosovo's north have been blocking roads since summer angered by Kosovo authorities' attempt to send ethnic Albanian customs and police officers into the Serb area.
Many Serbs that live there reject the country's 2008 secession from Serbia and say NATO is supports Kosovo institutions.

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http://rt.com/news/nato-dismantle-barricade-kosovo-093/

RT - November 24, 2011

Tear gas, barbed wire, isolation: NATO tools for Kosovo raid

Serbs protesters have thwarted attempts by NATO to dismantle a barricade in Northern Kosovo. And while NATO claims their decision to fire tear gas came as 21 of their soldiers were injured, Belgrade has warned Pristina against any further violence.
The Serbian Minister of Internal Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Dacic has called on the Kosovo's Prime Minister Hashim Thaci to restrain his NATO-led forces from attacking Serbian civilians.
“The red line for Belgrade would be Hashim Thaci’s decision to initiate an armed attack on Serbs in Kosovo. Thaci must know that any attack against Kosovar Serbs means an attack on Belgrade,“ Dacic said in a statement aired on local television Thursday.
Dacic went on to warn Pristina it would be mistaken to think that fears of upsetting the current balance of power would exclude the possibility of war.
Dacic was quick to point out “historically, we’ve lost Kosovo several times, and then it’s returned to us.”
The Serbian minister’s strongly worded appeal is a response to overnight clashes in Northern Kosovo which NATO claims injured 21 of its soldiers.
NATO released a statement Thursday saying Serb protesters threw stones and drove trucks loaded with gravel into its troops. The alliance also claims one soldier was seriously injured, as the decision to fire tear gas and end the operation was taken...
Wednesday night’s disturbances came as Serbs thwarted attempts by a Kosovo Force (KFOR) contingent under NATO command from dismantling a barricade near the town of Zvecan in Northern Kosovo.
Late on Wednesday, KFOR forces stretched barbed wire across a road near Zvecan – a town located near the de facto Serbian capital of Kosovska Mitrovica -as they moved to dismantle the concrete barricade.
Shortly after NATO forces arrived, a siren went off which alerted local Serbs, who soon rushed to the area and began tearing down the barbed wire.
KFOR troops then deployed tear gas in a failed attempt to repel the hundreds of Serbs who had gathered to protect the barricades.
After the NATO troops withdrew from the area, the Serbs moved to further reinforce the concrete blocks.
According to RT's Aleksey Yaroshevksy, some sources have said NATO forces also used rubber bullets, though no injuries have been reported.  
Tensions in Northern Kosovo have been on the rise for months over disputed border crossings.
The government of the breakaway province wants to control the border with Serbia to enforce an import ban – a move resisted by ethnic Serbs in Kosovo.
In July, a policeman was shot dead whilst Kosovo police were trying to take control of the border posts.
At the time a temporary deal was reached between Pristina and Belgrade to allow the international peacekeepers to guard the border, but was rejected by local Serbs.
Kosovo proclaimed independence in 2008, though Serbia never recognized the breakaway move.
Political analyst Aleksandar Pavic told RT that NATO had destabilized the region by taking Pristina’s side in the conflict, a decision which overstepped their role as a peace keeping force under UN Security Resolution 1244.
“In 2008 Pristina unilaterally declared independence and NATO countries recognized that independence so the root of the problem is that we have Western Powers who are recognizing an illegally declared state and they are trying to make the Serbs down there live in this illegally declared state, and that's why practically every day now, especially over the past several months, they're overstepping their UN mandate,“ he said.

VIDEOS: http://rt.com/news/nato-dismantle-barricade-kosovo-093/

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http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/11/24/60962772.html

Russian Information Agency Novosti - November 24, 2011

Attack on Kosovo serbs is attack on Belgrade - Serbia's interior minister

Serbia’s Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Dacic has said that an attack on ethnic Serbs in Kosovo would actually mean an attack on Belgrade.
In his statement broadcast on the B92 TV channel, he reminded Kosovo’s Prime Minister Hashim Thaci that throughout its history Serbia had lost and then regained Kosovo several times.
Earlier, Mr. Dacic called for dividing Kosovo into Albanian and Serb parts.
Tensions in the Serb-populated northern Kosovo have been running high since early September when Kosovo’s Albanian authorities deployed their policemen and customs officers at the Jarinje and Brniak border checkpoints on the border with Serbia, which led to armed clashes between police and local Serbs.

