"KFOR prepared for all eventualities"

"He added that “tension between the Kosovo Serbs and Albanians will come to a biological end,“ given that the average age of the Albanian population was 28, compared to 54 among the Serbs.

“In the medium term, a biological end is in sight, as one of the peoples will, you know, simply disappear,“ concluded the French general."

Did the UN not inform you, M. de Marnhac, that they are obliged to aid the return of displaced Serbian people of ALL ages?

I find it disgusting that you seem to be hoping that the Serbian community in Kosovo may just age and die out! You should be called up to answer this point immediately.

Thats exactly it kate, NATO are hoping for the K Serb population to die out or go away so they can proceed with the agenda, i.e. dismemberment of Serbia. I wonder are they also waiting for 9 million + Serbs to also die out or go away. If so they'll be waiting for a very, very long time.

"He added that “tension between the Kosovo Serbs and Albanians will come to a biological end,“ given that the average age of the Albanian population was 28, compared to 54 among the Serbs."

So does this mean the younger K-Serbs have all been forced out of Kosovo under UNMIK's and Nato's noses? Shame on the West if that's the case!

what a sickening statement!! Does he expect the Serbs to just die out?? What about the rights of the displaced Serbs to return to Kocobo??

“In the medium term, a biological end is in sight, as one of the peoples will, you know, simply disappear,“ concluded the French general.

What a bizarre and callous comment.
The general gives the impression that human life is insignificant and ‘simply’ disposable. He gives a clear picture of how little he values the Serbs who remain in Kosovo.

How old is de Marnhac and when does he estimate that he will ‘simply disappear’?

This French general needs to retract his crude statement and apologize.

Excellent points Lowe and Kate.

It is clear this was NATO's hope and aspiration that all non-Albanians will just disappear - one wonders what this French generals definition of Genocide is when he uses such terms?

" “the Serbian authorities have strengthened their influence in Serb enclaves in Kosovo“, which, he added, suggested that “Belgrade is considering some form of parallel governance in that region.“ "

Now that is a smack in the face of those commentators who say Serbian institutions have now influence in the Serbian province but then what can UNMIK do given that it must respect that its priority is ensuring the return of all refugees and allowing self-governership. I guess when they get on with ensuring full compliance with its obligations then the influence will keep on growing. Beyond that even the Serbian Albanians are ensuring that there is more influence by ensuring they in their 10's of thousands a month obtain their Serbian passport

doni: "serb camp infuriated by his true statement. how on hell will you serbs can keep your country if you have an ageing popullation??"

Is this the future of Europe? To procreate as fast as possible, even if you don't have the means to support your children, and then have a land grab?

Or to lose land because your younger generation are forced to leave.

Are we all going back to the Dark Ages? Maybe women should all just stay at home and children should work when they are 8, just to round things off nicely.

The return of displaced people to a safe environment in Kosovo is an absolute requirement of Resolution 1244.

“In the medium term, a biological end is in sight, as one of the peoples will, you know, simply disappear,“ concluded the French general.”
Is this lad a soldier or a biologist?
How would an argument that the Maghreb immigrant population in Paris' troubled suburbs is younger therefore French should move out – resonate in his own country?
Is this a beginning of propaganda campaign for NATO to justify ethnic cleansing of the remaining Kosovo Serb’s population in order to “clean the field” and provide Albanians with a “pure” territory?
An early Christmas Gift from NATO Santa to good-boy Albanians?

"no matter how immoral or harsh it sounds.
(nikshala, 29 November 2007 15:02)"

so you guys have no problem with immoral, and i'm not surprised by that. no news really. as for the good general, hopefully something got lost in translation otherwise this is a serious gaffe.

To Kate: "I find it disgusting that you seem to be hoping that the Serbian community in Kosovo may just age and die out!"

Although completely inappropriate general's message is no more disgusting then the calls for K-Albanians to go back to Albania.

Don't attack the guy for stating the truth and the obivous, no matter how immoral or harsh it sounds.

Yes, if there is no new serb migration in Kosovo in the next few decades its very likely that the percentage of serbs in Kosovo will fall drastically.

Everybody knows that serbian families usually have only one or two kids and have an ageing population, whereas K. Albanians have the youngest population in Europe and very high natality.

