Kosovo Serbs divided over Assembly issue

"Oliver Ivanović from the Serbian List for Kosovo said that the Serbian Government was behind the incident. "

Isn't the Serbian government behind all the troubles in Kosovo, regardless albanian or serbian nationality?

Isn't it time for the serbs in Kosovo to understand that they are only toys in the hand of the serbian government?

Wake up, people. Try to find a solution within Kosovo. You have got from Ahtisaari more than you will ever get from Serbian Government

Some times i wander if those
pro-albanians in here are the same person.

I see the following pattern:
threat/false assumption/conclusion,
and then the same sequence all over again.

mr/sir/mrs/miss Ahilleas

im pleased to tell you that i incourige even more people to write here regardless what side they belong to just becouse you dont like the reality you think we are threating, or lying, i think the pro-alb are very constructive in deed and why i think that is cause they are in touch with reality and live with it everyday unlike some of comments from pro-serbs that are made up up on belifs of a dream world. lets stop for a minute and think we have been arguing and fitghing for centuries but todays world and society is fighting with wrods and evidence the ground.
so article it self shows that there are disagreement within the serb comunity in kosova, and now they have come to realise that Belgrade's interest is not the serb them self but is more of a material interest, and rightly so they want a better future the what belgrade has offered to this day, actuly i dont even recolect if they ever offered anything apart from national heatred towards rest of nations within balkans.
if your so clever you should then comment on the article so we here your side of the story and dont bother with the shallow comments..

Ahilleas

I guess you mean wonder, not wander.
As for the rest, take it easy. It seems Greece has more to win than to lose from Kosovo's independence (new market, if Serbia foolishly will block trade with Kosovo, making Thessaloniki Kosovo's main harbour). You better get used to the idea that Albanians, as Serbs, Macedonians, Bulgarians, Greeks etc. are equal neighbours and not some inferiors and some superiors. That's what's going on indeed in the Balkans

Artan,

just tell us, all of us, who actually is living in a dream world???

who believes to be the descendant of the illyrians?

who is threatening with violence? ( " hell will break loose " )

who is spreading lies and fabrications here?

who is not responding to even one single argument the pro-serbian comment-writers are bringing up?

who is emphasizing the importance of the USA? ( " only global superpower "

who is forgetting that there are Russia and China, both Veto-Powers, in the UNSC???


needless to say, who in fact is living in a dream world...

I never comment but always read the comments and I somewhat agree with the first one. There is so much constant Belgrade bashing going on here for the most part I believe by alb-diaspora or other serb hating diaspora. I'll admit there are a few serbs here who are quite repititive as well with their comments. Regardless Belgrade is made out to be this omnipotent force controlling all of these people in Kosovo and what few other places have Serbs that have not been driven out. Frankly its a load of crap and the violin solo might work in Bosnia but its less effective in Kosovo...

Please read the 2004 article below and tell me whether this kind of political intimidation has stopped. Thank you.
************
Defectors from Leading Kosovo Party Threatened

