Police to interview Albanians over flag display

The albanians should be very aware that the international community watch this behaviour very closely. I agree with Sam 100%. They live in Serbia and should behave. Like any other country - if you dont like it, then move ! Why is there no Serbian flag raised in municipal building in Pristina ? As far as I know, Kosovo is still Serbia, right? And I truly believe that Kosovo will stay Serbian, no matter what some might think. Do not be surprised with Ahtisaaris suggestion in late January folks !

I love the fact that the Albanians automatically revert to any type of Serbian authority as going back to the Milosevic era. I live in the US and I can tell you that if you removed a US flag from a government building and put one of another nation (let's just say Iraq at this point in time b.c it seems somewhat analalgous) you would be thrown in jail so quickly that you wouldn't know what hit you. A mere interview is kind if you ask me.

I don't know of any Serbs removing Albanian flags in Albania proper and putting thier own up instead. Who is the real bully here then?

Sam, there may not be Serbs but there are Greeks that do this in Albania, and it does not please Albanians. I think the Serb protests are accurate in this case. I think the Albanians should be allowed to raise the Albanian flag alongside the Serbian one on Flag Day, but not replace it.

Sam, very improper comparison.

1) Albanians in the Presevo valley are not immigrants, BUT have lived there for tens of centuries.

2) They would not have done this if the Serbian authorities allowed them to have the Albanian flag alongside with the Serbian.

3) I know of many Serbs in Kosovo removing Albanian and UN flag from buildings in Kosovo.

4) The Serbian authorities scream all the time about the "human rights" of Serbs in Kosovo. Have they forgotten that they have an Albanian minority in the south?

Balkans needs open-minded, democratic leaders that can help their people to understand peace is the only solution.

Greetings from Oliver to all you: Serbs, Albanians, Croats, Bosnians etc. Wish you a merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Sam:
You seem a bit confused. There is NO municipality in the United States where 90% of the citizens are Iraqis who have inhabitated the area for over 3000 years...or should i say 2400 years more than the US citizens.
I can't say that removing the Serb flag was a great idea, but I do proudly say that raising the Albanian Flag was brave, patriotic and a just act.

regards

Why do Serbian police have to interview the entire Albanian population when they can do it by interviewing the elected leader of local government? According to many news sources, he was the one who allowed Serbian Flag to be brought down on that day.

This is the type of irresponsible intimidation that Presevo Albanians are subjected to will most likely result into an armed struggle.

This is a petty provocation by the Albanians. They total disregard democratic laws of a country they live in. It's interesting to observe Hungarians in the north and Romainians in the east are able to live side by side with Serbs but the Albanians cannot. I am begining to believe that their is something to Muslims, that if they cannot have what they want, when they want it, they will provoke the host country into conflict. Most conflicts in the world today are caused by Muslims and this is one of them.
Merry Christmas to all and Happy New Year.

Oliver, your argument is flawed because either:
(1) you do not know Balkan history, or;
(2)you have never been to Kosovo

Albanians as a people have not lived in the Presevo Valley for tens of centuries. Raising that argument assumes that Albanians are descendants of the Illyrians, and there has never been any actual proof of this. Do you remember the mass amounts of money that came in from Tirana in the mid 1970s so that Kosovar Albanians could finally dig something up to prove that they were descendants of the Illyrians? The result was that NOTHING could be found to prove thier belief. Therefore, they the Albanians in the Presevo Valley are immigrants and should therefore respect thier host country. If I am unsatisfied with the US not permitting me to remove thier national flag to replace it with my own, I would move, not expect them to allow me to completely disregard all democratic norms.

If you visited Kosovo in the last several years you will notice that the Serbian flag is completely absent - on Serbian soil! The Albanian flag is next to the US flag everywhere. Therefore, if you ask me, the proper owners of the land - the Serbs- are justified in removing UN and Albanian flags.

No Western democracy (US, Canada, UK) allows for the raising of a flag next to the one of the nation itself. The UK is somewhat different as it is a union and that is obviously not the case here. The Serbs have no obligation under domestic or international law to allow any minority to fly thier flag next to the serbian flag.

