- Kosovo: Witness gets two months jail for contempt of UN court

- Ethnic Serbs battle isolation as Kosovo reinforces northern border

- Kosovo: Serbs in north continue to block roads

- Kosovo Serbs fortify barricades

- KFOR removes barbed wire at Brnjak

- Tensions Rise in Southeast Serbia as Ethnic Albanians Rally

- Shooting in Kosovska Mitrovica, barricades remain

- NATO shield poses threat to Serbia, expert says

LINKS:

L' Ambasciatore russo a Belgrado critica Tadic / Russian ambassador crtiticizes Tadic / Govor ruskog ambasadora Aleksandra Konuzina na Prvom bogradskom forumu o bezbednosti
http://www.juliagorin.com/wordpress/?p=2722

NATO Chieftain In Kosovo: Press Conference With Client Thaci
NATO Community - September 16, 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O8sb_3jI40

Provocazioni della NATO a Mitrovica Nord (english / italiano)

http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/7151

Resistenza contro la NATO ed i suoi sgherri in Kosovo
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/7119

=== 1 ===

http://www.resistenze.org/sito/te/po/se/posebi21-009590.htm

http://www.adnkronos.com/IGN/Aki/English/Politics/Kosovo-Witness-gets-two-months-jail-for-contempt-of-UN-court_312457106352.html

ADN Kronos International - September 16, 2011

Kosovo: Witness gets two months jail for contempt of UN court 

The Hague: A witness for the in the trial of former Kosovo prime minister Ramus Haradinaj was sentenced to two months in jail on Friday by the United Nation War Crimes Tribunal for contempt of court.
Sefcet Kabashi, a key witness against Haradinaj, who is accused of war crimes against Serb, Roma and non-loyal Albanian civilians during 1998/99 conflict, refused to testify in 2007, saying several witnesses had been killed.
He was arrested by Netherlands authorities in August and handed over to the tribunal. But he again refused to answer questions by the prosecution at Haradinaj’s retrial which is currently going on in The Hague.
Haradinaj, a former military commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army, which fought against Serbian rule, was acquitted in the first trial for “lack of evidence”. But the tribunal’s appeals panel said the first trial was conducted in an “atmosphere of intimidation of witnesses” and ordered a retrial.
Kabashi could have been sentenced up to seven years in jail and/or 100,000 euros for contempt of court. But the tribunal said it took into account Akashi’s “family situation and post-traumatic problems” as mitigating circumstances.
He has already served one month in jail and will be freed after serving another thirty days.

---

http://rt.com/news/kosovo-serbs-barricades-kfor-793/

RT - September 17, 2011

Ethnic Serbs battle isolation as Kosovo reinforces northern border

Video at URL above

A stand-off between KFOR forces and ethnic Serbs is underway on the Kosovo–Serbia border after Pristina took full control over the only two border crossings that link an ethnic Serb enclave in northern Kosovo with Serbia proper.
Kosovan police assisted by NATO’s KFOR have taken over two border crossings with Serbia in the north of the breakaway region.­
The locals are mostly ethnic Serbs, and they have been trying to prevent the takeover by blocking roads to the checkpoints and staging protests.
The unrest started when the authorities in Kosovo announced they were introducing customs controls on the border with Serbia. For Kosovan Serbs, the move has increased their isolation in a region dominated by Muslim Albanians.
RT's Sara Firth has been to the disputed Jarinje border crossing and reports that all roads leading there are still blocked by protesting ethnic Serbs.
The border crossing facility is currently under KFOR control. It has been ringed with barbed wire and helicopters are coming and going, bringing international forces to the border checkpoint. 
The Albanian Kosovan police, who currently only have observer status here, are deploying just two officers at each disputed checkpoint.
It appears that a transfer of authority from KFOR to Kosovo’s ethnic Albanians is planned for the border crossings.
A first attempt by the Kosovan government to take control of the crossings came back in July. However, the move sparked clashes that resulted in the death of a policeman. Since then, it has been relatively quiet. 
A huge number of Serbs have gathered at the barricades around the checkpoint in what looks increasingly like a stand-off, with the Serbs saying they are ready to stay to the bitter end. Ethnic Serbs fear that once Pristina controls the border crossings with Serbia, their days in northern Kosovo will be numbered.
The stand-off has already been called the “War of North,” but neither KFOR personnel at the border crossings nor the Serb protestors at the barricades are making any moves to either break through the barricades or re-capture the checkpoints for fear of being accused of provoking violence.
The UN Security Council has called an emergency meeting at the request of Serbia and Russia, but no final decision has been made on how to resolve the situation, with member countries apparently reluctant to make any concrete statements.
KFOR is pushing ahead with its takeover of the border crossings despite warnings from Moscow and Belgrade that the move carries a real risk of a serious escalation of the conflict. 

