"They [the Serbs] think that if there could be one kind of municipality with a Serb majority, they would feel more safety," he said. "So I proposed this simple plan for one city with two municipalities for an interim period of three years."
But Dr. Rexhepi's plan is unpopular with both Serbs and Albanians.
The Serbs want more than just an interim period of self-government and do not want to be linked to the more populous Albanian area in the south of Mitrovica. Albanians want a unified city and oppose a Serbian entity, believing it could be a first step towards the secession of the mostly Serbian north of Kosovo.
Former U.S. diplomat Gerard Gallucci, the U.N. administrator of Mitrovica, quotes the words of the American poet Robert Frost, who said that good fences make good neighbors. Gallucci advocates self-government for north Mitrovica.
"I think what we are going to have is a Kosovo made up of municipalities with, in some areas, strong local autonomy," he noted. "In areas that also happen to be Serb majority, they will probably have a bit more interest in using that autonomy. And, I gather, there will also be ways to have transparent open links to Belgrade.
If the Albanian populated areas in Kosovo are to be split from Serbia why the Serb populated areas should be split from Serbia too? If the borders of states can be changed in the name of local self-determination why the borders of administrative units are to be sacred?
"the supposed and stated idea was that Kosovo would remain a Serbian province, albeit one with a fair amount of local autonomy."
Respectfully, this is an easy problem to solve. The hard part is getting the Albanians and Interested International pirates to accept it.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/371562.stm
Case in Point and correct:
Independence Would Prove Absence Of International Law
Kosovska Mitrovica, 22 Sep 06 (Tanjug) – The president of the Coordination Center for Kosovo and Metohija, Sanda Raskovic-Ivic, said on Friday that an independent Kosovo would be proof that 'international law does not exist, but only a convention of the big powers.
“It is necessary that Serbia invests in Kosovo and Metohija and Serbia will always be here to help, to invest, and offer a helping hand,” said Rashkovic-Ivic, in Kosovska Mitrovica. She said Serbian state institutions insist that negotiations about Kosovo go on into the next year because in the past seven months of talks in Vienna, there was no agreement about technical issues.
Comment: then you have this trash.......
Ceku: Contact Group’s Stance Is Positive For Kosovo
Pristina, 21 Sept 06 (Beta) – The Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku, stated that the Contact Group’s stance after Thursday evening’s meeting in New York is positive as it was expected.
During a break in the Kosovo Assembly session, Ceku said that he had expected this announcement by the Contact Group and that it is at the same in line with the other statements that he heard during his visit in Washington.
‘This confirms that the status needs to be resolved by the end’s year and that it has to be in unison with the political wishes of the majority. It has to preserve the multi-ethnical character of Kosovo, which is something that we have already adopted as our principles in this process’, said the Prime Minister.
The statement, as he said, once more is emphasizing the importance of achieving the standards in this democratic society, which will be ‘the best proof that Kosovo is ready and capable for such a status’.
‘We are determined to fulfill the standards not only because of the UN Security Council, but we will do that for the citizens as well,’ said Ceku.
In regards to conditional independence, the Prime Minister of Kosovo stated that there are more and more countries which understand that ‘independence is the only solution’.
Kosovo Solution Due By November
Sept 22 06 (kosovareport.com) - U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari will propose a settlement for Kosovo by November, after he wins backing from the major powers to wind up Serb-Albanian talks, diplomatic sources said on Thursday. "You're looking at November, but it could be earlier," a senior Western official close to the process told Reuters after the major powers instructed Ahtisaari to produce his proposal.
A Kosovo government official said Ahtisaari, who has led talks between Serbia and Kosovo Albanians since February, would make his proposal "by the end of October at the latest". Meeting on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, foreign ministers of the major Western powers and Russia gave Ahtisaari the green light to go to the next phase. They said "all possible efforts" should be made to reach a solution by the end of the year. The timetable suggests the United States and its European allies have overcome Russian opposition to a strict deadline. Moscow had backed Serb demands for a delay, but the statement issued after the meeting accused Belgrade of "obstruction".
Diplomats say Ahtisaari will propose independence for the Albanian majority province, with safeguards for the Serb minority supervised by the European Union and NATO. The move would end more than seven years of limbo in Kosovo, since NATO's first "humanitarian" war halted a brutal crackdown by forces under Serbia's late president Slobodan Milosevic and the United Nations took control. Ahtisaari's deputy has said chances of further progress in talks are "increasingly slim."
Western powers are mindful of increasing impatience among the 90-percent ethnic Albanian majority, and the potential for fresh attacks against the 100,000 remaining Serbs. The 16,000-strong NATO peace force said on Thursday it had stepped up patrols after a spate of bomb attacks, including one on Tuesday that wounded four elderly Serbs.