The human rights violations against Kosovar Serbs far exceed simply flag raising. The Serb politicians are well justified in thier arguments. I don't know of anywhere else in the world where not permitting the taking down of a national flag to replace it with another amounts to a human rights violation.

Sam you are creating confusion with your Milosevic-styled rhetoric. Sorry to say that, but you use the same arguments as many Serbian ultranationalists.

If the Albanians have not lived there, where did they live then? On the moon?!?

The Albanians have had the majority in Kosovo for at least 500 years.

Sam,

here it is where you 're wrong: by calling Kosovo Serbian soil. It's Kosovo's soil, it belongs to the people who live there.

You have seen that there is no Serbian flag in Kosovo, only the UN flag is official there. Serbia lost that land in 1999. But don't worry, soon Kosovo will have its own flag, so there will be no need to dispute such things. The K-Serbs will use their flag. And are no Serbs in Albania to raise Serbian flag there.

I see no real problem with Albanians raising their flag on flag day. Taking down the Serbian flag is another issue entirely. Doing those types of actions only makes the current situation worse especially at this critical time in negotiations over Kosovo.

As far as interviewing the people involved, I think it depends on how its done. It should not be used as an excuse to intimidate people or to repress freedom of expression. However, I think it should be done to identify people who might want to cause trouble. Chances are at least some of the people involved might be nationalists planning future violence, so we do need to keep tabs on the people doing this in case they take it to the next level and engage in violence.

Sam - I agree completely. It is ludicrous to think that a national flag can be removed and replaced with any other flag and that the police would not be involved, or that it would be acceptable anywhere in the world.
For goodness sake, when people live in another country they should be proud (or at the very least prepared) to live under that country's flag. In Kosovo, way before the NATO intervention, street names were in both Albanian and Serbian, and mosques were built for the Albanian community. These are not signs of not respecting ethnic communities, quite the opposite. How many churches will the KLA/ Kosovo govt. build for Serbs? How many place names can be read in Serbian today? None!

Sam... There you go, again showing yourself to be as unfamiliar with a subject called "history" as you may be with what goes on under the clouds of Jupiter!
Serbian soil, Albanian soil... whatever it be, before you stamp your claims in the B92 site, make sure you know something on the case.
First of all, you shouldn't be ashamed to tell people that you are a serb yourself, leave aside the "i live in the US" refrains, that doesn't match the topics you're diggin. The issue was exactly on flags and national days... The fact that you slipped into "history" tells me you've got nothing at all to say to back your first arguement. Probably you didn't expect any other souls to read this article, let alone answer to your comments...
Instead, see the larger picture of the region;
suppose Serbia and all the western Balkans enter the EU and eurolandia... What choices other than that of decentralisation would the serbian governemt have?
As a matter of fact, centralised, dictatorial regimes will never be accepted in the EU family...
CIA, the most subtle of all clairvoyants, has predicted that this region may enter the EU no sooner than the 2022... Gripping to this divination, the region has only 16 years left to forget all about the past, massacres, rapes, oppression and genocides. These will be remembered as history and probably taught at schools as thrilling subjects, or facultative.
The point is, whether Serbia wants or not to see Albanians raise their flag or use their national symbols in that area, is just a temporary prank; nothing more. When the region integrates in the EU, Albanian and Serbian flags will wave in unexpected places... Thus, in like 30 years time, if everything goes well, we'll have a brand new generation to deal with, with brand new ideas, with brand new visions and with a brand new mentality.
At that time, you will be just an old man chattertattering in some cafes playing dominoes and killing kids with boring stories like this one.

I agree with SAM, and about time the police have begun a investigation in this act which was offensive and disrespectful. And really whole Milosevic thing...is getting old grown up plz. the leaders of the Albanians parties should offer a apology. It really doest matter if there are more Albanians there it IS Serbian territory and as such you must respect the law. Xhafer I don't think you even bothered to read the article fully "The entire population?" you saying the entire population is 2? Over all the police took the right coarse of action this type of insolence is not tolerated in Canada, If I were to put a American flag on a government building I could be fined $50 000 for the removal or defacing of a national symbol.