Split in LDK ranks stirring passions, but unlikely in short term to displace main party on Kosovo political stage.
By Muhamet Hajrullahu in Pristina (BCR No 509, 30-Jul-04)
Edita Tahiri, once a high-profile member of Kosovo’s biggest political party, the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, fears for her life after deciding to quit and form a new political movement.
The former member of the party presidency, along with another woman colleague, Edi Shukriu, abandoned the LDK to announce on May 27 that they were forming the Democratic Alternative of Kosovo, ADK.
In a sign of the violent passions this split has stirred, a shadowy nationalist organisation called Homeland Security on July 12 warned those leaving the party that their lives were in jeopardy.
“We warn all of you deserters that are trying to sabotage the work of the LDK in the field that you will pay for this with your life,” the furious message read.
The letter writers made it clear they were targeting “women rebels” like Tahiri who had left the LDK.
The episode has cast a shadow over the run-up to October’s general elections in Kosovo, when the territory’s inhabitants are to vote for a new parliament.
The LDK, led by Ibrahim Rugova, Kosovo’s president, is the region’s oldest ethnic Albanian grass roots political organisation. Since its formation in 1989, it has governed Kosovo Albanian society virtually unchallenged and has taken more votes than any other party in every ballot.
In the last general election in 2001, the LDK won 45.6 per cent of votes, which was more than any other party but not enough to form a government alone. As a result, Kosovo has been led since then by a fractious coalition of the LDK, the Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, AAK.
Polls suggest the LDK’s support has slipped in recent months, which may explain why defectors such as Tahiri have encountered such fury over their moves.
A survey in June 2004 by the Index Kosova survey, a Gallup International partner organisation, says more than 10 per cent of those who backed the LDK in July 2003 would no longer do so.
Critics say the LDK is unlikely to regain the voters’ complete confidence if it refuses to reform what they describe as its archaic, monolithic character.
After complaining that the police had not even contacted her – let alone offered her protection – over the death threat, Tahiri says anxiety over her personal security will not stand in the way of her campaign or cause her to regret the split from the LDK.
Outlining the reasons for leaving, she listed growing voter dissatisfaction with the political process, manifested in the low turn-out in recent elections, the lack of internal democracy within the LDK and an autocratic management style, for which she blamed the centralist leadership of Rugova.
“The March events made this split even more urgent,” she said, referring to the outburst of ethnic-inspired rioting that saw several thousands Serbs forced from their homes.
“Since I did not manage to bring about internal changes in the LDK, though I have been trying to do so since the end of the war, I formed a new party. It is clear Kosovo needs to develop new political alternatives.”
Whether any of these alternative forces will bite deep into the LDK’s support base is open to question, however.
The ADK’s programme of “independence, peace and prosperity” differs little on the surface from the LDK’s own platform.
Voters may warm more to Tahiri’s claim to fight current trends in Kosovo, which she says have made “leaders richer and citizens poorer”.
The ADK insists the party will wage war on corruption in local and international institutions and make economic development a priority, though it stops short of providing detail of how this goal will be achieved.
Analysts say this policy weakness may deny the new party the chance of making a serious impact on the political scene.
Shkëlzen Maliqi, one of Kosovo’s leading commentators, says the LDK is not likely to lose many votes imminently as a result of the breakaway group.
“This [new] political formation has had no time to consolidate its forces, or to form a programme, so it will probably not manage to get more than two seats in the [next] parliament,” Maliqi said.
“What would really have been an alternative for Kosovo voters is one big new movement that would encompass all the new political initiatives, not many new small entities which are unlikely to get more than 5 per cent of the votes.”
The other political novelties that Maliqi was referring to include a new civic movement, named Ora, led by the prominent publisher and intellectual Veton Surroi, and Azem Vllasi, a former prominent Kosovo communist leader in the Tito era, who has now joined the Social Democratic Party of Kosovo, PSDK.
Movements such as Ora, the ADK and the PSDK will be competing among themselves for voters disillusioned with the fruits of the LDK’s 15-year existence and with the slow progress of Kosovar institutions since the end of the war.
The arrival of these initiatives clearly heralds a more democratic atmosphere, but the best they can probably hope for at this stage is to dent the LDK’s chances of forming the next government on its own.
In the meantime, both police and politicians say they are puzzled as to the identity of the unknown extremists standing behind the threat to Tahiri.
“I don’t think this shadowy organisation will influence people’s decision to leave or not leave the LDK because nobody knows who they are or who stands behind them,” Maliqi said.
Refki Morina, of Kosovo’s Police Service, KPS, told IWPR that the police was taking the threat seriously and was investigating who was behind it.
‘The Regional KPS Unit and the international police are covering these cases but we have not managed to discover anything specific for the moment,” he said.
Muhamet Hajrullahu is attending an IWPR journalism course supported by the OSCE.

I still ask if anyone knows or can provide some type of supporting evidence or motive of who broke up the inaugural event. I will comment that it is disheartening that their is division among Kosovo Serbs, and it would be even more disheartening if the Serbian govt or a foreign power were causing these divisions. Does anyone on the ground know? And please, no cynical, nationalist, cheap shot comments--they just don't add anything new. Hvala

see the following pattern:
threat/false assumption/conclusion,
and then the same sequence all over again.
(Ahilleas, Monday, 5 March, 2007, 16:28)

This is the reason that no negotiation or even dialogue is possible.

RE: Achillies-Threat, False Assumption, Conclusion

The proof is in the pudding.

FALSE ASSUMPTION

if Serbia foolishly will block trade with Kosovo, making Thessaloniki Kosovo's main harbour).(genc, Monday, 5 March, 2007, 23:13)


THREAT

You better get used to the idea that Albanians, as Serbs, Macedonians, Bulgarians, Greeks etc. are equal neighbours and not some inferiors and some superiors. (genc, Monday, 5 March, 2007, 23:13)


CONCLUSION

That's what's going on indeed in the Balkans
(genc, Monday, 5 March, 2007, 23:13)

It is about the time that the greeks mind their own problem now. your (greeks)are just causing more confusion than any other nation in balkans,
I understand the conflict between the Alb And the Ser, But i do not understand what does this have to do with you Ahiellas.

