View Full Version : Kosovo's government takes control
Kosovo's government takes control
By Nebi Qena, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PRISTINA, Kosovo - Kosovo's government took control of the newly independent nation Sunday as the country's constitution went into force after nine years of UN administration.
The charter - a milestone that comes four months after leaders declared independence from Serbia - gives the government in Pristina sole decision-making authority.
But it threatens to worsen ethnic tensions between Kosovo's majority Albanians and Serb minority. Security in the divided northern town of Mitrovica was high a day after a gunman attacked a police station, wounding one officer.
Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders marked the transition in a low-key ceremony in the capital Sunday evening that opened with Kosovo's newly approved, wordless anthem.
Story continued.... (http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2008/06/15/5886221-ap.html)
Takes control? If we for a moment disregard the fact that the place is run by UN and EU administrators who have the power to sack government officials, dissolve the parliament, and control the police force, we should still remember that the Serb and Gorani enclaves do not recognize the "independence" of Kosovo, and that they are effectively run as any other part of Serbia (schools use Serbian education ministry textbooks, Serbian IDs and passports are used, Serbian laws are upheld, etc).
Now, I'm very interested how the Kosovo Albanian government plans to extend their authority to those places... Or even EULEX...
V.I.D.
06-16-2008, 01:09 AM
Paya, you're spot on. Like you said, a control of what? There are electricity restrictions, no basic human rights for non-Albanians (see the article from B92 website below), Kosovo PM's house getting robbed, etc. The place is obviously in a major chaos and this constitution seems to be for the internal use/show only.
B92 (http://www.b92.net/eng/) http://static.b92.net/images/news/item-new-black.gif News (http://www.b92.net/eng/news/) http://static.b92.net/images/news/item-new-black.gif Society (http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-article.php) http://static.b92.net/images/news/item-new-black.gif Society http://static.b92.net/images/trans.gif Few Serbs brave visiting Priština cemetery 15 June 2008 | 10:28 | Source: Beta PRIŠTINA -- Only a dozen Serbs yesterday visited the graves of their loved ones buried in the Priština cemetery, which Beta news agency described as "fairly destroyed".
http://www.b92.net/news/pics/2008/06/18462190614854d6c4df46e556855983_MidCol.jpgA child's grave desecrated in the Priština cemetery (FoNet, archive)
They were marking one of four special days each year, known as Zadušnice, that Orthodox Serb Christians dedicate to the dead with special prayers and also visits to their graves.
Today, only 40 Serbs live in Priština, three of which braved to come to the graveyard yesterday, along with half a dozen Priština residents who, forced out of their homes by ethnic Albanians after 1999, now live in various Serb villages in central Kosovo.
There was no organized transport or escort necessary to secure the safety of those Serbs who wish to visit the graves of their family members buried in this cemetery.
Previously, the Coordinating Center organized these visits.
The cemetery, like many other Serb ones across the province, has been vandalized by Albanians. Additionally, grass and weeds cover most of the broken headstones.
One of the Serbs taking part in the Kosovo government, Boban Stanković, this year organized for a part of the cemetery to be cleared of the grass, and told reporters that there were plans to repair the desecrated graves, as well as an Orthodox chapel, damaged in the NATO bombing in 1999.
A handful of Serbs present yesterday said they also expect two huge holes dug by NATO bombs that hit the cemetery, to finally be filled with earth and closed.
Stanković's Ministry of Return claims that other desecrated Serb graveyards throughout the province will also be repaired.
The Balkan
06-16-2008, 02:20 PM
Just read this.
Kosovo Police Seek Gunman's Identity
http://www.balkaninsight.com/apps/resizer.php?img=http%3a%2f%2fbalkaninsight.com%2fcgi-bin%2fget_img%3fNrImage%3d2%26NrArticle%3d11025&w=130&constrain=1
The flag of the Tsar Lazar Guard was unfurled on a south Mitrovica mosque
16 June 2008 Pristina _ Kosovo police are seeking to determine the identity of a man who opened fire at officers at a police station in the ethnic Albanian-dominated part of Mitrovica.
Besim Hoti, the regional spokesperson for the Kosovo Police Service told Balkan Insight that the assailant is still being treated at Pristina University Clinical Centre and that he is unable to speak due to the state of his health.
“We are waiting for somebody from his family or relatives to come and confirm the attacker’s identity,” Hoti said.
Hoti confirmed that “the attacker fired on Kosovo Police officers upon reporting to the police station in southern Mitrovica and as a result, the officers fired back in self-defence.”
One police officer was seriously wounded.
According to the police statement, the man reported at the police station in south Mitrovica and after contact with the police, he suddenly opened fire on them.
Kosovo Serb media reported on Sunday that the identity of the attacker has been determined as Predrag Djordjevic, and it was reported that he is suspected of being a member of the Tsar Lazar Guard, a hardline Serb group that has vowed to defend Kosovo by all means against its independence from Serbia.
It is suspected that on the same day, the same attacker unfurled a flag of the Tsar Lazar Guard on one of the mosques in the southern part of Mitrovica.
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/11025/
:\
Kosovo Serb media reported on Sunday that the identity of the attacker has been determined as Predrag Djordjevic, and it was reported that he is suspected of being a member of the Tsar Lazar Guard, a hardline Serb group that has vowed to defend Kosovo by all means against its independence from Serbia.
It is suspected that on the same day, the same attacker unfurled a flag of the Tsar Lazar Guard on one of the mosques in the southern part of Mitrovica.
Yeah.
That's the group that so far hasn't been able to assemble without Serbian Police arresting their a$$es.