Genc, in response to your statement about Kosovo having it's own flag then you are mistaken the flag the albanians are currently using is the flag of albania. If you had your own flag then why not display it, I don't think albania will let you use it's flag nothing because everyone wants something in return as for the flag raising in presevo that was a provocation. In the US as one comment stated you would never be able to take down the us flag and put up another from some other country. What was the presevo people thinking i don't know, probably expected the Serb Police come in and crack heads but wrong answer they have learned in the past this what they do to provoke us but they are making inquires concerning the matter. This all a political game and now i see why those albanian newspapers are always in albanain because those of us who do not understand or read there language cannot read the BS they print. I have been cursed by people because i read the news from this web site and not one from kosovo my response is always show me one that is in english and i will. Next month this charade will be solved i hope no one will be happy and it will be too cold to fight and for the people to survive.

zotrules, you're not serious, just look at the EU now, do you think France would be happy to see German flags left right and centre? Also,
"As a matter of fact, centralised, dictatorial regimes will never be accepted in the EU family... "
Just look what's happening in BiH, centralisation everywhere.

jeju...
France and Germany... Albania and Serbia... That's no comparison.
Kosova is considered as a "disputed" region just because Serbia claims as its own. Because the whole modern Serbian history is based upon myths of a pragmatic Kosovo-generated culture; well, that either doesn't meet reality. Other claims are that Albania claims Kosova as its own. There's where the conceptual confusion generates...
Albania doesn't claim Kosova, nor has she any territorial claims over Kosova.
In the most extreme conclusions, Albania is just, simply not complete without Kosova and the rest of the territory snatched from it by the conference of the Great Powers in 1913, leaving 2/3rds of Albanians and Albania outside the internationally recognized borders. I simply don't see what kind of loss would Serbia have of such theories, especially when they are historical facts of not such a remote time of prehistory. They can all be evidenced, proven, verified and documented without any hard labor at any time.
Now, if you or anybody else, can draw similar parallels with Germany and France, then i will be mos happy to read them. Kosova is not a issue like even that of Britain and France; we are not talking about some 7 centuries ago when half of today's France was part of the English kingdom; there's no more English living in those areas anymore; thus it's pointless for GB to raise any claims whatsoever against France.
Still, Albania has no territorial claims against Serbia. In the wider view, there's a vast majority of ETHNIC Albanians living in their historical lands in southern Serbia.
They don't have to deal with this fact, it's just a mere natural phenomenon to them. On the other hand, it is evident that Serbia has to deal with this fact. And it's not an easy task to perform, as we are talking about an undeniable 17% of the population of ex Yugoslavia of some 23 million inhabitants, placing Albanians the third largest ethnic entity of the Federation.
I am convinced that nobody can draw parallels of this kind with any other European entity, and if it so happens,(like in i.e. Switzerland) the 10% of Italians that compose the Switzerland confederation have full rights of use of any national symbols they please, and can refer to themselves with the names they please; also, all the institutions are governed by people elected by the free vote of their local community. I don't think Germany or Austria shiver to that idea and neither does France. Should you consider Switzerland as a perfect example, the whole Balkans will become such one day, once it enters the EU...

Why is it that everytime someone defends Serbia they are automatically assumed to be Serbian. Actually, I am not Serbia, nor do I have any Serbian blood. I am fully an American and don't claim to be any other nationality. Americans who support the Serbian side do exist.

How can the Serbian side be supported Sam?

Sam... Americans speak english as their mother tongue, thus, stating some fact that "i live in the US" doesn't make much sense if you weren't otherwise. Besides, your english stabs you in the back; it's a boomerang case.
In any case, there's nothing wrong with being american, serbian or albanian, or being any of those above and claiming to be something else; the first option is inevitable, the second is a result of free will and personal choice. Thence, whatever i said above doesn't affect your statutory rights in any way. Neither does the fact of taking any of the sides in discussion or fancying any of them. Therefore, halt the rush dear.
this is all i have to say; until somebody answers to gloves-off, - straight questions like that of Mario and catch me prying on them with a ready answer.