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http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1677297.php/LEAD-NATO-soldiers-injured-in-attempt-to-clear-Serb-barricades

Deutsche Presse-Agentur - November 24, 2011

NATO soldiers injured in attempt to clear Serb barricades

Pristina/Belgrade - NATO peacekeepers in Kosovo (KFOR) said Thursday that 21 soldiers were injured in clashes with a crowd of ethnic Serbs when the soldiers tried to dismantle a roadblock in the northern Kosovo enclave.
The incident comes amid heightened tensions in the Serb-dominated north of Serbia's former province...
The soldiers took control over the roadblock and began dismantling it late Wednesday. But they withdrew under a hail of stones thrown by a crowd that continued to grow and approach ever closer, despite tear gas canisters lobbed their way.
KFOR command in Pristina said its soldiers withdrew...Nonetheless, KFOR reported 21 injuries sustained.
In recent months, Serbs have erected around 20 roadblocks in the north to prevent the government in Pristina from taking control over the borders to Serbia proper.

...Serbs fiercely resist any authority from Pristina and, nearly four years since Kosovo declared independence from Serbia, still consider Belgrade their capital.
In a tense cat-and-mouse game, KFOR has dismantled several roadblocks since the Serbs put them up at crossings in September. Each time the barricades were renewed.
...

Serbian leaders promised never to recognize Kosovo's independence and have backed their compatriots' resistance to Pristina's rule.
...

The most prominent turnaround was made by the Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Ivica Dacic, who told Thursday's edition of the daily Press that a new war over Kosovo 'cannot be excluded.'
...

Dacic leads the Socialist Party, a junior partner in President Boris Tadic's ruling coalition.

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http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2011&mm=11&dd=24&nav_id=77468

B92/Press - November 24, 2011

“We should go to war over Kosovo if necessary”

BELGRADE: Kosovo PM Hashim Thaci needs to know that by attacking Serbs in Kosovo he is also attacking Belgrade, Serbian Deputy PM Ivica Dačić told daily Press.
He added that Serbia could not stand by peacefully and watch that.
Dačić on Wednesday stated that nobody in Serbia must say that Kosovo was lost and that they would not go to war over it. 
“A red line for Belgrade is Hashim Thaci’s armed assault on Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija,” he was quoted as saying. 
“Thaci needs to know that by attacking Serbs in Kosovo he is attacking Belgrade as well. Serbia cannot and will not watch it peacefully,” the deputy PM pointed out. 
He stressed that if Turkey could say that an attack on Sarajevo was an attack on Istanbul, then there was no reason “the attack on Kosovska Mitrovica is not an attack on Belgrade”. 
Dačić assessed that rejection of a possibility of war would be a wrong message to Thaci because a “balance of fear” was necessary for the sake of security in the region. He explained that the “balance of fear” was the only reason why a war never broke out between the U.S. and the USSR. 
...

Military-political analyst Miroslav Lazanski believes that the use of force is a part of diplomacy and points out that “this is one in a scale of statements in which Dačić is expressing his position on the situation in Kosovo”. 
“Dačić’s position is hard, but right in my opinion. Not a single state diplomacy is successful if it is not supported by military force. It takes two to have a war and there is a question what we would do if someone attacked us. If NATO does not want to go over the barricades by force, what would happen if Serbia set a clear line regarding some other issues as well? If the Americans say ‘stick and carrot’, because the carrot itself is not enough, which in translation means that we need to show that we are ready to use the force we have at our disposal,” Lazanski was quoted as saying. 
...

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http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2011&mm=11&dd=24&nav_id=77469

Beta News Agency/Serbian Radio and Television/Tanjug News Agency - November 24, 2011