---

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2011&mm=09&dd=19&nav_id=76458

B92/Beta News Agency/Tanjug News Agency - September 19, 2011

Kosovo: Serbs in north continue to block roads

ZUBIN POTOK: There were no incidents last night in northern Kosovo as local Serbs continued to block and monitor all major roads leading toward administrative checkpoints. 
They are determined to maintain a total blockade of roads in that part of the province until ethnic Albanian customs workers and members of the police sent by the government in Priština have been removed from Brnjak and Jarinje. 
During the day, KFOR troops threw leaflets printed in Serbian and English from helicopeters, warning that the barricades were "illegal, and do not represent peaceful protest". 
Serbs in Kosovska Mitrovica responded to this by hauling in more rocks and sand to the main bridge over the Ibar River, reinforcing their barricade there. 
Several hundred citizens are gathered near the bridge where they say they are "monitoring the situation". 
The situation in the ethnically divided town and elsewhere in the north was peaceful but tense throughout Monday, said reports. 
Also on Monday, EULEX head Xavier de Marnhac visited the administrative crossings at Jarinje and Brnjak in northern Kosovo and called for the removal of barricades. 
Marnhac said that both posts, which EULEX refers to as "gates 1 and 31" were "technically ready to be fully operational, but that the barricades that were placed on nearby roads impair their opening". 
Meanwhile there have been reports about shortages of food and fuel in the north, leading to reduced traffic and expensive taxi services. 
NATO troops in Kosovo, KFOR, on Monday morning started carrying out detailed checks of all passengers and cars traveling from Kosovska Mitrovica to Zubin Potok. 
They set up a checkpoint on the road leading toward the ethnic Albanian village of Čabar, where a large number of Serbs also gathered this morning. 
After Serb representatives negotiated with those of KFOR for an hour and a half, reports said that "it was agreed that the soldiers would withdraw from this part of the road, but would remain on the part of the road leading toward Čabar". 
A Tanjug news agency report also says that KFOR tried to set up a new traffic checkpoint on Zvečan-Zubin Potok road in the village of Jagnjenica, the Zubin Potok municipality. 
Local Serbs, who were upset by this move, quickly rallied in the village and blocked KFOR. 
KFOR retreated about 20 meters away from the checkpoint, thus leaving the Zvečan-Zubin Potok road open for traffic after a one-hour halt. 
The largest barricade set up by Serbs in the area is near Zupče, on the road leading from Zubin Potok to southern Kosovska Mitrovica. 
In Belgrade, the daily Politika writes that the government decided during a telephone session on Friday to "reintegrate northern Kosovo into the country's tax system", cancel a decree related to customs procedures at control checkpoints, and start collecting VAT. 
According to Belgrade's chief negotiator in the Kosovo talks Borislav Stefanović, the reason for the decision was "to prove that the north is not in the hands of criminals".

