"Kosovo must recognize Montenegrins"

This is a difficult one for Priština. Serbians and Montenegrins are the same people so how are ethnic Albanians going to differentiate between us? They must be nice to Montenegrins but continue to persecute Serbians. Hmmm, tough one.

The spurious Montenegrin nation wants the spurious Kosovar nation to recognise them. Two wrongs don’t make a right.

“Montengrins… have their own dialect and now kind of their own language.”

“Then Kosovo Should Recognize them, and then give them all 10 seats in parliament and then give all the Orthodox Church property to the Holy Montenegrin Church!!!”

The polls in Montenegro consistently show that the vast majority go to the Serbian Orthodox Church and call the language they speak “Serbian” not Montenegrin.

If the Albanian population treated Gorani and Roma as “Serbs” I don’t see them treating Montenegrins any different unless of course its only to upset Serbs.

As a Montenegrin I’m deeply offended by those trying to create a rift between us and our brother Serbs.

Polls show we identify with Serbs, B92 should edit any comments denying us our identity.

Montenegrins have recognised Kosova(o) independence. Wake up and follow your brothers' path (if you're the same).
(BH_NYC, 31 December 2009 13:28)
--
Most Montenegrins have not recognised Kosovo. The government has, which we all know is against the will of the people while Djukanovic gets a temporary "get out of jail free" card.

This can also be extended to the Irish, British, Czech and many other countries where the government has gone against the will of the people.

Bob

Now you know how the albanians think. If one Serb do harm to one albanian then all Serbs (women, children, elderly etc) are guilty. Look at albanian blood feuds! One albanian kills another and the victims family revenge anyone in the family of the perpetrator, regardless if they had something to do with the killing or not. How can you make peace with such people?

So-Montenegrins have a carrot stick now,nice..
And as a Serbian from montenegro i ask that albanians rebuild Njegos statue in Pristina,they savagely took down.
Then will talk about diplomatic relations..

Predictor:

There are lots of Serbs who did not want the violence, but your statement implies that you want to maintain a negative view towards all Serbs. If you can categorise Montenegrins differently maybe you need to invent a few more useful categories that will allow you to continue to express your prejudices in a convenient form?

Recognizing the Montenegrins is in the interest of Kosovo. By doing this the official number of Serbs in Kosovo will be minimized, because Montenegrins are considered as Serbs in the statistics.

Mister vujanovic is a funny guy. Why does he take into account the 1981 census, when he could take into account the 1991 one? It is no secret that the number of montenegrins in Kosovo has been decreasing for a long time. From 37,000 in 1961, to 31,500 in 1971, to 27,000 in 1981, to 20,000 in 1991... see the pattern? Estimates since then show a drastically falling population of montenegrins. The war had displaced pretty much all that were left. The few that were left were primarily in metohija, and well, that region was pretty much cleansed from orthodox slavs. In my estimates, there are less than 1,000 montenegrins in kosovo today. There are more bosniaks, turks, gypsies, serbs, and other such groups.

I agree. The Montenegrins should be separate ethnicity in Kosova as they are in the Balkans too, furthermore they should not be mixed with the atrocities done in Kosova against Albanians as they were even during the 1998/99 war distanced from that act.
I vote for
Monenegrin = Separate ethnicity in Kosova

> Serbians and Montenegrins are the same people.....
(Zoran, 31 December 2009 11:30) >

Montenegrins have recognised Kosova(o) independence. Wake up and follow your brothers' path (if you're the same).

Serbians and Montenegrins are the same people so how are ethnic Albanians going to differentiate between us?
---
The Montenegrins are telling us, not hard at all. Apparently they want nothing to do with you. Recognize them and be done!

They will never to that. Aren't you glad you recognized them????

For shame on you!

> Serbians and Montenegrins are the same people.....
(Zoran, 31 December 2009 11:30) >

Then Kosovo Should Recognize them, and then give them all 10 seats in parliament and then give all the Orthodox Church property to the Holy Montenegrin Church!!! Zoran that sounds radical, But You Solved The Kosovo's Problem!!!! Good Job!!!

Ian what on earth is 'kind of their own language'?