Its a fact. If you have problem with it, then start some kind of campaign, or move to Kosovo. Princip? Dragan?

nickshala

immoral is immoral and that was an immoral comment.
if serbs disappear from kosovo it will be after decades of albanian violence against them and ethnic cleansing that started 30, 40 years ago. milosevic said in 1987 he would protect them. you know. 1987 is 12 years before 1999. you know that as well.
as for birth rates, we have what i consider a normal birth rate for western standards. there are other standards too like asian, african and middle eastern but i see no reason for a european nation to compare itself to those.
families here have 2 kids on average. anything more would mean building two meter high brick walls around our houses and keeping women inside having children all the time. we can't do that, that would be immoral also.
as for kosovo serbs, they tend to have many more children than our families over here. this is obviously a social phenomenon. even in serbia, you will sometimes read in the papers that a family has 6, 7 kids but it's a spectacle. they're always poor, or extremely poor, uneducated, unemployed and living in two rooms.
so i don't see why you brought birthrate into this argument. even if albanians have 25 children per family, and reach 78 million in numbers, and serbs have only one, and are down to 10k, they will still not disappear. you dont eat serbs, do you. so serbs will only disappear if someone kills them or drives them away from their land and property.

serb camp infuriated by his true statement. how on hell will you serbs can keep your country if you have an ageing popullation?? if albanians stay, for not so long they will be majority and then you will be the ones to ask for secesion and independence

"so you guys have no problem with immoral," (smile)

what do you mean by 'you guys'? albanains? as far as I know this guy is not albanaian.

and maybe I should have not used the word 'immoral' (apologise for my not very good english). what it meant was, it does not sound 'right' to say that a nations presence will end biologicaly.

Nobody is stoping the serbs from having high natality. The ageing population in not a problem for Serbia only but a lot of Western Europe countries!
Its a fact.

Like I said if you don't like it, then do something about it! Don't blame others, for something thats your problem. Even if all serbs that left Kosovo were to return, including considerable percentage that commited crimes towards albanians, it would not change the end outcome, as far as natality rates are concerned.

reason for this? the albanians are more reproductively active than the serbians. and also serbians were not able to return as should be in the land of chaos.

I have to admit though, regardless of the fact that what he is saying is the harsh truth, I think it was irresponible of him to say this at these tense times. especially considering the sensitivity the average serb feels (not the serbian politicans) when discussing the future of K. Serbs.

I don't see the point of his comment at these times, especially since he is an army commander, and not some biologist or whatever

What The general is stating is facts.
True facts are not wrong nor imoral!
We all need to face facts and reality on the ground.
Accepting reality is a must. Otherwise we risk ending up all being utopists.

“In the medium term, a biological end is in sight, as one of the peoples will, you know, simply disappear,“ concluded the French general."
Well Serbian people have you and ones before you, to thank for that among others,that we don`t need to name.And i`m sure as hell that you and the others are so happy with reasolts.

I agree with Nickshala here, the general is out of his juridiction here. The serb minority in Kosova should be treated with respect especially in these hard times for them. However it's crucial for them to start cooperation with Kosova's provincial government than fall for false instructions from Belgrade. If they want to be felt as part of Kosova they should start acting like it.

What a wonderful world it would be if the French General predicted the outcome.
In a few short decades France is going to have exactly the same problem as Kosovo Serbs.
My children can then declare that one nation will simply disappear. Never mind that they will be ethnically cleansed out of their own country and outbred.

I for one will have no sympathy for the French. If they condone this man's words then they should suffer the same fate as the Serbs.

If you don't learn from your mistakes they will come back to bite you.

Keep your policies going France and England and serve Kosovo on the silver platter to the Albanians, just don't forget they will always bite the hand that feeds them.

When they turn on you, and they will, you will not have Serbs as allies to help you like they did in two world wars. The reason they won't be there to help you is because you helped eliminate them from certain areas or just disabled them to the point of not being able to help.

Stating facts is one thing, but statemenst like these are extremly hurtfull and doesn't give a good sign to Serbs still living in kosovo, it doesn't do anything to restore faith in KFOR and help Serbs to think that there is a future for them in an independend Kosovo.

It was always said that the aim of the international comunity was an multi etnic Kosovo. Where does this comment fits in. Everything should have been done to help displaced Serbs return to their homes and live a normal safe life in Kosovo. Comments from some on here that it is all their faulth are childish and today can't be used as an excuse anymore.

Yes he was only stating the facts, but the fact is that KFOR is for a large part to blame for the exodus of Serbs and not being able to protect them. Which is very shamfull.

i have to agree: this was a very weird and inappropriate thing to say, very provocative, and this from a french general, when everyone knows how openly the french have "sympathized" with belgrade and its aims.

and naturally, this pronouncement immediately brought out the usual round of hate talk, not so much against the french, but against the ALbanians!

as i've said many times -- the s-nationalists are their own worst enemies.