I love the fact that the Albanians automatically revert to any type of Serbian authority as going back to the Milosevic era. I live in the US and I can tell you that if you removed a US flag from a government building and put one of another nation (let's just say Iraq at this point in time b.c it seems somewhat analalgous) you would be thrown in jail so quickly that you wouldn't know what hit you. A mere interview is kind if you ask me.

I don't know of any Serbs removing Albanian flags in Albania proper and putting thier own up instead. Who is the real bully here then?

Sam, there may not be Serbs but there are Greeks that do this in Albania, and it does not please Albanians. I think the Serb protests are accurate in this case. I think the Albanians should be allowed to raise the Albanian flag alongside the Serbian one on Flag Day, but not replace it.

Sam, very improper comparison.

1) Albanians in the Presevo valley are not immigrants, BUT have lived there for tens of centuries.

2) They would not have done this if the Serbian authorities allowed them to have the Albanian flag alongside with the Serbian.

3) I know of many Serbs in Kosovo removing Albanian and UN flag from buildings in Kosovo.

4) The Serbian authorities scream all the time about the "human rights" of Serbs in Kosovo. Have they forgotten that they have an Albanian minority in the south?

Balkans needs open-minded, democratic leaders that can help their people to understand peace is the only solution.

Greetings from Oliver to all you: Serbs, Albanians, Croats, Bosnians etc. Wish you a merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Sam:
You seem a bit confused. There is NO municipality in the United States where 90% of the citizens are Iraqis who have inhabitated the area for over 3000 years...or should i say 2400 years more than the US citizens.
I can't say that removing the Serb flag was a great idea, but I do proudly say that raising the Albanian Flag was brave, patriotic and a just act.

regards

Why do Serbian police have to interview the entire Albanian population when they can do it by interviewing the elected leader of local government? According to many news sources, he was the one who allowed Serbian Flag to be brought down on that day.

This is the type of irresponsible intimidation that Presevo Albanians are subjected to will most likely result into an armed struggle.

This is a petty provocation by the Albanians. They total disregard democratic laws of a country they live in. It's interesting to observe Hungarians in the north and Romainians in the east are able to live side by side with Serbs but the Albanians cannot. I am begining to believe that their is something to Muslims, that if they cannot have what they want, when they want it, they will provoke the host country into conflict. Most conflicts in the world today are caused by Muslims and this is one of them.
Merry Christmas to all and Happy New Year.

The albanians should be very aware that the international community watch this behaviour very closely. I agree with Sam 100%. They live in Serbia and should behave. Like any other country - if you dont like it, then move ! Why is there no Serbian flag raised in municipal building in Pristina ? As far as I know, Kosovo is still Serbia, right? And I truly believe that Kosovo will stay Serbian, no matter what some might think. Do not be surprised with Ahtisaaris suggestion in late January folks !

Oliver, your argument is flawed because either:
(1) you do not know Balkan history, or;
(2)you have never been to Kosovo

Albanians as a people have not lived in the Presevo Valley for tens of centuries. Raising that argument assumes that Albanians are descendants of the Illyrians, and there has never been any actual proof of this. Do you remember the mass amounts of money that came in from Tirana in the mid 1970s so that Kosovar Albanians could finally dig something up to prove that they were descendants of the Illyrians? The result was that NOTHING could be found to prove thier belief. Therefore, they the Albanians in the Presevo Valley are immigrants and should therefore respect thier host country. If I am unsatisfied with the US not permitting me to remove thier national flag to replace it with my own, I would move, not expect them to allow me to completely disregard all democratic norms.

If you visited Kosovo in the last several years you will notice that the Serbian flag is completely absent - on Serbian soil! The Albanian flag is next to the US flag everywhere. Therefore, if you ask me, the proper owners of the land - the Serbs- are justified in removing UN and Albanian flags.

No Western democracy (US, Canada, UK) allows for the raising of a flag next to the one of the nation itself. The UK is somewhat different as it is a union and that is obviously not the case here. The Serbs have no obligation under domestic or international law to allow any minority to fly thier flag next to the serbian flag.

