Small number of returnees in Kosovo

It is a terrible indictment on the UN and the Kosovo government that after all this time Resolution 1244 has been nowhere near fulfilled. This should be made a priority if the welfare of people really does come before the status solution.

The Kosovo govt. could show real willing by planning and operating staged returns along with the UN and Nato.

K-Albanians are not against the return of serbs. The problems lies with serbs alone and not elswhere as potrayed by serb politicins and others.
There is an office in belgrade that deals directly with returnees, and they go through Danish Council for Refugees. Every time there is a planned visit , which is called: " Go and see visit" the list with names of people is forwarded to Kosova police for backround check and if they are clean they will get an ok to come and visit its property and decide when to return. This is all on returns, ah I almost forgat to mention that the biggest obsticle for serbs to return back to Kosova is serbian govermant, and no one else.

ahmet its you k-albanians that should have the list of names.for all the cleansing of all the but a few serbs that are still remaning in kosovo, shame,shame get of your high horse, you know who is guilty and who is inicent and who are these kosovo police(KLA)

I understand easily why the Serbs are reluctant to go back to Kosovo... after all the crimes committed there by the Serb Army between 1990 and 1999. If I were a Serb, I would not return either. Serbs still do not feel safe in Kosovo, which is not surprising given that hardly any perpetrators of ethnic violence against them have been indicted and sentenced. Many have lost everything: their family, their relatives, their homes, their land, their goods, their possessions.

Serbia should first bring to justice the criminals and offer compensations for their loss. Only then the Albanians would feel a bit of compassion and justice.

The only problem for the return of refugees is ceku and NATO. He will soon be gone so that problem will be solved as for NATO, well, lets hope the US is smart enough not to recognize u unilateraly.

let me remember you:albanian of Nish and toplica had too the right to get their homes and the treaty of london made it clear... albanians properties have never been returned to their owners and albanians were not permitted to come back!
So why do you seek from albanians to respect what you,for yourself, have never respected !

As a member of US KFOR from 2005-2007 I personally sat through bi - monthly and monthly returns meetings to the Uroševac Municipality. These are usually include representatives from the Municipality, US KFOR, Hellenic KFOR, and UNMIK members as observers, a representative from the Serb community wishing to return, ethnic - Albanians living in the nearby community, and the donating NGO to fund the project. US KFOR is ill equipped to deal with such a sensitive issue because the Liaison Monitoring Teams are ill educated, biased, have no funds, and have infantry and combat arm backgrounds. These people should not be but in such mediating roles. The National Guard is ill equipped to operate on it’s own and should not do things with out being baby sat by the regular army. Also the American outlook on the conflict in the province is very one sided and it does not make us equal brokers. Both for good and for bad . . .

The projects in the Uroševac Municipality are utter failures! There are numerous returnee homes built in the village right across the road from Srpski Babus in Babljak that are unoccupied. There are no more than one dozen Serbs living in the village at any time when there are dozens and dozens of homes rebuilt.

When I left the province at the end of May Babus was heading down the same path. The NGO involved in the process short changed the returnees promising one some of money for food and assistance once they returned and actually delivering another, the same is true for Talinovca. KFOR is unwilling to set patrols in the village more to the desire of the returnees. Also do to the fact of the location of the Camps in Multi - National Task Force East is seems impossible that MNTF E would be able to respond adequately. More likely if anything were to happen in the area I would like for help form Central, namely the Irish. The area in which MNTF – E covers and its placement of Forward Operating Bases means that it would be unable to respond in a March 2004 scenario, in which we were one of the few areas that responded with sufficient power and force. The only FOB properly located is the Ukrainian Camp Breza. There is no longer a FOB or real Camp in Gnjilane so any action out towards the Easter ABL will be too late. And seeing that the most ethnically diverse area in MNTF – E is east of Bondsteel I would like to know the proper response time to say if something happened in Novo Brdo?

The UN is not committed to these meetings as they force nothing to ahead or hold these NGOs accountable. Also the PISG Ministry on returns last minister sucked up untold amounts of funds for returnees. VP Gaffur Imeri who I worked with personally is a kind hearted man and has the best intentions, but can do little. Also he is hindered by a very vocal, belligerent, and often dangerous KLA ‘veterans organizations’, who frequently seize property, and divvy up ‘spoils of war’. I also consulted with Arch Priest Fr. Žika Kojić who is a great and holy man who was able to stifle certain over reaching Serbs as well as be very blunt to the international community.

