ICG: Decentralization is key in Kosovo

"Everything should be done to encourage Kosovo Serbs to involve themselves with Priština’s institutions"

I wouldn't exactly call Pristina depriving K-Serbs of decent housing, electricity and security as anything near "encouraging"

"persuade Serbs to engage in the institutions of “the new state”"

???? Why they between 2000 and 2008 don't persuaded K-Albanians to engage in institutions of Republic of Serbia??

HYPOCRISY!!!!

The ICG Albanian lobby group appear oblivious to the fact that under international law, UNHCR 1244 and the Helsinki Final Act, Kosovo & Metohija is a Serb province. Areas of Kosovo & Metohija are currently controlled by militant Albanians but the province does not belong to the Albanians and they know it. It is time for the ICG to stop spewing out Albanian propaganda and starts asking itself why no one wants to live under local Albanian warlord Hasim Taci be they be they Serbs, Croatians, Albanians, Roma, Gorani, Jews, Turks, Egyptians... If Albanians on the one side of the adminstrative line can integrate into Serb society so can those on the other. Serbia is a multi ethnic society. The Albanian-occupied area of the Serb province is mono-ethnic. Cyprus is slowly beginning to reintegrate mono ethnic, occupied parts of its island after forty years. This is a long and drawn out process and this is why the Albanian party is beginning to panic. Time is not on their side.

“Contrary to Belgrade’s boycott calls, Serbs have in increasing numbers found ways of engaging pragmatically with Kosovo institutions, relying on them for services, applying for Kosovo official documents and accepting Kosovo (as well as Serbian) salaries,” it is stated in the report."

This may be so south of the Ibar where the K-Serbs have no practical alternative. But it is definitely not the case in the north with its land continuity to Serbia proper.

Everything should be done to encourage Kosovo Serbs to involve themselves with Priština’s institutions
--------------
Why they didn't say 10 years ago ... ... 'Everything should be done to encourage Albanians to involve themselves with Belgrade’s institutions....

...and now they are trying to invent hot water . Hypocrisy so tipical for Western politicans ..

It boggles my mind when I read things like this, because there are still those in the West preaching that Serbs can live under albanian rule despite all the hard evidence of how albanians treat their minorities, which is worse than animals are treated.
Let me just say this to anyone who wants to know the truth, Serbs will NEVER, and I mean NEVER, EVER, live under albanian rule, so forget about any integration there. Albanians have demonstrated that they do not care about human rights and don't know the meaning of tolerance.
As for the ICG, well take a look at their board:
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=1139&l=1
Wesley Clark, Ahtisari....and a long list of anti-Serb hate mongers. So what would you expect from such a group? Nothing of any value, that's for sure. This is an albanian lobby group, and nothing more.

The ICG seems to forget one small little caveat of decentralization: it was decentralization that effectively decentralized Yugoslavia out of existence from 1974 to 1991. Now far be it from me to be at all upset over the carving up of Kosovo into insignificant little cantons, but if the ICG actually thinks decentralization will improve, rather than complicate, authority from Pristina, they clearly have not done their homework. One need only to look at Bosnia for the answer.

But hey, if they want to Daytonize the damn thing, I won't get in their way.

"This may be so south of the Ibar where the K-Serbs have no practical alternative. But it is definitely not the case in the north with its land continuity to Serbia proper."

Wait until the border is completely under control and Tadic is forced to cut the funding.

--"-Why they didn't say 10 years ago ... ... 'Everything should be done to encourage Albanians to involve themselves with Belgrade’s institutions...."

Why didn't Serbia try? Has Serbia even apologized for what happened?

You are right Dragan. There is nothing international about this ICG. It's just another NATO group giving itself another "International" name. It just like refering to the "International community" when they are really referring to NATO.

Where is China, Russia, India or Brazil? This should be called the NATO Crisis Group (NCG) because the internationals are definitely not part of it.

"Oh yeah, EULEX is "impartial" ! :-) Kosova officials go to the North as many times as they want, Serbs from there --a few villages--know not to provoke riots.
(Agim, 17 May 2009 12:33) "

Sure, they can go up north as often as they like .... as long as they have heavy security with them .... I rest my case

"Oh yeah, EULEX is "impartial" ! :-) Kosova officials go to the North as many times as they want, Serbs from there --a few villages--know not to provoke riots.
(Agim, 17 May 2009 12:33) "

Are You sure?? We will welcome Mr Thaci in Zvečan ;) He can see here any albanian or "Kosovar" flag and any "kosovar" authorities presence :D
But he and other members of his illegal Kosovo "government" will don't come to us without our permission. Here is Serbia!