Don't attack the guy for stating the truth and the obivous, no matter how immoral or harsh it sounds.

Yes, if there is no new serb migration in Kosovo in the next few decades its very likely that the percentage of serbs in Kosovo will fall drastically.

Everybody knows that serbian families usually have only one or two kids and have an ageing population, whereas K. Albanians have the youngest population in Europe and very high natality.

Its a fact. If you have problem with it, then start some kind of campaign, or move to Kosovo. Princip? Dragan?

serb camp infuriated by his true statement. how on hell will you serbs can keep your country if you have an ageing popullation?? if albanians stay, for not so long they will be majority and then you will be the ones to ask for secesion and independence

I agree with Nickshala here, the general is out of his juridiction here. The serb minority in Kosova should be treated with respect especially in these hard times for them. However it's crucial for them to start cooperation with Kosova's provincial government than fall for false instructions from Belgrade. If they want to be felt as part of Kosova they should start acting like it.

I have to admit though, regardless of the fact that what he is saying is the harsh truth, I think it was irresponible of him to say this at these tense times. especially considering the sensitivity the average serb feels (not the serbian politicans) when discussing the future of K. Serbs.

I don't see the point of his comment at these times, especially since he is an army commander, and not some biologist or whatever

To Kate: "I find it disgusting that you seem to be hoping that the Serbian community in Kosovo may just age and die out!"

Although completely inappropriate general's message is no more disgusting then the calls for K-Albanians to go back to Albania.

reason for this? the albanians are more reproductively active than the serbians. and also serbians were not able to return as should be in the land of chaos.

What The general is stating is facts.
True facts are not wrong nor imoral!
We all need to face facts and reality on the ground.
Accepting reality is a must. Otherwise we risk ending up all being utopists.

“In the medium term, a biological end is in sight, as one of the peoples will, you know, simply disappear,“ concluded the French general.

What a bizarre and callous comment.
The general gives the impression that human life is insignificant and ‘simply’ disposable. He gives a clear picture of how little he values the Serbs who remain in Kosovo.

How old is de Marnhac and when does he estimate that he will ‘simply disappear’?

This French general needs to retract his crude statement and apologize.

"so you guys have no problem with immoral," (smile)

what do you mean by 'you guys'? albanains? as far as I know this guy is not albanaian.

and maybe I should have not used the word 'immoral' (apologise for my not very good english). what it meant was, it does not sound 'right' to say that a nations presence will end biologicaly.

Nobody is stoping the serbs from having high natality. The ageing population in not a problem for Serbia only but a lot of Western Europe countries!
Its a fact.

Like I said if you don't like it, then do something about it! Don't blame others, for something thats your problem. Even if all serbs that left Kosovo were to return, including considerable percentage that commited crimes towards albanians, it would not change the end outcome, as far as natality rates are concerned.

"He added that “tension between the Kosovo Serbs and Albanians will come to a biological end,“ given that the average age of the Albanian population was 28, compared to 54 among the Serbs."

So does this mean the younger K-Serbs have all been forced out of Kosovo under UNMIK's and Nato's noses? Shame on the West if that's the case!

"He added that “tension between the Kosovo Serbs and Albanians will come to a biological end,“ given that the average age of the Albanian population was 28, compared to 54 among the Serbs.

“In the medium term, a biological end is in sight, as one of the peoples will, you know, simply disappear,“ concluded the French general."

Did the UN not inform you, M. de Marnhac, that they are obliged to aid the return of displaced Serbian people of ALL ages?

I find it disgusting that you seem to be hoping that the Serbian community in Kosovo may just age and die out! You should be called up to answer this point immediately.

Thats exactly it kate, NATO are hoping for the K Serb population to die out or go away so they can proceed with the agenda, i.e. dismemberment of Serbia. I wonder are they also waiting for 9 million + Serbs to also die out or go away. If so they'll be waiting for a very, very long time.

what a sickening statement!! Does he expect the Serbs to just die out?? What about the rights of the displaced Serbs to return to Kocobo??

Excellent points Lowe and Kate.

It is clear this was NATO's hope and aspiration that all non-Albanians will just disappear - one wonders what this French generals definition of Genocide is when he uses such terms?

" “the Serbian authorities have strengthened their influence in Serb enclaves in Kosovo“, which, he added, suggested that “Belgrade is considering some form of parallel governance in that region.“ "

Now that is a smack in the face of those commentators who say Serbian institutions have now influence in the Serbian province but then what can UNMIK do given that it must respect that its priority is ensuring the return of all refugees and allowing self-governership. I guess when they get on with ensuring full compliance with its obligations then the influence will keep on growing. Beyond that even the Serbian Albanians are ensuring that there is more influence by ensuring they in their 10's of thousands a month obtain their Serbian passport

doni: "serb camp infuriated by his true statement. how on hell will you serbs can keep your country if you have an ageing popullation??"

