Direct flights Belgrade - Toronto

Victor - what about the flights from Pristina to the US? Surely you have the same concerns??!
Although saying that, indicted Albanian war criminals are allowed to hold positions in government, so I suppose there's not the same necessity for them to hide.
Deal with them all equally and using the proper international legal system.

«...if they need a member of the public who is not involved in their line of work to advise them.»

Two years ago, I read the story of an Albanian young woman from Podujevo who lost 19 members of her immediate family. On March 28, 1999, in Podujevo, Serb forces killed 19 Albanian civilians. Seven women and seven children were among the killed. Three buses carrying the “Scorpions” unit arrived in Podujevo early in the morning of that day. Among the Scorpion was a certain Dejan Dmeirovic who had managed to come to Windsor, ON, and hide there. I sent emails to our MP and Ministry of Immigration, and Demirovic was arrested and deported to Serbia. I've heard that he managed to escape justice in Serbia, but he will never be accepted in Canada because of his past as a paramilitary with the most ferocious unit, the Scorpions, who have killed 1000s of civilians across Bosnia and Kosovo.

I hope our Gov. makes sure that no war criminals use these flights to hide in Canada. Over 42 Serbs have been recently arrested in USA, accused of crimes committed in the ex-Yu. I hope the same thing does not arrive here. I will send an email to Immigration Canada to tell them about this reality that they (the Imm. employees) are not aware of.

Victor maybe I should start sending you e-mails and tell you how to do your job? Furthermore, Victor and airline does not harbor people. You have to go through security which is independent of any airline so what you are talking about is just ridiculous. Leave Serbs alone and harass someone else you don't like.

The war criminals in the Toronto area are usually of the Al-Quadea variety- especially in the western end of the city. A large number were arrested last year with the intent to bomb major targets in our city. Thanks to their antics, as of 2007 Canadians now need passports to fly to the United States.

Ustashe are also quite prominent here- the small town of Norval has a Croatian Cultural Centre which openly celebrates Ante Pavelic and the NDH with a April 10th party each year.

If you ask anyone in Toronto their opinion regarding international criminals coming to Toronto absolutely nobody would raise an issue with Serbs. They would complain firstly about Muslims, then perhaps Tamils, Jamaicans, and also Asian Triads.

When first B92 published the news of direct flights Prishtina-New York the main reaction from serb posters was: "oh, now albanian mobsters will travel easily".
Now serbs feel bothered why albanians (and not only them) think that the line Belgrade-Toronto will be filled with serb war criminals. In Albania we have a saying: "If you spit in high, the spit will fall on your face". It is exactly the case.
It shows how albanians and serbs depict each other. There are not the illyrians, or the byzantine churches of Kosovo the roots of the problem between us. PREJUDGE IS THE PROBLEM.
Cheers, Klaudi

Klaudian,

We say that only because after Bush comes flaunting around Albania they announce flights to Pristina. Who goes to Pristina? Do you? Sorry but the fact is most human trafficking, drugs, weapons, etc are based around Pristina. Also, we have EVERY RIGHT to speak about it because Pristina is in Serbia, it is a SERBIAN name.
Now Belgrade is a cosmopolitan capital of some 2 million people. You guys are talking about war criminals and ridiculous things like that. Get over that. We are talking about real problems. Such as the Albanian mafia in Chicago and New York, which can use this now easily. Sorry but I see Albanians clean money around here all the time from Kosovo. Do you see alleged war criminals walking by you every day? No, so sorry Klaudian. You cannot compare apples and oranges.

It's really quite a joke to read some of the comments coming from people who are against these flights. Toronto is the most multicultural city in the world with over 50% of its 5.5 million metropolitain area being of non-European extraction. About the same amount of people were born outside the country. Basically every country in the world has direct flights to our Lester B. Pearson International Airport- it would just be irregular not to have them.

I'm telling you as someone who actually lives here: absolutely nobody is afraid of anyone who might come from Serbia. Serbs in Canada have always been known for being quick assimilators. I still remember sitting in the parking lot of my high school during my senior year in May '99 with a group of Indian/Pakistani/Arab friends who stated "we know America wants some new base in Kosovo and to take over the region and that is their real motivation for war."

That being said it is great that more people of Serbian decent live in Toronto now- too bad about the circumstances which created their arrival. Who remembers when it was the little church on River St in Regent Park and like that's it? Now we have new churches in Mississauga (no longer a postal office) and a Monastery complex in Milton for example.

This new wave has also come from all areas inhabited by Serbs to join us descendents from the World War 2 emigrations who came largely as refugees from Bosnia (like my desccendents in 1952 after 7 years in multiple displaced persons camps across Europe) and also Croatia.

P.S. Toronto Oplenac is performing at a really high level these days- people should check it out!