You know what world linguists say about the Serbian / Croatian / Bosnian language don't you?

Seems like a fair deal.
Pristina should recognise Montenegrins as a separate ethnic group. Yes they have a lot in common and have had some shared history with the Serbs, but Montengrins have had their own history, they have their own dialect and now kind of their own language. There also have their own culture. It is only fair that Pristina recognises this.

KOSOVARi, that is a good idea, to have a census. The problem is that the albanians dare not have it! The reason why is because it would expose exactly how few albanians there really are in Kosovo. A census might give some 1,200,000 albanians. Without a census albanians can claim that there is 2,000,000.

B92 should edit any comments denying us our identity.
(Matthew, 31 December 2009 17:46)

What happened to Freedom of Speech Matthew?

Since B92 publishes racial hatred in posts from "Truth Hurts" ie Gypsy Serbs, I am sure they will allow me to retort that Montenegrins (Serbs from the black mountains) are less Turk like than the Anatolians (albo's?) that post here.

Ian (uk),

Sadly for all your bias and misinformation the modern Serb language was founded by a Serb named Vuk from the 'black mountains' of Serbia. You know, like that guy named Bill from your neck of the swamp.

Really? Is this based on your personal survey?!
You know my dear friend, people don't recognise states, governments do. Did you really think that Spain is not recognising Kosova(o) because of the will of ordinary Spanish citizens and their pain over Serbia's 'cultural heritage'?? Or you thought that Chinese villagers are having sleepless nights over Jeremic's interpretation of International Law?!!

"Vujanović pointed out that there were over 28,000 Montenegrins living in Kosovo"

We need to have a census and appropriate proper seats in the Assembly of Kosovo. The Kosovar-Montenegrians would probably get 1 seat from the 20 (28k in 2mn)
reserved for minorities.

It's time we ended all the SANU SERB propaganda and Serbian manipulations once and for all.

I started reading this comment and I thought this is good, Mike is tell us that generalizing is wrong, and then he says 'How can you make peace with such people? ' Huh, is it ok to generalize or not?

BH_NYC,
Do you think countries are recognizing Kosovo because they actually care about Kosovo or do you think they are doing it because they being pressured by the US and UK? If the NYC in your handle means New York City, I would think you are smarter than that comment shows.

Montenegrins are less gypsy like than Serbs. They are mostly Albanians and Croats of Orthodox religions.

Well my shokis now you are getting a taste of your own medicine will you deny the montenegroians a place in Kosovo? If you don't then you are talking out both sides of your mouths. LOL this is so funny so what is good for the goose is not good for the gander. I want to follow this to see how Pristina is going to weasle there way out of this.

'You know what world linguists say about the Serbian / Croatian / Bosnian language don't you?
(bganon, 31 December 2009 21:37) '

Old linguists' joke:
- What's the difference between a dialect and a language?

- An army and a navy.

Lazar,

Even according to Yugoslavian census carried out in 1971, 1981, and an 1991 (last one boycotted by Albanians) there were roughly 1.96mn Kosovar - Albanians.

I will provide you with a link.

http://www.ks-gov.net/ESK/eng/images/stories/Departamenteve/piramid.JPG


Remember the TOP graph is the statistical analysis carried by Serbs.



PS,

notice how the Statisical Office of Yugoslavia published that there were LESS THAN 200k Kosovar - Serbs.

Montenegrins are less gypsy like than Serbs. They are mostly Albanians and Croats of Orthodox religions.
(Truth Hurts, 1 January 2010 00:55)
its incredible how smart you are.

Okay... A simple question: Why?

Why does it matter?
What difference will it make?
--

"Okay... A simple question: Why?

Why does it matter?
What difference will it make?"

They'll get their own star on the flag. There will be a proportionate number of jobs set aside in the police force and seats in the Assembly. (Although they might be better off taking the Serbian jobs and seats the Serbs don't want.) As few of them as there may be, they fielded two parties in the municipal elections - they could become kingmakers in local elections in the future, which is helpful to a group.

When they first started agitating for recognition as an official minority I think Prishtina said they wanted to wait until the census was taken (in 2011), but pressure from Montenegro may help speed things up.

