U.S. troops to protect Serbs in Kosovo

WASHINGTON TIMES (USA), January 21, 2007 By John Phillips

BELGRADE, Serbia -- The United States has moved troops to northern Kosovo to protect the Serbian minority ahead of elections today in Serbia, where nationalists have pledged to prevent the province's ethnic-Albanian majority from obtaining independence.

Two U.S. military platoons, accompanied by one Austrian and one Georgian platoon were deployed in late December for a month to a NATO camp at Leposavic, close to the border with Serbia, Kosovo's peacekeepers' headquarters announced. The redeployment was part of NATO's plan for rapid intervention aimed at providing security for about 100,000 Serbs living in Kosovo.

A U.N. civil administration mission and about 16,000 NATO protection troops have been in Kosovo to curb ethnic conflicts since 1999, when an Allied bombing campaign expelled Serbian forces.

The war ended a wave of brutal ethnic cleansing against the Kosovar civilian population by Serbian then-President Slobodan Milosevic's regime.

In the Kosovo capital of Pristina, leaders of ethnic Albanians, who make up 90 percent of the province's population of 1.8 million, insist on independence. Serbia Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica has said Kosovo will be part of Serbia and the historic cradle of Serbian culture forever.

After the election, Kosovo is expected to be offered limited independence from Belgrade.

The latest rotation of about 1,500 U.S. troops under Brig. Gen. Douglas Earhart, commander of the U.S. Army National Guard's 29th Infantry Division and of Kosovo Forces Multi-National Task Force (East) moved into position in Kosovo last month. Most are Guard troops from Virginia, Massachusetts, 20 other states and Puerto Rico.

The United Nations late last year delayed a recommendation by the U.N. special envoy for Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari, on the future status of Kosovo so as not to prejudice the Serbian elections.

NATO said last week it is unlikely to reduce troop levels in the province until 2008. NATO has 16,500 soldiers from 35 countries deployed in Kosovo.

"We will maintain our mandate, our strength, our organization on 2007," Lt. Gen. Roland Kather, the German commander of NATO's Kosovo force, said at a press conference. "I think that there will be no change until early 2008, and then we'll have to look at how far we have come."

Serbian authorities investigate Kosovo Albanian for alleged war crimes

Associated Press, Friday, January 19, 2007 1:28 PM

BELGRADE, Serbia-Serbian war crimes prosecutors launched an investigation Friday into an ethnic Albanian man's alleged role in the 1998 killing of 25 Serb civilians during the Kosovo war.

Sinan Morina, who was arrested last month in neighboring Montenegro and extradited to Serbia, is being held "on suspicion of being responsible for the murder of 25 Serbs in 1998" in central Kosovo, said the prosecutors' office in Belgrade.

The group of Serb villagers, including an 11-member family, were missing for years until their bodies were found in 2005 in the rural Volujak cave and were identified through DNA tests.

Serbian prosecutors contend that Morina fought in the unit of the Kosovo Liberation Army, the independence-seeking ethnic Albanian rebel force, that rounded up the civilians and summarily executed them. Some of the victims were allegedly shot, others slaughtered and several were thrown off a cliff.

Kosovo has been under U.N. and NATO control since the 1998-99 conflict. Dozens of ethnic Albanian men, although indicted by Serbian prosecutors as alleged KLA fighters, remain out of reach for Serbian authorities.

Morina traveled to Montenegro last month, however, and was arrested during a car theft, prosecutors said. Montenegrin police, after finding Morina's name on a list of persons sought by Serbia, handed him over to the neighboring country.

The investigation in Belgrade comes at a sensitive time, with a U.N. envoy expected soon to present a proposal on Kosovo's future status, whether the province becomes an independent state or a self-governing part of Serbia.

U.S. troops stage exercise in Kosovo before Serbian elections, U.N. status proposal

Associated Press, Friday, January 19, 2007 11:45 AM

MOGILA, Serbia-Dozens of U.S. peacekeepers on Friday jumped from helicopters and scattered across cornfields in eastern Kosovo, in a show of force before weekend elections in Serbia and an expected U.N. proposal for the future of the disputed province.

The troops, part of 16,000-strong NATO-led peacekeeping force that has patrolled Kosovo since mid-1999, conducted a drill to test their readiness to react should violence arise in the ethnically divided province.

The display of force included Black Hawk and Apache helicopters hovering above the village of Mogila, inhabited by both ethnic Albanians and Serbs, communities at odds over what the future of Kosovo should hold.

The purpose of the exercise "is to evaluate and test our capability to rapidly move our forces" anywhere within U.S.-controlled area, Lt. Col. Lapthe Flora said.

Kosovo has been administered by a U.N. mission since mid-1999, following NATO's air war that halted Serb forces' crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists.

The province's status has been a point of dispute between Kosovo's ethnic Albanians, who are seeking to secede, and Serbia, which offers broad autonomy but wants to keep the province within its borders.

With the two sides deeply divided, chief U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari, who facilitated yearlong talks on the issue, is set to present his recommendations following Sunday's parliamentary election in Serbia.

Diplomats say the province will likely get some form of independence, supervised by an international presence, while NATO is set to keep troops in Kosovo for several years.

There have been fears that Ahtisaari's report could spark renewed violence between the ethnic Albanian majority and the Serb minority.

UN Kosovo envoy to present final status package in February

XINHUA (CHINA), Thursday, January 18, 2007 5:47 PM

BELGRADE, Jan 18, 2007 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- UN special envoy on Kosovo future status talks, Martti Ahtisaari, will present his package of proposals to Kosovo's Albanian authorities in February, UN top envoy in Kosovo said in the provincial capital Pristina on Thursday.

"I believe that there is one more step to be made, after which the package will be forwarded to the UN Security Council," UN mission chief in Kosovo Joachim Rucker told reporters in Pristina.

He said the process of the resolution of the status of Kosovo is progressing step by step and the UN mission has been preparing the ground for transition and the transfer of responsibilities to local institutions.

Kosovo negotiating team spokesman Skender Hiseni said that "the negotiators will not agree to a single specific dimension of the package, until it explicitly underscores the independence of Kosovo."

Kosovo is formally part of Serbia but has been administered by the UN mission since 1999, after U.S.-led NATO forces intervened to halt a Serb crackdown on separatist ethnic Albanians.

Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority, who represent some 90 percent of the 2 million people, hopes the Ahtisaari's package will lead to the province's independence from Serbia -- a move opposed by the Serb minority in Kosovo and the government in Belgrade. 

Over the past few days, Ahtisaari's associates have announced that the package of proposals for Kosovo is in its final stage and that the package would be revealed to the Contact Group of six major countries immediately after the Jan. 21 parliamentary elections in Serbia.

European diplomats have said EU administrators are set to replace the UN mission after the UN Security council approves the solution to Kosovo's future status in March or April.