KFOR troops withdraw, Serbs at barricades

ZVEČAN: KFOR troops withdrew about an hour and a half after midnight from a barricade in the village of Dudin Krš which they attempted to remove on Wednesday night.
Serbs built a new barricade at Dudin Krš during the night (Tanjug)
The local Serbs additionally reinforced the barricade last night by adding new amounts of gravel.
KFOR troops withdrew toward southern Kosovska Mitrovica while the Serbs continued to reinforce the barricade. 
The barricades made of dirt, sand and large boulders are around two meters high and are blocking both lanes on a bridge near Zvečan. 
When the Serbs started unloading the large amounts of gravel and building new barricades KFOR troops used tear gas to disperse them. Some of the citizens had gasmasks on and ambulance arrived to the scene to treat those did not have them. 
Shots were heard in the area around 00:30 CET but it is still unknown who fired them. Majority of citizens left home around 02:00 and only a small number of them stayed at the barricade. 
The barricade in the village of Dudin Krš was built almost four months ago and it is blocking the road leading to the Jarinje administrative crossing. 
KFOR has already tried to remove the barricade near Dudin Krš twice, on October 18 and 22 but they were stopped by the citizens both times.
Explosion rocks Kosovska Mitrovica
A powerful explosion took place about 01:00 CET in northern Kosovska Mitrovica. Nobody was injured but two cars were damaged in the blast. 
The explosion took place near the Faculty of Economy and police immediately came to the scene. 
“So far we have neither motive nor suspects for the bomb attack,” Kosovo police regional Spokesman Besim Hoti has stated.

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http://rt.com/news/kosovo-serbs-barricades-kfor-267/

RT - November 26, 2011

Northern Kosovo: Serbs make their last stand

Tensions run high on Serbia's border with northern Kosovo, as neither of the conflicting sides is prepared to rule out a further escalation of violence.
Local Serbs say NATO forces are to blame, for breaking an agreement by trying to remove a barricade blocking the way to one of a number of disputed checkpoints. 
The move prompted violent clashes that left dozens injured on both sides.
Last night in Northern Kosovo passed without violence though this does not mean that the source of tensions has disappeared.
On November 23 the NATO’s KFOR forces attempted to remove a barricade put up by ethnic Serbian minority of the region. The resistance was tense so the soldiers used tear gas. More than 20 people were injured but the Serbs got it their way and the KFOR operation was ceased.
RT crew traveled around the area and saw the barricades that have been there for the last four months still up. They are constantly maintained and people there say they are not going to abandon them in any case and in fact are planning to build more of them.
To an untrained eye those barricades seem to be mere piles of rubble, amateurishly constructed. One would never say they could become a cause of armed conflict.
But in order to comprehend why the barricades appeared in the first place, the developments in July in Kosovo must be remembered.
The Serbian minority, that constitutes 10 per cent of the Kosovo population, lost any kind of legal status once Kosovo unilaterally proclaimed independence from Serbia in 2008. The Kosovo Serbs still consider themselves the citizens of Serbia. Needless to say that the Kosovo Albanians do not consider Northern Kosovo to be independent and expect Serbs to leave their homes and move to Serbia.
Until July the Serbs in northern Kosovo were allowed a measure of self-independence and an ability to be in free contact with mainland Serbia. But then the official Pristina (Kosovo capital) decided to take the border with Serbia under control, to install customs stations to administrate the goods flow and all the cars and trucks coming into the area.
The Serbs did not see that as a mere formality, but as an infringement of their remaining freedoms. They called it a slippery slope, first comes the customs control – then they become hostages of a political will of Albanian Pristina.
To prevent that from happening they erected barricades.
Then it appeared a compromise was found when it was announced that the customs stations will be controlled not by Albanians, but by KFOR forces.
The only matter is that the Serbs never trusted KFOR, seeing it as a force that conducts NATO policies in the region, making the separation of Kosovo from Serbia possible in the first place and protecting Albanian interests only.
And Serbs have every right to stick to their opinion since KFOR has never been evinced any sympathies with Serbs.
This time it was exactly the same. Once the tensions ran high and an attempt to remove the barricades was made, KFOR opened fire at protestors with live ammunition, later claiming they were using rubber bullets.
But doctors in the region who were treating the wounded have seen enough to tell the difference between a rubber bullet wound and a real one. Luckily enough, no one was killed.
In November KFOR started another operation to remove the barricades and again Serbs born in Kosovo made a stand, clearly understanding this might be their last one, saying firmly they will not leave their land.

