Albanian President Bamir Topi said in Priština today that Serb “ultra-nationalists” were to blame for the recent incidents and clashes in Kosovo.
“It is clear where the incidents are coming from. The investigation should continue and it is very important in these situations to analyze where all of this is coming from,” Topi told journalists, commending the posture and reactions of the Kosovo institutions and Albanians in Kosovo.
“Albania will be among those who will show that this conduct and these negative acts come from ultra-nationalist Serb circles,” he said.
The Albanian president said that the rights of all minorities must be respected, including those of the minorities in the Preševo Valley in Serbia.
“Serbia needs to respect security standards and the rights of minorities, including those in the Preševo Valley,” he said, adding that Albania, Kosovo and other countries needed to do likewise.
Topi said that the countries of the Western Balkans needed to do all they could to prevent further ethnic wars, and to promote European integration and a united European future.
After meeting with Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu, Topi said that the two heads of state had agreed to continue strengthening cooperation between Kosovo and Albania.
“At a time when Kosovo is continuing to consolidate the democratic institutions of a young country, its leaders are showing that Kosovo has all the necessary state-building capacities and that the new country will be a worthy partner in EU and NATO integration,” the Albanian president underlined.
He said that there would be “new recognitions of Kosovo” in 2009, and that “Kosovo independence is irreversible.”
Topi and Sejdiu said that an agreement on free passage would be signed between Albania and Kosovo soon.
“This agreement could be a ‘mini Schengen’ for South-West Europe,” Sejdiu said, adding that he would try to get other regional countries to join the agreement.
In the afternoon, Topi will meet with KFOR Commander Emilio Gay, opposition leaders and national minority representatives, while he will hold a separate meeting with representatives of the Serb community.
Tomorrow the president will visit the Priština municipal assembly and speak with Municipal President Isa Mustafa, before visiting the Kosovo Museum and the Kosovo Academy of Science and Art.
Topi will then travel to the Uroševac municipal assembly where he will be made an honorary citizen of the town at a ceremonial session.
This is Topi’s second visit to Kosovo in the capacity of Albanian president. The first was on January 25 and 26, 2008.
At least he will feel at home with all of the Albanian flags rather than Kosovo flags being waved and displayed.
No offence intended, but it does seem very ironic for a state to claim that it's independent and then fly the flag of another nation.
(kate, 8 January 2009, 10:16)
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Welcome Mr. President, in free, indepedent and democratic Kosovo.
Among the topics to be discussed will be removing the border checks between Albania and Kosovo as from this July 2009, so that people travel without the need of even the basic IDs.
It is one country, one nation, one land, so there is no need for IDs anymore.
Long live the unity and cohesion of the United States of Albania.
(PRN, 8 January 2009, 10:32)
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welcome to repoblik of kosovo
mr president af albania
(bujari, 8 January 2009, 10:39)
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Beta
Albanian President Bamir Topi has begun a two-day visit to Kosovo to meet with representatives from the temporary institutions and the international community.
They are Republic of Kosovo permanent institutions, voted by the people, you still living in the past, typical.
(Nik, UK, 8 January 2009, 10:45)
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"temporary institutions"
I dont think there is anything temporary about the Government and the President of the Republic of Kosovo.
(Nick KS, 8 January 2009, 12:35)
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B92 news: "Albanian President Bamir Topi has begun a two-day visit to Kosovo to meet with representatives from the temporary institutions…" Temporary institutions? If you call temporary the institutions that are going to govern Kosova(o) for the eons to come then I must admit that is very funny definition/presentation of the reality on the ground!
(Simple Mind, 8 January 2009, 13:08)
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Welcome President Topi, You are same time also President of Kosovo. Albanians here trust more to you, as our President.
Again welcome to North Albania Kosovo.
(doni, 8 January 2009, 14:18)
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President of Albania is visiting it's feud: Kosova(a part of Albania).
(Behar, Vushtrri, 8 January 2009, 14:19)
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"Welcome President Topi, You are same time also President of Kosovo. Albanians here trust more to you, as our President. Again welcome to North Albania Kosovo.
(doni, 8 January 2009 14:18)"
At least that well-known view has once again be confirmed. It is just not clear that EU, US, and NATO officials and politicians fail and have failed to see that. Of course from a Serbian point of view it is unacceptable to call Southern Serbia (Kosovo) Northern Albania. It also shows that Kosovo Albanians trust foreign politicians more than their own local ones. I wonder why? Hopefully this whole circus will be over this year.
(Milan, 8 January 2009, 15:02)
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I wonder if he will offer George Bush's watch to Sejdiu as a gift...…..
(Patrik, 8 January 2009, 15:06)
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I think we can see here from the albanian posters what their real aim is, and let's not kid about it. Their aim is greater albania, and to completely ethnically cleanse all Kosovo of all other non-albanians. The evidence is all over the place, with the barbed wire ghettos, the brutality towards the Serbs, their support for organ traffickers and albanian war criminals.... The US, the current hand of the devil, is helping them do this, along with their minions in the EU. Russia is standing behind Serbia and defending our national interests, even more so than our own President.
We must remember to stay strong, send strong financial aid to the Serbs in Kosovo, and be patient. Be patient, because the time will come to take back all of Kosovo under full Serbian control. Let's not forget that right now we are under an illegal occupation, nothing less. The occupiers are bankrupt and sinking faster than the titanic, although their public does not know this yet. Be patient friends, our time is coming.
Cheers!!
(Dragan, 8 January 2009, 15:08)
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"temporary institutions" haha an act of desperation this was the only thing you could say bad about it?
(theKosovar, 8 January 2009, 15:10)
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Hope this guy applied for a visa entering the territory of the Republic of Serbia.
