Tensions in Kosovo over house construction

“Albanian Ali Kadrio plans to rebuild two of his homes located in Brdo, but Serbs oppose the move.”

The same thing happens when displaced Bosnian Catholics and Muslims try to return to their homes in eastern Bosnia’s Repubublika Srpska.

Sadly, the Greater Serbian exclusivist/supremacist ideology is still very alive today...

Leicester is a possible model and solution for Mitrovica. The town was recently declared the most ethnically mixed town in Britain, where every single ethnic group, including the English, are comforted by the fact that they are not alone in being a minority. So the solution for Mitrovica would be would be to declare the town open to all displaced Roma, Turks Bosnians and Gorani, and encourage an overpopulation of the place. As a final act of this future model of harmony and coexistence, introduce English pies as a demonstrative act of tolerance to bad foreign food.

B92 a slight correction, gentlemen’s name must be Ali Kadriu.
Congratulation though on your current move to drop the Serbian spelling of the Albanian names.
Little things like that make such a difference.

Village-bey,

Go to Belgrade, Novi Sad, Subotica, Novi Pazar and Nis you will see Turks, Gorani, Bosniaks, Roma and Serbs living side by side. In my friend's village near Belgrade, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Magyars, Slovaks, Germans, Jews etc. all live with no problems. One Sunday I went to the Croatian mass and the following Wednesday had confession with a Hungarian priest. (Please note that I'm not a good practicing Catholic but go every now and again to stay on the safe side)

Serbs dont give a damn who their neighbours are and generally will often mention with pride their non Serb neighbours. However in the case of Mitrovica and Bosnia, what Serbs are saying is that they have no problem with others reclaiming their houses yet when they try to reclaim theres they are blocked.

Mr Rexhepi should reciprocate and allow Serbs to settle on his own patch. Why is it that the Serbs are expected to accomodate Albanians yet its the Albanians who refuse point blank to accomodate Serbs.

Give and take or is compromise and tolerance absent from your dictionaries

village-bey,

Leicester could only be a possible and I would say excellent model for Pristina, not for Mitrovica. Mitrovica is way to small town to take so many people, thus Pristina as the capital city of Kosovo province may accommodate so many people and offer its hand in that direction. For the start, all Serbs and other non-Serbs should be given back their property stolen by the K-Albanians and illegal immigrants from Albania that moved in Kosovo after the war in 1999.

Let’s begin making multi-ethnic society in the South of the Ibar River, shall we? Northern part is already multi-ethnic, including Albanians living over there, but no Serb live in Southern part.

"Leicester is a possible model and solution for Mitrovica"

Is that so...

I heard that there are so many Albanians in Leicester that they plan to claim independence and call it "LeicesterA"...

Nenad Topličević, said that Serbs in the town did not want any problems with the Kosovo Albanians, but that there had still been no answer from the group of 350 Serbs who had asked to be allowed to return to their homes in the southern part of town, inhabited exclusively by ethnic Albanians.
--
Inhabited exclusively by Albanians? We can't say the same for the North.

Wonder why the 350 Serbs are not allowed to go back to Southern Mitrovica? Didn't Thaci recently mention giving this Albanian €10,000 to repair his house in the North? Why the special treatment? It's quite obvious this matter has been politicised so once those 350 Serbians can return and each receive their €10,000 from Pristina to repair their houses then perhaps we can talk.

You only have to visit Belgrade to see a functioning multi-ethnic community at peace. I talk and do business with people from everywhere - Albanians and Croatians included.

Serbs should have the same legal rights as Albanians, this link is a must read http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7534256.stm

Clear provocation by albans. Really he wants to build a house? How come there is no Serbs in S. Mitrovica?

Adriano,

The flat that used to rent as a student in Pristina was occupied by the Albanian family from Albania (which had no any links to Kosovo at all) just after the war ended. They are not K-Albanians but Albanians from Albania. This information I got from my very dear K-Albanian neighbour. I presumed then that this was not an isolated case. Afterwards, according to some UNMIK and KFOR data it turned out that actually mass illegal immigration have occurred during the 1999. I used to work for KFOR in Kosovo, so I have some information in regard to illegal immigration by the Albanians from Albania.

However, UNMIK and KFOR decided to ignore this fact and kept it as a "secret", meaning that no actual steps were taken in order to find those illegal immigrants and deport them back to Albania . But this was not any secret to anyone since this fact was very well known in Kosovo and people were very well aware of it.

I have been to Serbia many times and I have many friends there from all nationalities, Serbs and Albanians alike.
(Niall O'Doherty, 19 November 2008 16:26)

Agron makes a valid point.
Kosova Serbs like Biljana would find it difficult to adjust to the new political landscape. For no fault of their own they were placed in an unsustainable position where they had a hold on all leverages of power. Only in 1998 Serbs students of Prishtina University were among the most vocal opponents of the education agreement that would have brought back Albanian students into the institution.
It would be a massive leap forward for anyone who within the cycle of 15 years went from having Arkan as their elected representative, into accepting the legitimacy of the new Kosovar state. But not all is lost as long as there are brave men on both sides who try to build bridges.

