06 December 2002, Friday Edition

CONTENTS

Covic's interview for Vecernje Novosti, published on Wednesday

You have once again requested decentralization of Kosovo and Metohija according to European standards. What does this imply, since SRSG Michael Steiner has announced talks on the so-called final status of Kosovo and Metohija in three to four years?
Talks on the final status will not commence before standards envisaged by UNSCR 1244 are reached, and we are still far from these standards. There needs to be a decentralization of authorities in Kosovo in order to have IDP returns. I think that the dialogue on the 'final status' will not commence in the course of 2003. In my opinion, this is possible only in the second half of 2004 at the earliest. The limitations are: there are no changes of borders either in the sense of an independent Kosovo or in the sense of some sort of divisions.

Is the year 2004 the last optimal deadline for returns?
Both 2003 and 2004 are important, but we should take one step at the time. It is easy to say that all 230,000 IDPs should return right away. There is only one thing missing: there are no conditions for the return. The most difficult part will be to return to completely emptied places, where everything of Serb origin has been destroyed and looted. Of course, the big problem will be Pristina where almost 25,000 Serbs used to live, and now there are only 500 of them and they are all mostly concentrated in the University settlement.

There was information that several thousand Serb houses were either sold or ready for sale. Are we losing Kosovo Polje and Kosovo by this, i.e., who is going to return there when those who remain are running away as well? What happened with that fund for buying off property from Serbs who decided to sell their houses? This was envisaged as a barrier against changing the ethnic structure there?
Before 12 June 1999, Serbs used to live in 24 groups of settlements. The fund has certain resources, but we cannot enter into this disloyal competition. We cannot compete with Albanians who are offering 200,000 euros for a 50,000-euro house! The Kosovo Serbs themselves should be aware what is in their state and national interest. Moreover, we cannot forbid anyone to sell his own property. The only thing that we have not tried yet is to control the origin of the money. It is Steiner's job to ensure that Serbs and other non-Albanians do not move out. Serbia should pass a law, which would ensure an efficient control of the provenance of money.

Do you have an assessment - where Serbs could return and have local self-government in next two years?
At this point, we are counting on Mitrovica, the central part of Kosovo and the region of Pristina. We are also counting on Kosovo Pomoravlje - on Silovo, which could, as municipality, connect certain territories within the town of Gnjilane. It is also possible to recompose the area of Kamenica, but let us leave it to the CoE experts to give their opinion on certain changes of inter-municipal boundaries. It was very important for us to make UNMIK accept this concept and that has happened, and we can workout the concept in next six or maximum eight months. In line with this concept, a significant return is possible to Istok, Klina and the part of Metohija gravitating towards Pec. Let's not forget all other places where Serbs used to live before June 12, 1999.

Will the processes that you are talking about be affected by a circumstance such as Ibrahim Rugova, while being seen by the world as a 'moderate Albanian', celebrating November 28 as a day for all Albanians and once again calling for independence?
I think that Rugova is continuing with his political marketing and that is not helping to restore the trust of ethnic communities. That is the course of hostility and exclusivity. He cannot expect all citizens of Kosovo to trust him. Hearing statements like these, Serbs will not trust him for sure. The West and the international community, who promote him as a moderate politician, are obliged to warn him to stop doing that. He obviously has entered into competition with some extremist political structures - on who will give more statements about Kosovo's independence. Whether the province will be independent or not, and what its future status will be, generally speaking, is not so much up to Albanians and Serbs to decide. It will depend on the international community. Naturally, this will also depend on the Serb and Albanian politicians capable of creating an approach towards a long lasting and sustainable solution. If we make mistakes now in talks on Kosovo's status - it could easily happen that in 40 or 50 years this conflict could start again.

You used to say: if the international community insists on Kosovo's independence, we will insist on its division. Would you add anything to this at the present time?
To the degree that somebody insists on independence, on the division of Serbia, to that degree and proportion will the other side insist on the division of the province, because independence presumes a new marking of borders. These processes are linked. We are not for such approaches; we are for multiethnic existence in Kosovo and Metohija. We want to ensure this together with the international community and all citizens of Kosovo.

Some optimism is surfacing now, as some moderate options from certain Albanian political structures are slowly becoming obvious, those who think about the system of Euro-Atlantic integration. Really, if all the regions of the Balkans should integrate, why should we then disintegrate? The crucial question is what an independent Kosovo could offer to Serbs and other non-Albanians, otherwise impossible to be offered today? Nothing, of course, apart from continued ethnic cleansing and expulsions. This approach is destabilizing region and opens many very complex issues in Bosnia, Macedonia…

What is the situation now, following the introduction of UNMIK administratio, in Kosovska Mitrovica? Posters appeared that condemn Serbian authorities of treason…
I haven't heard about these posters. UNMIK administration has arrived according to UNSCR 1244 and at issue is only a formalization of the state-of-affairs. The most important thing is that southern Mitrovica will not have the right to rule over northern Mitrovica. I am deeply convinced that nobody can protect the Serbs better than the Serbs themselves. That is why it is necessary for Serbs to enter the Kosovo Police Service. We should not pay that much attention to formalism or symbols. In order to survive and come out from a very difficult time, we have to be wise, rational and practical.