Otherwise it should be considered an illegal border crossing,
moment ahhh that`s what our Albanian friends do in whole Europe so why would their president be different?
(CG, 8 January 2009, 15:19)
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No offence intended, but it does seem very ironic for a state to claim that it's independent and then fly the flag of another nation.
(kate, 8 January 2009 10:16)
Yes kate,
that was a rather tough compromise that K-Albanians agreed on to make Serb minority happy because frankly it is ironic. K-Albanians and A-Albanians are one nation afterall. In the name of joining EU K-Albanians agreed to this.
(miri, 8 January 2009, 15:29)
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"In the afternoon, Topi will meet with KFOR Commander Emilio Gay, opposition leaders and national minority representatives, while he will hold a separate meeting with representatives of the Serb community."
Obviously Topi would not be able to hold this separate meeting north of the Ibar.
As for his mini-Schengen, which countries could possibly be interested except for his own and Pristina? Don't bet on Macedonia with its huge and restive Albanian minority.
(lowe, 8 January 2009, 15:32)
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this is what the ultra nationalist albanians have been up to from 1996-1998, sadly the link for 1998-2008 is not working
Chronology of KLA’s Terrorism and Aggression
page 1
1996
April 22: Blagoje Okulic, a Serb refugee from Croatia, was sitting with a friend in a cafe when a masked member of the KLA opened fire on the customers with an automatic weapon. Okulic and two other guest latter died in hospital. He was the first victim of the KLA. Armand Daci (20), an ethnic Albanian student in dentistry school, was shot and killed by a sniper fire.
June 16: In an attack against a police patrol near Podujevo police officer Goran Mitrovic was heavily wounded.
June 17: Around 11:55 PM a police patrol in the village of Sipolje near Kosovska Mitrovica was attacked, resulting in the killing of Predrag Djordjevic (28) from Krusevac, and the wounding of Zoran Vukocic (30) from Nis. Police officer Predrag Djordjevic left his wife and child. The same day a bomb was hurled at the police station in Luzani, and the police officers on duty in the station were fired on by automatic weapons. No one was injured.
July 11: One hour after midnight in the center of Podujevo terrorists carried out an armed attack against police officers, resulting in a heavy wounding of police officer Sredoje Radojevic.
August 2: Armed attack on three police stations in Pristina, Podujevo and the village of Krpimej around 10 PM
August 28: Three bombs were hurled in the village of Celopek (border of the towns Pec-Klina-Decani), around 3 AM. No one was injured. In the village of Donje Ljupce police inspector Ejup Bajgora (44), an ethnic Albanian who worked at the Pristina Precinct, was shot and killed.
August 31: In the night hours two bombs were hurled into the courtyard of the Yugoslav Army’s barracks in Vucitrn. In the village of Rudnik, Srbica municipality an armed attack was carried out on the police station. In Podujevo, police officers at the juncture of the road Pristina-Podujevo-Kursumlija were fired on. No one was hit. The police station in Glogovac was fired on with automatic weapons.
October 25: Two police officers were killed by automatic weapons near the village of Surkis in the Podujevo municipality Milos Nikolic (34), a police inspector of the Pristina Precinct, and Dragan Rakic from the village of Velika Reka, who was a police officer in the reserves and a manager of a company in Podujevo. KLA terrorist killed police officer Milos Nikolic in the front of his house.
November 16: In the village of Rznic, Decani municipality, around 10:30 PM a terrorist attack was carried out on the police station. No one was killed.
December 26: Faik Belopolja, an ethnic Albanian from Podujevo who was a forest worker in the Serbia Forest Service - "Srbija Sume", was shot and killed.
1997
January 9: In the center of Podujevo at 5:30 PM Malic Saholi (52), an ethnic Albanian who was the manager of the superamarket "Vocar" and a deputy in the municipal council of Podujevo as a member of the Socialist Party of Serbia, was shot and killed.
January 11: In the Vucitrn village of Mijalic, around 7 PM more than 26 bullets were fired at the house of Ljubisa Mitrovic. No one was killed.
January 13: Fazil Hasani, an ethnic Albanian forest worker from the village of Brabonic, Srbica municipality was shot in the neck. KLA terrorists killed him and issued a statement denouncing Hasani as a "traitor".
January 16: Using remote-controlled explosives, the KLA attempted to assassinate the Dean of Pristina University, Mr. Radovan Papovic, at 8 AM as he was driving to the University. Both he and his driver Nikola Lalic were heavily wounded. The explosives were set off when their car was some 50 meters from Dean Papovic’s apartment in Pristina.
January 17: In the village of Reketnica, Srbica municipality, at 1 AM, ethnic Albanian Zen Durmisi (52) was shot and killed and his son Nazmi Durmisi was heavily wounded. The Durmisi family was labeled "pro-Yugoslav" by the terrorist KLA.
February 1: KLA terrorists from a moving vehicle fired on police officers. The officers fired back and killed all three terrorists.
March 5: At 10:47 AM, in front of the Pristina University School of Languages, a bomb in a container exploded. Four people were wounded, two ethnic Albanians Adrijana Dremka and Lindita Maksuti and two ethnic Serbs, Borivoje Popovic and Ivan Maksimovic. A second explosives device weighing 4.2 kilograms, which had been placed at the base of the Vuk Karadzic monument in front of the School of Languages, was found and deactivated by members of the Anti-Ballistics Unit of the Pristina Precinct.
March 21: Around 8 PM, in the center of Podujevo, KLA terrorists fired five shots at police officer Branislav Milovanovic, wounding him heavily. In a statement, the KLA claimed responsibility denouncing officer Milovanovic as a "Serbian policeman, well known blood-sucker and anti-Albanian".
