Byzantine Blog

God Turns Everything to Good

On September 15, when the new generation of officers of the Serbian Armed forces was promoted in front of the National Parliament in Belgrade, apart from a number of the highest political figures attending the ceremony, one could also have a pleasure to hear fresh graduates sing Serbia’s national anthem (YouTube clip): God of Justice.

After being forced to sing a Polish song to Slavs for five decades of Croat/Slovenian communist dictatorship and sham-brotherhood that turned to be everything but, after surviving two decades of both physical and psychological battering and malignant Sorosiada-abuse, aimed at smearing and perverting Serbian history and instilling shame of their roots, faith and traditions into the young generations of Serbs, by enduring, Serbia has prevailed and earned its right to reclaim its faith, honor and glorious past.

God, indeed, turns everything to good.

God of Justice

God of Justice; Thou who saved us
when in deepest bondage cast,
Hear Thy Serbian children’s voices,
Be our help as in the past.

With Thy mighty hand sustain us,
Still our rugged pathway trace;
God, our hope; protect and cherish
Serbian lands and Serbian race!

Bind in closest links our kindred
Teach the love that will not fail,
May the loathed fiend of discord
Never in our ranks prevail.

Let the golden fruits of union
Our young tree of freedom grace;
God, our Master! guide and prosper
Serbian lands and Serbian race!

Lord! Avert from us Thy vengeance,
Thunder of Thy dreaded ire;
Bless each Serbian town and hamlet,
Mountain, meadow, heart and spire.

When our host goes forth to battle
Death or victory to embrace —
God of armies! be our leader
Strengthen then the Serbian race!

On our sepulcher of ages
Breaks the resurrection morn,
From the slough of direst slavery
Serbia anew is born.

Protect the Serbian fatherland,
the fruit of five centuries of battle,
God save, God protect,
so prays to you, the Serbian people!

For more images from the graduation ceremony, visit photo gallery of the Serbian Army web site.

Posted by Svetlana at 05:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Putin: Disregarding the Principle of Territorial Integrity Would be Highly Irresponsible

After the meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero, President Vladimir Putin spoke about Russia’s position on the future of southern Serbian province of Kosovo at a media briefing in Sochi.

“Regarding Kosovo, the position of the Russian Federation has not changed recently. We stand for the earliest possible start of a direct dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina. We don’t consider it sensible to limit future negotiations and put them in a Procrustean bed of a time schedule. We think it should be a free dialogue, the aim of which should be a search for an acceptable compromise for both sides. We will maintain contact with all the participants of the process, in the first place at the UN. We will also be in constant contact with both the European Union and the United States,” Putin said.

Head of the Russian state invited the international community to “refrain from undermining the principle of territorial integrity of the states,” noting that such approach would be “highly irresponsible.”

“The principle of territorial integrity defended by Russia in the Kosovo situation concerns many states, and we think that it would be highly irresponsible to disregard this principle,” he said.

Premier of Spain expressed expectation that the sides involved in search for the solution of Kosovo province issue will not resort to unilateralism, stressing that solving the issue of Serbian province “requires consensus of the parties involved and the United Nations approval.”

The overall conclusion of heads of two states was that Madrid and Moscow “share not only many common projects and goals, but political viewpoints as well.”

European Foreign Ministers Encouraged by Washington’s Consent to Restrain from Unilateral Moves After December 10

Ahead of the first face-to-face talks between Serbia’s State Negotiating Team and the representatives of Albanian separatists from Serbian province of Kosovo-Metohija, Contact Group foreign policy chiefs met in New York, according to the Serbian press reports.

The U.S., British, French, Russian, German and Italian foreign ministers — Condoleezza Rice, David Miliband, Bernard Kouchner, Sergei Lavrov, Walter Steinmeier and Massimo D’Alema, respectively, met for just over an hour.

During the meeting, Lavrov has openly demanded from his Western colleagues that they stop prejudging the outcome of the negotiations and claiming that Kosovo province’s independence was inevitable, the media reported on Friday, referring to diplomatic sources.

The European representatives have been, allegedly, encouraged by Washington’s consent to restrain from any unilateral movements after December 10.

Contact Group’s Official Statement Reaffirms Resolution 1244

An official statement from the meeting yesterday expressed the Contact Group adherence to “a harmonized solution to the Kosovo status, which would be approved by the UN Security Council,” Tanjug reported.

The ministers said they were “determined that such a solution be reached, which would be sought through negotiations and which would be adopted by the UN Security Council,” a joint statement issued after the meeting specified.

The foreign ministers concluded at their late Thursday meeting that the principles of the Contact Group from November 2005 should continue to represent the framework for the process of the Kosovo status settlement, which, as specified, was based on UN Security Council Resolution 1244.

The Troika diplomats — Russia’s Aleksandr Botsan-Kharchenko, the EU’s Wolfgang Ischinger and Frank Wisner of the United States presented a progress report on the negotiations so far. The meeting was also attended by EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn and NATO Secretary General Jaap De Hoop Scheffer.

Russian Foreign Minister: Unilateral Moves Would Lead to Instability

In his address at the 62nd UN General Assembly, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs reaffirmed Moscow’s firm support for the international law and the principle of territorial integrity.

“The settlement of the Kosovo problem is only possible within the framework of international law based on negotiations. Unilateral steps will not lead to a lasting peace and will create a risk of destabilization in the Balkans and other regions,” Sergei Lavrov said.

Posted by Svetlana at 05:59 PM | Permalink

Premier Kostunica: Sustainable Solution Can be Only a Democratic One

Just before the latest unsightly exhibit of Serbian intransigence that was, thankfully, dealt with according to the NATO/KLA democratic standards, Prime Minister Kostunica invited all three parties in the negotiations — Serbia, the international community and Pristina — to commit to supporting only the solution that is agreed upon during the negotiating process.

“It is equally important that each party undertakes the responsibility for rejecting the unilateral moves, since that would clearly demonstrate the policy of force and imposition of the legal violence,” said Kostunica, adding that “as long as there is the slightest possibility that one side, in this case the Albanian, chooses to act unilaterally, the likelihood of reaching an agreement is practically non-existent,” he said.

“Today’s talks represent the unique opportunity for us to agree that the solution for the future organization of the province can be only democratic. The democratic solution automatically excludes threats and every form of legal violence, including the violation of the Resolution 1244 and the UN Charter,” Serbian Premier said.

He stressed that the democratic solution also excludes the possibility of using the military presence of the international troops in Kosovo-Metohija for the unilateral proclamation of independence of Serbian province, since the international troops came to province with the task to protect and secure the implementation of Resolution 1244, as well as the basic norms of the international law.

Kostunica reminded that Serbia is an internationally recognized sovereign democratic state, the full member and one of United Nations founding states, where the representatives of Albanian national minority are trying to sever part of Serbia’s territory, its Kosovo-Metohija province and thus create another Albanian state in the Balkans.

“The essential question for all of us here should be how to guarantee and organize the institutional rights of the Albanian national minority within the sovereign and internationally recognized state of Serbia,” Kostunica said, pointing that they would have to examine the way the national minorities’ status has been resolved in other democratic states.

Show Us the National Minority Anywhere on Earth with Greater Rights than Those Serbia is Offering to Albanian National Minority in Serbian State

“Serbia is willing to discuss everything a state should accept in order to achieve the democratic solution for the status of the Albanian national minority in its province,” Kostunica said.

He reminded that Serbia has presented its essential-autonomy proposal to the UN Security Council, as well as to the Contact Group, the representatives of Albanian secessionists from Kosovo province and to mediating Troika.

Premier called upon each of the institutions and parties involved who have been thoroughly informed about Serbia’s proposal to offer their constructive criticism and point out everything that is undemocratic, insufficient or bad in Serbian proposal. “We are open to all suggestions on what should be changed, what needs to be added or discarded, so that we can reach a truly democratic solution. However, it is a fact that we have never received a single concrete objection or any suggestions to our proposal,” Kostunica said.

He said that the the most constructive approach would be if Belgrade would hear the factual objections which could point that some—any—national minority in Europe or anywhere in the world has greater rights than those offered in Serbian proposal of essential autonomy for Kosovo province.

Prime Minister Kostunica invited the Albanian side and the mediators to point to the example in which minority rights are better served and confirmed that Belgrade is prepared to amend its proposal immediately, as long as the line cutting into the Serbia’s state sovereignty and territorial integrity is not crossed. “Because no national minority, ever or anywhere, has the right to create a state within state, and the Albanian national minority cannot be granted such right on the territory of Serbia either.”

Terror Cannot be Allowed to Override the International Law

“I want to state clearly and in no uncertain terms that Serbia cannot imagine that the international community could refuse the democratic solution and instead choose the way of unilateralism and legal violence. We need to ask about the consequences the rejection of the international law and rape of Serbia would have for the world as a whole, for the order we are all part of and, finally, for the authority of the highest world institution and the future of the world.”

Commenting statements about the need to take into consideration Albanian terrorists’ threats to cause the mass-scale violence in case Serbian province is not severed, Kostunica said it would indeed be a humiliating capitulation of all UN member-states, if that would be the reason to give up the democratic solution and choose to throw the UN Charter under feet. It would clearly demonstrate that terror overrides the international law and the international legal order.

