Russian Diplomacy is trying hard to change the flow of events in Kosovo in regards to the international presence, reports daily Zëri.

It is now known that not only because of the pressures by Moscow but also because of Ban Ki-moon’s doubts, UNMIK will not shut down completely on June 15.

The latest proposal of Moscow, trying to change the direction of the international supervision in Kosovo, based on diplomatic sources, is to somehow “unify” ICO, EULEX and UNMIK.

According to this proposal, Yves de Kermabon, who has been assigned to lead the EU Rule of Law mission in Kosovo, could become the new SRSG. On the other side, Peter Feith, head of International Civilian Office and EU representative in Kosovo, according to the Russian proposal, could become UNMIK Pillar IV (Economy) Chief and UNMIK would continue to function with the same structure and the same mandate.

These Russian proposals, as Zëri got to know from diplomatic sources, were refused by the West.

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Peter said:

@the balkang ghost You sound like a sad and bitter little man. Instead of spewing out your hate filled propaganda, why not address the issues? Or better still, just move on. The times of Milosovic in the 90's are long gone. Serbia has moved on. And is now a part of the SAA Serbia is now a democratic country. Most if not all of the crime figures you have mentioned are in jail or dead. San and Jenny makes some very valid points, that are a clear concern for not only Europe, but the rest of the world. These are serious issues that need to addressed. And they are not preo Serb. I have read similar articals coming from the EU, US, and Europol. I am Australian, and i am neither pro-albanian or pro Serbian. But when i read hateful posts such as yours, i find it easy to take sides. Im sure a new and independent Kosova does not need or would want to be associated with racist and hate filled radicals like yourself! You do nothing to help the albanian cause, you serve only as a source of negativity and cast a bad light on decent peace loving albanians who just want to get on with their lives. The balkan ghost, stop living in the past! i sincerly hope get some theraphy and learn to deal with your hate and racisim. Not just for your own good, but for the good of all albanians. Albanians, and indeed the rest of europe has moved on. There is not room in europe for hate filled people like you. Please stop giving honest decent albanians a bad name! Otherwise you will end up being nothing more than a bitter, lonely little man whose rhetoric will be forgotten by the rest of the albanians who would have move

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May 05, 2008
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The Balkan Ghost said:

San, Events in Albania during the 1990s relfects the experiences of any eastern European country that went through transition from communism to democracy. Name one single country in the Balkans that did not have a similar experience to Albania. Serbia has been a black hole of mafia, corruption, and bad governance for over a decade. If you lived in Serbia during the 1990s, you probably remeber inflation rates, poverty and mafia leaders. How was that different from Albania? Except that the Albanian government did not issue an order to slaughter 8,000 men in 72 hours -in front of the UN peacekeepers-like the Serbian government ordered in Srebernica in 1995, and four years later ordered to ethnically cleanse 90% of Kosovar Albanian population. Do these two most shocking events after WWII in Europe reflect "your nation's enlightment and education" ? Or is just an inconvenient truth for the vast majority of Serbs? Obvisouly, your hatred against Albanians is so entrenched that you cannot make any rational argument without relating to the national origins. There's an old proverb which says "you reap what you sow." Serbia was an old fashioned colonial power in Kosovo for almost a century. The amount of hatred, propaganda, and institutional racism that Belgrade unleashed against Kosovar Albanians reflects destructive colonial policies which are always doomed. Indeed one can learn from Serbia on how not to destroy your nation and national cohesion. That's why we Kosovar Albanians have a plan to integrate the Serbs in Kosovo. If you read Ahtisaari's plan for the final status of Kosovo, you learn that Serbian minority has the most advanced regime of minority human rights protection in Europe today. Tell me which state with 5% ethnic minority grants the same rights that Kosovo constitution grants to the Serbs? Just name one? Then compare the level of representation of all minorities in the Serbian government with the Kosovo one? Also, since you believe that Serbia is such a wonderful/educated/enlightened nation, tell the readers here about a single feasible plan that your government has adopted to integrate Kosovar Albanians from 1912-2008.