You know what world linguists say about the Serbian / Croatian / Bosnian language don't you?
(bganon, 31 December 2009 21:37)

Aye I do, there are all basically the same language with different dialects and alphabets. Just like Hindi and Urdu.

(KOSOVARi, 1 January 2010 23:19)

The vast majority are refugees from Albania during the 1950s and 60s.

"KOSOVARi, that is a good idea, to have a census. The problem is that the albanians dare not have it! "

The census has already been scheduled for 2011, at the time when the EU will be holding theirs. The government is already working on a GPS project to locate every dwelling in the country (or they may have completed it by now - I remember this from an old story) so as to make sure no one is overlooked.

Just be patient a little while longer.

The vast majority are refugees from Albania during the 1950s and 60s.
(sj, 2 January 2010 00:28)

How did hundreds of thousands of Albanians from Albania cross the border to Yugoslavia in the 60s?? Please show me one evidence of that fact. Do you have any idea that there are some 300k K-Alb born abroad since 1960s, that are not even registered in Kosovo? In contrary there are some 200K K-Alb from families expelled during 1930 to 1945 living in Albania right now, mainly located in the cities of Durres, Fier and Tirana.

First these immigrants had to pass throug Albanian guards which, whoever has any knowledge of the facts of the time, knows very well it was a very difficult and risky task, as they would have been shot on the spot. Crossing the border was punishable by death penalty, and persecution of all ones family as enemies of the state.

Second, they had to pass through the Yugoslav guards, who if did not shot them, at best could not handle these hundreds of thousands of refugeees without making some news, or some kind of humanitarian crisis. In fact Alb-Yugo relationship were so strained during the time, that Tito without a doubt would have used these refugees as public relation tool to stick it to Hoxha who rebeled against him, and cut every tie with Yugoslavia.

Third, according to your logic, if so many Albanians immigrated to Kosovo, than the Albanian population in Albania at the time should have declined, something which is not supported by any stats. Alb population both in Albania and Kosovo from WWII increased by almost 300%. As K-Alb went from 600K during WWII to 1.9M in 1990, in Albania population went from 1.2m after WWII to 3.2M in 1990.

It doesn't take an Einstein to understand that K-Alb population growth is due only to natural growth. On the other hand I should remind you that Serbia has 4th oldest population in the planet, and has one of the highest negative growth population in the world, 227 out of 233.

On 31 December 2009 23:03, Amer tried to answer my questions with:

- "They'll get their own star on the flag."

That's it? Hmmm. I just check how the Kosovo flag looks like. I see 6 stars, but no names. So why can't say star no. 4 be theirs? Every Montenegrin, get out on the streets and shout: STAR NO. 4 IS OURS!!!

There, task accomplished,

- "There will be a proportionate number of jobs set aside in the police force and seats in the Assembly."

Set aside? I thought the idea was equality, not preferential treatment. Don't the rule of "one person, one vote" apply in Kosovo? With one vote per person, I would expect that the Montenegrins already had a proportionate number of seats in the assembly. Or am I wrong? And if so, why don't they have a proportionate number of seats?
--

"Set aside? I thought the idea was equality, not preferential treatment."

This is a way to make sure that minorities get the representation they're entitled to. It's worked well in the police - they have a force that closely reflects the country's population. And European parliaments that require equal numbers of male and female representatives have done a much better job of ensuring equal representation for their women than the US, which doesn't.

As for the stars, I don't know which one in the American flag is my state's, it's enough to know it's one of the 50. It must be gratifying to Kosovo, though, to know that one of their minorities is eager to be recognized. And it isn't really all that much trouble to make a change in a flag - we've gone from 13 to 50 stars with no problem.

bganon,

I asked, once again, my linguist friend about the language/dialect matter and she told me the same thing that I found on the Internet:

"Modern-day linguists know that the status of language is not solely determined by linguistic criteria, but it is also the result of a historical and political development."

My friend said that if an ethnic group of people decides to call its language or dialect by the name of their ethnicity we only can accept this. We may say that this language is very similar / rather similar or so on with another language.