Open up a map, and to your surprise england does not border albania.
(Adriano, 19 November 2008 14:37)
--
You are a bit behind the times Adriano. Once the Albanians are finished with Serbia, FYROM, Montenegro and Greece they intend to make New York (aka Newa Yorka) an Albanian state. Didn't you hear? They found 12,000 year old Illirian fossils and pottery there!

I don't see a problem with this man rebiulding his homes. This shouldn't be used as a chance to highlight the problems of those who cannot return to Southern part of Mitrovica.
Bad Gorilla, Greater Serbian exclusivist/supremacists ideology is not limited to Serbs only, as you can see from Emma's link.
And not only in Kosovo.
Serbs are preventing Muslims and Croats in Bosnia to reclaim their homes?
What about other way around?

http://www.unhcr.org/publ/PUBL/3b812bc35.html

UNHCR publication.

"An angry mob broke into Mile Marceta’s mayoral office several months ago, dragged him from the building and beat him to a pulp with wooden staves, ashtrays and bricks."

And

"Though they had comprised 97 percent of the town’s population before the war, the region is now dominated by Croat nationalists determined to keep the region ethnically pure."

"Early last year, Croat nationalists decided enough was enough and launched an intimidation campaign – murdering two elderly Serb returnees in their beds, torching dozens of Serb owned houses..."

Read the link, read Emma's link and say it for at least ones, that Albanians or Croats are exclusivists/supremacists too.

I totally agree with Village-bey.

Niall O'Doherty
I bet you never been in them places.
(avi, 19 November 2008 13:39

I have been to Serbia many times and I have many friends there from all nationalities, Serbs and Albanians alike.

From what you have indicated from your ill informed comment, YOU have never been to the places that I have mentioned either.

I can take you to Sunday mass in Novi Banovici. Have your pick, Hungarian, Croatian, Slovak or Slovenian services. I can take you to see a Jewish acquintance in Belgrade. A Slovenian or Hungarian shop, a Bosniak cafe. The Yugoslav Muslim Friendship society in Zemun which acts as an unofficial get together group for the Bosniak expat community in Belgrade and also organises trips to the Middle East (Haj included). We can also take a trip to Novi Sad where the council conducts business in 6 different languages. I can also accompany you to Sandzak where we can drink sweet Bosnian tea or coffee and round it off by spending the evening with my old Bulgarian classmate's family in Pirot.

Oh! I forgot to mention there's a restaurant near the city centre, the Metropolitan (I think), there's a Macedonian guy who works in there who makes the best baclava that I have ever tasted. Dont know if he's still there. and we can take a trip to Josip Broz's (Tito's grandson) restaurant as well.

Everyone in Kosovo should have a right to return to his/her property regardless of ethnicity or geography. While these protests in northern Kosovo are being shaped around lack of building permit, I doubt the Serbs would be that upset if it were a Serb family moving in. Likewise, any Serb wishing to return to his/her home in central and southern Kosovo has an unconditional right to do so as well, but I can hardly think they'll be welcome by the local Albanians. So, if there are Serbs who wish to move into Southern Mitrovica, I certainly hope that Mr. Rexhepi, who is very vocal about Albanians moving where they want, would be just as forceful in encouraging Serbs to move as well.

I totally agree with Village-bey.

Niall O'Doherty
I bet you never been in them places.

Are we conveniently forgetting that it is a Kosovo state law that all displaced Kosovo Serbs can return to Kosovo? The Kosovo government in a partnership with various international organizations actually has offices for this to happen and it is happening. From what I have gathered the main problem for many returnees has been obstructionism from Belgrade. Many Serbs have returned but I do believe that more needs to be done about helping this happen from both sides. For Kosovo, they need to implement those laws more fervently and make it even more clear that they will provide total security for the displaced Serbs and make them feel welcome. For Belgrade, they just need to stop interfering in this issue and work for the people in this issue and help as well the people to return.

Now I know that many Serbs are now comfortable in Serbia and do not want to return to Kosovo. Something should be done so that they at least get some compensation for their lands.

The same goes with Albanians, nobody should have the right to stop people from rebuilding their homes in whatever region.

All should for once and for all forget about trying to form ethnically "pure" regions and try to partition Kosovo in this way. Let the EULEX courts function in all of Kosovo and let them decide all of these cases on a per person basis. The people need to move on please.

Biljana Milosavljevic

what illegal immigration?
dont you remember that the war made more than a million kosovars move from their own lands to neighbouring montenegro albania and macedonia? and others were flown to other countrys?
Wouldnt that mean that albania would have less people living there because of the immigration to kosovo? And why would anybody immigrate there if others are leaving it?

Genevieve:

Open up a map, and to your surprise england does not border albania.
Neither does the autonomous sorboi in south western germany border serbia.

Can people provide proof or a link next time they make ridiculous statements like that. By both sides or even neutral ones.

Would this people still be complain about someones hous if they offered this so called "autonomy" or just put him in jail or even worst make it the 10001th death that didnt get punished?

well then the serbs could build their homes in kosovo and all Serbs to return to Croatia with their homes built, and get paid for their expulsion, and in Bosnia then we could talk.

The reason the Serbs are not back in southern Mitrovica is becouse they can only live as rulers and they can not live as a minority wich they are.The Serbs wana rule two million Albanians?I dont think so.They have to accept the fact that they are a minority and always have been. As for the comment from Biljana about immigrants from Albania i have never ever expected such wild comments, well not in the year 2008.

