Drilon Gashi

Afew days before it officially becomes two months since Kosovo’s independence, we have certain issues in the country which need thoughtful and sustainable solutions. Several of these issues necessitate an opening of dialogue between Belgrade and Prishtina.

The Times Online reported that on Friday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, mentioned a prospect of renewed dialogue. It is important to note that this comes after the secretary general reiterated that “a return to status-quo in Kosovo is impossible”. The Secretary General should continue to emphasize that there is no return to a period prior to the current (and by all regards permanent) independent status, while at the same time, trying to mediate relations between the two separate governments.

Although this renewed dialogue was mentioned as something which is regarding the status of Kosovo (something that has not been directly linked to a statement by Ban Ki Moon), it should be dialogue accepting the status of Kosovo as independent, and rather focusing on bilateral issues between the sovereign states of Kosovo and Serbia. A few important transnational issues at hand are: that of the missing from the war in Kosovo, the integration of the Kosovo Serbs, and the safe return of the Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs) of Kosovo. Once again it must be stressed that these talks cannot begin until there is a mutual acceptance of territorial integrities between the two sovereign states of Serbia and Kosovo. Serbia regards UNMIK as the only authority in Kosovo; however it would not be intelligent to base relations on an expiring institution. Serbia should turn to the government of Prishtina, along with its democratically voted leaders of Kosovo.

THE ISSUE OF THE MISSING
There are approximately 3,000 missing persons according to a document published by the Committee of the Red Cross. This includes 2,500 Albanians (mostly males), about 400 Serbs, and 100 Roma. Many of the Albanians are pictured along the bars of the UNMIK building in Prishtina with family members’ continuous hope in finding their loved ones. This matter demands an effort by Belgrade to enquire within Serbia as to the whereabouts of these individuals (whether they are dead or alive) and a subsequent responsibility by Prishtina to report these findings to anxious family members. This can be positive for the perception of both governments and should be done out of respect for humanity.

THE INTEGRATION OF KOSOVO SERBS
This issue is obviously one Serbia has not been willing to accept at any level. They consider Kosovo Serbs “citizens of Serbia” while the case is really that now; these citizens are de facto and de jure citizens of multi-ethnic Kosovo. Some Kosovo Serbs realize that Belgrade has only used their plight for political efforts, beginning with Milosevic in the late 80s, early 90s to Kostunica and Nikolic which employ the same false and self-interested admiration for Kosovo Serbs today. Milosevic’s efforts created violent conflict between these Serbs and Albanians, while he sat and watched comfortably from the distant capital city of Belgrade, hoping that this effort would be a victory for his political career at the helm in Serbia.

Serbia’s current leaders should as a result continue to distance themselves from the Milosevic era and realize that the most ideal future for these Serbs is within the framework of an independent Kosovo. This is a Kosovo which realizes the significance of this minority and the fact that integration is the only way for harmony to exist between two peoples who have a bloody and unfortunate past and recent history with one another. Although the Serbs were usually the aggressors, Kosovo’s majority Albanian citizens and leadership are still taking the highroad in accepting to work and live alongside them.

THE RETURN OF IDPs
In a speech last year at the Red Hall in Prishtina University, President Fatmir Sejdiu mentioned that Kosovo Serbs displaced to neighboring Serbia should have no reservations in returning to the land they call home. He cleverly used Plato’s allegory of the cave mentioning that they will come back to a government welcoming their return and not punishing them for their time away from Kosovo (the cave in this instance). Kosovo’s willingness should motivate Belgrade to either provide good living standards for displaced Serbs, or more importantly work together with Prishtina to secure a safe return to their previous living spaces. The American radio station, National Public Radio (NPR), included a story last year mentioning the poor treatment and discrimination of Kosovo Serbs by Serbians, oftentimes referring to them in the derogatory name designated for Albanians, “Shipca.” These Serbs should live where they feel most comfortable, aid by dialogue and cooperation by Belgrade and Prishtina would make the lives (or return to previous lives) of these displaced persons much easier.

