B92 (Serbia) - September 26, 2006
Fight near Kosovska Mitrovica bridge
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA - A group of Albanians and Serbs
got into a fight last night near the bridge which
separates them in Kosovska Mitrovica.
Eyewitnesses told Beta that a group of about 15 youths
from the southern, Albanian part of the city crossed
the bridge to the Serbian part and began to provoke
Serbs to fight.
A group of young men who regularly hang out near the
bridge on the northern side confronted the group of
Albanians and a fight broke out.
According to the most recent reports, there were no
injuries in the scuffle. Eyewitnesses say that UNMIK
and Kosovo Police Service officials intervened very
quickly, separated the two groups and made them leave
the scene of the fight.
Following the fight, about one hundred Serbian
citizens of Kosovska Mitrovica gathered at the north
side of the bridge and covered the path around it with
barbed wire.
They are protesting and are asking for the bridge to
be closed down again, stating that this incident shows
that the city is still not safe.
The bridge across the Ibar River in Kosovska Mitrovica
was reopened yesterday after a one-month blockade
because of a bombing incident occurring at a café on
the Serbian side of the city.
Itar-Tass - September 28, 2006
Kosovo tragedy results in humanitarian disaster in Europe’s centre
RHODES, Greece - Kosovo’s tragedy that has not been
averted yet, resulted in humanitarian catastrophe in
the very center of Europe and created difficult
problems for many people, the co-chair of the World
Public Forum “Dialogue of Civilizations” told a
plenary session on Thursday.
“The level of conflicts in the modern world has
extremely grown,” Vladimir Yakunin said.
“This is connected with the crisis of cooperation
between world elites, the failure to reach an
agreement and the loss of a common ground for
understanding that creates a favorable background for
simmering conflicts and new challenges and threats,”
he said.
“Global processes in the end of the twentieth century
divided world elites. One part follows ‘the
civilization of general human values’ that straddled a
wave of globalization. Another part of world elites
chose a path of self-determination,” Yakunin said.
He pointed out that the modern world faces such
decisions as if they were taken by people who are
deprived of any civilized identity or openly ignore
this identity in their decisions.
“This brings real political contradictions to a clash
of civilizations and triggers hot conflicts,” he said.
All this weakens the efficiency of such an important
world policy instrument as the United Nations, Yakunin
said. “It is important to strengthen the UN’s role,
boost its activity based on wider understanding of
people’s interests.”
The meeting that opened on Rhodes on Wednesday brought
together 600 politicians, public figures, scientists
and entrepreneurs from 60 countries.
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - October 2, 2006
Few Thousand Serbs Protest in Kosovska Mitrovica
Kosovska Mitrovica - A few thousand Serbs from the
northern part of Kosovo organized a protest under the
slogans ‘No to Independent Kosovo’, ‘No to Serbia’s
Partitioning’ and ‘No to Albanian Terrorism’, RTS
informs.
The protest took place on the Sumadija square, in the
northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica.
Later the protest march reached the main bridge over
the Ibar river which separates the northern (Serbian)
and southern (Albanian) parts.
After that the protesters dispersed. They were guarded
by Kosovo policemen and the bridge over the Ibar river
was closed.
Marko Jaksic, a member of the Serbian negotiating team
on Kosovo’s future said that the international
community is Kosovo’s [secessionits'] ally in the
talks on the region’s status.
He pointed out that the Albanians in Kosovo have
banished some 200,000 Serbs and have burnt down their
homes.
Mr. Jaksic also criticized USA’s policy on the Kosovo
issue, RTS notes.
MakFax (Macedonia) - October 2, 2006
Alekseev says Russia stands ready to use veto against
false decision on Kosovo
order to defend international law and the principle of
territorial integrity of countries if forced to do so,
Russian Ambassador to Serbia Aleksandar Nikolaevich
Alekseev said in an interview with Belgrade's
"Vecernje Novosti".
According to the Ambassador, Russia is committed to
reaching a solution based on international law, and
acceptable for both Serbia and Kosovo's Albanians.
"An imposed solution or setting deadlines for reaching
it, is totally unacceptable for Russia", Alekseev
said.
Moscow is committed for "submitting a proposal for the
final status to the UN Security Council, which would
be in line with international law, European security's
principles and crises management principles", Alekseev
added.
According to the ambassador, exercising the right of
veto at the UN Security Council is neither an
objective, nor a favorable scenario. "It would only be
used as a last resort", he said.