And, as long as we're straying from the topic, why hasn't the "Albanian National Army" terrorist group (and it's not just me saying this, it's UNMIK too) been disbanded, and it's members arrested. Seeing how they, you know, actually have guns bigger than a Tetejac, unlike the "Tzar Lazar" fruitcakes?
God help us all that live here....it will take a miracle to make things better.
Sanat-e-naft
06-16-2008, 04:44 PM
So does anyone have any info about this Lazar Brig. and its capabilities etc...
To me this looks like another groupd of civies armed to the teeth and pissed with no leaders... very dangerous. What are the chances these guys follow in the footsteps of Arkan and co?
Also, the flag on a Mosque... are they trying to start a war or something? ;-)
The Balkan
06-16-2008, 05:08 PM
Yeah.
That's the group that so far hasn't been able to assemble without Serbian Police arresting their a$$es.
And, as long as we're straying from the topic, why hasn't the "Albanian National Army" terrorist group (and it's not just me saying this, it's UNMIK too) been disbanded, and it's members arrested. Seeing how they, you know, actually have guns bigger than a Tetejac, unlike the "Tzar Lazar" fruitcakes?
On 13 November (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_13) 2007 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007) a video was aired to the public, an exclusive interview with a leader of the ANA patrolling in the covert areas of North Kosovo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Kosovo), recruiting 20 new men. The leader stated that ANA stands at 12,000 men altogether and has called the Kosovar population for a boycott of then-forthcoming elections (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosovan_parliamentary_election%2C_2007).
The ANA/AKSH has claimed that it is patrolling North Kosovo to prevent incursions by the Czar Lazar Guard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czar_Lazar_Guard) group.
uh oh
V.I.D.
06-16-2008, 07:15 PM
The last thing this area needs is more idiots with guns and being out of control. That being said, and if those numbers are correct, I think ANA has a "tad" more people under arms (perhaps 100 times more). Thanks to the UDI and breach of the international law (UN Resolution 1244, anyone?), this thing can seriously blow up and lead the whole Balkans or even whole Europe/World downhill again. I am not an optimist.
The Balkan
06-16-2008, 07:22 PM
Probly thanks to the fact they have a much higher pool to recruit from in Kosovo and otrher places where it's all Albanians affected by all of this, where as most of Serbs in Serbia haven't felt much from these conflicts.
Good news for Kosovo. Hope things will improve for the people who live there, they've been waiting for centuries for this time to come!
http://kosovothanksyou.com/stats.php
TeslaN
06-16-2008, 07:41 PM
Things will get really, really bad & nasty before they improve.
Of course, by "improve", I mean reinstatement of full Serbian government control over the presently occupied southern province of Kosovo & Metohija, when hundreds of thousands of Serb and other non-Albanian refugees return and real reconstruction begins (we have to level a lot of ugly stuff over there first...KLA monuments and such)
Thats when the situation will really improve.
The Balkan
06-16-2008, 09:25 PM
heh i guess "improvement" is a subjective term
So does anyone have any info about this Lazar Brig. and its capabilities etc...
Veterans of wars past with nothing better to do then congregate outside churches and boast how they're ready to die for the Fatherland. Capabilities? If a squad of cops without riot gear can round them up within minutes, you tell me something about their capabilities.
To me this looks like another groupd of civies armed to the teeth and pissed with no leaders... very dangerous. What are the chances these guys follow in the footsteps of Arkan and co?
Yeah, armed to the teeth. The guy from the article was armed with a Tetejac, a pistol half the country uses when celebrating at weddings.
Arkan received his weapons from DB during the era of Milosevic. I don't see that happening again, seeing how the DB is now run by the same people who ousted the guy from power. Besides, Sloba regretted his decision almost as soon as he made it, seeing as how what CNN was feeding you (either bearded loonies with knives between their teeth, or red beret wearing terminators) were, you guessed it, paramilitary groups. I doesn't matter that they made up barely 5% percent of the Serb forces, but the Western media decided to show you that, and the public image of Serbia never fully recovered.
So, nah...
Also, the flag on a Mosque... are they trying to start a war or something? ;-)
Well, yes. I thought that the shooting of a cop made that pretty clear.
It is, however, interesting that you took no notice of the ANA, who are actually armed and patrolling, but jumped straight to asking about a bunch of old guys armed with a few pistols and a will to annoy.
epictetus
06-16-2008, 11:28 PM
People need to calm down. Let's just hope this is an isolated accident. There has been enough blood spilled.
People need to calm down. Let's just hope this is an isolated accident. There has been enough blood spilled.
1. Did you mean isolated incident.
2.There is never just an isolated incident in South Srbija or the Balkans.
When I went a few days ago to Mitorvica to deliver some items things were
tense but I got the job done no problem.
The Balkan
06-17-2008, 02:00 AM
This has been quite an active few days for the balkans. This Tsar Lazar shooting and flag on mosque, fighting in Sandzak between moron religious people, Bosnia signs EU pre-membership agreement, desacrated macedonian graves and burned down Greek churches in Australia, car bombing in South Serbia, major war criminal caught with promises of further captures to come soon.....
Busy busy.
epictetus
06-17-2008, 02:02 AM
1. Did you mean isolated incident.
2.There is never just an isolated incident in South Srbija or the Balkans.
When I went a few days ago to Mitorvica to deliver some items things were
tense but I got the job done no problem.
I'll agree with #2. Kosovo has been hot for quite some time
Things will get really, really bad & nasty before they improve.
Of course, by "improve", I mean reinstatement of full Serbian government control over the presently occupied southern province of Kosovo & Metohija, when hundreds of thousands of Serb and other non-Albanian refugees return and real reconstruction begins (we have to level a lot of ugly stuff over there first...KLA monuments and such)
Thats when the situation will really improve.
I hope you are being sarcastic!?
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