Among our pessimists, there are people who think that Rugova, Thaçi and Daci are higher ranked in Washington than Kostunica, Djindjic and Svilanovic?
I do not share this opinion. The Albanian lobby is very strong in the US. These people are only doing their jobs. There is no Serbian lobby in America. That is the truth, and there is no use being either optimistic or pessimistic about that. Why haven't Serbs created their own lobby? Because they cannot reach an agreement on this among themselves. Because they are their own worst enemies. Because Serbs have always been artists at drawing a defeat straight from 'the mouth of victory'. It appears to me that something like that characterizes this period after October 05, 2000. We are driving the nail into our own foot.

There are pessimists saying that we cannot expect anything good to happen regarding Kosovo. They claim it only remains to be seen how much of it we are going to lose. Do you share pessimism of this kind?
I have a somewhat different approach: nothing is lost until you lose it. Not a single member of our national community has the right to be pessimistic. We have inherited this extremely unfavorable situation in Kosovo from the former regime. In spite of this, we must not surrender. We have to work harder and exclude hearsay.

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Zymberi: Civic returns, amnesty of criminals, or return of Serbia? (24 Orë)

24 Orë carries a commentary by Besim Zymberi on 'the international strategy for Serb returns to Kosovo'. The full text of Zymberi's commentary reads, as follows:

Approximately 10,000 civilian Albanian victims during the last liberation war, approximately 3,500 missing Albanians, 20,000 raped women, 250,000 burned houses, 1,000,000 deported Albanians and a grave post-traumatic situation are very powerful reasons not only for non-return of Serbs to Kosovo but also for the re-definition of the status of Serbs who have remained in Kosovo. It cannot be said that UNMIK (UN) has not understood the truth regarding Kosovo. It seems symptomatic that the powerful international institutions are trying to treat the war in Kosovo only as a private conflict between the criminal Milosevic and a group of Albanian rebels. If we look at the last century, it turns out the international community was the one to strengthen the partition of Albanian lands, with the banal excuse of preserving peace in Europe (Sir Edward Grey - London Conference 1913). And instead of correcting this mistake, the international community is showing further indications of another shame: the re-partitioning of divided Albanian lands.

To make matters worse, the powerful western institutions, especially Euro-Atlantic institutions, are strengthening the idea of the re-partitioning of Kosovo by using as a tool Kosovo Serbs, against whom they had intervened militarily three years ago. The lack of political rationale in the division of Kosovo doesn't obscure the unreasonable moral and legal aspect of the same thing. Europe knows very well that the Serb state has traditionally kept alive the project for the physical and mental extermination of the Albanian people. Unfortunately, whenever they had the opportunity, it has been executed with very serious consequences. Within the last hundred years alone, the Serbian state has committed genocide against Albanians six times. It has been historically proven that in free elections, the Serb people have always voted for its biggest criminals. I want to remind Europe and the US that the criminal Milosevic was three times elected President of Serbia, in the free vote of the Serb people.

For years, Europe and the US referred to him as a 'man of peace', until the blood of civilians massacred by Serbia hit their eyes.

Serbia and The Hague tribunal
The trial of Milosevic at The Hague did not arouse the emotions of European and world citizens. Even Albanians perceived it with reservations; however, the Serbian state welcomed it with pleasure. Europe hadn't felt the burden of crimes committed by Serbia, as it felt the burden of Nazi crimes. Of course, Serbs knew this and through tremendous political pressure managed to turn the most recent tragedy of the Balkans into a private animosity between The Hague chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte and the criminal Milosevic. This was the best way to make the world perceive this trial as only an indictment against a local minister of corruption. By trying some individual criminals, The Hague tribunal has not managed to bring the organized crime of the Serbian State to justice.

However, by announcing that it will raise indictments against Kosovar Albanians, The Hague tribunal is signaling that there was no Albanian tragedy. The eventual trial of an Albanian at The Hague forces me to make an unpleasant comparison: what would have happened if the Nuremberg Court had sentenced a Jew who, while escaping from a concentration camp, had killed a Fascist soldier?!

