Preševo municipal assembly sounds Albanian anthem

We dont allow this type of sabre rattling from any of our UK minorities so if the ethnic Albanian community in southern Serbia is allowed to fly the Albanian flag and listern to the Albanian national anthem then it is by the grace of Serbia and thanks should be given.

Muslim and Hindhu festivals are celebrated on a grand scale in the UK by our minorities but the flying the Pakistani flag on public buildings? The Chinese national anthem being played on loud speakers in the street? Dont make me laugh. It is important for anyone to remember their ethnic origin but celebrate your ties with Albania behind closed doors as i do when celebrating my Slava or Sveti Sava dan. I have Serb blood but i'm in someone elses country.... think on.

Albanians provoke again. They should finally learn that they live in Serbia and not Albania. Albanias have right to celabrate thier flag but they should be given a some iside space to listen thier anthem and fly the flag. They should open and run some Albanian cultural centre and within that centre they may celabrate what ever they like.

Replacing the Serbian flag with an Albanian flag in Serbia's state institutions and public places is considered as an offence, assault, provoking, misuse and abuse of the trust given by Serbia and Serbian citizens. Go to EU or USA is you are allowed and raise your flags wherever pleases you .

Damn...Everybody is on fire here `cause of the Albanians in Southern Serbia flying their flag on the 28th...Well newsflash: I see Serbian flags every day in Kosovo and nobody says anything against them! Thats democracy and respect...Ones again we (Albanians) proved that we are step ahead you guys!

This really tops it all. They can celebrate their flag but in Tirana, for their presence in Serbia is obviously a huge error. Does this mean that Holbrooke and Ahtisari will soon be back in Serbia to start the talks on the final satus of Medvedja, Bujanovac and Presevo?

Shelmerdine,

are you implying that Albanians in South Serbia are inmigrants, like Hindus in GB?

Anthony Shelmerdine,
This is the result of talking about things that you just don't know. Albanians in south Serbia are not immigrants. A little bit of knowledge on things you want to discuss, often is required...

bmrusila and Anthony: If you put it like that should we also stop K-Serbs from flying Serb flags shortly and say that that is a provocation
teni,

Serbs in Kosovo have evry right to fly thier flags and listen national anthem publicly since Kosovo is Serbian province which is ubsurped by Albanians. However, Albanians in Presevo Valley have right to celabrate, as I said within its Albanian cultural Centre (which even does not exist which furthermore means that they do not care much about it). Perhaps they could even be allowed to fly thier flag without replacing Serbian flags but let flags fly together next to ecah other. Replacing Serbian flag by Albanian is nothing more than provoking,offence, assault, misuse and abuse of the trust given by Serbia and Serbian citizens. I wouldn't be surprised if you begin with burning Serbian flags and once again show how tollerant and civilized you are. Last year by replacing Serbian flag in Serbia you brutally assaulted and ofended Serbia and its citizens.

I live in Canada and no flag is flown beside the Canadian flag in any government buildings, unless it is an embassy. This type of behaviour would not be tolerated and proves the level of accomodation that Serbia is providing for this ethnic minority. This tolerance is even greater as the same ethnic group is currently attempting to take 15% of its territory. This behaviour would certainly never be permitted in Western democracies - be happy for it and stop complaining.

To the pro-Albanian lobby, I have a question. In Macedonia today there was a protest march by Albanians because they wanted today as a holiday. Do you think this is appropriate.

I repeat, the Albanian Macedonians wanted a paid holiday so they could celebrate the national flag day of ANOTHER country. Does any other EU member state allow this and sanction this? I think not.

I am a Scot, and very proud of my heritage. If I am in England - and there are a lot of us living here, I celebrate my national day ON MY OWN TIME, and at my own expence.

This is a serious question, as this is NOT about faith or religion, those days are recognised, and quite rightly, this is about a completely different country's national day. Do you think the French would allow a holiday for the German national day?

To all Albanians in the World:Happy Flag Day.

bmrusila and Anthony: If you put it like that should we also stop K-Serbs from flying Serb flags shortly and say that that is a provocation? And Anthony forget us ever kneeling to "graceful, pious Serbia" because we fought for those rights and we enjoy those rights as the result of a peace deal in 2001.

And there is a serious misunderstanding here. That is not simply the flag of Albania . That is the flag of the Albanian people, which once used to be the emblem of our national hero. So flying that flag does not mean a proclamation of allegiance to the state of Albania, but it's simply a celebration of the fact that they are ethnic Albanians and that the 28th of November marks the day of our liberation from the Ottoman Empire.

How can it be wrong to celebrate its national day and the most historical day for the Albanian ppl? How would it sounds if we started to stop Serbs from celebrating their national day in Kosova or stopping them from visiting the place where they lost the battle against the ottoman empire and flying the Serb flag?

Flying a national flag should be people's right in any country, but certainly not on government buildings or in an official capacity. A state holiday for national minorities should also be allowed, just like Jews, Muslims etc can get days off on major religious/cultural festivals. But the decision to fly the flag of Albania, rather than design a flag for the Albanians of the region, is clearly deliberate; when in the late 1960s this flag was allowed in Kosovo, its exact Enverist design was included, with no variations to show it was Yugoslav, to make a Greater Albanian point.

