Valley Albanians stay out of Coordinating Body

Here we go with another attempt from an individual full of hot air. Perhaps the albanians should focus more on their status as a whole - albania is the poorest country in Europe. If the invaders did what they were supposed to do in their own country, they wouldn't have tried to claim KosovO.

KosovO has turned into a haven for drugs, prostitution, gun smuggling, etc... Thanks to the UN, this is a continued black eye on Serbia as a nation.

Furthermore, Ljajić has no right to make the following comment - He pointed out that the situation in southern Serbia should not be linked with the issue of Kosovo's status - the only comment he made correct was KosovO - there is no separatist state of KosovO. Let's not put the cart before the horse. KosovO is the carrot that you are still trying to grab & can't!

Peter, I'm concerned about these continuous thorns as well. I would also add South Kosovo into the mix. You still have a scattered Serbian population there. Their considerations cannot be ignored.

In fact, I would say South Kosovo is the area most vulnerable to violence as demonstrated by events on the ground the past 10 years.

Whatever settlement does take place, must account for what will happen to those thousands of Serbs. Furthermore, I would be careful about including areas outside of Kosovo like Presevo in this type of settlement. That's when all this secession business becomes a precedent and dominos start falling all over the region, Europe, and beyond.

albanians in preshevo dont like when serbia undermines albanians in Kosova. serbias policy should reflect their opinion also. if serbia will make moves which undermine kosova interests, then they valley will not respond to serbian government anymore

GSP

KosovO has turned into a haven for drugs, prostitution, gun smuggling, etc... Thanks to the UN, this is a continued black eye on Serbia as a nation

Just to help you out on that one please see bellow the article on yesterday's B92 or Blic news.
Drug factory in Serbia ...

It would be better to focus on returning thousands the displaced Albanians in Medvegja

Does anyone else seem to have case of déjà vu? Let me take a wild “guess” how rest of this is going to play out. Albanians in Southern Serbia will first complain how they are being undermined and neglected by Serbian Government. Secondly we may expect some violent protest where few of them are going to get their heads bashed in by some idiot police officer doing his job.Lastly we can expect videos and pictures of these bashed heads circling around the world news with the topics such as “Serbs, committing atrocities in Southern Serbia”, “Serbian government cracks down on helpless Albanians”.

Where is Serbian PR? Someone has got to get some PR companies on our side. It’s sad that we didn’t loose the war because of our brave troops. We lost the war in hearts and minds of the western world before the war even began.

It is Belgrad's imature diplomacy for the last eight years,manipulating with Kosovan Serbs who live in the North of Mitrovica. And now Belgrad thinks that Valley Albanians should take part at the state and local institutions.
Belgrad should not play this games anymore,we all should have learned from Milosevic and no need to go same path.I am sure that Serbia's and Kosovo's people want to prosper and have beter lifes and respect eachother.

The Serbian gov is trying to help them but their trying the Pristina tactic. How can the gov help them if they don't want to help themselves. Besides their not in Kosovo, their in Serbia proper and thats 90% Serbian majority. More now about 250 thousand more.

To Olf -

Your link didn't come through, so here it is -

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-article.php?yyyy=2007&mm=12&dd=17&nav_id=46259

You will notice under BLIC, that it references foreigners - wonder who they are?

Mladen S. you got the whole thing right. To Miri, I support your call for mutual respect and tolerance, but that's the first time I hear it from the Albanian side. The only time K-Albanians communicated with others in the former Yugoslavia is when they were receiving large aid funds from the rest of the country. And there is yet one major point, Kosovo is still Serbia, so it's the K-provisional government who should cooperate with Belgrade. The last thing,why should K-Serbs cooperate with local authorities, when they are not allowed to return, when their existence is threatened, when they are living in enclaves, when over 2000 murders committed by Albanians since 1999 haven't been solved, when their large majority is not allowed to return home?!The Albanian sincerity is best illustrated by the Gorazdevac mass murders of Serbian children and the 2004 rampage!
I have said it many times before and I repeat it again, if Serbia was managing Kosovo the way it is mis-managed by UNMIK and K-authorities today, it would probably be under sanctions and, possibly, bombed.