Kosovo Serbs - their mission
The Serb humanist, Natasa Kandic, has recently declared that Serbs from Prizren fled after threats from Milosevic. The criminal Momcilo Trajkovic said that Milosevic forcefully expelled Serbs from a village near Ferizaj. Surely, no Kosovo Serbs changed their residence without instructions from their State. But this is the current situation. There are no Serbs in Dukagjin (some exceptions), Prizren, Drenica and Anadrin. However, how come no Serbs ever fled from Mitrovica, Obilic, Fushë Kosovë, Prishtina (Caglavica, Gracanica) Lipjan, Strpce, Vitia, Gjilan, Novobrdo and Kamenica? And why do UNMIK and KFOR offer maximum protection in these parts of Kosovo? Or, why are Serbs presented as victims, especially in those areas?

There is no dilemma here whatsoever. Serbs now maintain the project for the division of Kosovo, by defining a line from Mitrovica all the way to Strpce and Kacanik, so that northeastern Kosovo would join Serbia.

But what is the mission of Kosovo Serbs today? They carry out the secret orders of their state perfectly. Half of them stay in Kosovo to prove that they allegedly own it, while less than half of them live in Serbia to prove that they were allegedly forced to flee and they don't dare return.

Through this strategy, they have turned KFOR and UNMIK into a private security company, while at the same time expressing their lack of trust in them. They even make public accusations of crimes committed against Serbs. How else could one interpret the constant demands of Rada Trajkovic and Oliver Ivanovic for the return of Serb police to the Kosovo Assembly, because they allegedly lack security from UNMIK Police and KFOR? And if Serbs are being persecuted and the international community asks Albanians to reconcile with the Serbs, how can one explain Rada's request for the return of the army that hasn't yet handed over the corpses of Albanians it massacred and now keeps in military barracks? Are Rada's requests efforts for integration or reconciliation with Albanians? Or are Rada's demands fascistic since the army that she is asking for is fascistic? From whom would a Serbian army or police unit protect Rada at the Kosovo Assembly? Isn't this an open threat toward Albanians that they will once again be under the knife of that army?

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Which Serbs should return to Kosovo?
The status of Serbs who are living in Kosovo should be determined first before talking about the beginning of the implementation of a UNMIK strategy for the return of Serb IDPs to Kosovo.

UNMIK makes statements about controlled Serb returns to Kosovo. Albanian leaders are engaged for individual returns, and the Albanian people do not consider Serb returns to Kosovo as an urban, moral or social problem.

One has to be really naïve to believe in the efforts of the international community for a multiethnic Kosovo. Not even during the period of the Byzantine kings, was Kosovo more ethnically comprised. Based on the existing reality, this is when Kosovo is 'multiethnic': when Albanians make room for Serbs in the Assembly, Government, in municipal assemblies and in other important institutions in Kosovo, always according to UNMIK decrees and without any legal procedures. Kosovo is multiethnic when no UNMIK decision is made without an agreement with the Serbian government; when Kosovo Serbs are free to squat in residences in Kosovo, according to the geo-political strategy of the Serb state; when Kosovo Serbs can receive salaries from Serbia and UNMIK at the same time; when Kosovo Serbs are entitled to arrest Albanians for alleged war crimes; when Kosovo Serbs receive guarantees from UNMIK for their every demand; when Kosovo Serbs become assembly members without votes; when Kosovo Serbs don't apologize for crimes committed against Albanians; when Kosovo Serbs are allowed to bear heavy-caliber weapons for 'protection' from Albanians; when Kosovo Serbs don't want to live in ethnically-mixed villages and cities; when Kosovo Serbs receive guarantees from UNMIK that their enclaves won't be disturbed; when Kosovo Serbs receive guarantees from UNMIK that their enclaves will be transformed into municipalities, which will then have a special budget and administration; and when…what else? Whereas in their ideals, Albanians are conditioned to the creation of a multiethnic Kosovo.

Kosovo institutions are subject to such insults everyday, by not daring to tell their people that the condition for the multiethnicity of Kosovo can be translated into: Albanians must agree to every demand that comes from Kosovo Serbs and the latter are entitled to everything and are not obliged to respect the will of the majority! And this is not all. The game of multiethnicity, prepared in the cuisines of the Serb Secret Service and approved by senior circles at UNMIK, has two essential missions: to provide legal justification for the improvisation of the 'ghetto life' of Kosovo Serbs in such a manner that even if international community didn't manage to protect Jews from Hitler, now UNMIK and KFOR will do so by protecting Serbs; and, the second and final mission, not Serb returns to legitimize Kosovo's multiethnicity, but Serbia's return to Kosovo! In the end, the Kosovo institutions deriving from the free vote of the people, before making statements about a multiethnic Kosovo, should first clarify an essential issue with UNMIK: why has not a single Kosovo Serb said that he/she wants to be a citizen of a 'multiethnic' Kosovo? Why has not a single Serb politician said that he/she is satisfied with the security provided by KFOR and UNMIK Police escorts? Why has no Kosovo Serb said that Hitler and Simon Wiesenthal cannot be tried by the same court.

