UN police clash with Kosovo Albanian protesters

Reuters, Sun Feb 11, 2007 12:16 AM ET By Shaban Buza and Fatos Bytyci

 

PRISTINA, Serbia (Reuters) - UN police in Kosovo fired teargas and rubber bullets during clashes on Saturday with ethnic Albanians protesting against a UN plan they say falls short of full independence from Serbia.

 

Hospital officials said they had treated 70 people, including four who were seriously wounded.

 

Fourteen people were arrested as Kosovo and UN riot police advanced on hundreds of demonstrators who were hurling stones and bottles.

 

The clashes, a repeat of riots in November, underscored Western fears of what the United States described last week as a possible "breakdown in order" if a decision on the Albanian majority's demand for independence does not come soon.

 

A UN plan unveiled this month would, if adopted by the UN Security Council, set the territory on the path to statehood, eight years after NATO bombs drove out Serb forces and the United Nations took control.

 

But some among Kosovo's 90-percent ethnic Albanian majority are angry at the plan's provisions for a powerful European overseer and self-government for the 100,000 remaining Serbs.

 

The protesters called for an independence referendum and rejected talks with Serbia, which in 1998-99 killed 10,000 Albanians and expelled 800,000 in a two-year war with rebels.

 

"Freedom does not come in packages," they chanted, in reference to the plan drafted by former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari following months of Serb-Albanian talks in 2006.

 

Kosovo Albanian leaders condemned the violence. "We said there was no reason to protest, because the process is going in the right direction," said a government spokeswoman.

 

WEST VS. RUSSIA

 

Serbia opposes the amputation of its medieval heartland, but the Albanians living there reject any return to Serb rule and are impatient to end eight years of U.N.-imposed limbo.

 

Washington and the European Union back Ahtisaari's blueprint and hope the UN Security Council will adopt it by June.

 

UN veto holder Russia, however, repeated on Saturday that it would only back a solution that was also acceptable to fellow-Orthodox nation Serbia.

 

"If we see that one of the parties is not happy with the proposed solution, we should not support that decision," Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a conference in Munich.

 

Ahtisaari has invited Serbia and the Kosovo Albanians to a final round of talks in Vienna from February 21 and hopes to present the plan to the UN Security Council in late March.

 

The West has already delayed the process twice to avoid radicalizing Serbia. Ahtisaari said on Friday he saw no chance of the two sides agreeing, "even if I negotiated all my life".

 

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer warned against security gaps in Kosovo during a sensitive transfer of policing tasks this year.

 

The United Nations has been reducing its UNMIK police force in Kosovo which is due to be replaced later this year by EU police. Several NATO nations also want to start winding down the alliance's separate 16,000-plus peace force there.

 

"It is important that under all circumstances there should be an adequate police force, be it UNMIK or part of the EU mission," de Hoop Scheffer told a small group of reporters on the margins of a security conference in Munich.

 

"It is important we don't see gaps. Because if there were gaps, that would immediately have consequences for KFOR," he said of the NATO Kosovo Force (KFOR).

 

(Additional reporting by Mark John in Munich)

Albanian protests against negotiations and protection of Serbian holy sites

KiM Info Newsletter 11-02-07

Albanian demonstrators in Pristina chant slogans against Serbian Orthodox Church, demand destruction of churches

 

An already known style - violence and hatred toward Serbs and SOC holy shrines, demonstrations organized by Albin Kurti with KLA supporters in Pristina, Feb. 10, 2007

KIM Info Service, Pristina, February 10, 2007

Commentary by Fr. Sava Janjic, Serbian Orthodox Church

Thousands of Albanians who belong to the Self-Determination Movement and support the Kosovo Liberation Army protested today in Pristina against the Kosovo status plan of UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari. Police used tear gas to stop the crowd from forcing its way through police lines. Several people were injured and arrests were made for acts of violence.

According to information from a KIM Info Service correspondent on the scene, Albanian demonstrators in Pristina today were also especially brutal in their verbal attacks on the Serbian Orthodox Church and protective measures for Serbian holy shrines foreseen by Martti Ahtisaari's plan.

One of the key messages constantly broadcast over the megaphone was that "the Serbs have occupied Albanian churches and monasteries where Albanians once prayed" and that "the SOC is asking for extraterritoriality for monasteries". The gathered demonstrators responded to these messages by periodically chanting "LET'S DESTROY THE CHURCHES . . . KLA, KLA, KLA".

The Serbian Orthodox Church most strongly condemns these barbaric messages by Albin Kurti and other extremist groups springing from KLA terrorist circles. With these messages Kurti and his extremists have openly shown who is behind the previous barbaric destruction of 150 Serbian Orthodox holy shrines in Kosovo, and the desecration of hundreds of Christian Orthodox cemeteries, especially during the March 2004 pogrom. The biggest absurdity in this whole story is the fact that if the Albanians truly consider the ancient Orthodox churches here as their own, then why did their extremists together with their ideologues such as Kurti and Demaci destroy those same holy shrines, inflicting public shame on their own people and the entire civilized world which silently looked on. These radical groups are exerting less and less effort to conceal their sympathies toward both the anachronistic Marxist-Leninist ideology of Enver Hoxha, whose portrait hangs in their offices, as well as toward the extremist Islamist groups that finance them. Kurti and his storm troopers do not see the future of Kosovo and the entire Balkans in Europe and European civilization but in clan societies, violence and hatred toward the Christian religion and culture. Hence the natural alliance between an apparently urban youth movement and the most extreme advocates of an ethnically pure Greater Albania.

Today's messages from the protest in Pristina show that Serbian Orthodox Church holy shrines are in dire need of special protective measures because they remain threatened by people wishing to destroy them and erase every trace of centuries of Christian life on this territory. It is notable, however, that today's demonstrations gathered only a few thousand people (a maximum of four thousand, according to independent estimates) which despite all gives hope that the future of Kosovo cannot and must not be in hatred and violence.