"Now far be it from me to be at all upset over the carving up of Kosovo into insignificant little cantons, but if the ICG actually thinks decentralization will improve, rather than complicate, authority from Pristina, they clearly have not done their homework. One need only to look at Bosnia for the answer."

Please read what they can decide on and what they can't in the "cantons" first. Even Serbia will have t be decentralized, the Germans reminded you yesterday while touring Vojvodina

to Agim:

don´t fool yourself.

the K-serbs do not have to be integrated, they already live in Serbia. fullstop.

as for cantons... don´t lay too much hope into that nonsense, the current government in Belgrade wouldn´t survive another weakness. they would be blown out within 24 hours, and no force in this world could help them.

so, better prepare yourself to integrate into the serbian state again, because that´s your future...

you don´t have to fear it, since you will profit too, because it´s not a bunch of simple criminals acting AS IF they were a state, ... it´s Serbia, you know. the real deal, when it is about statehood.

"Everything should be done to encourage Kosovo Serbs to involve themselves with Priština’s institutions"

The ICG can spew forth all the concilliatory rhetoric they wish....but THAT will not be happening anytime soon. When will the politicians realize that Kosovo still remains a legal UN1244 part of Serbia- and that ALL negotiations need to start from that point of reference. All of these other words and comments by the EU and the US are simply meant to "spin" the situation so that if things are constantly "spinning", the truth and the basics of international law will become lost, or out of focus. Serbs MUST stay focused and persevere through all this "spinning fog" of lies and deceit. Samo Sloga Srbine Spasava!!!

"Wait until the border is completely under control and Tadic is forced to cut the funding.

(AgimY, 16 May 2009 16:15)"

AgimY, wait you say? I wouldn't hold my breath waiting if I were you ..... those checkpoints are controlled on one side by Serbia and on the other side by Eulex .... and no K-Albanian official even dare think about venturing above the Ibar without heavy Kfor escort ..... isn't it obvious that it is Pristina that is being left out in the cold, as I metioned earlier?

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting if I were you ..... those checkpoints are controlled on one side by Serbia and on the other side by Eulex .... and no K-Albanian official even dare think about venturing above the Ibar without heavy Kfor escort ..... isn't it obvious that it is Pristina that is being left out in the cold, as I metioned earlier?"


Oh yeah, EULEX is "impartial" ! :-) Kosova officials go to the North as many times as they want, Serbs from there --a few villages--know not to provoke riots.

"The Kosovo government and international bodies are promoting decentralization as the best way to persuade Serbs to engage in the institutions of the new state and convince them that they have a future there."

What else can Albanian do? Same rights for Serbs living in Kosova to the Albanians living in Preseva, Bujanovc and Medvegja. Not a rocket science I believe.

"What else can Albanian do? Same rights for Serbs living in Kosova to the Albanians living in Preseva, Bujanovc and Medvegja. Not a rocket science I believe.
(EA, 18 May 2009 00:52)"

Albanians in Serbia live in legal, UN recognized country. Kosovo is illegal, separatist region of Serbia. That's difference. Serbs from Kosovo don't must cooperate with illegal Pristina authorities who thinks, that Kosovo is "independent".

You have the Anglo-American empire come along with their Teutonic assailants and turn the Serbian nation upside down and then ask Serbs to live on their heads.
Well yes you have the power and we do not you have made that painfully clear. Day will never be night and night will never be during the day so asking
Serbs to conform to Albanian terrorists is just NOT EVER going to be possible. We may be forced to do this or forced to do that to survive but 500 years under the Turk
Created the Serbian psyche .It created a nation that still deep down underneath knows the price of liberty our fathers and grandfathers paid.
Understand the Serb mentality and how it was forged under Muslim enslavement. Albanians are no Turks!
http://grayfalcon.blogspot.com/2009/05/skull-tower.html

My own position is that the best strategy for Kosovo is to that it should first prove to its Serb citizens that there is a place for them even in present-day Kosovo. Once there is trust talk about a (semi-)independent Kosovo will go much easier.

At first look it seems that the ICG is advocating a similar approach. Yet on closer look it is nearly the opposite. Just as with the electricity bills the ICG is advocating the sugar-coated approach. They advise the Kosovo government to withhold rhetorics and to provide some financial support in order to seduce Kosovo's Serbs to go along. But no concessions to Serb sensitivities about Kosovo's status are made.

I would rather prefer a policy where such concessions are made. For example by - for the time being - stopping to harrass cars with Serb license plates and finding other ways to employ Serb cops.