"In fact, Minister Lavrov has voiced a warning: Do not
force us to reach out for it", Alekseev explained.
Interfax - October 3, 2006
Lavrov: Kosovo solution must be acceptable to Serbs, Albanians
MOSCOW - Russia will take a decision on the status of
Kosovo that will be acceptable for both Serbs and
Albanians, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said
at a press conference in Moscow on Tuesday.
"We may only accept an agreement on Kosovo's status
that is suitable for both Albanians in Kosovo, and
Serbs in Belgrade and Kosovo," the minister said,
adding that a decision on Kosovo's independence may
create a dangerous precedent.
"We are speaking about a precedent and about a
dangerous Pandora's box that will be opened by those
who are ready to ignore the position of one of the
party's in the case of Kosovo, but who take the
opposite position in other cases," Lavrov said.
It is a shortsighted position brought about by the
lacking ability to see ahead, which often complicates
the situation surrounding regions of concern, the
minister said.
"The main thing we are concerned about is that people
who try to impose a status on Kosovo see only one
step forward. Taking into consideration the many
situations developing in the world, we are
calling for a strategic outlook," Lavrov said.
Voice of Russia - October 3, 2006
Russia rejects Kosovo independence at PACE
Russia comes out against the recognition of Kosovo’s
independence at the level of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
This is what the deputy head of the Russian PACE
delegation Leonid Slutski said.
He says that Britain’s representative Lord Russell
Johnston has prepared a report, which for the first
time at a PACE level calls for the recognition of
Kosovo’s independence.
Russia believes that the recognition of Kosovo’s
independence at the level of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe will be regarded as
a concession to destructive forces, which earlier
urged PACE to recognize Chechnya’s independence.
Itar-Tass - October 4, 2006
Kosovo settlement depends on sides’ position, Lavrov says
STRASBOURG - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
said the Kosovo settlement depends on the sides’
position and not on what decisions are being taken in
the Contact Group.
Speaking at the PACE session on Wednesday, Lavrov
said, “It is necessary to solve this problem by talks,
in particular between the leadership of the province
and the national minority.”
On the U.N. Administration in Kosovo, the minister
stressed, “These international forces should be sent
to the province to prevent a bloodshed. But the U.N.
cannot govern in the province endlessly. In addition,
there are objections on the implementation of certain
resolutions on Kosovo.”
Commenting on the deployment of such administrations
in other conflict areas, Lavrov said, “There are no
reasons for this. In Abkhazia, South Ossetia and the
Dniester region the sides agreed themselves on methods
to promote the settlement.”
“It is necessary to work in the existing formats. This
is the unique way to ensure ‘frozen’ conflicts should
not grow ‘hot’,” the Russian minister pointed out.
Associated Press - October 3, 2006
Explosion damages home of Gorani minority members in
Kosovo, no injured
PRISTINA, Serbia - An explosion damaged the house of a
Gorani minority member in a southern Kosovo village,
but caused no injuries, police said Monday.
The government denounced Sunday's attack, and said
such incidents were aimed at destabilizing Kosovo amid
U.N.-led negotiations on the province's future status.
A key consideration during the talks has been Kosovo's
ability to provide security to minority groups.
"That criminal act serves those forces trying to
damage at any cost Kosovo's overall processes," the
government said in a statement.
The explosion caused "considerable material damage" to
the house in Rapqe e Nalte village, about 100
kilometers (62 miles) south of capital, Pristina,
police spokesman Veton Elshani said.
The Gorani owner of the house works with the Serbian
Coordination Center for Kosovo, a Serbian government
body working in the province.
Gorani is one of the minority groups among Kosovo's 2
million population, along with Serbs, Turks, Ashkali
and others. About 90 percent of the population is
ethnic Albanian.
Serbian media reported that the Gorani family hid in
the garage for safety after the house owner's daughter
saw the explosives in a bag in front of the house and
a car driving away.
Police said they thought there was no connection
between the blast and another explosion allegedly
connected to property ownership conflicts in the same
commune of Prizren.
Another explosion that injured four Serbs, and three
other bombings that damaged cars in mid-September
raised ethnic tensions amid ongoing status talks.
About 2,000-2,500 ethnic Serbs held a peaceful protest
Monday against the opening of a bridge across the Ibar
River linking the two communities in the ethnically
divided town of Kosovska Mitrovica, 45 kilometers (30
miles) north of Pristina, police said.
