Byzantine Blog

Grenade Lobbed in the Serbian School in Kosovo and Metohija Province

KOSOVSKA KAMENICA, Serbia, November 21 (Tanjug) -- An explosion shook an elementary school in the southern Serbian province of Kosovo early Tuesday, minutes after the classroom was cleared of children, an official said. No one was reported injured in the blast, which police believe was caused by a hand grenade being put in a stove.

Head of the school administration for the Kosovsko Pomoravlje region Zivorad Tomic, confirmed to Tanjug that an explosive device, most probably a bomb, exploded in the stove of the classroom sometime before 8 a.m, causing huge material damage.

“Fortunately, since one of teachers was absent, the fifth grade classroom in which the blast occurred was empty, so the tragedy was avoided,” Tomic said, adding that at the moment of the blast less then some 200 pupils were in the school building.

According to the Beta news agency, the explosion completely demolished the classroom and was so strong that the door was blown out of its frame.

As many as 450 pupils of Serbian nationality attend this elementary school and there is also a day care center near the school. This incident came as a shock to the pupils and their parents, so that classes which are organized in two shifts have been interrupted.

Albanian Muslim police spokesman Veton Elshani said they believe the hand grenade exploded as the stove was heated in the morning hours. Police did not provide an explanation of how the grenade was placed inside the stove.

School Bus with Serbian and Roma Children Stoned in Obilic, Kosovo Province

Yesterday, Tanjug reported that a group of ethnic Albanians stoned a school bus with Serbian and Roma children in central Obilic. The bus was on its way to Plemetina, Obilic coordinator Mirce Jakovljevic has told Tanjug.

Since the Kosovo Kristallnacht, Albanian organized and coordinated pogrom directed against Serbian residents and their property between March 17-20, 2004, there are no more Serbs living in the city of Obilic.

Although a police station is located next to the Obilic City Hall, no one emerged during the incident and the bus driver continued driving, reporting the incident to the first police patrol only after he was well out of the city center, on the outskirts of the town.

Obilic municipal coordinator Mirce Jakovljevic said that the attack on the bus carrying schoolchildren is another proof that the alleged security the Kosovo interim government and members of the international community wish to show is a falsehood:

‘After today’s developments, the schoolchildren decided not to attend classes anymore until the police provides an escort. This incident is proof more that the basic standards have not been realized in Kosovo and Metohija, despite attempts by the ethnic Albanians to convince the international community to the contrary,’ Jakovljevic said.

Humanitarian Disaster Threatening Serbs in Kosovo Province

BRUSSELS, Belgium, November 21 (Tanjug) -- Deputy President of the Coordination Centre for Kosovo-Metohija and head of the Economic Team for Kosovo and southern Serbia Nenad Popovic told EU officials in Brussels on Tuesday that humanitarian disaster threatened Kosovo Serb enclaves if power cuts continued during the winter and unless Serbian government’s assistance of 50 million kW of electricity per month were not accepted.

The situation in Kosovo is dramatic because humanitarian disaster is threatening in view of the fact that Serbs in enclaves do not have electricity several hours per day, which is not normal for the 21st century and is a human rights violation, Popovic said after a meeting with EU special envoy to negotiations on Kosovo Stefan Lehne.

“We insisted the most on the Serbian government’s humanitarian assistance, based on the letter which Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica has sent to Javier Solana, on the assistance of 50 million kW per month for mostly Serb-populated settlements,” Popovic said. He voiced hope that UNMIK (United Nations Mission in Kosovo) and authorities in Pristina would take this offer.

“Unless this is done soon, humanitarian disaster may occur,”' Popovic said and added that “discrimination against Albanians is out of the question, because they will use this assistance too.”

Popovic informed his interlocutors in Brussels about nine Serbian government initiatives for Kosovo-Metohija province - primarily in the electric power aid, trade, transport and telecommunications sectors. “All interlocutors generally received all ideas positively,” Popovic said, explaining he had insisted that all initiatives be in keeping with UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and to be coordinated with UNMIK.

He said that the Economic Team would arrive in Brussels again in late December and present a long-term strategy for the economic development of Serbian southern province.

Popovic warned his EU interlocutors that independent Kosovo would be not economically viable.

“This would be an economic disaster and would result in major instability throughout the region in the long run,” he said.

“From the economic point of view, essential autonomy for Kosovo would be the optimum solution and would offer a possibility for the attraction of foreign direct investments,” Popovic said.

He also met in Brussels on Tuesday with head of the European Commission’s West Balkans Directorate Theresa Sobieski and head of the delegation for South-East Europe at the European Parliament Doris Pack.

Popovic will on Wednesday meet with European Commissioner for Energy Andris Piebalgs.