“If we have to give up law and justice and dismember the sovereign state of Serbia in order to apply the Annex 11 of Ahtisaari plan, so that the geostrategic and military interests of certain powers are served, that would be the end of democracy and legitimizing the superiority of politics of might over right,” Serbian premier said.

Motivate Albanians to Negotiate by Firmly Rejecting the Unilateral Options

According to Kostunica, as long as there is no will on behalf of Albanians to even consider the mutually acceptable, democratic solution, it is certain that such solution remains impossible to reach.

“The unambiguous warning by the international community that they will not recognize the unilaterally declared independence would indisputably motivate Kosovo Albanians to help us examine each issue during these talks, in order to determine if our proposal of substantial autonomy denies them any rights and, if it does, how can we rectify that in the best possible way.”

Serbia Wants Kosovo Albanians to be Fully Free and Prosperous — More So Than Any Other State, Especially Those Advocating Lawlessness

Kostunica said that southern Serbian province has never been ordered upon the clear and solid democratic principles. Now is the right moment to do that, he said. “It is more than obvious that Serbia’s goal is not to deny the rights to the Albanian national minority in Kosovo-Metohija, but that Serbia’s long-term, natural goal is exactly to establish the institutional guarantees for realization of the Albanian minority rights in the form of the highest degree of autonomy. The prosperity of the Albanian national minority and the prosperity of the southern province are logically in the essential interest of Serbia.”

Serbia wants the Albanian minority to be fully free in Kosovo-Metohija and, through the essential autonomy, to govern their own future, said Premier Kostunica. “No one has the right to agitate Kosovo Albanians, telling them what Serbia is offering is insufficient, nor to promise them independence on our land,” Kostunica said, noting that such promises represent the assault on the territorial integrity of Serbia, the attempt of its forceful dismemberment and ruthless trampling over the international law.

“We are indeed confronted with the demonstration of the politics of force, which deems it can turn national minorities into nations, provinces into states and to redraw the borders between the internationally recognized states according to its interests,” Kostunica said, adding that those who are promoting such international lawlessness would be the last to respect the real interests of the Albanian minority in Kosovo-Metohija.

Instead of taking that road, Kostunica invited Kosovo Albanians to join Belgrade in searching for the democratic solution and establishing the full and functional autonomy, where they will be entirely free to realize all of their rights and govern their lives. “I am inviting Kosovo Albanians to recognize that no other state can be more interested in working on the realization of fundamental interests of all of its citizens and all the communities that live on the territory of Serbia, than Serbia itself.”

Do Not Delude Yourselves: Serbia Will Never Accept an Independent State of Kosovo on its Territory

He said that the democratic solution can be reached only through the joint efforts, with equal respect for the interests of Serbia, the interests of Albanian national minority and the international law, first and foremost Resolution 1244 and the UN Charter. “Everyone has to be aware that it is a dangerous delusion to think it possible to impose a solution upon Serbia and that Serbia will ever accept an independent state of Kosovo in its own territory,” stressed Serbian Premier.

He excluded the possibility of Serbia ever changing its Constitutional amendment about Kosovo province and pointed out that everyone who approaches solving of the future organization of the province responsibly keeps in mind the fact that any kind of unilateral or imposed solution is neither possible nor sustainable.

In principle, how would it be possible to solve the province’s status without the consent of Serbia as the internationally recognized state, or generally, how would it be possible to redraw the borders of any sovereign state without its consent, while proclaiming the new states on its territory, Kostunica asked.

“It is crucial for the international community to unambiguously demonstrate it respects the inalienable right of Serbia to make decisions about its own territory. After that, the Albanian side will have to follow suit and respect the necessity of Serbian consent in search for the solution,” said Kostunica.

Both Serbia’s Wants and Don’t-Wants are Perfectly Aligned With the International Law

He rejected the criticism that Serbia, allegedly, “knows what it doesn’t want, but hasn’t actually said what it does want.” “Serbia guarantees to the Albanian national minority on its state territory, in Kosovo-Metohija province, the highest status held by any national minority in the world today. The only limit to the essential autonomy is where the dismemberment of Serbia would begin by the creation of a new state in Serbia’s territory,” Premier said.

Therefore, Serbia is perfectly clear about what it wants and does not want, he said, but the main point is that “both what Serbia wants and does not want is in absolute accord with the international law, the UN Charter, the historical practice and the generally accepted moral values, as well as all the known and acquired global standards.”

Current Talks are Laying Foundation for the Future Separatist Conflicts and Resolutions

Premier Kostunica urged the representatives of the international community to finally set the negotiating process into the firm context of the international law. There are numerous national minorities throughout the world that already have, or could develop similar separatist tendencies like the Albanian national minority. They are following these talks with the utmost attention, because the way status of the Albanian national minority is resolved in Kosovo province will lay foundation for the resolving of the future conflicts various secession-bent minorities could start stirring as soon as tomorrow. “Therefore, Kosovo province cannot be, nor will it remain unique,” Kostunica said.

There Are Humiliations No State Would Ever Tolerate — Serbia is No Different

At the same time, he also conveyed that Serbia, through the support for a democratic solution, will defend the honor of the nation and the dignity of its history, faith and culture, which are intrinsically and permanently tied to Kosovo and Metohija. “What could possibly justify the decision to have the symbols of Serbian state and nation, Patriarchate of Pec and Gracanica, which Serbian people have built eight centuries ago, from 2007 cease to be in Serbia?” he asked.

He said that anyone who knows anything about Serbia, Serbian nation and Serbian history has to be fully aware that no one and nothing will ever be able to change the decision confirmed by the will of the nation and, as such, built into the new Serbian Constitution, that Kosovo and Metohija province will remain the integral and inalienable part of Serbian state.

“There is no state in the world that would ever tolerate such humiliation, so it would be utterly absurd to expect my country to behave otherwise,” said Kostunica.

Posted by Svetlana at 07:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Fascists Banned in Serbia, Hailed in Croatia and Bosnia

When a non-registered group consisting of some twenty self-proclaimed neo-Nazis announced they intend to organize a march on October 7 in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad, all of Serbia stood up in revolt: apart from the town’s Jewish community, various NGO’s, Serbian Anti-Fascist League and Jasenovac Survivors, leaders of every single political party in Serbia (including the maligned Radicals) unanimously condemned the event, demanding that it gets banned.

Novi Sad mayor Maja Gojkovic, a prominent member of the Serbian Radical Party, said that Novi Sad, a town which was the scene of a 1942 massacre of about 800 Jews and 400 Serbs by the German and Hungarian Nazi occupiers during World War II, “bears heavy wounds the Nazis inflicted and considers such an announcement as the most offensive provocation.” The “march” was banned without the further ado, and rightly so.

And, while nobody seems interested in taking a closer look into the ethnic composition of the neo-Nazi group that was prevented from marching through Serbian town, it would be instructive to learn how many of the hooligans happen to be ethnic Croats. It is a well know fact that northern Serbian province of Vojvodina has a large Croat community, beside a large Hungarian and Romanian population. Besides, it seems highly unlikely for ethnic Serbs to call themselves by the resoundingly Croat Ustasha terminology — “Nacionalni stroj”.

Serbia is decidedly the most multi-ethnic country in the Balkans, so the fact something is happening within Serbia’s borders doesn’t necessarily mean that the Serbs are behind it.

Canonization of the Ustasha Spiritual Father to Proceed With No Obstacles

However, around the same time when the world was intensely focusing upon the “rise of nationalism” in Serbia, head of the Croat state, Prime Minister Ivo Sanader invited Pope Benedict XVI to visit Croatia for the “canonization ceremony of Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac,” the spiritual father of the dreaded Ustasha movement during the WWII, which took over 1,5 million mostly Serbian, but also Jewish and Roma lives in the most ghastly fashion. But that failed to register a bleep in any of the Jewish or Western papers and went entirely unreported.

For some reason, the offensive actions of the head of state which is all but openly fascist since the 1990s are considered less threatening than announcement by the group of twenty anonymous hooligans in Serbia, where they keep being arrested, banned and condemned by the Serbs.

Ustasha Extravaganza in Bosnia Goes On as Planned

Today, Serbian press reports that thousands of Croats from Bosnia and Herzegovina were on their way to Mostar to see Croat neo-Nazi, proud Ustasha Marko Perkovic, aka Thompson, in concert that was not banned by either the Bosnian or Croat police, despite the Serbian and Jewish protests.

The singer who reportedly couldn’t sing if his life depended on it, but is rather “braying” and screaming, whose “poetry” harbors extremely sinister fascist overtones, has divided the ethnically mixed Croat/Muslim city of Mostar in the Croat/Muslim federation in Bosnia, and opened up unhealed wounds of war.

In the city, already deeply split along ethnic lines, Thompson’s arrival marked some kind of return to the war, with the last night’s concert serving as a parade of fascism, such as cannot be seen anywhere else in Europe. Fascist insignia, songs glorifying torture and war crimes, hundreds of youths in Ustasha uniforms are all part and parcel of any Thompson concert wherever he goes.