North Kosovo for Presevo valley?

basically Serbian land in exchange for Serbian land? ya nope not gonna happen, albanians getting presevo anyway. The brand spanking new VS base will make sure of that...

N-Kosovo is already detached from the toxic hold Pristina so tough luck...

I can see that even if Kosovo gets its independence that it will not be the end to instability. This Northern Part of Kosovo and Southern Part of Serbia will be thorns in the sides of both countries. If there will be any violence, it will be in either of these two areas or both. I wonder what solutions the international community suggests for these two regions. Obviously giving Northern Kosovo to Serbia and Southern Kosovo to Kosovo is not the answer, keeping it all as Serbia is also not the answer, what does the EU propose then?

Doni, you are barking up a tree you have no business in. The valley people are going to try the same thing in Kosovo but they are one the wrong side of the line. NATO will not invade Serbia so Doni you should keep to business in Kosovo not in Serbia.

Appart from the bitter rhetoric from the poster here, I personally believe that Presevo Albanians in Serbia should find a way to cooperate with authorities and build the trust between two ethnic groups. Likewise we ask K-Serbs to cooperate with Kosova's local government and not fall under Belgrade's vicious pressure to create instability.

Is there any serb here that can say the same?

i think Kosova is the key to the puzzle. every country is contributing to the stability of the region, except serbia which still continues to threaten and retaliate on this issue.
serbia is not accepting its role, and is not being progressive.
Serbs must understand that Kosova must not be partition.

This is all the albanians tactic to try to use south Serbija as a pawn for north Kosovo.Back in 2000 Beograd knew that this would be a tactic.This is an area that must have more military persons stationed in.One thing that concerns me is that on the eastern border inside Kosovo is the American zone and in 2000-2001 America allowed around 3,000 kla to slip through.You have to assume the Americans allowed them to come through. This is an area that will not be used to help take Kosovo.Doni your comments get better and better every post.

Nicholas Klinsman

This is why I am very skeptical about the whole Kosovo issue. I really don't think it will go smoothly in either region.

To Nesha.
If you are going to agree with my statement take it as a whole no just the part that suits you.
In other words if you want Valley Albanians to cooperate with authorities in Serbia you should advocate for K-Serbs to cooperate with authorities in Kosova. At least this is the only meaning of my statement.

Kosova will be independent and that's that. It's over!

What's left after this is the opportunity to bridge trust between two communities for the sake of our future generations. For this, a good will should exist from both sides of equation.

Nicholas, you say "Whatever settlement does take place, must account for what will happen to those thousands of Serbs." and I fully and completely agree with this sentiment. We cannot afford one potential hotbed of unrest to be the cause of a series of ethnic brushfires across the Balkans again.

I think Miri's statement of "I personally believe that Presevo Albanians in Serbia should find a way to cooperate with authorities and build the trust between two ethnic groups. Likewise we ask K-Serbs to cooperate with Kosova's local government ..." is the starting point. There needs to be a sense of community felt between the ethnic groups in order for politics to work and government to remain functional. If the Serbs of Kosovo are completely disengaged from Kosovo (in whatever form it takes), and the Valley Albanians do the same, the politics of the state will pass them by and they will be left with little to no voice.

I'd even go so far as to recommend a region-wide conference on security in the southern Balkans: include Serbia (Kosovo), Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia, and Albania in the group. Rather than thinking Kosovo is going to solve everyone's problems, let's bring Kosovo into a larger picture of finally addressing different grievances from all sides. Solve everything at once, so the entire region can move on and develop.

