Byzantine Blog

NATO/UNMIK "Protection": 70 Serbs Injured, 15 Seriously

Around 70 Serbs were injured in Kosovska Mitrovica on Monday morning, of whom 15 seriously injured patients were hospitalized, while two persons who had received life-threatening injuries were transported to Kragujevac and Belgrade, head of the Mitrovica hospital Vladimir Adzic told Tanjug.

"The patients we admitted sustained injuries from bombs, tear gas and explosive devices. We removed a metal bullet from the temple area of one patient, while another patient had bomb fragments all over his body," Dr. Adzic said, adding that "some 15 seriously injured citizens have injuries all over their body which were inflicted with shrapnel and fire arms."

The two persons who are in critical condition, Nebojsa Vukomanovic (36) from Lesak and Ilija Cuci (33), were transported to Kragujevac and Belgrade. Nebojsa Vukomanovic who was shot in the head by UNMIK police, underwent surgery in a Kragujevac hospital but remains in coma and was placed on life support, intensive care surgeon Djordje Ugrinovic told Tanjug.

UNMIK and NATO Mark March Pogrom Anniversary with More Violence Against Serbs

To mark the March pogrom anniversary, UNMIK sent special police unit early in the morning, at 5.30 am, which launched an unexpected attack, storming the building of the Municipal and District Court in northern Kosovska Mitrovica where Serbian judicial workers were protesting, seeking to negotiate with UNMIK officials to be allowed to return to work, after they were illegally discharged by the internationals back in 1999.

The police seized the court building, removed two Serbian flags from the building balconies and arrested 53 judges and court employees, who did not resist the arrest. As they were taken in the UNMIK trucks towards Pristina, Serbs who were supporting the protesters stopped the vehicles and freed 21 of the arrestees. The other 32 judicial workers, 12 of them women, were taken to Pristina prison. They were quickly returned to Kosovska Mitrovica, after sharp protests by Belgrade officials and demands for their urgent release by Kosovo-Metohia Minister Slobodan Samardzic, who is in Kosovo province today.

Members of KFOR and UNMIK threw tear gas and shock bombs on several hundred Serbs who, in a revolt against the action by the international forces, gathered outside the court building in Kosovska Mitrovica to prevent their arrested fellow citizens from being taken to prison.

Kostunica: Consultations with Russia Over Joint Reaction to Halt Violence Against Kosovo Serbs

According to Tanjug, Serbian Premier Vojislav Kostunica condemned the use of force in strongest terms and lodged a sharp protest with UNMIK over the violence against the Serbs in Kosovska Mitrovica, saying that consultations with Russia over a joint reaction are under way with the aim of the immediate halting of the violence against the Serbs.

"I condemn in the strongest possible terms the use of force against Serbs protesting the establishing of a sham state in the territory of Serbia. A part of the international community that is implementing the policy of force against Serbia, has chosen March 17 to apply physical force against the Serbs in the north of the province," Kostunica said in a statement sent to Tanjug.

The mandate of the UN mission "is to prevent all forms of violence in Kosovo and Metohija, rather than to carry out violence against and the intimidation of the Serbs, and this is why we are protesting in the strongest possible terms," Kostunica said.

He stated that "consultations with Russia have begun over a joint reaction so that all forms of violence against the Serbs should stop at once."

Kostunica stressed that the UN Security Council is fully responsible to act in keeping with its Resolution 1244 to ensure the safety of the Kosovo-Metohija Serbs and it must undertake all the necessary steps to end its own persistent abuses immediately.

Churkin: NATO Must Not Use Force Against Those Opposing Illegal Independence

Russia's Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said that NATO forces in Kosovo and Metohija must not use force against persons who oppose the illegal unilateral independence of the southern Serbian province.

"The demands of the Security Council towards NATO are simple — no violence can be applied towards those who do not want to submit to an illegal, unilateral declaration of independence," Churkin said in an interview with Noviye Izvestia, which appeared on Monday.

All employees of international organizations working in the region must strictly abide by Resolution 1244, which clearly says that their obligation is to ensure security in Kosovo-Metohia province, the return of refugees, the creation of normal conditions for the lives of people, and certainly not to act in violation of Resolution 1244. "Should NATO forces continue to violate the resolution, we will raise the issue in the Security Council," the Russian ambassador to the UN said.

Churkin said that a large number of countries members of the UN and Security Council members share the concern of Russia over the violation of international law by the recognition of Pristina separatists' declaration on behalf of some states.

"The UN secretary general during the discussions about Kosovo reiterated that Resolution 1244, which speaks about the territorial integrity of Serbia, remains in force. UN presence in Kosovo will continue within the frameworks of that resolution and there is no political, legal or moral justification for a unilateral declaration of independence," Churkin said.

"That statement by the secretary general had not met with opposition from any member of the Security Council," he added, and pointed out that Russia would do everything for "the illegally established EU mission in Kosovo not to obstruct the work of UN representatives."