Klaudian your way off there is 300,000 Albanians in the US not a million and that's great that there is a flight from Toronto to belgrade and there is 250,000 Serbs in Ontario so why not now they should do the same in Chicago because in that sate of illinois there is 700,000 Serbs there alone

I wonder if the Canadian immigration authorities, who, if some people are to be believed, obviously don't know their job if they need a member of the public who is not involved in their line of work to advise them, are going to kick out the (Second World War) Ustashe who settled there after the war? How can it be that those people have not been prosecuted? Until over 10 years ago, the Ustashi fascist newspaper 'Hrvatski Oslobodilacki Pokret' was published in Toronto for 35 years. More than enough time for the Canadian authorities to do something, if they could be bothered. Maybe if somebody has the time to email the Canadian Immigration authorities, they might also find the time to pursue their co-nationals and brothers who worked in the publishing industry in Canada and check their backgrounds?

This is welcomed good news. The previous time I was on a flight from Belgrade to Toronto was many years ago when Vlade Divac was featured in JAT magazine; today, he is a JAT pilot: http://www.anaivanovic.com/media/movies/JAT%20Airlines%2007.avi

Vladi Divas an airline pilot! That's insane. He can't even fit in the cockpit. Next we'll be reading that Shaq and King James want to fly - in a custom built cockpit.

I think he should stick to basketball and leave the flying to professionals.

This is good. I think that Toronto has the biggest Serbian community in North America. Some claim that it is Chicago, but I highly doubt this. Many thousands of Serbs went to Canada during the recent war. About 70% of Serbia's engineers left the country... most of those went to Canada. This deal is good, because there is demand for these flights, so both sides gain.

You must really have your finger on the pulse to have known all about Dejan Dmeirovic and where he was hiding, and to be able to have your information passed on to the top security in Canada.
I myself know of certain war criminals masquerading as politicians (it's true!) and hiding in various major cities. I too have written letters reqarding these issues but have not had the swift response that you enjoyed.
I did however once write a letter tipping off the authorities about General Pinochet and he was swiftly arrested and tried. Thanks to me!!

Stevo,

Canadian authorities are worried about their pension. If there wasn’t money to be made, and pensions received, from advocating and organizing the breakup of Yugoslavia then the anti-Yugoslavia-nationalists would not have been able to get the ‘world’ support to breakup Yugoslavia.

Klaudian, I thought the exact same thing, particularly your rationale at the end. If B92 ever allows us to post voice comments (and that should make things all the more interesting here), I'd send an applause, but for now all I can do is type it out. Well said.

@Mike & Klaudian.

Maybe the Serb comments on the NY-Pristina flights didn't overtly address the rationale for these flights, i.e. the 'economics' regarding the flights (who could actually afford not only to buy the tickets, but also have the cash to spend when there etc. considering that there is 70 odd percent unemployment in Kosovo and who DO have the means) etc..

Belgrade-Toronto looks much more sustainable from an economics pov. and it is highly likely tha Belgrade-Tesla will become a regional hub (which is probably why private american money is being spent there).

I'm sure there will be more on this story in future...

God bless Canada. Please leave all your Balkan hatreds out of our country. We don't care. We will be friendly with whoever is friendly with us. We like the diversity. Take your war crime crap to your local governments, and leave us alone. We are Canada, and we are proud.

Now prices for illegal immigration in Canada will be cheaper.

Oh, please Aleks. All that story of Kosovo starving because of bad administration by albanians, now that serbs left, is just your nationalist propaganda. In Kosovo there is life, services working, people having jobs like everywhere in the region and life going on no matter of the problems.
On the other hand, the area of New York and Boston has nowadays the largest and richest albanian diaspora in the world. Only in New York we have now 500.000 albanians from a total of 1 million all over US. Of course they are not only from Kosovo (actually most of them are from southern Albania), but like it happens with all the ethnic diasporas, when abroad, political borders vanish and they fill as they come all from the same country. That's why we had that decision for direct flights from NY to Prishtina and Tirana as well. For private companies, having to deal with a potential market, probably you know, but nobody cares about political interests in the first place.

Maybe, Gajo, because this is not a race of who has more immigrants to north America. Maybe because, the flight companies, know better than us, which market is bigger and more profitable for them. And, maybe Gajo, giving US airlines putted 2 (TWO) airlines from NY to albanian capitals, and 0 (ZERO) from Chicago to Belgrade, than the numbers I am telling are perhaps more realistic than yours.

@Klaudian

"Oh, please Aleks. All that story of Kosovo starving because of bad administration by albanians, now that serbs left, is just your nationalist propaganda...."

Um, where exactly did I say that? Now that you've actually brought it up (but of course you still avoided any answer apart from to knowingly misrepresent my comments), there's plenty of information about the levels of unemployment etc. done by the european institutions etc.