March 25: Near the village Sicevo, Klina municipality, a group of attackers killed ethnic Albanians Jusuf Haljiljaj and Fehmi Haziraj (who were well known as loyal citizens of Serbia) and wounded ethnic Albanian Mehmet Gasi.
April 10: In the village of Banjica near Glogovac, using automatic firearms, KLA terrorists killed ethnic Albanian Ramiz Ljeka, who worked at the Glogovac Municipal Council.
May 6: Around 10:30 PM in the village of Lozica near Klina, ethnic Albanian Hetem Dobruna (30), a farmer from the village, was shot and killed.
May 16: In Srbica near Kosovska Mitrovica police officers Miomir Kicovic and Radisav Blanic were shot and heavily wounded.
June 19: On the Pristina - Podujevo - Nis road near the village of Donje Ljupce in the Podujevo municipality, terrorists fired 12 bullets from automatic weapons at a police patrol. No one was injured.
July 3: In the village of Trstenik, Glogovac municipality, in the early morning hours the KLA shot and killed ethnic Albanian Ali Calapek, a farmer who was a member of the Socialist Party of Serbia and a member of the local Election Commission in the 1996 elections.
July 21: The Assistant District Attorney in Pec, Miroljub Petrovic, was shot and killed.
August 3: A police vehicle was fired on at 7 PM, in the village of Bradis, which is 10 kilometers from Podujevo.
August 4: At 9:30 AM, on the road from the village of Rudnik to Srbica, KLA terrorists from Drenica fired on a police vehicle using automatic weapons. Police officers Milomir Dodic and Zoran Boskovic were heavily wounded, and a civilian who was in the car was lightly wounded.
August 23: Forest worker Sadi Morina, employee in Serbian Forest Service - "Srbija Sume", an ethnic Albanian, was killed in Srbica. Mr. Morina had already been receiving threats from KLA terrorists for a long time because he remained to work "in the service of Serbia".
August 24: In the village of Zub near Djakovica an ethnic Albanian, Kcira Ndue (32), was shot and killed, while his brother Bekim Ndue was wounded. The police station in the village of Rznic near Decani was sprayed with gunfire.
September 2: At 10:55 PM Ljimon Krasnici, an ethnic Albanian denounced by the KLA terrorists as a "traitor", was killed in his home.
September 12: A dozen attacks were carried out on police stations in the municipalities of Pec, Glogovac, Decani, and Djakovica around 11 PM No one was injured.
September 13: Around 10 PM a hand grenade was hurled at the police station in Luzano, near Podujevo.
September 14: A hand grenade was hurled at the police station in Kijevo, near Klina.
September 23: Around 11 AM in the vicinity of the village of Kijevo, the KLA opened fire on a motorized police patrol. Milan Stanojevic, the commander of the Djakovica Precinct, was in the vehicle. No one was injured.
October 13: The police station in Calopek near Pec was attacked.
October 16: Around 1:30 AM there was a terrorist attack on the police station in the village of Klincina, which lies on the road Pec-Pristina. Adrijan Krasnici (25) from Vranovci near Pec died in the ensuing gun battle.
October 17: Around 1 AM the residential community Babaloc, located between Decani and Djakovica, where 120 Serbian refugee families who fled from Albania several years ago are situated, was attacked.
October 20: The KLA claimed responsibility for attacks on police stations in Babaloc, Calopek, and Klincina, as well as police patrols in Gerlica near Urosevac and Balinac near Klina.
November 18: Around 7 PM in the village of Komoran near Glogovac, Camil Gasi, an ethnic Albanian deputy in the Parliament of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the chairman of the Municipal Board of the Socialist Party of Serbia for Glogovac, was wounded heavily. His driver was wounded as well.
November 25: KLA terrorists held the police station in Srbica surrounded for 15 hours. Around 7 PM in Decani, and after midnight in the village of Rznic, two terrorist attacks were carried out in which police officer Dragic Davidovic (32) from Berane was killed, and Ljubisa Ilic from Srbica, also a policeman, was heavily wounded. Police officer Dragic Davidovic was father of three children. Bojan Trboljevac from Leposavic, Srdjan Pavlovic (26) from Zubin Potok, and Nedeljko Aksentijevic (30) from Kragujevac were lightly wounded.
December 4: The KLA claimed responsibility for an attack on Pristina Airport, claiming that it shot down a "Cessna 310" on November 26 killing all five people on-board.
December 15: Around 1 AM on the road Srbica-Klina three masked KLA terrorists stopped a convoy of three cars with 16 Serbian civilian passengers. According to the civilians’ testimonies, the terrorists who were armed with machine-guns and hand grenades threatened them with death.
December 19: Around 6 PM on the road Klina-Srbica, near the village of Josanica, eight masked and heavily armed KLA terrorists stopped the car of the civilian Milan Sapic from Lazarevac threatening, insulting, and searching his family and him.
December 25: Two terrorist attacks were carried out shortly after 3 PM against police officers in the Podujevo municipality: In the village of Zakut a police vehicle was fired on, and in the center of Podujevo explosives devices were hurled at the residential building where police officers live. There were no victims.
1998
January 4: The KLA claimed responsibility for a series of terrorist activities in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia: planting a bomb in front of the police station in Prilep, which caused no injuries but demolished five cars; attacking the police station in Kumanovo; and attacking the Municipal Court in Gostivar on December 16, ‘97.
January 9: Around 9:10 PM in the village of Stepenice, municipality of Klina, unidentified perpetrators ambushed and killed with machine guns Djordje Belic (49) from the same village while he was in the back yard of his family home. Belic was the head of one of the three remaining Serbian households in that village.