In response to what someone said above, Hindus and Muslims are not immigrants to the UK. They were mostly born here and have as much right to the country as anyone else, just like ethnic Albanians in Serbia do to Serbia.

bmrusila: since I have been fortunate enough not to live in Serbia I sincerely don't care much about what offends the Serbs as you apparently do not care about what might be offensive to Albanians.
First of all Kosova WAS part of Serbia but it no longer is. Serbs there can fly their own flag and no one is gonna even try to stop them because there can be no harm in that. They are Serbs after all, who just happen to have become part of the population of the newest state in Europe. Greeks in Albania can fly their own flag and some Albanians, including myself don't particularly like the sight of it but they have a right to do it so that's end of story. That's the operative word: rights. These things cannot simply be left to the whims of the majority population to decide based on its emotions. And as you can read from the article they do have the right to use the flag.
Furthermore as you may have seen from the article they did fly the Albanian flag next to the Serb flag so I do not understand what the big deal is?
And than as I already explained to you that is the flag of the Albanians not just Albania and it holds the same value for us as your Orthodox crosses or icons hold for you. We belong to different religions so the ethnic flag is really the only pan-Albanian symbol we have.
And as for the trust Serbia places on them...please. Placing hundreds of soldiers in a small area like that does not seem indicative of a lot of trust.

Albanian are not immigrants in there, they have been there for millenias unlike you who came from russia.

Oh.... Im sorry that means I can walk down the street to Parliment Hill and replace the Canadian flag with the Serbian one because Its Serbia's national holiday???

"I see Serbian Flags in Kosovo all the time.." Whats your point I see Canadain flags in Canada all the time the last time I checked despite what you would like to believe Kosovo still is a legal part of Serbia if that changes by some illegal/legal act then I guess you may one day end up having a point.

So by the logic of the Albanians wherever you have a majority be it a region/town/village you should be allowed to fly flags, sing national anthems and replace your home country's flags and symbols with that of you own???

You guys simply cant do anything without your "bosses" in the west allowing you too. Ive been listening to so much of your hot air over the last 8 years that you would be better off opening a hot air ballon business and making some money.

Whatever happens in Kosovo it wont be determined by a bunch of ex-warloards corrupt used cars salemen or wana be freedom fighters.

Albanian nationals in Presevo Valley were celebrating Flag Day, which is a National Day for Albanians and is celebrated all over the world, wherever Albanians reside. Once again, it is a National Celebration and has nothing to do with anything else that might come in some minds in here.

In Serbia we should celebrate Serbian holidays only. If they do not want to assimilate, then they choose the consequences of their actions. Same for the US, Christmas on January 7th is not official in any way, and will never be, and neither should this foreign thing be official in any way in Serbia.

They're celebrating the national albanian holiday on Serbian land & there wasn't an incident to report.

Just goes to show you how tolerant we are & who the problem lies with.

This nationalism in the Balkans is really stupid.

Albanians shouold celebrate their flag day wherever they are, especially at their land in balkans...
Serbs just don't get it, serbs act very foolish! respect and treat everyone the same as humans then no one needs to hold the flag up and dream for freedom...

Serbs fly their flag in Bosnia and in Kosovo. They sing their anthems instead of the Bosnian anthem. Even in America, immigrants fly their own flags on important holidays for them. We even give them parades in New York City. In the South, the Cofederate flag is still widely respected. Embracing one's own symbols is fine. Forgetting where one lives however is another story. If these holidays are going to be used as lightning rods for further unrest and possible secession, then you start worrying. Until then, let them do what they want.

I am a Scot, and very proud of my heritage. If I am in England - and there are a lot of us living here, I celebrate my national day ON MY OWN TIME, and at my own expence.

anton,
that's perfectly fine that you celebrate your identity in the manner you chose when you're on their soil but keep in mind that the albanians didn't cross the border to go into their "neighbors" yard to celebrate albanian related holidays but rather the border crossed over them and seperated them from their brethren and motherland. that is the key difference to keep in mind.
nations like montenegro, serbia, macedonia and greece are well aware of this and usually, these days, don't put up much of a stink over it because they're just as familiar with our mutual history. why would they complain about us waving our flags? it's a small price to pay.

now if you were in edinburgh celebrating some scottish holiday, you wouldn't like it if the politics of london interfered you your god-given right to rejoice, would you?

Serbs let Albanians fly Albanian flags on public buildings in southern Serbia, but Albanians won't let Serbs fly Serbian flags on their private Serbian churches in Kosovo.

Sort of says something about which side the ethnic intolerance is coming from doesn't it?

Congratulations Serbia!!!
Congratulations to the Albanians for NOT taking down the Serbian flag.

Considering where politics and moods were, several years ago, this shows much for tolerance and hopefully change...

I totally agree with allowing other flags, so long as the parent state flag isn't taken down..

I totally DISAGREE with the Albanian speakers trying to invoke or provoke a situation...But ironically, that doesn't seem to bother me.
As long as nobody's getting violent.


On a side note...
AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN'T BELIEVE ANOTHER YEAR HAS PASSED BY??

Time travels too fast my friends..

