Monday, May 16, 2005

Kosumi: Definitively, Prime Minister of `northern Kosovo Serbs too

Koha Ditore carries the second part of an interview with Prime Minister Bajram Kosumi. ‘It is not enclavisation if Galabi becomes a municipality. If Graçanica becomes municipality with Serb majority that is no enclavization whatsoever, but it is part of direct administration for the people, in order for them not to go and wait in Pristina for weeks for a birth certificate’.

I am working to offer projects to solve our problems. The problem of Kosovo Serbs here is our problem, and [it’s not up to] Belgrade to offer solutions. I can say openly that the Kosovo politicians have made a terrible problem in their approach to Kosovo Serbs over the last six years. Kosovo politicians have been dealing more with Belgrade than with Kosovo Serbs.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

I must say that the last paragraph is a very smart policy of the prime minister. Kosova politicians have to engage the local Serbs. One only has to hope now that they will find it appealing.

Anonymous said...

2:57
I agree with your assessment and the Prime Ministers as well.
Kosovo Serbs are Kosovars and need to take part in the process. I believe they know their future is with Kosovo and the Albanians rather than with Serbia and the politicians that play with them as puppets. It is time for the Kosovar Serbs to have their own stance and choose their freedom from Belgrade, but the only ones who can convince them to do that are the Albanians.

Anonymous said...

Yes, Kosovar Serbs are indeed Kosovar. Their future lies in Kosova, not with Serbia who has betrayed them and used them. This from a Kosovar Albanian...

Anonymous said...

Kosovo Serbs are citizens of Serbia and Montenegro, as well as Kosovo Albanians, whether they like it or not.
If PM is honest in what he said, then I praise him, but too much harm was done to minorities of Kosovo in past 6 years. It will take lots of time for Serbs to trust their fellowmen of Albanian nationality.
During Milosevic Albanians didn't enjoy all rights, but at least they had their freedom of movement, were able to have their private business, those who wanted worked for institutions, and all that is so much different from what Serbs enjoy in Kosovo today.
Albanians turned from "victims" into crime perpetrators.
An honest look at themselves would show them how hypocritical they are.

Anonymous said...

I feel that the Kosovar Albanians are slowly, but surely, accepting the Kosovar Serbs back into society.

Unfortunately, the Kosovar Serbs have been used, chewed, and puppeted that much by Belgrade, that they have isolated themselves from society.

It seems however, that they are finally starting to realise this and are now making slow steps into society.

In due time, the Kosovar Serbs will realise that they are actually a lot more privileged in Kosovo, due to their minority status, and right or wrong, they should take advantage of this and take part.

Anonymous said...

#4 Joan:

How can a Kosovar be a citizen of SCG when they don't travel with SCG passports, drive cars that have have car plates different to SCG, no law that is valid in SCG is valid in Kosova, the police service in Kosova is completely independent, but most importantly Kosova has their own customs. Excluse me, but I do not recall a country with two completely independent customs, do you? The list is endless, and myself as a Kosovar today nothing, absolutely nothing connects me SCG. I even have a Kosovar ID card which I use abroad.

In addition, your second point is completely distorted. Kosovars had the freedom of movement under Serb occupation because Kosovars respected the laws such as driving cars with Serbian car plates, paying car insurance, paying taxes and bills... the list is endless.

Whereas Kosovar Serbs today refuse to get driving licences which are valid in Kosova, do not pay for car insurance, do not pay any taxes whatsoever, do not pay for their bills... again, an endless list. I hope you appreciate the difference. Kosovar Serbs today have more of a problem with the law and law enforcers rather than political problems. By refusing to get car plates that are valid in Kosova, they are violating the local laws and drawing unwanted attention to themselves.

Anonymous said...

I am sorry, but I have to disagree with you. Kosovo being governed by UNMIK now does not mean that Kosovo is independent. I also know that Albanians go to nearby cities in Serbia proper and wait in the line to get their Serbia passports.
What happened in Kosovo under first SRSG was violation of internationally recognized laws. That includes Kosovo plates. On the other hand, you can’t travel to many places with those tags on, can’t you? With Serbian plates however, you can. Same for passports. You hold Travel Document, not a passport. You loose it-to which embassy you go to?
Country code for telephone is 381, correct? If you were independent then why don’t you have different country code, or banking code, or more political power for that matter? Answer is simple. Because you are not independent.

Your comments on Kosovars respecting the laws during Milosevic, is justifiable in a simple way. Back then you had rule of law. Today you don’t. All you got today is corruption in legal system, where decisions are passed in favor of those who give more money, or who they know. That is your reality today. With system like this, you’ll simply become second Albania, under Hoxha.