Remaining Mostar Serbs and Jews launched a protest against last night’s event — a “musical extravaganza” in the words of the organizers — which they see as nothing but an excuse for fascist revelry.

A respected member of the town’s Jewish community, Zoran Mandelbaum, feels that to hold such a gathering is, “to say the least, politically inappropriate.” Moreover, no-one in Mostar can deny the fact that such an event glorifies fascist ideology.

A representative of the city’s Muslim community, Mufti Seid Smajkic said that the problem with this concert is “not just the promotion of fascist ideas,” but also the already long-established habit of audiences at Thompson concerts, exhilarated by battle-cries from the concert, “to go on a spree of chaos and destruction.”

Jews and Muslims Invited to Ustasha Parade — It Was Only Calling for a Slaughter of Serbs Anyway

According to the Belgrade reporter, “as views on Thompson’s life’s work have been known for a long time, it is truly frightening to hear the opinions of certain Mostar Croat associations who, as they say, do not understand ‘what Bosniaks and Jews have against Thompson singing songs about killing Serbs’.”

Serbian reporter surmised that “listening to Perkovic, one would say that he revels in the controversy. He even goes so far as to say that he believes ‘the Bosniaks have been hypocritical towards him’, as his well-known song ‘Chavoglave’ — which includes the line ‘Listen you gang of Chetniks, Our hand will reach you in Serbia itself’ — at the very beginning of the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, was effectively adapted and remodeled for the Bosnian Muslims, and was so popular that everyone knew it and sang it, from schoolchildren to old-age pensioners.”

Perkovic remembers Bosnian Muslims loving his braying when the verses were adapted to signify a Muslim call for a slaughter of Serbs, so he wonders why are they pestering him with this sudden outrage.

But some of the Bosnian Muslims appear willing to shake off the head-severing policy, so to them, calls from the organizers of the Perkovic’s Ustasha extravaganza for the representatives of the local Jewish and Islamic communities to attend the concert, together with the Bosnian Muslim army veterans’ associations, sounded like a pure provocation.

Posted by Svetlana at 05:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Macabre Terrorist Kitchen: Albanians Masquerading as Yugoslav Soldiers During Kosovo War

Geza Farkas, former chief of VJ (Vojska Jugoslavije — Yugoslav Army) Security Administration, testifying at the Kangaroo Court in the defense of the former chief of General Staff, General Dragoljub Ojdanic accused of responsibility for war crimes Yugoslav Army allegedly committed in Kosovo-Metohija province during the 1998-1999 Albanian insurgency war, said that the Yugoslav military leadership “did all it could to prevent the crimes in Kosovo and punish the perpetrators as soon as it learned about them.”

Mr. Farkas also revealed that a number of war crimes in Kosovo province during the war were committed by the Albanians wearing VJ uniforms who had been infiltrated into southern Serbian province of Kosovo from the neighboring Albania.

From the Sense Agency reporting from Kangaroo Court:

In late 1999, there were suspicions of crimes against Albanian civilians, Farkas said. Ojdanic sent him and a group of military intelligence officers to Kosovo. After a two-day visit to the province, he came back to Belgrade and told General Ojdanic that some of the Army personnel had been involved in crimes, but that 95 percent of the perpetrators had been prosecuted or are under investigation.

[...] Milosevic demanded the withdrawal of all irregular units from Kosovo, the witness claims. He also demanded that all the perpetrators be punished and new crimes prevented, even if it meant to ‘close off the border on the Drina’ to prevent the infiltration of the paramilitaries [from Bosnia] who then went on to commit crimes in the name of the military and police.

Apart from the problem of the paramilitary formations infiltrating from across the Drina river, the [Yugoslav] army faced the problem of crimes committed by the armed groups from Albania masquerading as the VJ [...] As he explained back at the Milosevic trial [in 2005], they spoke perfect Serbian and committed the crimes wearing VJ uniforms.

Medak Pocket, Croatia: Serbian Woman Impaled Alive

Meanwhile, in Zagreb, retired Croatian Army medical corps colonel Marko Jagetic testified at the trial of Croat generals Rahim Ademi [an ethnic Albanian, just like war criminal Agim Ceku, also accused of atrocities over the Serbian population in Croatia] and Mirko Norac for war crimes committed in the Medak Pocket region of Krajina, inhabited by Serbs for centuries. He said that many of the corpses of Serb civilians he was ordered to collect had marks of torture and massacre.

“Almost all the executed [people] were civilians and no weapons or documents were found on any of them,” said Jagetic, an army doctor in charge of the team that collected the bodies of the dead after the slaughter. He explained that “many of the injuries pointed to heavy torture and a massacre of civilians,” and gave an example of the body of Andjelija Jovic, where he saw injuries caused by the victim being impaled alive.

In the field, Mr. Jagetic testified he saw traces of torture, two men hanged from a tree with a chain and a rope, and that he discovered remains of a human spine and pelvis on a site where a house had burned down.

According to the Croat report, he also heard about the crimes from soldiers, like one that recalled they had “roasted a lamb under the bodies of the two hanged civilians.”

“When UNPROFOR started entering the area, they excavated ‘a chetnik leader’ who had been cut to pieces alive for two hours. He was then put in a trench, covered with earth and a mechanical shovel passed over him,” testified Jagetic.

He also said that Serbian houses were pillaged and burned down, while the cattle was taken away.

Alija Izetbegovic and the Rest of “Secular” Bosnian Muslims

In Belgrade, Justice Minister Dusan Petrovic has today rejected the Bosnian request to transfer the Tuzla Column war crime case to the Bosnian judiciary.

Ilija Jurisic, former president of the Tuzla municipal government in Bosnia, has been charged by the Serbian War Crimes Prosecution for taking part in the offensive launched against Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) troops on May 15, 1992 during their withdrawal from the city, in a case known as the Tuzla Column.

Bosnian Muslims attacked a JNA military convoy, killing more than 200 retreating conscripts and officers and detaining 140, who were subsequently tortured and killed. The event was being broadcast live on a local television station. Part of that footage, including abuse and murder of the conscripts by the Bosnian Muslims is shown in the documentary “Truth.” While the local Muslim television was showing the burning column of Yugoslav Army vehicles, the studio commentator asks for cold beer and then informs the viewers they ought to go and “help out” one conscript he saw reaching the entrance of a nearby building.

A survivor of the Tuzla Column assault describes how one of his unarmed friends that was lightly wounded in the arm managed to hide in the entrance of a building, only to be handed over in a body bag six days later.

Jurisic was arrested in Belgrade in May this year, while trying to escape to Cologne (Koln), in Germany. He is charged of having directly participated in ordering the grisly attack.

And for a quick reminder of what the Serbs were facing in Bosnia during the 1992-1995 war and beyond, see this YouTube clip by the British Sky News: The Story a Lot of People Don’t Want to be Told.

Posted by Svetlana at 06:33 PM | Permalink

Chelsea Clinton Rightly Embarrassed by Her Parents’ Best Friends

CBS reports that former first daughter Chelsea Clinton demanded that her photo be taken down from the window of a Greenwich Village pizzeria owned by Albanian Nino Selimaj. According to the report “she’s so serious she has recruited her father, former President Bill Clinton, and a team lawyers to see that it’s done.”

So, Albanian best friend Billary Clinton engaged his lawyer demanding Selimaj takes the picture down. To make sure the point gets accross, the official William Jefferson Clinton letterhead also contains a threat to take further action: “We reserve the right to exercise any and all options available to us if you refuse to comply.”

In a typically-shifty Albanian manner of serving five different stories under the same breath — from tearjerkers to threats of their own — hoping at least one strikes the right cord, Selimaj first said he simply loved Chelsea “like his own daughter” and was “heartbroken” by her request, but will remove the photograph if she “insists”. He then admitted he was a bit more practical after all, saying that having Chelsea’s photo in the window of his pizzeria is “good for business.” Then he said he will not remove Chelsea’s photo “unless forced” and, finally, that Hillary Clinton “has lost his vote.” But the picture of her daughter stays, at least for now.

And while Hazel Sanchez’s report linked above carefully avoids to say Selimaj is Albanian suggesting, instead, he might be an ethnic Italian by describing his pizzeria as “the family-style Italian eatery,” a viewer reports she saw Selimaj on Neil Cavuto Fox news discussing the letter from Clinton.

“He kept trying to slip in info about the ‘Kosova’ war but Neil kept moving the guy along to the topic at hand. He said something like he was a big lover of Clinton because he [Selimaj] was from Albania and Clinton ‘saved Albanians during the Kosova war’.”

An Easier Way to Remove All the Embarrassing Photos at Once

If Billary was any smarter, he would have spared his daughter and his daughter’s daughter tons of embarrassment eight years ago, by refusing to ally himself with the scum of the earth, Albanian terrorist KLA.

Instead, he now has to deal with the catastrophic Clintanic his Kosovo adventure has turned into, with boulevards bearing his name being blown to bits in Kosovo Albanian mafia feuds, the Albanian nuts acting as if they own special rights on him and his entire family, and much more shame in decades to follow.

