Kosovo Serbs, Roma live in "horrible conditions"

truth has no owner.
that´s something the Albanians here will certainly put into the "they are paid by the serbian secret-service"-basket...

Europeans are not that dumb. let´s see what future brings.

This is an example of biased journalism.

Yes the conditions of minorities is bad but it is not BC OF THE KOSOVAR-ALbanians but bc of little economic prosperity.

How come they didn't survey the Albanians? The ones living in little boxes with under 2$ a day? The ones that barely if not at all receive any government help.

Living in "horrible conditions", and still Serbia gambles with them as if they were goats.

Instead of the Ahtisaari plan to help these people, they go back to the territorial integrity and the cultural heartlands.

If the minorities are living in apalling conditions, ask Serbia! Kosovo is still under Serbia, and is run by NATO and KFOR and UNMIK, and the current government is trying to do it's best with what they have...but they can't do much with loans being denied up and down, because, that's right.....Kosovo is not independent!

Independence is the only solution, in fact, these minorities should be the first ones to advocate that!

They can't go on boycotting elections on one side, and then accuse Kosovo for doing them wrong.

Go ask Kosta and Boris what's up!

We are so glad that this people are telling us what we already know and we are not paid to give speaches about it.How about doing something for a change-or is it easier to watch.

And its not only Serbs and Roma, but you ask any Albanian and they will tell you that majority is living in "HORRIBLE CONDITIONS".
With unemployment close to 50%, what else do you expect. This was a gift of Mr. MiloshevicContinued by Koshtunica.
This is why, if Kosova/o gets its Independence everything will get better for everyone.
All the comments against Kosova/o Independence are just simply WRONG.

"If the minorities are living in apalling conditions, ask Serbia! Kosovo is still under Serbia, and is run by NATO and KFOR and UNMIK, and the current government is trying to do it's best with what they have...but they can't do much with loans being denied up and down, because, that's right.....Kosovo is not independent"

this time you´re right funcake, Kosovo is not independent, ...and it won´t be.

as soon as you have accepted the inevitable...you will be sleeping much calmer!

by the way: I hear an american journalist say that his impression is that there is no general mood for another war among the Albanians. he was in countless parts of Kosovo, and he just can´t approve those remarks of a "tense situation"...

when even american journalists say that...it´s only a question of time that your card-house of threats and accusations collapses!

let´s see what future brings!

This is ridiculous. Kosova is the poorest region in Europe for a good reason: THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE LIVE IN HORRIBLE CONDITIONS. Some guys take a trip to decide that which one is the poorest of them all...probably counting the holes in pants and socks. It's sounds more like a sadistic mission to me. Instead of giving that conference, it would had been better if they donated that time helping some of those people they "saw", who have heard a lot of politicians' words already.

Mmmmmm,

I thought Serbia is taking care of them.

“giving a number of examples of discrimination and limited movement”

The article implies that they were talking about abusive treatment of minorities, not economic conditions.

However, that being said, my understanding of the treatment of the Roma is that Serb speaking Roma face discrimination, while Albanian speaking Roma do not as much (not anymore then Roma anywhere I mean). Its always sounded to me its more of a dislike of Serbs bleeding over to Serb speaking minorities in the area like some Roma and some Jews. I’ve certainly seen an Albanian poster here negatively refer to a Roma family as Serb because they spoke Serbian.

I did read some Kosovo Roma complaints that their identity was in danger because some of them were being labeled ethnically “Egyptian” and having their names changed, a sort of cultural genocide. I’m not sure of the validity of that, but I read it on a Roma site.

I do not believe the Serbian population there lives under very positive conditions. If they did, the International Community would not have had to revise “Standards Before Status” after the 2004 riots. I also do not believe the Ahtisaari Proposal offers guaranteed rights to the Serbian minority. Paragraph 3.7 of Annex II allows for a dissolution of most of these “rights” for Serbs through merely a simple majority vote of the seats in the assembly set aside for minorities, half of which go to minorities other than Serbs. Ahtisaari’s plan is a good starting point for how ALL minorities in all the countries of the EU should be treated, nothing more.

I do hope we can come to a peaceful and agreed upon solution, such as possibly partition, but I do not believe that Independence is the magic solution for Kosovo’s ethnic and economic problems.