Hopefully, one day Kosovo Albanians will understand that they are not threatened by international representatives, the remaining Serbs or their church but by their own extremists and KLA tycoons, who have built enormous villas and gathered immeasurable wealth after the war while the majority of the people continue to live in difficult social conditions and poverty. Unfortunately, as is usually the case, the extremists are protecting the positions they have achieved by fanning hatred toward everything that is not Albanian, covering up their dirty deeds with the flag of the Republic of Albania, kitschy statues of the "heroes" of the KLA, and an aggressive nationalist mythology that cannot but remind us of the post-war partisanship in the former Yugoslavia. As long as young Kosovo Albanians are listening to and believing this ideology and until the day that young people take part in peaceful demonstrations against violence, crime and corruption instead of against their neighbors and Christian holy shrines, Kosovo will definitely remain a black hole on the map of Europe.

Related Articles:

1. Albanian Flag Day demonstrations in Pristina turn into open riots and destruction of UN property 28 November 2006

  
2. Demonstrations in Decani - Threats against UNMIK for protecting Visoki Decani Monastery continue 14 April 2006

SLOGANS AGAINST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES WERE A HIGHLIGHT OF ALBANIAN DEMONSTRATIONS IN PRISTINA

 

Violent demonstrations in Pristina against the international community and protection offered to Serbs and their holy sites in Kosovo by Martti Ahtisaari's plan

Pristina: Police uses tear gas to disperse a large group of supporters of Self-Determination

KIM Radio, Caglavica, February 10, 2007

A protest gathering by the Self-Determination Movement headed by Albin Kurtin began in Pristina at about 2:00 p.m. Some four to five thousand demonstrators gathered to protest against the plan of UN special envoy for Kosovo's status Martti Ahtisaari. The protest began at the plateau in front of the headquarters of this organization which is located in the Gradic Pejton settlement. The column then headed toward the UNMIK headquarters building. However, according to KIM Radio's sources, demonstrators were met there by several police lines which sealed off the road. Demonstrators used a megaphone to inform citizens of their so-called demands. The Self-Determination Movement demanded that the Pristina negotiating team "commit suicide" because, in their opinion, negotiations are unnecessary.

On several occasions during the protest mention was made of the status of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo. They claim that the Orthodox Church has occupied Albanian churches, and that these are churches and monasteries where their ancestors prayed. The demonstrators chanted "KLA, KLA"; when the churches were mentioned, the message changed to "Let's destroy them, let's destroy them."

The column headed by Albin Kurti then proceeded to the monument to Skenderbeg, where the protest was to take place. The first speaker at the gathering was Adem Demachi, the political representative of the KLA, who repeated that their enemy was Serbia and that they are fighting against Serbian domination in Kosovo. Demachi mentioned that they are extending their hand to their Serb neighbors and that they have nothing against Serbs in Kosovo enjoying all human rights but they oppose the domination of Serbia in Kosovo. Demachi said that the Ahtisaari plan foresees granting extraterritorial status to the Serbian Orthodox Church. He emphasized that the Serbs are to get a form of autonomy through decentralization, and that new Serb municipalities are to have greater powers than Albanian ones.

The last speaker was Albin Kurti who sharply criticized the UNMIK mission and Kosovo provisional institutions. After his speech, the demonstrators headed toward the government building where they were met by strong police forces which fired large quantities of tear gas at the demonstrators. Kurti was then put in a police vehicle and taken from the protest at about 3:00 p.m., according to our sources.

The demonstrators concluded that Ahtisaari's plan foresees the creation of a Serb state within what they describe as their country - Kosovo - or a "country within a country". Presently there are still several hundred demonstrators in front of the government building who are attempting to stone the building.

"Peaceful protests" turned into violence as usual when demonstrators began removing protective barricades and throwing stones at UN Police

Police use tear gas to disperse Kosovo protest

Agence France Presse, 10 février 2007 16:21

 

PRISTINA, Serbia, Feb 10, 2007 (AFP)

 

ATTENTION -reports on injured, details ///

 

Anti-riot police units used tear gas Saturday to disperse some 2,000 protestors from the radical pro-independence youth movement in the Kosovo capital.

 

The ethnic Albanian "Self-determination" youth movement, which is seeking Kosovo's independence without any negotiations, has called for a protest against the UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari's proposal for the future status of the southern Serbian province.

 

"With such politicians as ours, the independence (of Kosovo) will remain just a dream," said the group's leader Albin Kurti.

 

Some 2,000 protestors gathered close to the provincial government building in Pristina's city center, but a strong anti-riot police cordon prevented them from approaching the premises.

 

"Freedom doesn't come in packages," they chanted in a reference to Ahtisaari's plan.

 

Police riposted with tear gas as the mostly young protestors tried to break through the cordon and enter the building.

 

Several armoured vehicles belonging to the UN police also arrived at the scene of the clash, while several policemen used batons to stop the protestors.

 

An AFP reporter at the scene saw at least three protestors and one policeman injured in clashes in the main street of the Kosovo capital.

 

Police units were soon backed by Italian carabinieri soldiers, members of NATO-led peacekeeping troops, while UN police armoured vehicles sealed off the main road.

 

However, a group of about 100 most radical protestors remained on the street in a tense stand-off with security units. Dozens of people were seen in the surrounding streets, watching scuffles between police and demonstrators.

 

"We have to disperse them, the protest must not spread," one policeman told AFP.

 

Last November, the "Self-determination" activists held a similar protest which police dispersed with tear gas as the protestors threw rocks and bottles at the Kosovo's parliament and United Nations headquarters in Pristina.

 

Kosovo has been administered by UNMIK since mid-1999, after a NATO bombing campaign ended a brutal crackdown by Serbian forces against the province's ethnic-Albanian majority.

 

In the talks led by Ahtisaari, Kosovo's ethnic Albanians, who comprise around 90 percent of the province's two million people, sought independence from Serbia, something vehemently opposed by Belgrade.

 

After more than nine months of talks between Belgrade and Pristina in 2006 failed to bring any results, Ahtisaari, a former president of Finland, drafted his own solution.