I am certain that Kosovar Albanians, in the name of freedom, equality, democracy and peace, would agree with the return of Serbs to their former residences in Kosovo. However, the Albanian people will not allow these losers to return to Kosovo's skies the Serbia that is the public graveyard of the human ideals of freedom.

Polemics between Father Sava Janjic and Adriatik Kelmendi (Koha Ditore)

Koha Ditore carries a commentary by Father Sava Janjic and a response from Adriatik Kelmendi. Janjic's commentary is entitled Freedom in Kosovo cannot exist only for one people. The Kelmendi, which follows, runs with the headline, Freedom in Kosovo cannot exist only by judging one side.

In the 10 October edition, Koha Ditore, a daily Kosovar Albanian newspaper, published the response of Adriatik Kelmendi to my article published in the London-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR, 7 October). Since my article is on the Internet, every reader with a healthy mind can see that Mr. Kelmendi's text, entitled Justifying extremist acts leads toward crime, has completely missed the point. My text was written as a result of the disappointment that the Serb nationalist leader Vojislav Seselj had won so many votes in the first round of Serbian presidential elections and not because I, or someone else from the Church, would justify someone's crimes. God, no! Mr. Kelmendi has either inadequate knowledge of the English language or simply wanted to deceive the readers of Koha Ditore. Nonetheless, I would want to believe that he hasn't read the original in English; therefore, I am using this opportunity to clarify my stance regarding these issues.

In my article published in IWPR, I focused on the reasons why so many Kosovo Serbs voted for a person who has no moral or political credibility. I have tried to explain that they have done so as a sign of protest and disillusionment. I very clearly stated that 'Seselj's extreme nationalism has no basis in the Orthodox religious tradition' because his nationalism is rather the product of an atheist conscience than of Serbian tradition. Two years ago, I strongly supported the Serb opposition against Milosevic and Seselj, because we see the future of Serbia in democracy and not in dictatorship and isolation.

In his article, Mr. Kelmendi tries to say that I have gone through a 'metamorphosis' and that 'I am using my credibility to stain the reality in Kosovo'. In response to this, I can only say that nothing can stain Kosovo's image more than the desecration of dozens of Christian religious temples by Kosovar Albanian extremists after the conflict, or the ethnic enclaves where non-Albanians live in terrible conditions without basic freedom and rights. Yesterday, more than 600 Kosovar Albanians stoned a bus with elderly Serb people and fought with UNMIK Police and KFOR in Peja, thus causing injuries to several UN policemen. Last year, in a similar incident, a bus with Serb women and children was stoned near Prishtina. Only several months ago, armed Albanians attacked Serb farmers and KFOR with automatic rifles. No one has faced justice for these acts, because no one dares to testify in court.

Many Kosovar Albanians have applauded my public statements when I condemned the policy of ethnic persecution by former President Milosevic, but now, according to Mr. Kelmendi, they feel disappointed when I rightfully talk about the ethnic discrimination against Kosovo Serbs and other non-Albanian communities. Could it be that Mr. Kelmendi thinks that truth has only one side and it is right to speak only when a group of citizens suffers, and to keep silent when others share the same fate? Such a stance shows his inability to understand the true meaning of human rights, freedom and democracy, which cannot exist only for one people and one religious community. In our monastery in Deçan, we sheltered 200 Albanian civilians from Milosevic's police and we fed many families that were suffering during the time of conflict and turmoil. I have raised my voice, by putting my life at risk, and I will do so again if Albanians are discriminated against or persecuted. However, I think that this gives me the moral right also to do so on behalf of the citizens who are now suffering in Kosovo. Immediately after the conflict, we sheltered several Serb families, more than 50 Roma and a Slav Muslim family in our monastery in order to protect them from extremists. In fact, the ethnocentric approach toward human rights and democracy, which is unfortunately being made in some statements of Kosovar Albanian leaders, shows that the demon of aggressive nationalism still exists in Kosovo and that only its name and side have changed. We can witness the same methods of discrimination and attacks against non-Albanian communities in Kosovo, beginning with Serbs. This campaign still continues, even with the presence of the international community. The methods remain the same and only the roles have changed. Of course, no one can doubt that there are extremists on both sides, but the fact that I don't know a single Kosovar Albanian who is willing publicly to raise his/her voice against the ethnic discrimination of Serbs and to help the police in catching the perpetrators shows that the Kosovar society is still not moving toward Europe and the West, but slipping in a retrograde direction.

Is this only an illusion of my 'metamorphosis' or a wider problem, which critics such as Mr. Kelmendi do not want to see?

Kosovo Serbs have plenty of reasons to be unsatisfied with the three factors that I have mentioned in my article: the international community, the Belgrade government and the political leaders of the Kosovar Albanians.

