Elections in Kosovo without major incidents

Ahmet Isufi,

Just like kosovo albanian UDI is null and void before it was even proclaimed.

CCCC

LOL!!!! So res. 1244 is ignored when there is Kosovo independence, but enforced when there is Serb election. This is so hysterically pathetic and hyprocytical and funny!!!

How can UMNIK keep a straight face while making those statements.

Talk about TOTAL HYPOCRISY!
How dare the UN declare this election is a breach of Resolution 1244 when it is painfully clear that Kosovo independence is the ultimate breach of the resolution!
Kosovo is a part of Serbia, therefore Serbian totally within their right to vote.

“Local elections are illegal and won’t be valid, as under Resolution 1244, only the UN mission in Kosovo can organize local elections."

Allowing of the UDI by UNMIK was also a gross violation of 1244.

Come to think of it, I don't recall anything binding in the resolution that said Serbia cannot hold elections in Kosovo.

Police and KFOR are not monitoring polling stations at all, they are jsut doing their daily routine jobs. Elections are being ignored totally as you all know allready that local serbian elections are null and void before it even started.

Kosova is the spirit of Albanian resistence . Kosova is Albanians. Serbs voting in Kosova? Sure they can vote but they live in another country, the best solution to Kosova issue should be, EU should let them Join Mother Land albania. There is no border between Kosova and Albania and Kosova is spirit of Illiria and is an Albanian Land.

Dem:

you are right, you can trust americans when they say ,

the war in irak is ower
the talibnas in afganistan are good people (when thay whore fiting agianst russians)
sadam hussien was a good man when fiting the iranians(guess where he bought hes wepons from)
bill clinton did not have sexual relations with that woman , miss lewinsky.

you are so right

You've all said that independence is a breach of Resolution 1244, but none of you have provided proof or arguments.

The reason why Serbia has breached 1244 ('international law') is because they have set up voting in Kosova which only UNMIK is allowed to do based on Resolution 1244.

I guess it's a day off for the Albanians today since the amount of useless mindless nationalism for this column is higher than regular today.

Ahmet, Doni, thanks for the gratuitous comedy.

Clearly the leadership of UNMIK in Kosovo is violating UNSC 1244 by NOT organizing the local elections which was requested by the Serbian government. They’ve also blocked the return of Serbian police to Kosovo among many other things (Standard Before Status anyone?). I don’t think I need to mention the support of the “Kosova” government’s parallel institutions by the current UNMIK leadership.

The obvious solution is a change in UNMIK leadership so that they respect the conditions laid out in Resolution 1244. If the current leadership of UNMIK is being influenced by the will of Western countries instead of the UNSC, then criminal proceedings should be started.

It should not be the responsibility of the appointed official who runs UNMIK to interrupt what UNSC 1244 says, its his job to carry out the will of the UNSC, not tell them what they said.

Its time to clean up UNMIK and get some leadership in there that is willing to enforce 1244 in a neutral manner. They should be neither Pro-Serb nor Pro-Albanian, but Pro-UN.

The “West’s” plan for Kosovo doesn’t even have the support of 2/3 of the UNSC, not alone a unanimous decision as is required. The general assembly has even less support for Kosovo’s independence.

The EU is a single country, which can not by itself agree to recognize Independence there.

The EU is having an identity issue. Are they independent countries, or are they a single country? They can not be both. It is an outrage to international law to claim to be both depending on which interpretation supports the goals of the Western countries in the EU.

If the EU is merely an economic block, then it has no right to interfere in politics or claim a sphere of influence in the Balkans or raise an army.

If it is a country that can raise an army and claim a sphere of influence, they it must be viewed as a single country that requires a unified decision.

Before Serbia can consider joining the EU, these questions must be answered. What exactly is the EU and what will its future be? What will be the rights of the countries that join it? What should happen to the votes of the UK and France in the UNSC? Why should one country have two votes in the UNSC?

These are very troubling questions and without solid answers the EU itself is doomed to failure.

Kosovo is the rock upon which the EU will break unless fair and reasonable answers to these future questions on the structure of Europe are answered.

uli, i agree with you, sooner we will unite, there is no Albania without Kosova and Cameria. Freely and democratically they cannot stop us uniting. Free Presheva valley.