VIDEO: http://rt.com/news/kosovo-serbs-barricades-kfor-267/

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http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2011&mm=11&dd=25&nav_id=77496

B92/Beta News Agency/KiM Radio - November 26, 2011

KFOR commander's statements "worrying"

ČAGLAVICA: A Serb mayor in northern Kosovo on Friday commented on a statement made by KFOR commander Erhard Drews, who warned about "a possible escalation of violence".
The German general who commands NATO's troops in Kosovo commented on the situation in the northern part of the province in an interview reported on Thursday.
Today, Zvečan Mayor Dragiša Mišović told KiM Radio in Čaglavica that "KFOR does as Priština (K. Albanian authorities) decide", while Serbs in the north - where they are a majority rejecting the authority of the government in Priština - "will not jeopardize security or aggravate the already difficult situation". 
For the past several months, local Serbs have been putting up barricades blocking the roads leading to the administrative line crossings between central Serbia and Kosovo, after the Priština authorities tried to install their customs and police at the checkpoints. Local Serbs and official Belgrade also reject the unilateral proclamation of independence of Kosovo, made by ethnic Albanians in early 2008. 
Mayor Milović said on Friday that he believed Drew's statement meant that "obviously these announcements are coming from Priština": 
"As he himself has said, Priština is getting increasingly nervous, but we expect him and all KFOR officials to act in line with their mandate and in line with (UNSC) Resolution 1244, in maintaining the stability and security of all people who live in Kosovo and Metohija." 
According to the mayor, claims that the barricades were limiting KFOR's ability to move freely were "not true". 
"KFOR enjoys full freedom of movement, and we have agreed with their representatives that there must not be any unilateral moves. On the other hand, we receive the answer in the form of an attempt to use force to remove the barricade in Dudin Krš," Milović said, referring to the incident at one of the road blocks, that took place earlier this week.

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http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2011/11/28/nato-soldiers-wounded-in-clash-with-serb-protesters/

Voice of America News - November 28, 2011

NATO Soldiers Wounded in Clash With Serb Protesters

A NATO spokesman says two soldiers serving with NATO's Kosovo Force were wounded Monday during a confrontation with Serb protesters in north Kosovo.
The violence erupted when NATO troops began removing several earthen roadblocks put in place by the Serbs who reject the authority of the Kosovo government. The ethnic Albanian-dominated Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008.
A KFOR spokesman said the wounded soldiers condition is not known.

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http://rt.com/news/kosovo-clashes-violence-victims-421/

RT - November 29, 2011

NATO troops shot, wounded in brutal Kosovo clashes 

At least two Kosovo Serbs and two NATO peacekeepers were injured in a fresh wave of violence in northern Kosovo, casting doubts on whether the conflict could be resolved in the near future.
The skirmishes occurred near the town of Zubin Potok, where Serbs were protesting NATO’s attempts to remove a barricade made of buses and trucks that was blocking a main road in the region. NATO peacekeeping troops responded by firing rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons at the demonstrators. They also used pepper spray and batons against the protesters while the latter hit the NATO peacekeepers with clubs and pelted them with rocks.
NATO has been claiming the two injured peacekeepers were under fire from the Serb demonstrators and is now instructing its soldiers to fire live ammunition if they come under attack.
Violence between Kosovo Serbs and NATO troops and Kosovar police flared up this summer after the self-proclaimed Kosovo government sought set up customs and border posts in the north of the country, where the overall minority Serbs make up a majority.
The Serb population responded by burning one of the posts and attacking Kosovar police. NATO troops were then called in, but Serbs began setting up barricades made of mud, soil, rock and concrete barriers to block the main road arteries leading to the border. This led to several skirmishes over the past months involving NATO peacekeepers and Kosovo Serbs.
Just last week more than 20 Portuguese and Hungarian soldiers were injured in another operation to remove the barricades.
Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008 but it was only recognized by 85 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom and France, but not most of the countries, including Russia and Serbia itself.
... 

VIDEO: http://rt.com/news/kosovo-clashes-violence-victims-421/

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http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/11/29/61193442.html

Itar-Tass - November 29, 2011

25 NATO servicemen injured in clashes with Kosovo Serbs
        
25 NATO servicemen have been injured in clashes with Serbs in Northern Kosovo, according to a statement that the KFOR international security force for Kosovo released earlier today. According to the Serbian mass media, up to 50 civilians were injured in the clashes.
NATO servicemen used rubber bullets, water cannons and tear gas to disperse the raging crowd, and also heavy military hardware to unblock the motorway that the protesters cut off with their buses and trucks in the area of the town of Zubin Potok.
The situation in Northern Kosovo was aggravated in the middle of September, when the Albanian authorities of the self-proclaimed state assumed control over the Jarinje and Brnjak checkpoints on the administrative border with Serbia. Kosovo Serbs have since started erecting barricades to protest the move.