Read more for example here: http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Dialect

I admit that many years ago I thought that it's enough for dialect to share a basic vocabulary and similar syntax (principles that control the sentence structure of a language) with a "status" language to be called a dialect -and not a separate individual language.

Since that my view has changed. But of course there's always place and time for a discussion.

Dostrick,The more I find out, the more I think we've been setting a lot of bad pcdreeents. Up to recent times, I was like a lot of other people; I didn't feel these events "on my skin," so to speak, but now, with the dissolution of the borders, the political takeover of so much of our territory (bought and paid for, I might add - I GOTTA find that damned receipt!), the open ambition by leaders of the "seperatist" movement such as Voz de Aztlan to establish a new nation they call (not surprisingly) "Aztlan" that includes territory in the whole southwestern corner of our country, up to and including (in their most ambitious plans) the southern part of Washington state, the increasing chumminess between Iran and Castro, Chavez, and Morales, the alliances being formed between Hezbollah and the drug lords and gangs in the Tri-Border region of South America (Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay), the increasing enlistment of gang members in the Army etc. (where they get professional military training), the experience the gang enlistees get in Iraq (urban warfare), the lockdowns being conducted with increasing frequency at our military bases to try to find "lost" equipment (night-vision goggles were the last reason for a lockdown at Fort Lewis, in Washington state) - well, I have begun some serious "dot-connecting," and none of it makes me happy, especially since Bush seems either to be in La-la land re: Islam AND borders, or he doesn't care, or he is complicit.Can't think of any other reason for his inactivity. It is my most fervent wish that there are enough people left who "see the light" on this issue that we can salvage the very existence of our nation.I have been on a tear for several years about how our government-run school system does not exist to educate students to become knowledgeable thinkers, but rather, to produce a population that is woefully ignorant and made submissive and compliant, and not oppose the implementation of policy, even if it means that our leaders refuse to uphold their oaths of office, the Constitution is relegated to the status of of "ornament," and our nation-state is reduced to the position of an "administrative unit" in a larger world-wide entity.We MUST field a bunch of candidates for office who "get it," or we are lost.That little line from a song in "Camelot" comes to mind, where King Arthur refers to Camelot as a "brief, shining moment" in history...

I agree. The Montenegrins should be separate ethnicity in Kosova as they are in the Balkans too, furthermore they should not be mixed with the atrocities done in Kosova against Albanians as they were even during the 1998/99 war distanced from that act.
I vote for
Monenegrin = Separate ethnicity in Kosova

> Serbians and Montenegrins are the same people.....
(Zoran, 31 December 2009 11:30) >

Montenegrins have recognised Kosova(o) independence. Wake up and follow your brothers' path (if you're the same).

Serbians and Montenegrins are the same people so how are ethnic Albanians going to differentiate between us?
---
The Montenegrins are telling us, not hard at all. Apparently they want nothing to do with you. Recognize them and be done!

"Vujanović pointed out that there were over 28,000 Montenegrins living in Kosovo"

We need to have a census and appropriate proper seats in the Assembly of Kosovo. The Kosovar-Montenegrians would probably get 1 seat from the 20 (28k in 2mn)
reserved for minorities.

It's time we ended all the SANU SERB propaganda and Serbian manipulations once and for all.

This is a difficult one for Priština. Serbians and Montenegrins are the same people so how are ethnic Albanians going to differentiate between us? They must be nice to Montenegrins but continue to persecute Serbians. Hmmm, tough one.

Really? Is this based on your personal survey?!
You know my dear friend, people don't recognise states, governments do. Did you really think that Spain is not recognising Kosova(o) because of the will of ordinary Spanish citizens and their pain over Serbia's 'cultural heritage'?? Or you thought that Chinese villagers are having sleepless nights over Jeremic's interpretation of International Law?!!

Seems like a fair deal.
Pristina should recognise Montenegrins as a separate ethnic group. Yes they have a lot in common and have had some shared history with the Serbs, but Montengrins have had their own history, they have their own dialect and now kind of their own language. There also have their own culture. It is only fair that Pristina recognises this.

Montenegrins are less gypsy like than Serbs. They are mostly Albanians and Croats of Orthodox religions.