---

http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/09/20/56439039.html

Voice of Russia - September 20, 2011

Kosovo Serbs fortify barricades

Kosovo Serbs are fortifying barricades on the roads linking the north and the south of the province, as well as fortifying the checkpoints in the built-up areas Jarinje and Brnjak.
Last night, trucks again brought gravel and stones to the makeshift checkpoints despite a warning by the KFOR international force in Kosovo.
Earlier, the Command of the KFOR German contingent took the decision to send riot squads to disperse demonstrations, and heavy machinery to tear down the barricades.
The situation in the province was drastically aggravated following Pristina’s unilateral moves to assume control over the Jarinje and Brnjak checkpoints on the dividing line between Serbia and its former autonomy.

---

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2011&mm=09&dd=20&nav_id=76477

Tanjug News Agency - September 20, 2011

KFOR removes barbed wire at Brnjak

BRNJAK: KFOR members removed on Tuesday morning barbed wire from the Brnjak administrative crossing, which was shut down on September 16.
German and French troops of the NATO forces in the province removed the barbed wire from the checkpoint.
A barricade of gravel and soil was put up by local Serbs in reaction to the closing of the crossing remains in front of it. 
KFOR members told Tanjug that the crossing has been open for traffic as of late Monday, but that the barricade prevents vehicles from passing. 
The barbed wire was completely removed in the direction towards central Serbia and partly from the lane from central Serbia towards Kosovo. 
Members of KFOR and EULEX stated that "as far as they are concerned the crossing is open". 
Besides KFOR soldiers, EULEX customs officers and policemen and Kosovo customs and police officers, sent by the Kosovo Albanian authorities in Priština, are also deployed at the Brnjak checkpoint. 
Their arrival last week prompted Serbs to put up barricades on roads leading to both Brnjak and Jarinje. 
The citizens near the barricades, who sought shelter from the rain in nearby facilities this morning, did not react to this move by KFOR. 

---

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=132302

Sofia News Agency - September 21, 2011

Tensions Rise in Southeast Serbia as Ethnic Albanians Rally

Tensions in Southeastern Serbia have grown after several thousand ethnic Albanians rallied to protest against discrimination in the town of Presevo.
Residents of the three predominantly ethnic Albanian towns Presevo, Bujanovac, and Medveda took part in the rally, BGNES reported.
The demonstrators carried Albanian, US, and EU flags, and vast banners with their demands for the Serbian state authorities...
Wednesday's demonstration is a follow-up of a rally organized in Bujanovac on September 13 that demanded the use of Albanian language by the administration and the recognition of diplomas acquired from the ethnic Albanian university in Kosovo's capital Prishtina.
Presevo, Bujanovac, and Medveda are municipalities bordering Kosovo, the ethnic Albanian republic which declared independence in 2008.
Back in 1999-2001, a paramilitary group called Liberation Army of Presevo, Medveda and Bujanovac modeled after the Kosovo Liberation Army was active in the region.
The Liberation Army of Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac even has a Facebook fan page...
In 2010, a poll found that a majority of the ethnic Albanians in Albania, Kosovo, and Macedonia were in favor of a "Greater Albania."

---

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2011&mm=09&dd=24&nav_id=76541

Tanjug News Agency - September 24, 2011

Shooting in Kosovska Mitrovica, barricades remain

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA: A fight broke out in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica Friday night involving at least six persons, two of whom suffered serious injuries.
The incident also involved shooting and the police qualified the event as a serious violation of public peace and order.
46-year-old A. Đ. was arrested and remanded in 48-hour custody for the use of weapon, while the police are still searching for two more persons. 
Kosovo Police Deputy Regional Director Ergin Medić told Tanjug that one of the two persons, who were seriously injured in the fight, was taken in the Kosovska Mitrovica Hospital for treatment. 
According to him, the police found six 7.62 mm caliber bullet casings at the scene and the investigation into the incident will continue. 
The situation in other parts of northern Kosovo and near the barricades was peaceful during Friday night. The administrative crossings in north Kosovo are still blocked. Besides EULEX, Kosovo customs officers were also deployed at the checkpoints but with no operational role. 
Kosovska Mitrovica Municipal Court judge Zehra Vrbovci remanded 13 Serbian truck drivers in a 15-day custody late Friday. 
The drivers were arrested under suspicion they entered Kosovo illegally and took part in setting up the barricades. 
Vrbovci stated that there was a reasonable suspicion that the 13 suspects had illegally crossed an administrative crossing, and that therefore they were likely to pay a fine not less than EUR 250 or spend up to three months in prison. She said that the main hearing would be held early next week.