Privately, U.N. officials in Kosovo have warned of a violent meltdown if a decision were delayed much longer. One senior U.N. official had told Reuters the mission would become "unmanageable" by spring 2007. Serbia refuses to consider independence for Kosovo, to many Serbs the cradle of their nation. But there is an increasingly desperate ring to official language in Belgrade. Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica appeared to portray the New York statement as a victory, thanking traditional Orthodox ally Russia for its steadfast support.
"In this historically important moment for Serbia, Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, advocates that international law must be respected, there can be no unilateral change of borders of sovereign states and that only an agreement accepted by both sides can be approved by the U.N. Security Council," he told the state news agency.
Serbia lost control over the territory of 2 million people in 1999, when NATO bombed for 78 days to drive out Serb forces accused of atrocities and ethnic cleansing in a two-year war with separatist guerrillas. Around half the prewar Serb population fled a wave of revenge attacks in 1999. The United Nations has contingency plans for a fresh exodus in the event of independence, and some fear a bid by the mainly Serb north to secede, splitting Kosovo in two.
Strengthening Of Radical Muslims In Kosmet Danger To West As Well
Belgrade. 22 Sep 06 (Radio Serbia) – The refusal of the US State Department to seriously confront the terrorist character of the Albanian leaders and the strengthening of the Wahabi elements among the Kosmet Albanians can lead to a future serious endangering of Europe, as well as the US, warned Bishop of Raska and Prizren Artemije during the first day of his visit to the US. During his talk with Pat Robertson, a Protestant pastor and Christian activist, Artemije reminded that the so-called white Al Qaeda is growing stronger, as its members are being recruited among European Muslims. After informing him in detail of the destruction of the Christian civilization and ethnic cleansing against Christians in Kosmet, Robertson concluded that it would be a terrible scandal to allow the establishment of a Muslim state in Kosmet by tearing off a part of the territory of a sovereign state.
Rashkovic-Ivic: Kosmet Serbs Lost Faith In Kosovo Institutions
Prizren, 22 Sep 06 (Radio Serbia) – In Sredska, near Prizren, Sanda Rashkovic-Ivic, the president of the Coordination Center for Kosmet, said that because of the frequent attacks of the Albanian extremists, Kosmet Serbs lost their confidence in Kosovo institutions, and that this is why their greatest hope lies with the process of decentralization.
A couple of dozen Serbian returnees to the village of Sredska, informed Rashkovic-Ivic about problems in the electric power supply, water supply, telephone lines, annexing of property, and inadequate medical help.
Attack On Serbs In Osojane, Four Injured
Osojane, 22 Sep 06 (KIM Radio) – On Friday at around 14.00 hrs, in Osojane, four person were injured, two of which were minors. The incident happened when the Serbs who headed to cut some wood in their own forest were intercepted by Albanians cutting woods in the Serb owned forest. The injured were taken to the Spanish KFOR hospital and are not in critical condition. Tomislav Dabetic received harshest injuries to the head.
Natasha Ostoic from Osojane, said that illegal Albanian woodcutters who were stealing Serbian owned wood attacked the Serbs with axes and other sharp tools.
Tomislav Dabetic, Cane Zakic, and his two minor sons were injured in this incident. This is only one in the whole series of attacks on the Serbs ever since they returned to Osojane Valley in 2001. In the past Albanians tried to steel cattle, and tractors, instances during which there were serious incidents.
Serbs From Klina Region Scared
Klina, 22 Sep 06 (Glas Javnosti) – Three days after the bomb attack against the Pavlovic family, Serbian returnees from Klina and surrounding villages are scared and worried for their safety, stated Sveto Dabizljevic, an SDP member from Klina.
“There is no doubt that the statement of the Kosovo parliament president, who by the way is from Klina, caused the attack on the Pavlovic family, and it is only a question of when a new attack will happen. Serbs from this region are aware of this. An additional concern is caused by the KFOR announcement that it will withdraw from the base in the returnee village in Bica. If this happens, there is no doubt that the Serbs will once again have to leave their homes. After the attack, the police did not increase their presence,” said Dabizljevic.
He claims that attack against the Serbs which have become more frequent, are organized, and that Serbs which recently returned to their homes now do not know what to do because they cannot address anyone for help.
“I have the impression that for Prishtina authorities these attacks come as nifty promotion material because every time there is an attack against Serbs, their politicians take cameras and news reporters and star visiting injured Serbs. This means that Ceku and his company first throw bombs on Serbs and then cure them so that it can be seen how they care about them. If Serbs do not bother them, why are throwing bombs on them,” asked Dabizljevic.