He still has a way to extricate himself from the whole disaster — by coming out in the open and admitting he was wrong in backing the cutthroat KLA in their secessionist insurgency against Serbia... but the accursed pride and vanity (and the CIA) will not let him do it. So, he’ll have to take the roundabout way, trying to take down one embarrassing photo after another.

Photos taken by Jesse Petrilla during his summer trip to southern Serbian province of Kosovo. Ever since ex-US president bypassed both the United Nations and his own Congress in order to bomb Serbia and Montenegro for 78 days on behalf of Albanian Muslim terrorist KLA, Clinton’s photos have been plastered throughout Pristina, ethnically cleansed of all non-Albanians from June 1999.

Posted by Svetlana at 04:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Leon Kojen: “We Won’t Take Independence On Chin”

Former adviser to the Serbian President Tadic and Coordinator of the State Negotiating Team for Kosovo-Metohija, Leon Kojen says Serbia must make it crystal-clear it won’t take the Kosovo blow on the chin, as expected by the U.S. State Department and other Western entities.

“Until Belgrade disperses the impression that Serbia will continue its Euro-Atlantic journey regardless of the fate of Kosovo and Metohija, the West will believe that imposed independence is not such a bad solution,” said Kojen in a Tuesday interview with influential Belgrade daily Vecernje Novosti (Evening News).

Explaining that, in this context, under West he considers first and foremost the organizations like NATO and EU, but also the key countries like USA and England which have made it clear number of times that they would recognize southern Serbian province’s independence outside the UN Security Council, Mr. Kojen said:

Serbia Will Not Join Either NATO or EU in Case Kosovo Province Gets Severed

“Behind almost all these Western pledges that Kosovo will be independent even contrary to the will of the United Nations lies the theory that the Albanians will be pleased, that the Serbs will swallow the bitter pill, and that the Western Balkans’ ‘Euro-Atlantic integrations’ will receive new impetus and move forward at a faster pace. Serbia must say, more explicitly than it has thus far, that that theory has no foundation — indeed in today’s conditions it is the constitutional and political obligation of her highest institutions to do so.”

With U.S. backing and EU understanding, the Kosovo Albanian secessionists continue to dodge a genuine discussion over Kosovo-Metohija status.

He surmised that the Troika in New York must finally broach this subject with the Albanian separatists because that was their chief function, while at the same time shattering the Albanian misconception that “independence” was the only word they need to keep repeating at the negotiating table.

American-Installed President and DS Ministers Working Against Serbia’s Interest

The confusion over Serbia’s “Euro-Atlantic integrations” was primarily caused when President Tadic openly contradicted Premier Kostunica after Serbia’s Prime Minister stated NATO membership is definitely off the agenda for the country. Some other members of Tadic’s party, like largely disliked, pompous and offensively arrogant Defense Minister Sutanovac, even though employed by the Serbian Government headed by Prime Minister Kostunica, followed their party leader’s example and went public with statements contrary to the earlier government’s announcement.

While it is a common knowledge that both President Tadic and his party are American-installed and forced upon Serbian citizens under the common tags of “progressive,” “reformers” and “pro-Western,” and even though it is becoming increasingly obvious that they are working at the cross-purpose with the Serbian Government and against the interest of Serbian citizens (clearly being more eager to please Miss Rice and Mr. Scheffer), the fact remains that neither President Tadic, nor the ministers from his party have the power to shape Serbia’s foreign policy. That particular task is part of the government’s mandate, and the head of Serbia’s government is no other than Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica.

Mr. Tadic was quickly reminded of this painful fact right after he crossed the line and publicly contradicted the government’s decision to scrap NATO membership from Serbia’s future. So, all Mr. Tadic can do regarding Serbia’s rejection of joining either NATO or EU is to voice his personal opinions and disagreement with the foreign policy course Serbia has taken, but fuming and making noise is exactly where his constitutional power ends.

Posted by Svetlana at 01:33 PM | Permalink

Dangerous Delusions and Warmongering

Ahead of his departure for New York on Tuesday, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said that part of the so-called international community which thinks it is possible to impose Kosovo-Metohija independence on Serbia is dangerously delusional.

“The misconception by one part of the international community that it is possible to impose the solution on Serbia and that Serbia will eventually recognize an independent state of Kosovo in its territory, which would be contrary to the UN Charter and to the Serbian Constitution, is dangerous,” Kostunica told Tanjug ahead of his Wednesday departure for New York, where the Belgrade delegation and Albanian Pristina secessionists will meet for the first time in this phase of negotiations on September 28.

Unilateral Independence Can Neither be Implemented Nor Sustained

According to the Serbian Premier, the most important thing at this point is that everyone who has a responsible approach towards the resolution of the Serbian province’s future organization takes into consideration that unilateral independence can neither be implemented, nor sustained.

“It is necessary that all three parties in New York, above all the international community, clearly oblige themselves that they will back only a negotiated solution and that they will not resort to unilateral solutions,” Kostunica said.

“Such an agreement would open the door to a compromise solution, which would guarantee long-lasting stability, peace, and prosperity of the Albanian ethnic minority in the province and in the state of Serbia,” said Kostunica.

Lavrov: Violation of the International Law is Not a “Solution”

Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, said in New York that claims Kosovo province’s independence is allegedly “inevitable” are only serving to undermine the negotiations, pushing one side to refuse to compromise.

While most of the international community is keen on seeing Belgrade and Pristina reach the agreed solution, “some say that, if that doesn’t happen, we need to ‘face the reality’ which, according to them, boils down to the unilateral declaration of Kosovo independence,” Lavrov told Russian media at the 62-nd UN General Assembly.

“That is wrong,” Russian Itar-tass news agency reported Lavrov’s statement.

Kosovo problem can only be solved on the basis of the international law, and verified by the UN Security Council resolution which can only be adopted once both sides agree upon the solution, Lavrov said.

“Until that happens, the UN Security Council Resolution 1244 remains in force and all the attempts to bypass that resolution will represent the violation of the international law,” stressed Russian Foreign Minister.

Those Who Care About Peace and Stability and Respect the Law are Helping, Others are Advocating Unilateral Moves

He said that the mediating Troika of the Contact Group, representatives of the U.S, Russia and EU, is preparing direct negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina.

“Troika is coordinating mutually acceptable directions of this process. The two sides need to find the solution — there is no other way,” Lavrov said.

Direct negotiations between Serbia’s State Negotiating Team and Albanian secessionists representing ethnic Albanian minority in southern Serbian province of Kosovo is expected to start on Sept. 28 in New York, following the meeting of the Contact Group member-states’ ministers.

“Everyone who cares about the peace and stability in the Balkans, the respect for the international law and prevention of dangerous and detrimental precedents are doing all they can to help sides reach, directly, mutually acceptable solution,” said Lavrov.

P.S. Do you think Miss Rice has just qualified for her own boulevard in Kosovo... or at least a dead-end street?

Posted by Svetlana at 05:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Previously Unknown Modigliani Owned by a Serb from Belgrade

German news agency DPA reports that a previously unknown painting by the celebrated Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920) was on Tuesday reported by Belgrade city officials and international experts to have been found in the possession of a Serbian man living abroad.

The owner of the painting — an art collector and Belgrade native who wished to remain anonymous — wanted both the announcement about the painting and its first exhibition to be held in his home city.

According to the reports, the painting, a portrait of an as yet unknown man, dates back to 1918 and is of public importance.

Experts believe the man in the painting was either a musician or writer, judging by his hairstyle and clothing.

Both Serbian experts and several from the Modigliani Institute Paris-Rome and an atomic physics institute in Rome confirmed the authenticity of the painting.

1918 Modigliani Painting to be First Exhibited in Serbia

“It took us 17 years to verify the authenticity and I can now say for certain that it is Modigliani,” said Christian Parisot, president of the Modigliani Institute Archives Legales Paris-Rome during the press conference held in Belgrade.

That the news confirming the authenticity of the painting was to be first announced in the Serbian capital was an explicit wish of the owner. The press conference was also attended by the director of the atomic physics institute from Rome and the director of an Italian Culture Institute in Belgrade.

According to Ksenija Prodanovic reporting from Belgrade, the canvas measures 46 x 38 cm (18 x 15"), and shows a neatly dressed, wealthy young man with carefully combed hair. Experts said the oil colors had been watered down, a sign that the artist, regarded as one of the seven greatest painters, was living on meager means at the time of the work.

“The identity of the model is still unknown, but we are hoping that somebody will recognize it, once the painting is presented,” Parisot added.

During the press conference, Belgrade city hall official Dragana Zeljkovic said the owner specifically asked for the painting to be shown for the first time in Belgrade. It is expected to be exhibited some time in November.

The owner has revealed that he will not sell the valuable painting and will make it available for presentation elsewhere, after the first showing in Serbia. Finally, he will donate the precious work of art to his country, Serbia.

Posted by Svetlana at 04:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Bill Clinton Kosovo Boulevard Blasted to Smithereens

An explosion killed two people and injured 12 when it tore through shops early on Monday in Pristina, officials say. The blast ripped through southern Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohija at 2:10 a.m., scattering glass and debris from a dozen shops on Pristina’s Bill Clinton Boulevard. According to Reuters, one of the buildings collapsed.

The Albanian policeman told AFP that “The blast occurred in the business area in which some coffee shops and restaurants were still working.”

