Priština reacts to footage of terror group

Politicians in Kosovo reacted to the broadcast of members of the Albanian National Army (ANA) patrolling the province. The footage aired Wednesday on Kosovo’s public television (RTK) armed men in black uniforms patrolling the highway near Merdare, checking vehicles. Pristina reacts to footage of terror group UNMIK designated ANA as a terrorist group in 2003, following an attack on the Kosovska Mitrovica-Lesak railway. Judging from the Kosovo Albanian leadership reaction, they seem to have been taken by surprise. Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku said yesterday that the appearance of masked and armed persons was "a bad massage sent from Kosovo." “Kosovo will have its forces and defend itself on an institutional level,” he stated commenting on the footage. He called the presence of such groups "harmful" and urged citizens to cooperate with the United Nations administration and international peacekeepers in the province. Meanwhile, Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu said there’s no need for "non-institutionalized defense structures." “Legal security structures operate in Kosovo and perform their tasks exceptionally well,” he said. The interior minister in Ceku’s government, Blerim Kuqi, said in a statement that the Kosovo Police Service (KPS) was investigating persons "posing as members of the Albanian National Army." At the same time, KPS spokesman Veton Elshani declined to comment the footage so as “not to compromise the ongoing investigation.” Gafurr Adili, spokesman of the Front for National Unification of the Albanians (FNOA) said on Wednesday that persons wearing ANA uniforms in were members of "a regular unit of that armed formation." “These are structures of ANA who had long ago voiced patience so as to give a chance to the national unification by diplomatic and political means. Put the patience is running out,” he said in a statement. Adili also added that FNOA had issued "a timely warning" to domestic and international public that the diplomatic process of the status settlement was nearing the end. “But the statement has not been seriously taken into account”, he concluded. Meanwhile, the public appearance of masked armed men, apparently members of an illegal organization, is viewed by analyst Jeffrey Laurenti as aimed at intimidating first and foremost the leadership in Pristina. Laurenti, a senior fellow with the Century Foundation, told the BBC that nine years ago a similar formation took the initiative from the Ibrahim Rugova and, with the aim of provoking a crisis, started a guerrilla war against Serbian security forces. "It is another question whether this formation [ANA] is capable of sustaining this kind of pressure [on Pristina] over a longer period of time," Laurenti added. Asked whether Kosovo Albanians were "ready to wait for a status outcome," Laurenti reminded that solutions to other conflicts in the world had been sought "for years and decades." "People in Taiwan have been waiting for fifty, sixty years to resolve their status with respect to the rest of China. Palestinians have been waiting for decades." "That is why Albanians in Kosovo will most probably wait for several more years, if that would mean the recognition of independence, without a renewal of conflicts," the U.S. analyst said.

Priština reacts to footage of terror group

UNMIK designated ANA as a terrorist group in 2003, following an attack on the Kosovska Mitrovica-Lešak railway.

Judging from the Kosovo Albanian leadership reaction, they seem to have been taken by surprise.

Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku said yesterday that the appearance of masked and armed persons was "a bad massage sent from Kosovo."

“Kosovo will have its forces and defend itself on an institutional level,” he stated commenting on the footage.

He called the presence of such groups "harmful" and urged citizens to cooperate with the United Nations administration and international peacekeepers in the province.

Meanwhile, Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu said there’s no need for "non-institutionalized defense structures."

“Legal security structures operate in Kosovo and perform their tasks exceptionally well,” he said.

The interior minister in Ceku’s government, Blerim Kuqi, said in a statement that the Kosovo Police Service (KPS) was investigating persons "posing as members of the Albanian National Army."

At the same time, KPS spokesman Veton Elshani declined to comment the footage so as “not to compromise the ongoing investigation.”

Gafurr Adili, spokesman of the Front for National Unification of the Albanians (FNOA) said on Wednesday that persons wearing ANA uniforms in were members of "a regular unit of that armed formation."

“These are structures of ANA who had long ago voiced patience so as to give a chance to the national unification by diplomatic and political means. Put the patience is running out,” he said in a statement.

Adili also added that FNOA had issued "a timely warning" to domestic and international public that the diplomatic process of the status settlement was nearing the end.

“But the statement has not been seriously taken into account”, he concluded.

Meanwhile, the public appearance of masked armed men, apparently members of an illegal organization, is viewed by analyst Jeffrey Laurenti as aimed at intimidating first and foremost the leadership in Priština.

Laurenti, a senior fellow with the Century Foundation, told the BBC that nine years ago a similar formation took the initiative from the Ibrahim Rugova and, with the aim of provoking a crisis, started a guerrilla war against Serbian security forces.

"It is another question whether this formation [ANA] is capable of sustaining this kind of pressure [on Priština] over a longer period of time," Laurenti added.

Asked whether Kosovo Albanians were "ready to wait for a status outcome," Laurenti reminded that solutions to other conflicts in the world had been sought "for years and decades."

"People in Taiwan have been waiting for fifty, sixty years to resolve their status with respect to the rest of China. Palestinians have been waiting for decades."

"That is why Albanians in Kosovo will most probably wait for several more years, if that would mean the recognition of independence, without a renewal of conflicts," the U.S. analyst said.