Kosovo PM: Kosovo Status Proposal won't Threaten Security

FOCUS ENGLISH NEWS (BULGARIA), 17 January 2007 15:51

Pristina. The announcement of the proposal for the final status of Kosovo won't threaten the province's security, Kosovo's Prime Minister Agim Ceku said cited by the Albanian edition of BBC. Ceku made his statement amid rumours about the existence of Serbian extremists in northern Kosovo who might destabilize the province after the announcement of Marti Ahtissari's proposal. Ceku stressed that the security forces were ready to act and to provide peace and security in Kosovo.

Unease in Kosovo, but no violence over status, says U.S. commander

Associated Press, Wednesday, January 17, 2007 7:40 AM

SOJEVO, Serbia-The commander of U.S. peacekeepers in Kosovo said Wednesday he expected unease when a U.N. envoy makes a proposal on whether the province should become independent, but said he did not believe violence was imminent.

Brig. Gen. Douglas Earhart, who is in charge of some 1,500 U.S. troops deployed in eastern Kosovo, said he believed Martti Ahtisaari's report "will be very broad."

"Most likely there will be folks that are not happy with parts of it, there will be folks that will be very happy with some parts probably," he told The Associated Press in an interview.

"But, with any compromise situation, no one will get everything that they want," he added.

Speaking outside the sprawling U.S. military base Camp Bondsteel, Earhart said he is appealing to people to be patient and tolerant to allow for the process to evolve.

"There's been a lot of personal investment by citizens in this province and all that investment will be lost if folks just turn to violence," he said. "I've got to ask myself 'What will that violence gain?', and I just can't see it."

Kosovo has been administered by a United Nations mission since mid-1999 following NATO's air war that halted Serb forces' crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists.

The province's status has been a point of dispute between ethnic Albanians in Kosovo who are seeking to secede and Serbia, which offers broad autonomy but wants to keep the province within its borders.

With the two sides deeply divided, chief U.N. envoy Ahtisaari, who facilitated yearlong talks on the issue, is set to present his recommendations following Sunday's parliamentary election in Serbia.

Diplomats say the province will likely get some form of independence, supervised by an international presence, while NATO is set to keep troops in Kosovo for several years.

There have been fears that Ahtisaari's report could spark renewed violence between the ethnic Albanian majority and the Serb minority.

Earhart played down those fears, saying his forces are anticipating small groups of troublemakers and pledged that the peacekeeping force was prepared to stave off any violence that may arise.

U.S. troops in Kosovo are part of the NATO-led peacekeeping force which has patrolled the province for nearly eight years. The force is down to 16,000 troops from the original 50,000.

U.S.-controlled eastern Kosovo has several ethnically mixed villages and borders Serbia.

"This mission in a lot of ways demonstrates where we'd like to be in Iraq and Afghanistan," Earhart said.

Lead roof stolen from newly reconstructed Orthodox church in Pristina stolen

KiM Info Newsletter 17-01-07

THIEVES STEAL PART OF THE LEAD ROOF FROM CHURCH OF ST. NICHOLAS IN PRISTINA

Attack on the renewed church of St. Nicholas in Pristina

View of the south part of the narthex of St. Nicholas Church. The lead covering was stolen from the apsid (right) and from a part of the side cupola (middle)

KIM Info Service, Pristina, January 16, 2007

Vicar Bishop Teodosije of Lipljan and members of the Council of Europe's Committee for renewal of churches in Kosovo and Metohija visited the newly restored church of St. Nicholas in Pristina today after the Committee  was informed that a part of the lead roof was missing above the apsid and the side cupola. According to information obtained by the Committee, the thieves fled the scene yesterday when they were caught in the act by a Kosovo Police Service patrol arriving in front of the church after a neighbor called them. The thieves left their tools and a part of the lead roof they had already removed behind them. It is assumed that if the police patrol had not appeared, a much bigger part of the lead roof would have been taken from the church. In addition to the theft of the roof several windows on the church were also broken.

Thieves have stolen the lead covering from the apsid above the south part of the narthex of the church of St. Nicholas in Pristina

"Unfortunately, this is yet another example of the fact that attacks on Christian holy shrines are still occurring," said Bishop Teodosije. He added that he has requested that members of the Committee and relevant authorities place security guards in front of Orthodox churches that are currently being or have already been renewed to prevent the theft and destruction of church property.

"We have insisted several times during the past year on the protection of our holy shrines in locations where there are presently none of our faithful, especially after the theft of the lead covering from the church of Bogorodica Ljevisa (Holy Virgin of Ljevis) Cathedral and St. George Runovic Church in Prizren; however, nothing has yet been done," underscored Bishop Teodosije.

"If relevant institutions are unable to provide necessary protection for Christian religious sites, we must seriously ask the question whether it will be possible to begin the process of restoring our holy shrines at all. Nevertheless, this most recent act will not stop us. As long as our holy shrines and homes are being destroyed, we will continue to restore them because that is the only way we have of demonstrating that there must be room and freedom for Orthodox Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija," said Bishop Teodosije.

Bishop Teodosije has also informed the regional hierarch, Bishop Artemije of Raska and Prizren, of the most recent desecration of the church of St. Nicholas in Pristina, and he has also most strongly condemned this attack.

The church of St. Nicholas is one of 30 religious buildings of the Serbian Orthodox Church destroyed in the course of the March 2004 pogrom. In accordance with the program of Committee for the restoration of holy shrines in fall 2006 the church was restored together with the baptismal chamber, bell tower and priest's home. Following completion of major construction work, further work on the interior appointment of the church and auxiliary buildings had been planned during the course of 2007. The church of St. Nicholas remains without any form of protection. Since its torching in 2004 the church has been the target of thieves on several occasions, and what remained of it was stolen.

Remnants of March 2004 violence. Two desecrated tombs in the small Orthodox Christian cemetery near the church of St. Nicholas in Pristina

Under strong international pressure illegally constructed buildings near Visoki Decani Monastery are being removed

KIM Info Service, January 16, 2007

More than a month after illegally constructed buildings were raised near Visoki Decani Monastery and under strong international pressure, a decision was finally issued for the removal of the buildings. On Saturday, January 13, members of the Kosovo Protection Corps dismantled one of the three buildings built by Naim Kuchi near the monastery.

According to information the monastery received today from Pristina, an executive order signed by Joachim Ruecker was sent today to the municipality of Decani for the removal of the two additional buildings, thus ensuring complete adherence to an April 2005 Executive decision establishing a protected zone around the monastery. It is expected that all the buildings will be removed in the near future. The monastery received a visit yesterday from one of the deputies of the UNMIK chief, Ms. Patricia Waring, who then also met with the mayor of the municipality of Decani, Nazmi Selmanaj.