The bridge has been closed three times in the last two
months, following separate attacks on ethnic Serbs. It
was closed Monday during the demonstration, and
reopened when it was over.
U.N.-led negotiations to resolve Kosovo's status by
the end of the year have stalled, with both sides
unwilling to compromise on their demands.
Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leadership wants independence
in the status talks, while Belgrade has offered broad
autonomy while insisting Kosovo remain within Serb
territory. How to govern Kosovska Mitrovica is
expected to be another major sticking point.
Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations
since 1999, when NATO air strikes drove out Serb
troops.
An estimated 200,000 Serbs fled Kosovo after the
1988-99 conflict, fearing [unprovoked] attacks. Today,
only about 100,000 remain, most living in small,
isolated enclaves scattered around the province.
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - October 5, 2006
Bomb Explodes Near Home of Kosovo’s Deputy PM
Pristina - A bomb exploded near the home of Kosovo’s
Deputy Prime Minister Naim Behluli in Gnjilane.
This is what Kosovo’s police force confirmed today
cited by Serbian news agency BETA.
No one was injured in the blast that took place around
midnight, a spokesperson for the Kosovo police force
for the Gnjilane region said.
The spokesperson explained that the bomb was placed in
front of Behluli’s home.
There is only minor damage. There is no information of
suspects or arrested persons.
This is the third attack in Gnjilane in the last few
weeks.
http://www.eciks.org/english/lajme.php?action=total_news&main_id=464
Economic Initiative for Kosova (Austria) - October 5, 2006
Kosovo Trust Agency launches 19th wave of privatization
Prishtinë [Pristina] - The Kosovo Trust Agency (KTA)
announced on Monday that it has officially launched
the 19th wave of privatization. In this round 50
enterprises shall be privatized.
This wave includes 36 Socially Owned Enterprises
(SOEs), from which 50 new companies shall be created;
28 of them will be privatized through regular
spin-off. Seven of these SOEs have been re-tendered –
four by special spin-off and three by regular
spin-offs.
The pre-qualification deadline is Wednesday, November
29, 2006, while the bid submission deadline is
December 10, 2006.
The best known enterprises in this privatization wave
are the Tube Factory in Ferizaj, Wine Production in
Suhareka, the Battery Factory (part of Trepça), and
two magnesium mines.
http://www.eciks.org/english/lajme.php?action=total_news&main_id=465
Economic Initiative for Kosova (Austria) - October 6, 2006
Kosovo: 30 SOEs privatized in 18th wave
Prishtinë [Pristina] - The Kosovo Trust Agency (KTA)
concluded the 18th wave of privatization, in which 30
Socially Owned Enterprises (SOEs) were tendered.
Only 21 of the tendered enterprises were sold, as for
some of them there were no offers. In this wave KTA
has tendered warehouses, veterinary stations, stores
and supermarkets.
According to KTA Managing Director Jasper Dick, visits
to several privatized SOEs have already started in
order see up-close how things are developing in
regards to investment and revitalization.
“I am very happy to say that the KTA has gathered over
€ 250 million from privatization and deposited it at
the Central Banking Authority of Kosovo (CBAK).
“So far, we have distributed 20% to employees of 26
SOEs. Back in September, we have paid €1 million to
the employees,” said KTA Managing Director Jasper
Dick, adding that a group of experts will soon review
the possibility of mending the regulation that deals
with the 20% share.
Following a decision of SRSG Joachim Ruecker, the
Morava e Binces premises located in Gjilan was
excluded from privatization.
The new company IFS Progres from Prizren was sold for
the highest price in this round of privatization, for
€4.45 million. The company Farm in Bajgora – KB 23
November, was sold for €32,400.
Although 10 enterprises in Peja were tendered for
privatization, only three of them have attracted
bidders. With this round, the Trust Fund is richer for
13.401.000 Euros.
---
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=10864727&PageNum=0
Itar-Tass - October 7, 2006
Kosovo’s independence to create dangerous precedent - aide
BAD BOLL, Germany - If Kosovo’s independence is
recognised despite Serbia’s will, this will create a
“very negative” precedent in international relations,
Russian presidential aide Sergei Yastrzhembsky said.
“Kosovo is a severe challenge to the international
community and a very important acid test for the
wisdom of the world community.
"If Kosovo’ s independence is recognised despite
Serbia’s will, this will create a very negative
precedent in international relations,” Yastrzhembsky
said at the conference “Russia and Germany” Hopes and
Misunderstandings” on Friday.