"This may be so south of the Ibar where the K-Serbs have no practical alternative. But it is definitely not the case in the north with its land continuity to Serbia proper."

Wait until the border is completely under control and Tadic is forced to cut the funding.

--"-Why they didn't say 10 years ago ... ... 'Everything should be done to encourage Albanians to involve themselves with Belgrade’s institutions...."

Why didn't Serbia try? Has Serbia even apologized for what happened?

"Now far be it from me to be at all upset over the carving up of Kosovo into insignificant little cantons, but if the ICG actually thinks decentralization will improve, rather than complicate, authority from Pristina, they clearly have not done their homework. One need only to look at Bosnia for the answer."

Please read what they can decide on and what they can't in the "cantons" first. Even Serbia will have t be decentralized, the Germans reminded you yesterday while touring Vojvodina

The ICG Albanian lobby group appear oblivious to the fact that under international law, UNHCR 1244 and the Helsinki Final Act, Kosovo & Metohija is a Serb province. Areas of Kosovo & Metohija are currently controlled by militant Albanians but the province does not belong to the Albanians and they know it. It is time for the ICG to stop spewing out Albanian propaganda and starts asking itself why no one wants to live under local Albanian warlord Hasim Taci be they be they Serbs, Croatians, Albanians, Roma, Gorani, Jews, Turks, Egyptians... If Albanians on the one side of the adminstrative line can integrate into Serb society so can those on the other. Serbia is a multi ethnic society. The Albanian-occupied area of the Serb province is mono-ethnic. Cyprus is slowly beginning to reintegrate mono ethnic, occupied parts of its island after forty years. This is a long and drawn out process and this is why the Albanian party is beginning to panic. Time is not on their side.

"persuade Serbs to engage in the institutions of “the new state”"

???? Why they between 2000 and 2008 don't persuaded K-Albanians to engage in institutions of Republic of Serbia??

HYPOCRISY!!!!

Everything should be done to encourage Kosovo Serbs to involve themselves with Priština’s institutions
--------------
Why they didn't say 10 years ago ... ... 'Everything should be done to encourage Albanians to involve themselves with Belgrade’s institutions....

...and now they are trying to invent hot water . Hypocrisy so tipical for Western politicans ..

"Everything should be done to encourage Kosovo Serbs to involve themselves with Priština’s institutions"

I wouldn't exactly call Pristina depriving K-Serbs of decent housing, electricity and security as anything near "encouraging"

It boggles my mind when I read things like this, because there are still those in the West preaching that Serbs can live under albanian rule despite all the hard evidence of how albanians treat their minorities, which is worse than animals are treated.
Let me just say this to anyone who wants to know the truth, Serbs will NEVER, and I mean NEVER, EVER, live under albanian rule, so forget about any integration there. Albanians have demonstrated that they do not care about human rights and don't know the meaning of tolerance.
As for the ICG, well take a look at their board:
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=1139&l=1
Wesley Clark, Ahtisari....and a long list of anti-Serb hate mongers. So what would you expect from such a group? Nothing of any value, that's for sure. This is an albanian lobby group, and nothing more.

“Contrary to Belgrade’s boycott calls, Serbs have in increasing numbers found ways of engaging pragmatically with Kosovo institutions, relying on them for services, applying for Kosovo official documents and accepting Kosovo (as well as Serbian) salaries,” it is stated in the report."

This may be so south of the Ibar where the K-Serbs have no practical alternative. But it is definitely not the case in the north with its land continuity to Serbia proper.

The ICG seems to forget one small little caveat of decentralization: it was decentralization that effectively decentralized Yugoslavia out of existence from 1974 to 1991. Now far be it from me to be at all upset over the carving up of Kosovo into insignificant little cantons, but if the ICG actually thinks decentralization will improve, rather than complicate, authority from Pristina, they clearly have not done their homework. One need only to look at Bosnia for the answer.

But hey, if they want to Daytonize the damn thing, I won't get in their way.

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting if I were you ..... those checkpoints are controlled on one side by Serbia and on the other side by Eulex .... and no K-Albanian official even dare think about venturing above the Ibar without heavy Kfor escort ..... isn't it obvious that it is Pristina that is being left out in the cold, as I metioned earlier?"