"Oliver Ivanović from the Serbian List for Kosovo said that the Serbian Government was behind the incident. "

Isn't the Serbian government behind all the troubles in Kosovo, regardless albanian or serbian nationality?

Isn't it time for the serbs in Kosovo to understand that they are only toys in the hand of the serbian government?

Wake up, people. Try to find a solution within Kosovo. You have got from Ahtisaari more than you will ever get from Serbian Government

Some times i wander if those
pro-albanians in here are the same person.

I see the following pattern:
threat/false assumption/conclusion,
and then the same sequence all over again.

mr/sir/mrs/miss Ahilleas

im pleased to tell you that i incourige even more people to write here regardless what side they belong to just becouse you dont like the reality you think we are threating, or lying, i think the pro-alb are very constructive in deed and why i think that is cause they are in touch with reality and live with it everyday unlike some of comments from pro-serbs that are made up up on belifs of a dream world. lets stop for a minute and think we have been arguing and fitghing for centuries but todays world and society is fighting with wrods and evidence the ground.
so article it self shows that there are disagreement within the serb comunity in kosova, and now they have come to realise that Belgrade's interest is not the serb them self but is more of a material interest, and rightly so they want a better future the what belgrade has offered to this day, actuly i dont even recolect if they ever offered anything apart from national heatred towards rest of nations within balkans.
if your so clever you should then comment on the article so we here your side of the story and dont bother with the shallow comments..

Ahilleas

I guess you mean wonder, not wander.
As for the rest, take it easy. It seems Greece has more to win than to lose from Kosovo's independence (new market, if Serbia foolishly will block trade with Kosovo, making Thessaloniki Kosovo's main harbour). You better get used to the idea that Albanians, as Serbs, Macedonians, Bulgarians, Greeks etc. are equal neighbours and not some inferiors and some superiors. That's what's going on indeed in the Balkans

Artan,

just tell us, all of us, who actually is living in a dream world???

who believes to be the descendant of the illyrians?

who is threatening with violence? ( " hell will break loose " )

who is spreading lies and fabrications here?

who is not responding to even one single argument the pro-serbian comment-writers are bringing up?

who is emphasizing the importance of the USA? ( " only global superpower "

who is forgetting that there are Russia and China, both Veto-Powers, in the UNSC???


needless to say, who in fact is living in a dream world...

I never comment but always read the comments and I somewhat agree with the first one. There is so much constant Belgrade bashing going on here for the most part I believe by alb-diaspora or other serb hating diaspora. I'll admit there are a few serbs here who are quite repititive as well with their comments. Regardless Belgrade is made out to be this omnipotent force controlling all of these people in Kosovo and what few other places have Serbs that have not been driven out. Frankly its a load of crap and the violin solo might work in Bosnia but its less effective in Kosovo...

Please read the 2004 article below and tell me whether this kind of political intimidation has stopped. Thank you.
************
Defectors from Leading Kosovo Party Threatened

