Kosovo Serbs: We're frightened - we're leaving!
Glas Javnosti, Belgrade, August 17, 2006
What Serbs from Kosovo enclaves think about the division of our southern province
Gordana Djoric from Laplje Selo: I was on the Nis Express bus blown up on February 16, 2002. And I lived through that. And then there was March 17. But this!? If this is how it is to be, we will leave en masse. Dojcin Kukurekovic from Donja Gusterica: We're worried. If there is a division, we can always leave our homes
We're frightened! We're shocked! It would be terrible if Kosovo was divided. We hoped that they wouldn't be allowed to divide us, to sell us out. That they wouldn't renounce us, says Gordana Djoric, a local resident of Laplje Selo, nervously.
She and the other Serbs in the village with its 300 Serb houses dread receiving the news. Just like all the Serbs in the Gnjilane region, where there are more than forty thousand of them. They wait and they fear that dark forebodings of the possible division of Serbia's southern province might come true. They wait and they hope that that's not how it will be, that our countrymen wouldn't allow them to become just a black hole among Albanians.
"The things that we've lived through. was on the Nis Express bus blown up on February 16, 2002. It was my rebirth. And I lived through that," her voice trails off.
"They treated me in the British hospital in Mitrovica. It's true it wasn't a severe wound but not even that incited me to leave Kosovo and Metohija. Not even March 17, which was talked about in advance, which we expected to happen. All these things couldn't make us leave. But this!? If this is how it is to be, we will leave en masse. We'll have to," cries the mother of two who are studying in Belgrade.
But all her relatives are here, her friends, her neighbors... Her entire life. She would rather not go. Despite the fact that power outages run for five hours a day. Despite the fact that life can be cruel... She does many different odd jobs. She helps women in Kosovo out a little, a little of this, a little of that. Somehow she manages to make ends meet.
"If Kosovo and Metohija were divided, we would be isolated once again. Whether we wanted it or not, we would be surrounded and pressured by Albanians. It is impossible to survive in this way. And all we want is to survive and to stay. That's all. Nothing more," says Gordana.
They had just begun to hope for a better life. Mini agricultural projects are scheduled to start. But it would all be for nothing, she says, if their Kosovo would be torn into pieces.
Dojcin Kukurekovic reduced his life to a radius of a few kilometers long ago. From his native Donja Gusterica he frequently travels to Gracanica, five kilometers there and five back. He rarely ventures into Pristina.
He can't believe that something like that could happen. Surely they belong somewhere, he thinks. Surely someone should be taking care of them, too.
"If they divide us, it will be bad. Then we will know for sure that our Serbia is doing nothing for us. Then they are just working for northern Kosovo," Dojcin raises his voice.
It's true that he couldn't send his beloved two sons and daughter to university in Kosovo. But they're not that far away.
"The children went to Nis to finish their education. But it's only temporary! We would like to live here. For all those who left to come back to their homes. This is our land, everything that is important to us is here," he says.
A technologist by occupation, whose nickeling plant was shut down for lack of demand, makes due somehow. Representatives from Kosovo institutions have announced loans for the opening of small- and medium-sized businesses. Our people are hopeful. That the lot of ordinary Serbs will improve somewhat, that they will be able to repair and furnish their homes and live with dignity.
"My life is difficult. I get about 20,000 dinars per month from the Kosovo and Metohija Chamber of Commerce. It's barely enough to make ends meet. Barely," he says.
Despite the fact that there has been no good news for a long time, even though everything is to the Serbs' disadvantage, they continue hoping. Hope perishes last.
"I hope that here, in my own house, I will remain in Serbia. But it would appear that the international community favors the Albanians. It will be bad if it becomes independent. Or divided. If that happens, we will end up en masse in central Serbia. Where else would we go? We have nowhere else," concludes Dojcin.
If Serbia gets northern Kosovo Dragisa Jovic from the village of Crkvena Vodica doesn't know how the Serbs who are left outside their motherland would manage to live.