January 12: Around 8 AM, in the vicinity of the village Gradac near Glogovac in Drenica, forest worker Sejdi Muja (51), employee in Serbian Forest Service - "Srbija Sume", an ethnic Albanian, was shot and killed. He and another Albanian had been stopped by a masked and armed three member group of KLA terrorists, and after checking his ID card established that Muja was on their list of "traitors". They dragged him out of the car and shot him by firing 28 shots into him from a machine gun, leaving his body by the road. He was a "traitor" just because he worked in the Serbia Forest Service. Around 00:05 AM, in Stimlje a terrorist attack was launched with machine guns on a building (former primary school) in which 6 police officers of Stimlje Police and their families live. No one was injured in the attack. Out of a total of 30 shots fired, 10 hit the building with 2 of them ending up inside the apartment of police officer Vesko Ristovic.
January 13: The KLA issued a statement stating that its headquarters was in Pristina, announced that it would expand its actions into Montenegro. Around 12:15 AM in the territory of the Kozice village, municipality of Srbica, seven masked people armed with machine guns intercepted around a TV mast Jordan Nicic, forest worker of Serbian Forest Service - "Srbija Sume", territory of Srbica. They asked him to light them a cigarette. One of them caught both of his arms from behind while the other attacker took his gun from the belt in order to threaten him and forbid him to come to this area.
January 14: The headquarters of the Socialist Party of Serbia for Djakovica were stoned overnight, January 13/14. All windows were broken. These were greetings for the "Serbian New Year" which is marked on January 13.
January 16: Around 5:30 PM in the village of Lausa, municipality of Srbica, three unidentified attackers stopped a "Mercedes" motor car bearing German number plates, driven by Djavid Salja (49) of Pristina. His girlfriend was with him in the car. Unidentified perpetrators wearing camouflage uniforms and black hoods on their heads, armed with machine guns, took Salja out of the vehicle telling him that he went to spy on them and that they were going to execute him. They told him get in the car with them and he obeyed. After driving for several kilometers, the vehicle got stuck in the mud, the hooded gunman took Salja out and beat him with rifle butts, punched him and kicked him all over his body inflicting minor bodily harm on him and they walked away.
January 19: In Srbica all graves at the Serbian Orthodox Cemetery were desecrated and vandalized. The monuments at the graves were completely destroyed.
January 21: Enver Hoti of the Josanica village, municipality of Klina, reported to the duty officer at Klina police station, Pec PD, that at about 3 PM, he noticed a "Mercedes" car, registration KM 65-85, on the village road leading to the village of Bica. A male body was in the car. A police team with the investigating judge of the District Court in Pec went to the site. They established that the victim was Desimir Vasic (50) of the village of Korilje, Municipality of Zvecan, was an entrepreneur and councilor in the Zvecan Council. The Albanian terrorists fired 26 shots into him from machine gun.
January 22: After a KLA patrol had been stopping, harassing, and threatening citizens with death in the Srbica municipality the previous night, there was a confrontation between that patrol and a patrol of police officers. While chasing the KLA terrorists, who barricaded themselves in the house of Saban Jasari in the village of Donji Prekaz near Srbica, police officers killed the terrorist Hasan Mandzol and lightly wounded two Jasari brothers. A three-member KLA group kidnapped the taxi driver Metus Skodru, an ethnic Albanian, and then took his cab, an Audi 90. They told him he could buy his cab back if he showed up at a designated place at a designated time, under the threat that he would be liquidated if he called the police. Around 1 PM in the village of Lausa, municipality of Srbica, five unidentified hooded persons armed with machine guns (one of them was wearing a camouflage uniform) stopped an official car owned by DP "Kosovo sirovina". The manager of the company Dragutin Pavicevic and his driver Petko Sarevic were in the car. The unidentified perpetrators checked their ID's and searched the car and the passengers. They introduced themselves as members of the KLA. While the car was searched there were another 10 armed terrorists on the elevation on their left-hand side. Around 2:50 PM in the village of Lausa, municipality of Srbica, hooded persons armed with machine guns intercepted and "Opel-vectra" vehicle having Kosovska Mitrovica number plates and driven by Dragisa Rakic (48) of the village of Zupce, Municipality of Zubin Potok. After the vehicle was stopped, eight other persons wearing civilian clothes and hoods emerged from the undergrowth nearby. They also carried machine guns. After checking the ID and searching Dragisa Rakic and another ethnic Albanian whom the former picked up as a hitchhiker in the nearby village of Lausa, they swore at them and cursed them. Rakic was also issued a threat not to drive in the territory of the "Kosovo Republic". In the region of Watchtower D. Jankovic, one person illegally penetrated Yugoslav territory for 100 metres. When stopped, he fled towards the Albanian border throwing down a bag containing an automatic gun and 910 bullets.
January 23: In the night, on the road Srbica-Klina near the village of Josanica, Desimir Vasic, a deputy in the Municipal Assembly of Zvecan was shot and killed. On the same road, the same night, near the village Lausa Blagoje Nikolivc (47) from the village of Drsnik near Klina was severely beaten until he became unconscious. During the same night, KLA terrorists stopped, harassed, and threatened with death a group of Serbian women heading to Monastery Devic.
January 24: At around 7:50 PM, in the village of Malisevo, municipality of Orahovac, unidentified perpetrators carried out a terrorist attack with machine guns on the police patrol of Orahovac police within the Prizren PD. The patrolling officers were Bozidar Damjanovic, Zvonko Djordjevic and Goran Miladinovic who were in an official moving vehicle. The police officers returned fire with machine guns. Police officers Damjanovic and Djordjevic were wounded.