---

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2011&mm=09&dd=25&nav_id=76551

Vecernje Novosti - September 25, 2011

NATO shield poses threat to Serbia, expert says

BELGRADE: The U.S. missile bases in Romania could represent a threat to Serbia since it could end up being collateral damage in a possible missile attack.
Only two days after the agreement had been signed to set up the U.S. missile shield in the U.S. Deveselu Air Base, Washington signed an agreement on September 15 to build an identical base in Poland.
Russia has stated it will take reciprocal measures and direct its missiles toward the bases hosting the NATO missiles. 
“We are living in a period when a new cold war is being waged. There are numerous reasons to set up the missile shield along Russia’s borders, and the most important one is to prove the economic and military power of the U.S. and NATO countries to everybody in the international community. A strategic consequence of the missile shield is to impose a need on Russia to build a new missile defense system which costs a lot, with an aim to economically drain it. The second important goal is an internal polarization of population in Russia,” Faculty of Security Studies Professor Slobodan Mišović told daily Večernje novosti. 
“Setting up the missile shield less than 200 kilometers from Serbia has a large negative affect on security and increases our country’s vulnerability,” the professor explained. 
“This is especially the case because our antiaircraft defense systems are outdated. The setting up of the missile shield is a provocation to all the countries in Southeast Europe and the Balkans, because it requires far bigger financial expenses if you want to maintain security at the necessary level. It will probably create additional conditions and pressures in our country because of the membership in NATO and in the European collective security and defense system,” he pointed out. 
Mišović believes that the missile shield in Romania will force Serbia to make a difficult choice – to decide not to invest in defense and additionally reduce security or to increase financial expenses. 
“NATO will not pressure Serbia into formally joining the Alliance after the missile shield is set up in Romania,” he said, adding that the purpose of the missile shield was to exert psychological and economic pressure on Russia, not to start a nuclear war. 
“However, the one that has power has a big problem because it is always tempting them to use it. In case of a large-scale conflict Serbia could easily become collateral damage, not only because of the missile shield in Romania but also because of the U.S. bases in Kosovo. However, much a bigger danger for the entire Southeast Europe in that case would be if the Klozoduy Nuclear Power Plant was hit,” the professor was quoted as saying.

=== 3 ===

DIFENDEREMO IL NORD DEL KOSOVO SE SARA’ NECESSARIO ANCHE CON I METODI DI GHANDI
16/09/2011

Il capo del distretto serbo di Kosovska Mitrovica Radenko Nedeljkovic ha detto alla Radio Internazionale Serbia che i serbi che vivono nel nord del Kosovo sono pronti ad opporsi alle pressioni di Pristina e una parte della comunità internazionale con tutti i mezzi pacifici, perché non vogliono reintegrarsi nel cosiddetto stato Kosovo. Con lui ha parlato la nostra giornalista Snezana Milosevic. (...)  