'This really tops it all. They can celebrate their flag but in Tirana, for their presence in Serbia is obviously a huge error. '

Why would the Serbian flag fly in Tirana? There is no ethnic Serb minority in Tirana, and practically no such minority in all of Albania. Albanians in Presheva, however, are an ethnic minority and have the right to fly the flags of their people and sing the songs of their nation.

just obey the law of your country. if you don't you'll end up in a slammer i don't care if you're albanian, martian, chinese, or indeed greenlandian.
as for this,

"Presevo Valley without Gendarmerie"

you'd like that, now wouldn't you :)

What a lot of stupidity.

You can steal from people, kill them, take their future away. Do what you like, but dont, whatever you do, take away their right to hang a flag that does nothing to help them in their daily lives.

I'd rather people take to the streets to complain that they have no jobs.

Why build a school when you can have a church / mosque?

Why have a hospital when you have national pride?

Why have a job when you can have a flag?!

Why think rationally as an individual when you can take a rain check and instead be part of a mindless collective?

these regions are inhabited primarily by albanians who are native to the balkans. as an albanian myself, trying to take away an albanians flag is synonymous to taking away his gun. serbs attempting to deny albanians in the balkans is nothing new and that is the one tradition we've had in the past but i hope it will soon end w/our upcoming declaration!

At the end of the day, I wish the Albanians a good Flag Day, all the best and go easy on the Raki, hehe!

Nonetheless the Serbs should recognize this request by the Albanian population in these areas, they would be fulfilling the same mistakes as before by not recognizing their minorities (provided the Albanians do so peacefully without assaulting security guards go off on rampages spurred by nationalist furvour).

Peter,
Only yogurt drink for me my friend.

to teodor pilkati: Read my comment again please because you misunderstood the message completely. However, you raised a very good question, there is no Serb minority in Tirana or Albania, and you know why - because the Albanians don't allow minorities. And why don't they allow minorities? Because this is their winning strategy for gaining foreign lands. They have a trademark on that and why should they share it with anybody else. No hard feelings please.

Isn’t this news wonderful? I totally agree with Pijetro. Flag, national anthems are nothing but symbolic creations. The issue here is identity. If Albanian identity is not threatened but celebrated, I do not see any contradictions with Albanians in south Serbia being simultaneously Albanian nationals and Serb citizens. Well done all involved.

"as an albanian myself, trying to take away an albanians flag is synonymous to taking away his gun.
(mark, 28 November 2007 18:02)"

honestly i think eu is ready for you guys. we're not so bad ourselves but i think we'll get there after you honestly.

Look at this Albanians are signing the Albanian anthem and posting the flag next to the Serbian and yet the posters here are complaining about Srbija still.As someone said Albanians think anywhere they are the majority anything goes that is the exact problem with Kosovo.They are a MINORITY yet they have a right to take land becuase they are a majority in Kosovo.Nevermind how that happened(ethnic cleansing of Serbs)For a minority in Srbija Albanians seem to have almost no respect for the coutry they live in and no respect for NATO having taken land for them they always shout for more while giving Serbs less.Not for long

does the rule of law not apply to albanians?? Do they get some sort of special treatment?? CCCC

there is no Serb minority in Tirana or Albania, and you know why - because the Albanians don't allow minorities. - nesha

nesha,
in case you weren't aware of it, there are small minorities in albania and they consist of greeks and roma.
there were actually a small serbian minority in northern albania up until it opened up and then they all pretty much moved out and it wasn't from anyone harassing them but they like albanians were poor and were seeking a better life.
i wouldn't expect an albanian to wave the albanian flag in belgrade and vice versa.
another reason albania is inhabited primarily by albanians is because albanians are native to the balkans and other then them and the greeks...who else can make that claim?!
ps...we're also very suspect of our land-grabbing neighbors based on past history.

rovena,
i couldn't think of the name of that village but you're right. that's it.
serbian or montengrian...let's not split hairs here :)

Well, B92 for once appears to have fuelled the flames here with an incorrect sub-headline of the story. Albanians in south Serbia were NOT celebrating the 'national day of Albania' as the B92 story says, but the Albanian flag day, the difference being it is a festive day for all Albanian where ever they are, including south Serbia. If they do not like it, tough.

Albanian Flag is the State Flag for Albanian State, but at the same time is considered a National Symbol for Albanians all over the world and it is celebrated as so. Different nationalities have different National Symbols. It can be an animal, a tree, a pagan god, etc. In this case it is the flag. That's why The Flag is very important to Albanians wherever they reside. It's like asking Jews not to carry their Solomon Star with them. They did not discard the Serbian Flag, they put their National Symbol along with it, in the National Symbol Day celebrations. It was all politically correct. Lets not create something from nothing.

"as an albanian myself, trying to take away an albanians flag is synonymous to taking away his gun.
(mark, 28 November 2007 18:02)"

honestly i think eu is ready for you guys. we're not so bad ourselves but i think we'll get there after you honestly.
(smile, 28 November 2007 22:22)
guns are essential for albanians when you have to live alongside our land-grabbing neighbors.