Montenegrins have recognised Kosova(o) independence. Wake up and follow your brothers' path (if you're the same).
(BH_NYC, 31 December 2009 13:28)
--
Most Montenegrins have not recognised Kosovo. The government has, which we all know is against the will of the people while Djukanovic gets a temporary "get out of jail free" card.

This can also be extended to the Irish, British, Czech and many other countries where the government has gone against the will of the people.

The spurious Montenegrin nation wants the spurious Kosovar nation to recognise them. Two wrongs don’t make a right.

Bob

Now you know how the albanians think. If one Serb do harm to one albanian then all Serbs (women, children, elderly etc) are guilty. Look at albanian blood feuds! One albanian kills another and the victims family revenge anyone in the family of the perpetrator, regardless if they had something to do with the killing or not. How can you make peace with such people?

I started reading this comment and I thought this is good, Mike is tell us that generalizing is wrong, and then he says 'How can you make peace with such people? ' Huh, is it ok to generalize or not?

> Serbians and Montenegrins are the same people.....
(Zoran, 31 December 2009 11:30) >

Then Kosovo Should Recognize them, and then give them all 10 seats in parliament and then give all the Orthodox Church property to the Holy Montenegrin Church!!! Zoran that sounds radical, But You Solved The Kosovo's Problem!!!! Good Job!!!

Recognizing the Montenegrins is in the interest of Kosovo. By doing this the official number of Serbs in Kosovo will be minimized, because Montenegrins are considered as Serbs in the statistics.

B92 should edit any comments denying us our identity.
(Matthew, 31 December 2009 17:46)

What happened to Freedom of Speech Matthew?

"Okay... A simple question: Why?

Why does it matter?
What difference will it make?"

They'll get their own star on the flag. There will be a proportionate number of jobs set aside in the police force and seats in the Assembly. (Although they might be better off taking the Serbian jobs and seats the Serbs don't want.) As few of them as there may be, they fielded two parties in the municipal elections - they could become kingmakers in local elections in the future, which is helpful to a group.

When they first started agitating for recognition as an official minority I think Prishtina said they wanted to wait until the census was taken (in 2011), but pressure from Montenegro may help speed things up.

“Montengrins… have their own dialect and now kind of their own language.”

“Then Kosovo Should Recognize them, and then give them all 10 seats in parliament and then give all the Orthodox Church property to the Holy Montenegrin Church!!!”

The polls in Montenegro consistently show that the vast majority go to the Serbian Orthodox Church and call the language they speak “Serbian” not Montenegrin.

If the Albanian population treated Gorani and Roma as “Serbs” I don’t see them treating Montenegrins any different unless of course its only to upset Serbs.

As a Montenegrin I’m deeply offended by those trying to create a rift between us and our brother Serbs.

Polls show we identify with Serbs, B92 should edit any comments denying us our identity.

So-Montenegrins have a carrot stick now,nice..
And as a Serbian from montenegro i ask that albanians rebuild Njegos statue in Pristina,they savagely took down.
Then will talk about diplomatic relations..

They will never to that. Aren't you glad you recognized them????

For shame on you!

KOSOVARi, that is a good idea, to have a census. The problem is that the albanians dare not have it! The reason why is because it would expose exactly how few albanians there really are in Kosovo. A census might give some 1,200,000 albanians. Without a census albanians can claim that there is 2,000,000.

Okay... A simple question: Why?

Why does it matter?
What difference will it make?
--

Predictor:

There are lots of Serbs who did not want the violence, but your statement implies that you want to maintain a negative view towards all Serbs. If you can categorise Montenegrins differently maybe you need to invent a few more useful categories that will allow you to continue to express your prejudices in a convenient form?

Well my shokis now you are getting a taste of your own medicine will you deny the montenegroians a place in Kosovo? If you don't then you are talking out both sides of your mouths. LOL this is so funny so what is good for the goose is not good for the gander. I want to follow this to see how Pristina is going to weasle there way out of this.

You know what world linguists say about the Serbian / Croatian / Bosnian language don't you?
(bganon, 31 December 2009 21:37)

Aye I do, there are all basically the same language with different dialects and alphabets. Just like Hindi and Urdu.