Jovan wrote:

the Serbs do not want to rule the K-albanians, they´ve been offered "broad autonomy" ... what is so difficult about these two words, that you do not understand???
(Jovan, 20 November 2008 00:07)


Jovan when someone dies can you bring him/her back to life?. I don't think so.

You know it very well that Milosevic took that "broad autonomy" like you're calling it about twenty years ago.

If he(milosevic) did something better for the whole people in Kosova back then perhaps Slovens wouldn't have rejected it!!.

My advice to you is that you have to support the return of 350 K-Serbs to southern Mitrovica and K-Albanians to Northern part of the town.

Ali Kadriu has every right to repair/rebuild his houses just like every citizen of Kosova.

Bad Gorlia can you explain why there are no Serbs at all in the south, and that they can't return to their homes. What does it say of their ideology, seems that Serbs has moved on and learned the most from the passed.

Since the end of the war most Albanians have returned to their homes, yet the same can't be said of the Serbian population.

What happened in Spsrka where Serb thugs prevented non-Serbs from rebuilding their houses (or visiting graves) will not happen in Kosova. Everyone go back to their homes, no stealing!!!!! You can't throw everyone out and say 'this is Serbian now', it's not, 1000 Albanian families have been moved out, they will go back in.

The Teutonic troops (Austrian and German) have been preparing for North Mitrovica for a while. Order will be restored, and if Serbian MUP cause problems, they will be arrested. Seal the border with Serbia and restore order.

Not very satisfactory respons from you Bad Gorilla. I sent you the link. It's what UNHCR were reporting, not some Serbian propaganda.
I simply wanted to hear what you think about that. Serbs protesting and disagreeing return of an Albanian to norhtern Kosovo is appearantly "exclusivist/supremacist ideology", and it is. I can agree with that.
But as you can see from that UNHCR publication Croats in Drvar (used to be 97% Serb populated before the war) were not merely protesting. Dragging an elected mayor out and beating him to a "pulp" with "wooden staves, ashtrays and bricks" is hardly a protest, isn't it? What about murdering two elderly Serb returnees in their beds, torching dozens of Serb owned houses?
How do you call that, Bad Gorilla? I don't see you call it anyhow. In fact I've never seen you call any crime against Serbs crime at all. You can only notice that Serbs prevented Croats and Muslims in Bosnia from returning, but you never have seen Croats or Muslims preventing Serbs from returning, why?
Or, Kosovo Albanians, what about them?
Isn't it true that all remaining Serbs in Pristina were placed in a single building dubbed "Yugoslavia" and under Swedish guard 24/7? Measure was necessary according to UNMIK to enhance security. Gathered in one building made it easier to guard it. Isn't it true that this building went up in flames when it was attacked by an angry mob in March 2004? Swedes managed to bus all the tenants out safely, leaving Pristina without a single Serb there.
How do you call that, Bad Gorilla? Any names for that? You just can't bring yourself to say it, can you.
You have to keep repeating the story so popular in the Balkan in last 2 decades.
Serbs are exclusivists, supremacists, and who knows what else, fascists, etc. Monsters, to put it simply, surrounded by peaceful, tolerant democrats and human rights fighters.
That's why when the Serb kills Albanian child it's a childkiller (I agree).
But, when Albanian kills Serbian child, and I ask you what he is then, you will never name him as a childkiller. You can't.
Like in the example above. What is it in Drvar, Bad Gorilla?
You don't say it. I can't see you saying supremacist ideology, or whatever.

"What I know is that today.." is your answer.

@ZK

I think it is high time that Serbs change the Albanized name of their land Serbia and move to a new name - Serbio.

Adriano asked Biljana to provide some links for her claims about Albanians from Albania moving into Kosovo after the 1999 war.
Amnesty International estimated that between 180.000 and 200.000 Albanian Albanians moved into Kosovo after 1999 war, obtaining Kosovo's ID's and other documents.
Most of those moved toward other countries since, but they some 80.000 are still believed to be in Kosovo living in Serb homes.
I searched for the link that I've seen, but unfortunatelly couldn't find one.
I found this however, by London's Daily Mail, written in June 2007.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-462118/Crackdown-Albanians-lied-fleeing-Kosovo-war.html

"The reason the Serbs are not back in southern Mitrovica is becouse they can only live as rulers and they can not live as a minority wich they are.The Serbs wana rule two million Albanians?I dont think so.They have to accept the fact that they are a minority and always have been. November 2008 16:33)"

intersting.


Agron, my dear, first of all: the Serbs can´t be a minority on their very own territory. you are the minority. but if you haven´t undertood that until now, I doubt you will ever understand it...

secondly: the Serbs do not want to rule the K-albanians, they´ve been offered "broad autonomy" ... what is so difficult about these two words, that you do not understand???

@Benny - it doesn't mean a whole lot what the law says if the (oh so popular reality on the ground) tells otherwise:

http://tinyurl.com/5mwt7c

"Shooting during returnees visit to Prizren

8-10 shots were fired as Danish Refugee Council (DRC) earlier today conducted a "Go-and-See" visit of a group of Kosovo displaced Serbs to their former home in a village close to Prizren, Kosovo. The situation is under control and no persons were hit. DRC is now taking steps to further investigation of the incident."
--

Sreten

Thanks for link you posted.
I am sure, however that both K-Albanians and A-Albanians are fully aware of A-Albanians' illegal immigration to Kosovo after the war ended in june 1999. They just hate to admit it.