I hope our Gov. makes sure that no war criminals use these flights to hide in Canada. Over 42 Serbs have been recently arrested in USA, accused of crimes committed in the ex-Yu. I hope the same thing does not arrive here. I will send an email to Immigration Canada to tell them about this reality that they (the Imm. employees) are not aware of.

Now prices for illegal immigration in Canada will be cheaper.

Victor - what about the flights from Pristina to the US? Surely you have the same concerns??!
Although saying that, indicted Albanian war criminals are allowed to hold positions in government, so I suppose there's not the same necessity for them to hide.
Deal with them all equally and using the proper international legal system.

I wonder if the Canadian immigration authorities, who, if some people are to be believed, obviously don't know their job if they need a member of the public who is not involved in their line of work to advise them, are going to kick out the (Second World War) Ustashe who settled there after the war? How can it be that those people have not been prosecuted? Until over 10 years ago, the Ustashi fascist newspaper 'Hrvatski Oslobodilacki Pokret' was published in Toronto for 35 years. More than enough time for the Canadian authorities to do something, if they could be bothered. Maybe if somebody has the time to email the Canadian Immigration authorities, they might also find the time to pursue their co-nationals and brothers who worked in the publishing industry in Canada and check their backgrounds?

This is welcomed good news. The previous time I was on a flight from Belgrade to Toronto was many years ago when Vlade Divac was featured in JAT magazine; today, he is a JAT pilot: http://www.anaivanovic.com/media/movies/JAT%20Airlines%2007.avi

Victor maybe I should start sending you e-mails and tell you how to do your job? Furthermore, Victor and airline does not harbor people. You have to go through security which is independent of any airline so what you are talking about is just ridiculous. Leave Serbs alone and harass someone else you don't like.

Vladi Divas an airline pilot! That's insane. He can't even fit in the cockpit. Next we'll be reading that Shaq and King James want to fly - in a custom built cockpit.

I think he should stick to basketball and leave the flying to professionals.

The war criminals in the Toronto area are usually of the Al-Quadea variety- especially in the western end of the city. A large number were arrested last year with the intent to bomb major targets in our city. Thanks to their antics, as of 2007 Canadians now need passports to fly to the United States.

Ustashe are also quite prominent here- the small town of Norval has a Croatian Cultural Centre which openly celebrates Ante Pavelic and the NDH with a April 10th party each year.

If you ask anyone in Toronto their opinion regarding international criminals coming to Toronto absolutely nobody would raise an issue with Serbs. They would complain firstly about Muslims, then perhaps Tamils, Jamaicans, and also Asian Triads.

«...if they need a member of the public who is not involved in their line of work to advise them.»

Two years ago, I read the story of an Albanian young woman from Podujevo who lost 19 members of her immediate family. On March 28, 1999, in Podujevo, Serb forces killed 19 Albanian civilians. Seven women and seven children were among the killed. Three buses carrying the “Scorpions” unit arrived in Podujevo early in the morning of that day. Among the Scorpion was a certain Dejan Dmeirovic who had managed to come to Windsor, ON, and hide there. I sent emails to our MP and Ministry of Immigration, and Demirovic was arrested and deported to Serbia. I've heard that he managed to escape justice in Serbia, but he will never be accepted in Canada because of his past as a paramilitary with the most ferocious unit, the Scorpions, who have killed 1000s of civilians across Bosnia and Kosovo.

This is good. I think that Toronto has the biggest Serbian community in North America. Some claim that it is Chicago, but I highly doubt this. Many thousands of Serbs went to Canada during the recent war. About 70% of Serbia's engineers left the country... most of those went to Canada. This deal is good, because there is demand for these flights, so both sides gain.

You must really have your finger on the pulse to have known all about Dejan Dmeirovic and where he was hiding, and to be able to have your information passed on to the top security in Canada.
I myself know of certain war criminals masquerading as politicians (it's true!) and hiding in various major cities. I too have written letters reqarding these issues but have not had the swift response that you enjoyed.
I did however once write a letter tipping off the authorities about General Pinochet and he was swiftly arrested and tried. Thanks to me!!

When first B92 published the news of direct flights Prishtina-New York the main reaction from serb posters was: "oh, now albanian mobsters will travel easily".
Now serbs feel bothered why albanians (and not only them) think that the line Belgrade-Toronto will be filled with serb war criminals. In Albania we have a saying: "If you spit in high, the spit will fall on your face". It is exactly the case.
It shows how albanians and serbs depict each other. There are not the illyrians, or the byzantine churches of Kosovo the roots of the problem between us. PREJUDGE IS THE PROBLEM.
Cheers, Klaudi

Stevo,

Canadian authorities are worried about their pension. If there wasn’t money to be made, and pensions received, from advocating and organizing the breakup of Yugoslavia then the anti-Yugoslavia-nationalists would not have been able to get the ‘world’ support to breakup Yugoslavia.