To Mark: I do appreciate your attitude which gives room for dialogue, and that is really welcome. I can accept to a certain extent your explanation on the economic migrations of minorities in Albania and I must say that I am really sad that there is no Serb minority in Albania. The paradox today is that we can really envy the countries without minorities, for they have such an easy road to prosperity. Countries with national minorities are easy scapegoats for turmoil. Such is the case of Serbia. As for flag waving, fine, no Serbian flags in Tirana and elsewhere in Albania, no Albanian flags anywhere in Serbia, including Kosovo. Fair enough.
As for our Balkan predecessors, you can go all the way to the Stone Age, but the point is, Kosovo is the cradle of Serbian civilization outweighing anybody else's role there. The history shows it, world archives show it, UNESCO accepts it. The Serbian religious monuments are among the most precious relics that Europe has to offer. Can we entrust them to an independent Kosovo. No way, the events after 1999 clearly show it, particularly the March 2004 ramapage. That's why Kosovo must remain in Serbia. s for the rights of K- Albanians, I fully agree to have all their wishes fulfilled, except one - independence.

nesha,
i will agree w/you that the burning of those churches was wrong and those responsible should be ashamed of themselves for various reasons but i won't get into that aspect.
on the flipside of that coin, plenty of mosques were burned and demolished at the hands of serbs. i'm not a muslim and i'll be the 1st in line to trash turks and anything associated w/them but most albanians today in kosove happen to be muslim like or not and to burn down anyone's place of worship should be considered a sin in their respective faith.
what the albanians did was wrong whether it was done out of frustration or not and i will not condone it but belgrade could've avoided something like this long ago but they wanted to play "hardball" w/a people who have always been proud and to deny a people native to the region their god-given rights will get you the sort of response that we saw that day. i find the mere attempt by serbs to play the victim to be such an unconvincing performance that they will win no awards anytime soon.
how even-handed is it for you accept serbia's claim for the region and so easily dismiss the albanians who are native to the balkans? if the tables were turned, serbs would be up on their soap boxes championing that very point.
in the 80's the albanians, myself included, wanted a "republic" status and do you recall what belgrade did to us? well...i'll just say you had your chance and you lost your claim to the region by your response then and in the late 90's both morally and otherwise. i just hope once it's all said and done that we can still be "friends" since we're going to be neighbors. hopefully they will not seat us next to one another at the UN. :)

Nesha (and some more precise details for Mark),
the slavic minorities in Albania consist in two villages in the extreme north-west of Albania and they are not serbs, but montenegrins. This village is called Vrake and they have never ever had problems with the albanian neighbours (i can witness it personally; my family originates from the mountains of the north-west Albania). As you probably know, after the fall of comunism 20 per cent of albanians left the country in search for a better life. Minorities did so as well. There cannot be serb minorities in Albania for a simple geographic reason; the place where albanians and serbs could merge is Kosovo. Asking why there are no serb minorities in Albania is like asking why there are no greek minorities in Serbia..
There is some incoherence on what you try to say; On one hand you complain why can't we live pacificaly together, but on the other hand when albanians try to remind that they live in those territories far before serbs (historical right), you arrogantely refuse it (refering to smth like the Stone age) and replace it with Kosovo as the cradle of serbian civilazition (always a historical right). So, maybe you can have an idea about why living in peace is a bit difficuilt.
What happened in march 2004 was absolutley to condamn. But for the sake of truth, I have to precise that the majority of the churches destroyed were built after 1989. You can easily understand that they were symbolizing repression, rather then religion. Religion is smth else; and the best example in the balkans are albanians for that. I am catholic and in my city there are catholic and orthodox churches and mosques as well. Noone ever has imagined to divide persons in religions, because simply we don't reason like that.
Independence of Kosovo from Belgrade is an absolute need, due to the far and present history. This doesn't mean that albanians cannot live with serbs or viceversa; simply Belgrade hasn't been able to rule the country democraticly. Naturally, as some may say, it is not refered only to Milosevic era, but to a whole century. Having had for 13 years ('74 - '87) some basic human rights was the minimum not a plus.
Last but not least. A flag doesn't offend noone, it is just a symbol of identity. Repeating some comments above, the albanian flag represents firs of all, all albanians, secondly the state of Albania. So, no harm to wave that wherever you live. Giving to the people all the rights they naturally deserve is not a sign of extended tollerance, but a natural must!
Gëzuar and Ziveli.

to Mark and Rovena.

Although I could argue a few things you have presented, I like your approach and I treat your letters as letters of friends.
And let me assure you of one thing, what I'm trying to do here is not to defend anything that has been done to the Albanians in Kosovo, on the contrary, I strongly condemn that. But what I'm trying to point out is that here we have a question of principle. Serbs too didn't want to live in Tudjman's Croatia and what did they get - they got chased out. So that's the problem, you can't imply double standards on nations if you are looking for lasting solutions. We have a historic chance today to reach a lasting solution for Kosovo and look forward to new horizons. However, if one side is left a loser, the chances for a long term solution are wasted, and you leave a gloomy outlook for the reconciliation process in the Balkans.
But, whatever happens, at least we talk, and I wish to both of you Happy Holidays and all the best in 2008.
Sincerely,
Nesha

mark,

you saying that ALBANIANS were in the balkans were there before the serbs, in the form of their ILLYRIAN "ancestors" is a fairy tale... a serb could easily use the exact same argument... since constantine was born in Naissus (Nis) and was illyrian that must mean serbs were there during roman times! yay how convenient... sorry to bust your bubble but serbs are just as much 'illyrian' as albanians are... you have no right to replace the state flag. if you want to live in albanina, go to albania...