January 25: In the village of Turicevac, municipality Srbica, at around 7:30 PM, seven unidentified hooded persons wearing camouflage uniforms and armed with machine guns entered the shop where Haljim Sahiti of the village of Gornji Obilic, Municipality of Srbica, is a watchman. At gunpoint they took away Haljim's hunting rifle and handgun and they drove away in "Golf" and "Ascona" vehicles. Later at around 8:40 PM, in the village of Grabanica, municipality of Klina, a terrorist attack was mounted with a rocket launcher on the house owned by Jagos Djuricic of Klina police. A rocket was fired on the house from wooded area from a distance of about 200 metres. The roof was hit and the ensuing explosion caused a material damage of some 1500 DM. At the time of the blast, his wife with two small children was in the house. There were no casualties.
January 26: In the vicinity of the village of Turicevac, which is located between Klina and Srbica, KLA terrorists opened fire using automatic weapons on a helicopter belonging to Serbia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs. Around 8:55 PM in the Danilo Kis Street in Urosevac, unidentified perpetrators threw an explosive into the backyard of the family home of Sinisa Marjanovic, where (in a separate house in the same backyard) a security officer from Urosevac Rajko Doder lives with his wife. There were no casualties.
January 27: Two unidentified persons in fatigues, around 7 AM, in the vicinity of the village of Banjica, municipality of Glogovac, intercepted Isuf Kukic from Trstenik village, who was hunting. They seized his gun and left the scene for an unknown destination. Around 11:30 AM at the place of Turicevac, municipality of Srbica, unidentified persons stopped "Zastava 640" freight truck having Kraljevo number plates and driven by Veroslav Vukojicic and his neighbors Radmila and Zvezdana Vukajlovicof Raska. The unidentified persons of whom one wore camouflage uniform trousers and all armed with machine guns took away Vukojicic's ID documents, his bank card, 500 DMand a wrist watch while checking his identity. They beat him with machine guns and rubber truncheons inflicting slight injuries to his head. Around 12:50 PM within the territory of the Turicevac village, municipality Srbica, small arms fire was opened by several terrorists at the Republic of Serbia Interior Ministry's helicopter. Apart from the crew, officers of the Pristina PD Vlado Todorovic, Slavisa Manojlovic, Dragan Besevic and Bratislav Dikic were also on board. In order to repel the attack, the police officers returned fire with machine guns, automatic rifles and handguns. After landing, the crew noticed that the helicopter took a hit in the engine area.
January 28: At around 6:20 AM in the village of Istinic, municipality of Decani, authorized officers of Decani police and Pec security officers searched the family home of Arif Tahirsuljaj in order to arrest members of this family who belonged to an illegal hostile organization and to confiscate the weapons they held illegally. While the police were closing in on the house brothers Naser (20) and Arben Tahirsuljaj (18) opened fire from the second floor with an automatic rifle and handgun at two Pec security officers and three police officers. Police officer Ilija Buric was hit but the bullet lodged in his flak-jacket and he remained unscathed. Decani police officers and Pec security officers opened fire to repel the attack and no one was injured. The search of the house found an automatic rifle with ammunition, three handguns, an air rifle, hunting ammunition, 150 g of gunpowder, one army rucksack, a gas mask and a "pony" binoculars which were all confiscated. The attackers were taken into custody and handed over to Pec security officers. That evening, KLA terrorists fired at the house of Dragoljub Spasic in the village of Sibovac near Obilic.
February 2: In Kosovska Mitrovica Nebojsa Vlahovic (36) was heavily beaten in front of his flat.
February 5: In the village Studenica, near Istok, terrorist attacked Studenica Hvostanska monastery.
February 8: Ten masked gunmen armed with automatic rifles, at around 10 PM came to the backyard of a family house owned by Ramaj Redjep (48) in the village of Trdevac, municipality of Glogovac. They threatened Ramaj demanding his hunting rifle and gun that he had license for and his father Sinan obeyed. After surrendering the arms the unidentified persons said they were members of the KLA.
February 10: A group of KLA terrorists appeared at a fundraising event for the KLA in New York City. They received funding from over 150 Albanians attending the event. On that occasion, the KLA terrorists proclaimed that they had killed 50 Serbian police officers and "corrupt" Albanians in 1997. Between 7 PM and 8 PM a number of masked gunmen entered the houses owned by Muljaj Ramadan, Kukuci Imer, Kukuci Salih, Kukuci Bajram and Kukuci Rizah in the village of Trstenik, municipality Glogovac and threatening them with arms demanded that they surrendered arms. They complied and gave them a hunting rifles for which they all had proper licenses.
(hmm, 8 January 2009, 15:37)
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So let me see if I get this straight. . .
. . .two Albanian men stab a 16 year old Serbian boy inciting the latest round of ethnic tensions. . .and its the fault of the Serbs?
That's reasonable logic only for the ignorant.
(Nemanja, Connecticut, 8 January 2009, 15:41)
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Simple Mind is right, Kosovo is not "independent;" it is completely dependent on the Americans for its defence and on the EU for its funding.
Without an American threat to destroy Belgrade, Serbia would send in its traffic police to retake their province in a weekend. Without billions of Euros in subsidies from the EU, Kosovo's Albanians would quickly dig out their old Serbian identity cards and head north for a better life in Belgrade.
Kosovo is not independent and nor is it a State; it is merely a territory, chaotically organised and nominally run by bandits. Its sole reason for existence is to provide a reason for the Americans to maintain a military base in Camp Bondsteel.
(Michael Thomas, 8 January 2009, 16:02)
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"Topi also said that soon there would be a free-passage initiative between Albania and Kosova"
Love it!