It is not Milosevic's fault or Serbian fault that unemployment is high in Kosmet. Most of Yugoslavia's development money was sent to Kosovo, well 40 to 50 percent of it. The Albanians misused those funds to push serbs out, and to fund their corruption. Milosevic is not guilty for the unemployment, NATO is, for NATO destroyed so much civilian infrastructure, as well as industries. Now the Serbs are in total misery over there, being oppressed by these people who are stealing our land and property, destroying our churches and trying to get rid of all non-albanians. It is more proper to say that the minorities suffer in horrible conditions instead of live in horrible conditions.

Jovan: "...it´s only a question of time that your card-house of threats and accusations collapses! "

You mean MATTER of time?
Also this "card-house" is going to collapse on you.
When Kosova gains statehood in 2007 it will be another victory for Serbia, since Serbs celebrate losses.

Hey Kosovo is 90% Albanian now. Of course the minorities are suffering. That's Albanian Kosovo in the 70's and early 80's and after 1999. It's UN and NATO certified now. But without UNMIK, it appears that the Albanians would have seen to it that the minority would not exist to suffer.

The denial and blame by the Albanians on this site exemplifies why the Albanians are incapable of any form of government in Kosovo. Autonomy is too much!

"Jovan: "...it´s only a question of time that your card-house of threats and accusations collapses! "

You mean MATTER of time?
Also this "card-house" is going to collapse on you.
When Kosova gains statehood in 2007 it will be another victory for Serbia, since Serbs celebrate losses.
(KS, 13. October 2007 03:49)"

KS, instead of helplessly trying to provoke others here, you should rather go and take a look into a dictionary! I wrote "a question of time" and I did not mean to write wrong.

I see a lot of Albanians here that are deliberately missing the point of what was said in the article.

"Discrimination and limited movement" are the problems cited by the article. This isn't about "poor conditions" that come from unemployment and poverty -- this is about the racial hatred of the Albanian majority towards non-Albanian minorities in Kosovo.

Being poor doesn't stop you from going out and taking a walk around town, but being non-Albanian in many parts of Kosovo does mean life confined to a ghetto under armed KFOR guard.

If anybody reading this is naive enough to think that independence is a magic potion that will fix Kosovo's economy and cure the Kosovo-Albanians of their ethnic intolerance, then I've got a bridge in Brooklyn that I would like to sell you.

This is an example of biased journalism.

Yes the conditions of minorities is bad but it is not BC OF THE KOSOVAR-ALbanians but bc of little economic prosperity.

How come they didn't survey the Albanians? The ones living in little boxes with under 2$ a day? The ones that barely if not at all receive any government help.

Living in "horrible conditions", and still Serbia gambles with them as if they were goats.

Instead of the Ahtisaari plan to help these people, they go back to the territorial integrity and the cultural heartlands.

If the minorities are living in apalling conditions, ask Serbia! Kosovo is still under Serbia, and is run by NATO and KFOR and UNMIK, and the current government is trying to do it's best with what they have...but they can't do much with loans being denied up and down, because, that's right.....Kosovo is not independent!

Independence is the only solution, in fact, these minorities should be the first ones to advocate that!

They can't go on boycotting elections on one side, and then accuse Kosovo for doing them wrong.

Go ask Kosta and Boris what's up!

This is ridiculous. Kosova is the poorest region in Europe for a good reason: THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE LIVE IN HORRIBLE CONDITIONS. Some guys take a trip to decide that which one is the poorest of them all...probably counting the holes in pants and socks. It's sounds more like a sadistic mission to me. Instead of giving that conference, it would had been better if they donated that time helping some of those people they "saw", who have heard a lot of politicians' words already.

Mmmmmm,

I thought Serbia is taking care of them.

And its not only Serbs and Roma, but you ask any Albanian and they will tell you that majority is living in "HORRIBLE CONDITIONS".
With unemployment close to 50%, what else do you expect. This was a gift of Mr. MiloshevicContinued by Koshtunica.
This is why, if Kosova/o gets its Independence everything will get better for everyone.
All the comments against Kosova/o Independence are just simply WRONG.

truth has no owner.
that´s something the Albanians here will certainly put into the "they are paid by the serbian secret-service"-basket...

Europeans are not that dumb. let´s see what future brings.

