Ruecker returns land to High Dečani

Glad to see the land has been returned to its rightful owners.

All land illegally confiscated back to prior to the 2nd world war will be returned - many Serbian families had land illegally confiscated and this will be returned to the rightful owneres irrespective of who might have illegally squatted and built upon it!!!

The problem of returning land that was confiscated by the communist regime is not unique to Kosovo. It's an issue that all post-communist societies have to contend with, incl. all the successor countries to the former SFRY.

In Kosovo there are many individuals and groups waiting for the return of their confiscated properties or for compensation, where return is not feasible.

And recall that the claimants include not only the Orthodox Church and ethnic Serb families, but others as well.

Among the properties confiscated by the communists after World War II were those owned by the Muslim religious endowments (vakuf) of the Islamic community -- which is now demanding their return.

Then there were the 100,000 people - including many from the old land-owning families (begovi, age) in Kosovo - who were forced to leave their property and their homes and to emigrate to Turkey in the first two decades of communist Yugoslavia.

Old injustices need to be rectified, even if sorting out matters regarding conflicting claims of past and current owners will be difficult in practice.

But it should be done without regard to the ethnicity or religion of those who were affected by these policies.

Ruecker´s attempt to divide serbian opposition against the illegal activities of some western countries won´t bear fruits.

Ruecker is only a foreign body on serbian territory and will soon be needless.

No Dimtuc, because they own they should have the land returned to them. Sounds like the American way that you are supposedly in love with.

Mr Ruecker, while you are at it,please extend this further more. Give back all the land to rightful owners, you don't have to stop with only a Serbian church to please Serbs. Why not return the land from red apple, an area around Nish, Prokuplje, Toplica etc. There used to live thousands of Albanians there but they were slaughtered and expelled from their homes and land.
I agree totally with Jovan R, post 5#.

Mike and Princip, would you really like, in all honesty, that all the land should be returned to its rightful owners, despite their nationalities?

I am sure we Albanians would love that to happened, because we would end up with much more land than we currently have.
Me being one of them, my family bought a house from a Serb in 1945, the Serb took the money and went to Australia with his wife and two kids. Two years later his wife returned with her daughter only,moved in and occupied two rooms and refused to leave. We went through the courts but to no avail. We even bought the house again in 1971, yet again she refused to leave the house.Our lawyer, Toma Fila, who took a lot of money from us, later, told us that there is no chance we will get the house, despite we paid twice. In 1979 we won in supreme court but still she refused to leave. In one morning of 1983 the police came and we thought they came to remove her, but to our surprise, they removed us, a family of 7, instead.

The similar case are with thousands and thousand Albanians, who were expelled from their houses and lands. And I am not talking after 1990 which there is quite a huge numbers, when Serbs from Krajina and Bosnia were given flats and houses taken from Albanians.
The irony of all this, in 1999 it was my father who saved this, now old, lady's life from those who were looking for Serbs with blood in their hands. This lady's son in law and her nephew were both in paramilitary units.
It was my father who risked his life to take her and her daughter to Merdare borders.

Even today, we still receive letters from Habitat, asking us to leave the house.

Anyway, i wouldn't mind if Mr Ruecker would sign for us as well, so we can move to our house and land.
This is just a political move from Mr Ruecker, to please Serbian minority in Kosova.

DimTuc

I guess you have no understanding of the most basic requirement for economic development - clear and secure property rights?

- guess your happy for Status Quo and economic devripation to continue indefinetly then??? Fortunetly many others are not!

Interesting story Ben, but no one's buying it so quit selling.

And albanians in Nis?

If albanians think this land return supposed to automatically appeal to Serbs well they are terribly mistaken. We demand all of our land back! :)

Cygnus:
"No Dimtuc, because they own they should have the land returned to them. Sounds like the American way that you are supposedly in love with."

No idea where you got the idea I might be in love with the "American way," I'm sure you must be cinfusing me with someone else. Far from it, my point was precisely that I don't support massive landed quality and huge cncentrations of landholdings, whether they became "rightful" property in the past via military conquest, "God's (alleged) grace" or having bucketloads of dubiously acquired cash. Put another way, I support Tito's land reforms, though I've no doubt that like elsewhere a good policy may have been marred here and there by injustices in practice.

Likewise Princip:

"I guess you have no understanding of the most basic requirement for economic development - clear and secure property rights?"

WE are likely to have an underlying philosophical difference on that Princip, that I won't go into now. However, if you're talking about smallholders, then I agree. If you're talking about 880 ha owned by a church, or the feudal nobility (lay or clerical), while some miserably poor peasant next door gets by on one ha (or as a tenant on the former), and you think this is a moral right for all time just because some century in the past some military conqueror occupied that last "with God on his side," then I don't agree.