 

Although it does not mention independence, Ahtisaari's plan offers Kosovo self-governance, a constitution, anthem and flag, as well as the right to join international organisations.

 

Belgrade and Pristina teams were expected to discuss the proposal in the final round of talks starting on February 21.

 

Ahtisaari said in New York that he expected the final status of Kosovo to be settled well before the end of the German presidency of the European Union at the end of June.

Russia can only back mutually acceptable solution on Kosovo-Putin

RUSSIAN INFORMATION AGENCY NOVOSTI, 10/02/2007 17:15

 

MUNICH, February 10 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will only support a solution to the Kosovo problem that is suitable to all parties involved, the Russian president said Saturday.

 

"Only the Kosovars and Serbs themselves may know what will happen in Kosovo," Vladimir Putin told an international security conference in Munich.

 

Consultations in Vienna between Belgrade and Pristina on the UN special envoy's proposals on Kosovo's future status have been postponed from February 13 to February 21, a deputy envoy said Friday.

 

United Nations envoy Martti Ahtisaari agreed to put off the talks on a request made on Monday by Serbian President Boris Tadic, requesting that Serbia hold the first session of parliament, elected January 21, in order to approve the new composition of a delegation to the Vienna talks, and Belgrade's new political platform.

 

Albert Rohan said he expected the talks to end in early March, after which an adjusted text of Ahtisaari's proposals on the status of Kosovo could be submitted to the UN Security Council.

 

Earlier this month, Ahtisaari unveiled his Kosovo settlement plan, containing an implicit proposal to give independence to the predominantly ethnic Albanian region, which has been a UN protectorate since 1999. Belgrade has rejected the plan, saying it is willing to grant Kosovo broad autonomy, but that it will never let the province secede from Serbia.

 

Russian officials have repeatedly said that if Kosovo is granted sovereignty, the international community should also recognize as independent the separatist regions in the former Soviet Union, notably Georgia's Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and Moldova's Transdnestr.

Kosovo Police Uses Tear Gas, Rubber Bullets On Protestors

Deutsche Presse Agentur, 06:08 PM, February 10th 2007

 

Kosovan police used tear gas and rubber bullets in central Pristina Saturday to disperse protests against the United Nations-backed plan envisaging a gradual move to independence for the breakaway Serbian province, demanding instead an immediate proclamation of sovereignty.

 

Organizers of the protest, the radically pro-independence Vetevendosje (Self-determination) movement, want immediate secession from Belgrade, which has anyway had no say in the governing of Kosovo since the UN took over following a NATO intervention in 1999.

 

Several people were arrested at the scene of the protest in front of the parliament building, and a few more, apparently injured or overcome by tear gas, had to be carried away by wailing ambulances.

 

Police reacted the moment the crowd broke through barricades erected to keep the demonstrations beyond stone-throwing distance to the assembly and government buildings in Mother Teresa Boulevard.

 

Spent tear-gas canisters and rubber-bullet cartridges littered the streets. At least 500 police in riot gear with water cannons were visible in front of the assembly.

 

Vetevendosje protested at the UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari's plan for Kosovo, which, once implemented, would effectively end Belgrade's formal sovereignty over the province.

 

The plan was flatly rejected by Belgrade and welcomed by leaders of the ethnic Albanians, the vast majority in Kosovo.

 

Vetevendosje, however, saw the path drawn by Ahtisaari as too indirect and was enraged by additional talks scheduled between Pristina and Belgrade.

 

Ahtisaari, though openly sceptical that the two sides could agree on anything, called for three more rounds of talks in Vienna between February 21 and March 9, after which he said he would submit his plan to the UN Security Council for approval.

 

Vetvendosje's protests in the past have often ended in violence, most recently last November.

 

The movement had also targeted the UN administration in its "actions," such as paint-bombing and stoning buildings and vehicles, saying it was blocking Kosovo's progress to independence.

 

President Fatmir Sejdiu on Friday evening warned Vetevendosje that they "have the right to demonstrate, but not to destabilize Kosovo."

Kosovo decision should secure stability, says Hungarian PM

HUNGARIAN NEWS AGENCY, Friday, February 09, 2007 7:33 PM

 

Budapest, February 9 (MTI) - It is in Hungary's best interest that the decision to be made on Kosovo should guarantee sustained stability in the region and that all parties involved be allowed to expound their position within reasonable time limits, in a genuine way, Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany said.

 

Gyurcsany expounded the Hungarian position in letters sent on Thursday to the German chancellor, who is president-in-office of the EU Council, the EU's high representative for the common foreign and security policy and the president of the European Commission.

 

"The paragraphs pertaining to autonomy and the rights of Kosovo communities in U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari's plan are especially important for us," Foreign Minister Kinga Goncz said on Friday, briefing the press on the letters.

 

Ahtisaari's proposal envisions internationally supervised statehood for the province. The plan does not explicitly mention independence from Serbia, but spells out conditions for self-rule and the right to apply for membership in international organisations.

 

Hungary insists that the U.N. Security Council should adopt a resolution on the future status of Kosovo, she said.

 

Hungary's position does not start from whether or not Kosovo should become independent as the stability of the entire region is at stake and this stability has many components, the minister said.

 

Goncz noted that the European Union should permanently help Serbia so that Belgrade should choose the road leading to European future.

 

In the letters addressed to Angela Merkel, Javier Solana and Jose Manuel Barroso, Gyurcsany said Hungary as a neighbour country deems it a priority for Serbia to preserve its stability and prospects to join the European Union.

Romania's PM advises flexibility in Sebia-Kosovo negotiations

XINHUA (CHINA), Friday, February 09, 2007 3:29 PM

 

BUCHAREST, Feb 9, 2007 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Romanian Prime Minister Calin Popescu-Tariceanu on Friday urged Serbia and Kosovo to be flexible in their negotiations over the future status of the latter.

 

"My message is to advise flexibility in negotiations to both Serbia and the Kosovo leaders, so that a constructive conclusion be reached as soon as possible", the prime minister told the press conference occasioned by the visit to Bucharest of his Croatian counterpart Ivo Sanader.