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2006&mm=10&dd=08&nav_id=37212
Beta (Serbia) - October 8, 2006
Russia to EU: Don’t impose solutions
BRUSSELS, MOSCOW - Russia told the EU Kosovo solution
cannot be imposed on Serbia.
Moscow also said it would not support such a solution
neither within the Contact Group nor in the UN
Security Council. Beta has learned that Moscow
believes negotiations on a solution acceptable to both
parties should be continued in 2007, if one cannot be
reached in 2006.
Sources in Brussels have confirmed that the Russian
position has been relayed to some Contact Group
partners as well as to Martti Ahtisaari.
The Russian message states that the Contact Group has
asked Ahtisaari to provide a comprehensive solution
proposal, to be debated by the Group first.
Russia informed that this was acceptable, if following
the Contact Group debate, this proposal was to be
submitted to Priština and Belgrade with the aim of
encouraging both sides to improve the negotiating
process.
Sources in Brussels also say that Moscow sent a sort
of a demarche to the Finnish EU presidency,
emphasizing its position that the Contact Group, by
authorizing Ahtisaari to work out a proposal, in no
way meant to impose a solution on Serbia.
Russia also explained that any suggestion, such as
denying Serbia’s rights of a sovereign country, thus
undermining the negotiations with Belgrade, was
untenable.
European diplomatic sources, unwilling to confirm or
deny the existence of the Russian message to the EU,
suggested that the majority of the EU 25 member states
favored a compromise solution for Kosovo, meaning an
essentially limited sovereignty for the province,
without a seat at the UN.
---
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061006/en_afp/kosovoaustriaroyals_061006191721
Agence France-Presse - October 6, 2006
Kosovo town square named after Austrian royal family
PRISTINA, Serbia - The coat of arms of the Austrian
royal family, the Habsburgs, was unveiled in the
Kosovo town of Decane on a square that was named after
the family, local media reported.
The family's 93-year-old representative, Otto Von
Habsburg-Lothringen, attended the ceremony and
unveiled the plaque with local officials.
During a two-day visit to the UN-run province of
Kosovo, Von Habsburg met senior international and
local officials in the capital Pristina, including
Prime Minister Agim Ceku.
He said he supported the desire of Kosovo's ethnic
Albanian majority to gain independence from Serbia.
"Kosovars should be proud of their place. Their
friends will support them in achieving their desire
for an independent state integrated into the
European Union," he said.
Technically still part of Serbia, Kosovo has been
administered by the United Nations since 1999, when a
NATO bombing campaign ended Belgrade's military
offensive against ethnic Albanian separatists.
Serbia considers Kosovo to be the cradle of its
history and culture and strongly opposes any bid for
independence.
---
http://www.interfax.com/3/201701/news.aspx
Interfax - October 11, 2006
Kosovo bishop hopes for Russian help on status issue
MOSCOW - Kosovo's Serbian Orthodox Bishop has
expressed hope that Russia will play a role in
protecting the rights of Serbians in Kosovo and
resolving the issue of Kosovo's status.
"Now Russia has grown even stronger than ten years
ago, and we hope that Russia's voice [in talks on
Kosovo] will be heard in New York and Washington,"
Bishop of the Raska and Prizren Eparchy Artemije
Radosavljevic said at a meeting with students at
Moscow State Technical University named after Bauman
on Wednesday.
The bishop noted the need to extend the terms for
holding talks on Kosovo's status, saying it is
impossible to settle the issue under the existing
schedule - thus by the end of the year - and that "we
are going to show everybody that in that case any
decision would have to be imposed."
---
http://www.irishexaminer.com/breaking/story.asp?j=84802506&p=848xz8x8&n=84802886
Irish Examiner - October 13, 2006
UN to hand over bodies of 29 Serbs killed in Kosovo
UN authorities in Kosovo will today hand over to
families the bodies of 29 Serb civilians killed during
the 1998-99 conflict in the volatile province.
Most of the victims are believed to have been from the
western Kosovo towns of Orahovac and Opterusa, said UN
spokesman Neeraj Singh.
Previously, they all had been reported as missing.
Singh said a delegation of family members and Serbia’s
officials was to receive the bodies at Merdare
boundary crossing, some 25 miles north of Kosovo’s
capital, Pristina.
More than 2,000 people are still missing from the
Kosovo conflict in what remains one of the most
sensitive and emotionally-charged issues between the
two former foes.
Kosovo, legally part of Serbia, has been under UN
administration since mid-1999, when Nato’s air war
halted Serb forces’ crackdown on independence-seeking
ethnic Albanians.