"It is quite encouraging that the decision of the UNMIK chief will finally be respected. However, the very fact that it took more than a month to do so and that there was serious obstruction at the local municipal level shows how difficult it is to secure effective protection for the Serbian Orthodox patrimony in Kosovo and Metohija as long as local institutions are behaving irresponsibly," said Protosingel Sava Janjic, deputy abbot of Visoki Decani Monastery.

"So far all institutions, starting with the municipality, have not been up to the task. Ultimately it turned out that the decision of the UNMIK chief can only be implemented with strong political pressure from the U.S. and German offices (in Pristina), which have made significant efforts to ensure that the procedure on the protected zone around the monastery is honored. It remains to be seen whether the remaining two smaller buildings will also be removed," said Fr. Sava.

"This was not just an example of illegal construction but a test of how far local institutions and the international community are prepared to go to ensure institutional protection for the Serbian spiritual and cultural heritage, which is to be separately regulated according to the plan of Martti Ahtisaari."

"We are seriously concerned about how such a complex plan of decentralization, Serb self-administration and protection will be implemented," added Fr. Sava, "under conditions in which local institutions are working in the shadows of informal power centers, clan structures and a tribe mentality where constant pressure by international diplomatic and military circles is necessary to ensure implementation of the law. Thus, this case of illegal construction near Visoki Decani Monastery gives a very clear picture of the essential lack of readiness by Kosovo institutions to take on the building of a modern and democratic society resting on the rule of justice and law, and of the fact that Serbs need much fore than formal guarantees of protection," concluded Fr. Sava.

Suspected ethnic Albanian extremist arrested last month at Vienna airport

Associated Press, Tuesday, January 16, 2007 1:48 PM

VIENNA, Austria-Police last month arrested a suspected ethnic Albanian extremist from Kosovo who allegedly plotted to blow up two bombs inside Montenegro's parliament building, Austrian media reported Tuesday.

The Kronen Zeitung newspaper, in a story for Wednesday's editions, said the radical, a former fighter with the now-disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army, was taken into custody at Vienna's Schwechat International Airport in December.

Interior Ministry spokesman Rudolf Gollia confirmed that authorities arrested a man wanted on an international warrant at the airport Dec. 8. He declined to elaborate.

Kronen Zeitung said the suspect, aged 55, also held U.S. citizenship. The newspaper said he was involved in a thwarted plot to attack the parliament in Montenegro, which last year gained independence from Serbia.

No motive was given for the alleged plot.

Kosovo decision must satisfy both Pristina and Belgrade - Lavrov

RUSSIAN INFORMATION AGENCY NOVOSTI, 16/01/2007 15:29

MOSCOW, January 16 (RIA Novosti) - A decision on the sovereignty of Kosovo, which is being demanded by the predominantly Albanian population in the historically Serbian region, must satisfy both Kosovo and Serbian authorities, the Russian foreign minister said Tuesday.

On Monday, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica discussed the Kosovo situation by telephone with Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari's proposal on the restive region, which, as some Western officials say, is expected to offer some form of independence for the province.

"The decision on Kosovo's status should be balanced and reached by means of negotiations, and should be acceptable both for Kosovo authorities and Belgrade," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

Russia, a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council, has repeatedly said that sovereignty for the UN-administered Serbian province of Kosovo, which is sought by the ethnic Albanian majority but opposed by Belgrade, could have negative consequences for unresolved conflicts in the former Soviet Union that erupted in the early 1990s.

"A forced decision on the status of Kosovo is out of the question," Lavrov added.

The province's final status was to have been determined by the end of last year, but a decision was put off until after a general election in Serbia January 21.

Last November, thousands of Kosovo Albanians attacked the United Nations headquarters in the capital, Pristina, over a delayed decision on their demand for independence. The region has been a UN protectorate since NATO's military campaign against Belgrade in 1999.

Karamanlis: Greece backs mutually acceptable solution for Kosovo

ATHENS NEWS AGENCY (GREECE), 01/17/2007

BELGRADE (ANA-MPA - A. Panagopoulos) Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis underlined Athens' backing for a mutually acceptable solution in Kosovo that would define and promote its multi-ethnic character, following talks with Serb Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica in Belgrade on Tuesday.

Karamanlis stressed that Greece, as a country within the region, was fully aware of the need for such a solution for the security and stability of southeastern Europe.

Kostunica said that a solution must be based on compromise and must be in agreement with international law, while respecting the borders and the integrity of the country.

He said that Serbia would not accept any solution that did not respect international law and the United Nations charter, nor any solution that was imposed and did not arise through compromise.

The Serb premier also stressed that compromise could only be achieved through negotiations and voiced complaints about the lack of movement in UN-led negotiations over the past six months, though noting that UN special envoy for Kosovo Martti Ahtisaari was expected to present his proposals on January 26, shortly after general elections taking place in Serbia on Sunday.

Karamanlis and Kostunica also discussed the construction of new roadways to enhance infrastructure in the area.

Earlier on Tuesday, after being received by Serb President Boris Tadic, Karamanlis had stressed that the solution for Kosovo must respect human and minority rights, while providing protection to the Serb Orthodox Church in the province.

The Greek prime minister underlined that all sides must avoid unilateral actions that attempt to pre-empt the results of the process now underway.

Tadic stressed that Belgrade could not accept any form of independence for Kosovo and said that this would lead to destabilisation, noting that the Serb position could be summed up as "full autonomy, not independence". He also underlined that Serb policy for Kosovo would not be affected by the upcoming elections.

In response to questions on possible independence for Kosovo, Karamanlis said that Greece had not shifted its position on this issue and was awaiting the UN envoy's proposals.

In addition to Kosovo, Tadic and Karamanlis held talks on bilateral relations, noting that these were excellent and that Greece steadily supported Serbia's EuroAtlantic and European orientation. The Serb president noted that EU membership was among Belgrade's goals.

They also discussed economic cooperation and the plan for Serbia's reconstruction, to which Greece will contribute significant funds.

Karamanlis pointed out that supporting Serbia's EU and EuroAtlantic prospects was a strategic choice for Greece.

The Greek prime minister expressed hope that Serb general elections on Sunday would be carried out in a way that demonstrated the country's democratic maturity to the international community, adding that a democratic government with a European orientation would accelerate the rate of progress toward the EU after the polls. He noted that the climate toward Serbia within the EU was more positive than in the past.

NATO's top commander visiting troops in Kosovo

Associated Press, Tuesday, January 16, 2007 10:03 AM

 

PRISTINA, Serbia-NATO's supreme commander on Tuesday visited alliance peacekeepers in Kosovo, where tensions have been high in anticipation of proposals for the disputed province's future status.

 

It was U.S. Army Gen. Bantz J. Craddock's first inspection of the 16,000-strong, NATO-led force, known as KFOR, since he took charge of the alliance last month, a NATO spokesman in Kosovo said.

 

"He gave assurances that KFOR will be here for any eventual problem before and after the status is resolved," Kosovo government spokeswoman Ulpiana Lama said.