This process of return took far too long to get off the ground in the last 8 years Serbs have continually sold their properties in downtown Uroševac under duress (which makes the sale illegal by the way), or have had them occupied illegally with no recourse.

The UNMIK and KFOR world need to be doing much more in terms of time and money in their commitment to the returns process due in large to the face that these returnees, at least in the case of Uroševac, Nerdimlje, Babuš, Babljak, Talinovac, Nekodim, both Slatinas, Doganovic, fled after the arrival of both institutions.

"The problems lies with serbs alone and not elswhere"
"So why do you seek from albanians to respect what you,for yourself, have never respected!"
"Why should the government help them when they seek any excuse... not to live in Kosovo"

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems from the comments here that the Albanian posters don't really care if any Serbs return. I don't really blame you guys, but still its that sort of attitude that makes us Serbs uncomfortable going there or returning to live there. Personally, I'd love to visit Kosovo but I'm still not entirely comfortable in doing so yet.

So how about it Ahmet, would you be willing to show me around and introduce me to Albanian culture? Would you be willing to hang out with a Serb like me? I am after all fairly moderate for the most part.

Minister doesn't mention the fact of Serb refugees signing contracts with the government to come back if their houses are restored and then when they are, they sell them for huge amounts of money.

Why should the government help them when they seek any excuse (roads, jobs, water - things they never had before) not to live in Kosovo.
(Ari, 3. August 2007 17:14)

What about all the revenue the albanians are getting from the selling of over 200 homes - please do your homework before you post malarchy.

BTW, the same thing happens in the States with all of the Katrina victims, so there's something for your Pro-bush cheering crowd.

Minister doesn't mention the fact of Serb refugees signing contracts with the government to come back if their houses are restored and then when they are, they sell them for huge amounts of money.

Why should the government help them when they seek any excuse (roads, jobs, water - things they never had before) not to live in Kosovo.

Many of you who post here like VICTOR who refuses to answer any question posed to him, point to ICTY at The Hague as some sort of measure that separates the guilty from the innocent. The amoral nature of the legal practice world wide is reflected by what takes place and what took place every day in this court. The culture of greed that is the hallmark of our society including the legal system is front and center at The Hague. The greed of those who set up the Tribunal is reflected in those who run the day to day operations starting with the prosecutors, judges and Carla Del Ponte as well as Louise Arbour her predecessor. You see Arbour was rewarded and others are paid handsomely for their loyalty to NATO. Arbour received a seat on the Supreme Court of Canada where she performed as a lightweight and eventually left for another plum job with the UN thanks to her patrons in NATO.

. The important point about this court is that a small nation and its accused have no real access to justice. This court is fundamentally undemocratic and many of you, particularly the Albanian side and VICTOR in particular , like it for Serbs but not for yourself, Croats and Bosnian Muslims. . The Tribunal is an extension of NATO’s foreign policy which is not interested in justice, fairness and international peace. The most powerful NATO nations use threats, sanctions, embargoes, ultimatums, and when this fails they resort to war and aggression.

This Tribunal was established to do what NATO wants and those like Carla Del Ponte who are paid well to manipulate the rules created by their masters. These people throw out principles and ethics of their law school days and go along with a system that their masters created for others but would not accept for themselves. This court is not independent, it does not follow due process and it does not recognize the rule of law, all hallmarks of a judicial system that we should want for everyone. This court manipulates rules and is pervasive with arrogance where in the end its representatives behave above the rules.

Only when the NATO leaders are personally held accountable for the planned killing of civilians, the causing of a humanitarian disaster and violations of the UN Charter and international law and only when those Serbia accuses, Clinton, Blair, Chiraq, Schroeder, Clark and others come to trial and are treated with the same rules they use for Serbs justice will be done and at that time we should be able to see it being done.

Many who post here like VICTOR see justice in terms of WRONGS saying you did not abide by international law in the past why should we? VICTOR and Ahmet always point to Russia or Serbia and ignore in the most arrogant way criminality of their nationals and patrons who aided abetted and organized and continue to aid abet and organize violation of international law in the Balkans. Their arrogance is understandable since it reflects the arrogance and hypocrisy of the most powerful nation in the world. This arrogance permeates every multilateral agreement which they sign because in the end they do what they want. The fundamental objective of international law is to fight this arrogance but how can we do that when the nation that is the most arrogant sets the rules for others and refuses to abide by these same rules? Even Victor know that but his arrogance keeps him silent.

