“Peace in Kosovo vital for whole region”

The reality on the ground is different than the reality in the beautiful, posh chair. True story follows.

Scene: Kosovska Mitrovica, sorry, Mitrovicë part. French military base entrance, time: about 10 PM, it's dark.

A car approaches the French, turns into the base. High beams off, the driver asks:

"Hi, do you know, where is the highway towards Belgrade?"

Answer:

"???? /some French/???? (shocked reaction)". They don't speak English. Of course, they don't speak German, any slavic language either. I am afraid, Albanian will be also a major problem"

Finally someone with extremely limited English comes out. (A janitor in PS or BG has a better English, but oh, well, that's what we have, better than nothing)

First question (after seeing a blue passport with one-headed eagle, probably world's most famous passport design): "Are you Serb"

(At that point I wanted to give a Nobel prize for that question, but all I had was 1200 Dinars and 20 Euro, not enough for the prize)

Slowly. slowly they realized: if there is a standard country sign on the car which reads "USA", than it's maybe not "SRB". It was a valid point. So they decided (finally), the driver of the car is not Serb. But what country can it be? After some consideration, they continued in (bad) English, still not sure what "USA" does mean.

At the end I did find the road. But I could not get rid of the thougt, a Nobel prize would be justified. Specially, that average "Jovan/Gjon the Plumber" usually not just guessed the country properly, but even asked intelligent questions in much better English. And these morons should be the ones who supposed to teach Jovan and Gjon?

Sorry, this is the "reality on the ground". :(

"...Sejdiu praised the Alliance’s contribution to stability in the province."

Really dear B92, did he? ..in the province, yeah?
Your statements in passing, as a matter of course like "province" from time to time turn out to be diametral against reality. In these moments serb people shocked by facts go out on the streets burn down embassies, McDonald's and bosnian Mosques in Belgrade or Podgorica.
By the way, is calling Kosovo -province- conform to serbian formality? I mean did Serbia ever invented the autonomous province status to Kosovo again after taking it away in 1989? Then it shouldn't be called province anyway, since it is either Core-Serbia without provincial status or Republik of Kosovo.

ha-ha Ataman,
Are U SRB?
(veki, 21 October 2008 22:43)

Not even remotely. But since there is an eagle on the passport and the passport is blue, for French guys I did qualify as "Serb".

I do not know, why does NATO send IQ-challenged personal to KosMet because usually Albanians or Serbs immediately approach me in English (based on car's license plates) and the most common question is "did you ship the car in container over the ocean?" ("yes"). That means, Jovan/Gjon the Plumber knows, there is "USA" and that there is even an ocean in-between and cars don't swim. 99.99% of Jovans/Gjons than ask "how you managed to insure the car here?", so that means, they know, there is a logistic problem to be solved because American insurance is not valid in Europe. These questions are being asked in Belgrade, in Raska, at car wash facility in Mitrovicë (i.e. Albanian part), in Pec/Peja on the street and so on.

In order to send to KosMet people, who cannot recognize American license plates and obligatory country sign "USA" on the back of the car - there should be a special negative selection process and anyone with positive IQ will not qualify.

I am saying it because there were numerous complains about KFOR. Now I am kind of thinking, it's the lack of basic intelligence rather than any bias. Maybe no conspiracy, just some in KFOR are merely dumb beyond imagination.

Dear Ataman,
Why didn't you "convince" the people there, that Kosovo is Serbia, since it is so obvious to you...

Dear Ataman,
Why didn't you "convince" the people there, that Kosovo is Serbia, since it is so obvious to you...
(Osman (in the bathroom again), 21 October 2008 18:11)

Whom? The French? First job would be to convince them, USA is USA.

Otherwise I have no problem with Kosovo as a stand-alone entity, call it "independent country" - if it meets certain criteria. As far as I see, the foreign morons or some people who sit in expensive chairs don't do anything what would Kosovo to meet that criteria. But they love to play with the words like "Supervised independence" which is an oxymoron.

The problem with all that is, once Kosovo and Serbia does meet the criteria, there would be no sense for them to be separate entities. Than I ask, why all the hoopla? It's a very expensive experiment with no benefit, just increased tensions.

ha-ha Ataman,
Are U SRB?
Once I was asked in Switzerland if I was a SRB and I said no I am Muslim from Belgrade, and they asked me to show my passport then. Then my boyfriend told them to stop with their ridiculous questions as they are not policemen. Then they attacked him.
Very nice people indeed.
And,
yeah sure, by 'peace' US mean assured flourishing environment for the Camp Bondsteel military base. So they'll do anything to assure the 'peace' in Kosovo.

There can be no peace in Kosovo if the Serbs are denied their houses, yards, schools, churches, businesses, and cemeteries.

Is 2008, and when I think back about `90 I wonder as to how could Milosevic brainwash the whole country? Here we are a decade later and the same thing is happening, the new generation still belives in fairytales, I know that Serbia is not ready as yet to deal with their past, however you can not move forward until that happens.