 

The chief envoy for the United Nations, which is mediating the Kosovo status talks, plans to issue recommendations for the province in a report soon after Serbian elections this Sunday. Many fear the report by Martti Ahtisaari could spark renewed violence between Kosovo's Serb minority and its majority ethnic Albanians, who want independence from Serbia.

 

NATO's commander in Kosovo pledged last week that the KFOR peacekeepers would respond to any security threat in the runup to an announcement on its future status.

 

Craddock also met with Kosovo's Prime Minister Agim Ceku during his visit.

 

Kosovo has been administered by a U.N. mission since mid-1999, when NATO launched an air war to halt a crackdown by Serb forces on separatist ethnic Albanian rebels. Belgrade insists Kosovo should have autonomy but remain within Serb borders.

Serbia seeks compromise on Kosovo

Makfax news agency, Skoplje, 15.01.2007 16:47

 

Belgrade - Serbia is not retreating from finding peaceful solution for the Kosovo issue, which should be acceptable both for Belgrade and for Pristina, said today Serbian leaders.

 

President and Foreign Minister of Serbia, Boris Tadic and Vuk Draskovic, said this on separate meetings in Belgrade with chiefs of diplomacies of Slovakia and Sweden, Jan Kubis and Carl Bildt.

 

"Serbia opposes any solution that would imply any kind of Kosovo's independence", said Tadic after the meeting with Kubis.

 

Tadic reiterated Serbian position for essential autonomy for Kosovo and pointed out that Belgrade authorities are willing to continue negotiations for future status of the province.

 

Chief of Serbian diplomacy Vuk Draskovic, after the meeting with his Swedish counterpart Carl Bildt said that independent Kosovo is absolutely unacceptable for Serbia. "There is no independence for Kosovo, but instead a compromise solution must be found, serving the best interests of both Serbs and Albanians", said Draskovic.

 

Bildt, as reported by Serbian media, announced that Kosovo issue will be placed high on European Union's agenda and after Martti Ahtisaari's proposal most probably a new resolution of the UN Security Council will be adopted, settling the status of Kosovo.

 

The chief of Swedish diplomacy said that Serbs have paid high price because of Slobodan Milosevic's policy and that it is time Serbia to move forward, emphasizing that Europe has strong interest in the European perspective of Serbia and the whole region.

 

From the other side, political representatives of Kosovo Serbs said on Monday that eventual one-sided declaration of Kosovo's independence would lead to division of the province.

 

"The division of Kosovo is inevitable if Pristina declares independence that later would be recognized by particular states", said the leader of Serb List for Kosovo, Oliver Ivanovic. /end/

Putin confirms Russia's position regarding Kosovo

ITAR-TASS (RUSSIAN FEDERATION), 15.01.2007, 17.24

MOSCOW, January 15 (Itar-Tass) -- President Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica on Monday.

"In the course of the conversation, practical issues of Russian-Serbian cooperation were touched upon, including in the energy and investment spheres," the Kremlin press service said.

"While discussing the situation in the Balkans and the Kosovo settlement in particular, Putin confirmed Russia's principled position with regard to the resolution of the Kosovo problem," the press service said.

Almost daily ethic cleansings in Kosovo aimed to drive Serbs away - Kosovo ruling bishop

INTERFAX (RUSSIAN FEDERATION), 15 January 2007, 14:02

 

Belgrade, January 15, Interfax - Ethnic tension in Kosovo and Metochia persists and measures taken by the peacekeeping force to alleviate it are inadequate, believes Artemije of Raska and Prizren, the ruling bishop of the region.

 

'Not a single day passes without any incident (clash between Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo - IF). The stable tension continues and its ultimate goal is to continue the ethnic cleansing of the Serbs remaining of Kosovo and Metochia till their complete banishment from the region', Bishop Artemije said in an interview with the Belgrade-based Danas newspaper.

 

For the last seven and a half years that the peacekeeping force has been present in the region, its official reports, according to the bishop, 'have not been objective' and 'tend to present the situation better than it is'.

 

A decrease in the number of murders and attacks against churches and believers in Kosovo is not a sign of a considerable change in the Kosovo Albanians' attitude towards the Serbian people, he noted.

 

The bishop also spoke with regret about a slowdown in the creation of protected zones around Orthodox churches and monasteries in Kosovo, adding that illegal construction has been carried out in many of them today.

 

'We have nothing to expect or to hope for when the solution of the problem is in the hands of Albanian institutions. We cannot receive protection from them; there is no guarantee that any agreement would be observed', the representative of the Serbian Orthodox Church said.

 

According to the bishop, in total 39 protected zones are to be created in Kosovo and Methochija, though there are 1300 churches in that area, and it means that these zones will cover only 3% of them.

Christmas celebration in Visoki Decani Monastery

KiM Info Newsletter 13-01-07

KIM Info Service, Decani, January 7, 2007

The feast of the Nativity of the Lord Jesus Christ was formally celebrated today in Visoki Decani Monastery. Christmas Day services began at 4:00 a.m. The morning services continued with Holy Hierarchal Liturgy served by the abbot of Decani Monastery, Bishop Teodosije of Lipljan, with the assistance of the priest-monks of Decani. Liturgy was attended by some one hundred faithful, monastery guests and Serbs from returnee villages who arrived early in the morning to celebrate the feast of the Nativity of Christ together with the monks. Liturgy was also attended by high representatives of the international community in Kosovo and Metohija: the UNMIK chief, Dr. Joachim Ruecker; the KFOR commander, General Roland Kather, and his deputy, General Bernardini; representative of the German office in Pristina; and local representatives of UNMIK. Also present in church were a number of KFOR troops who expressed a desire to see how Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas.

After Holy Hierarchal Liturgy the guests were received in the monastery library where Bishop Teodosije had the opportunity to speak with the UNMIK chief and the KFOR commander regarding current matters related to the protection of Serbian Orthodox holy shrines and the return of displaced Serbs. Special emphasis was placed on the fact that the preservation of the Serbian spiritual and cultural heritage is one of the key elements for the survival of the Serbs, as well as the return of the displaced.

"For centuries our holy shrines have been the spiritual sanctuary of our people and they continue to play this important role in these times we live in," said Bishop Teodosije. The guests were soon joined by the commander of the Italian contingent in Metohija, General Claudio Borrecca, who arrived directly from the Serb village of Gorazdevac near Pec, where he distributed Christmas and New Year's presents to the Serb children.
 
The UNMIK chief and the KFOR commander conveyed their most sincere greetings on the occasion of the feast of the Nativity of Christ and the Orthodox New Year (January 7 and January 13, respectively, according to the Julian calendar) to Bishop Teodosije and his monks. Bishop Teodosije thanked them for their greetings, saying that the Serbs are welcoming the Christmas and New Year's holidays with joy but also with fear and trepidation because of an uncertain future.

