Serbs in north Kosovo gather for protest rally

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA Thousands of Serbs gathered on Wednesday in northern Kosovska Mitrovica for a rally under the slogan, "Stop Brussels fraud and deceptions". Beta news agency says that the rally was attended by some 10,000 people, while Tanjug puts the number at 5,000. Serbs in north Kosovo gather for protest rally The protest was organized by the leaders of the four municipalities in the northern, mostly Serb part of Kosovo. Mayors and local assembly speakers of Kosovska Mitrovica, Leposavic, Zvecan and Zubin Potok all attended. Those gathered accepted by acclamation a declaration rejecting the establishment of Pristina's institutions in their areas, and announced that they would undertake all forms of civil disobedience, including setting up new roadblocks, in order to express their opposition. They also demanded that Belgrade withdraws from the Kosovo dialogue, held in Brussels, that the agreements reached so far not be implemented, and asked the Constitutional Court to appraise their legality and that of a relevant decree passed by the government in order to implement the deals. The citizens were seen carrying banners against the EU-sponsored Kosovo dialogue, calls for the Constitution and UN Resolution 1244 to be respected, while others declared that "only traitors would give up on Kosovo", rejected once again "a Kosovo state" and Kosovo's institutions, and at the same time pledging "not to give away Serbian courts”. Serbs are a majority north of the Ibar River and reject both the authority of the government in Pristina, and the ethnic Albanian unilateral declaration of independence made five years ago. More photos Addressing the rally on Wednesday, Zubin Potok Mayor Slavisa Ristic said that messages were being sent from Kosovska Mitrovica's central, Sumadija Square for 13 years that Kosovo is a part of Serbia, and Serbs there citizens of Serbia: "This message will be conveyed today as well, but in the name of the truth we are conveying a message to our authorities in Belgrade as well that the Brussels agreements are a Hague verdict for the Serb people in Kosovo and Metohija, where they wish to force us to integrate into an independent Kosovo." The mayor noted that Serbs in Kosovo cannot accept to be the price paid in order for Serbia to be given a date for the start of its EU accession talks. "Independent Kosovo does not exist for us. It's an attempt at a state. We must remain united and work on not accepting to be integrated into an independent Kosovo," Ristic noted. Kosovska Mitrovica Mayor Krstimir Pantic told the protesters that the willingness, morale, unity and readiness for self sacrifice in order to preserve Kosovo and Metohija has never been at a higher level. "To the enemies of the Serb people we are saying that we will not surrender and allow them to steal Kosovo. We are not defending just he north, but all of Kosovo and Metohija," Pantic, who is also deputy chief of the Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija, said, and stressed that Serbs in the northern parts would do everything to help their brethren in enclaves south of the Ibar survive. Pantic also urged the Serbian government not to receive and talk to Deputy Kosovo PM Slobodan Petrovic - a Serb who cooperates with the authorities in Pristina - because otherwise, according to the mayor, "in the future he (Petrovic) would be the only one they will be able to talk with". Speaking ahead of the rally today, ruling SNS party MP and Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Kosovo and Metohija Milovan Drecun said that a resolution on Kosovo adopted in parliament "showed that it would not leave Serbian citizens in Kosovo to some para-state": "In that sense, it is legitimate to remind the authorities in Belgrade of that fact, which is the goal of the rally. The authorities in Belgrade respect and will continue to respect that." Asked about the effects of the protest and of the blockades of administrative line crossings in the north, Drecun said the effects "could be positive", as these forms of protest "express the direct will of the citizens who live in Kosovo". At the same time, according to him, they could strengthen Serbia's position before the EU, "because it must care for the citizens of Kosovo of Serb nationality". "Any deal between Belgrade and Pristina, mediated by the EU, is worth nothing if Serbs do not wish to accept it. I think officials in Brussels are fully aware of this, too," Drecun concluded. (Tanjug) Rally adopts declaration The rally adopted a declaration rejecting all the agreements reached so far in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue with the EU as the mediator, and called for the interruption of further talks and practices embodied in the acceptance of imposed and harmful agreements. The declaration calls on the Constitutional Court to adopt decisions on constitutionality and legality of agreements reached in Brussels without delay and the decrees the Serbian government adopted concerning their implementation. The document points out that there is no need for the shutdown of Serbian institutions which exist and act as the only legal and legitimate organizations in northern Kosovo and Metohija, adding that it is not possible for anyone to change the constitutional order against the citizens' will and set up borders and customs on the administrative crossings Jarinje and Brnjak. The citizens and the local business community called for boycott and other modes of resistance and civil disobedience against all attempts at establishment of institutions of the so-called "Republic of Kosovo" in northern Kosovo and Metohija, including putting up roadblocks. The declaration condemns the latest attacks staged by ethnic Albanians, targeting Serbs, Serb cemeteries, cultural heritage and institutions of Serbia, and it also calls on international representatives to reveal all relevant details concerning the events and pronounce legal sanctions. B92 Tanjug

Serbs in north Kosovo gather for protest rally

The protest was organized by the leaders of the four municipalities in the northern, mostly Serb part of Kosovo.