Jeremic: Illegittima l’azione dell’Eulex e della Kfor

17 settembre 2011

Il ministro degli affari esteri di Serbia, Vuk Jeremić, ha valutato che la cosa più importante è mantenere la pace in Kosovo, persino accanto alle “azioni illegali e illegittime dell’Eulex e della Kfor” sui due valichi amministrativi nel Kosovo settentrionale. Secondo il ministro, la seduta del Consiglio di Sicurezza dell’ONU giovedì sera, ha dimostrato che non ci sono degli appoggi adeguati per quell’azione. L’azione si sta svolgendo, ha aggiunto il ministro, anche senza l’appoggio di un gran numero di paesi membri dell’Unione europea. Il capo della diplomazia ha evidenziato che dietro la forma burocratica, in base alla quale è stata eseguita quest’azione, “sono nascosti gli interessi di alcuni paesi molto potenti”. Jeremić ha ripetuto che quest’azione e il cambiamento della situazione in Kosovo sono “illegittimi e inaccettabili per il nostro paese, i nostri cittadini e il nostro Governo, soprattutto per quei cittadini che vivono in Kosovo”.

Bundeswer manderà in Kosovo quattro autoblindo 
19.09.2011

L’esercito tedesco invierà in Kosovo due autoblino del tipo „tasso“ che si usano nelle cariche contro i manifesranti e per la rimozione delle barricate. Il comando della Bundeswer per le azoni all’estero ha confermato la verità di questa notizia che è stata riportata dal giornale Frankfurter Algemaine Zietung. A inizio ottobtre in Kosovo saranno mandati anche due veicoli per le cariche d’acqua. Questi veicoli saranno usati per la rimozione delle barricate e l’assicurazione della libertà di movimento, è stato precisato nel comunicato diffuso dal Bundestag. Il contingente tedesco della Kfor è composto di 1.400 soldati. 

Sindaci prevedono nuovi incidenti
22/09/2011

I sindaci di quattro comuni nel nord del Kosovo e il capo del distretto serbo di Kosovska Mitrovica hanno dichiarato di prevedere nuove provocazioni delle autorità di Pristina e di una parte della comunità internazionale che le appoggiano. Dopo la riunione che ha avuto luogo a Zvecan loro hanno invitato i cittadini serbi a mentenere a calma e di rimanere uniti e fermi nella decisione di opporsi all’instaurazione del cosiddetto Stato del Kosovo con tutti i mezzi delle proteste civili. La situazione più difficile è a Kosovska Mitrovica. Facciamo il nostro meglio per impedire gli scontri tra serbi ed albanesi, ha dichiarato il sindaco Krstimir Pantic. Egli ha detto che i serbi hanno eretto le barricate in modo tale da non ostacolare agli albanesi di andare nella parte meridionale della città. I carabineri italiani che pattugliano offendono i cittadini serbi ed auspicano il deterioramento della situazione. Questa è una resistenza dell’intero popolo serbo in Kosovo contro l’instaurazione delle istituzioni albanesi e una pare della comunità internazionale che desiderano reintegrare questa parte del Kosovo e costringere i serbi ad abbandonarla, ha dichiarato il capo del distretto serbo di Kosovska Mitrovica Radenko Nedeljkovic.

Governo serbo chiede che siano risolti i problemi
22/09/2011

L’esecutivo serbo ha chiesto alle missioni internazionali in Kosovo di risolvere quanto prima i problemi che sono stati crati recentemente, i quali preoccupano molto la popolazione serba che vive in Kosovo, ha dichiarato il direttore dell’Ufficio per la collaborazione con i media Milivoje Mihajlovic. Egli ha detto dopo la riunione che l’esecutivo ha espresso la preoccupazione anche perché la polizia kosovara ha arrestato ieri sera 13 autisti serbi che sono impiegati nel complesso industriale Trepca, perché accusati di essere entrati in Kosovo illegalmente. I fautori del movimento albanese Autodeterminazione hanno attaccato precedentemente un camion con la merce che è arivata dalla Serbia centrale e l’hanno ribaltato. L’esecutivo serbo ha constatato che tutte le istituzioni in Kosovo lavorano senza problemi e che non sono vere le voci che le forniture nelle regioni abitate dai serbi non siano regolari. È stato constatato anche che è stato raggiunto l’alto livello di coordinamento tra le autorità locali della popolazione serba e l’esecutivo di Belgrado.  