The human rights violations against Kosovar Serbs far exceed simply flag raising. The Serb politicians are well justified in thier arguments. I don't know of anywhere else in the world where not permitting the taking down of a national flag to replace it with another amounts to a human rights violation.

Sam you are creating confusion with your Milosevic-styled rhetoric. Sorry to say that, but you use the same arguments as many Serbian ultranationalists.

If the Albanians have not lived there, where did they live then? On the moon?!?

The Albanians have had the majority in Kosovo for at least 500 years.

Sam,

here it is where you 're wrong: by calling Kosovo Serbian soil. It's Kosovo's soil, it belongs to the people who live there.

You have seen that there is no Serbian flag in Kosovo, only the UN flag is official there. Serbia lost that land in 1999. But don't worry, soon Kosovo will have its own flag, so there will be no need to dispute such things. The K-Serbs will use their flag. And are no Serbs in Albania to raise Serbian flag there.

I see no real problem with Albanians raising their flag on flag day. Taking down the Serbian flag is another issue entirely. Doing those types of actions only makes the current situation worse especially at this critical time in negotiations over Kosovo.

As far as interviewing the people involved, I think it depends on how its done. It should not be used as an excuse to intimidate people or to repress freedom of expression. However, I think it should be done to identify people who might want to cause trouble. Chances are at least some of the people involved might be nationalists planning future violence, so we do need to keep tabs on the people doing this in case they take it to the next level and engage in violence.

Sam - I agree completely. It is ludicrous to think that a national flag can be removed and replaced with any other flag and that the police would not be involved, or that it would be acceptable anywhere in the world.
For goodness sake, when people live in another country they should be proud (or at the very least prepared) to live under that country's flag. In Kosovo, way before the NATO intervention, street names were in both Albanian and Serbian, and mosques were built for the Albanian community. These are not signs of not respecting ethnic communities, quite the opposite. How many churches will the KLA/ Kosovo govt. build for Serbs? How many place names can be read in Serbian today? None!

Sam... There you go, again showing yourself to be as unfamiliar with a subject called "history" as you may be with what goes on under the clouds of Jupiter!
Serbian soil, Albanian soil... whatever it be, before you stamp your claims in the B92 site, make sure you know something on the case.
First of all, you shouldn't be ashamed to tell people that you are a serb yourself, leave aside the "i live in the US" refrains, that doesn't match the topics you're diggin. The issue was exactly on flags and national days... The fact that you slipped into "history" tells me you've got nothing at all to say to back your first arguement. Probably you didn't expect any other souls to read this article, let alone answer to your comments...
Instead, see the larger picture of the region;
suppose Serbia and all the western Balkans enter the EU and eurolandia... What choices other than that of decentralisation would the serbian governemt have?
As a matter of fact, centralised, dictatorial regimes will never be accepted in the EU family...
CIA, the most subtle of all clairvoyants, has predicted that this region may enter the EU no sooner than the 2022... Gripping to this divination, the region has only 16 years left to forget all about the past, massacres, rapes, oppression and genocides. These will be remembered as history and probably taught at schools as thrilling subjects, or facultative.
The point is, whether Serbia wants or not to see Albanians raise their flag or use their national symbols in that area, is just a temporary prank; nothing more. When the region integrates in the EU, Albanian and Serbian flags will wave in unexpected places... Thus, in like 30 years time, if everything goes well, we'll have a brand new generation to deal with, with brand new ideas, with brand new visions and with a brand new mentality.
At that time, you will be just an old man chattertattering in some cafes playing dominoes and killing kids with boring stories like this one.

I agree with SAM, and about time the police have begun a investigation in this act which was offensive and disrespectful. And really whole Milosevic thing...is getting old grown up plz. the leaders of the Albanians parties should offer a apology. It really doest matter if there are more Albanians there it IS Serbian territory and as such you must respect the law. Xhafer I don't think you even bothered to read the article fully "The entire population?" you saying the entire population is 2? Over all the police took the right coarse of action this type of insolence is not tolerated in Canada, If I were to put a American flag on a government building I could be fined $50 000 for the removal or defacing of a national symbol.