Damn...Everybody is on fire here `cause of the Albanians in Southern Serbia flying their flag on the 28th...Well newsflash: I see Serbian flags every day in Kosovo and nobody says anything against them! Thats democracy and respect...Ones again we (Albanians) proved that we are step ahead you guys!

We dont allow this type of sabre rattling from any of our UK minorities so if the ethnic Albanian community in southern Serbia is allowed to fly the Albanian flag and listern to the Albanian national anthem then it is by the grace of Serbia and thanks should be given.

Muslim and Hindhu festivals are celebrated on a grand scale in the UK by our minorities but the flying the Pakistani flag on public buildings? The Chinese national anthem being played on loud speakers in the street? Dont make me laugh. It is important for anyone to remember their ethnic origin but celebrate your ties with Albania behind closed doors as i do when celebrating my Slava or Sveti Sava dan. I have Serb blood but i'm in someone elses country.... think on.

How can it be wrong to celebrate its national day and the most historical day for the Albanian ppl? How would it sounds if we started to stop Serbs from celebrating their national day in Kosova or stopping them from visiting the place where they lost the battle against the ottoman empire and flying the Serb flag?

bmrusila: since I have been fortunate enough not to live in Serbia I sincerely don't care much about what offends the Serbs as you apparently do not care about what might be offensive to Albanians.
First of all Kosova WAS part of Serbia but it no longer is. Serbs there can fly their own flag and no one is gonna even try to stop them because there can be no harm in that. They are Serbs after all, who just happen to have become part of the population of the newest state in Europe. Greeks in Albania can fly their own flag and some Albanians, including myself don't particularly like the sight of it but they have a right to do it so that's end of story. That's the operative word: rights. These things cannot simply be left to the whims of the majority population to decide based on its emotions. And as you can read from the article they do have the right to use the flag.
Furthermore as you may have seen from the article they did fly the Albanian flag next to the Serb flag so I do not understand what the big deal is?
And than as I already explained to you that is the flag of the Albanians not just Albania and it holds the same value for us as your Orthodox crosses or icons hold for you. We belong to different religions so the ethnic flag is really the only pan-Albanian symbol we have.
And as for the trust Serbia places on them...please. Placing hundreds of soldiers in a small area like that does not seem indicative of a lot of trust.

Shelmerdine,

are you implying that Albanians in South Serbia are inmigrants, like Hindus in GB?

bmrusila and Anthony: If you put it like that should we also stop K-Serbs from flying Serb flags shortly and say that that is a provocation? And Anthony forget us ever kneeling to "graceful, pious Serbia" because we fought for those rights and we enjoy those rights as the result of a peace deal in 2001.

And there is a serious misunderstanding here. That is not simply the flag of Albania . That is the flag of the Albanian people, which once used to be the emblem of our national hero. So flying that flag does not mean a proclamation of allegiance to the state of Albania, but it's simply a celebration of the fact that they are ethnic Albanians and that the 28th of November marks the day of our liberation from the Ottoman Empire.

Nonetheless the Serbs should recognize this request by the Albanian population in these areas, they would be fulfilling the same mistakes as before by not recognizing their minorities (provided the Albanians do so peacefully without assaulting security guards go off on rampages spurred by nationalist furvour).

Albanians shouold celebrate their flag day wherever they are, especially at their land in balkans...
Serbs just don't get it, serbs act very foolish! respect and treat everyone the same as humans then no one needs to hold the flag up and dream for freedom...

Albanian are not immigrants in there, they have been there for millenias unlike you who came from russia.

'This really tops it all. They can celebrate their flag but in Tirana, for their presence in Serbia is obviously a huge error. '

Why would the Serbian flag fly in Tirana? There is no ethnic Serb minority in Tirana, and practically no such minority in all of Albania. Albanians in Presheva, however, are an ethnic minority and have the right to fly the flags of their people and sing the songs of their nation.

these regions are inhabited primarily by albanians who are native to the balkans. as an albanian myself, trying to take away an albanians flag is synonymous to taking away his gun. serbs attempting to deny albanians in the balkans is nothing new and that is the one tradition we've had in the past but i hope it will soon end w/our upcoming declaration!

Albanians provoke again. They should finally learn that they live in Serbia and not Albania. Albanias have right to celabrate thier flag but they should be given a some iside space to listen thier anthem and fly the flag. They should open and run some Albanian cultural centre and within that centre they may celabrate what ever they like.

Replacing the Serbian flag with an Albanian flag in Serbia's state institutions and public places is considered as an offence, assault, provoking, misuse and abuse of the trust given by Serbia and Serbian citizens. Go to EU or USA is you are allowed and raise your flags wherever pleases you .

Anthony Shelmerdine,
This is the result of talking about things that you just don't know. Albanians in south Serbia are not immigrants. A little bit of knowledge on things you want to discuss, often is required...

What a lot of stupidity.

You can steal from people, kill them, take their future away. Do what you like, but dont, whatever you do, take away their right to hang a flag that does nothing to help them in their daily lives.

I'd rather people take to the streets to complain that they have no jobs.

Why build a school when you can have a church / mosque?

Why have a hospital when you have national pride?

Why have a job when you can have a flag?!

Why think rationally as an individual when you can take a rain check and instead be part of a mindless collective?