The international community has failed to create security for all communities and to stop Albanian extremists, who, under the UN protectorate, killed and abducted approximately 2,000 Serbs - and surely even more Kosovar Albanians - who think differently. Thousands of houses, churches, cultural monuments and graves were destroyed by Albanian extremists, not only during the time of conflict or under the regime of the Balkans' dictator, but also in the presence of UN and NATO missions. This has happened with UNSC Resolution 1244, which obliges international peacekeepers to stop animosities and to allow all citizens to return to a normal life with dignity. Cities have been ethnically cleansed of Serbs in the presence of the international community and have remained monoethnic. The new democratic government in Belgrade has again done very little for its citizens in this part of the country, despite the democratic changes following the extradition of Milosevic to The Hague tribunal. However, the leaders of Kosovar Albanians are maybe the biggest disappointment because they have failed to prove true democratic leadership and have remained imprisoned within the ethnocentric concept of a society with only one ethnic group. The general conclusion for ordinary Kosovo Serbs is that the postwar development is a huge failure that has led to a situation where even the Serbs who managed to survive in enclaves were forced to flee from the province and escape persecutions and ethnic violence, which hides behind the façade of building institutions. An ever-growing number of Kosovo Serbs perceive these institutions as instruments of the policy of a monoethnic society in which there is no room anyone except for Albanians.

Surely Kosovo Serbs should face their failures and mistakes, while those who have committed crimes should be brought to justice. No one has ever denied this and I was one of the first to support the work of The Hague tribunal and local criminal courts. However, after so many crimes committed by Kosovar Albanian extremists during and after the conflict, Kosovar Albanians no longer enjoy the moral right to claim responsibility only of the Serbs, but they must also accept their share of responsibility as have done the people of Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia. No crime can be justified. By justifying the crimes of one party this is seriously painful for Albanians and Serbs who have lost their songs, daughters and parents. While we can see the governments in Serbia and Croatia by establishing increased cooperation in investigating war crimes, this issue in the province of Kosovo is a taboo, which shows that there is unfortunately a low level of the democratic conscience and freedom of speech, at least much more lower than in other countries in the region.

One of the lowest incident that started in postwar Kosovo and is still continuing is the systematic desecration of Serbian Orthodox churches and graves. The demolition of holy temples of any religion during times of conflict is an act of barbarism and those who have destroyed mosques and churches deserve to be legally punished. However, the destruction of holy temples during times of peace and in the presence of the UN/NATO mission is even worse and clearly shows that certain circles of Kosovar Albanians are conducting anti-Christian operations, which will distance Kosovo even more from European and Christian civilization.

Finally, I want to use the opportunity to remind Mr. Kelmendi that Mr. Milosevic and his associates are in The Hague and that Kosovar Albanians can no longer deny the changes that have taken place in other parts of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and neighboring countries. The political atmosphere is also changing in Europe and the US. Using Milosevic and the past as cover for failures to create a democratic society can no longer give wrong instructions for European countries.

Many people in the West fear that Kosovo can become the main destabilizing factor in Europe, especially if such behavior against non-Albanian and Christian temples continues. Therefore, Mr. Kelmendi, instead of making tendentious accusations, please let us make joint efforts to change the reality for the better and finally enable Kosovo to move toward genuine democracy and a civilized society, in which the citizens of all ethnicities and religions would feel at home.

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Kelmendi: Freedom in Kosovo cannot exist only by judging one side (Koha)

When I wrote my rebuttal to the tendentious and unfounded comments of Mr. Sava Janjic, I thought that this was only a momentous caprice by the Serbian Father, caused by some reasonable human anger. I thought that the most respected Serb personality among Kosovo Albanians would put a finger to his temple and would see that he is really walking on thin ice with the opinions expressed the article, The miserable situation of Kosovo Serbs (IWPR). Obviously the assertion that he makes there in the style of 'if more Kosovo Serbs participated on elections, Seselj wouldn't win so many votes' or 'Albanian commentators were happy about extreme Serb nationalism', aim not only to manipulate by a person with a lot of credibility, but also come as naïve and humourous. In any case, such unfounded opinions don't contribute for the good of Kosovo Albanians or Serbs. But what happened? Mr. Janjic, instead of realizing how wrong he was and drawing back, continues to disappoint us even more, convincing us this way that his metamorphosis has degenerated to something not strange but scary. He convinces us of this even more by his response, entitled 'Freedom in Kosovo cannot exist only for one nation', where he doesn't even try to rebut what I have said about his mistakes in the first article - which should be accepted as correct - but goes even further by becoming both cynical and speculative. While he once again tries to contaminate public opinion with references to 'Kosovo as a destabilizing factor' and to 'anti-Christian Albanians', things that in the present geopolitical situation in Europe - sounds terribly illdisposed.

In this article I will write in the second person, in order to give more concrete answers, surely with stable arguments.