Matthew, on your every post you defended serbs and I beleive you are a serb and I don't see anyhthing wrong if you do that. But , since you ask me if I can show you around and you get to know my cluture that tells me that you have never been in Kosova and dont know anything about it so therefore I sugest you don't even coment on it from now one. This is what i hate the most that people which have never been here and never experienced the pain and agony ofAlbanians they talk like the y have.

Ahmet,

I am a Montenegrin from a mixed clan, so yes, while I am a Serb and I defend the retention of the cradle of our civilization, I also respect Albanian culture. I am, after all, from a mixed clan and share much in common with your people. The reality is I've studied your culture as much as possible so that I can understand Montenegrin culture as well, we have that much in common with one another.

Ahmet, I've always tried my very best to respect your people. I have never once tried to portray the Albanians as a whole as terrorists, nor have I made any other claims that were racist or derogatory towards your people. In fact some of the posters I respect the most are Albanians. Not all of my posts defend Serbs or even support the Serbian position. I've had on more then one occasion been accused of actually being an Albanian because my views are so moderate. I support partition precisely because I do feel your people have been abused at times and as a Serb I have apologized for what your people endured.

I'm sorry if you feel I have no right to comment on Kosovo issues, but personally I feel Kosovo is extremely important to Serbs and Montenegrins the world over, as it represents our very identity itself and it belongs to all of us. I am exactly the type of Moderate Serb who would come to visit and spend my tourist dollars in an independent Kosovo, which would benefit your country very much. The reality is I don't generally visit war zones, or places that still experience bouts of violence, as we saw in 2004. I was living in the Balkans during 2002/2003 so that was not a good time to visit.

While I may not have personally experienced the pain and agony your people have, at least I have family from Krajina and I go there every year. So I do have a fairly good understanding how brutal the Balkans can be. I would actually like to hear from you what you experienced during the war and what happened from your perspective. I'd also like to find an expert on Albanian History and the clan structure if you know anyone who would like to discuss such topics.

So if your up for it, write me an email. I am 100% serious about wanting to visit Kosovo. My email is lazslow@hotmail.com

K-Albanians are not against the return of serbs. The problems lies with serbs alone and not elswhere as potrayed by serb politicins and others.
There is an office in belgrade that deals directly with returnees, and they go through Danish Council for Refugees. Every time there is a planned visit , which is called: " Go and see visit" the list with names of people is forwarded to Kosova police for backround check and if they are clean they will get an ok to come and visit its property and decide when to return. This is all on returns, ah I almost forgat to mention that the biggest obsticle for serbs to return back to Kosova is serbian govermant, and no one else.

It is a terrible indictment on the UN and the Kosovo government that after all this time Resolution 1244 has been nowhere near fulfilled. This should be made a priority if the welfare of people really does come before the status solution.

The Kosovo govt. could show real willing by planning and operating staged returns along with the UN and Nato.

I understand easily why the Serbs are reluctant to go back to Kosovo... after all the crimes committed there by the Serb Army between 1990 and 1999. If I were a Serb, I would not return either. Serbs still do not feel safe in Kosovo, which is not surprising given that hardly any perpetrators of ethnic violence against them have been indicted and sentenced. Many have lost everything: their family, their relatives, their homes, their land, their goods, their possessions.

Serbia should first bring to justice the criminals and offer compensations for their loss. Only then the Albanians would feel a bit of compassion and justice.

let me remember you:albanian of Nish and toplica had too the right to get their homes and the treaty of london made it clear... albanians properties have never been returned to their owners and albanians were not permitted to come back!
So why do you seek from albanians to respect what you,for yourself, have never respected !

Minister doesn't mention the fact of Serb refugees signing contracts with the government to come back if their houses are restored and then when they are, they sell them for huge amounts of money.