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http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2011&mm=11&dd=29&nav_id=77551

Beta News Agency/Tanjug News Agency - November 29, 2011

KFOR: We'll shoot; Serbs start building new road

JAGNJENICA: KFOR members used loud speakers on Tuesday to warn local Serbs that they would "shoot" if they built a new barricade at Jagnjenica. 
KFOR at Jagnjenica on Tuesday (Tanjug)The locals ignored the warning and started hauling in earth and gravel, dumping it on the road, thus constructing a new barricade. KFOR reacted by throwing tear gas at the Serbs, who are also this Tuesday building a new road nearby.
This latest maneuver by the locals left KFOR troops "partially blocked", Tanjug is reporting. 
The vehicles the soldiers used on Monday to break up the old barricade are now located between two new road blocks, set up on both sides of the Zubin Potok-Zvečan road this afternoon. 
KFOR vehicles can at present only retreat to Čabra, an ethnic Albanian village where they had set up camp, according to this report. 
Earlier in the day, the talks between the NATO troops in Kosovo and local Serb leaders, held earlier in the day, did not produce any results. 
"If your trucks unload gravel here, we will shoot," it was heard from the KFOR loud speakers. 
The citizens gathered on the roads reacted with dissatisfaction, but no incidents were reported from the scene. 
During the meeting on Tuesday, KFOR again asked Serbs to leave the road, while Zubin Potok Mayor Slaviša Ristić said that the troops should return to the positions they held before they moved to remove the barricade at Jagnjenica, and added that KFOR enjoyed freedom of movement. 
A KFOR commander, who reports said "did not wish to introduce himself", accused Ristić of being "directly responsible for yesterday's violence against KFOR" - an accusation which the mayor rejected as false. 
Ristić also said he woud call on citizens to remain calm. 
After the meeting, KFOR again used lound speakers to warn the Serbs to disperse, and threaten that tear gas would be used against them.

New road
Meantime, local Serbs have decided to build a new road near Jagnjenica. 
On Tuesday afternoon, they brought machines to the location and started building an "alternative" road, in a bid to circumvent the barricade that is now held by KFOR. 
The aim is to make sure that the town of Zubin Potok, now cut off from other towns in the north of the province, is once again connected to Zvečan and Kosovska Mitrovica. 
The citizens are hauling in gravel and building the road, while KFOR troops are observing the developments.

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http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=66279

U.S. Department of Defense - November 29, 2011

U.S. Commander Condemns Attacks on Kosovo Force

By Donna Miles

WASHINGTON: A senior U.S. military leader in Europe condemned recent violence against NATO troops in Kosovo just as a Wisconsin Army National Guard unit prepares to take command of the 15th rotation of peacekeeping forces there.
Navy Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, commander of Allied Joint Force Command Naples, visited Pristina, Kosovo, today to assess the situation a day after attacks by Serb demonstrators wounded more than two dozen NATO Kosovo Force members. No U.S. troops were wounded in the clashes.
The attacks occurred after the KFOR troops removed blockades that had shut off a main road in northern Kosovo.
“The use of violence against KFOR troops is unacceptable,” Locklear said in a statement released today...
About 180 members of the Wisconsin National Guard’s 157th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade are now preparing to assume authority for the next KFOR rotation in December. They will serve as the brigade headquarters unit for Multinational Battle Group East, also known as Task Force Falcon. In that role, the 157th will oversee operations for the entire Multinational Battle Group East.
The group includes National Guard and Reserve soldiers from Wisconsin, Mississippi, Georgia, Nebraska, Vermont, North Dakota, New Jersey, Wyoming, Massachusetts and Puerto Rico. It also includes international forces from Armenia, Greece, Poland, Turkey, Romania and the Ukraine.
To prepare for the mission, the KFOR 15 troops trained in realistic scenarios at Camp Atterbury, Ind., and most recently, at U.S. Army Europe’s Joint Multinational Training Center in Hohenfels, Germany.
...