Klaudian, I thought the exact same thing, particularly your rationale at the end. If B92 ever allows us to post voice comments (and that should make things all the more interesting here), I'd send an applause, but for now all I can do is type it out. Well said.

Klaudian,

We say that only because after Bush comes flaunting around Albania they announce flights to Pristina. Who goes to Pristina? Do you? Sorry but the fact is most human trafficking, drugs, weapons, etc are based around Pristina. Also, we have EVERY RIGHT to speak about it because Pristina is in Serbia, it is a SERBIAN name.
Now Belgrade is a cosmopolitan capital of some 2 million people. You guys are talking about war criminals and ridiculous things like that. Get over that. We are talking about real problems. Such as the Albanian mafia in Chicago and New York, which can use this now easily. Sorry but I see Albanians clean money around here all the time from Kosovo. Do you see alleged war criminals walking by you every day? No, so sorry Klaudian. You cannot compare apples and oranges.

It's really quite a joke to read some of the comments coming from people who are against these flights. Toronto is the most multicultural city in the world with over 50% of its 5.5 million metropolitain area being of non-European extraction. About the same amount of people were born outside the country. Basically every country in the world has direct flights to our Lester B. Pearson International Airport- it would just be irregular not to have them.

I'm telling you as someone who actually lives here: absolutely nobody is afraid of anyone who might come from Serbia. Serbs in Canada have always been known for being quick assimilators. I still remember sitting in the parking lot of my high school during my senior year in May '99 with a group of Indian/Pakistani/Arab friends who stated "we know America wants some new base in Kosovo and to take over the region and that is their real motivation for war."

That being said it is great that more people of Serbian decent live in Toronto now- too bad about the circumstances which created their arrival. Who remembers when it was the little church on River St in Regent Park and like that's it? Now we have new churches in Mississauga (no longer a postal office) and a Monastery complex in Milton for example.

This new wave has also come from all areas inhabited by Serbs to join us descendents from the World War 2 emigrations who came largely as refugees from Bosnia (like my desccendents in 1952 after 7 years in multiple displaced persons camps across Europe) and also Croatia.

P.S. Toronto Oplenac is performing at a really high level these days- people should check it out!

@Mike & Klaudian.

Maybe the Serb comments on the NY-Pristina flights didn't overtly address the rationale for these flights, i.e. the 'economics' regarding the flights (who could actually afford not only to buy the tickets, but also have the cash to spend when there etc. considering that there is 70 odd percent unemployment in Kosovo and who DO have the means) etc..

Belgrade-Toronto looks much more sustainable from an economics pov. and it is highly likely tha Belgrade-Tesla will become a regional hub (which is probably why private american money is being spent there).

I'm sure there will be more on this story in future...

God bless Canada. Please leave all your Balkan hatreds out of our country. We don't care. We will be friendly with whoever is friendly with us. We like the diversity. Take your war crime crap to your local governments, and leave us alone. We are Canada, and we are proud.

Oh, please Aleks. All that story of Kosovo starving because of bad administration by albanians, now that serbs left, is just your nationalist propaganda. In Kosovo there is life, services working, people having jobs like everywhere in the region and life going on no matter of the problems.
On the other hand, the area of New York and Boston has nowadays the largest and richest albanian diaspora in the world. Only in New York we have now 500.000 albanians from a total of 1 million all over US. Of course they are not only from Kosovo (actually most of them are from southern Albania), but like it happens with all the ethnic diasporas, when abroad, political borders vanish and they fill as they come all from the same country. That's why we had that decision for direct flights from NY to Prishtina and Tirana as well. For private companies, having to deal with a potential market, probably you know, but nobody cares about political interests in the first place.

Klaudian your way off there is 300,000 Albanians in the US not a million and that's great that there is a flight from Toronto to belgrade and there is 250,000 Serbs in Ontario so why not now they should do the same in Chicago because in that sate of illinois there is 700,000 Serbs there alone

Maybe, Gajo, because this is not a race of who has more immigrants to north America. Maybe because, the flight companies, know better than us, which market is bigger and more profitable for them. And, maybe Gajo, giving US airlines putted 2 (TWO) airlines from NY to albanian capitals, and 0 (ZERO) from Chicago to Belgrade, than the numbers I am telling are perhaps more realistic than yours.

@Klaudian

"Oh, please Aleks. All that story of Kosovo starving because of bad administration by albanians, now that serbs left, is just your nationalist propaganda...."

Um, where exactly did I say that? Now that you've actually brought it up (but of course you still avoided any answer apart from to knowingly misrepresent my comments), there's plenty of information about the levels of unemployment etc. done by the european institutions etc.