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May 03, 2008
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Jenny said:

@Flora Perhaps YOU need to get some education before spewing out your Albanian propaganda. 1) Human rights abuse. It’s nice to talk about human rights abuse when Albanians have no idea of what the concept is! Your statistics are totally out of context and only refer to very recent history! Isn’t it nice to selectively choose what episodes in history you can refer to? Let’s not forget the brave acts done by the Serbs in World War 1 and 2. Fighting for the allies. Whist at the same time the Albanians were supporting the fascist Nazis! And lets look at recent history, with your terrorist actions and open support for Osama Bin Ladin! Serbia has changed since the ninties; they now have democratic government, and the age of Milosevic is long gone! 2) Criminality Again, your statistics only refer to recent history, and are only due to the FACT that Serbia has been Bombed and under sanctions in the 90s, All of which where illegal! Before the 90s Serbia and infact the whole of Yugoslavia had a very high standard of living. Offcourse, Albania was not in that group. Albanians were never bombed or under sanctions, yet they have always been involved in crime and terrorist actions! Albanian support for Osama bin ladin is just one case! Unlike the Albanians, the Serbian government has changed by leaps and bounds! Milosevic was handed in to the international courts, and Legia is now spending the rest of his life in prison. Yes, there was a lot of Mafia in Serbia, but that was only due to the Illegal sanctions placed upon Serbia. All of the mafia figures you have mentioned are ether in jail or dead. Serbs are capable of justice and enforcing it. However, the same cannot be said in comparison with the Albanians.

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May 03, 2008
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San said:

Eli You are incorrect! In the former Yugoslavia and in Serbia it is compulsory for all its citizens to receive a standard level of education. However the albanians (breaking the law) chose not to be educated, because they only wanted to be educated in the albanian language. Yes, the Serbian government closed all Albanians schools. So what? They are living in SERBIA! The Serbian government has the right to do this. If albanians want to get educated in Albanian they should move to Albanian. But they did not! Why?? Because Albanian is a clear model of what happens when Albanians are left to self rule. Chaos, poverty and oppression! I think the Serbs should not worry at all about albanians. As albanians have a clear track record of failure when left to their own devices.

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May 02, 2008
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Flora said:

Jenny and Mark: Countries like Serbia, Russia, and Greece place high in the list of the countries with rich record of human rights violations. Therefore, they lack the moral and legal authority to defend the international law. You have to realize that Kosovo war has changed international politics once and for all. Serbia cannot ignore its engagement in genocidal acts in Kosovo and Bonsia by simply using sovereignty as a defending mechanism. If you have some education, you should know that international law does allow for nation states to commit genocide against its own citizens. You can use Belgrade's propaganda here, and try to portray Albanians and Kosovo in the most negative light. But we all who follow politics in the Balkans more carefully, know that your words stem from the destructive policies and ideology that Milosevic fed to you while growing up. 2) Kosovo and Criminality: Every state has its mafia but no country in the world was governed by mafia like Serbia for over a decade. I read Serbian newspapers and let me name a few criminal activities in Serbia which are not comparable to Kosovo: First, your former Prime Minister Dinjdic was assasinated by Legija 'Zemuna Klan, and JNA special forces that took the steets of Belgrade, and build barricades threatening to carry a coup de ta in 2002. Scorpions, ARKAN's tigers, Black hand and many other criminal clans are just a few officially recognized criminal elites in Serbia, which if i am not mistaken comprised your national heroes list throughout the nineties. Second, you can bash as much as you want against Kosovo and Albanians, but you cannot ignore the fact that 40 war criminals in the Hague and two main fugitivies who still remain at large are from Serbia. One cannot say the same about Kosovar Albanians. We have no official criminal klans as Serbia does. We have cooperated with the Hague fully and all our former KLA members have taken the responsibility for their actions. Our former Prime Minister was taken out of the Office and sent to Hague. And he did that in the most dignified manner. Serbs indeed can learn from us on that regard. Here are some statistics on Serbia's development because it looks like you are too flatered by Russia's role in protecting international law (does not matter that 300 journalist are killed every year in Russia) that you are not recognizing the reality on the ground in your homeland. Poverty rate in Serbia: 18.8% -2007 estimation- A quick note here, you have been an independent country for over a century and Kosova has declared its independence yesterday but your poverty rate is just half of that of Kosova's today. Labor force by occupation in Serbia-30% agriculture. Population below povery line in Serbia -6.5 % -2007 estimation. Serbia is a transhipment point for Southwest Asian heroin moving to Western Europe on the Balkan route. The priority of Serbia's government: Fighting Corruption, Furthermoret over 40% Serbia's population has never left the country. And given their role in supporting demagogue leaders such as Milosevic, and Kostunica, Seselj, Arkan, and others in power who have committed the most horrofying crimes against humanity in Europe at the end of the 20th century, i kindly ask you to deal with your problems in your backyard and not talk about Kosovo. Just read few more books written by foreign authors on your country and then talk about Kosovo.