"If the minorities are living in apalling conditions, ask Serbia! Kosovo is still under Serbia, and is run by NATO and KFOR and UNMIK, and the current government is trying to do it's best with what they have...but they can't do much with loans being denied up and down, because, that's right.....Kosovo is not independent"

this time you´re right funcake, Kosovo is not independent, ...and it won´t be.

as soon as you have accepted the inevitable...you will be sleeping much calmer!

by the way: I hear an american journalist say that his impression is that there is no general mood for another war among the Albanians. he was in countless parts of Kosovo, and he just can´t approve those remarks of a "tense situation"...

when even american journalists say that...it´s only a question of time that your card-house of threats and accusations collapses!

let´s see what future brings!

Jovan: "...it´s only a question of time that your card-house of threats and accusations collapses! "

You mean MATTER of time?
Also this "card-house" is going to collapse on you.
When Kosova gains statehood in 2007 it will be another victory for Serbia, since Serbs celebrate losses.

We are so glad that this people are telling us what we already know and we are not paid to give speaches about it.How about doing something for a change-or is it easier to watch.

Hey Kosovo is 90% Albanian now. Of course the minorities are suffering. That's Albanian Kosovo in the 70's and early 80's and after 1999. It's UN and NATO certified now. But without UNMIK, it appears that the Albanians would have seen to it that the minority would not exist to suffer.

The denial and blame by the Albanians on this site exemplifies why the Albanians are incapable of any form of government in Kosovo. Autonomy is too much!

“giving a number of examples of discrimination and limited movement”

The article implies that they were talking about abusive treatment of minorities, not economic conditions.

However, that being said, my understanding of the treatment of the Roma is that Serb speaking Roma face discrimination, while Albanian speaking Roma do not as much (not anymore then Roma anywhere I mean). Its always sounded to me its more of a dislike of Serbs bleeding over to Serb speaking minorities in the area like some Roma and some Jews. I’ve certainly seen an Albanian poster here negatively refer to a Roma family as Serb because they spoke Serbian.

I did read some Kosovo Roma complaints that their identity was in danger because some of them were being labeled ethnically “Egyptian” and having their names changed, a sort of cultural genocide. I’m not sure of the validity of that, but I read it on a Roma site.

I do not believe the Serbian population there lives under very positive conditions. If they did, the International Community would not have had to revise “Standards Before Status” after the 2004 riots. I also do not believe the Ahtisaari Proposal offers guaranteed rights to the Serbian minority. Paragraph 3.7 of Annex II allows for a dissolution of most of these “rights” for Serbs through merely a simple majority vote of the seats in the assembly set aside for minorities, half of which go to minorities other than Serbs. Ahtisaari’s plan is a good starting point for how ALL minorities in all the countries of the EU should be treated, nothing more.

I do hope we can come to a peaceful and agreed upon solution, such as possibly partition, but I do not believe that Independence is the magic solution for Kosovo’s ethnic and economic problems.

It is not Milosevic's fault or Serbian fault that unemployment is high in Kosmet. Most of Yugoslavia's development money was sent to Kosovo, well 40 to 50 percent of it. The Albanians misused those funds to push serbs out, and to fund their corruption. Milosevic is not guilty for the unemployment, NATO is, for NATO destroyed so much civilian infrastructure, as well as industries. Now the Serbs are in total misery over there, being oppressed by these people who are stealing our land and property, destroying our churches and trying to get rid of all non-albanians. It is more proper to say that the minorities suffer in horrible conditions instead of live in horrible conditions.

"Jovan: "...it´s only a question of time that your card-house of threats and accusations collapses! "

You mean MATTER of time?
Also this "card-house" is going to collapse on you.
When Kosova gains statehood in 2007 it will be another victory for Serbia, since Serbs celebrate losses.
(KS, 13. October 2007 03:49)"

KS, instead of helplessly trying to provoke others here, you should rather go and take a look into a dictionary! I wrote "a question of time" and I did not mean to write wrong.

I see a lot of Albanians here that are deliberately missing the point of what was said in the article.

"Discrimination and limited movement" are the problems cited by the article. This isn't about "poor conditions" that come from unemployment and poverty -- this is about the racial hatred of the Albanian majority towards non-Albanian minorities in Kosovo.

Being poor doesn't stop you from going out and taking a walk around town, but being non-Albanian in many parts of Kosovo does mean life confined to a ghetto under armed KFOR guard.

If anybody reading this is naive enough to think that independence is a magic potion that will fix Kosovo's economy and cure the Kosovo-Albanians of their ethnic intolerance, then I've got a bridge in Brooklyn that I would like to sell you.