I said before that you haven't answered to any of my claims. What have you done? Disappointing again: you have become cynical and speculative. By trying to add relativism to the relevance of my answer, you speculate that I don't have proper knowledge of the English language or that I have read your article only in Albanian. Information: I read your article in English, Albanian and Serbia, as IWPR enables us to. At the same time, I could write this response in all three languages but I prefer my own language. Yes, yes, I could even respond to you in Serbian language. And this cannot be said for you because after so many years of living in Kosovo, you are not able to put together more than two or three words in Albanian, the language of 90 percent of the population of the country you live in.

You claim that I judge only one side, the Serbs, and refuse to see the mistakes of the other side, the Albanians. It is a surprise to hear such an opinion from you. Not once single word in my article can lead to such a conclusion. Furthermore, all I did was to tell you that you are unfortunately looking at one side only.

However, if by doing so you want to achieve the famous method - offense is the best defense - then I regret to inform you that you are walking in thin ice. The experience of the last years of your people - those members of your people that you once harshly criticized - can serve as a lesson to you that an unplanned attack can lead you toward an inevitable defeat. Even Milosevic and his associates were used to attacking without thinking much, but we all know in which apartment he lives in today.

Furthermore, somewhere in your text, you say that neither you nor anyone else in the church would justify someone's crimes. 'God, no,' you write. However, be careful and speak only for yourself and don't play with fire. There are numerous facts that prove that some of the most horrific crimes committed in Kosovo had the blessing of the Serbian Orthodox church. Since these polemics mainly deal with support for the ultranationalist Seselj - who is under investigation by The Hague tribunal for war crimes - here is a photo that speaks of the support of the [Serbian] church in Kosovo for the members of his ultra radical party.

You write that Albanian extremists are tainting the reality in Kosovo by mentioning the demolition of Christian temples, the stoning of buses with Serb women and children and other such things. No one with a clear head can deny that such events are taking place in Kosovo and that they should be condemned. But at the same time, it cannot be believed that individuals or extremists wish good for Kosovo or that there is an organization supporting them. In order to be really honest, the individuals who are carrying out such attacks against Serbs and other non-Albanians (although in most cases it hasn't been proved that they were Albanians, but let's say you are right) should be isolated cases of persons with war traumas, who carry out such attacks as a sign of personal vengeance. Let us use simple mathematics in this case: official sources speak of about approximately 12,000 murdered Albanian civilians and 120,000 burned houses belonging to Albanians during the time of conflict (UNHCR). This is the equivalent of hundreds of thousands of Kosovar Albanians who live in serious trauma. Therefore, potential but unpredictable avengers.

However, even in this context, you Mr. Janjic, see only one side. You know that Kosovo Serbs are not doing anything to prove that they are no longer those who have murdered and destroyed everything that belonged to their Albanian neighbors. By not wanting to repeat all the examples that I have mentioned in my previous article, I only reiterate that the most stable proof of the absence of change are the votes cast in support for Seselj. And by seeing only one side, you still don't think about the feeling of Albanians who see that their Serb neighbors don't even plan to apologize for what has happened. On the contrary. Everyone can rightfully say that this doesn't lead toward the forming of an environment for 'human rights, freedom of speech, freedom of movement, etc.' for which I have no doubt that you and I are engaged. Except that you have been recently doing so in a very weird manner.

Additional proof that you are biased is the exaggeration of the demolition of Christian temples and the failure to mention the demolition of Muslim temples. Without any stable arguments. If you had been a little more careful, you could have found these reports, which don't provide a black and white picture of the situation.

UNESCO's report for Kosovo: '…More than one third of 600 mosques in Kosovo are either destroyed or seriously damaged. The standard technique was to fill the basement of the minaret with explosive so that the stone tower would crumble down the building and destroy it. Inside we found anti-Albanian and anti-Islamic graffiti, torn and stained Korans, and crosses in the mosques…'

'…Hardly ten percent of 500 towers of the region (Kosovo) have survived the war. All this proves that the destruction was clearly not collateral. It was very intentional…'

'…Many churches in villages have been used as easy targets of revenge by returning Kosovar villagers. Most of the buildings attacked were built in the 20th century and a large number of them were built during the '90s. These were seen as political monuments and were specially attacked…'

If you want to be unbiased and contribute to easing tensions in these areas, please Mr. Janjic, refer to independent arguments. And don't go further by drawing dangerous conclusions that are based on biased claims.

You try to equalize Serb crimes with the crimes committed by Kosovar Albanians. In fact, at some point you even try to present them as greater by claiming that 'crimes in times of peace are harsher than those in times of war'. Without the slightest responsibility for the public effect of the word you are speaking. First, I honestly believe that crime is crime, regardless of who commits it, where he commits it and how he commits it and how punishable it is. But you cannot equalize organized crime carried out at the state level, such as the Serbian, with an isolated crime committed by an individual who was traumatized by another crime. Biased!!!