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May 02, 2008
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Eli said:

Please let's not forget that different international laws have different aims, some protect country’s territorial integrity others provide legal framework for the protection of human rights. In cases when international law is brought into play, it is unfair to pick and choose which laws you emphasize. In Kosovo's case, more than territorial integrity is at stake. I imagine that Mark knows the reasons why Kosovo's literacy is what it is (Schooling in Albanian was banned by law) and that 20 years ago Kosovo Albanians were not seeking independence, simply equality, and it was the conflict in Slovenia, the war in Croatia and Bosnia and Serbia's constant treatment of minorities that led to Kosovo's war for equality.

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May 02, 2008
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Jenny said:

	Another Blow for Kosovo. Macedonia leaves Pristina out of Ohrid summit! Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski said that Kosovo failed to gain consensual support from all 19 attending states, leading to Skopje's decision to erase Pristina from the list of participants. Thank you Macedonia for supporting the rule of law!
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May 01, 2008
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mark said:

And America should also mind its own BUSINESS. What does America have to do with Europe, let alone with the Balkans. Russia has always had ties with Europe, Especially Serbia! Russia is a booming economy, and will soon be the economic powerhouse of Europe. With regards to problems, albanians need to fix their own problems before looking for independence! It's estimated that 20 percent of Kosovars are illiterate, while more than 90 percent have a minimal education. Officially, close to half of Kosovo's residents live on less than 3 euros or $4.80 a day. Kosovo's per capita gross national product is lower than that of North Korea or Papua New Guinea. It has one of the worst balances of trade worldwide and Europe's highest fertility rate. Youth unemployment is constant at 75 percent. Analysts paint a picture of a clan-based society in which a handful of criminals control the population and are tolerated by bureaucrats from Europe and the rest of the world, who have come here under the guise of enlightening the poor Kosovars. Infact, the open support for leading political and criminal figures in Kosovo is greatly harming the credibility of international institutions and is one of the main reasons why Kosovo independence is still being strongly resisted by many countries. If the Kosovo Albanians are real about independence then they first need to act civilized. Get rid of the criminals that are running your so called country, and place credible educated people who will steer you in the right path. Independence needs to be earned, and so far the Albanians are far from capable of running their own house. Once again, THANK YOU RUSSIA

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May 01, 2008
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DnelB said:

	Russia should mind her own business and take care of it's own problems....Kosovo is too far away for Russia's had to reach to Kosovo, so they should just mind their own business.
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May 01, 2008
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Famo said:

	Does Russia know anything about law Jenny? You're just telling us fairytales... Thank you Russia for being so mentally retarded...
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May 01, 2008
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Mark said:

Lets not forget GREECE! They are also BIG supporters of Serbia and the rule of LAW! Athens together with Moscow believe that an agreed solution for Kosovo is still possible Greek Prime minister Kostas Karamanlis said in Athens on Tuesday that his country is favoring an agreed solution on Kosovo, which he still sees as possible. Karamanlis said Greece was opposed to the policy of "fait accompli". Also Russian is Renewing its opposition to the way the West handled the Kosovo crisis Russia once again voiced its strong opposition to Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence, saying that international willingness to bend under the tide of ethnic pressure presents an unacceptable development. "We don't understand why people who fight for independence in some regions of the world are considered independence fighters, while in other regions, under the same conditions, they are called separatists and action is urged against them," Putin said. Its good to see that there still are some great nations out there that still follow the rule of law

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April 30, 2008
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Jenny said:

	THANK YOU RUSSIA!! Thank you, not just for your support. But also for bravely fighting to uphold the rule of law against those who have no respect for it. THANK YOU RUSSIA!!
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April 29, 2008
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