 

"Many Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija are again celebrating the Christmas holidays this year far from their homes in exile, while in many of our Church's holy shrines no Christmas hymns will be sung because 150 churches have been destroyed since the war, and many parishes have been completely extinguished," said Bishop Teodosije. "Nevertheless, we place our faith in the God-Child Christ, who was Himself born in a cave and in exile but who showed that a Bethlehem cave was more radiant than the palaces of the powerful men of that age."

After the luncheon, a formal Christmas banquet luncheon was prepared for all guests and pilgrims in the monastery refectory.

During the course of the day Visoki Decani Monastery received a visit from the Ambassador of the Republic of France in Belgrade Mr. Pernet with his wife and colleagues.

Serbs remained in Kosovo and Metochia thanks to strong-willed clergy - ruling bishop of the region

INTERFAX (RUSSIAN FEDERATION), 12 January 2007, 13:53

 

Moscow, January 12, Interfax - Bishop Artemije of Raska-Prizren appreciates the role of clergy in the life of the Orthodox Christians in Kosovo.

 

'One may say quite openly that some Serbs have not left Kosovo and Metochia and hold on thanks to the strong and firm monks and clergy in Kosovo and Metochia despite unprecedented massacre and ethnic cleansings for the last eight years,' the bishop said in his interviews to Serbian weekly NIN.

 

He said the process was going on in spite of the fact that the Serbs in the region had been deprived of all human rights, such as the right to live and work, freedom of movement, health protection and education.'

 

'The Serbian Orthodox Church performs her noble mission at the present hard times like she had performed it for many centuries during which our nation had neither statehood or national institutions,' Bishop Artemije underscored adding that it possible in Kosovo and Metochia thanks to 'many monks and committed clergy.'

 

He cited statistics saying there are twenty-five monasteries in the Raska-Prizren and Kosovo-Metochia dioceses. Seventeen monasteries have inhabitants, three are being revived, and five had been destroyed.

 

As to the restitution to the monasteries in Kosovo and Metochia, the bishop remarked with regret that the Decany monastery was leased, but not given back twenty hectares in 1997 out of eight hundred took by the Communists after Word War II.

 

According to him, the present Albanian authorities 'contest even this land.' Over five hundred hectares are 'not considered church property.'

 

'Even the property, which is not much, left to churches and monasteries, has not been used properly for the last eight years because of the dangerous situation in Kosovo and Metochia,' the bishop said.

Yugoslavia lives on in Kosovo time capsule

Reuters, Fri Jan 12, 2007 10:13 AM ET By Matt Robinson

 

STIMLJE, Serbia (Reuters) - More than a decade after Yugoslavia shattered into separate countries along ethnic lines its multiculturalism survives.

 

In a mental institute.

 

The dialects and languages of the old federal state can all be heard behind the iron gates of Stimlje mental health institute in Kosovo. Some patients rant about the icons of the old days, whose legacies blight the landscape.

 

"The patients came here when Yugoslavia was still alive," says the director, Kujtim Xhelili. "So we have Serbs from Kosovo, from Serbia, from Vojvodina, Croats from Croatia. We have Albanians, Macedonians, Roma, Muslims from Bosnia."

 

The 50-year-old facility in central Kosovo bears all the hallmarks of an underfunded, Socialist-era mental hospital. But the political reference points for patients who arrived before the break-up of Yugoslavia now exist only in their minds.

 

A handful of patients shuffle through the grounds in soiled clothing, faces contorted by toothy grimaces. Others play cards at a square table, shielding hands and raising stakes.

 

Many of Stimlje's residents remain almost blissfully unaware of the world outside their dreary and dilapidated bubble.

 

In the Balkans of the present, NATO troops stand watch against fresh ethnic violence which could accompany a decision to carve another fragment from the federated republic created by Marshal Tito after World War Two.

 

Kosovo's Albanian majority and Serb minority have settled into a tense segregation since Serbia's 1998-99 counter-insurgency war killed 10,000 Albanians and forced out almost one million. Tens of thousands of Serbs fled revenge attacks as the United Nations took control.

 

Both sides remain bitter and suspicious, and tensions are rising as a decision nears on the Albanian majority demand for independence, expected within months.

 

DECAY

 

The institute stands apart. On just 150 euros per month, dozens of Albanians provide 24-hour care for more than 100 patients from across the former Yugoslavia, the majority Serbs.

 

Most of the residents have been here for at least 15 years. They arrived as citizens of one country, and have lived in isolation as Yugoslavia disintegrated and more than 130,000 were killed in wars in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo.

 

Habibe, an ethnic Albanian woman who has spent 24 years working at the institute, switches with ease between Serbian and Albanian as she talks with patients knitting winter clothes in a cramped workshop, its walls stained and the air heavy with the smell of decay.

 

A middle-aged Serb from the Serbian town of Novi Pazar pulls a cigarette from his mouth and plants a kiss on the shoulder of his ethnic Albanian nurse. Families rarely visit.

 

The institute, the only one of its kind in Kosovo, has closed its doors to new patients as part of a transition to a kind of 'care in the community' programme.

 

"There is no division inside," says the director Xhelili, an ethnic Albanian former mini-market owner. "They can be informed of everything, they have television. But there are no problems."

 

During the war, Serb workers fleeing NATO bombs and troops abandoned the institute in June 1999 as Serb forces under late strongman Slobodan Milosevic pulled out.

 

The buildings were looted and the patients left to fend for themselves until the arrival of the Norwegian Red Cross.

 

Now they are set to be spared Kosovo's dramatic endgame.

 

U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari is due to unveil his proposal within weeks. A form of independence is likely -- another change of borders to pass the patients by.

 

Habibe says that only one patient appears affected by Kosovo's current turbulence.

 

"Radisav" has lost contact with his brother and spends his days scribbling about politics and lecturing the other patients.

 

Wrapped in a blanket on the grass he begins a tormented tirade: Lenin, Milosevic, Iraq, Saddam, and Bosnian Serb war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic all feature. He smiles.

 

"It seems nice while we're killing each other."

Former parliament speaker splits from Kosovo's main political party, creates his own

Associated Press, Friday, January 12, 2007 9:23 AM

 

PRISTINA, Serbia-The former Kosovo parliament speaker broke ranks with the province's main political party Friday, opting to create his own party in a political shake-up that could threaten the governing coalition's majority.

 

Nexhat Daci, a senior member of the Democratic League of Kosovo, or LDK, and a lawmaker, announced the creation of a party, to be called the Democratic League, which he said will build on the legacy of former President Ibrahim Rugova, who died a year ago of lung cancer, leaving behind a party deeply fragmented.

 

The move followed a party congress last year in which Daci and his allies lost the leadership of the party to Kosovo's President Fatmir Sejdiu.

 

Kosovo is governed by a coalition between the LDK and the much smaller Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, which jointly hold a slim majority in the 120-seat parliament. Daci's camp said they have the backing of at least six deputies.