Elections in Serbia on May 11th will be very decisive in knowing whether or not the most open-minded, pro-Western leaders come to power. These are the leaders likely to move the country forward and hopefully advocate for establishing diplomatic relations with Kosovo. A new study from The Economist considers Serbia a “flawed democracy,” but for the sake of the country’s future; they should make provisions to join the list of “full democracies.”  These full democracies have welcomed Kosovo’s independence with 20 out of 28 countries in the list already recognizing Kosovo’s statehood; surely Kosovo’s recognition would do justice to further development of democracy in Serbia.

Comments (8)

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Alexa said:

... My Albanian friends, First - your arrogance and self indulgement are so far away form any control, that you are ready, without any hesitation, to compare yourself to the Jews in a WWII. That is an insult to any Jew in the World and I think you must apologize to them. Second - no matter how am I ashamed regardin war crimes, if you want to conduct fair dialogue, first you have to tell the truth. There were no 4 wars in Former Yugoslavia, but three (if there was only one, it would be one too much). As far as genocidal accusations are concerned, there was just one - Srebrenica. And, as you very well know - even that accusation was overruled by International Court of Justice: http://www.icj-cij.org/court/index.php?pr=1898&pt=3&p1=1&p2=3&p3=1 Those are facts and, although I could understand your frustration and anger, you cannot deny facts. And finally, back to the main subject. My original thesis is that Albanian call for multi-ethnic Kosmet is pure fake. It is just propaganda aiming to portrait Albanians in the eyes of the World (not West - since they very well know who you are) as an innocent, peace-loving and human-rights protectin nation. Reality on the ground is completely different. In reality, Albanian only goal is to create ethnically pure Kosmet, with - as I already said in my previous posts - with the couple of hundreds of Serbs, which Albanians could use as puppets, showing them to the Media as a proof of the Albanian "genuine multi-ethnicity commitment". In support to my thesis, one just could look at your posts. Statements such as: "...you expect me to have coffee with somebody like YOURSELF???? and pretend that NOTHING happened??? You want a red carpet too???? God forbid…..", and "...Unlike you serbs, Albanians are not barbaric...", and "...Maybe in Serbia you are proud of that but in the rest of the civilized world...", and so on... - are the statement which ooze of hatred against "barbaric, uncivilazed, genocidal Serbs". So, how could anyone believe that Kosmet's Serbs COULD TRUST ALBANIANS when they are, day by day, faced with so much threats, insults and hate? Let me reminde you: Basics of Multi-ethniciy is TRUST! Therefore NO TRUST - NO MULTI ETHNICITY! (unless you don't think that slavery is a some kind of multi-ethnic society, too) And trust could not be imposed by force, or achived by words, statements and "sweet-talk", but through hard and honest WORK and DEEDS! And as I could see, you'd rather see all Serbs expelled form Kosmet, than to work hard to gain their trust. So, as long as you have that attitude, there will be NO MULTI-ETHNIC KOSMET, in spite of "sweet talk" by the author of this article, and especially by the Albanian leaders.

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April 24, 2008
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ergaomnes said:

... Alexa, Oh please don’t “dear” me, Yes, this are the traumas of the WAR that you caused and won’t be cured for a very long time (you know the Jews still very much remember what happened to them during WWII and they will not forget/forgive)…As I happened to SEE directly and WITNESS YOUR CRIMES, you expect me to have coffee with somebody like YOURSELF???? and pretend that NOTHING happened??? You want a red carpet too???? God forbid….. NOTE: “Somebody like yourself” it is NOT referred to a Serb or a non-Albanian but to all the cold-blooded assassins and their SUPPORTERS, war loving, war praising, criminals and whatever falls within “un-human” category.

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April 22, 2008
Votes: +1

Tringa said:

... Alexa, Unlike you serbs, Albanians are not barbaric and have no violence in their blood -0 therefore I will myself assure you as everyone else could - Albanians will NOT ethnic cleans Serbs. ONLY Serbia could result to such levels of dehumanisation. So Alexa, don't think everyone is like you Serbs because any person with the right values in their mind knows that ethnic cleansing is inhumane (there is no other word to describe it). And History shows Albanians are not the kinds of people who could do that. After all, Serbia is responsible for 4 wars and genocides in ONE decade - is that a record to be proud of? Maybe in Serbia you are proud of that but in the rest of the civilized world - that is completely and utterly the lowest level a nation can result itself to - it is INHUMANE.