Just another serbian dream that will sweap into the river. Just like the ''serbian goverment action plan''. =O


You can't trust serbs,albanians or russian. But you can trust americans when they say Kosovo is independent an there will not be a partition.


Just wait when the Kosovo constutution get in force. There will be no more serbian dreams.

"...sooner we will unite, there is no Albania without Kosova and Cameria. Freely and democratically they cannot stop us uniting. Free Presheva valley."

Your arrogance is laughable.

You have no power.

The West determines what you do now and what you will do in the future.

Strange comments from the pro-Serbia camp.

UNMIK doesn't recognise the Serbian local elections, just as it does not recognise Kosova's UDI (individual states do, but that's a different matter). UNMIK did nothing to prevent Kosova's UDI, and did nothing to prevent Serbian local elections. Just as it should be, in both cases.

B92 that is rude of you to edit in that nature. I read all the time Jovan and others from pro-Serb camp saying, "X is on crack" or "isn't it early to be drinking this early on the day" ---shame on you.

Doni,

You talk about uniting your supposed lands, so I dare you, come and take Tsamouria. You talk about creating a "Greater Albanian" yet Albanians don't have one modern fighter jet. Come on, try and take Tsamouria, give the Greeks an excuse to liberate the Greek minority in Northern Epirus, where you've been terrorizing Greeks for years.

And as for American support, it will do you little good. Greece said "no" to America in Bucharest, it said "no" to America in '99, and it said "no" to America on recognizing Kosovo. We have the E.U. and we have Russia supporting us diplomatically. I love the Serbs, but we are not them; we are strong diplomatically and economically. We will not be pushed around and trust me when I tell you, if you do try to start a war with us, the United States will not bomb Greece to save you. The Greek lobby in the U.S. is far too powerful and large to allow that.

i do not undestand, sound like the resolution 1244 still walid? somtimes, mabe, not, today, tomorow, yesterday.

Jan,

Thank you for making my point.

The EU is not what it was originally intended anymore. They claim to be one thing, as you describe, yet act in a completely contradictory manner.

“Clubs” do not engage in military adventures, claim sphere’s of influence over specific regions, etc.

Its more than a club, yet less than a country. As an entity in its current form it can not survive. It needs radical reform yet is unable to reach even the most basic consensus on adopting a constitution. It will most certainly fail like the Articles of Confederation here in the US without major changes.

The whole Kosovo issue has damaged the EU more than anyone else. It has highlighted its weakness and inability to solve regional issues.

Not reaching a compromise solution with Serbia, while pushing her away will doom the future of the EU. The EU can only claim the Balkans with their support, any other actions to integrate the region by force would be viewed as conquest by many in the world.

Alex from Athens,

Though Doni’s wishes to have Cameria returned to Albania (rightfully in my opinion however politics don’t care about mine or your opinion) are farfetched, your comment is simply laughable.
It is as if a 5 years old child wrote it.
Fighter jet planes, Greek liberating Northern Epirus.... where do you get this from and what is your point?
Greece said no to America in Bucharest you said!! All Greece did was to dispute a name and achieved nothing (Macedonia will join NATO soon).
Greece said no to America in 1999 you said!! What about, America freed Kosovo anyway.
Greece said no to America in recognising Kosovo you said!! Did America asked Greece to do that? NATO and EU countries (and all other countries) are free to chose to recognise or not Kosovo.

You said “We have E.U and we have Russia supporting us diplomatically”!! Supporting you on what? What does the support that you have from E.U refers to? You are a NATO Country so what support you have from Russia?
And finally you go in the dreamland in hoping that the Greek lobby in U.S will stop any attack from the U.S.
Why would U.S attack you to start with?
And secondly do you believe that the Greek Lobby in U.S would be able to stop that?
Where was the Greek Lobby when the north Cyprus was created?
You know Alex, it is a common mistake some nations make. They love themselves so much, think they are above everybody else and they believe that everybody loves them because “they are so great”. And you Greeks are well known to have that opinion. You might find yourselves falling from a great height head first if you don’t grasp the reality soon that you are no better or worse than other nations. Alex it is the individuals that mark or scar a nation, deep down every nation is the same. They all love peace and prosperity.