"We're frightened! We don't know how we would move around. By air?! What kind of corridor would they make for us among the Albanians," says Dragisa with amazement.
Neither he nor the other Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija enclaves see how they would be able to live if in the future the land they walk on in Kosovo is no longer Serb. Simply, there would be no way. Although that is what he wants with all his heart. He wants to build his family where he himself was born and where his forebears rest. Last year he married. He hopes for children to play in the yard, scream throughout the house...
"It would be impossible for us to live here if Kosovo is independent or divided, like they are saying. God grant that at least we get some kind of corridor," he repeats.
And so their days pass, in fear and in hope... They pray to God and they wait.
In response to my comment, may God help you, Dragisa sighed:
"That's what we've been saying for years but it's not working."
NORTH DOESN'T BELIEVE THE CENTER
What Serbs from Kosovo enclaves think about the division of our southern province
Gordana Djoric from Laplje Selo: I was on the Nis Express bus blown up on February 16, 2002. And I lived through that. And then there was March 17. But this!? If this is how it is to be, we will leave en masse. Dojcin Kukurekovic from Donja Gusterica: We're worried. If there is a division, we can always leave our homes
We're frightened! We're shocked! It would be terrible if Kosovo was divided. We hoped that they wouldn't be allowed to divide us, to sell us out. That they wouldn't renounce us, says Gordana Djoric, a local resident of Laplje Selo, nervously.
She and the other Serbs in the village with its 300 Serb houses dread receiving the news. Just like all the Serbs in the Gnjilane region, where there are more than forty thousand of them. They wait and they fear that dark forebodings of the possible division of Serbia's southern province might come true. They wait and they hope that that's not how it will be, that our countrymen wouldn't allow them to become just a black hole among Albanians.
"The things that we've lived through. was on the Nis Express bus blown up on February 16, 2002. It was my rebirth. And I lived through that," her voice trails off.
"They treated me in the British hospital in Mitrovica. It's true it wasn't a severe wound but not even that incited me to leave Kosovo and Metohija. Not even March 17, which was talked about in advance, which we expected to happen. All these things couldn't make us leave. But this!? If this is how it is to be, we will leave en masse. We'll have to," cries the mother of two who are studying in Belgrade.
But all her relatives are here, her friends, her neighbors... Her entire life. She would rather not go. Despite the fact that power outages run for five hours a day. Despite the fact that life can be cruel... She does many different odd jobs. She helps women in Kosovo out a little, a little of this, a little of that. Somehow she manages to make ends meet.
"If Kosovo and Metohija were divided, we would be isolated once again. Whether we wanted it or not, we would be surrounded and pressured by Albanians. It is impossible to survive in this way. And all we want is to survive and to stay. That's all. Nothing more," says Gordana.
They had just begun to hope for a better life. Mini agricultural projects are scheduled to start. But it would all be for nothing, she says, if their Kosovo would be torn into pieces.
Dojcin Kukurekovic reduced his life to a radius of a few kilometers long ago. From his native Donja Gusterica he frequently travels to Gracanica, five kilometers there and five back. He rarely ventures into Pristina.
He can't believe that something like that could happen. Surely they belong somewhere, he thinks. Surely someone should be taking care of them, too.
"If they divide us, it will be bad. Then we will know for sure that our Serbia is doing nothing for us. Then they are just working for northern Kosovo," Dojcin raises his voice.
It's true that he couldn't send his beloved two sons and daughter to university in Kosovo. But they're not that far away.
"The children went to Nis to finish their education. But it's only temporary! We would like to live here. For all those who left to come back to their homes. This is our land, everything that is important to us is here," he says.
A technologist by occupation, whose nickeling plant was shut down for lack of demand, makes due somehow. Representatives from Kosovo institutions have announced loans for the opening of small- and medium-sized businesses. Our people are hopeful. That the lot of ordinary Serbs will improve somewhat, that they will be able to repair and furnish their homes and live with dignity.