Lazar,

Even according to Yugoslavian census carried out in 1971, 1981, and an 1991 (last one boycotted by Albanians) there were roughly 1.96mn Kosovar - Albanians.

I will provide you with a link.

http://www.ks-gov.net/ESK/eng/images/stories/Departamenteve/piramid.JPG


Remember the TOP graph is the statistical analysis carried by Serbs.



PS,

notice how the Statisical Office of Yugoslavia published that there were LESS THAN 200k Kosovar - Serbs.

Since B92 publishes racial hatred in posts from "Truth Hurts" ie Gypsy Serbs, I am sure they will allow me to retort that Montenegrins (Serbs from the black mountains) are less Turk like than the Anatolians (albo's?) that post here.

Ian (uk),

Sadly for all your bias and misinformation the modern Serb language was founded by a Serb named Vuk from the 'black mountains' of Serbia. You know, like that guy named Bill from your neck of the swamp.

Ian what on earth is 'kind of their own language'?

You know what world linguists say about the Serbian / Croatian / Bosnian language don't you?

The vast majority are refugees from Albania during the 1950s and 60s.
(sj, 2 January 2010 00:28)

How did hundreds of thousands of Albanians from Albania cross the border to Yugoslavia in the 60s?? Please show me one evidence of that fact. Do you have any idea that there are some 300k K-Alb born abroad since 1960s, that are not even registered in Kosovo? In contrary there are some 200K K-Alb from families expelled during 1930 to 1945 living in Albania right now, mainly located in the cities of Durres, Fier and Tirana.

First these immigrants had to pass throug Albanian guards which, whoever has any knowledge of the facts of the time, knows very well it was a very difficult and risky task, as they would have been shot on the spot. Crossing the border was punishable by death penalty, and persecution of all ones family as enemies of the state.

Second, they had to pass through the Yugoslav guards, who if did not shot them, at best could not handle these hundreds of thousands of refugeees without making some news, or some kind of humanitarian crisis. In fact Alb-Yugo relationship were so strained during the time, that Tito without a doubt would have used these refugees as public relation tool to stick it to Hoxha who rebeled against him, and cut every tie with Yugoslavia.

Third, according to your logic, if so many Albanians immigrated to Kosovo, than the Albanian population in Albania at the time should have declined, something which is not supported by any stats. Alb population both in Albania and Kosovo from WWII increased by almost 300%. As K-Alb went from 600K during WWII to 1.9M in 1990, in Albania population went from 1.2m after WWII to 3.2M in 1990.

It doesn't take an Einstein to understand that K-Alb population growth is due only to natural growth. On the other hand I should remind you that Serbia has 4th oldest population in the planet, and has one of the highest negative growth population in the world, 227 out of 233.

Mister vujanovic is a funny guy. Why does he take into account the 1981 census, when he could take into account the 1991 one? It is no secret that the number of montenegrins in Kosovo has been decreasing for a long time. From 37,000 in 1961, to 31,500 in 1971, to 27,000 in 1981, to 20,000 in 1991... see the pattern? Estimates since then show a drastically falling population of montenegrins. The war had displaced pretty much all that were left. The few that were left were primarily in metohija, and well, that region was pretty much cleansed from orthodox slavs. In my estimates, there are less than 1,000 montenegrins in kosovo today. There are more bosniaks, turks, gypsies, serbs, and other such groups.

'You know what world linguists say about the Serbian / Croatian / Bosnian language don't you?
(bganon, 31 December 2009 21:37) '

Old linguists' joke:
- What's the difference between a dialect and a language?

- An army and a navy.

On 31 December 2009 23:03, Amer tried to answer my questions with:

- "They'll get their own star on the flag."

That's it? Hmmm. I just check how the Kosovo flag looks like. I see 6 stars, but no names. So why can't say star no. 4 be theirs? Every Montenegrin, get out on the streets and shout: STAR NO. 4 IS OURS!!!

There, task accomplished,

- "There will be a proportionate number of jobs set aside in the police force and seats in the Assembly."