“Serbs are preventing Muslims and Croats in Bosnia to reclaim their homes? What about other way around?”

What I know is that today there are Orthodox-Serb majority cities in Western Bosnia’s federation. But there is no city in Eastern Bosnia’s Republika Srpska that has a non-Serb majority.

"Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe."

this is a quote from former Slave and leading abolitionist Frederick Douglass. The quote is well over a century old but it speaks to the emotions of all oppressed people throughout the Balkans-

I am afraid that until there is restitution for all the refugees of all the conflicts,these sad events will likely perpetuate into more tragedy and violence may errupt.

We must all pray for peace and justice for all refugees.

to jovan #20
why should we settle for autonomy when we have a state.long time ago Kosova had an autonomy and Serbian president decided to take that away and murder innocent people.NEVER AGAIN.We need to learn how to live with each other not spread hate amongst us but all of the serbs should forget that you can rule with Kosova again.

Give and take or is compromise and tolerance absent from your dictionaries
(Niall O'Doherty, 19 November 2008 12:45)

The other words are absent but the word take is in there alright.

Niall, it's so frustrating having to always defend your statements isn't it? You are an eye witness of good neighbourly relations in Serbia and yet they still try to find a way to tell you that you are wrong.

It's like those famous words of J.R. Ewing when he was caught in bed by his wife with someone else. He said "Darling, are you going to believe me or your lying eyes?"

Same thing here. You witness this all the time, see it with your own eyes and yet they tell you that you're wrong. So are you going to believe them or your lying eyes?

to those K-albanians who adressed me personally:

you don´t seem to get it, folks! if you had a state, you wouldn´t have some foreigners making the real decisions...

K-albanians do not have a say in southern Serbia.

it´s the foreign-occupiers who are telling you what to do.

and even if you do not like it, or even try to deny it...nevertheless, it is a fact: you are actually living in southern Serbia, UNSCR 1244 CONFIRMS it...

"Agron, my dear, first of all: the Serbs can´t be a minority on their very own territory. you are the minority."

Kosova is independent and your 'offer' was turned down! The Kosovar-Serbs or Albanian-Serbs (depends how they like to be called) are minorities, but with more rights than any minority in Europe. You may of course dream that this never happened, but it did.

“Amnesty International estimated that between 180.000 and 200.000 Albanian Albanians moved into Kosovo after 1999 war, obtaining Kosovo's ID's and other documents.
Most of those moved toward other countries since, but they some 80.000 are still believed to be in Kosovo living in Serb homes.
I searched for the link that I've seen, but unfortunatelly couldn't find one.
I found this however, by London's Daily Mail, written in June 2007.”

To Sreten:
For the first time in my life I am hearing something like that which is at the same time very ridiculous since as an Albanian from Albania I know no single person who have moved into Kosovo and has got for free a home there. It is true that after the war in 1999 many people from Albania went in Kosovo only as temporary workers for the international organizations (our current FM was one of them) but none of them became citizen of Kosovo with ID card or property free. The fact that not even single source of information exist means very clear that this kind of presumption presented above is just a falsification. The only source of information could be the Czechs propagandistic documentary “stolen Kosovo”.

As for the link that u provided let me tell something about it. I don’t know what the hell has to do the picture in there with Albanians fleeing Kosovo. The picture dates back in 1991 in the town of Vlora just after the fall of communism. We are well aware that a lot of Albanian from Albania or living in Europe claimed to be Kosovo Albanian only to easily obtain documents for living in UK. However there is a huge difference between obtaining Kosovo ID card and residing permission as Kosovo Albanian in UK. Of course in case they were tracked for not being genuine they all were sent back in Albania and our government offered support for UK government in order to provide identity information for each suspicious. But in no way anyone declared as Kosovo Albanian went back in Kosovo in order to obtain ID card or homes for free since in their supposed living places everybody knows each other and it would be very easy to pick out who is who. I am very sorry that this issue is still discussed today for propaganda purposes. As far as I know there are many Kosovo Albanians or Albanians from Macedonia who live and work in Albania but not vice versa.

Sreten with all due respect, if Daily Mail is all you got to sustain your argument of the recent migration of Albanians from Albania to Kosova, I think you are on another sinking ship yet again. The fact that you could not point out to a single reputable source to support your claim is highly significant.
The Daily Mail article points towards a totally separate issue, namely migration of Albanians from Republic of Albania to Britain. There is no denying that throughout 1990s and in order to attain political asylum many registered as Kosovars. How does that equates to people moving from Albania to Kosovo is beyond me. Maybe you are arguing that people initially people moved from Albania to Kosovo to have a real taste for Milosevic’s regime and then from there to Britain.
The only significant population movement from Albania to Kosova in recent times was that of a few Montenegrin villages of Vrake North Albania, but they were not Albanians but Montenegrins. Loathed by Kosovars and used my Milosevic many of them returned to Vrake after their short spell in the heaven that was and is Kosova.