Matthew, you write eloquently, but that don't hide the fact that you don't know what you are talking about.

The EU is a "club", a union, of countries that has agreed to certain common rules when it comes to trade, finance, health, agriculture, fishing, etc, etc.

Each country is still very much independent, and there is no EU-law that determines the lives of the citizens in these countries. The EU-parliament and the EU-commission makes so-called "directives" that each of the countries are expected to ratify and make into local law.

And all of these countries, all the EU-organisations, all their spokespersons, have EVERY right to express their views on what Serbia ought to do, and what they ought not to do. As have I.

You, Serbia, and the rest of the world, also have every right to ignore those views.

It is as simple as that.

@ #13 Jan Amsterdam,

I advise you read Resolution 1244 because my friends you are out of touch with reality. Only UNMIK can call elections...period.

was'nt the topic here the voting in Kosovo?

resulsts of the elections are stunning: more than half of Serbs did NOT vote there. their share is 1,25% of all the votes, an equivalent of 3 mandates out of 250 in Serbian parliament. even the Mađarska koalicija has collected more votes in this elections.

On 11 May 2008 17:37, KV wrote:

"The reason why Serbia has breached 1244 ('international law') is because they have set up voting in Kosova which only UNMIK is allowed to do based on Resolution 1244."

Ehh... No. Serbia, Denmark, Russia or whatever nation is allowed to set up voting offices in Kosovo - AS LONG AS THE VOTING IS FOR ONE OF THEIR NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS.

What UNMIK is (very quietly) protesting against, is that the elections are also for local city and municipal representatives.

To Alex from Athens.

Alex we have been fighting for thousand of years, with Greeks, Turks, Serbians and other nations who felt superior. We didn't fight because we wanted but because we didn't have a choice, and we survived. Albanians paid the bigest price in europian History. Now, is different time, the world has changed drastically, the communism era has ended. The world is much better then before because of sacrifice of people from all around the world that fought for one purpose FREEDOM, and fortunately Albanians were generator of Democracy and Freedom in Ballkans and Europe. Now you understand why we are in a better position, we are more trusted because our goal was never to invade other countries, our goal was to live free in our land. Economically you are stronger but never politically, and this is just begining for us, you like it or not we are and will always be a factor. The war has ended for us, we just want the same rights for Albanians people in Greece and everywhere else they live. Stop feeling superior towards others because it's waste of time and embarrasing. Except others the way they are because in the end we are all human beings.

(Alex from Athens, 12 May 2008 23:03)

Here we go again, Greece this Greece that.
It sounds like kids stories (my daddy can beat up your daddy; my daddy has more money than your daddy...).
I am still doubtful of your age Alex.

to alex...


i still dont know what are you on about....34yrs have passed and still Turkey has northen cyprus....and frankly i dont think that you will be able to get it back, simply because your modern army is not as modern as you might think

to alex from athens.
you tent to ask albanians to come and take Cameria,
how are you going to protect it, same as you protected north cyprus 30 odd years ago... by the time you woken up most of the turkish army had already lended in your so called brave country, all talk no action

Some of you Albanians really do live in a fantasy land. It is a well-established fact that the Greek lobby in the United States is influential; because of its influence Turkey was embargoed for 8 years following the invasion of Cyprus, and much of the news about the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the U.S. Congress is in fact being pushed by AHEPA, the leading Greek-American political lobby. The illegal invasion of Cyprus in '74 catalyzed the formation of a political lobby, and it has accomplished much in the 35 years since.

Greece has a modern European army, navy, and air force which can easily protect it from the likes of Albania and Albanian terrorists. Greece is equipped with the latest American, European, and Russian weapons. What is Albania equipped with? Or the Kosovar Albanians? Certainly not F-16s, Mirage 2000s, or S-300s. And for all you smart Albanians who will ask what good this did in 1974, let me preempt your stupidity here and tell you that Greece's armed forces were not modernized then, and, Greece was under a dictatorship which was highly unpopular with its people, and was overthrown directly after the fiasco on Cyprus.

The better question all you Albanians should be asking is the situation you would be in if the United States didn't save you from the Serbians. The Greeks can and will defend themselves, as numerous incidents in the past 20 years in the Aegean and in the Balkans have shown.