One person was immediately killed, while another died of injuries in a hospital. The other 12 people injured in a blast, three of them in critical condition, are being treated in hospital.

As is the most common case with the all-to-often violent outbursts in Kosovo-Metohija since UN/NATO took over the Serbian province’s administration and security, everything is kept in strict confidence, hidden behind the heavy wall of silence — no one knows what happened or why, who are the perpetrators (who are never found or arrested anyway), Albanians and UN police are apparently even dumbfounded as to “what has caused the explosion”.

Was it a meteor from the outer space? A faulty, self-incinerating plaster on the buildings? Could it have been a bomb? Dare we say that?

We do, since Belgrade news agencies reported that an Irish bomb disposal experts from KFOR were on the scene and police closed the street.

As to the motive, terrorism is not being ruled out, but officials in Kosovo-Metohija have suggested the deadly attack is probably “related to crime.” Organized crime, or Albanian mafia, since according to the (German) DPA report, Enver Sekiraqa, one of Kosovo Albanian mafia bosses, owned a café and several other businesses in the shopping center that suffered most damage in the blast. Over the past month Sekiraqa has been unavailable to the police who named him as an accomplice in the murder of police officer Triumf Riza that had taken place on August 30 in Pristina.

According to BIRN, after Riza’s murder police arrested at least four persons in Sekiraqa’s café, which was closed down and put under surveillance. But they stopped watching the place two days ago.

Kosovo Province — Hotbed of Injustice, Anarchy and Crime, Run by Corrupt UNMIK Officials

UNMIK officers are linked to the local Albanian mafia in Kosovo-Metohija, and the international mission, which is supposed to protect the security, property and rights of Kosovo inhabitants and set democratic foundation, has achieved exactly the opposite, claims investigative reporter of influential Sweden daily Dagens Nyheter, Maciej Zaremba.

Kosovo has become the hotbed of injustice, anarchy, crime, a European center of women and drugs trafficking, according to Tanjug which is citing the allegations of the author of the article, who spent six months in southern Serbian province.

Zaremba claims that in the eight years since it first set up its mission in Kosovo, the United Nations has spent 22 billion euros, and pointed out that the black market is still thriving in the area and that the province is on the verge of legal collapse.

During his several month long investigation of the UNMIK/Albanian-established system in Serbian province, Zaremba concluded that the overly paid UNMIK officials are not there to fight organized crime which is the worst evil in the province, but that they rather feel obliged only towards their own careers, in which Kosovo province is but an episode.

This is why the only thing which all of the seven Kosovo province governors — heads of UNMIK, of which French Bernard Kouchner was the first and German Joachim Ruecker is the seventh, current UNMIK Chief — have ever mentioned in their reports are “stability and progress.” “That is the only way they could advance their careers,” the Swedish journalist specified.

Piles of Crime Reports No One Ever Reads

The British source revealed to Zaremba that the seat of the UN Police in Kosovo-Metohija is buried under the crime reports no one has ever looked at. Most crimes are never investigated, but it is also questionable who would be capable of investigating them if they wanted, given the quality of the UNMIK staff.

As an example of the incompetence and irresponsible approach to the UN Mission in Kosovo, Zaremba writes that Kosovo population is being taught how to run a railway by an “expert” paid some 8,000 euros a month, from Sierra Leone, where the last train ended its journey in 1975.

The parking security is allocated to a man from Bangladesh who doesn’t have a drivers license and speaks only Bengali, so he must have paid good money to have been hired by the UN, said the Swedish reporter.

A Rubbish Heap for Lethargic Politicians and El Dorado for Thieves

“Those who do not leave Kosovo with their pockets full of money are either dumb or saints,” said one of Zaremba’s sources. Another one describes southern Serbian province as “a rubbish heap for lethargic politicians and an El Dorado for thieves,” while the third admits he took part in many UN missions across the world, “but none as rotten as this one” in Kosovo.

Each of the three came from a different state and holds “central positions” within UNMIK.

Marie Fucci who ran Kosovo Trust Agency, the umbrella organization responsible for public and socially owned enterprises in 2003-2004 said that the bulk of aid that was sent to southern Serbian province ended up in the pockets of local mafia figures and that the immense amounts were spent for the things that have nothing to do with recovery of the province’s economy. Instead, they served for the enrichment of Kosovo-Metohija’s prominent Albanian leaders and politicians, and of the UNMIK Chiefs.

According to Fucci, ordinary Albanians in southern Serbian province are “worse off today than when the UN or the Western diplomats arrived.”

“The beneficiaries of donor support, who should have been the population, were instead the local mafias, some in local government, and cowardly and incompetent international administrators, who never ran anything in their lives but scared,” Marie told the Swedish reporter.

Kosovo Robbery by the Irish Company and NATO (KFOR) Incompetence

In the Part 2 of his exceptional analysis “The UN state and the seven robbers” Zaremba reveals how some of the major robberies by the locals and internationals in Kosovo province are accomplished, and how it could happen that “the Irish [who allegedly came to improve the miserable energy supply of Kosovo-Metohija failed electricity company KEK] stay for three years, collect some 10 million euros in consultancy fees and leave KEK in about the same shape as when they arrived.”

In the Part 4, titled “Prowess, courage and plastic socks,” apart from more insight into the rampant corruption, anarchy and incompetence Serbian Kosovo province has been subjected to since the UN/NATO took over the administration, Zaremba also explains how it could have happened that armed NATO troops [KFOR], assigned with keeping peace in the region, simply move aside in front of the raging Albanian mob in March 2004, allowing a three-day pogrom of the remaining province’s Serbs.

Posted by Svetlana at 04:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

One of Basketball’s Most Complete Men, With a Heart of Gold

“Vlade Divac has a heart of gold, apart from being a great player. He is the best man I have ever met,” said Chris Webber in Belgrade, after greeting over 10,000 Divac’s fans in Serbian.

NBA stars, the gentle giant’s coaches, friends and teammates, along with adoring crowd of Serbs gathered at a farewell concert held in Divac’s honor, marking his retirement from basketball and launching a humanitarian campaign to raise funds meant to provide housing for 7,850 refugees in Serbia, and thousands more in Africa.

According to the official NBA web site, the 7' 1" Serb, selected by the Lakers with the 26th overall selection of the 1989 NBA Draft, has played for the Lakers (1989-96, 2004-05), Hornets (1996-98) and Kings (1998-2004) throughout his NBA career.

The 2001 NBA All-Star joins Hakeem Olajuwon and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the only players in NBA history to amass 13,000 points, 9,000 rebounds, 3,000 assists and 1,500 blocked shots. A deft passer and one of the game’s most complete big men, Divac boasts career averages of 11.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.4 blocked shots in 1,134 total games. Divac, who played professionally in Serbia and Yugoslavia prior to joining the NBA ranks, helped guide Yugoslavia [Serbia and Montenegro] to a gold medal in the 2002 World Championships in Indianapolis.

You Can Too

“It has always been my dream to host a spectacular event for Belgrade, my birth town of Prijepolje (Serbia) and for the people of Serbia,” said Divac. “This is a way for me to thank everyone who believed in me throughout my career and helped me become the man I am today. I also want to take the opportunity to address the very important issues that face refugees, not only in my country, but in Africa as well. The ‘You Can Too’ initiative will reach out and help these people, and it is my hope that citizens everywhere will support the cause.”

Divac’s farewell ceremony was attended by former national team representatives Aleksandar Djordjevic, Predrag Danilovic, Zoran Savic and Zarko Paspalj, and Toni Kukoc and Dino Radja from Croatia. His NBA co-players, including Chris Webber, Scott Pollard and Glen Rice also came to support their colleague, along with Divac’s former coaches Dusan Ivkovic, Dusko Vujosevic and Gregg Popovich.

Party for Serbia

The three-day celebrations began on Friday, Sept. 21, with the “All Stars Party,” a ceremonial dinner at the White Palace in Belgrade. Hosted by the Serbia’s royal family, Prince Aleksandar and Princess Katarina Karadjordjevic, the event included entertainment and a grand-scale auction.

But before the Friday gala dinner in Belgrade’s Royal Palace, generous Vlade found time to swing by Beogradska Arena to lend his support to Janko Tipsarevic and Novak Djokovic playing against the Aussies for Serbia’s place in the 2008 World Group.

On Saturday, Sept. 22, the festivities continued in Belgrade with a street basketball competition for children under the age of 16. The basketball contest includes champions from the “21 Across 21” Tournament, which began last weekend in 21 Serbian cities. To honor Divac’s number when he played for the Sacramento Kings, each of the 21 cities will host their own three-on-three tournament, with every winner advancing to the Belgrade event.

The evening of the 22nd, a carnival with as many as 500 children participating took place at the Serbian capital’s Kalemegdan fortress, followed by a free concert “The Party for Serbia” outside the National Parliament building. The concert featured performances of numerous bands and artist form Serbia and abroad.

A short movie was played from a huge screen in the stage in which a score of Divac’s friends and colleagues praised his efforts and career, including NBA stars Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Bobby Jackson, Yao Ming, coach Phil Jackson, rapper Snoop Dog, Red Hot Chili Peppers, actor Billy Crystal and many others.