 

He said on Friday, however, that he did not plan to destabilize the coalition during the period of its mandate.

 

Daci served as the speaker of the Kosovo parliament for four years but was dismissed in early 2006 as part of a broader reshuffle within the governing coalition.

 

He accused U.S. diplomats of pushing him out, a highly unusual claim for an ethnic Albanian politician in Kosovo, where the United States is considered a savior by Kosovo's ethnic Albanians for its role in leading NATO's air war that pushed Serb forces out of the province in 1999.

 

Kosovo, legally part of Serbia, has been under U.N. rule since mid-1999.

 

The Albanian majority, about 90 percent of Kosovo's 2 million population, wants to establish an independent state, while Serbia has insisted it remain part of its territory.

 

A U.N. envoy tasked with drafting a resolution for Kosovo's future status is to present his plan in a few weeks.

Christmas Eve in Visoki Decani Monastery

KiM Info Newsletter 12-01-07

KIM Info Service, Decani, January 6, 2007

Like throughout Kosovo and Metohija, Christmas Eve was festively celebrated in Visoki Decani Monastery with the ceremonial bringing in of the Yule tree (badnjak) and hay, and with the singing of Christmas carols. Festal Christmas morning services will begin at 4:00 a.m. and will continue with Holy Hierarchal Liturgy, which will be served by His Grace Vicar Bishop Teodosije of Lipljan with the assistance of the priest-monks of Visoki Decani Monastery. Christmas liturgy and the banquet luncheon will be attended by some 30 pilgrims to the monastery, as well as by UNMIK chief Joachim Ruecker; the KFOR commander, General Roland Kater; and General Claudio Borrecco, the commander of the Italian military contingent in Metohija.

On Christmas Eve Bishop Teodosije visits Serb returnees in the Klina area and presents them with Christmas gifts

KIM Info Service, Decani, January 6, 2007

During 2005 and 2006 Serb returnees began to return to Klina and the surrounding villages of Vidanje, Drsnik and Klinavac. The most courageous were returnees to the town of Klina itself. Many tried to deter them from their intent and frighten them, telling them that their security would not be guaranteed but in the end their love for their own homes predominated. The first attacks ensued immediately: showering of roofs and windows with stones, tossing of grenades and gunfire directed at Serb homes. The violence of Albanian extremists culminated in the murder of Dragan Popovic in Klina in June and the attack on the Pavlovic family in September of last year. Recently rounds of automatic gunfire were also fired on the Radosavljevic family. However, despite all this the Serbs from Klina and the surrounding villages remain firmly determined to stay in their homes.

 

Wishing to bring these suffering people a little consolation and joy on the eve of the great feast of the Nativity of Christ, Bishop Teodosije decided to use part of the donations received by Visoki Decani Monastery for the faithful people in Kosovo and Metohija to purchase suckling pigs for the Serbs of Klina and the surrounding villages for the traditional Christmas Day dinner. Upon learning of this plan, a group of Orthodox priests and faithful from Pancevo, especially Dragan Bozovic, who was himself expelled from Pec, decided to collect the necessary monies and purchase the piglets themselves. Consequently, a total of 93 piglets weighing 15-25 kg. were purchased.

This humanitarian Christmas project was also joined by two Orthodox Christian women from Switzerland, Makarija (Olivija) Dik and Tamara Belousova, who collected monetary assistance totaling about 10,000 Swiss francs. They earmarked part of the funds for the Serb children on the feast of St. Sava. With the support of UNMIK troops and of the local UNMIK official for the Pec region Luis Perez, Bishop Teodosije visited returnees in Klina, Vidanje, Drsnik and Klinavac, as well as in Belo Polje near Pec. The preceding day monks from Decani also visited the village of Brestovik near Pec. Great joy could be seen on the faces of the returnees, especially the children in Vidanje, which is the only place where school is being taught in a private Serb house, thus making it possible for the children to live in their respective villages.

In Drsnik everyone visited the church of St. Paraskeva (sv. Petka) from the 17th century, which was seriously damaged in 1999 and whose precious frescoes were irreparably destroyed first by the torching of the church and later by weather conditions after the lead roof was stolen. During his visit Bishop Teodosije told the Serbs that "in addition to the efforts of the Belgrade government to keep Kosovo and Metohija a part of the country of Serbia, it is also important that we do our part - which is to remain here and survive in our homes, to demonstrate that there must be room for Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija where they have lived for so many centuries. ... Kosovo and Metohija will be preserved only if there are Serbs here; consequently, we must not give in and abandon our homes but remain to the place of our birth and our youth."

The faithful of Metohija warmly thanked Bishop Teodosije, the philanthropists from Pancevo and the Orthodox donors from Switzerland for their concern, consolation and the aid they offered them on the eve of the Christmas holidays. At the end of his visit Bishop Teodosije visited the newly restored church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos in Belo Polje, where Christmas presents were also distributed.

Kosovo Serb arrested "by mistake" - UNMIK police

Radio Television Serbia, Belgrade, Wednesday, January 10, 2007 19:06

 

UNMIK police spokesman Thomas Lee said that Srecko Simic from Babin Most near Obilic was detained for illegal possession of firearms, and that during questioning it was established that there was a mistake. Srecko Simic was arrested because he had the same family name as the family of Vukasin Simic in whose home weapons had been found one day earlier during a search operation involving a number of Serb houses in Babin Most after the killing of policeman Avni Kosumi near the village, said Lee at a press conference in Pristina. Lee added that during questioning Simic complained that he had been injured during the arrest; consequently he was taken to Pristina Hospital, where physicians found no major injuries.

 

"Simic complained of the use of force by the police during his detainment. This accusation is currently being investigated in detail by the Kosovo Police Service unit for work standards," explained Lee.

 

When asked whether statements had been taken from the colleagues of the KPS policemen who were with him on the night he was killed and whether Kosumi had been shot from a hunting rifle or from a smaller caliber firearm, Lee did not wish to respond, saying that an investigation was in progress and that he did not want to say anything that would interfere with it.

 

Lee also did not wish to respond to a question why police did not search several houses at the entrance to Babin Most which are owned by Albanians.

Serbs harassed and under constant threat in 'stable' Kosovo

FINANCIAL TIMES (UK), January 9 2007 02:00 LETTERS

 

Sir, Senator Joe Biden claims that the international community has brought stability to Kosovo ("Opponents of Kosovo must be stopped", January 3). He fails to mention that after Belgrade had been bombed into submission by Nato, the Kosovo Liberation Army expelled most of Kosovo's non-Albanians under the noses of occupying Nato troops.

 

This was accompanied by a concerted campaign to erase the province's Serbian heritage. Countless churches, many medieval, have been destroyed. The few remaining Serbs are under constant threat.

 

Mr Biden also fails to mention that the west then demanded that civilised standards of behaviour be achieved by the Kosovars before there was discussion of the province's status.