“Albanian Ali Kadrio plans to rebuild two of his homes located in Brdo, but Serbs oppose the move.”

The same thing happens when displaced Bosnian Catholics and Muslims try to return to their homes in eastern Bosnia’s Repubublika Srpska.

Sadly, the Greater Serbian exclusivist/supremacist ideology is still very alive today...

village-bey,

Leicester could only be a possible and I would say excellent model for Pristina, not for Mitrovica. Mitrovica is way to small town to take so many people, thus Pristina as the capital city of Kosovo province may accommodate so many people and offer its hand in that direction. For the start, all Serbs and other non-Serbs should be given back their property stolen by the K-Albanians and illegal immigrants from Albania that moved in Kosovo after the war in 1999.

Let’s begin making multi-ethnic society in the South of the Ibar River, shall we? Northern part is already multi-ethnic, including Albanians living over there, but no Serb live in Southern part.

Village-bey,

Go to Belgrade, Novi Sad, Subotica, Novi Pazar and Nis you will see Turks, Gorani, Bosniaks, Roma and Serbs living side by side. In my friend's village near Belgrade, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Magyars, Slovaks, Germans, Jews etc. all live with no problems. One Sunday I went to the Croatian mass and the following Wednesday had confession with a Hungarian priest. (Please note that I'm not a good practicing Catholic but go every now and again to stay on the safe side)

Serbs dont give a damn who their neighbours are and generally will often mention with pride their non Serb neighbours. However in the case of Mitrovica and Bosnia, what Serbs are saying is that they have no problem with others reclaiming their houses yet when they try to reclaim theres they are blocked.

Mr Rexhepi should reciprocate and allow Serbs to settle on his own patch. Why is it that the Serbs are expected to accomodate Albanians yet its the Albanians who refuse point blank to accomodate Serbs.

Give and take or is compromise and tolerance absent from your dictionaries

Biljana Milosavljevic

what illegal immigration?
dont you remember that the war made more than a million kosovars move from their own lands to neighbouring montenegro albania and macedonia? and others were flown to other countrys?
Wouldnt that mean that albania would have less people living there because of the immigration to kosovo? And why would anybody immigrate there if others are leaving it?

Genevieve:

Open up a map, and to your surprise england does not border albania.
Neither does the autonomous sorboi in south western germany border serbia.

Can people provide proof or a link next time they make ridiculous statements like that. By both sides or even neutral ones.

Would this people still be complain about someones hous if they offered this so called "autonomy" or just put him in jail or even worst make it the 10001th death that didnt get punished?

"Leicester is a possible model and solution for Mitrovica"

Is that so...

I heard that there are so many Albanians in Leicester that they plan to claim independence and call it "LeicesterA"...

Open up a map, and to your surprise england does not border albania.
(Adriano, 19 November 2008 14:37)
--
You are a bit behind the times Adriano. Once the Albanians are finished with Serbia, FYROM, Montenegro and Greece they intend to make New York (aka Newa Yorka) an Albanian state. Didn't you hear? They found 12,000 year old Illirian fossils and pottery there!

What happened in Spsrka where Serb thugs prevented non-Serbs from rebuilding their houses (or visiting graves) will not happen in Kosova. Everyone go back to their homes, no stealing!!!!! You can't throw everyone out and say 'this is Serbian now', it's not, 1000 Albanian families have been moved out, they will go back in.

The Teutonic troops (Austrian and German) have been preparing for North Mitrovica for a while. Order will be restored, and if Serbian MUP cause problems, they will be arrested. Seal the border with Serbia and restore order.

Clear provocation by albans. Really he wants to build a house? How come there is no Serbs in S. Mitrovica?

I totally agree with Village-bey.

Niall O'Doherty
I bet you never been in them places.

Leicester is a possible model and solution for Mitrovica. The town was recently declared the most ethnically mixed town in Britain, where every single ethnic group, including the English, are comforted by the fact that they are not alone in being a minority. So the solution for Mitrovica would be would be to declare the town open to all displaced Roma, Turks Bosnians and Gorani, and encourage an overpopulation of the place. As a final act of this future model of harmony and coexistence, introduce English pies as a demonstrative act of tolerance to bad foreign food.

B92 a slight correction, gentlemen’s name must be Ali Kadriu.
Congratulation though on your current move to drop the Serbian spelling of the Albanian names.
Little things like that make such a difference.

Nenad Topličević, said that Serbs in the town did not want any problems with the Kosovo Albanians, but that there had still been no answer from the group of 350 Serbs who had asked to be allowed to return to their homes in the southern part of town, inhabited exclusively by ethnic Albanians.
--
Inhabited exclusively by Albanians? We can't say the same for the North.

Wonder why the 350 Serbs are not allowed to go back to Southern Mitrovica? Didn't Thaci recently mention giving this Albanian €10,000 to repair his house in the North? Why the special treatment? It's quite obvious this matter has been politicised so once those 350 Serbians can return and each receive their €10,000 from Pristina to repair their houses then perhaps we can talk.

You only have to visit Belgrade to see a functioning multi-ethnic community at peace. I talk and do business with people from everywhere - Albanians and Croatians included.