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April 22, 2008
Votes: +3

Alexa said:

... My dear Ergaomnes, Just in a couple of sentences, you succeded to spill so much hatred against Serbs, that - unfortunately - my statmet from the previous post stands rock steady. KOSMET'S SERBS SHOULD BE UTTERLY TERRIFIED OF ALBANIANS. And you, with your hate-speach, just proved they had very good and rightful reason to be terrified. With your post you succeeded to prove my second statment, too - that Albanian call for "multi-ethnicity" is fake. It is just propaganda - it serves just to present you as a calm, peace-loving, and human-rights protecting nation to the West. But, when you loose your patiance for "sweet talk" (at least you are honest, to the contrary to the author of this article who is "sweet-talker"), and spill your guts out, then masks are off and your true nature comes out. ALBANIANS DO NOT WANT MULTI-ETHNIC KOSMET! Albanian only wish is to throw out remaining Serbs from Kosmet and to create ETHNICALLY PURE TERRITORY (with perhaps couple of hundred Serbs, which they could use as a puppets, showing them to the Western media as a "proof" of "multi-ethnic" Kosmet). That is the real Albanian goal! Be honest and admit that fact once and for all. So, Serbs have any right to be very, very affraid of Albanians - because they know that, sooner or later - Albanians will try to carry out ethnic cleansing agains Kosmet's Serbs. And, when you decide to go for that, I suggest to say Serbs didn't wanted to obey Pristina and became Albanian slaves, as an excuse.

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April 22, 2008
Votes: -2

ergaomnes said:

... Alexa, Please give me a break, YOU are the least person to talk here about victims and human rights!!!what the hell did you think WAR was when serbia decided to initiate ALL of them in the ex-yugo eh?? you thought it is a joke???or you thought YOU could only do the killings???THAT'S WAR AND PPL DIE AND MOSTLY THE INNOCENT....SO WAKE UP TAKE RESPONSIBILITY OF YOUR (SERBIA'S) ACTIONS OF PAST 2 DECADES so we can ALL move forward!!!I even think the international community didn't punish you enough, they should've punished the whole Serbia as they did Germany after WWII...because that's what you did exactly my "dear" (as germany in WWII). In legal terms that would be "causa" and "culpa" for this victims whatever side it was Serbia's.

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April 20, 2008
Votes: +1

strav said:

... Oh my goodness me. The propaganda never ceases. The author of this article should have written that Beograd would never talk to Pristina because the leaders are terrorists and war criminals. Who would have a dialogue with people of that character. Secondly a UDI is not recognised as legitimate. You cannot simply steal 15% of a nations territory and then expect cordial relations. Some here is more than a little delusional.

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April 16, 2008
Votes: +3

Ardit said:

... "A few important transnational issues at hand are; that of the missing from the war in Kosovo, the integration of the Kosovo Serbs, and the safe return of the Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs) of Kosovo." I don't think Kosova needs to talk to Serbia at all about any thing. It should certainly raise the issue of the 5000 Kosovars abducted by the Serbian military during war at every international instance (HAGUE, UN, EU, etc) and be much more forceful and vocal about it. Up until now, the Kosovar authorities have been pretty mute about their fate and practically have abandoned their duty to the families of the missing, when they should have been loudly requesting - no demanding! - that Serbia release the information about their fate. How can Serbia even pretend to be a democratic country, and continue with this cruel treatment of innocent civilians hijacked from their families, that brutally violates every convention of human rights. As for the integration of the Serbs into the Kosovar society there is nothing to talk about with Serbia. That is an internal affair for Kosova, and Serbia should not be allowed to stick its nose in our business. The state institutions should create equal opportunities for everyone regardless of ethnicity, to participate in the social and political life of the country. Whoever wants to participate should be able to, but you can not force people to be integrated if they don't want to. And lets be realistic, Serbs do not want to be integrated in our society. I'm cool with it, if they want to be out of institutions, so be it, we should not be begging them. On the other hand, the state should start a crackdown on all illegal activities: schools, social services and religious activities not licensed by the state should be shut down; radio, television and cellular transmissions without a license should be jammed; Kosovar residents that use foreign license plates should have their cars confiscated and auctioned off, people that receive money from foreign governments should pay tax on them, and no Serb citizen should ever be allowed to enter our country without a visa.