Set aside? I thought the idea was equality, not preferential treatment. Don't the rule of "one person, one vote" apply in Kosovo? With one vote per person, I would expect that the Montenegrins already had a proportionate number of seats in the assembly. Or am I wrong? And if so, why don't they have a proportionate number of seats?
--

bganon,

I asked, once again, my linguist friend about the language/dialect matter and she told me the same thing that I found on the Internet:

"Modern-day linguists know that the status of language is not solely determined by linguistic criteria, but it is also the result of a historical and political development."

My friend said that if an ethnic group of people decides to call its language or dialect by the name of their ethnicity we only can accept this. We may say that this language is very similar / rather similar or so on with another language.

Read more for example here: http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Dialect

I admit that many years ago I thought that it's enough for dialect to share a basic vocabulary and similar syntax (principles that control the sentence structure of a language) with a "status" language to be called a dialect -and not a separate individual language.

Since that my view has changed. But of course there's always place and time for a discussion.

"KOSOVARi, that is a good idea, to have a census. The problem is that the albanians dare not have it! "

The census has already been scheduled for 2011, at the time when the EU will be holding theirs. The government is already working on a GPS project to locate every dwelling in the country (or they may have completed it by now - I remember this from an old story) so as to make sure no one is overlooked.

Just be patient a little while longer.

(KOSOVARi, 1 January 2010 23:19)

The vast majority are refugees from Albania during the 1950s and 60s.

"Set aside? I thought the idea was equality, not preferential treatment."

This is a way to make sure that minorities get the representation they're entitled to. It's worked well in the police - they have a force that closely reflects the country's population. And European parliaments that require equal numbers of male and female representatives have done a much better job of ensuring equal representation for their women than the US, which doesn't.

As for the stars, I don't know which one in the American flag is my state's, it's enough to know it's one of the 50. It must be gratifying to Kosovo, though, to know that one of their minorities is eager to be recognized. And it isn't really all that much trouble to make a change in a flag - we've gone from 13 to 50 stars with no problem.

BH_NYC,
Do you think countries are recognizing Kosovo because they actually care about Kosovo or do you think they are doing it because they being pressured by the US and UK? If the NYC in your handle means New York City, I would think you are smarter than that comment shows.

Montenegrins are less gypsy like than Serbs. They are mostly Albanians and Croats of Orthodox religions.
(Truth Hurts, 1 January 2010 00:55)
its incredible how smart you are.

Dostrick,The more I find out, the more I think we've been setting a lot of bad pcdreeents. Up to recent times, I was like a lot of other people; I didn't feel these events "on my skin," so to speak, but now, with the dissolution of the borders, the political takeover of so much of our territory (bought and paid for, I might add - I GOTTA find that damned receipt!), the open ambition by leaders of the "seperatist" movement such as Voz de Aztlan to establish a new nation they call (not surprisingly) "Aztlan" that includes territory in the whole southwestern corner of our country, up to and including (in their most ambitious plans) the southern part of Washington state, the increasing chumminess between Iran and Castro, Chavez, and Morales, the alliances being formed between Hezbollah and the drug lords and gangs in the Tri-Border region of South America (Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay), the increasing enlistment of gang members in the Army etc. (where they get professional military training), the experience the gang enlistees get in Iraq (urban warfare), the lockdowns being conducted with increasing frequency at our military bases to try to find "lost" equipment (night-vision goggles were the last reason for a lockdown at Fort Lewis, in Washington state) - well, I have begun some serious "dot-connecting," and none of it makes me happy, especially since Bush seems either to be in La-la land re: Islam AND borders, or he doesn't care, or he is complicit.Can't think of any other reason for his inactivity. It is my most fervent wish that there are enough people left who "see the light" on this issue that we can salvage the very existence of our nation.I have been on a tear for several years about how our government-run school system does not exist to educate students to become knowledgeable thinkers, but rather, to produce a population that is woefully ignorant and made submissive and compliant, and not oppose the implementation of policy, even if it means that our leaders refuse to uphold their oaths of office, the Constitution is relegated to the status of of "ornament," and our nation-state is reduced to the position of an "administrative unit" in a larger world-wide entity.We MUST field a bunch of candidates for office who "get it," or we are lost.That little line from a song in "Camelot" comes to mind, where King Arthur refers to Camelot as a "brief, shining moment" in history...