What is going to happen is they will try to repeat the Kosovo of 1999 and i believe the Serbs will not be stupid like the past so in closing Preshevo will remain in Serbia and if you want to live with albaninans go to Kosovo.

the blgd regime has done everything but declare all out war on kosovar albanians (and even that was hinted at) and then magically expects albanians in the south of serbia to pony up to them -- are they totally clueless, or just pretending?

albanians in preshevo dont like when serbia undermines albanians in Kosova. serbias policy should reflect their opinion also. if serbia will make moves which undermine kosova interests, then they valley will not respond to serbian government anymore

GSP

KosovO has turned into a haven for drugs, prostitution, gun smuggling, etc... Thanks to the UN, this is a continued black eye on Serbia as a nation

Just to help you out on that one please see bellow the article on yesterday's B92 or Blic news.
Drug factory in Serbia ...

It would be better to focus on returning thousands the displaced Albanians in Medvegja

i think Kosova is the key to the puzzle. every country is contributing to the stability of the region, except serbia which still continues to threaten and retaliate on this issue.
serbia is not accepting its role, and is not being progressive.
Serbs must understand that Kosova must not be partition.

Here we go with another attempt from an individual full of hot air. Perhaps the albanians should focus more on their status as a whole - albania is the poorest country in Europe. If the invaders did what they were supposed to do in their own country, they wouldn't have tried to claim KosovO.

KosovO has turned into a haven for drugs, prostitution, gun smuggling, etc... Thanks to the UN, this is a continued black eye on Serbia as a nation.

Furthermore, Ljajić has no right to make the following comment - He pointed out that the situation in southern Serbia should not be linked with the issue of Kosovo's status - the only comment he made correct was KosovO - there is no separatist state of KosovO. Let's not put the cart before the horse. KosovO is the carrot that you are still trying to grab & can't!

Appart from the bitter rhetoric from the poster here, I personally believe that Presevo Albanians in Serbia should find a way to cooperate with authorities and build the trust between two ethnic groups. Likewise we ask K-Serbs to cooperate with Kosova's local government and not fall under Belgrade's vicious pressure to create instability.

Is there any serb here that can say the same?

Doni, you are barking up a tree you have no business in. The valley people are going to try the same thing in Kosovo but they are one the wrong side of the line. NATO will not invade Serbia so Doni you should keep to business in Kosovo not in Serbia.

It is Belgrad's imature diplomacy for the last eight years,manipulating with Kosovan Serbs who live in the North of Mitrovica. And now Belgrad thinks that Valley Albanians should take part at the state and local institutions.
Belgrad should not play this games anymore,we all should have learned from Milosevic and no need to go same path.I am sure that Serbia's and Kosovo's people want to prosper and have beter lifes and respect eachother.

To Nesha.
If you are going to agree with my statement take it as a whole no just the part that suits you.
In other words if you want Valley Albanians to cooperate with authorities in Serbia you should advocate for K-Serbs to cooperate with authorities in Kosova. At least this is the only meaning of my statement.

Kosova will be independent and that's that. It's over!

What's left after this is the opportunity to bridge trust between two communities for the sake of our future generations. For this, a good will should exist from both sides of equation.

the blgd regime has done everything but declare all out war on kosovar albanians (and even that was hinted at) and then magically expects albanians in the south of serbia to pony up to them -- are they totally clueless, or just pretending?

Nicholas, you say "Whatever settlement does take place, must account for what will happen to those thousands of Serbs." and I fully and completely agree with this sentiment. We cannot afford one potential hotbed of unrest to be the cause of a series of ethnic brushfires across the Balkans again.

I think Miri's statement of "I personally believe that Presevo Albanians in Serbia should find a way to cooperate with authorities and build the trust between two ethnic groups. Likewise we ask K-Serbs to cooperate with Kosova's local government ..." is the starting point. There needs to be a sense of community felt between the ethnic groups in order for politics to work and government to remain functional. If the Serbs of Kosovo are completely disengaged from Kosovo (in whatever form it takes), and the Valley Albanians do the same, the politics of the state will pass them by and they will be left with little to no voice.

I'd even go so far as to recommend a region-wide conference on security in the southern Balkans: include Serbia (Kosovo), Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia, and Albania in the group. Rather than thinking Kosovo is going to solve everyone's problems, let's bring Kosovo into a larger picture of finally addressing different grievances from all sides. Solve everything at once, so the entire region can move on and develop.