Your powers of deduction are flawless as always Ahmet. Indeed I am a Serb. I wake up every morning, have a shot of rakija, smoke a pack of cigarettes, down a cup of crna kafa and call it a well balanced breakfest.

After that I'm off to work, though in actuality it's not really work. I just sit around and smoke all day under a large poster of Velika Srbija and a framed picture of Draza Mihailovic, bemoaning 500 years of oppression and abuse everyone in the galaxy has thrown at me.

Oh and I show up to work 20 minutes late.

And I will personally get into a fight with anyone who thinks Nikola Tesla and Divac are not two of the greatest human beings who ever walked this planet.

When I'm feeling down, I listen to some Narodna Pesma to cheer myself up while talking conspiracy theories with all my other Serb friends.

And yes, I'll tell you until you can't hear it anymore that "promaja will kill you".

Yep, you got it. I'm so Serb if were to get any more Serbian I could single-handedly land airplanes at night with light reflected off the multiple gold chains around my neck.

By the way Inspector Clouseau, I just mentioned in my last comment the background of my father and mother, neither of which are Serbs. How your powers of unfathomable deduction reached the conclusion that I'm somehow a Serb is beyond me. Were I actually Serbian, you'd be blessed with a long list of all the places my people have been expelled from since the Garden of Eden and how we're entitled to get that back.

Unfortunately due to my meager American upbringing, I'm not in a position to give you that much entertainment beyond the chuckles I hope you got from reading the above.

"All land illegally confiscated back to prior to the 2nd world war will be returned"

Yeh right Princip, so Decani should get all 800 or so ha back? Because God gave it to them? Sounds like a return to feudalism to me.

SRSG Ruecker is a very smart man. He has been playing head games with Serbs for very long time and they still don't get it,but the reality will sink in one day when Serbs wake up from a very bad dream.

"Mike and Princip, would you really like, in all honesty, that all the land should be returned to its rightful owners, despite their nationalities?"

In all honesty, no. Simply because if everyone pushed for a "return of the land my ancestors lost some 200-odd years ago to the (insert other ethnicity here)", we'd all be living on top of each other. My ancestors lost their land to other people, who in turn probably lost that land to someone else. My father came from the Volkdeutsch community of Yugoslavia, and my mother's family is from Trans-Carpathia. Neither of them have the land their ancestors once lived in. I've actually been to the very spot where my father was born (now in Slovenia, close to Kocevje). I've no interest in reclaiming land that was taken from him or his ethnicity.

Now as far as this article is concerned, it doesn't say whether the land returned to Visoki Decani was actually inhabited by other people. If it's just open space, no one loses out.

At last Mike just exposed himself and now we all know that he is a true Serb, and not as he was claiming to be an American.

By the way Inspector Clouseau, I just mentioned in my last comment the background of my father and mother, neither of which are Serbs. How your powers of unfathomable deduction reached the conclusion that I'm somehow a Serb is beyond me. Were I actually Serbian, you'd be blessed with a long list of all the places my people have been expelled from since the Garden of Eden and how we're entitled to get that back.

Unfortunately due to my meager American upbringing, I'm not in a position to give you that much entertainment beyond the chuckles I hope you got from reading the above.
(Mike, 1 June 2008 12:53)

Touche, touche

I had the distinct honor and privilege to work with Bishop Teodosije, Fr. Sava. and the other Monks of High Decani during my tour in Kos-Met. I am happy to see a case where the property rights of Serbs is respected and appropriate action has been taken.

Property rights are the most cherished freedom for Americans, and the "king in the castle" premise is something that is shared by all men.

This further illustrates the ongoing issue in Kosovo i Metohija with the UDI and privatization. Lands illegally confiscated by communist regimes have been returned to the rightful owners in the eastern blok, but in Kos-Met under UN guidance, the cadastral records of Serbs are pushed aside to make way for drug dens, car washes, hotels, brothels, and gas stations.

This is not a return to feudalism, it is a victory for justice. The men of the monastery who are not businessmen or profiteers, have every right to the land granted to them by the sovereign government for their sustainment. Considering Fr. Sava can't walk into downtown Decani passed the UCK terrorist war memorials and Thaci posters to buy a pint of yugort, some milk, and cheese, its best that the have the land so that they can do these things themselves.

You rock Mike! I enjoyed your Serbian generalization immensely. As for Ahmet, his deductions are about as accurate as the bogus facts he and his ilk like to spread.