I read comments over and over from Peggy, the educated Ataman, ZK UK etc, and is not difficult to see their anger and hate for us Albanians, they truly believe that there is a conspiracy against serbian nation, all you have to do is look back from 1990 and try to come to terms with what you have done.
Country can not say it wasent us, you can not blame everything to the previous lidership you are still the same people accept that you were brainwashed and cought in the bloodthirsty euphoria of Milosevic years, apologise and only then you will be able to move forward and get on with your lives.

"I read comments over and over from Peggy, the educated Ataman, ZK UK etc, and is not difficult to see their anger and hate for us Albanians, they truly believe that there is a conspiracy against serbian nation, all you have to do is look back from 1990 and try to come to terms with what you have done."

Agim,

No one hates Albanians, neither do I. I have some wonderful Albanian friends from Albania itself, Djakovica, Pristina and Belgrade. Their hospitality is second to none let me tell you.

What I do hate are the extreemists on all sides who spread hatred and intolerance towards the other group. A look into your statement reads of mistrust towards your Serbian countrymen. You blame Serbs for all the ills. I think Agim, you should sit back and look at yourselves because as far as I can see, you lot are as much to blame for the current mess as Slobo.

I know what it feels like. I'm Irish and when things go bad or if i'm looking for someone to blame for the wrongs in Irish history & politics, its easy blame the British without saying, "hey hang on a sec, we did nasty things too and we should accept the blame for the whats happened".

Its only until then will you realise that there are 2 sides to everything.

Gezuar.

P.S. I'm off to Albania next year for hols. Looking forward to it already.

there will be no peace as long as the K-albanians claim serbian territory to be theirs and even try to justify that with nonsense-theories about illyrian-descent...

as for Agim: it´s just one of the usual tactics here, to write cynical remarks about the Serbs believing in "conspiracies"...

fact is: there is foreign interest directed against the serbian sovereignty. whoever denies that, is either stupid or malevolent...

but as long as Serbia and the serbian nation exists, this won´t be over.

that´s what our friends in Priština, as well as in Washington will definitely learn in the future.

To Niall O'Doherty,


Niall, please first of all let me thank you for your expert input on the serb-albanian relations.

There is only on thing mate are you an Irish or Serb as you tend to be an expert on both parts of the world,
Nail mate, spare me the expert talk on albo-serb relations, as unless you were born and raised in Kosovo frankly you have no clue, I might be wrong but as far as i know the irish problems are mainly religious, while our problems are slightly different, and religion has nothing to do with it, not in albo side anyway, and dont forget that am born and raised in Kosovo, and this might make you laugh but im not extermist either im just telling it as it is.

"...Sejdiu praised the Alliance’s contribution to stability in the province."

Really dear B92, did he? ..in the province, yeah?
Your statements in passing, as a matter of course like "province" from time to time turn out to be diametral against reality. In these moments serb people shocked by facts go out on the streets burn down embassies, McDonald's and bosnian Mosques in Belgrade or Podgorica.
By the way, is calling Kosovo -province- conform to serbian formality? I mean did Serbia ever invented the autonomous province status to Kosovo again after taking it away in 1989? Then it shouldn't be called province anyway, since it is either Core-Serbia without provincial status or Republik of Kosovo.

Dear Ataman,
Why didn't you "convince" the people there, that Kosovo is Serbia, since it is so obvious to you...

The reality on the ground is different than the reality in the beautiful, posh chair. True story follows.

Scene: Kosovska Mitrovica, sorry, Mitrovicë part. French military base entrance, time: about 10 PM, it's dark.

A car approaches the French, turns into the base. High beams off, the driver asks:

"Hi, do you know, where is the highway towards Belgrade?"

Answer:

"???? /some French/???? (shocked reaction)". They don't speak English. Of course, they don't speak German, any slavic language either. I am afraid, Albanian will be also a major problem"

Finally someone with extremely limited English comes out. (A janitor in PS or BG has a better English, but oh, well, that's what we have, better than nothing)

First question (after seeing a blue passport with one-headed eagle, probably world's most famous passport design): "Are you Serb"

(At that point I wanted to give a Nobel prize for that question, but all I had was 1200 Dinars and 20 Euro, not enough for the prize)

Slowly. slowly they realized: if there is a standard country sign on the car which reads "USA", than it's maybe not "SRB". It was a valid point. So they decided (finally), the driver of the car is not Serb. But what country can it be? After some consideration, they continued in (bad) English, still not sure what "USA" does mean.

At the end I did find the road. But I could not get rid of the thougt, a Nobel prize would be justified. Specially, that average "Jovan/Gjon the Plumber" usually not just guessed the country properly, but even asked intelligent questions in much better English. And these morons should be the ones who supposed to teach Jovan and Gjon?

Sorry, this is the "reality on the ground". :(

Dear Ataman,
Why didn't you "convince" the people there, that Kosovo is Serbia, since it is so obvious to you...
(Osman (in the bathroom again), 21 October 2008 18:11)

Whom? The French? First job would be to convince them, USA is USA.