(luli, 8 January 2009, 16:23)
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Lots of comments on the topic of all-Albanian unity.
From the first one by Kate to the last one (when I opened it) by Behar Vusthrri.
It clearly flies in the face of Mr. Ahtisaari who started so-called negotiations that ended up with his plan, with three "conditions".
1. It will have to satisfy majority of Kosovo's population
2. It won't return to previous status.
3. It cannot join Albania.
The third condition was neccessary to hide a fact that minority in one country have been given right to join its "mainland".
Kind of like Sudetenland (German-populated province of Czechoslovakia) joining Germany in 1938.
Chemberlain accepted it.
Would that fact be less deplorable if Sudetenland was given "supervised independence" without a right to join Germany?
In the meantime Serbs were called separatists throughout the 90's, although they did not try to violate border of any neighbouring country and unite with the Serbs living in say, Hungary. All that they resisted was imposition of illegal borders between themselves.
We are probably not far from calling Serbs in Northern Kosovo "separatists".
(Sreten, 8 January 2009, 16:26)
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OMG "feud" "his country", what is all that my compatriots?! He is a head of a neighbouring state just like any other, it is a different matter that the state he represents is inhabited by people of same ethnicity as us, but still, a different country! However, I would wish that we enjoy with all other countries in the region such good relations as we have with Albania!
And yes, "provisional institutions"?!!! It really seems that someones watch has stopped a year or more ago!!! These institutions in my country are permanent as far the Republic of Kosova is concerned!
(Komentator, 8 January 2009, 16:27)
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As far as I'm concerned, this is little more than two corrupt US-dependent leaders engaging in mutual back patting. All this does is play up the illusion that Albanian institutions in Kosovo actually mean something beyond the security net of KFOR and EULEX.
(Mike, 8 January 2009, 16:50)
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We all know the only real chance for the Albanians to unite and live within the same country is when Albania becomes a province of Serbia, just like Kosovo.
If that was done decades ago the whole region would have benefited and we wouldn't have had all those Albanians fleeing into Serbia for a better life.
After so many decades of self-imposed isolation the Albanians will have to make a decision. Return to isolation or learn to live in peace and harmony with others.
My greatest fear is that isolation seems to be part of their nature. Time to break the cycle my friends as isolation breeds ignorance and that is not good for the region!
(ZK, 8 January 2009, 16:58)
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When is the West going to wake up the Albanian threat? We bombed the wrong side, the kosovo war was always about a greater Albania. many will live to regret their actions in the EU
(Diana, 8 January 2009, 17:03)
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PRN,
I thought Kosovo was for the Kosovars?! Now you are referring to Kosovo as being Albanian.
You see: there is no such thing as a Kosovar. It is Serb or Albanian.
Kosovo is a Serbian province. Sorry for that, but hey, there are Hungarians living in Slovakia!
And PRN, what do you mean by one nation, one country?
(Ron, 8 January 2009, 17:52)
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Dear ZK
Isolation is part of the Albanian nature?
That makes for a pretty good laugh. If you bothered to read news/surveys other than those offered by Serbianna or similarly clownish publications, you'd know that at present Albanians are considered among the most "open" populations in the Balkans, culturally and politically.
Hoxha's isolation was imposed on Albanians much like Milosevic's on Serbs because of his need to keep a grip on power. It's that simple.
(Ment, 8 January 2009, 17:54)
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Gee, what a surprise, an Albanian blaming Serbs for conflicts. Maybe he should be honest and point his finger at the war criminals in Pristina's puppet government? They should be rounded up in a MUP raid, just like their terrorist KLA brothers.
(svjovagazdarica, 8 January 2009, 17:56)
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I wonder why this news item aroused so many comments. This is just a meeting between two so called politicians, two political caricatures. Pretending being politician, this Albanian president just use the words written by someone else which he learnt by heart. He has to say something after all and since there is no clue what to say he must put all the blame on Serbs.
This is anyway so typical when it comes to Albanians.
We all know that Albanians shelter their own criminals and never point the finger at themselves. There is always someone else to blame for all the misery they experience.
This event should be considered just as usual visit by no one important to our Southern province. Our Albanian minority should keep ties with the country of their origin from where they once emigrated searching for better life.
I am not concerned as long as only “politicians” from Albania visit our province since these kinds of meetings have no diplomatic weight even though K-Albanians make such effort to make it look like.
As for the comments coming from the Albanians who complain about b92 journalism and the use of the term “temporary institutions” I can only recommend them to rely more on b92 as quite reliable source than on their so called politicians ( ex war criminals btw.) who had no guts yet to reveal the truth of the reality on the ground.
The entire Kosovo province is nothing more but temporary institution occupied at the moment by foreign troops and foreign administration.
The sooner Albanians understand that the better.
(Biljana, 8 January 2009, 18:07)
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miri,
What a demasque! So finally you give in that it is not about Kosovo, but it is about Albania.
Do you want Kosovo to join Albania?
(Ron, 8 January 2009, 18:48)
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(Biljana, 8 January 2009 18:07)
Right to the point, can't be clearer!
Albanians/K-Albanians,same....an ever crying blaming boring story !
(The Swiss, 8 January 2009, 18:56)
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Do you want Kosovo to join Albania?
(Ron, 8 January 2009 18:48)
I would love to, but then again you also love to see Kosova join Serbia right? Thus the compromise, Kosova joins neither of them. It's that simple, no puzzle to solve.
By the way your preaching comments of "brotherhood" and "love" within Serbia are very torturous to read and completely out of context.
(miri, 8 January 2009, 20:24)
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Albanians/K-Albanians,same....an ever crying blaming boring story !