Observer-controllers at both training sites strived to make the training as realistic as possible, he said, based on tactics, techniques and procedures taking place on the ground.
“Early on in our training, the focus was on a relatively steady state and calm environment in Kosovo,” Liethen said earlier this month at Hohenfels.
“Things have drastically changed,” he said. “It’s very obvious that the training program here at Hohenfels has been modified to replicate what is actually going on in Kosovo right now so that will definitely be a help in us conducting our mission.” 

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http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2011&mm=11&dd=30&nav_id=77557

Tanjug News Agency - November 30, 2011

UN SC voices different views on Kosovo

NEW YORK: U.S., Great Britain, France and Germany’s representatives in the UN Security Council supported on Tuesday removal of the barricades in northern Kosovo.
Russia and China, on the other hand, backed Serbia’s integrity.
Serbia’s Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić requested from the UN Security Council to prevent further unilateral actions. The UN Security Council permanent members strongly condemned violence but remained divided regarding who was responsible for it. 
...

Commenting on the recent incidents in northern Kosovo, the German representative said that violence against KFOR soldiers had to be fiercely condemned because attacks on KFOR...
Pointing out that putting up roadblocks was unacceptable, Wittig called on all sides to refrain from violence and asked Serbian authorities to use their influence to prevent violence. He also appealed to Priština officials to get involved in the search for a solution to the problems of organized crime and attacks on minorities. 
U.S. Ambassador to the UN Rosemary DiCarlo said that the violence in northern Kosovo had been caused by few extremists, adding that her country was still optimistic regarding solving of the issues between Belgrade and Priština. 
She called on the Serbian government to cooperate with KFOR and EULEX on removal of the barricades and arrest of suspected criminals in northern Kosovo. 
DiCarlo said that Kosovo was a unique customs market and that it therefore had the right to control its borders. She accused the Serbian security structures of being in northern Kosovo illegally. 
British Ambassador to the UN Michael Tatham strongly condemned the attacks on KFOR and called for an immediate removal of the barricades. 
He also called for continuation of the Belgrade-Priština dialogue, adding that Great Britain supported Serbia’s EU integration. 
French and German representatives voiced similar views. French Ambassador Gerard Araud said that the biggest victims of the barricades in the north were the people living there. 
The German ambassador said that the violence was organized by the Serbs who kept protesting and called for full freedom of movement in the entire Kosovo. 
He added that Serbia needed to implement the agreements that had been reached and that it was one of the conditions for the EU candidate status. 
Russian and Chinese ambassadors had completely different views regarding Kosovo, pointing out that Priština was responsible for the violence in the north. 
Russia's Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the UN body had to send a clear message to everyone in Kosovo that they had to restrain from violence and continue the dialogue. 
Pointing out that Russia shared the concern of the Serbian foreign minister over the situation in Kosovo, Churkin reiterated that official Moscow did not recognize the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo and that this stance would not change. 
“The UNSC Resolution 1244 is in effect and represents an international and legal basis for the resolving of the Kosovo issue. We believe it is important that the dialogue is resumed, in order to find a solution to the problem,” the Russian ambassador said. 
“Unilateral actions by Priština are unacceptable,” he stressed. 
“Russia is concerned over the deterioration of the situation in northern Kosovo,” Churkin said, stressing that certain incidents were very brazen. 
When it comes to the clashes between KFOR and Kosovo Serbs, he stated it would be best if KFOR concentrated not on the removal of barricades but rather on what the concerns of the people living in that part of the province were. 
“KFOR and EULEX allegedly acted so as to ensure freedom of movement, but this is an shifting argument. According to the Resolution 1244, Kosovo is a special area within Serbia, and therefore we oppose the selective implementation of KFOR and EULEX's mandate,” Churkin said. 
“The use of force in order to establish the government of the so-called state of Kosovo is neither status neutral nor in keeping with their mandate,” Churkin pointed out, and added that Russia advocated a detailed investigation into developments from September 27, when KFOR used weapons and wounded civilians. 
“Russia also demands that a full and objective investigation into allegations on organ trafficking be launched, under the auspices of the UN Security Council,” he said. 
“Moreover, Moscow is concerned because the key witnesses in important proceedings have been eliminated and because the number of returnees in Kosovo is unsatisfactory,” the Russian representative concluded. 
The Chinese ambassador stressed that Serbia’s integrity and territorial sovereignty needed to be respected and said that a dialogue should be a solution to the crisis. 
He expressed concern over the human organ trafficking case in Kosovo, pointing out that Beijing requested a full and an unbiased investigation. 
Colombia, Brazil, South Africa and Bosnia-Herzegovina’s representatives also stressed that the Belgrade-Priština dialogue was the only possible solution.