 

"Romania is extremely interested in the subject and has closely followed Ahtisaari's efforts to ensure the region's stability and take it closer to Euro-Atlantic structures," said Tariceanu, answering a question about how Romania appreciates the recent propositions for the future status of the Kosovo province made by UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari.

 

He underscored that Romania "appreciates the envoy's activity and supports his mission and his mandate".

 

In Tariceanu's opinion, "the propositions tabled by Ahtisaari a week ago represent a negotiation basis for the Serbs and Kosovars and the final solution has to ground on an agreement Belgrade and Pristina need to reach on these propositions."

 

In his turn, Croatian Premier Sanader underscored the historical importance of the Ahtisaari plan and said that his country supports the region's stabilization.

 

The UN special envoy remitted Serbian President Boris Tadic the draft resolution for the status of the Kosovo province on February 2, leaving then for Pristina to meet with the Kosovar and Albanian leaders.

 

The UN representative described his proposition as the outcome of a compromise reached after almost one year of talks between Belgrade and Pristina, and said it comprises a set of guarantees for the Serbs and the other minorities in Kosovo.

 

Ahtisaari highlighted the guaranteed participation of minorities in the Kosovo Assembly and government, the establishment "of a certain number of new municipalities" with a majority of Serbian population and the protection of Orthodox churches in Kosovo.

 

Ahtisaari announced that after the tabling of his proposal, Belgrade and Pristina will have several weeks to express their objections. He also voiced hopes that this spring he will be able to submit a final proposition to the Security Council.

 

In a statement after the meeting with the UN representative, Boris Tadic said that the draft proposition "opens the gates to an independent Kosovo".

Kosovo Serbs stage protest rally

BBC (UK), Friday, 9 February 2007, 15:24 GMT By Nick Hawton, Mitrovica

 

More than 3,000 Serbs have held a protest in Kosovo against UN plans for the future of the province.

 

It took place in the divided town of Mitrovica, which has witnessed violence in the past between its ethnic Albanian and Serb communities.

 

The UN proposals recommend a form of self-rule for the breakaway province, strongly opposed by Serbs.

 

The UN has agreed to delay talks on the plans until 21 February, at the request of Serbian President Boris Tadic.

 

'Indian reservations'

 

Many protesters in Mitrovica were waving the red, blue and white Serbian flags.

 

Others carried placards that said "We're not giving up Kosovo" and "Russia help us".

 

Speaker after speaker condemned the UN proposals, saying they would give the ethnic Albanian population what they wanted - independence for Kosovo.

 

One speaker said the UN was planning to turn Serbian enclaves in the province into Indian reservations.

 

The UN's chief envoy for the province, Martti Ahtisaari, has proposed allowing Kosovo to adopt a constitution, a flag, a national anthem and apply for membership of international organisations.

 

He has called on the Serb and ethnic Albanian parties to attend negotiations over his plan.

 

Those talks have now been delayed until 21 February because Serbia has still not formed a parliament after last month's general election.

 

Serbs strongly oppose Mr Ahtisaari's proposals, which they believe would lead to Kosovo's independence.

 

Ethnic Albanians want to see a rapid conclusion to the final status talks.

Moves toward sovereignty for Kosovo extremely dangerous - Ivanov

INTERFAX (RUSSIAN FEDERATION), Feb 9 2007 2:49PM

SEVILLE. Feb 9 (Interfax) - If independence is granted to Kosovo, it will entail serious negative consequences, Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said.

"Moves toward sovereignty for Kosovo in the absence of a decision acceptable to all parties, including Serbia, is extremely dangerous," Ivanov said at an informal NATO-Russia Council meeting in Seville on Friday.

"It is dangerous not only for the region, but for the whole of Europe, including Transdniestria, Abkhazia and South Ossetia," he said.

Solution to Kosovo problem should suit all - Ivanov

ITAR-TASS (RUSSIAN FEDERATION), 09.02.2007, 16.38

SEVILLE (Spain), February 9 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov has called for solving the problem of the Kosovo province on the principle of territorial integrity.

"If we take a conjuncture path in regard of Kosovo, we can open Pandora's box. The talk is about our attitude to the principle of territorial integrity. If we proceed from the current conjuncture, then we shall not be able to say that other territories cannot use such principles," he said.

This is true for the post-Soviet space and several territories in Europe, Ivanov said.

He warned that a solution to the Kosovo issue should suit all sides, otherwise this region can prove a "headache" for Europe.

"The policy of sovereignisation of Kosovo in the absence of a solution suiting all sides, including Serbia, is extremely dangerous not only for this region, but also for whole Europe, including the Dniester region, as well as Abkhazia and South Ossetia," he said.

'Occupied' Serbs would resist

WASHINGTON TIMES (USA) By David R. Sands, February 9, 2007

 

Kosovo's Serb minority will "resist as any occupied people would do" if a U.N. mediator's plan to give the province de facto independence from Serbia is approved, Bishop Artemije, head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo, warned yesterday.

 

The plan, made public by U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari earlier this month, is "unacceptable" to both the Serbian population inside Kosovo and to the Serbian government in Belgrade, and would only embolden Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority to continue targeting Bishop Artemije's community, he said in an interview during a Washington visit.

 

"If this plan happens, it will only give the Albanian terrorists a chance to finish the ethnic cleansing job against Serbs in Kosovo that has been going on for the past seven years," Bishop Artemije said, speaking through an interpreter. "Serbia will react as any democratic country would do to the loss of its territory, and Serbs in Kosovo will react as any occupied people would do."

 

The United States and European Union have backed the Ahtisaari plan, which would give Kosovo all the trappings of statehood -- including a flag, national anthem, constitution and standing army -- under international monitoring, while avoiding any direct mention of independence.

 

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told a House hearing this week that the United States would press Kosovo's ethnic Albanians -- who make up at least 90 percent of the province's 2 million people -- to honor minority rights and promises of political autonomy for Kosovar Serbs contained in the U.N. blueprint.