Genc, in response to your statement about Kosovo having it's own flag then you are mistaken the flag the albanians are currently using is the flag of albania. If you had your own flag then why not display it, I don't think albania will let you use it's flag nothing because everyone wants something in return as for the flag raising in presevo that was a provocation. In the US as one comment stated you would never be able to take down the us flag and put up another from some other country. What was the presevo people thinking i don't know, probably expected the Serb Police come in and crack heads but wrong answer they have learned in the past this what they do to provoke us but they are making inquires concerning the matter. This all a political game and now i see why those albanian newspapers are always in albanain because those of us who do not understand or read there language cannot read the BS they print. I have been cursed by people because i read the news from this web site and not one from kosovo my response is always show me one that is in english and i will. Next month this charade will be solved i hope no one will be happy and it will be too cold to fight and for the people to survive.

zotrules, you're not serious, just look at the EU now, do you think France would be happy to see German flags left right and centre? Also,
"As a matter of fact, centralised, dictatorial regimes will never be accepted in the EU family... "
Just look what's happening in BiH, centralisation everywhere.

jeju...
France and Germany... Albania and Serbia... That's no comparison.
Kosova is considered as a "disputed" region just because Serbia claims as its own. Because the whole modern Serbian history is based upon myths of a pragmatic Kosovo-generated culture; well, that either doesn't meet reality. Other claims are that Albania claims Kosova as its own. There's where the conceptual confusion generates...
Albania doesn't claim Kosova, nor has she any territorial claims over Kosova.
In the most extreme conclusions, Albania is just, simply not complete without Kosova and the rest of the territory snatched from it by the conference of the Great Powers in 1913, leaving 2/3rds of Albanians and Albania outside the internationally recognized borders. I simply don't see what kind of loss would Serbia have of such theories, especially when they are historical facts of not such a remote time of prehistory. They can all be evidenced, proven, verified and documented without any hard labor at any time.
Now, if you or anybody else, can draw similar parallels with Germany and France, then i will be mos happy to read them. Kosova is not a issue like even that of Britain and France; we are not talking about some 7 centuries ago when half of today's France was part of the English kingdom; there's no more English living in those areas anymore; thus it's pointless for GB to raise any claims whatsoever against France.
Still, Albania has no territorial claims against Serbia. In the wider view, there's a vast majority of ETHNIC Albanians living in their historical lands in southern Serbia.
They don't have to deal with this fact, it's just a mere natural phenomenon to them. On the other hand, it is evident that Serbia has to deal with this fact. And it's not an easy task to perform, as we are talking about an undeniable 17% of the population of ex Yugoslavia of some 23 million inhabitants, placing Albanians the third largest ethnic entity of the Federation.
I am convinced that nobody can draw parallels of this kind with any other European entity, and if it so happens,(like in i.e. Switzerland) the 10% of Italians that compose the Switzerland confederation have full rights of use of any national symbols they please, and can refer to themselves with the names they please; also, all the institutions are governed by people elected by the free vote of their local community. I don't think Germany or Austria shiver to that idea and neither does France. Should you consider Switzerland as a perfect example, the whole Balkans will become such one day, once it enters the EU...

Why is it that everytime someone defends Serbia they are automatically assumed to be Serbian. Actually, I am not Serbia, nor do I have any Serbian blood. I am fully an American and don't claim to be any other nationality. Americans who support the Serbian side do exist.

How can the Serbian side be supported Sam?

Sam... Americans speak english as their mother tongue, thus, stating some fact that "i live in the US" doesn't make much sense if you weren't otherwise. Besides, your english stabs you in the back; it's a boomerang case.
In any case, there's nothing wrong with being american, serbian or albanian, or being any of those above and claiming to be something else; the first option is inevitable, the second is a result of free will and personal choice. Thence, whatever i said above doesn't affect your statutory rights in any way. Neither does the fact of taking any of the sides in discussion or fancying any of them. Therefore, halt the rush dear.
this is all i have to say; until somebody answers to gloves-off, - straight questions like that of Mario and catch me prying on them with a ready answer.