Why should the government help them when they seek any excuse (roads, jobs, water - things they never had before) not to live in Kosovo.

ahmet its you k-albanians that should have the list of names.for all the cleansing of all the but a few serbs that are still remaning in kosovo, shame,shame get of your high horse, you know who is guilty and who is inicent and who are these kosovo police(KLA)

Many of you who post here like VICTOR who refuses to answer any question posed to him, point to ICTY at The Hague as some sort of measure that separates the guilty from the innocent. The amoral nature of the legal practice world wide is reflected by what takes place and what took place every day in this court. The culture of greed that is the hallmark of our society including the legal system is front and center at The Hague. The greed of those who set up the Tribunal is reflected in those who run the day to day operations starting with the prosecutors, judges and Carla Del Ponte as well as Louise Arbour her predecessor. You see Arbour was rewarded and others are paid handsomely for their loyalty to NATO. Arbour received a seat on the Supreme Court of Canada where she performed as a lightweight and eventually left for another plum job with the UN thanks to her patrons in NATO.

. The important point about this court is that a small nation and its accused have no real access to justice. This court is fundamentally undemocratic and many of you, particularly the Albanian side and VICTOR in particular , like it for Serbs but not for yourself, Croats and Bosnian Muslims. . The Tribunal is an extension of NATO’s foreign policy which is not interested in justice, fairness and international peace. The most powerful NATO nations use threats, sanctions, embargoes, ultimatums, and when this fails they resort to war and aggression.

This Tribunal was established to do what NATO wants and those like Carla Del Ponte who are paid well to manipulate the rules created by their masters. These people throw out principles and ethics of their law school days and go along with a system that their masters created for others but would not accept for themselves. This court is not independent, it does not follow due process and it does not recognize the rule of law, all hallmarks of a judicial system that we should want for everyone. This court manipulates rules and is pervasive with arrogance where in the end its representatives behave above the rules.

Only when the NATO leaders are personally held accountable for the planned killing of civilians, the causing of a humanitarian disaster and violations of the UN Charter and international law and only when those Serbia accuses, Clinton, Blair, Chiraq, Schroeder, Clark and others come to trial and are treated with the same rules they use for Serbs justice will be done and at that time we should be able to see it being done.

Many who post here like VICTOR see justice in terms of WRONGS saying you did not abide by international law in the past why should we? VICTOR and Ahmet always point to Russia or Serbia and ignore in the most arrogant way criminality of their nationals and patrons who aided abetted and organized and continue to aid abet and organize violation of international law in the Balkans. Their arrogance is understandable since it reflects the arrogance and hypocrisy of the most powerful nation in the world. This arrogance permeates every multilateral agreement which they sign because in the end they do what they want. The fundamental objective of international law is to fight this arrogance but how can we do that when the nation that is the most arrogant sets the rules for others and refuses to abide by these same rules? Even Victor know that but his arrogance keeps him silent.

Matthew, on your every post you defended serbs and I beleive you are a serb and I don't see anyhthing wrong if you do that. But , since you ask me if I can show you around and you get to know my cluture that tells me that you have never been in Kosova and dont know anything about it so therefore I sugest you don't even coment on it from now one. This is what i hate the most that people which have never been here and never experienced the pain and agony ofAlbanians they talk like the y have.

The only problem for the return of refugees is ceku and NATO. He will soon be gone so that problem will be solved as for NATO, well, lets hope the US is smart enough not to recognize u unilateraly.

"The problems lies with serbs alone and not elswhere"
"So why do you seek from albanians to respect what you,for yourself, have never respected!"
"Why should the government help them when they seek any excuse... not to live in Kosovo"

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems from the comments here that the Albanian posters don't really care if any Serbs return. I don't really blame you guys, but still its that sort of attitude that makes us Serbs uncomfortable going there or returning to live there. Personally, I'd love to visit Kosovo but I'm still not entirely comfortable in doing so yet.

So how about it Ahmet, would you be willing to show me around and introduce me to Albanian culture? Would you be willing to hang out with a Serb like me? I am after all fairly moderate for the most part.

Minister doesn't mention the fact of Serb refugees signing contracts with the government to come back if their houses are restored and then when they are, they sell them for huge amounts of money.

Why should the government help them when they seek any excuse (roads, jobs, water - things they never had before) not to live in Kosovo.
(Ari, 3. August 2007 17:14)

What about all the revenue the albanians are getting from the selling of over 200 homes - please do your homework before you post malarchy.

BTW, the same thing happens in the States with all of the Katrina victims, so there's something for your Pro-bush cheering crowd.