Kosova is the spirit of Albanian resistence . Kosova is Albanians. Serbs voting in Kosova? Sure they can vote but they live in another country, the best solution to Kosova issue should be, EU should let them Join Mother Land albania. There is no border between Kosova and Albania and Kosova is spirit of Illiria and is an Albanian Land.

Just another serbian dream that will sweap into the river. Just like the ''serbian goverment action plan''. =O


You can't trust serbs,albanians or russian. But you can trust americans when they say Kosovo is independent an there will not be a partition.


Just wait when the Kosovo constutution get in force. There will be no more serbian dreams.

Police and KFOR are not monitoring polling stations at all, they are jsut doing their daily routine jobs. Elections are being ignored totally as you all know allready that local serbian elections are null and void before it even started.

You've all said that independence is a breach of Resolution 1244, but none of you have provided proof or arguments.

The reason why Serbia has breached 1244 ('international law') is because they have set up voting in Kosova which only UNMIK is allowed to do based on Resolution 1244.

uli, i agree with you, sooner we will unite, there is no Albania without Kosova and Cameria. Freely and democratically they cannot stop us uniting. Free Presheva valley.

Matthew, you write eloquently, but that don't hide the fact that you don't know what you are talking about.

The EU is a "club", a union, of countries that has agreed to certain common rules when it comes to trade, finance, health, agriculture, fishing, etc, etc.

Each country is still very much independent, and there is no EU-law that determines the lives of the citizens in these countries. The EU-parliament and the EU-commission makes so-called "directives" that each of the countries are expected to ratify and make into local law.

And all of these countries, all the EU-organisations, all their spokespersons, have EVERY right to express their views on what Serbia ought to do, and what they ought not to do. As have I.

You, Serbia, and the rest of the world, also have every right to ignore those views.

It is as simple as that.

B92 that is rude of you to edit in that nature. I read all the time Jovan and others from pro-Serb camp saying, "X is on crack" or "isn't it early to be drinking this early on the day" ---shame on you.

Ahmet Isufi,

Just like kosovo albanian UDI is null and void before it was even proclaimed.

CCCC

On 11 May 2008 17:37, KV wrote:

"The reason why Serbia has breached 1244 ('international law') is because they have set up voting in Kosova which only UNMIK is allowed to do based on Resolution 1244."

Ehh... No. Serbia, Denmark, Russia or whatever nation is allowed to set up voting offices in Kosovo - AS LONG AS THE VOTING IS FOR ONE OF THEIR NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS.

What UNMIK is (very quietly) protesting against, is that the elections are also for local city and municipal representatives.

was'nt the topic here the voting in Kosovo?

resulsts of the elections are stunning: more than half of Serbs did NOT vote there. their share is 1,25% of all the votes, an equivalent of 3 mandates out of 250 in Serbian parliament. even the Mađarska koalicija has collected more votes in this elections.

Alex from Athens,

Though Doni’s wishes to have Cameria returned to Albania (rightfully in my opinion however politics don’t care about mine or your opinion) are farfetched, your comment is simply laughable.
It is as if a 5 years old child wrote it.
Fighter jet planes, Greek liberating Northern Epirus.... where do you get this from and what is your point?
Greece said no to America in Bucharest you said!! All Greece did was to dispute a name and achieved nothing (Macedonia will join NATO soon).
Greece said no to America in 1999 you said!! What about, America freed Kosovo anyway.
Greece said no to America in recognising Kosovo you said!! Did America asked Greece to do that? NATO and EU countries (and all other countries) are free to chose to recognise or not Kosovo.

You said “We have E.U and we have Russia supporting us diplomatically”!! Supporting you on what? What does the support that you have from E.U refers to? You are a NATO Country so what support you have from Russia?
And finally you go in the dreamland in hoping that the Greek lobby in U.S will stop any attack from the U.S.
Why would U.S attack you to start with?
And secondly do you believe that the Greek Lobby in U.S would be able to stop that?
Where was the Greek Lobby when the north Cyprus was created?
You know Alex, it is a common mistake some nations make. They love themselves so much, think they are above everybody else and they believe that everybody loves them because “they are so great”. And you Greeks are well known to have that opinion. You might find yourselves falling from a great height head first if you don’t grasp the reality soon that you are no better or worse than other nations. Alex it is the individuals that mark or scar a nation, deep down every nation is the same. They all love peace and prosperity.

i do not undestand, sound like the resolution 1244 still walid? somtimes, mabe, not, today, tomorow, yesterday.