Albanian nationals in Presevo Valley were celebrating Flag Day, which is a National Day for Albanians and is celebrated all over the world, wherever Albanians reside. Once again, it is a National Celebration and has nothing to do with anything else that might come in some minds in here.

To all Albanians in the World:Happy Flag Day.

At the end of the day, I wish the Albanians a good Flag Day, all the best and go easy on the Raki, hehe!

Peter,
Only yogurt drink for me my friend.

I am a Scot, and very proud of my heritage. If I am in England - and there are a lot of us living here, I celebrate my national day ON MY OWN TIME, and at my own expence.

anton,
that's perfectly fine that you celebrate your identity in the manner you chose when you're on their soil but keep in mind that the albanians didn't cross the border to go into their "neighbors" yard to celebrate albanian related holidays but rather the border crossed over them and seperated them from their brethren and motherland. that is the key difference to keep in mind.
nations like montenegro, serbia, macedonia and greece are well aware of this and usually, these days, don't put up much of a stink over it because they're just as familiar with our mutual history. why would they complain about us waving our flags? it's a small price to pay.

now if you were in edinburgh celebrating some scottish holiday, you wouldn't like it if the politics of london interfered you your god-given right to rejoice, would you?

This really tops it all. They can celebrate their flag but in Tirana, for their presence in Serbia is obviously a huge error. Does this mean that Holbrooke and Ahtisari will soon be back in Serbia to start the talks on the final satus of Medvedja, Bujanovac and Presevo?

Congratulations Serbia!!!
Congratulations to the Albanians for NOT taking down the Serbian flag.

Considering where politics and moods were, several years ago, this shows much for tolerance and hopefully change...

I totally agree with allowing other flags, so long as the parent state flag isn't taken down..

I totally DISAGREE with the Albanian speakers trying to invoke or provoke a situation...But ironically, that doesn't seem to bother me.
As long as nobody's getting violent.


On a side note...
AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN'T BELIEVE ANOTHER YEAR HAS PASSED BY??

Time travels too fast my friends..

Serbs fly their flag in Bosnia and in Kosovo. They sing their anthems instead of the Bosnian anthem. Even in America, immigrants fly their own flags on important holidays for them. We even give them parades in New York City. In the South, the Cofederate flag is still widely respected. Embracing one's own symbols is fine. Forgetting where one lives however is another story. If these holidays are going to be used as lightning rods for further unrest and possible secession, then you start worrying. Until then, let them do what they want.

I live in Canada and no flag is flown beside the Canadian flag in any government buildings, unless it is an embassy. This type of behaviour would not be tolerated and proves the level of accomodation that Serbia is providing for this ethnic minority. This tolerance is even greater as the same ethnic group is currently attempting to take 15% of its territory. This behaviour would certainly never be permitted in Western democracies - be happy for it and stop complaining.

Isn’t this news wonderful? I totally agree with Pijetro. Flag, national anthems are nothing but symbolic creations. The issue here is identity. If Albanian identity is not threatened but celebrated, I do not see any contradictions with Albanians in south Serbia being simultaneously Albanian nationals and Serb citizens. Well done all involved.

This nationalism in the Balkans is really stupid.

Flying a national flag should be people's right in any country, but certainly not on government buildings or in an official capacity. A state holiday for national minorities should also be allowed, just like Jews, Muslims etc can get days off on major religious/cultural festivals. But the decision to fly the flag of Albania, rather than design a flag for the Albanians of the region, is clearly deliberate; when in the late 1960s this flag was allowed in Kosovo, its exact Enverist design was included, with no variations to show it was Yugoslav, to make a Greater Albanian point.

In response to what someone said above, Hindus and Muslims are not immigrants to the UK. They were mostly born here and have as much right to the country as anyone else, just like ethnic Albanians in Serbia do to Serbia.

bmrusila and Anthony: If you put it like that should we also stop K-Serbs from flying Serb flags shortly and say that that is a provocation
teni,

Serbs in Kosovo have evry right to fly thier flags and listen national anthem publicly since Kosovo is Serbian province which is ubsurped by Albanians. However, Albanians in Presevo Valley have right to celabrate, as I said within its Albanian cultural Centre (which even does not exist which furthermore means that they do not care much about it). Perhaps they could even be allowed to fly thier flag without replacing Serbian flags but let flags fly together next to ecah other. Replacing Serbian flag by Albanian is nothing more than provoking,offence, assault, misuse and abuse of the trust given by Serbia and Serbian citizens. I wouldn't be surprised if you begin with burning Serbian flags and once again show how tollerant and civilized you are. Last year by replacing Serbian flag in Serbia you brutally assaulted and ofended Serbia and its citizens.

In Serbia we should celebrate Serbian holidays only. If they do not want to assimilate, then they choose the consequences of their actions. Same for the US, Christmas on January 7th is not official in any way, and will never be, and neither should this foreign thing be official in any way in Serbia.

To the pro-Albanian lobby, I have a question. In Macedonia today there was a protest march by Albanians because they wanted today as a holiday. Do you think this is appropriate.

I repeat, the Albanian Macedonians wanted a paid holiday so they could celebrate the national flag day of ANOTHER country. Does any other EU member state allow this and sanction this? I think not.