“I wish to thank you for a huge and selfless support you have been giving me throughout my basketball career that began here in Serbia and now ends here as well,” Divac told the crowd yesterday from a concert stage.

“Hard Work, Confidence and Respect Are the Keys”

“Today begins the most important game of my life. With your help, the biggest and best team is looking to score a vital victory and help those deprived of their land, home, and friends who are now living in conditions unworthy of a human,” said Divac.

On Sunday, Divac traveled to his hometown of Prijepolje to officially open the Vlade Divac Museum, an exhibition that chronicles a basketball career that began in Prijepolje when he was a tall 12-year-old boy dwarfing his teacher, and eventually ended in the NBA.

The museum will display European jerseys and basketball-related equipment; practice gear and official NBA uniforms from the Los Angeles Lakers, Charlotte Hornets, and Kings; international competition medals; newspaper and magazine articles from all over the world; game video; photos; letters from fans and children; and a special section dedicated to his humanitarian efforts.

“My goal for the museum is to show young people today that you don’t have to be born in a big city to become successful,” said Divac.

“Hard work, confidence, and respect are the keys to building a full life and thriving profession. I hope the museum illustrates this message and the children in Prijepolje learn from it.”

Humble, Yet Larger Than Life

Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee says it’s time to start planning another party for Vlade Divac “right here in Sacramento.”

Thank Vlade for the exquisite passes, the astonishingly creative low-post moves, the unifying locker room presence, the humble, yet larger-than-life personality. Thank him for being the first elite free agent to sign with the Kings, for embracing the community with such humor and grace, and in essence, for escorting Sacramentans on a wildly entertaining, six-year tour of the globe.

[...] Divac has always been a communal figure, the antithesis of the solo act, and at 39, he isn’t about to change. His celebration this weekend is only partly about ceremonial dinners, the finals of a youth basketball tournament, a children’s carnival at the majestic Kalemegdan plaza and an outdoor public concert in the historic downtown square. The other component is the launching of a collaborative campaign to raise $3 million for the purchase and restoration of abandoned homes in Serbia and Ethiopia [...] The man is as famous for his generosity as he is for his abundant basketball gifts.

Posted by Svetlana at 11:32 PM | Permalink

Hello, Elite!

Seventy years of Western-imposed common state in which former Serbian Kingdom and Serbian name was to be eventually wiped out by being jelled with formerly anonymous and non-existent “nations”, fifty years of foreign-imposed communism under the Croat/Slovenian dictatorship, decades of humiliation and continuous shunning, sanctions, wars, horrendous accusations, brutal lies and the most devious manipulations and pressures to keep Serbia underfoot, submerged in a surreal world of an eternal defeat in an eternal pariah state — the constant abuse no other nation in Europe has ever experienced — none of it has managed to crush the Serbian spirit: the small heroic nation has braved it all, to rise up under its ancient royal insignia once again, as an independent state, rightly proud of its name, history and heritage.

And proud of its young generation that was born and raised in the midst of Serbia’s darkest night, forging their determination and polishing their talents under the deadly rain of Western bombs, on borrowed money and in conditions every child and teenager bathed in American, British, German, French opulence and vanity would have cruelly laughed off as below bizarre.

So, when mocked, shunned and heavily bruised small Serbia gets into the top-tier-16 World Group without the burden of the rest of “Yugoslavia,” without, in fact, any other Yugoslav nation squeezing in (Croatia was crushed 4-1 by Britain) or having more than a prayer to even try to get in (like every other former Yugoslav republic), is it still the Elite World Group? You can bet your ass that it is — and even more so.

Sour Grapes

While the Serbs were thrilled to host former world No.1 and the great Australian tennis player Lleyton Hewitt, the fading star preferred to be hostile, acting like a capricious diva that was nothing but rude to his hosts. Nothing seemed good enough for him, starting with the clay surface in the Belgrade Arena which the former No.1 magnanimously condemned on day one as “the worst surface” he ever had to step on in Davis Cup. The rest of his team followed suit, faithfully echoing everything Hewitt says.

During the Sunday interview, one of top Serbian tennis players, Janko Tipsarevic who was on the verge of defeating Hewitt on Friday, said that every tennis pro who played in Davis Cup admits that the surface is always problematic during the first few days, especially clay surface in indoor arenas. Serbs were unpleasantly surprised with Australian players insisting on complaining about the surface, concluding that however bad it may have been for the Aussies, it must’ve been at least equally bad for the Serbs, since the half of the court Serbs played on wasn’t in a parallel universe, but exactly the same.

Janko Tipsarevic mentioned how offended he was when referee Mike Morrisey said two days ago, over a tiniest little hole he found on the surface: “Good that Hewitt wasn’t here!” [to see THIS], as if the Australian is a demigod of sorts, overshadowing that part of the globe with his presence, and all that really matters is that Hewitt is appeased, if he clearly cannot be pleased.

Move Over Australia, Serbia Gets In

After Djokovic and Nenad Zimonjic defeated Lleyton Hewitt and Paul Hanley in doubles on Saturday, Serbia’s No.1 Novak Djokovic sealed his country’s victory against the Australians with a triumph over Chris Guccione who replaced Hewitt, after Australian star announced an hour before the start of the match he is suffering from gastroenteritis and won’t be able to play.

The eruption of joy when Djokovic secured Serbia’s place in the elite-16 World Group has rocked Belgrade and started the nation-wide celebration (RTS footage).

The official Davis Cup web site reports:

The crowd’s beloved Nole then threw himself on the ground, before his team surrounded him and gave him a tour of honour around the court on their shoulders. Djokovic had entered this court as a king and he was going to exit like one too. He thanked the public and his team and even the small group of Australian supporters for contributing to this weekend’s resonating success.

“Playing Davis Cup is a lot of pressure” said the Belgrade native. “I cannot explain how I felt during these last three days out there on the court. But I want to stress that this was not only my success, it was the entire team’s. We are happy and touched by the success and achievement of this weekend.” And those who have watched them play would probably say rightly so.

Serbia—Australia: 4—1

In the final, fifth Davis Cup playoffs match for the World Group, Serbian player Boris Pashanski defeated Australia’s Peter Luczak 2-1 [4-6, 6-3, 6-1], handing his country a near-perfect 4-1 score against the tennis nation second only to the United States in the 108-year Davis Cup history.

“It has been a great tie and this is a fantastic team success for Serbia,” Djokovic said after his teammates carried him around the Belgrade Arena court on their shoulders. “I feel absolutely fantastic that we have qualified for the Davis Cup top division and I’ve never experienced an atmosphere as electrifying as this one here in Belgrade,” he said, adding that “there was so much pressure and I am glad we rose to the occasion and lived up to expectations.”

“The flag you see here says that this is our land where no one can defeat us,” said Novak, addressing his team and elated Belgrade Arena crowd.

Asked to whom would he like to dedicate this victory, he responded:

“To my country!”

Posted by Svetlana at 05:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Davis Cup World Group Playoffs, Belgrade

This weekend Serbian capital hosts the Davis Cup World Group playoffs between the tennis nation second only to the USA in the number of Davis Cup titles won — Australia (the Aussies have won 28 to the Americans’ 31 Davis Cup titles) — and Serbia, which is hoping to enter the elite 16-nation World Group for the first time as an independent state.

“Davis Cup is very important,” said top Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic after the U.S. Open. “After 15, 20 years, we’ve got a chance to get to the World Group. We all know how good Australia is in the Davis Cup, how good their history is, and of course Lleyton [Hewitt, former world number one] is coming, which is going to make it more difficult for us. But it’s going to be a lot of people, a lot of support. Support is one of the things which is most important in the Davis Cup because Davis Cup is very unique, it’s different, it’s unpredictable, anything can happen. It’s a matter of motivation really. But, above all, I’m really happy that tennis fans back home will have an opportunity to see me and the rest of the guys, and Hewitt.”

Novak’s Special Guests: Kosovo-Metohija Children

The support is indeed overwhelming, with the Belgrade Arena fully packed with close to 20,000 sports fans which, according to the reports, is the third largest crowd in the over one-hundred-years long Davis Cup history. Among the most fervent Novak’s supporters, cheering him and other Serbian players on this weekend, are fifty children from southern Serbian province of Kosovo-Metohija Djokovic’s family is hosting.

“After a truly spectacular entry into the modern and fully packed Beogradska Arena ahead of the match where the adoring crowds gave Djokovic a long standing ovation, the home support was evident throughout, brightened also by the presence of Serbia’s president Boris Tadic and several other politicians and sport celebrities. From brass and drum bands to the loud cheer of fifty children from Kosovo that Djokovic’s family is hosting this weekend, the show in the stands was complete, directed at times by Djokovic’s father himself,” reports the official Davis Cup web site.

Inspired Novak and Untiring Hewitt

Inspired Novak struck the first blow for Serbia, blazing to a straight-sets victory over Peter Luczak in Friday’s opening singles rubber. According to the Australian news agency, the world No.3 “could scarcely have been more impressive [...] unveiling his full bag of tricks to bury Luczak into the Belgrade clay with a 6-1 6-4 6-2 triumph in two hours and 24 minutes at the Beogradska Arena.”