USA is also loosing patience with your immaturity, and the way you treat other non-Albanians and their cultural heritage. Our interests are somewhere else right now, and we want Europeans to take over most of the competences from UNMIK.
You had 6 years to show that you deserve the status you are claiming, but to date you failed. USA won’t be able to support you on that one if radical changes don’t take place.

Anonymous said...

The country telephone number is coming ;)

As for treating non-Albanians and culture, it happened ONLY in March, but it keeps happening today to Romas in Serbia too..huh we're all guilty of this are we?

Tell me a country except for Sweden and Denmark where money doesn't influence the courts? Or you want to include Serbia into that list? Hehe, another joke for Conan O'Brian.

The way I see it, Serbia can't bring up "law" here cause as a violator of human rights it has caused massive harm to the other party (Kosovars both Albanian and Serb) and thus can only turn its head and deal with its domestic problems and leave us alone.

Anonymous said...

No. It didn't happen in March only. It was happening since '99 on a high scale. I can even get you links for it.

You pointing out the Roma issue in Serbia, shows only immaturity "oh, they have it, why shouldn't we?" You should be concerned about what treatment YOU provide to minorities, including Roma people you're mentioning. And just for the record, there are so many Roma people that refuse to come back to Kosovo and prefer to stay in Serbia. Can you tell me why that is?

Corruption exists everywhere, even in States. The difference is how high it gets? Kosovo has VERY high corruption level. Again, if other countries have corruption, you should not use that as an excuse for Kosovo. You should acknowledge the problem and do something about it in the ways you can. When your whole society gets to that level of mental awareness, then I can see hope for you guys. Right now, am very pessimistic.

You don't realize that you have so many unresolved issues among yourselves, and that your status is not going to change the way your society functions. What would you do tomorrow when all internationals are gone, no money invested into Kosovo, all fertile land used for construction, Kosovo run by some party that wants to stay in power forever? Your people would starve, and criminal would blossom. Who are you going to blame then?
You believe that investments would simply pour in if you get independence, but I say you are wrong. With cheap labor in China, Vietnam, Thailand, no one would come to Kosovo to invest; only your Diaspora and God knows if purpose would be money laundering or simply honest business.
Wake up people! Clock is ticking…

Anonymous said...

Can't all the Albanians in Kosovo who are fed up living in Serbia go to Croatia or Bosnia (not Republika Srpska - Thanks)If not there is always

1. Albania
2.Macedonia
3. Turkey
4. The rest of the world

or

the moon/Mars (also Albanian as they were settled there before the Martians well

failing that lets all live together in peace.

Anonymous said...

To: Joan USA.

1. I did not say that Kosova is independent today. You changed the topic to your favour. Let me write it to you in a very simple language so that you can understand me: (a) I am not a citizen of SCG; (b) I have a son who was born three years ago in Prishtina and he is certainly not a citizen of SCG (all his documents are UNMIK/Kosovar documents and Serbia or SCG is not mentioned in any of them).

The fact that I am not a citizen of SCG does not imply that Kosova is independent. Clear?

2. I have a Travel Document and I am very happy with it. It is not a passport, nevertheless the fact that the name Serbia does not appear anywhere on it makes me more than happy. Now, some people like to have other passports and that's fine (even Americans do it, check Bobby Fischer's story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4374811.stm); however, the point is that as a Kosovar you do not have to have a SCG passport to travel abroad. This is crucial. And, the majority of Kosovars do not have SCG passports whether you like it or not.

If I loose my travel document while aborad, I go to the nearest police station to report the loss of my travel document, and I get returned to my home country. When I am back to Kosova, I get my new travel document. What's the problem?

Also, I travel where I can travel, where I can't then I just stay at home. No big deal.

Needless to say, as a US citizen you cannot go to Cuba. Therefore, you do not go there. So what? Big deal?

3. I can travel to a number of countries with 'KS' tags (including Greece from this week). I am more than happy with this. Brilliant, I can travel with tags that are other then SCG. Great! Now, I only drive where they are accepted, no problem. I don't care, big deal. The main point is that I can drive a car which does not have SCG tags. That's what makes me smile.

4. I don't know about you, but when I am abroad I ring home using +377. Again, different to SCG. In addition, I hear rumours we might even get our own country code. Who knows?

5. We do have a swift code for banking which is different to SCG. Didn't you know this?

6. With regards to corruption in legal system, do you know of any specific case, because if you do you must report it to the police. And your comparison to Albania under Hoxha was completely misplaced. What makes you think that people paid money to judges in Albania while Hoxha was alive?

7. US's interest is certainly somewhere else right now. Like in Uzbekistan, for example. Go do something useful there, save innocent lives and do not support dictators.