"All land illegally confiscated back to prior to the 2nd world war will be returned"

Yeh right Princip, so Decani should get all 800 or so ha back? Because God gave it to them? Sounds like a return to feudalism to me.

Mr Ruecker, while you are at it,please extend this further more. Give back all the land to rightful owners, you don't have to stop with only a Serbian church to please Serbs. Why not return the land from red apple, an area around Nish, Prokuplje, Toplica etc. There used to live thousands of Albanians there but they were slaughtered and expelled from their homes and land.
I agree totally with Jovan R, post 5#.

Mike and Princip, would you really like, in all honesty, that all the land should be returned to its rightful owners, despite their nationalities?

I am sure we Albanians would love that to happened, because we would end up with much more land than we currently have.
Me being one of them, my family bought a house from a Serb in 1945, the Serb took the money and went to Australia with his wife and two kids. Two years later his wife returned with her daughter only,moved in and occupied two rooms and refused to leave. We went through the courts but to no avail. We even bought the house again in 1971, yet again she refused to leave the house.Our lawyer, Toma Fila, who took a lot of money from us, later, told us that there is no chance we will get the house, despite we paid twice. In 1979 we won in supreme court but still she refused to leave. In one morning of 1983 the police came and we thought they came to remove her, but to our surprise, they removed us, a family of 7, instead.

The similar case are with thousands and thousand Albanians, who were expelled from their houses and lands. And I am not talking after 1990 which there is quite a huge numbers, when Serbs from Krajina and Bosnia were given flats and houses taken from Albanians.
The irony of all this, in 1999 it was my father who saved this, now old, lady's life from those who were looking for Serbs with blood in their hands. This lady's son in law and her nephew were both in paramilitary units.
It was my father who risked his life to take her and her daughter to Merdare borders.

Even today, we still receive letters from Habitat, asking us to leave the house.

Anyway, i wouldn't mind if Mr Ruecker would sign for us as well, so we can move to our house and land.
This is just a political move from Mr Ruecker, to please Serbian minority in Kosova.

SRSG Ruecker is a very smart man. He has been playing head games with Serbs for very long time and they still don't get it,but the reality will sink in one day when Serbs wake up from a very bad dream.

Cygnus:
"No Dimtuc, because they own they should have the land returned to them. Sounds like the American way that you are supposedly in love with."

No idea where you got the idea I might be in love with the "American way," I'm sure you must be cinfusing me with someone else. Far from it, my point was precisely that I don't support massive landed quality and huge cncentrations of landholdings, whether they became "rightful" property in the past via military conquest, "God's (alleged) grace" or having bucketloads of dubiously acquired cash. Put another way, I support Tito's land reforms, though I've no doubt that like elsewhere a good policy may have been marred here and there by injustices in practice.

Likewise Princip:

"I guess you have no understanding of the most basic requirement for economic development - clear and secure property rights?"

WE are likely to have an underlying philosophical difference on that Princip, that I won't go into now. However, if you're talking about smallholders, then I agree. If you're talking about 880 ha owned by a church, or the feudal nobility (lay or clerical), while some miserably poor peasant next door gets by on one ha (or as a tenant on the former), and you think this is a moral right for all time just because some century in the past some military conqueror occupied that last "with God on his side," then I don't agree.

All land illegally confiscated back to prior to the 2nd world war will be returned - many Serbian families had land illegally confiscated and this will be returned to the rightful owneres irrespective of who might have illegally squatted and built upon it!!!

At last Mike just exposed himself and now we all know that he is a true Serb, and not as he was claiming to be an American.

Glad to see the land has been returned to its rightful owners.

Ruecker´s attempt to divide serbian opposition against the illegal activities of some western countries won´t bear fruits.

Ruecker is only a foreign body on serbian territory and will soon be needless.

I had the distinct honor and privilege to work with Bishop Teodosije, Fr. Sava. and the other Monks of High Decani during my tour in Kos-Met. I am happy to see a case where the property rights of Serbs is respected and appropriate action has been taken.

Property rights are the most cherished freedom for Americans, and the "king in the castle" premise is something that is shared by all men.

This further illustrates the ongoing issue in Kosovo i Metohija with the UDI and privatization. Lands illegally confiscated by communist regimes have been returned to the rightful owners in the eastern blok, but in Kos-Met under UN guidance, the cadastral records of Serbs are pushed aside to make way for drug dens, car washes, hotels, brothels, and gas stations.