"My life is difficult. I get about 20,000 dinars per month from the Kosovo and Metohija Chamber of Commerce. It's barely enough to make ends meet. Barely," he says.
Despite the fact that there has been no good news for a long time, even though everything is to the Serbs' disadvantage, they continue hoping. Hope perishes last.
"I hope that here, in my own house, I will remain in Serbia. But it would appear that the international community favors the Albanians. It will be bad if it becomes independent. Or divided. If that happens, we will end up en masse in central Serbia. Where else would we go? We have nowhere else," concludes Dojcin.
If Serbia gets northern Kosovo Dragisa Jovic from the village of Crkvena Vodica doesn't know how the Serbs who are left outside their motherland would manage to live.
"We're frightened! We don't know how we would move around. By air?! What kind of corridor would they make for us among the Albanians," says Dragisa with amazement.
Neither he nor the other Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija enclaves see how they would be able to live if in the future the land they walk on in Kosovo is no longer Serb. Simply, there would be no way. Although that is what he wants with all his heart. He wants to build his family where he himself was born and where his forebears rest. Last year he married. He hopes for children to play in the yard, scream throughout the house...
"It would be impossible for us to live here if Kosovo is independent or divided, like they are saying. God grant that at least we get some kind of corridor," he repeats.
And so their days pass, in fear and in hope... They pray to God and they wait.
In response to my comment, may God help you, Dragisa sighed:
"That's what we've been saying for years but it's not working."
NORTH DOESN'T BELIEVE THE CENTER
"I asked our people in the northern part about the division. And their response was, so what, why not. When I asked, well, what are we supposed to do, those of us who would remain among the Albanians, in the enclaves, they didn't blink an eye before saying, so, you'll move to our side. As if it was so easy!" laments Gordana.
TO GRACANICA IN DISGUISE
"Things are not working normally at all! We have to move around in disguise. If we are traveling from Merdare, we have to have KS license plates. Get it, we practically have to pretend we are Albanians! I can drive only as far as Gracanica with Pristina license plates," complains Dojcin Kukurekovic.
It's of no help that there are almost eleven thousand Serbs in Lipljan municipality, including Dojcin's village. And they expect things to get worse if Kosovo is divided.
"We're worried. We don't have the right information. What we hear on television is all, whether or not it's true. If there is a division, we can always leave our homes. The people in Belgrade should expect a great pogrom in the direction of central Serbia in that case," says Dojcin.
PLANS
If the worst solution for Serbs occurs, Jovic knows what he needs to do.
"I have no intention of going to central Serbia. I have no source of income there. I have no property there. I have no money to buy something to live. If it gets to the point that I can't live in my own house, I'll ask for political asylum in another country," Dragisa fears, calculates and plans.
(Translated on September 12, 2006 by sib)
TO GRACANICA IN DISGUISE
"Things are not working normally at all! We have to move around in disguise. If we are traveling from Merdare, we have to have KS license plates. Get it, we practically have to pretend we are Albanians! I can drive only as far as Gracanica with Pristina license plates," complains Dojcin Kukurekovic.
It's of no help that there are almost eleven thousand Serbs in Lipljan municipality, including Dojcin's village. And they expect things to get worse if Kosovo is divided.
"We're worried. We don't have the right information. What we hear on television is all, whether or not it's true. If there is a division, we can always leave our homes. The people in Belgrade should expect a great pogrom in the direction of central Serbia in that case," says Dojcin.
PLANS
If the worst solution for Serbs occurs, Jovic knows what he needs to do.
"I have no intention of going to central Serbia. I have no source of income there. I have no property there. I have no money to buy something to live. If it gets to the point that I can't live in my own house, I'll ask for political asylum in another country," Dragisa fears, calculates and plans.
(Translated on September 12, 2006 by sib)
posted by Snezana @ 06:27
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