I am a Scot, and very proud of my heritage. If I am in England - and there are a lot of us living here, I celebrate my national day ON MY OWN TIME, and at my own expence.

This is a serious question, as this is NOT about faith or religion, those days are recognised, and quite rightly, this is about a completely different country's national day. Do you think the French would allow a holiday for the German national day?

Well, B92 for once appears to have fuelled the flames here with an incorrect sub-headline of the story. Albanians in south Serbia were NOT celebrating the 'national day of Albania' as the B92 story says, but the Albanian flag day, the difference being it is a festive day for all Albanian where ever they are, including south Serbia. If they do not like it, tough.

there is no Serb minority in Tirana or Albania, and you know why - because the Albanians don't allow minorities. - nesha

nesha,
in case you weren't aware of it, there are small minorities in albania and they consist of greeks and roma.
there were actually a small serbian minority in northern albania up until it opened up and then they all pretty much moved out and it wasn't from anyone harassing them but they like albanians were poor and were seeking a better life.
i wouldn't expect an albanian to wave the albanian flag in belgrade and vice versa.
another reason albania is inhabited primarily by albanians is because albanians are native to the balkans and other then them and the greeks...who else can make that claim?!
ps...we're also very suspect of our land-grabbing neighbors based on past history.

nesha,
i will agree w/you that the burning of those churches was wrong and those responsible should be ashamed of themselves for various reasons but i won't get into that aspect.
on the flipside of that coin, plenty of mosques were burned and demolished at the hands of serbs. i'm not a muslim and i'll be the 1st in line to trash turks and anything associated w/them but most albanians today in kosove happen to be muslim like or not and to burn down anyone's place of worship should be considered a sin in their respective faith.
what the albanians did was wrong whether it was done out of frustration or not and i will not condone it but belgrade could've avoided something like this long ago but they wanted to play "hardball" w/a people who have always been proud and to deny a people native to the region their god-given rights will get you the sort of response that we saw that day. i find the mere attempt by serbs to play the victim to be such an unconvincing performance that they will win no awards anytime soon.
how even-handed is it for you accept serbia's claim for the region and so easily dismiss the albanians who are native to the balkans? if the tables were turned, serbs would be up on their soap boxes championing that very point.
in the 80's the albanians, myself included, wanted a "republic" status and do you recall what belgrade did to us? well...i'll just say you had your chance and you lost your claim to the region by your response then and in the late 90's both morally and otherwise. i just hope once it's all said and done that we can still be "friends" since we're going to be neighbors. hopefully they will not seat us next to one another at the UN. :)

Nesha (and some more precise details for Mark),
the slavic minorities in Albania consist in two villages in the extreme north-west of Albania and they are not serbs, but montenegrins. This village is called Vrake and they have never ever had problems with the albanian neighbours (i can witness it personally; my family originates from the mountains of the north-west Albania). As you probably know, after the fall of comunism 20 per cent of albanians left the country in search for a better life. Minorities did so as well. There cannot be serb minorities in Albania for a simple geographic reason; the place where albanians and serbs could merge is Kosovo. Asking why there are no serb minorities in Albania is like asking why there are no greek minorities in Serbia..
There is some incoherence on what you try to say; On one hand you complain why can't we live pacificaly together, but on the other hand when albanians try to remind that they live in those territories far before serbs (historical right), you arrogantely refuse it (refering to smth like the Stone age) and replace it with Kosovo as the cradle of serbian civilazition (always a historical right). So, maybe you can have an idea about why living in peace is a bit difficuilt.
What happened in march 2004 was absolutley to condamn. But for the sake of truth, I have to precise that the majority of the churches destroyed were built after 1989. You can easily understand that they were symbolizing repression, rather then religion. Religion is smth else; and the best example in the balkans are albanians for that. I am catholic and in my city there are catholic and orthodox churches and mosques as well. Noone ever has imagined to divide persons in religions, because simply we don't reason like that.
Independence of Kosovo from Belgrade is an absolute need, due to the far and present history. This doesn't mean that albanians cannot live with serbs or viceversa; simply Belgrade hasn't been able to rule the country democraticly. Naturally, as some may say, it is not refered only to Milosevic era, but to a whole century. Having had for 13 years ('74 - '87) some basic human rights was the minimum not a plus.
Last but not least. A flag doesn't offend noone, it is just a symbol of identity. Repeating some comments above, the albanian flag represents firs of all, all albanians, secondly the state of Albania. So, no harm to wave that wherever you live. Giving to the people all the rights they naturally deserve is not a sign of extended tollerance, but a natural must!
Gëzuar and Ziveli.

just obey the law of your country. if you don't you'll end up in a slammer i don't care if you're albanian, martian, chinese, or indeed greenlandian.
as for this,

"Presevo Valley without Gendarmerie"

you'd like that, now wouldn't you :)

Oh.... Im sorry that means I can walk down the street to Parliment Hill and replace the Canadian flag with the Serbian one because Its Serbia's national holiday???

"I see Serbian Flags in Kosovo all the time.." Whats your point I see Canadain flags in Canada all the time the last time I checked despite what you would like to believe Kosovo still is a legal part of Serbia if that changes by some illegal/legal act then I guess you may one day end up having a point.