You, Mr. Janjic, write that Kosovar Albanians are not admitting their responsibility for the committed crimes 'as people in Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia'. Another wrong conclusion because at a time when the entire world writes about the problems that The Hague tribunal has with the handing over of accused by Zagreb and Belgrade, it seems that you are the last man on the planet! Croatia: Does the name Janko Bobetko resemble anything to you? Serbia: Do the names Radovan Karadjic, Ratko Mladic, Milan Milutinovic mean anything to you?… Ask Ms. Carla Del Ponte!

The cooperation of what you call a democratic government in Belgrade with The Hague tribunal is a really boring story. How was it that Milosevic was arrested on the night of the deadline for sanctions against Yugoslavia, 31 March [2001]? And how did it happen that the same person was sent to The Hague on the day of the deadline for cooperation, as a condition for receiving US$1.3 billion at the international donor conference in July? At the same time, the stories that Serbs all of a sudden realized that they had murdered and buried Albanian civilians in mass graves throughout Serbia, at a time when Belgrade authorities needed the support of public opinion to send him to The Hague, are, in fact, silly justifications. That's is for Serbian cooperation with The Hague.

When it comes to Kosovo, one can neither claim nor deny such a thing, bearing in mind that, to this day, Del Ponte has not raised a public indictment against Kosovar Albanians. Biased again?!

The end of your article is malicious and extremely disappointing, considering who the author is. In this respect, you are playing a very dangerous game. You are saying that there are certain anti-Christian circles in Kosovo, which will distance Kosovo from European and Christian civilization. You say that many people in the West rightfully fear that Kosovo could become the main destabilizing factor in Europe, especially if such behaviour against non-Albanian and Christian monuments continues. Thrilling. You are making such claims with an unbearable ease at a time when there are many anti-Christian and anti-Muslim feelings and when the world superpowers are carrying out a military campaign against a mainly Islamic terrorism. By forgetting that Albanians have three religions, Muslim, Orthodox and Catholic. And that never in history were they known as a people who fought wars on a religious basis. What do you want to achieve by making such claims shall remain on your conscience, Mr Janjic.

On the other hand, by continuing to be biased, you are forgetting the fact that those whom you call 'democratic authorities' in Belgrade are the black sheep who have violated the UN weapons embargo on Iraq and Liberia. Not to mention the things that they do and which distance them from European civilization and democratic engagement.

The only thing I can agree with you is that we should make joint efforts to change the reality in Kosovo for the better. Surely all those who live in this country and who still want to remain here should be engaged in making it a place where they can feel at home. However, you seem to be contradicted by your article. By using the term 'province of Kosovo' so often, and by mentioning Kosovo as a unit under Belgrade rule, it seems that you are trying to bring back Serbia over Kosovo, which is against the will of the majority, rather than making it equally the country of all its citizens. Unfortunately, not as you once worked, Mr Janjic.

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Campaign against KLA and KPC (24 Orë)

The heaviest terrorist act in post war Kosovo was considered to be the attack of the 20 January 2002 in Gjakova against the family Balaj, with the aim of physical liquidation. This attack was condemned by the entire Albanian public opinion. The terrorist attack took place at about 22:40, when an explosive was activated at the gate of Idriz Balaj's house, at the moment when he and his wife Teuta and their son Sylejman were entering the house after visiting some friends. At this incident, Mayor Idriz Balaj, a KPC officer, deputy to the commander of the of the Third KPC Guard Battalion, his wife Teuta, also a member of KPC, were seriously injured and their son Sylejman, 16 months old suffered internal injuries, but his life was not in danger. From this macabre attack, the most injured was Teuta Balaj, whose leg was amputated and the other seriously damaged, but, even worse, she aborted her four-month-old fetus.

She succeeded in overcoming death thanks to the interventions at the American hospital at Bondsteel for several weeks.

It is worth of mentioning that, to date, UNMIK police investigation organs haven't taken steps to shed light on the terrorist act committed against the Balaj family. Russian UNMIK Police ex-commander for Dukagjini region, Velerij Corotenko (dismissed from work for inducement and exercise of violence against quiet protesters in Deçan, on 15 August 2002, when he personally led a special Ukrainian unit and over 100 citizens were injured), is suspected of supporting a series of criminal and terrorist acts, especially against KLA and KPC. The same true in the case of 5 August 2002, when three officials of the investigating unit of Peja Regional Police, sent by Corotenko to the military hospital in Baballoç, while questioning Idriz Balaj and his wife Teuta on the event, provoked them by saying that 'the killer is among the KPC; you and your son are in danger; your son is in a terrible danger; you have survived but you are still in danger; you are not safe here; you should come with us and we will protect you, etc;' which further stressed Idriz and Teuta Balaj, who were anyways in bad health. Teuta said that 'these police investigations were another attack on us'.