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April 16, 2008
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Alexa said:

... Dear Mr. Drilon, In spite of your peacefull and patronising tone in this article, there are many issues you interpreted completly wrong. I know you are trying to picture youself as a democratic, peace-loving people, but you hypocrisy is at least irritating, especially for the mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters of the missing Kosmet Serbs. Your cold blooded statment that there are just about 400 missing Kosmet Serbs, is something that makes blood of the relatives of the missing, to boil. Your "ad hoc" mention of some "Red Cross document" is very pathetic. As long as you don't want to accept the truth - and the truth is that, just form june 1999 to june 2001 there were more than 1300 missing Serbs in Kosmet (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/aug/24/balkans.warcrimes1) - dialogue between Serbs and Albanians could not start. Not to mention period from 2001 up to now, during which there is more then 400 Serbs were abducted. And especially not to mention ongoing scandal about organ-trafficking of the missing and killed Kosmet Serbs - of which Mrs.Carla Del Ponte indicted most prominent Albanian leaders. But, as we all know, your "democratic" government is not willing to probe those claims! Why? Even your "CDHRF" is planning to sue Mrs.Del Ponte!!!! So, your double faced stance on this and on many other issues clearly is not democracy. Your ill placed, hypocritycal argumentation could not cover the painful fact - KOMSET'S SERBS ARE AFRAID OF ALBANIANS! So, there is no mult-ethnic Kosmet. I know that your call for multi-ethnicity is just propaganda - it serves just to present you as a calm, peace-loving, and human-rights protecting nation to the West - but your effort is in vain. Why? Because you very well know that "multi-ethnicity" is not something that could be imposed by force, or be achived by words and speaches! Basics of multi-ethnicity is TRUST! And as long as you don't want to speak loudly about the truth, you will have Kosmet's Serbs who will be more and more terrified from Albanians. And that is just because they don't TRUST YOU. I know that your biggest problem is not Russian blockade of Kosmet's UN, OSCE etc... membership, but the fact that Serbia will never recognize Albanian UDI. Unfotunately for you, Kosmet will always be where it is now, and therefore you always will be very near Serbia and Serbs. In that light, your calls to re-open talks with Belgrade is very understandably. And our friendly hand is open. Of course Serbia should and would talk with Albanians. But - only without any conditions. If you want to blackmail Serbia with regard to the re-opening of negotiations, by demanding that Serbia must recognize Albanian UDI first, then you'll never be around the same table with Serbia. You must accept unplesent reality - Serbia will never recognize unilateral, self-proclaimed independence of Kosmet's Albanians. And, there is nothing you or anybody else could do about it. So, as far as Serbia is concerned, talks - yes, blackmail - no. At the end, since you had a tendency to give advice to Serbia, I will be free to give some advice to Albanians. Think very hard about your future... If you thought that West helped you in your fight against Serbs just because they loved you - you are dead wrong. West does not love anybody. Their actions are motivated solely by their interest. And what should be their interes to help you? If you don't know, read this articles: http://www.thetrumpet.com/inde...5.3269.0.0 http://www.newkosovareport.com/20080302689/Views-and-Analysis/The-Politics-of-Religion-in-Kosovo.html Got an idea? Vatikan is waging war for your souls. So, that is the price you should pay for the West's help. And if you accept to fight, it won't be as a war you fought against Serbia. From the possition you are in now, war against Vatican and West is not winnable. So, think about it. Is it worth while? When someone lose his soul - everything else does not matter anymore. And my adviceto you is - your best shot is to re-open talks with Serbia, and claim what was already offered to you, and what is rightfully yours - broadest possible authonomy. Only and only then you will be protected agains Vatican, and at the same time will be in position to rule Kosmet as you like. Maybe you won't like this conclusion, but believe me, it is worthy of sparing a thought or two.

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April 15, 2008
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