So by the logic of the Albanians wherever you have a majority be it a region/town/village you should be allowed to fly flags, sing national anthems and replace your home country's flags and symbols with that of you own???

You guys simply cant do anything without your "bosses" in the west allowing you too. Ive been listening to so much of your hot air over the last 8 years that you would be better off opening a hot air ballon business and making some money.

Whatever happens in Kosovo it wont be determined by a bunch of ex-warloards corrupt used cars salemen or wana be freedom fighters.

They're celebrating the national albanian holiday on Serbian land & there wasn't an incident to report.

Just goes to show you how tolerant we are & who the problem lies with.

"as an albanian myself, trying to take away an albanians flag is synonymous to taking away his gun.
(mark, 28 November 2007 18:02)"

honestly i think eu is ready for you guys. we're not so bad ourselves but i think we'll get there after you honestly.

Serbs let Albanians fly Albanian flags on public buildings in southern Serbia, but Albanians won't let Serbs fly Serbian flags on their private Serbian churches in Kosovo.

Sort of says something about which side the ethnic intolerance is coming from doesn't it?

Look at this Albanians are signing the Albanian anthem and posting the flag next to the Serbian and yet the posters here are complaining about Srbija still.As someone said Albanians think anywhere they are the majority anything goes that is the exact problem with Kosovo.They are a MINORITY yet they have a right to take land becuase they are a majority in Kosovo.Nevermind how that happened(ethnic cleansing of Serbs)For a minority in Srbija Albanians seem to have almost no respect for the coutry they live in and no respect for NATO having taken land for them they always shout for more while giving Serbs less.Not for long

Albanian Flag is the State Flag for Albanian State, but at the same time is considered a National Symbol for Albanians all over the world and it is celebrated as so. Different nationalities have different National Symbols. It can be an animal, a tree, a pagan god, etc. In this case it is the flag. That's why The Flag is very important to Albanians wherever they reside. It's like asking Jews not to carry their Solomon Star with them. They did not discard the Serbian Flag, they put their National Symbol along with it, in the National Symbol Day celebrations. It was all politically correct. Lets not create something from nothing.

"as an albanian myself, trying to take away an albanians flag is synonymous to taking away his gun.
(mark, 28 November 2007 18:02)"

honestly i think eu is ready for you guys. we're not so bad ourselves but i think we'll get there after you honestly.
(smile, 28 November 2007 22:22)
guns are essential for albanians when you have to live alongside our land-grabbing neighbors.

to teodor pilkati: Read my comment again please because you misunderstood the message completely. However, you raised a very good question, there is no Serb minority in Tirana or Albania, and you know why - because the Albanians don't allow minorities. And why don't they allow minorities? Because this is their winning strategy for gaining foreign lands. They have a trademark on that and why should they share it with anybody else. No hard feelings please.

does the rule of law not apply to albanians?? Do they get some sort of special treatment?? CCCC

To Mark: I do appreciate your attitude which gives room for dialogue, and that is really welcome. I can accept to a certain extent your explanation on the economic migrations of minorities in Albania and I must say that I am really sad that there is no Serb minority in Albania. The paradox today is that we can really envy the countries without minorities, for they have such an easy road to prosperity. Countries with national minorities are easy scapegoats for turmoil. Such is the case of Serbia. As for flag waving, fine, no Serbian flags in Tirana and elsewhere in Albania, no Albanian flags anywhere in Serbia, including Kosovo. Fair enough.
As for our Balkan predecessors, you can go all the way to the Stone Age, but the point is, Kosovo is the cradle of Serbian civilization outweighing anybody else's role there. The history shows it, world archives show it, UNESCO accepts it. The Serbian religious monuments are among the most precious relics that Europe has to offer. Can we entrust them to an independent Kosovo. No way, the events after 1999 clearly show it, particularly the March 2004 ramapage. That's why Kosovo must remain in Serbia. s for the rights of K- Albanians, I fully agree to have all their wishes fulfilled, except one - independence.

rovena,
i couldn't think of the name of that village but you're right. that's it.
serbian or montengrian...let's not split hairs here :)

mark,

you saying that ALBANIANS were in the balkans were there before the serbs, in the form of their ILLYRIAN "ancestors" is a fairy tale... a serb could easily use the exact same argument... since constantine was born in Naissus (Nis) and was illyrian that must mean serbs were there during roman times! yay how convenient... sorry to bust your bubble but serbs are just as much 'illyrian' as albanians are... you have no right to replace the state flag. if you want to live in albanina, go to albania...

to Mark and Rovena.

Although I could argue a few things you have presented, I like your approach and I treat your letters as letters of friends.
And let me assure you of one thing, what I'm trying to do here is not to defend anything that has been done to the Albanians in Kosovo, on the contrary, I strongly condemn that. But what I'm trying to point out is that here we have a question of principle. Serbs too didn't want to live in Tudjman's Croatia and what did they get - they got chased out. So that's the problem, you can't imply double standards on nations if you are looking for lasting solutions. We have a historic chance today to reach a lasting solution for Kosovo and look forward to new horizons. However, if one side is left a loser, the chances for a long term solution are wasted, and you leave a gloomy outlook for the reconciliation process in the Balkans.
But, whatever happens, at least we talk, and I wish to both of you Happy Holidays and all the best in 2008.
Sincerely,
Nesha