LOL!!!! So res. 1244 is ignored when there is Kosovo independence, but enforced when there is Serb election. This is so hysterically pathetic and hyprocytical and funny!!!

How can UMNIK keep a straight face while making those statements.

Talk about TOTAL HYPOCRISY!
How dare the UN declare this election is a breach of Resolution 1244 when it is painfully clear that Kosovo independence is the ultimate breach of the resolution!
Kosovo is a part of Serbia, therefore Serbian totally within their right to vote.

“Local elections are illegal and won’t be valid, as under Resolution 1244, only the UN mission in Kosovo can organize local elections."

Allowing of the UDI by UNMIK was also a gross violation of 1244.

Come to think of it, I don't recall anything binding in the resolution that said Serbia cannot hold elections in Kosovo.

Dem:

you are right, you can trust americans when they say ,

the war in irak is ower
the talibnas in afganistan are good people (when thay whore fiting agianst russians)
sadam hussien was a good man when fiting the iranians(guess where he bought hes wepons from)
bill clinton did not have sexual relations with that woman , miss lewinsky.

you are so right

Strange comments from the pro-Serbia camp.

UNMIK doesn't recognise the Serbian local elections, just as it does not recognise Kosova's UDI (individual states do, but that's a different matter). UNMIK did nothing to prevent Kosova's UDI, and did nothing to prevent Serbian local elections. Just as it should be, in both cases.

I guess it's a day off for the Albanians today since the amount of useless mindless nationalism for this column is higher than regular today.

Ahmet, Doni, thanks for the gratuitous comedy.

Clearly the leadership of UNMIK in Kosovo is violating UNSC 1244 by NOT organizing the local elections which was requested by the Serbian government. They’ve also blocked the return of Serbian police to Kosovo among many other things (Standard Before Status anyone?). I don’t think I need to mention the support of the “Kosova” government’s parallel institutions by the current UNMIK leadership.

The obvious solution is a change in UNMIK leadership so that they respect the conditions laid out in Resolution 1244. If the current leadership of UNMIK is being influenced by the will of Western countries instead of the UNSC, then criminal proceedings should be started.

It should not be the responsibility of the appointed official who runs UNMIK to interrupt what UNSC 1244 says, its his job to carry out the will of the UNSC, not tell them what they said.

Its time to clean up UNMIK and get some leadership in there that is willing to enforce 1244 in a neutral manner. They should be neither Pro-Serb nor Pro-Albanian, but Pro-UN.

The “West’s” plan for Kosovo doesn’t even have the support of 2/3 of the UNSC, not alone a unanimous decision as is required. The general assembly has even less support for Kosovo’s independence.

The EU is a single country, which can not by itself agree to recognize Independence there.

The EU is having an identity issue. Are they independent countries, or are they a single country? They can not be both. It is an outrage to international law to claim to be both depending on which interpretation supports the goals of the Western countries in the EU.

If the EU is merely an economic block, then it has no right to interfere in politics or claim a sphere of influence in the Balkans or raise an army.

If it is a country that can raise an army and claim a sphere of influence, they it must be viewed as a single country that requires a unified decision.

Before Serbia can consider joining the EU, these questions must be answered. What exactly is the EU and what will its future be? What will be the rights of the countries that join it? What should happen to the votes of the UK and France in the UNSC? Why should one country have two votes in the UNSC?

These are very troubling questions and without solid answers the EU itself is doomed to failure.

Kosovo is the rock upon which the EU will break unless fair and reasonable answers to these future questions on the structure of Europe are answered.

@ #13 Jan Amsterdam,

I advise you read Resolution 1244 because my friends you are out of touch with reality. Only UNMIK can call elections...period.

Doni,

You talk about uniting your supposed lands, so I dare you, come and take Tsamouria. You talk about creating a "Greater Albanian" yet Albanians don't have one modern fighter jet. Come on, try and take Tsamouria, give the Greeks an excuse to liberate the Greek minority in Northern Epirus, where you've been terrorizing Greeks for years.