Mayors and local assembly speakers of Kosovska Mitrovica, Leposavić, Zvečan and Zubin Potok all attended.

Those gathered accepted by acclamation a declaration rejecting the establishment of Priština's institutions in their areas, and announced that they would undertake all forms of civil disobedience, including setting up new roadblocks, in order to express their opposition.

They also demanded that Belgrade withdraws from the Kosovo dialogue, held in Brussels, that the agreements reached so far not be implemented, and asked the Constitutional Court to appraise their legality and that of a relevant decree passed by the government in order to implement the deals.

The citizens were seen carrying banners against the EU-sponsored Kosovo dialogue, calls for the Constitution and UN Resolution 1244 to be respected, while others declared that "only traitors would give up on Kosovo", rejected once again "a Kosovo state" and Kosovo's institutions, and at the same time pledging "not to give away Serbian courts”.

Serbs are a majority north of the Ibar River and reject both the authority of the government in Priština, and the ethnic Albanian unilateral declaration of independence made five years ago.

More photos

Addressing the rally on Wednesday, Zubin Potok Mayor Slaviša Ristić said that messages were being sent from Kosovska Mitrovica's central, Šumadija Square for 13 years that Kosovo is a part of Serbia, and Serbs there citizens of Serbia:

"This message will be conveyed today as well, but in the name of the truth we are conveying a message to our authorities in Belgrade as well that the Brussels agreements are a Hague verdict for the Serb people in Kosovo and Metohija, where they wish to force us to integrate into an independent Kosovo."

The mayor noted that Serbs in Kosovo cannot accept to be the price paid in order for Serbia to be given a date for the start of its EU accession talks.

"Independent Kosovo does not exist for us. It's an attempt at a state. We must remain united and work on not accepting to be integrated into an independent Kosovo," Ristić noted.

Kosovska Mitrovica Mayor Krstimir Pantić told the protesters that the willingness, morale, unity and readiness for self sacrifice in order to preserve Kosovo and Metohija has never been at a higher level.

"To the enemies of the Serb people we are saying that we will not surrender and allow them to steal Kosovo. We are not defending just he north, but all of Kosovo and Metohija," Pantić, who is also deputy chief of the Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija, said, and stressed that Serbs in the northern parts would do everything to help their brethren in enclaves south of the Ibar survive.

Pantić also urged the Serbian government not to receive and talk to Deputy Kosovo PM Slobodan Petrović - a Serb who cooperates with the authorities in Priština - because otherwise, according to the mayor, "in the future he (Petrović) would be the only one they will be able to talk with".

Speaking ahead of the rally today, ruling SNS party MP and Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Kosovo and Metohija Milovan Drecun said that a resolution on Kosovo adopted in parliament "showed that it would not leave Serbian citizens in Kosovo to some para-state":

"In that sense, it is legitimate to remind the authorities in Belgrade of that fact, which is the goal of the rally. The authorities in Belgrade respect and will continue to respect that."

Asked about the effects of the protest and of the blockades of administrative line crossings in the north, Drecun said the effects "could be positive", as these forms of protest "express the direct will of the citizens who live in Kosovo".

At the same time, according to him, they could strengthen Serbia's position before the EU, "because it must care for the citizens of Kosovo of Serb nationality".

"Any deal between Belgrade and Priština, mediated by the EU, is worth nothing if Serbs do not wish to accept it. I think officials in Brussels are fully aware of this, too," Drecun concluded.

Rally adopts declaration

The rally adopted a declaration rejecting all the agreements reached so far in the Belgrade-Priština dialogue with the EU as the mediator, and called for the interruption of further talks and practices embodied in the acceptance of imposed and harmful agreements.

The declaration calls on the Constitutional Court to adopt decisions on constitutionality and legality of agreements reached in Brussels without delay and the decrees the Serbian government adopted concerning their implementation.

The document points out that there is no need for the shutdown of Serbian institutions which exist and act as the only legal and legitimate organizations in northern Kosovo and Metohija, adding that it is not possible for anyone to change the constitutional order against the citizens' will and set up borders and customs on the administrative crossings Jarinje and Brnjak.

The citizens and the local business community called for boycott and other modes of resistance and civil disobedience against all attempts at establishment of institutions of the so-called "Republic of Kosovo" in northern Kosovo and Metohija, including putting up roadblocks.

The declaration condemns the latest attacks staged by ethnic Albanians, targeting Serbs, Serb cemeteries, cultural heritage and institutions of Serbia, and it also calls on international representatives to reveal all relevant details concerning the events and pronounce legal sanctions.