 

"We are having equally difficult and tough discussions with the Kosovar Albanians about their responsibilities," she said.

 

But the bishop's sharp words show the hurdles facing the international community in finding a compromise between the demands of Serbs and Kosovar Albanians.

 

Serbian leaders in Belgrade have unanimously rejected the U.N. plan but have asked for a delay in responding as they try to form a government in the wake of inconclusive parliamentary elections Jan. 21.

 

Mr. Ahtisaari, briefing U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday in New York, said he still expected to conclude talks and present his final recommendations to the Security Council by the end of March. He meets with Serbian and Kosovar leaders early next week in Vienna, Austria, for one more round of talks.

 

The U.N. special envoy also said yesterday that he would consider "constructive amendments" to his plan for the future of Kosovo during final talks with rival Serbs and Kosovar Albanians before the proposal goes to the U.N. Security Council for approval.

 

Kosovo has been in U.N.-administered limbo since a 1999 NATO air war drove troops of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic from the province. A Serbian campaign against Kosovar separatist groups killed about 10,000 people and sparked a major refugee crisis, leading to the NATO bombardment.

 

Some hard-line Kosovar Albanian leaders also have expressed unhappiness with the Ahtisaari blueprint, saying it stops short of their goals and could lead to a partition of the province with Belgrade ruling the Serb-dominated north.

 

The United States and the European Union have pushed a settlement for fear that frustrated Kosovar Albanians could turn to violence if the negotiations are prolonged. But Serbia has a traditional ally in Russia, which has said it would not support a settlement in Kosovo opposed by Belgrade.

 

Bishop Artemije said yesterday that the protections for Kosovo's Serbs in the Ahtisaari plan would never be enough to entice Belgrade to give up its claim to what many Serbs see as their religious and cultural homeland.

 

"There are no guarantees that could make us renounce our own land," he said. "This plan will not produce stability in the region, only more instability."

Ivanov rejects Kosovo independence, warns of chain reaction

Deutsche Presse Agentur, Feb 9, 2007, 8:11 GMT

 

Seville, Spain - Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov on Friday warned that granting full independence to Kosovo would open a Pandora's box of similar demands for autonomy across the post-Soviet region.

 

At a meeting with German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung during the NATO defence ministers' meeting, Ivanov said Kosovo's independence could provoke a chain reaction.

 

'Other nations, namely those in non-recognized territories and regions (will ask) why we are being treated worse than the others,' said Ivanov, adding: 'This naturally applies to the post-Soviet region but also areas in Europe.'

 

Moscow has repeatedly said that giving independence to Kosovo, which is still legally part of Serbia, would set a precedent which could be applied to other breakaway regions in the former Soviet Union which are backed by the Russian government.

 

These include the Transnistria region of Moldova, and the Georgian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, all of which have been dubbed the 'frozen conflicts.'

 

'We must be careful not to open a Pandora's box,' said Ivanov.

 

The Russian minister again questioned a plan for near-independence for Kosovo put forward by UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari.

 

NATO forces ejected Serb troops from Kosovo in a 1999 war and the province has since been administered by the UN, backed up by 16,000 NATO peacekeepers.

 

Jung told reporters that all sides needed to accept the Ahtisaari recommendations for near-independence in order to ensure peace and stability in the region.

 

NATO defence ministers on Thursday urged a swift resolution of Kosovo's final status and underlined that alliance troops would stay on in the province.

Slovak president rejects Ahtisaari's plan for Kosovo

CZECH NEWS AGENCY, Thursday, February 08, 2007 10:01 PM

Nitra, West Slovakia, Feb 8 (CTK) - Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic today described U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari's plan for the future of the Serbian province of Kosovo as disadvantageous for Serbia.

 

The final solution to the international position of Kosovo should be postponed, Gasparovic said.

 

He said that the province of Kosovo should remain under the supervision of the European Union and its status should be decided on later.

 

Gasparovic thus reacted to the plan that Ahtisaari delivered to Serbs in Belgrade and ethnic Albanians in Pristina last week.

 

The plan that gives Kosovo independence in all but name and opens the door to genuine independence for Kosovo has been rejected by Kosovo and hailed by ethnic Albanians.

 

"It is impossible in the 21st century to embed in an agreement conditions that are advantageous for one party and disadvantages for the other," Gasparovic said.

 

Kosovo is a debt that Europe and America should repay, he said.

 

After NATO's invasion of Serbia that was designed to protect Kosovo Albanians the allies forgot about the protection of Serbs, he said.

 

"Serbs want to conduct negotiations on Kosovo and it is necessary to provide them with this opportunity," Gasparovic said.

 

Gasparovic said that Slovak Foreign Minister Jan Kubis's statement that the Serbian referendum on the new Serbian constitution was rigged was misunderstood and distorted.

 

He said that he discussed Slovakia's official position on Kosovo with Kubis on Wednesday and that he intended to meet Prime Minister Robert Fico after he returns from his visit to China.

 

Jan Slota, chairman of the governing Slovak National Party (SNS), rejected independence for Kosovo today.

 

Slota described Albanians as drug dealers and people traffickers.

 

The Slovak parliament should pass a resolution that would bind Slovak diplomacy to insist on that the borders in the Balkans should not be changed, Slota said.

 

Some deputies in the Slovak parliament said previously that independence for Kosovo would encourage the separatists efforts by the Hungarian minority in Slovakia.

 

The Slovak opposition parties - the Christian Democrats (KDH) and the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKU-DS), today also rejected independence for Slovakia without Serbia's consent.

Ahtisaari can't win as 'Kosovars' protest his plan

Reuters, 08 Feb 2007 09:46:10 GMT By Matt Robinson

 

PRISTINA, Serbia, Feb 8 (Reuters) - The United States calls it a "historic document" and an "excellent proposal". The European Union says it's the first page of a "new beginning".

 

Those it is written for do not share that enthusiasm.

 

This week in Kosovo, Serbs and ethnic Albanians -- wary enemies known collectively to some as "Kosovars" -- will be almost united, in protests against the U.N. proposal that may give birth to a strange new state in Europe.