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http://rt.com/politics/churkin-kosovo-serbs-security-537/

RT - November 30, 2011

Moscow slams NATO power games in Kosovo

Russia is concerned with the exacerbation of the situation in northern Kosovo, where NATO forces are pursuing their power politics targeted against Serbs, Russian envoy to the UN Vitaly Churkin is convinced.
Violence could have been prevented, the diplomat said during a Security Council meeting devoted to the Kosovo settlement, if “KFOR focused on providing security of the region’s residents, as stipulated in their mandate, rather than on eliminating Serbian barricades, which are a response to Pristina’s attempts to take under control the administrative border with Serbia.”
The Russian diplomat also said that Moscow has supported the Serbian government’s appeal to the UN secretary-general to thoroughly investigate an incident on September 27, when KFOR resorted to force, leading to a number of civilian casualties. 
Russia also insists on a full and objective probe into cases of human organ trafficking revealed by member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Dick Marty.
The process of the return to Kosovo of displaced people, most of whom are Serbs, is unsatisfactory, Vitaly Churkin went on to say. And one of the main reasons for this is that those people are not confident of their security. In addition, “incidents of looting and theft of Kosovo Serbs’ property remain unpunished.”
He also demanded that all necessary measures be taken for the defense of Orthodox shrines and believers. 
“The UN mission to Kosovo should play a most active role in Kosovo settlement,” the Russian envoy to the UN stressed.
On November 29, at least two Kosovan Serbs and two NATO peacekeepers were injured in a fresh wave of violence near the town of Zubin Potok in the north of Kosovo. Serbs were protesting NATO’s attempts to remove a barricade made of buses and trucks that was blocking a main road in the region. NATO responded by firing rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons at the demonstrators. Churkin called the incident “outrageous.”

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http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=27495

Kosovo’s government has discretely engaged the lobbying services of one of Washington’s top firms for $50,000 a month, after having been forced to cancel an identical agreement with the firm last year for breaking public procurement laws.

Balkan Insight has obtained a copy of an official US document, which shows that Kosovo signed up the services of the lobbying firm Patton Boggs on August 31.

The document, logged at the Department of Justice, says Patton Boggs will offer Kosovo “advisory services on legal and advocacy issues to be used for expansion of bilateral and multilateral relations”.

The company will also be “fostering investments and trade opportunities for Kosovo, as well as gathering funds from foreign aid programs”.

Although the deal with the company was apparently signed on August 31, it has not been announced by the government, which last year was forced to cancel a similar contract.

Frank Wisner, Patton Bogg's foreign affairs advisor, met Thaci in the United States last July. According to a press release issed by the PM's office they discussed “current political developments in Kosovo and the achievements up to now of Kosovo’s institutions”.

Wisner is an old Kosovo hand. The former US Secretary of State under George Bush, Condoleezza Rice, appointed him the US’s special representative to the Kosovo Status Talks in 2005. Wisner played a crucial role in negotiating Kosovo’s independence.

In September 2010 the government then voted to employ Patton Boggs at a rate of 50,000 dollars a month [38,000 euro].

The cabinet was forced to cancel the decision in November after Balkan Insight revealed that the move appeared to break Kosovo's own law on public procurement.

This was because the cabinet had simply selected Patton Boggs instead of allowing a competitive bidding process to take place. The cabinet had also not justified to the Public Procurement Agency why it went ahead with a single-source tender.

Government officials said they annulled the deal on legal advice but denied having broken procurement rules.

The document recently seen by Balkan Insight showed that the annulled deal has since been quietly revived.

The Foreign Ministry said it had awarded the contract in coordination with the Procurement Agency.

Confusingly, the Agency first stated that it had no record of such a request from the ministry, but then later said it did.

Balkan Insight has now seen a copy of the request by the Foreign Ministry to the Procurement Agency to secretly award the contract to Patton Boggs with a single-source tender.

Seemingly unaware that all such contracts are required, by law, to be published online by the US Justice Department, Kosovo's Foreign Ministry argued that if the contract became public it could hinder Patton Boggs' lobbying work.

The Foreign Ministry's request was approved by the Procurement Agency.

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