And as for American support, it will do you little good. Greece said "no" to America in Bucharest, it said "no" to America in '99, and it said "no" to America on recognizing Kosovo. We have the E.U. and we have Russia supporting us diplomatically. I love the Serbs, but we are not them; we are strong diplomatically and economically. We will not be pushed around and trust me when I tell you, if you do try to start a war with us, the United States will not bomb Greece to save you. The Greek lobby in the U.S. is far too powerful and large to allow that.

Jan,

Thank you for making my point.

The EU is not what it was originally intended anymore. They claim to be one thing, as you describe, yet act in a completely contradictory manner.

“Clubs” do not engage in military adventures, claim sphere’s of influence over specific regions, etc.

Its more than a club, yet less than a country. As an entity in its current form it can not survive. It needs radical reform yet is unable to reach even the most basic consensus on adopting a constitution. It will most certainly fail like the Articles of Confederation here in the US without major changes.

The whole Kosovo issue has damaged the EU more than anyone else. It has highlighted its weakness and inability to solve regional issues.

Not reaching a compromise solution with Serbia, while pushing her away will doom the future of the EU. The EU can only claim the Balkans with their support, any other actions to integrate the region by force would be viewed as conquest by many in the world.

"...sooner we will unite, there is no Albania without Kosova and Cameria. Freely and democratically they cannot stop us uniting. Free Presheva valley."

Your arrogance is laughable.

You have no power.

The West determines what you do now and what you will do in the future.

to alex from athens.
you tent to ask albanians to come and take Cameria,
how are you going to protect it, same as you protected north cyprus 30 odd years ago... by the time you woken up most of the turkish army had already lended in your so called brave country, all talk no action

Some of you Albanians really do live in a fantasy land. It is a well-established fact that the Greek lobby in the United States is influential; because of its influence Turkey was embargoed for 8 years following the invasion of Cyprus, and much of the news about the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the U.S. Congress is in fact being pushed by AHEPA, the leading Greek-American political lobby. The illegal invasion of Cyprus in '74 catalyzed the formation of a political lobby, and it has accomplished much in the 35 years since.

Greece has a modern European army, navy, and air force which can easily protect it from the likes of Albania and Albanian terrorists. Greece is equipped with the latest American, European, and Russian weapons. What is Albania equipped with? Or the Kosovar Albanians? Certainly not F-16s, Mirage 2000s, or S-300s. And for all you smart Albanians who will ask what good this did in 1974, let me preempt your stupidity here and tell you that Greece's armed forces were not modernized then, and, Greece was under a dictatorship which was highly unpopular with its people, and was overthrown directly after the fiasco on Cyprus.

The better question all you Albanians should be asking is the situation you would be in if the United States didn't save you from the Serbians. The Greeks can and will defend themselves, as numerous incidents in the past 20 years in the Aegean and in the Balkans have shown.

To Alex from Athens.

Alex we have been fighting for thousand of years, with Greeks, Turks, Serbians and other nations who felt superior. We didn't fight because we wanted but because we didn't have a choice, and we survived. Albanians paid the bigest price in europian History. Now, is different time, the world has changed drastically, the communism era has ended. The world is much better then before because of sacrifice of people from all around the world that fought for one purpose FREEDOM, and fortunately Albanians were generator of Democracy and Freedom in Ballkans and Europe. Now you understand why we are in a better position, we are more trusted because our goal was never to invade other countries, our goal was to live free in our land. Economically you are stronger but never politically, and this is just begining for us, you like it or not we are and will always be a factor. The war has ended for us, we just want the same rights for Albanians people in Greece and everywhere else they live. Stop feeling superior towards others because it's waste of time and embarrasing. Except others the way they are because in the end we are all human beings.

(Alex from Athens, 12 May 2008 23:03)

Here we go again, Greece this Greece that.
It sounds like kids stories (my daddy can beat up your daddy; my daddy has more money than your daddy...).
I am still doubtful of your age Alex.

to alex...


i still dont know what are you on about....34yrs have passed and still Turkey has northen cyprus....and frankly i dont think that you will be able to get it back, simply because your modern army is not as modern as you might think