 

Many Albanians feel the blueprint drafted by former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari and unveiled last week gives them too little, although they are unlikely to reject it. Serbs say it takes away too much, and their resistance will be much harder.

 

The two communities, divided since NATO bombs wrested control of the province from Serbia in 1999, will each demonstrate in their respective strongholds -- Serbs on Friday in Mitrovica, Albanians on Saturday in their capital, Pristina.

 

"They tell us we'll have a flag, symbols and anthem. Well, even football teams have flags, symbols and anthems," says wild-haired activist Albin Kurti, a Kosovo Albanian hardliner whose supporters say there should have been no negotiation.

 

Kurti and his "Self-Determination" movement speak for those of Kosovo's 2 million Albanians who complain that Ahtisaari's plan falls short of the full independence they believed they had won in 1999 and been promised by many a Western diplomat since.

 

Kosovo Albanian leaders, corralled into a "Unity" negotiating team, are filling column inches and airtime to sell the plan in the dusty streets and smoke-filled cafes of Kosovo.

 

Even a cursory read of the plan makes it clear: Kosovo will be separated from Serbia, which in 1998-99 killed 10,000 Albanians and tried to drive the rest out in a counter-insurgency war that goaded NATO into its first military intervention war.

 

But the 'I' word -- independence -- is missing. And the plan foresees a powerful foreign overseer as well as considerable Serb self-government. Both are an affront to Albanians tired of eight years of Western supervision and Belgrade interference.

 

PRO-SERB, PRO-ALBANIAN

 

"The Ahtisaari Plan does not create an independent or sovereign Kosovo," says Kurti's group. "It divides Kosovo into two entities: one with an Albanian majority, ruled by the EU; the other with a Serb majority, ruled by Belgrade."

 

"This is anti-Kosovo and pro-Serbian," says Kurti. "The only solution I see is on the streets."

 

Kosovo Albanian leaders insist Kurti's followers are a fringe group. But thousands are expected to turn out in Pristina. Last time, in November, police fired teargas to disperse a mob lobbing stones and bottles at U.N. headquarters.

 

Albanian patience is wearing thin, but Western powers are reluctant to rush Serbia for fear of driving Belgrade too far into the arms of ultranationalist right-wing parties.

 

Ahtisaari wants to send his plan to the U.N. Security Council in March. If Russia consents, a resolution setting up the new Kosovo could be adopted by June.

 

Never would be too soon for Kosovo's 100,000 Serbs, who have borne the brunt of postwar violence and fear for the future.

 

To the inevitable songs of medieval battles and Serbian knights, Serbs will demonstrate on Friday in the northern half of Mitrovica, a rundown mining town divided at the River Ibar between Serbs and Albanians, and a frequent flashpoint.

 

The Serbs see their religious homeland slipping away, and vow to oppose it at every step.

 

"This plan is anti-Serb and pro-Albanian," said political leader Milan Ivanovic. "Ahtisaari has overstepped his mandate." (Additional reporting by Shaban Buza and Fatos Bytyci, and Branislav Krstic in Mitrovica)

Serbia insists on respect of UN Charter and international law

RELIEF WEB (SWITZERLAND)

 

Source: Government of Serbia

Date: 07 Feb 2007

 

Belgrade, Feb 7, 2007 - Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said today that Serbia will continue to be constructive when it comes to negotiations on the future status of Kosovo-Metohija, but also intransigent in its position that the UN Charter and the principle of territorial integrity and sovereignty be respected in the case of Serbia too.

 

Speaking at a press conference held after the meeting with the EU Three - German Minister of Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana and EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, Kostunica said that today's talks focused on the future status of Kosovo and Serbia's European Integration. Kostunica underlined that Serbia is firmly committed to continue on its road to Europe.

 

He said that since the proposal for the future status of Kosovo-Metohija drawn up by UN Special Representative Martti Ahtisaari was presented to Belgrade a few days ago, he gave the first evaluations and analyses of this document, which will be presented to Serbian parliament after its formation. This body will give its opinion on the document, a mandate for negotiations and it will also form a negotiating team.

 

The Serbian Prime Minister said that the proposal of the future status of Kosovo followed the negotiations that were held in Vienna last year, only at one single session, held on July 24, when there was a chance to touch on the issue of the province's future status.

 

Ahtisaari's proposal, observed as a whole, but in terms of annexes as well, shows that majority of Serbia's requests were not accepted, Kostunica explained, adding that the first part of the proposal that refers to the future status of Kosovo-Metohija, does not proceed from the negotiations conducted in Vienna.

 

According to Kostunica, in Ahtisaari's proposal it can be seen that he departs from the mandate given to him by the UN, because Ahtisaari proposes the future status of Serbia without Kosovo-Metohija, that is, through the creation of an independent Kosovo-Metohija and a new, second Albanian state in the territory of Serbia, by snatching away a part of its territory.

 

In this proposal, Ahtisaari did not deal with the only thing that falls within his mandate, and that is the future status of Kosovo-Metohija, with the respect for the UN Charter and the provisions on territorial sovereignty and integrity, and for the UN Security Council Resolution 1244, which also confirms the territorial sovereignty and integrity of Serbia, Kostunica stressed.

 

Kostunica pointed to the fact that the proposal contains no element of compromise between Belgrade and Pristina, which is, according to him, easy to achieve, but under one condition, that it should be sought within the frameworks of international law and the UN Charter.

 

He reiterated that if the UN Charter is overlooked and the principle of territorial integrity and sovereignty of existing states upon which international order is based is not respected, then compromise is impossible.

 

The solution for the issue of Kosovo-Metohija, whatever it might be, can not be an isolated case and will certainly affect many other countries. This is a most serious precedent for all countries which could find themselves in a similar situation, therefore this issue is not important just for Serbia, but is of importance for regional and global stability, stressed Kostunica.

 

The Serbian Prime Minister said that Serbian parliament will declare itself regarding this matter in a few days, and added that these few days are needed for the formation of parliament which will come forward with a platform and a negotiating team.