Lleyton Hewitt led Australia up to a tie, winning a grueling five-setter against Janko Tipsarevic. According to the Belgrade press, Hewitt afterwards praised both Janko and the fans, commenting that the Serb “couldn’t wear me out even after such a long match” (an epic three hours and 28 minutes ordeal), to which painfully honest Janko responded that he wasn’t exactly trying to tire the Aussie, but to defeat him, adding that Hewitt is “the best fighter in the world. He is the toughest.”

Serbia—Australia: 2—1

But after today’s “magical four-set win” in doubles, when Djokovic and Nenad Zimonjic triumphed over Hewitt and Paul Hanley, Serbia leads 2-1 and needs one more victory to get into the next year’s World Group, consisting of elite 16 out of over 130 nations. The fact Novak and Nenad have played together only for the sixth time today, against the experienced and exceptionally well-coordinated Australian pair — the most important quality in the doubles matches — made today’s coup even more spectacular. Both Serbian players credited the magnificent crowd in the Belgrade Arena for carrying them through each point on the exhilarating waves of high energy (RTS footage, in Serbian).

On Sunday, Novak will face Australia’s No.1 Lleyton Hewitt, while Janko Tipsarevic plays against Peter Luczak for the decisive point... or two (after Serbian victory today, Australians would have to win both matches to qualify for the World Group).

World’s Top Eight Tennis Players Cast as Terracotta Warriors

Meanwhile, the ATP — governing body of the men’s professional tennis circuit — has commissioned a sculptor to create Terracotta Warriors of the best eight tennis players in the world to mark the Tennis Masters Cup, the last tournament of the season held in Shanghai, China, from November 11-18.

The life-size statues are being created by the French sculptor Laury Dizengremel in China (YouTube clip), and will be unveiled all together as a group at the opening ceremony for the event in Shanghai on November 11.

A Swiss, Spaniard and a Serb (world No.1 Roger Federer, No.2 Rafael Nadal and No.3 Novak Djokovic) have already qualified for both the tournament and their warrior statues, while the remaining five players will be determined in the upcoming days and weeks.

Beijing: Jelena Jankovic Storms to the China Open Final

Just around the corner from the new terracotta warrior statues, world No.3 on the WTA list, Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic has defeated the American three-time grand slam winner Lindsay Davenport, securing her place in the finals of the China Open. On Sunday, Jelena will play for her fifth title of the season against the winner of the match between Hungarian sixth seed Agnes Szavay and China’s Peng Shuai.

Posted by Svetlana at 12:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

U.S. State Department Shift: Kosovo Negotiations to Continue

The Kosovo talks will likely continue after December 10, a ranking State Department official said in Brussels this week, according to the Brussels-based electronic daily EU Observer.

“Whether we will have a solution on December 10 or whether the solution will follow soon after that — I think more likely the latter, it must be emphasized that this process cannot go on forever,” David J. Kramer, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs told journalists in Brussels on Wednesday.

“We have to be realistic”, said Kramer, specifying that a solution by December 10, when the mediating Troika is to submit a progress report to the UN Secretary General, “would imply that Russia had changed its position on this issue.”

“At the moment we haven’t seen a shift” from Moscow’s side, the Brussels daily said, quoting Kramer.

Quoting Kramer, EU Observer said that “Moscow fears” that a unilateral proclamation of independence by Kosovo would trigger a chain reaction in other parts of the world, but the State Dept. official insisted that this is not the case and that southern Serbian province is one off, in accordance with the position publicly taken by the U.S. State Department as a whole.

European Parliament MP: Look Before You Leap!

But however unpleasant it may be for the American lawmakers to face the reality, the fact remains that, beside Russia, China and India, many EU members — including the Western ones — also disagree with the U.S. State Department on this issue, stressing that the chain reaction Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs warned of few days ago, would indeed become a reality in case independence of southern Serbian province was imposed on Serbia.

European Parliament MP and a spokesman on foreign affairs for the British Conservative Party Charles Tannock is among the Western officials who strongly oppose disregard for the international laws and unilateral moves.

The United States government and its President George Bush are playing a dangerous game with announcements of the possibility of unilateral recognition of Serbian province’s independence, failing to take into account the consequences such move would have for the rest of the world, Tannock said in a signed article published in The Scotsman today under the title “Bush playing a dangerous game over Kosovo”.

[...] Look before you leap is as sound a principle in foreign policy as it is in life. Yet, once again, the Bush administration is preparing to leap into the unknown. Even though lack of foresight is universally viewed as a leading cause of its Iraq debacle, the United States (with British backing probable) is now preparing to recognise Kosovo’s independence unilaterally — irrespective of the consequences for Europe and the world.

Kosovo has been administered since 1999 by a United Nations mission guarded by NATO troops, although it remains formally a part of Serbia. But, with Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian majority demanding its own state, and with Russia refusing to recognise UN mediator Martti Ahtisaari’s plan for conditional independence, the US is preparing to go it alone. Instead of thinking what Ahtisaari deemed unthinkable, a partition of Kosovo with a small part of the north going to Serbia and the rest linked to the Kosovars ethnic brethren in Albania or a separate state, the US plans to act without the UN’s blessing, arguing that only an independent Kosovo will bring stability to the Western Balkans.

That argument is debatable — and the record of the Kosovar government suggests that it is wrong. But the US position is unambiguously misguided in not foreseeing that the “Kosovo precedent” will incite instability and potentially even violence elsewhere.

Why the rush to give Kosovo independence? Many serious disputes have gone unresolved for decades. The Kashmir question has lingered since 1947, the Turkish occupation of Northern Cyprus since 1974, and Israel’s occupation of the West Bank from 1967. Yet no one is suggesting that unilateral solutions be imposed in these potential flashpoints.

Nevertheless, the US — and most European Union members — argue that Kosovo’s situation is sui generis and will set no legally binding international precedent. But Russia sees things very differently. Indeed, it may seek to use this precedent to re-establish its authority over the nations and territories that were once part of the Soviet Union.

Spain and Cyprus with their worries over secessionist-minded regions, are worried by any possible precedent. Romania fears the fallout from Kosovo’s unilaterally gaining independence on neighbouring Moldova. The worry is that Russia will unilaterally recognise the breakaway Moldovan territory of Transdnistria, which Russian troops and criminal gangs have been propping up for 16 years.

Ukraine — the great prize in Russia’s bid to recapture its former sphere of influence — is also deeply anxious. It fears that Russia will encourage separatist tendencies in Crimea, where the ethnic Russian population forms a majority. (Crimea was ceded to Ukraine by Nikita Khrushchev only in 1954). Russia may decide to abuse the Kosovo precedent further to divide Ukraine’s population between Russian speakers and Ukrainian speakers.

But the biggest risks posed by unilateral recognition of Kosovo’s independence are in the South Caucasus, a region that abuts the tinderbox of today’s Middle East. Here, there is a real danger that Russia may recognise breakaway regions in the South Caucasus, — and back them more strongly than it does now [...]

Posted by Svetlana at 02:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Kostunica: Widest Autonomy, But No Breaking Up the State

Direct negotiations on the future status of Kosovo-Metohija are the only way for finding a sustainable solution, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica has said, voicing his belief that the full strength of Serbian arguments will be shown at the meeting between Belgrade and Pristina delegations in New York.

“Our proposal envisions a very wide autonomy for Kosovo institutions, and its only limitation is not to violate the country’s territorial integrity. We offer the Albanian national minority to decide about their own fate in all issues, but we will not let the essence of the state — its integrity and sovereignty — be violated,” Kostunica said Friday, in an interview for the Saturday issue of the Belgrade daily Vecernje Novosti.

In case Kosovo Albanian separatists declare independence unilaterally, Serbia should respond, Kostunica said.

According to Tanjug, this response will be “primarily for NATO, which is the main participant without whom such a development would not take place.”

No Serbian Soldier Will Be Sent to Afghanistan or Iraq for the Interests of Others

Speaking about rejection of NATO membership as Serbia’s eventual goal, he stressed that the EU and NATO integrations were two separate issues.

“We are not jeopardizing Serbia’s European integration for a single moment. Moreover, a number of EU countries are not NATO members. This is not a condition.”

“Eventually, the people will have a say about that organization. We had too many victims during the wars in which Serbia was engaged, to now cause, by joining NATO, more victims in order to sacrifice for someone else’s interests and in other continents,” said Kostunica.

“Serbia has suffered enough and will not now take part in confrontations worldwide to suffer more. This is why it is quite certain that no Serbian soldier will be sent to military missions in either Iraq or Afghanistan,” he said.

“The Partnership for Peace program represents the full measure of our cooperation with NATO and Serbia should firmly conduct a policy of military neutrality,” Kostunica stated.

Annex 11 of Ahtisaari Plan is What It’s All About

Speaking about the progress of the Kosovo status talks, Kostunica pointed out that the Ahtisaari plan “has definitively became a thing of the past, ever since the failed attempt to push a new resolution based on it through the UN Security Council.”

“The idea to use Ahtisaari plan now as a basis for unilateral independence, shows that the implementation of Annex 11 of the plan is even more important than the fate of Serbia and the fate of the ethnic Albanian minority in the province.”