Oh yeah, EULEX is "impartial" ! :-) Kosova officials go to the North as many times as they want, Serbs from there --a few villages--know not to provoke riots.

to Agim:

don´t fool yourself.

the K-serbs do not have to be integrated, they already live in Serbia. fullstop.

as for cantons... don´t lay too much hope into that nonsense, the current government in Belgrade wouldn´t survive another weakness. they would be blown out within 24 hours, and no force in this world could help them.

so, better prepare yourself to integrate into the serbian state again, because that´s your future...

you don´t have to fear it, since you will profit too, because it´s not a bunch of simple criminals acting AS IF they were a state, ... it´s Serbia, you know. the real deal, when it is about statehood.

"The Kosovo government and international bodies are promoting decentralization as the best way to persuade Serbs to engage in the institutions of the new state and convince them that they have a future there."

What else can Albanian do? Same rights for Serbs living in Kosova to the Albanians living in Preseva, Bujanovc and Medvegja. Not a rocket science I believe.

You are right Dragan. There is nothing international about this ICG. It's just another NATO group giving itself another "International" name. It just like refering to the "International community" when they are really referring to NATO.

Where is China, Russia, India or Brazil? This should be called the NATO Crisis Group (NCG) because the internationals are definitely not part of it.

"Everything should be done to encourage Kosovo Serbs to involve themselves with Priština’s institutions"

The ICG can spew forth all the concilliatory rhetoric they wish....but THAT will not be happening anytime soon. When will the politicians realize that Kosovo still remains a legal UN1244 part of Serbia- and that ALL negotiations need to start from that point of reference. All of these other words and comments by the EU and the US are simply meant to "spin" the situation so that if things are constantly "spinning", the truth and the basics of international law will become lost, or out of focus. Serbs MUST stay focused and persevere through all this "spinning fog" of lies and deceit. Samo Sloga Srbine Spasava!!!

"Oh yeah, EULEX is "impartial" ! :-) Kosova officials go to the North as many times as they want, Serbs from there --a few villages--know not to provoke riots.
(Agim, 17 May 2009 12:33) "

Sure, they can go up north as often as they like .... as long as they have heavy security with them .... I rest my case

"Oh yeah, EULEX is "impartial" ! :-) Kosova officials go to the North as many times as they want, Serbs from there --a few villages--know not to provoke riots.
(Agim, 17 May 2009 12:33) "

Are You sure?? We will welcome Mr Thaci in Zvečan ;) He can see here any albanian or "Kosovar" flag and any "kosovar" authorities presence :D
But he and other members of his illegal Kosovo "government" will don't come to us without our permission. Here is Serbia!

"Wait until the border is completely under control and Tadic is forced to cut the funding.

(AgimY, 16 May 2009 16:15)"

AgimY, wait you say? I wouldn't hold my breath waiting if I were you ..... those checkpoints are controlled on one side by Serbia and on the other side by Eulex .... and no K-Albanian official even dare think about venturing above the Ibar without heavy Kfor escort ..... isn't it obvious that it is Pristina that is being left out in the cold, as I metioned earlier?

"What else can Albanian do? Same rights for Serbs living in Kosova to the Albanians living in Preseva, Bujanovc and Medvegja. Not a rocket science I believe.
(EA, 18 May 2009 00:52)"

Albanians in Serbia live in legal, UN recognized country. Kosovo is illegal, separatist region of Serbia. That's difference. Serbs from Kosovo don't must cooperate with illegal Pristina authorities who thinks, that Kosovo is "independent".

You have the Anglo-American empire come along with their Teutonic assailants and turn the Serbian nation upside down and then ask Serbs to live on their heads.
Well yes you have the power and we do not you have made that painfully clear. Day will never be night and night will never be during the day so asking
Serbs to conform to Albanian terrorists is just NOT EVER going to be possible. We may be forced to do this or forced to do that to survive but 500 years under the Turk
Created the Serbian psyche .It created a nation that still deep down underneath knows the price of liberty our fathers and grandfathers paid.
Understand the Serb mentality and how it was forged under Muslim enslavement. Albanians are no Turks!
http://grayfalcon.blogspot.com/2009/05/skull-tower.html

My own position is that the best strategy for Kosovo is to that it should first prove to its Serb citizens that there is a place for them even in present-day Kosovo. Once there is trust talk about a (semi-)independent Kosovo will go much easier.

At first look it seems that the ICG is advocating a similar approach. Yet on closer look it is nearly the opposite. Just as with the electricity bills the ICG is advocating the sugar-coated approach. They advise the Kosovo government to withhold rhetorics and to provide some financial support in order to seduce Kosovo's Serbs to go along. But no concessions to Serb sensitivities about Kosovo's status are made.

I would rather prefer a policy where such concessions are made. For example by - for the time being - stopping to harrass cars with Serb license plates and finding other ways to employ Serb cops.