 

He pointed to the fact that Ahtisaari has presented a proposal regarding the future status of Kosovo-Metohija at a moment when Serbia does not have a new parliament, nor a newly elected government, which makes it necessary to postpone negotiations for a minimum period of time, so that Serbian parliament can hold session to examine the issue of Kosovo-Metohija.

 

When it comes to the issue of European integration, Kostunica reiterated that Serbia is firmly determined to continue negotiations on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA), which is proved by all that has been done in Serbia during the past period and previous few years.

 

He reminded that serious legislative reforms were implemented in Serbia, the new Constitution was adopted, fair and democratic elections were held according to the Constitution, economic stability and growth, and security for foreign investment was also achieved.

 

Serbia is taking all necessary steps so that when negotiations are continued and the issue of formal membership in the EU comes up, the country is entirely ready for it, said Kostunica.

 

He concluded that political will does exist, and all other measures have been taken and negotiations on the SAA and visa relaxations have proved Serbia's capacity and quality.

 

Steinmeier said that it is not easy to solve the Kosovo issue, but that the EU believes that the proposal of UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari creates a good basis for further talks.

 

He added that the EU is also happy that parties of democratic orientation won a two-third majority at the recently held elections in Serbia, adding that this carries a great responsibility and an obligation to continue strengthening the legal state and carrying out democratic reforms in Serbia.

 

In that sense, the EU expects that Serbia will soon compose a new democratic government and convene a new parliament, in which process EU sincerely endorses Serbia's efforts to continue on the road to European integration, Steinmeier said.

 

He said that Serbia is going through a very important historical moment in which it is to bring some very important decisions, and once more he pointed to the fact that the EU considers Serbia a part of Europe.

 

Solana stressed that the EU is willing to continue negotiations on the SAA with Serbia, and added that Serbia needs to form a new democratic government as soon as possible for that.

 

He said that the matter was discussed in today's talks with Kostunica, and expressed satisfaction with the fact that Kostunica showed willingness and determination to work intensively towards resolving the question of formation of parliament and the new government.

 

Rehn also pointed to the importance of continuing negotiations on the SAA, and the importance of forming a new parliament and government in that context, which would be equally devoted to the aims which are of paramount importance to Serbia, and these are full cooperation for continuing negotiations on the SAA, as well as full cooperation with the Hague tribunal.

 

He reiterated that Serbia has full support of the EU, which is reflected in today's meeting is Belgrade.

Ahtisaari's 'Final Solution': Simply Atrocious

ANTIWAR (USA), Thursday, February 8, 2007, Balkan Express by Nebojsa Malic

 

Last Friday, the UN's special envoy for Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari, presented his proposal for the future status of Kosovo to the government in Belgrade and the provisional Albanian government in Pristina.

 

Kosovo, also known as Kosovo-Metohija, is province of Serbia that has been under NATO occupation and UN administration since June 1999, following a 78-day bombing campaign by NATO led by the United States. The bombing began on the pretext of coercing Serbia into agreeing to a "peace treaty" presented during the sham negotiations between the Yugoslav government and Kosovo Albanian separatists (KLA, advised by US diplomats) at Rambouillet. After the bombing began, NATO used the images of refugees fleeing Kosovo to claim "ethnic cleansing" and "atrocities" were taking place, and through the mass media under its direct influence imposed that manufactured justification for its attack.

 

After the Serbian police and Yugoslav military forces withdrew from the province, hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Roma, Turks and other non-Albanians were driven out, their property looted and destroyed, by militant Albanians, often at gunpoint. The mainstream Western press excused this as "revenge attacks." Since 1999, over a hundred Serbian Orthodox churches, chapels, monasteries and cemeteries have been desecrated or completely destroyed. The largest-scale pogrom against Serbs was in March 2004.

 

Since then, advocates of an independent, Albanian-dominated Kosovo have conducted an offensive in the media, diplomatic and political circles to ensure that the "final solution" for the occupied province favored their cause. The most prominent leader of these efforts has been the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG), with a long history of interventionist activism in the Balkans. ICG's founder, Morton Abramowitz, was one of the KLA advisors at Rambouillet. Wesley Clark, commander of NATO forces bombing Serbia, served subsequently on ICG's Board of Trustees - as did Martti Ahtisaari, former president of Finland who persuaded Belgrade to sign an armistice that ended the war. Ahtisaari's appointment as UN's Special Envoy for Kosovo signaled which solution for the occupied province the US and Europe preferred to see.

 

Judging by the contents of his proposal, accessible as a series of Word files on the UNOSEK website, the Finn did not disappoint. Although extremely vague, favoring form over substance, the proposal makes it clear that Kosovo would be a state in all but name, with no vestige of Serbian sovereignty whatsoever. Aspects of Ahtisaari's plan concerning the rights and protections for the Serbs left in the province got a lot of press in the past week, but as even a cursory examination of the actual document shows, they are empty promises at best.

 

A State, Almost

 

One might be forgiven for the assumption that Ahtisaari was to assemble a proposal based on what has been negotiated by the Belgrade authorities and rebellious Albanians over the past year. Instead, he put together a proposal based on the wish-list of independence supporters, dressed up as a compromise.

 

For example, Kosovo is envisioned as having all the prerogatives of a sovereign state, except in name (left unspoken is the option for the government to declare independence and demand recognition): "its own, distinct, flag, seal and anthem" for one, and the right to "negotiate and conclude international agreements, including the right to seek membership in international organizations."

 

However, Ahtisaari places some limitations on this. The symbols "must reflect the multi-ethnic character of Kosovo." The province would be prohibited from making territorial claims against other states, or seeking union with another State or parts thereof. The political system would have built-in quotas for non-Albanians, including a mechanism of "double majority" voting in matters "dealing with areas of special interest" to those communities. And all along the way, there would be Imperial supervision.

 

Foreign Overlords

 

The proposal envisions an European Union Special Representative (EUSR) who would also be International Civilian Representative (ICR), "appointed by an International Steering Group (ISG) comprised of key international stakeholders."