Is this the future of Europe? To procreate as fast as possible, even if you don't have the means to support your children, and then have a land grab?

Or to lose land because your younger generation are forced to leave.

Are we all going back to the Dark Ages? Maybe women should all just stay at home and children should work when they are 8, just to round things off nicely.

The return of displaced people to a safe environment in Kosovo is an absolute requirement of Resolution 1244.

"no matter how immoral or harsh it sounds.
(nikshala, 29 November 2007 15:02)"

so you guys have no problem with immoral, and i'm not surprised by that. no news really. as for the good general, hopefully something got lost in translation otherwise this is a serious gaffe.

“In the medium term, a biological end is in sight, as one of the peoples will, you know, simply disappear,“ concluded the French general.”
Is this lad a soldier or a biologist?
How would an argument that the Maghreb immigrant population in Paris' troubled suburbs is younger therefore French should move out – resonate in his own country?
Is this a beginning of propaganda campaign for NATO to justify ethnic cleansing of the remaining Kosovo Serb’s population in order to “clean the field” and provide Albanians with a “pure” territory?
An early Christmas Gift from NATO Santa to good-boy Albanians?

nickshala

immoral is immoral and that was an immoral comment.
if serbs disappear from kosovo it will be after decades of albanian violence against them and ethnic cleansing that started 30, 40 years ago. milosevic said in 1987 he would protect them. you know. 1987 is 12 years before 1999. you know that as well.
as for birth rates, we have what i consider a normal birth rate for western standards. there are other standards too like asian, african and middle eastern but i see no reason for a european nation to compare itself to those.
families here have 2 kids on average. anything more would mean building two meter high brick walls around our houses and keeping women inside having children all the time. we can't do that, that would be immoral also.
as for kosovo serbs, they tend to have many more children than our families over here. this is obviously a social phenomenon. even in serbia, you will sometimes read in the papers that a family has 6, 7 kids but it's a spectacle. they're always poor, or extremely poor, uneducated, unemployed and living in two rooms.
so i don't see why you brought birthrate into this argument. even if albanians have 25 children per family, and reach 78 million in numbers, and serbs have only one, and are down to 10k, they will still not disappear. you dont eat serbs, do you. so serbs will only disappear if someone kills them or drives them away from their land and property.

“In the medium term, a biological end is in sight, as one of the peoples will, you know, simply disappear,“ concluded the French general."
Well Serbian people have you and ones before you, to thank for that among others,that we don`t need to name.And i`m sure as hell that you and the others are so happy with reasolts.

What a wonderful world it would be if the French General predicted the outcome.
In a few short decades France is going to have exactly the same problem as Kosovo Serbs.
My children can then declare that one nation will simply disappear. Never mind that they will be ethnically cleansed out of their own country and outbred.

I for one will have no sympathy for the French. If they condone this man's words then they should suffer the same fate as the Serbs.

If you don't learn from your mistakes they will come back to bite you.

Keep your policies going France and England and serve Kosovo on the silver platter to the Albanians, just don't forget they will always bite the hand that feeds them.

When they turn on you, and they will, you will not have Serbs as allies to help you like they did in two world wars. The reason they won't be there to help you is because you helped eliminate them from certain areas or just disabled them to the point of not being able to help.

i have to agree: this was a very weird and inappropriate thing to say, very provocative, and this from a french general, when everyone knows how openly the french have "sympathized" with belgrade and its aims.

and naturally, this pronouncement immediately brought out the usual round of hate talk, not so much against the french, but against the ALbanians!

as i've said many times -- the s-nationalists are their own worst enemies.

Stating facts is one thing, but statemenst like these are extremly hurtfull and doesn't give a good sign to Serbs still living in kosovo, it doesn't do anything to restore faith in KFOR and help Serbs to think that there is a future for them in an independend Kosovo.

It was always said that the aim of the international comunity was an multi etnic Kosovo. Where does this comment fits in. Everything should have been done to help displaced Serbs return to their homes and live a normal safe life in Kosovo. Comments from some on here that it is all their faulth are childish and today can't be used as an excuse anymore.

Yes he was only stating the facts, but the fact is that KFOR is for a large part to blame for the exodus of Serbs and not being able to protect them. Which is very shamfull.