Comments for Leader: Serbia should stop discriminating Serbia Albanians at http://www.newkosovareport.com , comment 1 to 2 out of 2 comments http://www.newkosovareport.com Fri, 09 Jan 2009 05:15:25 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.newkosovareport.com/200808291173/Region/Leader-Serbia-should-stop-discriminating-Serbia-Albanians.html#comment-2357 Serbia has a longstanding tradition of ignoring its commitments towards minorities: "Soon after a Serbian insurrection against Turkish rule in 1804, Jews were expelled from the interior of Serbia and prohibited from residing outside of Belgrade. In 1856 and 1861, Jews were further prohibited... travel for the purpose of trade. In official correspondence from the late 19th century, British diplomats detailed the cruel treatment of the Jews of Serbia, which they attributed to religious fanaticism, commercial rivalries, and the belief that Jews were the secret agents of the Turks. Article 23 of the Serbian constitution granted equality to every citizen but Article 132 forbade Jews the right of domicile. The Treaty of Berlin 1878, which formally established the Serbian state, accorded political and civil equality to the Jews of Serbia, but the Serbian Parliament resisted abolishing restrictive decrees for another 11 years. " shmajser.wordpress.com/2006/12/19/serbian-nazi-past-and-jasenovac-casualties-manipulations/ After the forced annexation of Kosova to the Kingdom of the Serbs, the Croats and the Slovenes the Belgrade government denied it even had an Albanian minority until 1929 "Ever since Serbia’s invasion and annexation of Kosovo in 1912-13 - i.e. of a territory where, according even to Serbian estimates, around 60% of the population was non-Serb [closer to 75 %] Kosovar Albanians... suffered constant repression and persecution, and have continuously been viewed by Serb nationalists as a threat to the interests of the Serbian state. At the same time, Serbia’s expansion into non-Serb territories and the systematic maltreatment of its non-Serb population has had a deleterious effect on its will and capacity to create a democratic polity. The anti-Albanian policy continued after the formation of the Yugoslav kingdom in 1918. Albanians were deprived of the right to education in their mother tongue; their rights as a minority population (rights enjoyed by other minorities such as the Hungarians and Germans in the north) were not recognized; and they were excluded from citizenship. Until 1929 indeed, Belgrade emphatically denied the existence of any Albanian minority in the kingdom, while simultaneously instituting a policy aimed at changing the ethnic structure of the Kosovor population. www.forumi2015.org/home/images/stories/why_independence.pdf Now Article 14 of Serbia's current Constitution states: "The Republic of Serbia protects the rights of national minorities. The state gurantees a particular protection to national minorities to achieve complete equality and the preservation of their identities. " Don't hold your breath... - Sebaneau Sat, 30 Aug 2008 05:04:44 +0100 http://www.newkosovareport.com/200808291173/Region/Leader-Serbia-should-stop-discriminating-Serbia-Albanians.html#comment-2353 One thing the policy makers are the last to understand,and that is without equality there will never be any peace in our part of the world. - pleurat Fri, 29 Aug 2008 23:23:55 +0100