(The Swiss, 8 January 2009 18:56)
The robbed is the noisy and boring.
The theft stays silent- always.
(ben, 8 January 2009, 20:29)
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Topi, welcome to Kosovo..
In few years from now
One Contry One Nation..
We are stronger then ever,and we are prepared to fight for whats ours..
So your threats and posters like "we will come back" makes us only much stronger...and we are ready for what ever it takes....
United States Of Albania
(Pan, 8 January 2009, 20:33)
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Welcome home our President of all Albanian people..
Albania Kosova Montenegro and Macedonia will form a Schengen zone without Serbia.
(Amantia, 8 January 2009, 20:49)
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The land grabbers are extremely short sighted. For them getting something for nothing (stealing) is all that matters at the moment. But what they are trying to steal from the Serbs is no ordinary land, it's more like the the very heart and soul of a People. If history teaches us anything, and if it could speak English, I am sure it would say: Don't do it!
(My strategery, 8 January 2009, 22:33)
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miri,
I am not from Serbia. For me it is no problem is Kosovo is no longer part of Serbia. AS LONG AS IT HAPPENS IN A LEGAL WAY!
So negotiate!
(Ron, 8 January 2009, 22:59)
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"Topi, welcome to Kosovo..
In few years from now
One Country One Nation..
We are stronger then ever,and we are prepared to fight for whats ours..
So your threats and posters like "we will come back" makes us only much stronger...and we are ready for what ever it takes....
United States Of Albania
(Pan, 8 January 2009 20:33)"
Words and threats like these means that all Balkan countries that have a Albanian minority or minority must be prepared that they will also experience illegal and armed land grabs in the near future. It looks like it has gone to the heads of some ultra-nationalistic Albanians and they truly believe that they can keep away with this behavior. So all you Serbs, Greeks, Montenegrins, Macedonians and out there be prepared for more terrorist activities on your soils.
(Milan, 8 January 2009, 23:47)
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“Albania will be among those who will show that this conduct and these negative acts come from ultra-nationalist Serb circles,” Topi said.
Firstly, the term 'ultra-nationalist' here is a misnomer. One is either nationalist or not.
Secondly, I regard a Serb, who is nationalistic, as one who loves his/her country.
I feel that if Mr. Topi's country's citizens were to learn about true nationalism, Albania might then begin to emerge from the dark ages and not be in the socio-economic mess it finds itself.
(Micheal Breathnach, 9 January 2009, 01:44)
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I see this visit as the realization of Greater Albania. Instead of blaming Serbian nationalists, the Albanian president should ask himself what is he doing on the occupied Serbian land. I really don't understand why we don't brake relations with Albania, the country that is constantly threatening Serbia's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
(ng, 9 January 2009, 02:17)
Prague: Don't hold Serbia hostage to Mladić
8 January
2009
Karel Schwarzenberg
Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg says that Serbia’s further EU integration should not be impeded by the failure to arrest Ratko Mladić.
“The entire country should not be held hostage to a criminal,“ Schwarzenberg told reporters in Brussels on behalf of the Czech EU presidency.
He was speaking about the Dutch refusal to sanction implementation of the interim trade agreement with Serbia until Mladić is arrested.
The EU signed the Stabilization and Association Agreement with Serbia in mid-2008, but it is not being implemented because of Holland’s insistence that Belgrade must first deliver Mladić to the Hague Tribunal.
According to Schwarzenberg, Holland's stance is halting Serbia's political development, which he described as unjust.
The Czech foreign minister told the press that the EU should accept that Serbia doing all it could to achieve full cooperation with the Tribunal in The Hague.
Mr. Schwarzenberg, there's a difference between being hostage to a war criminal, and being accomplice of a war criminal. Serbia is not being held back because Mladic is so good at hiding and no one knows where he is. Serbia is being held back because its government and its secret services know exactly in which Belgrade apartment Mladic is hiding, but they believe that they will obtain what they want without having to deliver. Holland is just showing them how mistaken they are.
(Andrea Baucero, 8 January 2009, 16:26)
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When Albania will submit its application for EU membership Mladic will be very angry and he will turn himself in. When Mladic hears that Albania has submitted its EU membership application he will realize that Serbia needs to progress on the road to EU membership.
(Mircea, 8 January 2009, 16:32)
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Serbia is being held back because its government and its secret services know exactly in which Belgrade apartment Mladic is hiding
(Andrea Baucero, 8 January 2009 16:26)
not even the dutch government is saying this. at worst some people in the secret services are helping mladic. opinion polls show that most people in serbia want mladic arrested. punishing the entire nation for the deeds of the few is certainly wrong.
(malcolm x, 8 January 2009, 18:06)
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is hiding, but they believe that they will obtain what they want without having to deliver. Holland is just showing them how mistaken they are.
(Andrea Baucero, 8 January 2009 16:26
Not a single EU govnt is pretending this but as a Swiss citizen I would love to see your Snake brought to justice for all the drug trafficking that he initiated in our country!! So pls, before you want to clean somebody's else house, first wipe in from of your own door!
(The Swiss, 8 January 2009, 18:38)
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"Serbia is being held back because its government and its secret services know exactly in which Belgrade apartment Mladic is hiding, but they believe that they will obtain what they want without having to deliver."
Andrea, do you have personal knowledge of this? Where is he then? It is uninformed comments like this that are adding to the delays and distrust. Maybe Belgrade knows where he is and maybe they don't. That's just the point. We do not know, and I think the Netherlands is being very unfair flexing their muscles like this and blocking EU entry. If the Netherlands knows for a fact where he is and that he is being hidden by the Serbian government they should just say so and tell everyone where he is. This is just pure speculation.