 

The Kosovars, having won outright, were expected to accept the return of the many expelled Serbs, Roma and other non-Albanians, and to stop harassing those Serbs who stayed behind. The subsequent decision to ditch "standards before status" rewards ethnic cleansing.

 

So much for Gen Wesley Clark's comment during Nato's bombing of Serbia that "there is no place in modern Europe for ethnically pure states. That's a 19th century idea and we are trying to transition into the 21st century".

 

Mr Biden is a more honest geopolitical poker player. In his eyes, multi-ethnicity is trumped by the need for Washington to be seen to be backing a Muslim people.

 

Yugo Kovach, Twickenham, Middx TW1 2AP, UK

Two refugee families expelled from Kosovo, Croatia begin hunger strike

Radio Television Serbia, Belgrade, Wednesday, January 10, 2007 12:16

The sixteen members of the Krstic and Radulovic families, who were forced to leave their homes in Kosovo and Metohija and in Croatia, began a hunger strike in front of the Serbian Government building in Belgrade.

They are demanding that they be provided with a roof over their head and material assistance because they say that living conditions in the refugee camp in Smederevo where they are currently living are poor.

The members of the two families were received by a woman representative of the Serbian Government.

Russian patriarch regrets destruction of Orthodox churches in Kosovo

ITAR-TASS (Russian Federation) - January 5, 2007, Friday 10:04 PM EST

 

MOSCOW, January 6 - Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia spoke in defence of sacred religious places in Kosovo.

 

He expressed regret that Christian monuments are continuing to be destroyed in Kosovo and Metohija, while peacekeeping troops and the international community do nothing to stop that.

 

``It is especially sorrowful that churches and monasteries are being destroyed with the reticent agreement or silence of those who should raise their voice in defence of these holy places,'' the patriarch said.

 

He lauded Patriarch Pavle of Serbia, who ``lets all events and concerns related to the land of Kosovo go through his heart'' because the main shrines of the Serbian Orthodox Church are in Kosovo.

 

``The blood that was spilled within the former Yugoslavia was taken by Patriarch Pavle as his personal grief, and wherever he was, he held daily services,'' Alexy II said, adding, ``I admire his personal devotional deeds.''

 

``Patriarch Pavle's activities and his prayers are needed especially now at this time of trouble experienced by the people of Serbia,'' Alexy II said.

 

A total of 112 Orthodox churches have been destroyed in Kosovo over the past 15 years.

Church desecrated in village of Gornja Brnjica in Kosovo

KiM Info Newsletter 10-01-07

GRACANICA, January 9, 2007 (Tanjug, SRNA) - Unknown persons desecrated the church of Sts. Peter and Paul in the village of Gornja Brnjica near Pristina, representatives of the Kosovo Police Service advised today.

"Two nights ago a side window was broken on the church through which the criminals then entered. They stole the donations collected in the church on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, as well as taking a number of icons from the church," said village representative Dragi Djordjevic. He said that the KPS visited the site yesterday and initiated an investigation.

This is the second time the church has been broken into in the past two months. Last time the tongue of the church bell was stolen.

KPS spokesman Veton Elsani said that unknown persons broke a window on the church through which they entered the church and stole some money. According to Elsani, a police investigative unit and forensic experts went to the scene this morning. It is assumed that the motive for the break in was robbery, and there are no suspects at this time.

The church in Gornja Brnjica was desecrated late in the night on January 7 or early in the morning on January 8.

Church in Gornja Brnjica near Pristina robbed and damaged
KIM Radio, Caglavica, January 9, 2007

In the night between January 7 and 8 the church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Gornja Brnjica near Pristina was broken into and robbed.
The bars were removed from a window and the church, windows broken, icons damaged and all the money in the church was stolen, parish priest Stevan Markovic told KIM Radio. "Recently a lot of things have been happening in Serb enclaves and villages where Serbs are surviving and living under difficult conditions. Everything seems to be going wrong but this, too, is some kind of test we are getting from the Lord," said Father Stevan. He added that he hopes that the Serbian people can overcome all the difficulties it is currently experiencing.

"We place our hope in God's mercy that in the future such things will not reoccur."

Dragan Djordjevic, representative of the village of Gornja Brnjica, said that this is not the first attack on this church; on the contrary, recently such attacks have become increasingly frequent. "Since the end of the war this is the fourth time the church was been desecrated."

Coordinating Center (for Kosovo and Metohija) vice-president Nenad Kostic said that the damage to the church is one in a series of many acts of vandalism that have befallen the Serbian people recently. "We can only place our hope in god that better times await us, i.e. that after this incident similar ones will not reoccur," said Kojic.

The church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul was built on the foundation of an older church. It faces large tombstones with crosses which according to folk tradition and Kosovo legend is supposed to indicate the burial place of the legendary Serbian heroes, the Jugovices.

Bishop Artemije condemns desecration of church in Brnjica
KIM Radio, January 9, 2007

Bishop Artemije of Raska and Prizren condemned the desecration of the church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Brnjica near Pristina, saying that this most recent attack on the property of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo and Metohija also occurred at the time of the greatest Christian feast of Christmas. In a statement for KOSMA, Bishop Artemije reminded that during the past seven years many messages have been sent to representatives of the international community regarding the desecration of churches in Kosovo, and that the question that must now be asked is whether there is any point at all in doing so.

"They know what is happening, and they are aware of their guilt but they are not doing anything to prevent crimes. The message appears to be that they are supporting criminals and terrorists in Kosovo and Metohija. If the international community is fighting against terrorism everywhere in the world, why is it tolerating it Kosovo and Metohija? What is happening here is the most brutal form of terror that can be imaged," said Bishop Artemije.

Schook calls for patience in Babin Most controversy

B92, Belgrade, 10 January 2007 12:33

 

PRISTINA -- UNMIK deputy chief has rejected accusations that KPS members used excessive force during Babin Most searches.

 

Steven Schook has rejected Serbian prime minister Vojislav Kostunica's claims that officers of the Kosovo Police Service (KPS) overstepped their powers during the searches they conducted in Babin Most, in the wake of the murder of one of their colleagues.

 

Schook also called on Serbian officials to show restraint in their reactions until the results of the investigation into the case are known.

 

"I don't think it is useful for political leaders to make hasty conclusions, I don't think that can be a part of the solution of the problem, nor can it be beneficial for this part of the region. I have asked my interlocutors to wait until the investigation is complete in order to draw any conclusions", Schook said, referring to some Serbian officials' claims that Babin Most events represented an introduction into "another March 17".

 

Kosovo Serb representative Marko Jaksic, however, doesn't think Vojislav Kostunica's characterization of the KPS action in the Serb community in Babin Most as "an attempt at ethnic cleansing" is out of order. Jaksic says that the Simic household was searched on three separate occasions, that some family members were brutally beaten, while many locals were interrogated.