Ninic: nuova manipolazione della Kfor
22 settembre

Il sindaco del comune di Leposavic nel nord del Kosovo Branko Ninic ha dichiarato che la rimozione di ieri del filo spinato dal valico Jarinje è soltanto una nuova manipolazione della Kfor. La Kfor ha rimosso il giorno precedente il filo spinato anche dal valico Brnjak. I valichi sono stati chiusi dopo l’arrivo dei poliziotti albanesi, quando i serbi hanno eretto le barricate in segno di protesta. Ninic ha dichiarato alla Tv Most che per i serbi kosovari il problema non sono né la Kfor, né il filo spinato, ma bensì i poliziotti della cosiddetta dogana del Kosovo. I cittadini serbi hanno deciso di rimanere alle barricate e di non permettere che la cosiddetta dogana del Kosovo cominci a funzionare. La Kfor potrà muoversi liberamente a Jarinje quando smetterà di appoggiare Pristina e quando saranno allontanati i suoi poliziotti, ha dichiarato Ninic.

La Kfor chiude le strade, i serbi ne costruiscono nuove
23/09/2011

I serbi che vivono nel nord del Kosovo hanno fatto la nuova strada, dopo che i soldati della Kfor hanno bloccato con il filo spinato la strada secondaria che porta verso il valico Jarinje e Rudnica. I serbi hanno intenzione di ricoprirla di asfalto. Anche la nuova strada secondaria che i serbi hanno allargato stanotte e oggi è stata bloccata. I veicoli usano la nuova strada per arrivare da Raska in Kosovo e viceversa. Il valico Jarinje è di nuovo circondato da filo spinato. I serbi che vigilano al valico hanno detto che negli ultimi sette giorni nessuna persona l’ha passato, nemmeno nel periodo in cui essa è stata aperta formalmente per il passaggio. Anche alle altre barricate i serbi seguono i movimenti della Kfor e l’Eulex, perché hanno deciso di non permettere il passaggio fino a quando ai valichi Brnjak e Jarinje si troveranno i poliziotti e gli ufficiali doganali mandati da Pristina. Il presidente del comune di Leposavic Branko Ninic ha dichiarato ieri sera al valico Jarinje che le tensioni e l’incertezza sono cresciute dopo che la Kfor ha chiuso anche la strada secondaria con il filo spinato e autoblindo. 

Tadic: soluzione pacifica per il nord del Kosovo
23/09/2011

Il Presidente serbo Boris Tadic, il quale partecipa alla riunione dell’Assemblea parlamentare delle Nazioni Uite, e il segretario generale dell’ONU Ban Kee-Moon hanno condiviso il parere ieri sera a New York che la soluzione per il Kosovo deve essere trovata in modo pacifico, tramite dialogo, e con la mediazione dell’Unione europea. Ban Kee-Moon ha epresso la preoccupazione a causa del deterioramento della situazione nel nord del Kosovo, ed ha ribadito che la pace deve essere mantenuta. Il segretario generale ha sottolineato la necessità che le istituzioni internazionali in Kosovo rimangano neutrali per quanto riguarda lo status del Kosovo, ha comunicato il segretariato delle Nazioni Unite. Precedentemente Tadic ha parlato con l’alto rappresentante dell’Unione europea Catherine Asthon e il segretario generale della NATO Andres Fog Rasmusen, il quale ha detto che l’Eulex e la Kfor rimarranno neutrali per quanto riguarda lo status del Kosovo. Il Presidente serbo ha dichiarato che la nuova round delle trattative, prevista per il 28 settembre, deve essere tenuta, ed ha espresso la speranza che la questione del servizio doganale sarà risolta. La Serbia desidera che la questione del Kosovo si risolva con dialogo, tramite una soluzione duratura che rispetterà gli interessi di entrambi i popoli, ha detto Tadic.