 

This ISG sounds suspiciously like the "Peace Implementation Council," which is basically the self-appointed, arbitrary Contact Group that gave itself the authority to award Bosnia's viceroy near-unlimited dictatorial powers. Neither the ISG nor the PIC have anything to do with the UN, OSCE, EU or any established international bodies, which could be held accountable - at least theoretically - for their actions. Neither the "High Representative" in Bosnia nor the EUSR/ICR in Kosovo answer to anyone except these shady self-proclaimed "stakeholders" with unlimited power.

 

Ahtisaari's proposal envisions everything in Kosovo being under the ultimate authority of the ICR.

 

Provisions and Committees

 

Everything in the new Kosovo, from police and the judiciary to the government and civil service, is to be subject to quotas. Overseeing this process in the judiciary would be a "Kosovo Judicial Council," a committee including foreigners, which would make recommendations to the president. He or she, by the way, is supposed to "represent the unity of the people of Kosovo," whatever that means.

 

The Kosovo Assembly - derived from the current parliament formed under UNMIK's provisional constitution - is tasked with adopting an actual Constitution (with limitations described in the proposal) within 120 days of the proposal coming into force, by a 2/3 majority, with "appropriate consultations with non-majority Assembly members." It is not specified what these might be.

 

Another committee - "Implementation Monitoring Council" - would be charged with overseeing the security of Serbian heritage sites.

 

Heritage and Decentralization

 

Much has been made of Ahtisaari's supposed effort to include strong protections for Serbs and other non-Albanians into his proposal. But what it actually says is mostly vapor.

 

For example, the Kosovo Assembly is told it would have to pass a law establishing "Protective Zones around designated Serbian religious and cultural sites." There are 45 sites that would be designated as such; the rest of Serbian heritage in the province is up for grabs.

 

KFOR, renamed IMP (International Military Presence) would "provide security to a number of pre-designated sites. at the beginning of Settlement implementation." Afterwards, however, the main responsibility to provide the basic security to Serbian Orthodox Church property will be on "Kosovo law enforcement agencies."

 

This translates into the Kosovo Police Service, with a centralized command in Pristina. Yes, it is stated twice that Serbs "will have a role" in the selection of local police commanders, but that's as far as non-Albanian input goes. The proposal foresees the disbandment of the KPC within a year, to be replaced by Kosovo Security Force (KSF). It's not hard to guess who would form the majority of KSF's cadres. The province would get its own intelligence agency as well.

 

As for decentralization, Ahtisaari envisions six new Serb-majority municipalities, but the framework of Kosovo's government is so centralized, it is hard to see how they could be viable. All they really get to do deals with "an enhanced role in the selection of local Police Station Commanders" and "protection and promotion of cultural and religious affairs at the local level." At the same time, these municipalities' special privileges - even if only on paper - would make them a new target of hate and envy of the Albanian population, perpetuating the current situation.

 

Bogus Human Rights

 

Ahtisaari's proposal says that all human rights are guaranteed, but the guarantor would inevitably be the government of Kosovo - dominated by ethnic Albanians. The proposal supposedly "provides for the right of all refugees and internally displaced persons from Kosovo to return and reclaim their property and personal possessions in accordance with Kosovo and international law." This means, however, the Assembly can pass a law forbidding the return of refuges unless they prove their innocence of war crimes charges. A "Croatian model" would be applied, where returning non-Albanians would be arrested based on secret indictments and put on trial for war crimes. No convictions need to take place (not that they would be hard to secure with the Albanian-dominated judiciary), the arrests would serve to intimidate potential returnees.

 

Empty Talk

 

Upon reading Ahtisaari's proposal, several things should become obvious. It abounds with assertions that have no purchase in reality: for example, declaring Kosovo to be "diverse," multiethnic and democratic, when it is manifestly not so and there is no known mechanism to make it such. It simply says the Albanian-dominated authorities would protect human and property rights and freedoms of everyone, when they have shown absolutely no inclination to do so in the past eight years, or ever before.

 

If NATO and UNMIK, with thousands of troops and bureaucrats, were unable to stop the constant acts of violence and destruction specifically targeting the Serbs, what could an inexperienced, funds-starved Albanian government do better? Provided, of course, that it was willing to confront violent elements in its own society that committed such outrages.

 

The Albanians' provisional prime minister, Agim Ceku, told the Serbian papers on Monday that he'd never committed any war crimes; that atrocities in Croatia by troops under his command were "normal things that happened in war," and that the KLA itself never committed any atrocities. Ceku - and the establishment behind him - would have the Serbs and the world believe that hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Roma and Turks ethnically cleansed from the province, destruction of their property and heritage, and constant assaults on the remaining members of those communities over the past eight years are "isolated incidents" of "extremist individuals."

 

Such as the 50,000-odd "individuals" who engaged in the March 2004 pogrom?

 

Empire's Hollow Victory

 

Ceku and his followers are happy with the proposal, probably because they know this is a back-door path to independence that dodges the Russian veto in the UN. Maybe also because they remember, unlike many others, that laws can be ignored and treaties violated at one's convenience if one enjoys Imperial support. Indeed, they may be expecting the Empire to be their willing accomplice in trampling the "flavor" sections of Ahtisaari's plan - if it's ever adopted - just as it has sponsored their efforts since 1999. But in the final analysis, even if they get almost everything they want, the Albanians of Kosovo would still have a foreign overlord set above them, and someone - the remaining Serbs - to blame for their problems.

 

This is why Ahtisaari's plan isn't the "final solution" for occupied Kosovo; unless, of course, it envisions the problem correcting itself with the Serbs packing up and leaving, which is something most "Western diplomats" keen on independence already expect and secretly desire.

 

Another key assumption Ahtisaari and his sponsors are making is that a new, pro-Imperial government would be established in Serbia that would either approve of this land grab, or accept it with impotent resignation. That may or may not yet happen, but it's an assumption no one should make lightly.

 

In the Balkans, nothing is ever certain. Especially not "final solutions."