The reason the Serbs are not back in southern Mitrovica is becouse they can only live as rulers and they can not live as a minority wich they are.The Serbs wana rule two million Albanians?I dont think so.They have to accept the fact that they are a minority and always have been. As for the comment from Biljana about immigrants from Albania i have never ever expected such wild comments, well not in the year 2008.

“Serbs are preventing Muslims and Croats in Bosnia to reclaim their homes? What about other way around?”

What I know is that today there are Orthodox-Serb majority cities in Western Bosnia’s federation. But there is no city in Eastern Bosnia’s Republika Srpska that has a non-Serb majority.

I have been to Serbia many times and I have many friends there from all nationalities, Serbs and Albanians alike.
(Niall O'Doherty, 19 November 2008 16:26)

Agron makes a valid point.
Kosova Serbs like Biljana would find it difficult to adjust to the new political landscape. For no fault of their own they were placed in an unsustainable position where they had a hold on all leverages of power. Only in 1998 Serbs students of Prishtina University were among the most vocal opponents of the education agreement that would have brought back Albanian students into the institution.
It would be a massive leap forward for anyone who within the cycle of 15 years went from having Arkan as their elected representative, into accepting the legitimacy of the new Kosovar state. But not all is lost as long as there are brave men on both sides who try to build bridges.

Serbs should have the same legal rights as Albanians, this link is a must read http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7534256.stm

Give and take or is compromise and tolerance absent from your dictionaries
(Niall O'Doherty, 19 November 2008 12:45)

The other words are absent but the word take is in there alright.

Niall, it's so frustrating having to always defend your statements isn't it? You are an eye witness of good neighbourly relations in Serbia and yet they still try to find a way to tell you that you are wrong.

It's like those famous words of J.R. Ewing when he was caught in bed by his wife with someone else. He said "Darling, are you going to believe me or your lying eyes?"

Same thing here. You witness this all the time, see it with your own eyes and yet they tell you that you're wrong. So are you going to believe them or your lying eyes?

I totally agree with Village-bey.

Niall O'Doherty
I bet you never been in them places.
(avi, 19 November 2008 13:39

I have been to Serbia many times and I have many friends there from all nationalities, Serbs and Albanians alike.

From what you have indicated from your ill informed comment, YOU have never been to the places that I have mentioned either.

I can take you to Sunday mass in Novi Banovici. Have your pick, Hungarian, Croatian, Slovak or Slovenian services. I can take you to see a Jewish acquintance in Belgrade. A Slovenian or Hungarian shop, a Bosniak cafe. The Yugoslav Muslim Friendship society in Zemun which acts as an unofficial get together group for the Bosniak expat community in Belgrade and also organises trips to the Middle East (Haj included). We can also take a trip to Novi Sad where the council conducts business in 6 different languages. I can also accompany you to Sandzak where we can drink sweet Bosnian tea or coffee and round it off by spending the evening with my old Bulgarian classmate's family in Pirot.

Oh! I forgot to mention there's a restaurant near the city centre, the Metropolitan (I think), there's a Macedonian guy who works in there who makes the best baclava that I have ever tasted. Dont know if he's still there. and we can take a trip to Josip Broz's (Tito's grandson) restaurant as well.

@ZK

I think it is high time that Serbs change the Albanized name of their land Serbia and move to a new name - Serbio.

Are we conveniently forgetting that it is a Kosovo state law that all displaced Kosovo Serbs can return to Kosovo? The Kosovo government in a partnership with various international organizations actually has offices for this to happen and it is happening. From what I have gathered the main problem for many returnees has been obstructionism from Belgrade. Many Serbs have returned but I do believe that more needs to be done about helping this happen from both sides. For Kosovo, they need to implement those laws more fervently and make it even more clear that they will provide total security for the displaced Serbs and make them feel welcome. For Belgrade, they just need to stop interfering in this issue and work for the people in this issue and help as well the people to return.

Now I know that many Serbs are now comfortable in Serbia and do not want to return to Kosovo. Something should be done so that they at least get some compensation for their lands.

The same goes with Albanians, nobody should have the right to stop people from rebuilding their homes in whatever region.

All should for once and for all forget about trying to form ethnically "pure" regions and try to partition Kosovo in this way. Let the EULEX courts function in all of Kosovo and let them decide all of these cases on a per person basis. The people need to move on please.

I don't see a problem with this man rebiulding his homes. This shouldn't be used as a chance to highlight the problems of those who cannot return to Southern part of Mitrovica.
Bad Gorilla, Greater Serbian exclusivist/supremacists ideology is not limited to Serbs only, as you can see from Emma's link.
And not only in Kosovo.
Serbs are preventing Muslims and Croats in Bosnia to reclaim their homes?
What about other way around?

http://www.unhcr.org/publ/PUBL/3b812bc35.html

UNHCR publication.

"An angry mob broke into Mile Marceta’s mayoral office several months ago, dragged him from the building and beat him to a pulp with wooden staves, ashtrays and bricks."

And

"Though they had comprised 97 percent of the town’s population before the war, the region is now dominated by Croat nationalists determined to keep the region ethnically pure."

"Early last year, Croat nationalists decided enough was enough and launched an intimidation campaign – murdering two elderly Serb returnees in their beds, torching dozens of Serb owned houses..."