Split in LDK ranks stirring passions, but unlikely in short term to displace main party on Kosovo political stage.
By Muhamet Hajrullahu in Pristina (BCR No 509, 30-Jul-04)
Edita Tahiri, once a high-profile member of Kosovo’s biggest political party, the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, fears for her life after deciding to quit and form a new political movement.
The former member of the party presidency, along with another woman colleague, Edi Shukriu, abandoned the LDK to announce on May 27 that they were forming the Democratic Alternative of Kosovo, ADK.
In a sign of the violent passions this split has stirred, a shadowy nationalist organisation called Homeland Security on July 12 warned those leaving the party that their lives were in jeopardy.
“We warn all of you deserters that are trying to sabotage the work of the LDK in the field that you will pay for this with your life,” the furious message read.
The letter writers made it clear they were targeting “women rebels” like Tahiri who had left the LDK.
The episode has cast a shadow over the run-up to October’s general elections in Kosovo, when the territory’s inhabitants are to vote for a new parliament.
The LDK, led by Ibrahim Rugova, Kosovo’s president, is the region’s oldest ethnic Albanian grass roots political organisation. Since its formation in 1989, it has governed Kosovo Albanian society virtually unchallenged and has taken more votes than any other party in every ballot.
In the last general election in 2001, the LDK won 45.6 per cent of votes, which was more than any other party but not enough to form a government alone. As a result, Kosovo has been led since then by a fractious coalition of the LDK, the Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, AAK.
Polls suggest the LDK’s support has slipped in recent months, which may explain why defectors such as Tahiri have encountered such fury over their moves.
A survey in June 2004 by the Index Kosova survey, a Gallup International partner organisation, says more than 10 per cent of those who backed the LDK in July 2003 would no longer do so.
Critics say the LDK is unlikely to regain the voters’ complete confidence if it refuses to reform what they describe as its archaic, monolithic character.
After complaining that the police had not even contacted her – let alone offered her protection – over the death threat, Tahiri says anxiety over her personal security will not stand in the way of her campaign or cause her to regret the split from the LDK.
Outlining the reasons for leaving, she listed growing voter dissatisfaction with the political process, manifested in the low turn-out in recent elections, the lack of internal democracy within the LDK and an autocratic management style, for which she blamed the centralist leadership of Rugova.
“The March events made this split even more urgent,” she said, referring to the outburst of ethnic-inspired rioting that saw several thousands Serbs forced from their homes.
“Since I did not manage to bring about internal changes in the LDK, though I have been trying to do so since the end of the war, I formed a new party. It is clear Kosovo needs to develop new political alternatives.”
Whether any of these alternative forces will bite deep into the LDK’s support base is open to question, however.
The ADK’s programme of “independence, peace and prosperity” differs little on the surface from the LDK’s own platform.
Voters may warm more to Tahiri’s claim to fight current trends in Kosovo, which she says have made “leaders richer and citizens poorer”.
The ADK insists the party will wage war on corruption in local and international institutions and make economic development a priority, though it stops short of providing detail of how this goal will be achieved.
Analysts say this policy weakness may deny the new party the chance of making a serious impact on the political scene.
Shkëlzen Maliqi, one of Kosovo’s leading commentators, says the LDK is not likely to lose many votes imminently as a result of the breakaway group.
“This [new] political formation has had no time to consolidate its forces, or to form a programme, so it will probably not manage to get more than two seats in the [next] parliament,” Maliqi said.
“What would really have been an alternative for Kosovo voters is one big new movement that would encompass all the new political initiatives, not many new small entities which are unlikely to get more than 5 per cent of the votes.”
The other political novelties that Maliqi was referring to include a new civic movement, named Ora, led by the prominent publisher and intellectual Veton Surroi, and Azem Vllasi, a former prominent Kosovo communist leader in the Tito era, who has now joined the Social Democratic Party of Kosovo, PSDK.
Movements such as Ora, the ADK and the PSDK will be competing among themselves for voters disillusioned with the fruits of the LDK’s 15-year existence and with the slow progress of Kosovar institutions since the end of the war.
The arrival of these initiatives clearly heralds a more democratic atmosphere, but the best they can probably hope for at this stage is to dent the LDK’s chances of forming the next government on its own.
In the meantime, both police and politicians say they are puzzled as to the identity of the unknown extremists standing behind the threat to Tahiri.
“I don’t think this shadowy organisation will influence people’s decision to leave or not leave the LDK because nobody knows who they are or who stands behind them,” Maliqi said.
Refki Morina, of Kosovo’s Police Service, KPS, told IWPR that the police was taking the threat seriously and was investigating who was behind it.
‘The Regional KPS Unit and the international police are covering these cases but we have not managed to discover anything specific for the moment,” he said.
Muhamet Hajrullahu is attending an IWPR journalism course supported by the OSCE.

I still ask if anyone knows or can provide some type of supporting evidence or motive of who broke up the inaugural event. I will comment that it is disheartening that their is division among Kosovo Serbs, and it would be even more disheartening if the Serbian govt or a foreign power were causing these divisions. Does anyone on the ground know? And please, no cynical, nationalist, cheap shot comments--they just don't add anything new. Hvala

see the following pattern:
threat/false assumption/conclusion,
and then the same sequence all over again.
(Ahilleas, Monday, 5 March, 2007, 16:28)

This is the reason that no negotiation or even dialogue is possible.

RE: Achillies-Threat, False Assumption, Conclusion

The proof is in the pudding.

FALSE ASSUMPTION

if Serbia foolishly will block trade with Kosovo, making Thessaloniki Kosovo's main harbour).(genc, Monday, 5 March, 2007, 23:13)


THREAT

You better get used to the idea that Albanians, as Serbs, Macedonians, Bulgarians, Greeks etc. are equal neighbours and not some inferiors and some superiors. (genc, Monday, 5 March, 2007, 23:13)


CONCLUSION

That's what's going on indeed in the Balkans
(genc, Monday, 5 March, 2007, 23:13)

It is about the time that the greeks mind their own problem now. your (greeks)are just causing more confusion than any other nation in balkans,
I understand the conflict between the Alb And the Ser, But i do not understand what does this have to do with you Ahiellas.