Let us recall that such perfidy and methods of dividing were used by the Serbian secret service all the time.

We are witnesses that the wild propaganda directed against KPC and its leaders, as the dignified continuity of KLA, seldom had as authors those who in a different time periods acted against institutions-parties and organizations that have worked for liberation from the chains of Serbian slavery.

In the post war period, anti-KLA and anti-KPC groups have tried, and are trying, to by any and all means to create an endless whirlpool, by trying to throw up a bad image, by lies and deceptions, using only suppositions and disqualified insults instead of concrete statements and factual proofs, using some media, part institutions and different individuals, that have openly acted against KPC.

The foxy messages of certain groups against KPC, served specially to the international community, becoming intentionally or unintentionally heralds of bad news, notifying and spreading unfounded propaganda against KPC, have their roots deeply in pan-Slavic politics.

And during all this time, together with the humiliating propaganda against ex-KLA warriors, now integrated in KPC and KPS systems or in political parties, the cases of the murders and physical attacks (attempted murders), mistreatments, denunciations and unfounded arrests are not rare. In most of the cases organs of order have been biased, or better said, 'have closed their eyes' in front of many such criminal acts. On the contrary, it has acted with prejudices. To those that have escaped physical liquidation, measures for their arrest based on unscrupulous labels were undertaken, with the aim of obscuring the KLA war for freedom, to step on the blood of the martyrs of the nation, to humiliate the warriors that survived the war and to profit the deserters, the collaborators with the Serbian regime, to profit those who coquetted and collaborated with Serb criminals, even with the criminal Milosevic.

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Internationals are (not) aware of the injustice to our warriors (24 Orë)

Many citizens led by five people dressed in white, cheering 'KLA-KLA-KPC-KPC, Daut-Daut, Remi-Remi, etc.' on Wednesday protested for an hour in the main street of Deçan for the 32nd time with the slogan, Freedom for the liberators. After the KLA and national flags, ex-co-warriors, some of them invalids, stood the entire time with pictures of General Daut Haradinaj, their comrade-in-arms, in a show of solidarity with their ex-commander and ex-war friends imprisoned by the internationals.

After the usual march in the main street of Deçan, followed by the usual cheering and songs for the arrested, protesters stood at Mentor Tolaj Square to listen to the speech of the only articulator of the requests of the protesters that day, Mr. Nasim Haradinaj, ex-prisoner and ex-eminent commander in the KLA war.

"I am not among the protesters by coincidence. It is the blood of the martyrs, the deed of the freedom fighters, joint sacrifice that obliges me, just like you, to, for months, ask righteously for release of my co-warriors," Nasim Haradinaj was quoted as saying. He then added that 'every violated right, sooner or later, has furiously exploded, while the violators of these rights, be they foreign or local, were obliged to apologize for their actions, just like they will be obliged to do in the case of our liberators, who are unjustly being kept imprisoned'.

Mr. Nasim Haradinaj, followed by applause, said, 'We were not surprised when we were arrested by the Slav regime; we are surprised now when we arrested by those who gave us the deserved title of liberators, thus internationals.' He concluded that these arbitrary arrests would be challenged because justice was winning.

Finally, Mr. Haradinaj stressed that the continuous protests show that the rights are violated and dignity and war values are mistreated. 'Internationals are aware of the injustice done to our warriors, just as we, and those that are not among us, know the real aim of these arrests. Therefore, no matter all the unfounded accusations, the liberators will soon be with us,' Haradinaj concluded with the wish that the other holidays could be celebrated together.

A good example of Prishtina (Zëri)

Zëri carries an editorial Blerim Shala who says that no matter the motives of the meeting between the two biggest parties' candidates for Prishtina mayor, they serve as an example to Kosovar politicians in general.

There was no other solution but to congratulate the victors in the elections. The will of the people should be respected. God knows what is behind this visit. Different calculations, political combinations with god knows what kind of reward. These are only some of the many comments that followed the last meeting of Fatmir Limaj, PDK candidate for major of Prishtina, with Ismet Beqiri, Prishtina Municipal Assembly president, of the LDK. Limaj and Beqiri have agreed that the level of the problems at Prishtina municipality, with forty percent of the Kosovo population, is such that it requires the cooperation of all political forces represented at the MA, and especially the main ones, such as LDK and PDK.

It is known that Beqiri was voted municipality president, and even the other parties voted for him. Also a political tolerance between the candidates of the Kosovar biggest parties was noticed in public debates during the election campaign in Prishtina. Is this just a coincidence? Is there authentic political sincerity?

Many questions could be posed here. But these questions have a completely different nature from those that we make when we face a great political evil, when we are rationally pessimistic.

No matter the calculations of the political actors in Prishtina, they are setting a good political example. Not only for the other municipalities, but also for Kosovo's central government.

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