---
http://www.vor.ru/Exclusive/excl_next8487_eng.html
Voice of Russia - October 14, 2006
ALBANIAN SEPARATISTS ON EDGE
In 2007 Kosovo will be a sovereign state with an
independent government and minimal international
presence.
That’s the point made earlier this week by the Kosovo
deputy premier and chief delegate at the ongoing talks
with Belgrade Lutfi Haziri.
Kosovo Prime Minister Agim is even less complacent,
saying that independence already this year is the only
option he is ready to discuss.
Russian expert Pyotr Iskenderov said that such radical
statements by leading Kosovo officials reflect the
growing sense of insecurity among the separatists
whose main curator, UN envoy Marti Ahtisaari, is
already saying that negotiations on the region’s
future status may take longer than was originally
expected.
The separatists have obviously been rattled by the
draft of Serbia’s new constitution put on a nationwide
referendum slated for later this month and where
Kosovo is proclaimed as an integral, autonomous, part
of the Serbian state.
Mr. Ahtisaari said he would wait for the results of
the October 28-29 plebiscite before moving on with
determining the region’s future status.
Moreover, Kosovo’s independence is radicalizing the
situation in the self-styled republics of the former
Soviet Union where the level of democratic freedoms is
way higher than the region’s Albanian separatist rules
can boast of.
And still, neither the UN, EU nor the OSCE are in any
rush to recognize their sovereign status.
On Tuesday the foreign minister of Transdnestr Valery
Litskai unveiled a plan by OSCE chairman Karel de
Gucht that is based on the territorial makeup of
Belgium, which as a confederative state, guarantees
equal rights to all of the country’s various ethnic
communities.
---
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-article.php?yyyy=2006&mm=10&dd=13&nav_id=37323
Beta (Serbia) - October 13, 2006
Haradinaj trial in the spring
THE HAGUE - The trial of Ramush Haradinaj will begin
in front of the Hague Tribunal next spring.
During a discussion at a Hague status conference
regarding the progress and preparation of court
processes, Hague Judge O-Gon Kwon said that the trial
of the former Kosovo Liberation Army leader and Kosovo
prime minister, who is accused of committing war
crimes against Serbs and Romas in 1998, will begin in
“February or March” of 2007.
Prosecutors have announced that there will be
technical changes made to Haradinaj’s indictment,
related to the legal qualifications of the indictment.
Idriz Baljaj and Ljah Brahimaj are accused of the
crimes as well in the indictment which accuses
Haradinaj.
---
http://www.blic.co.yu/blic/danas/broj/E-Index.htm#5
Blic (Serbia) - October 13, 2006
Proofs on crimes committed by Ramush Haradinaj
At administration border crossing at Merdare near
Podujevo, representatives of UNHCR, UNMIK and the
Republican Commission for Missing and Abducted
Individuals handed to the families remnants of 28
Serbs and Albanians and one Muslim woman.
These are 11 Kostices, 2 Nikolices, 2 Burdzices, 4
Bozanices, Spasoje Benzic, Dusko Patrnogic, Sreten
Simic Djordje Djoric, Lidija Omeragic, Djoka Gogic and
the Cerimaj brothers.
These remnants were found in a mass grave in Volujak
near Klina at the beginning of the last year.
The President of the Republican Commission Gvozden
Gagic is positive that these are proofs of the direct
responsibility of former Kosovo prime minister Ramush
Haradinaj for the kidnapping and death of people from
Orahovac.
---
http://www.zaman.com/?bl=international&alt=&trh=20061022&hn=37585
Zaman (Turkey) - October 21, 2006
Turkish Troops, Kosovans Hand in Hand
The Turkish battalion in Kosovo, operating under
command of the NATO-led international Kosovo peace
force continues to help Kosovans in many ways.
Turkish troops are admired by Kosovans for their help
in areas such as health, food distribution and
education and they also built and restored many
facilities.
They restored the Kirik Mosque, built by the Ottomans
when they conquered Kosovo, and built a park around
it.
Turkish troops also fixed cemeteries and built village
roads.
Every week, retired Kosovans are examined by doctors
and nurses from the Turkish battalion and their
medications are given.
They have built three mosques and three parks across
Kosovo so far and organized annual circumcision feasts
for needy and homeless children.
During Ramadan, Turkish troops delivered dinner to
Kosovans and provide stationery goods to students
every year through liaison offices.
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