Read the link, read Emma's link and say it for at least ones, that Albanians or Croats are exclusivists/supremacists too.

well then the serbs could build their homes in kosovo and all Serbs to return to Croatia with their homes built, and get paid for their expulsion, and in Bosnia then we could talk.

Adriano,

The flat that used to rent as a student in Pristina was occupied by the Albanian family from Albania (which had no any links to Kosovo at all) just after the war ended. They are not K-Albanians but Albanians from Albania. This information I got from my very dear K-Albanian neighbour. I presumed then that this was not an isolated case. Afterwards, according to some UNMIK and KFOR data it turned out that actually mass illegal immigration have occurred during the 1999. I used to work for KFOR in Kosovo, so I have some information in regard to illegal immigration by the Albanians from Albania.

However, UNMIK and KFOR decided to ignore this fact and kept it as a "secret", meaning that no actual steps were taken in order to find those illegal immigrants and deport them back to Albania . But this was not any secret to anyone since this fact was very well known in Kosovo and people were very well aware of it.

Everyone in Kosovo should have a right to return to his/her property regardless of ethnicity or geography. While these protests in northern Kosovo are being shaped around lack of building permit, I doubt the Serbs would be that upset if it were a Serb family moving in. Likewise, any Serb wishing to return to his/her home in central and southern Kosovo has an unconditional right to do so as well, but I can hardly think they'll be welcome by the local Albanians. So, if there are Serbs who wish to move into Southern Mitrovica, I certainly hope that Mr. Rexhepi, who is very vocal about Albanians moving where they want, would be just as forceful in encouraging Serbs to move as well.

Not very satisfactory respons from you Bad Gorilla. I sent you the link. It's what UNHCR were reporting, not some Serbian propaganda.
I simply wanted to hear what you think about that. Serbs protesting and disagreeing return of an Albanian to norhtern Kosovo is appearantly "exclusivist/supremacist ideology", and it is. I can agree with that.
But as you can see from that UNHCR publication Croats in Drvar (used to be 97% Serb populated before the war) were not merely protesting. Dragging an elected mayor out and beating him to a "pulp" with "wooden staves, ashtrays and bricks" is hardly a protest, isn't it? What about murdering two elderly Serb returnees in their beds, torching dozens of Serb owned houses?
How do you call that, Bad Gorilla? I don't see you call it anyhow. In fact I've never seen you call any crime against Serbs crime at all. You can only notice that Serbs prevented Croats and Muslims in Bosnia from returning, but you never have seen Croats or Muslims preventing Serbs from returning, why?
Or, Kosovo Albanians, what about them?
Isn't it true that all remaining Serbs in Pristina were placed in a single building dubbed "Yugoslavia" and under Swedish guard 24/7? Measure was necessary according to UNMIK to enhance security. Gathered in one building made it easier to guard it. Isn't it true that this building went up in flames when it was attacked by an angry mob in March 2004? Swedes managed to bus all the tenants out safely, leaving Pristina without a single Serb there.
How do you call that, Bad Gorilla? Any names for that? You just can't bring yourself to say it, can you.
You have to keep repeating the story so popular in the Balkan in last 2 decades.
Serbs are exclusivists, supremacists, and who knows what else, fascists, etc. Monsters, to put it simply, surrounded by peaceful, tolerant democrats and human rights fighters.
That's why when the Serb kills Albanian child it's a childkiller (I agree).
But, when Albanian kills Serbian child, and I ask you what he is then, you will never name him as a childkiller. You can't.
Like in the example above. What is it in Drvar, Bad Gorilla?
You don't say it. I can't see you saying supremacist ideology, or whatever.

"What I know is that today.." is your answer.

Bad Gorlia can you explain why there are no Serbs at all in the south, and that they can't return to their homes. What does it say of their ideology, seems that Serbs has moved on and learned the most from the passed.

Since the end of the war most Albanians have returned to their homes, yet the same can't be said of the Serbian population.

@Benny - it doesn't mean a whole lot what the law says if the (oh so popular reality on the ground) tells otherwise:

http://tinyurl.com/5mwt7c

"Shooting during returnees visit to Prizren

8-10 shots were fired as Danish Refugee Council (DRC) earlier today conducted a "Go-and-See" visit of a group of Kosovo displaced Serbs to their former home in a village close to Prizren, Kosovo. The situation is under control and no persons were hit. DRC is now taking steps to further investigation of the incident."
--

"The reason the Serbs are not back in southern Mitrovica is becouse they can only live as rulers and they can not live as a minority wich they are.The Serbs wana rule two million Albanians?I dont think so.They have to accept the fact that they are a minority and always have been. November 2008 16:33)"

intersting.


Agron, my dear, first of all: the Serbs can´t be a minority on their very own territory. you are the minority. but if you haven´t undertood that until now, I doubt you will ever understand it...

secondly: the Serbs do not want to rule the K-albanians, they´ve been offered "broad autonomy" ... what is so difficult about these two words, that you do not understand???

to jovan #20
why should we settle for autonomy when we have a state.long time ago Kosova had an autonomy and Serbian president decided to take that away and murder innocent people.NEVER AGAIN.We need to learn how to live with each other not spread hate amongst us but all of the serbs should forget that you can rule with Kosova again.