As a member of US KFOR from 2005-2007 I personally sat through bi - monthly and monthly returns meetings to the Uroševac Municipality. These are usually include representatives from the Municipality, US KFOR, Hellenic KFOR, and UNMIK members as observers, a representative from the Serb community wishing to return, ethnic - Albanians living in the nearby community, and the donating NGO to fund the project. US KFOR is ill equipped to deal with such a sensitive issue because the Liaison Monitoring Teams are ill educated, biased, have no funds, and have infantry and combat arm backgrounds. These people should not be but in such mediating roles. The National Guard is ill equipped to operate on it’s own and should not do things with out being baby sat by the regular army. Also the American outlook on the conflict in the province is very one sided and it does not make us equal brokers. Both for good and for bad . . .

The projects in the Uroševac Municipality are utter failures! There are numerous returnee homes built in the village right across the road from Srpski Babus in Babljak that are unoccupied. There are no more than one dozen Serbs living in the village at any time when there are dozens and dozens of homes rebuilt.

When I left the province at the end of May Babus was heading down the same path. The NGO involved in the process short changed the returnees promising one some of money for food and assistance once they returned and actually delivering another, the same is true for Talinovca. KFOR is unwilling to set patrols in the village more to the desire of the returnees. Also do to the fact of the location of the Camps in Multi - National Task Force East is seems impossible that MNTF E would be able to respond adequately. More likely if anything were to happen in the area I would like for help form Central, namely the Irish. The area in which MNTF – E covers and its placement of Forward Operating Bases means that it would be unable to respond in a March 2004 scenario, in which we were one of the few areas that responded with sufficient power and force. The only FOB properly located is the Ukrainian Camp Breza. There is no longer a FOB or real Camp in Gnjilane so any action out towards the Easter ABL will be too late. And seeing that the most ethnically diverse area in MNTF – E is east of Bondsteel I would like to know the proper response time to say if something happened in Novo Brdo?

The UN is not committed to these meetings as they force nothing to ahead or hold these NGOs accountable. Also the PISG Ministry on returns last minister sucked up untold amounts of funds for returnees. VP Gaffur Imeri who I worked with personally is a kind hearted man and has the best intentions, but can do little. Also he is hindered by a very vocal, belligerent, and often dangerous KLA ‘veterans organizations’, who frequently seize property, and divvy up ‘spoils of war’. I also consulted with Arch Priest Fr. Žika Kojić who is a great and holy man who was able to stifle certain over reaching Serbs as well as be very blunt to the international community.

This process of return took far too long to get off the ground in the last 8 years Serbs have continually sold their properties in downtown Uroševac under duress (which makes the sale illegal by the way), or have had them occupied illegally with no recourse.

The UNMIK and KFOR world need to be doing much more in terms of time and money in their commitment to the returns process due in large to the face that these returnees, at least in the case of Uroševac, Nerdimlje, Babuš, Babljak, Talinovac, Nekodim, both Slatinas, Doganovic, fled after the arrival of both institutions.

Ahmet,

I am a Montenegrin from a mixed clan, so yes, while I am a Serb and I defend the retention of the cradle of our civilization, I also respect Albanian culture. I am, after all, from a mixed clan and share much in common with your people. The reality is I've studied your culture as much as possible so that I can understand Montenegrin culture as well, we have that much in common with one another.

Ahmet, I've always tried my very best to respect your people. I have never once tried to portray the Albanians as a whole as terrorists, nor have I made any other claims that were racist or derogatory towards your people. In fact some of the posters I respect the most are Albanians. Not all of my posts defend Serbs or even support the Serbian position. I've had on more then one occasion been accused of actually being an Albanian because my views are so moderate. I support partition precisely because I do feel your people have been abused at times and as a Serb I have apologized for what your people endured.

I'm sorry if you feel I have no right to comment on Kosovo issues, but personally I feel Kosovo is extremely important to Serbs and Montenegrins the world over, as it represents our very identity itself and it belongs to all of us. I am exactly the type of Moderate Serb who would come to visit and spend my tourist dollars in an independent Kosovo, which would benefit your country very much. The reality is I don't generally visit war zones, or places that still experience bouts of violence, as we saw in 2004. I was living in the Balkans during 2002/2003 so that was not a good time to visit.

While I may not have personally experienced the pain and agony your people have, at least I have family from Krajina and I go there every year. So I do have a fairly good understanding how brutal the Balkans can be. I would actually like to hear from you what you experienced during the war and what happened from your perspective. I'd also like to find an expert on Albanian History and the clan structure if you know anyone who would like to discuss such topics.

So if your up for it, write me an email. I am 100% serious about wanting to visit Kosovo. My email is lazslow@hotmail.com