Kosovo Serbs report 70 incidents to UN envoy

BBC Monitoring Europe (Political) - June 11, 2006

 

Excerpt from report by Serbian independent news agency FoNet

 

Kosovska Mitrovica, 11 June: UN envoy for Kosovo status talks Marti Ahtisaari has held talks in Kosovska Mitrovica with representatives of the Serb National Council [SNV] of northern Kosovo who warned him that democratic standards are not being achieved in Kosovo despite UNMIK [UN mission in Kosovo] claims to the contrary.

 

SNV chairman Milan Ivanovic told a news conference that Ahtisaari was informed about 70 ethnically-motivated incidents which had recently taken place in the Mitrovica region.

 

Ivanovic said that the Finnish diplomat was warned that representatives of Kosovo institutions were trying to conceal the background to crimes against Kosovo Serbs.

 

"We told Ahtisaari in no uncertain terms that an independent Kosovo is unacceptable for the Serbs and that it would lead to ethnic cleansing of the Serb community," Ivanovic said. [Passage omitted]

 

Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1443 11 Jun 06