“Annex 11 is the essence of the issue,” Kostunica said.

China Supports Belgrade Kosovo Stance

Meanwhile, Serbian Premier has met with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Qiao Zonghuai, who stressed that China, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, respects the UN Charter and supports Belgrade-Pristina negotiations without time limitations. Chinese official said that the solution for southern Serbian province must not be imposed, as it would have serious consequences.

“Only a solution accepted by both sides is a way to solve the issue of Kosovo-Metohija and to attain the peace and stability in the region,” Zonghuai said.

Serbian government reports that the two officials also reached a high level of agreement concerning Kosovo-Metohija status settlement.

Graphic by Simonovic (Serbia)

Posted by Svetlana at 01:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Western Mainstream Media Changes Tune

September 20 article by Reuters’ Ellie Tzortzi represents a fresh approach by one of the pillars of Western mainstream media to the problem of Serbian province of Kosovo-Metohija, which Western news agencies and mainstream media in general have thus far treated with militant anti-Serbian bias, coupled with appalling ignorance or outright lies.

For the first time in the past decade or so, Reuters actually allows a sincere insight into the Serbian position, without the obligatory condemnation and negative frame, without the cynicism and mockery, and without the reporter tearing the Serbian official’s views down before they have a chance to land on the page.

The article is built around the interview with Seriba’s Kosovo Metohija Minister Slobodan Samardzic, who explained Belgrade is doing its best to approach the issue realistically and pragmatically:

“They [Albanian separatists in Kosovo province] are looking for independence. They cannot get it as far as Serbia is concerned. So we must find a middle ground,” Samardzic said.

“The European experience is to resolve these issues through compromise solutions which are all different, like South Tyrol and the Basque country,” he told Reuters, adding that Serbia proposes “the highest level of autonomy on offer anywhere in Europe, maybe even in the world,” and not seeking an “absolute victory.”

Reuters reporter spoke to Minister Samardzic after he visited London to set out the proposal for the troika of Russian, United States and European Union Kosovo mediators. According to the report, Belgrade offers Albanians in southern Serbian province “loose integration for 10-20 years,” in the form of substantial autonomy.

Serbia’s Offer More Affordable for Europe than Another 30 Years of Clashes

Samardzic, who has visited Kosovo twice under U.N. escort, acknowledged the Albanians would likely remain a “hostile population” for some time, so the question of who would actually man border posts would have to be answered pragmatically.

He said it was primarily up to the international community to guarantee the settlement, “in the form of a civilian and military mission for some period, to keep the peace”.

“The EU is ready to pay,” Samardzic said. “....maybe it’s cheaper than 30 years of clashes.”

NATO bombed Serbia for 11 weeks in 1999 [...] Serb troops were forced to pull out and the U.N. took over. Over 100,000 Serbs fled, fearing Albanian revenge attacks [the actual number of Serbs and other non-Albanians who fled the province since June 1999 is over 250,000; they did not leave merely “fearing revenge”, but were forced to flee through constant attacks, torching, looting and intimidation which included 155 Serbian churches that were razed to the ground during the past eight years. But Reuters certainly can’t be expected to start telling the full truth overnight, after a decade of lies].

“Independence is just a magic word,” Samardzic said. “They get empty symbolism, and they will be a black hole in Europe.”

“We are looking for a historical compromise that will satisfy both legitimate interests,” he stressed. “If one side imposes a solution on the other, we are only postponing our conflict, and it will last decades.”

“I think our solution is conciliatory, it’s not about absolute victory.”

Cartoon by Miodrag Velickovic (Serbia)

Posted by Svetlana at 06:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Attempts to Intimidate and Chase Serbian Humanitarian Out of Kosovo Province

Tanjug reports that early on Thursday, “unidentified perpetrators” fired shots at the house of Zoran Maksimovic, director of the humanitarian organization Decija Radost (Children’s Joy), situated in the ethnically mixed village of Gornji Livoc, Kosovo-Metohija Municipality of Gnjilane.

The attack occurred around 2 a.m., Maksimovic said in a statement for Tanjug. No one was injured, even though his mother, brother, sister-in-law and two children were in the house with him at the time, he said, adding that this is not the first attack on him or on his family.

He was fired at earlier while in his car and, in a separate incident, “unknown perpetrators” killed his dog.

Maksimovic is also a coordinator in the humanitarian organization Our Serbia which takes care of more than 1,000 war orphans.

Remaining Inhabitants of the Village Torched in 2004 Pogrom Ordered Out

Some 80 Serbs from the village Svinjare — razed to the ground and torched during the March 2004 Albanian pogrom of Serbs in Kosovo province — who are living in two unfinished buildings in the center of Zvecane, close to Kosovska Mitrovica, said Thursday that they have been ordered to move out right before the start of winter, by September 23.

The representative of the villagers, Milorad Radivojevic, said that two months ago the Zvecan municipality assembly informed them that they have to move out within 60 days.

Radivojevic said that they wrote to UNMIK Chief Joachim Ruecker, informing him about their problems and requesting that a solution is found since it is impossible for them to return to Svinjare.

The displaced villagers told Ruecker that if adequate accommodation is not found for them or if this problem is not resolved with the Zvecan authorities, they would enter the UNMIK facilities and remain there until the issue of their accommodation is solved.

The 80 displaced Svinjare villagers, including small children, have been living in the two unfinished buildings since March 20, 2004 in very harsh conditions, without drinking water and the basic sewage.

ICTY Ignores Cases of Kidnapped and Killed Kosovo Serbs

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) systematically ignores and does not prosecute the cases of Serbs kidnapped and killed in Kosovo-Metohija province, which is completely unacceptable, the Serbian Ministry for Kosovo-Metohija said in a statement on Thursday.

According to the data collected by the association of families, which aims to determine the facts in these cases, the number of kidnapped and killed Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija is over 2,700.

The statement said that the Ministry called for a responsible approach to this issue by all interested sides.

The Ministry believes that the process of determination of the fate of the kidnapped and determination of responsibility for each individual case of kidnapping of Kosovo Serbs, including criminal responsibility for the perpetrators of these crimes, represents one of the most important activities with the aim of ensuring reconciliation between Serbs and Albanians and stabilization of the situation in Serbia’s southern province.

The statement follows the meeting of State Secretary for Kosovo-Metohija Dusan Prorokovic with representatives of the Association of the Families of Kidnapped and Killed Kosovo Serbs, where the discrimination of the ICTY and local institutions headed by UNMIK in Kosovo against Kosovo Serb victims was discussed.

Posted by Svetlana at 04:16 PM | Permalink

Lavrov: Unilateral Moves Will Trigger a Chain Reaction

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia opposes setting artificial deadlines for the Kosovo status talks. Following a meeting with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner in Moscow, he warned that a possible unilateral declaration of independence by the Kosovo Albanian separatists would trigger a chain reaction in different parts of Europe and the world.

“I do not see how a unilateral recognition of Kosovo’s independence can stabilize the situation in Europe. It will rather trigger a chain reaction in various parts and continents of the world,” Lavrov told a press conference in Moscow on Tuesday, adding that Russia wants to avoid such a scenario.

Russian Foreign Minister strongly opposed the idea that December 10, when mediating troika is expected to submit the progress report to the UN Secretary General, could be turned into a “deadline” by which the negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina have to end.

Kosovo Problem Requires Work, Not Predictions

“We are not setting deadlines for the creation of a Palestinian state that the Palestinians have been seeking for sixty years, or for resolving the whole Arab-Israeli conflict. In all these situations, we are urging further negotiations. The same applies to Kosovo,” Sergei Lavrov said.

He warned that “if someone keeps saying that a declaration of independence is inevitable, this will not encourage the Kosovo Albanians to negotiate.”

However, if we call on Belgrade and Pristina to reach an agreement, the chances are not bad, the Russian minister concluded, and added that the Kosovo problem “requires work, not forecasts,” tipping on certain outcome as if it was a betting issue.

Alekseyev: West Will Bear Responsibility for Unilateral Declarations

That Moscow staunchly opposes setting deadlines to the Kosovo status talks was confirmed by the Russian Ambassador to Belgrade on Wednesday.

“Russia supports a proposal put forward by Belgrade to have the Kosovo status on the agenda during direct talks between the parties in New York on September 28,” Aleksandar Alekseyev said for a Belgrade TV station.

“The time is right to exert pressure on the Albanian side to assume a more constructive position in the negotiations,” said Alekseyev, adding it is evident the West continues to support Kosovo Albanians in their bid for independence.

“A unilateral proclamation of independence is impossible without the support from the West, and those in favor of the idea would have to take over an immense load of responsibility,” he said, stressing that the consequences of such unilateral moves “could be disastrous.”

December 10 Time for Progress Report, Not an End of Negotiations

“December 10 marks the day when the UN Secretary General should receive a progress report form the Contact Group Troika, a review of the talks in progress,” the Russian ambassador said.

“You will not see a single document of the Troika saying that December 10 marks the end of the talks.”

“It would be good to reach an agreement by then and Russia is ready to work on it. But December 10 is surely not the end of the process,” concluded Alekseyev.