This is not a return to feudalism, it is a victory for justice. The men of the monastery who are not businessmen or profiteers, have every right to the land granted to them by the sovereign government for their sustainment. Considering Fr. Sava can't walk into downtown Decani passed the UCK terrorist war memorials and Thaci posters to buy a pint of yugort, some milk, and cheese, its best that the have the land so that they can do these things themselves.

The problem of returning land that was confiscated by the communist regime is not unique to Kosovo. It's an issue that all post-communist societies have to contend with, incl. all the successor countries to the former SFRY.

In Kosovo there are many individuals and groups waiting for the return of their confiscated properties or for compensation, where return is not feasible.

And recall that the claimants include not only the Orthodox Church and ethnic Serb families, but others as well.

Among the properties confiscated by the communists after World War II were those owned by the Muslim religious endowments (vakuf) of the Islamic community -- which is now demanding their return.

Then there were the 100,000 people - including many from the old land-owning families (begovi, age) in Kosovo - who were forced to leave their property and their homes and to emigrate to Turkey in the first two decades of communist Yugoslavia.

Old injustices need to be rectified, even if sorting out matters regarding conflicting claims of past and current owners will be difficult in practice.

But it should be done without regard to the ethnicity or religion of those who were affected by these policies.

No Dimtuc, because they own they should have the land returned to them. Sounds like the American way that you are supposedly in love with.

DimTuc

I guess you have no understanding of the most basic requirement for economic development - clear and secure property rights?

- guess your happy for Status Quo and economic devripation to continue indefinetly then??? Fortunetly many others are not!

Interesting story Ben, but no one's buying it so quit selling.

And albanians in Nis?

If albanians think this land return supposed to automatically appeal to Serbs well they are terribly mistaken. We demand all of our land back! :)

"Mike and Princip, would you really like, in all honesty, that all the land should be returned to its rightful owners, despite their nationalities?"

In all honesty, no. Simply because if everyone pushed for a "return of the land my ancestors lost some 200-odd years ago to the (insert other ethnicity here)", we'd all be living on top of each other. My ancestors lost their land to other people, who in turn probably lost that land to someone else. My father came from the Volkdeutsch community of Yugoslavia, and my mother's family is from Trans-Carpathia. Neither of them have the land their ancestors once lived in. I've actually been to the very spot where my father was born (now in Slovenia, close to Kocevje). I've no interest in reclaiming land that was taken from him or his ethnicity.

Now as far as this article is concerned, it doesn't say whether the land returned to Visoki Decani was actually inhabited by other people. If it's just open space, no one loses out.

Your powers of deduction are flawless as always Ahmet. Indeed I am a Serb. I wake up every morning, have a shot of rakija, smoke a pack of cigarettes, down a cup of crna kafa and call it a well balanced breakfest.

After that I'm off to work, though in actuality it's not really work. I just sit around and smoke all day under a large poster of Velika Srbija and a framed picture of Draza Mihailovic, bemoaning 500 years of oppression and abuse everyone in the galaxy has thrown at me.

Oh and I show up to work 20 minutes late.

And I will personally get into a fight with anyone who thinks Nikola Tesla and Divac are not two of the greatest human beings who ever walked this planet.

When I'm feeling down, I listen to some Narodna Pesma to cheer myself up while talking conspiracy theories with all my other Serb friends.

And yes, I'll tell you until you can't hear it anymore that "promaja will kill you".

Yep, you got it. I'm so Serb if were to get any more Serbian I could single-handedly land airplanes at night with light reflected off the multiple gold chains around my neck.

By the way Inspector Clouseau, I just mentioned in my last comment the background of my father and mother, neither of which are Serbs. How your powers of unfathomable deduction reached the conclusion that I'm somehow a Serb is beyond me. Were I actually Serbian, you'd be blessed with a long list of all the places my people have been expelled from since the Garden of Eden and how we're entitled to get that back.

Unfortunately due to my meager American upbringing, I'm not in a position to give you that much entertainment beyond the chuckles I hope you got from reading the above.

By the way Inspector Clouseau, I just mentioned in my last comment the background of my father and mother, neither of which are Serbs. How your powers of unfathomable deduction reached the conclusion that I'm somehow a Serb is beyond me. Were I actually Serbian, you'd be blessed with a long list of all the places my people have been expelled from since the Garden of Eden and how we're entitled to get that back.

Unfortunately due to my meager American upbringing, I'm not in a position to give you that much entertainment beyond the chuckles I hope you got from reading the above.
(Mike, 1 June 2008 12:53)

Touche, touche

You rock Mike! I enjoyed your Serbian generalization immensely. As for Ahmet, his deductions are about as accurate as the bogus facts he and his ilk like to spread.