"Agron, my dear, first of all: the Serbs can´t be a minority on their very own territory. you are the minority."

Kosova is independent and your 'offer' was turned down! The Kosovar-Serbs or Albanian-Serbs (depends how they like to be called) are minorities, but with more rights than any minority in Europe. You may of course dream that this never happened, but it did.

Adriano asked Biljana to provide some links for her claims about Albanians from Albania moving into Kosovo after the 1999 war.
Amnesty International estimated that between 180.000 and 200.000 Albanian Albanians moved into Kosovo after 1999 war, obtaining Kosovo's ID's and other documents.
Most of those moved toward other countries since, but they some 80.000 are still believed to be in Kosovo living in Serb homes.
I searched for the link that I've seen, but unfortunatelly couldn't find one.
I found this however, by London's Daily Mail, written in June 2007.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-462118/Crackdown-Albanians-lied-fleeing-Kosovo-war.html

“Amnesty International estimated that between 180.000 and 200.000 Albanian Albanians moved into Kosovo after 1999 war, obtaining Kosovo's ID's and other documents.
Most of those moved toward other countries since, but they some 80.000 are still believed to be in Kosovo living in Serb homes.
I searched for the link that I've seen, but unfortunatelly couldn't find one.
I found this however, by London's Daily Mail, written in June 2007.”

To Sreten:
For the first time in my life I am hearing something like that which is at the same time very ridiculous since as an Albanian from Albania I know no single person who have moved into Kosovo and has got for free a home there. It is true that after the war in 1999 many people from Albania went in Kosovo only as temporary workers for the international organizations (our current FM was one of them) but none of them became citizen of Kosovo with ID card or property free. The fact that not even single source of information exist means very clear that this kind of presumption presented above is just a falsification. The only source of information could be the Czechs propagandistic documentary “stolen Kosovo”.

As for the link that u provided let me tell something about it. I don’t know what the hell has to do the picture in there with Albanians fleeing Kosovo. The picture dates back in 1991 in the town of Vlora just after the fall of communism. We are well aware that a lot of Albanian from Albania or living in Europe claimed to be Kosovo Albanian only to easily obtain documents for living in UK. However there is a huge difference between obtaining Kosovo ID card and residing permission as Kosovo Albanian in UK. Of course in case they were tracked for not being genuine they all were sent back in Albania and our government offered support for UK government in order to provide identity information for each suspicious. But in no way anyone declared as Kosovo Albanian went back in Kosovo in order to obtain ID card or homes for free since in their supposed living places everybody knows each other and it would be very easy to pick out who is who. I am very sorry that this issue is still discussed today for propaganda purposes. As far as I know there are many Kosovo Albanians or Albanians from Macedonia who live and work in Albania but not vice versa.

Jovan wrote:

the Serbs do not want to rule the K-albanians, they´ve been offered "broad autonomy" ... what is so difficult about these two words, that you do not understand???
(Jovan, 20 November 2008 00:07)


Jovan when someone dies can you bring him/her back to life?. I don't think so.

You know it very well that Milosevic took that "broad autonomy" like you're calling it about twenty years ago.

If he(milosevic) did something better for the whole people in Kosova back then perhaps Slovens wouldn't have rejected it!!.

My advice to you is that you have to support the return of 350 K-Serbs to southern Mitrovica and K-Albanians to Northern part of the town.

Ali Kadriu has every right to repair/rebuild his houses just like every citizen of Kosova.

to those K-albanians who adressed me personally:

you don´t seem to get it, folks! if you had a state, you wouldn´t have some foreigners making the real decisions...

K-albanians do not have a say in southern Serbia.

it´s the foreign-occupiers who are telling you what to do.

and even if you do not like it, or even try to deny it...nevertheless, it is a fact: you are actually living in southern Serbia, UNSCR 1244 CONFIRMS it...

Sreten with all due respect, if Daily Mail is all you got to sustain your argument of the recent migration of Albanians from Albania to Kosova, I think you are on another sinking ship yet again. The fact that you could not point out to a single reputable source to support your claim is highly significant.
The Daily Mail article points towards a totally separate issue, namely migration of Albanians from Republic of Albania to Britain. There is no denying that throughout 1990s and in order to attain political asylum many registered as Kosovars. How does that equates to people moving from Albania to Kosovo is beyond me. Maybe you are arguing that people initially people moved from Albania to Kosovo to have a real taste for Milosevic’s regime and then from there to Britain.
The only significant population movement from Albania to Kosova in recent times was that of a few Montenegrin villages of Vrake North Albania, but they were not Albanians but Montenegrins. Loathed by Kosovars and used my Milosevic many of them returned to Vrake after their short spell in the heaven that was and is Kosova.

Sreten

Thanks for link you posted.
I am sure, however that both K-Albanians and A-Albanians are fully aware of A-Albanians' illegal immigration to Kosovo after the war ended in june 1999. They just hate to admit it.

"Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe."

this is a quote from former Slave and leading abolitionist Frederick Douglass. The quote is well over a century old but it speaks to the emotions of all oppressed people throughout the Balkans-

I am afraid that until there is restitution for all the refugees of all the conflicts,these sad events will likely perpetuate into more tragedy and violence may errupt.

We must all pray for peace and justice for all refugees.