 

"In the end, they came up empty handed, while the fact Schook ordered an internal investigation suggest not everything was carried out according to rules and regulations. Serbs here are protected only when Belgrade raises the tone of its voice. When Belgrade keeps quiet, the Albanian side carries on with its work in the dark", Jaksic says.

 

Meanwhile, deputy KPS commander general Sheramet Ahmeti has apologized to Babin Most residents for any inconvenience they might have suffered as a result of the police investigation of the murder of Avni Kasumi.

 

Obilic municipality coordinator Mirce Jakoviljevic says the Serbs in Babin Most expect general Ahmeti and regional KPS and UNMIK chiefs to visit their village.

 

He added that while the residents understood the police had to their job investigating an officer's murder, they could not understand the need to search their homes, arrest their neighbors, demolish furniture and subject people to beatings.

Ceku visits Stijovic family

Beta news agency, Belgrade, 10 January 2007 10:20

UGLJARE -- Kosovo PM Agim Ceku has visited the Serb family that lost two young children in a fire in Ugljare, near Kosovo Polje.

Ceku expressed his condolences to the family, and then visited the burned down flat where the Stijovics lived, saying he came as a citizen and a prime minister to offer his support in the wake of the tragedy.

"I sincerely regret that the conditions in which the family has lived contributed to the tragedy taking place. It is the duty of all of us to make sure something of the kind doesn't happen again", Ceku said, adding it will make him happy to, as a prime minister, contribute to a climate where everyone lives freely on their own property.

The funerals of 18-month old Branko and four-year-old Andela Stijovic are scheduled for today. The children lost their lives in a fire that broke out after an electric heater burst to flames in the family's living space, made up of a single room.

Macedonia: 90 million euro cocaine haul at Kosovo border

ADN KRONOS INTERNATIONAL (ITALY), Jan-09-07 11:30

 

Skopje, 9 Jan. (AKI) - Macedonian police have confiscated 483 kilogrammes of cocaine at a checkpoint on the border with Serbia's United Nations administered province of Kosovo worth 90 million euros. It is the largest drugs haul since Macedonia became independent 15 years ago, prime minister Nikola Grueski told local media. Several European police agencies participated in the operation to break up the drug trafficking ring which involved "criminal organisations from several neighbouring countries," Grueski said.

 

Grueski did not name the countries, or state where the truck originally came from, however. He said the truck driver, a Macedonian citizen, had been detained, but police were looking for a further two individuals with foreign passports.

 

The cocaine, discovered in paint cans in a truck that entered Kosovo from Montenegro on Monday, had originated in Italy and the Czech Republic and was destined for the European Union market, Macedonian television A1, said. The whole operation was organised "directly from his jail cell" by Cavilj Sabani, an ethnic Albanian serving a 40-year jail sentence in Kosovo for smuggling heroine, A1 reported.

 

Montenegro customs failed to detect the drugs, but reportedly warned Kosovo police that the truck was suspicious. Kosovo police also found nothing, but warned Macedonian customs at the Blace border crossing where the paint cans were checked and the 90 million euros haul was uncovered, A1 reported.

 

Kosovo, whose majority ethnic Albanians demand independence, has become a haven for organised crime, drug and human trafficking since it was placed under UN control in 1999. A1 said the Interpol - which coordinates national police investigations of cross-border crime - was investigating how the cocaine got across several borders and into Kosovo undetected.

 

Grueski said he received congratulations from several European diplomats on the cocaine bust, adding that European countries have shown great interest in the matter and will closely follow the investigation.

Two small children perish in fire near Kosovo Polje

Vecernje Novosti, Belgrade, Monday, January 8, 2007

 

Little brother and little sister burned to death in each other's arms

 

D. DAMJANOVIC - I. RADULOVIC

 

KOSOVO POLJE - Family Christmas celebrations came to a halt in the early evening hours in the two remaining Serb villages of Bresje and Ugljare near Kosovo Polje after an unprecedented tragedy In the refugee settlement of Bergen in Ugljare left everyone dumb with pain.

 

A fire that broke out in the refugee settlement, built with donations from the Norwegian government, on the second floor of the building which was the home of the six members of the Stijovic family, two small children, Andjela (5) and Branko (2), burned to death.

 

A third child, seven year-old Aleksandar, managed to jump from the second floor through the window and despite burns survived the tragedy. The mother of the children, Vesna (34), who is presently in the department of surgery of the Gracanica Clinical Medical Center, is out of life threatening danger. What is certain is that the catastrophe resulted from indolence and carelessness.

 

"Apparently Vesna, the mother, became sleepy after Christmas lunch. She left the heater on and the children playing in the room. Little Andjela, according to Aleksandar, who survived, pushed a newspaper through the grids of the heater, and when it caught fire out of fear she threw it on a pile of folded laundry in the room. Everything went up in flames in an instant. When she smelled the smoke and fire, Vesna flew out to find her husband, who was in front of the building with their five year-old daughter, Marija. Marko ran toward the apartment but it was already too late," the neighbors said.

 

When the firefighters from Kosovo Polje put out the fire, they found a horrendous sight. The little boy and girl were completely carbonized as they clung to each other.

 

The Stijovic family fled from Djurakovac in Metohija eight years ago, and all of Marko and Vesna's children had been born there. Nine years ago they returned from Slovenia, where they had been working, to their native village which they were subsequently forced to flee.

 

"We've survived many tragedies, murders and torchings, especially on March 17, 2004. However, this is the worst tragedy anyone can remember. All of Ugljare, nearby Bresje and all the Serbs in the Kosovo lowlands are in complete shock," Miro Velickovic said. Velickovic lost all his property during the March pogrom but he emphasizes that this new tragedy is far more difficult for him to bear.

 

Svetislav Jovanovic, former director of the Vuk Karadzic Elementary School in Pristina, who now lives in Ugljare, said with pain:

 

"Life was certainly not kind to this unfortunate family. In 1991 Marko barely got out of Slovenia alive. Then, he barely managed to flee as far as Kosovo Polje during the expulsions eight years ago. For years he and his family lived in a classroom of the elementary school until they got this apartment. No sooner did they have a roof over their heads and begin to recover their spirits when this unprecedented tragedy occurred."

 

In Ugljare, Bresje and other Kosovo villages there was little Christmas festivity to be found on Monday. Instead of celebratory ringing, the bells of the church in Bresje tolled mournfully in wake of the great tragedy.

 

MOTHER IN SHOCK

 

Wrenched with pain and staying with the neighbors, Marko had no idea of what became of his wife Vesna until Monday afternoon. After the shock she experienced she was taken by ambulance to the Clinical Medical Center in Gracanica.

 

"The burns on her hands have been treated but she will require further psychiatric treatment because she remains in a state of semi-shock," explained Professor Dr. Stojan Sekulic, Director of the Pristina Clinical Medical Center displaced in Gracanica.