8. There are many 'immaturities' with the US government as well. Look at what is happening in Guantanamo Bay or Abu Ghraib. Are we to accuse ordinary Americans for what is happening there? Come on, you can do better than that. You cannot accuse ordinary Kosovars because of the actions of "a few rotten apples" as Bush would put it.

9. Finally, you cannot and will not ever understand other people's desire for freedom. You will never understand Kosovars desire for freedom from Serbia, because you have never suffered repression, been occupied or persecuted.

So, yes, you can go on and on and on 'teaching' us what we should do and how we should feel, but you should know that no one in this world wants more the rule of law, a functioning society, fairness and no curruption than the people who have been repressed, occupied and persecuted.

Belive you me, I know better than you what Kosova has and what it has not, what Kosova needs and what it does not need. And if you think that we do not know them and you need to come and teach us, then I am very sorry but you must be extremely naive.

10. If being occupied, repressed, mistreated and presecuted under Milosevic you describe as "back then you had rule of law" then your understanding of the rule of law is fundamentaly flawed.

From Kosova With Love.

Anonymous said...

Joan USA,

"you should not use that as an excuse for Kosovo. You should acknowledge the problem and do something about it in the ways you can. When your whole society gets to that level of mental awareness, then I can see hope for you guys. Right now, am very pessimistic."

Then give us a chance to grow and become what you say we should. Obviouslty we are at the state we are in because Serbia closed our universities, persecuted our teachers, poisoned our children. So if we are to get to where you say we should, we need to be separate from that northern neighbour.

Therefore, those criminals you speak of, those parties, will desolve soon. If our society was so Sodomic as you say, we would have perished long ago, instead we are still around even with an enemy such as Serbia.

So give us a chance if you realy consider yourself human, if you follow Jessus/Buddha/Krishna/Muhamed or any unknown/existent/or inexistet entity (in case you're atheist).

And just as an example, we did have this chance from 1974 - 1989, and we used it, and it is during these years people (like a few posters here) came out, people who are open minded and want peace, so imagine what a liberty from Serbia would bring, a flourishing of life, not only for Albanians but for the whole of Europe.

Anonymous said...

I follow the comments with great interest and I can say that those that speak for serbians and those who speak for the K albanians have their points on each side. However, I would like to state some remarks. Its a big shame that some people have lured the K albanians that they would gain independence. Maybe they are worth it, I dont know, but unfortunatelly, they will not have it.
I have talked with a lot of very high rank friends and officials in the system. I.e. UN, EU, USA etc. who are very much into what is happening politically round the globe. They are working hard to get "the boat into harbour". In other words, Serbia will not have Kosovo like before 1999. Kosovo will not be independent. So, what to do ? THEY DONT KNOW YET!! Its a political game but those two different options are totally out of the question as far as I have heard. Some guess that the "talks" will last for at least 3-4 years since everybody must say their things and in the meantime, stall the things.

Anonymous said...

1:06 Maybe you have insider information. Nothing will stop the Kosovars from the freedom they so want and they so deserve. In fact nothing today can stop people from freedom, not even occupiers and suppresors like Serbs. The world has changed today, globalization is enforcing democracy and free trade economies. If Serbia still feels that Kosovo should not enjoy independence that it is employing a regressive force against a global avalanche. It can not be done.

Anonymous said...

Here is what a brainwashed Serb says:

"but too much harm was done to minorities of Kosovo in past 6 years. It will take lots of time for Serbs to trust their fellowmen of Albanian nationality.
During Milosevic Albanians didn't enjoy all rights, but at least they had their freedom of movement,"

During Milosebiatche's time we had so much freedom that one day more than 1 million of us decided to live through the mountains and wildernes and picnic in Albania and FYROM. What an idiot. Do you want me to remind you of the very detailed plan your government had for the total anihilation of the whole Albanian popullation in Kosovo? If u don't rememeber it I can post it here, the very same words that came out of your deputy prime minister.

As to that guy who has inside info, wtf are u talking about dude. You may know a couple of parasite EU officials who feed and become wealthy on the shoulders of oppressed people like the Kosovars. U know nothing. In the end its up to the USA, and Bush, and as allways the British, the Canadian, the Australians, the German may follow or abstain, the Italians will not follow but will change their mind when decisionmaking nears, the French will be against whatever USA's decision is follow, and the Russians as always will be against the Albanians and even agree with the USA if it means masacring more Albanians. This is how things have always worked in the Balkans. Bush has the keys, Albanians the desire for freedom and if somebody decide to lock us in then it total war, and chaos and like we've done for millenias we'll survive the desire our neighbors have for our ultimate downfall like we've always done. Last note; USA has come to our rescue a couple of times.