I can see that even if Kosovo gets its independence that it will not be the end to instability. This Northern Part of Kosovo and Southern Part of Serbia will be thorns in the sides of both countries. If there will be any violence, it will be in either of these two areas or both. I wonder what solutions the international community suggests for these two regions. Obviously giving Northern Kosovo to Serbia and Southern Kosovo to Kosovo is not the answer, keeping it all as Serbia is also not the answer, what does the EU propose then?

Peter, I'm concerned about these continuous thorns as well. I would also add South Kosovo into the mix. You still have a scattered Serbian population there. Their considerations cannot be ignored.

In fact, I would say South Kosovo is the area most vulnerable to violence as demonstrated by events on the ground the past 10 years.

Whatever settlement does take place, must account for what will happen to those thousands of Serbs. Furthermore, I would be careful about including areas outside of Kosovo like Presevo in this type of settlement. That's when all this secession business becomes a precedent and dominos start falling all over the region, Europe, and beyond.

The Serbian gov is trying to help them but their trying the Pristina tactic. How can the gov help them if they don't want to help themselves. Besides their not in Kosovo, their in Serbia proper and thats 90% Serbian majority. More now about 250 thousand more.

Does anyone else seem to have case of déjà vu? Let me take a wild “guess” how rest of this is going to play out. Albanians in Southern Serbia will first complain how they are being undermined and neglected by Serbian Government. Secondly we may expect some violent protest where few of them are going to get their heads bashed in by some idiot police officer doing his job.Lastly we can expect videos and pictures of these bashed heads circling around the world news with the topics such as “Serbs, committing atrocities in Southern Serbia”, “Serbian government cracks down on helpless Albanians”.

Where is Serbian PR? Someone has got to get some PR companies on our side. It’s sad that we didn’t loose the war because of our brave troops. We lost the war in hearts and minds of the western world before the war even began.

To Olf -

Your link didn't come through, so here it is -

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-article.php?yyyy=2007&mm=12&dd=17&nav_id=46259

You will notice under BLIC, that it references foreigners - wonder who they are?

Nicholas Klinsman

This is why I am very skeptical about the whole Kosovo issue. I really don't think it will go smoothly in either region.

Mladen S. you got the whole thing right. To Miri, I support your call for mutual respect and tolerance, but that's the first time I hear it from the Albanian side. The only time K-Albanians communicated with others in the former Yugoslavia is when they were receiving large aid funds from the rest of the country. And there is yet one major point, Kosovo is still Serbia, so it's the K-provisional government who should cooperate with Belgrade. The last thing,why should K-Serbs cooperate with local authorities, when they are not allowed to return, when their existence is threatened, when they are living in enclaves, when over 2000 murders committed by Albanians since 1999 haven't been solved, when their large majority is not allowed to return home?!The Albanian sincerity is best illustrated by the Gorazdevac mass murders of Serbian children and the 2004 rampage!
I have said it many times before and I repeat it again, if Serbia was managing Kosovo the way it is mis-managed by UNMIK and K-authorities today, it would probably be under sanctions and, possibly, bombed.

This is all the albanians tactic to try to use south Serbija as a pawn for north Kosovo.Back in 2000 Beograd knew that this would be a tactic.This is an area that must have more military persons stationed in.One thing that concerns me is that on the eastern border inside Kosovo is the American zone and in 2000-2001 America allowed around 3,000 kla to slip through.You have to assume the Americans allowed them to come through. This is an area that will not be used to help take Kosovo.Doni your comments get better and better every post.

What is going to happen is they will try to repeat the Kosovo of 1999 and i believe the Serbs will not be stupid like the past so in closing Preshevo will remain in Serbia and if you want to live with albaninans go to Kosovo.

North Kosovo for Presevo valley?

basically Serbian land in exchange for Serbian land? ya nope not gonna happen, albanians getting presevo anyway. The brand spanking new VS base will make sure of that...

N-Kosovo is already detached from the toxic hold Pristina so tough luck...