(Patrik, 8 January 2009, 20:04)
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@ The Swiss:
And whether the WHOLE Serbian security apparat is engaged in hiding Mladic, or just elements thereof, Serbia has repeatedly proclained lack of knowledge of his whereabouts, only to later say that it did know, but doesn't know anymore. You can see why that engenders skepticism. Ljajic says they knew as late as 2005/6. So the Dutch and Belgian policies are dead right. The real scandal is that they are alone among EU members in standing up for this principle.
(Kurt, 8 January 2009, 20:23)
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scandal is that they are alone among EU members in standing up for this principle.
(Kurt, 8 January 2009 20:23)
Kurt, you are deadly right, unfortunately, there wasn't any political will at that time to proceed and I wouldn't even try to guess why!
But let's just get a bit further down the road, one day, one of my Dutch diplomat friend told me his frustration when, still, a few years after his indictment Mladic was freely moving in front of the Kfor HQ...
This is what I called a double standard! Certainly no one today denys the fact that this criminal has to end up to court, but as to punishing a nation so long is simply incorrect!
Their simply cannot always be so many double standards!!
And if you ask today a dutch citizen about the position of their foreign ministry, you would be surprised about the answer....politics!
(The Swiss, 8 January 2009, 21:46)
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Kurt, the news is not fully quting Mr. Schwarzenberg's statement. He also mentioned that if the condition of successfull punishment of war criminals would be applied strictly end EU widely,many of curent EUcountries would propably not be amembers till today. However one surely supports the principle that any war crime or another crime against humanity must be punished, from today's point of view, looking at liberated non-Serbian war-criminals and comparing the changes in Serbia, taking all Serbs as hostages of one man is nonsense.
(Petr/Praha, 8 January 2009, 22:59)
Serbia to receive Hungarian gas
8 January
2009
Boris Tadić (FoNet, archive)
Hungary will deliver between one and two million cubic meters of gas to Serbia between 17:00 and 19:00 CET today, reports the Hungarian MTI agency.
The agency says it has received the information from Hungarian PM Ferenc Gyurcsany's cabinet.
It was announced earlier today that President Boris Tadić had reached an agreement with Gyurcsany to receive a certain amount of gas from that country's reserves.
During the winter period, Serbia requires around 10 million cubic meters a day.
After gas deliveries to Serbia were suspended, citizens in a number of the country’s biggest cities and towns were left without central heating due to the inability of certain thermo power plants to use heating oil.
Tadić said that he had reached an agreement with Hungarian Prime Minister Gyurcsany for the country to send between one two million cubic meters of gas per day to Serbia in the coming days.
He said that this volume of gas did not meet all of Serbia’s gas needs however, since Serbia needed an additional three million cubic meters a day in order to meet its most immediate needs.
The president said that Serbia was launching a new diplomatic offensive in order to secure more gas.
“We need to try and find two to three million cubic meters of gas and we have launched a new foreign policy offensive in search of new sources of gas,” Tadić told journalists after donating blood.
He said that Serbia would “try to secure the gas through pipelines in Belarus, but there are a lot of consumers and hungry mouths along the road to Serbia and there are no guarantees that we will succeed.”
The president said that the crisis would not be overcome until Russia and Ukraine settled their differences, and called on Serbian citizens to save energy and behave responsibly.
“I expect the situation between Russia and Ukraine to be resolved within a week,” Tadić stressed.
The most at-risk towns in Serbia, whose plants are unable to transfer to crude, are Kikinda, Bečej, Beočin, Novi Sad, Pančevo, Velika Plana, Kovin, Jagodina and part of Čačak, said Serbian Thermo Plant Association Director Milovan Lečić.
He said that plants in those eight towns had shut down completely and could only run on gas.
Lečić added that consumers in those towns could use electrical heating or other forms of fuel.
Meanwhile, all thermo plants in Pančevo stopped operating early on Thursday leaving around 40,000 citizens in 11,500 homes without central heating.
According to Zoran Božanić, the technical director of the Grejanje public utility company, the problem is that Pančevo, which is home to an oil refinery, does not have a single thermo plant that can operate on any other form of fuel.
In Novi Sad, three thermo power plants had to be completely shut down overnight, leaving some 80,000 customers without central heating.
These were the only three plants in the city unable to use crude oil as an alternative energy form for the production of heat energy.
Nor are the plants able to produce hot water, while homes were left without any gas supply.
What kind of a country is it that has no reserves of its own?
(Gino, 8 January 2009, 14:42)
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According to official information in Budapest, that is not true: Hungary does not have enough natural gas to cover her needs.
(Zsolt Hortobagyi, 8 January 2009, 15:20)
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Hmm ... let me see.
In order for EU to interviene so the gas gets to some countires maybe some of those countires have to recognise Independence of Kosova, you never know. After all, what does an ordinary Romanian or Serbian care if Kosova is recognised as Independent state if they get heating during the winter when tempreatures go bellow zero.
(Olf, 8 January 2009, 17:18)
Europe is failing two life-and-death tests Timothy Garton Ash "Europe faces two acute crises that threaten both our interests and our values. The Gaza war is a negation of every principle for which Europe claims to stand. It directly affects our vital interests.
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There I was, just about to close down my factory and send the workers home for the holidays, when it suddenly dawned on me. I could get Bailed Out!My factory has for years produced the best possible Bicycles for
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"Europe faces two acute crises that threaten both our interests and our values. The Gaza war is a negation of every principle for which Europe claims to stand. It directly affects our vital interests.
... 
There I was, just about to close down my factory and send the workers home for the holidays, when it suddenly dawned on me. I could get Bailed Out!My factory has for years produced the best possible Bicycles for
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