Otherwise I have no problem with Kosovo as a stand-alone entity, call it "independent country" - if it meets certain criteria. As far as I see, the foreign morons or some people who sit in expensive chairs don't do anything what would Kosovo to meet that criteria. But they love to play with the words like "Supervised independence" which is an oxymoron.

The problem with all that is, once Kosovo and Serbia does meet the criteria, there would be no sense for them to be separate entities. Than I ask, why all the hoopla? It's a very expensive experiment with no benefit, just increased tensions.

ha-ha Ataman,
Are U SRB?
Once I was asked in Switzerland if I was a SRB and I said no I am Muslim from Belgrade, and they asked me to show my passport then. Then my boyfriend told them to stop with their ridiculous questions as they are not policemen. Then they attacked him.
Very nice people indeed.
And,
yeah sure, by 'peace' US mean assured flourishing environment for the Camp Bondsteel military base. So they'll do anything to assure the 'peace' in Kosovo.

ha-ha Ataman,
Are U SRB?
(veki, 21 October 2008 22:43)

Not even remotely. But since there is an eagle on the passport and the passport is blue, for French guys I did qualify as "Serb".

I do not know, why does NATO send IQ-challenged personal to KosMet because usually Albanians or Serbs immediately approach me in English (based on car's license plates) and the most common question is "did you ship the car in container over the ocean?" ("yes"). That means, Jovan/Gjon the Plumber knows, there is "USA" and that there is even an ocean in-between and cars don't swim. 99.99% of Jovans/Gjons than ask "how you managed to insure the car here?", so that means, they know, there is a logistic problem to be solved because American insurance is not valid in Europe. These questions are being asked in Belgrade, in Raska, at car wash facility in Mitrovicë (i.e. Albanian part), in Pec/Peja on the street and so on.

In order to send to KosMet people, who cannot recognize American license plates and obligatory country sign "USA" on the back of the car - there should be a special negative selection process and anyone with positive IQ will not qualify.

I am saying it because there were numerous complains about KFOR. Now I am kind of thinking, it's the lack of basic intelligence rather than any bias. Maybe no conspiracy, just some in KFOR are merely dumb beyond imagination.

There can be no peace in Kosovo if the Serbs are denied their houses, yards, schools, churches, businesses, and cemeteries.

Is 2008, and when I think back about `90 I wonder as to how could Milosevic brainwash the whole country? Here we are a decade later and the same thing is happening, the new generation still belives in fairytales, I know that Serbia is not ready as yet to deal with their past, however you can not move forward until that happens.

I read comments over and over from Peggy, the educated Ataman, ZK UK etc, and is not difficult to see their anger and hate for us Albanians, they truly believe that there is a conspiracy against serbian nation, all you have to do is look back from 1990 and try to come to terms with what you have done.
Country can not say it wasent us, you can not blame everything to the previous lidership you are still the same people accept that you were brainwashed and cought in the bloodthirsty euphoria of Milosevic years, apologise and only then you will be able to move forward and get on with your lives.

"I read comments over and over from Peggy, the educated Ataman, ZK UK etc, and is not difficult to see their anger and hate for us Albanians, they truly believe that there is a conspiracy against serbian nation, all you have to do is look back from 1990 and try to come to terms with what you have done."

Agim,

No one hates Albanians, neither do I. I have some wonderful Albanian friends from Albania itself, Djakovica, Pristina and Belgrade. Their hospitality is second to none let me tell you.

What I do hate are the extreemists on all sides who spread hatred and intolerance towards the other group. A look into your statement reads of mistrust towards your Serbian countrymen. You blame Serbs for all the ills. I think Agim, you should sit back and look at yourselves because as far as I can see, you lot are as much to blame for the current mess as Slobo.

I know what it feels like. I'm Irish and when things go bad or if i'm looking for someone to blame for the wrongs in Irish history & politics, its easy blame the British without saying, "hey hang on a sec, we did nasty things too and we should accept the blame for the whats happened".

Its only until then will you realise that there are 2 sides to everything.

Gezuar.

P.S. I'm off to Albania next year for hols. Looking forward to it already.

there will be no peace as long as the K-albanians claim serbian territory to be theirs and even try to justify that with nonsense-theories about illyrian-descent...

as for Agim: it´s just one of the usual tactics here, to write cynical remarks about the Serbs believing in "conspiracies"...

fact is: there is foreign interest directed against the serbian sovereignty. whoever denies that, is either stupid or malevolent...

but as long as Serbia and the serbian nation exists, this won´t be over.

that´s what our friends in Priština, as well as in Washington will definitely learn in the future.

To Niall O'Doherty,


Niall, please first of all let me thank you for your expert input on the serb-albanian relations.

There is only on thing mate are you an Irish or Serb as you tend to be an expert on both parts of the world,
Nail mate, spare me the expert talk on albo-serb relations, as unless you were born and raised in Kosovo frankly you have no clue, I might be wrong but as far as i know the irish problems are mainly religious, while our problems are slightly different, and religion has nothing to do with it, not in albo side anyway, and dont forget that am born and raised in Kosovo, and this might make you laugh but im not extermist either im just telling it as it is.