Ruecker reassures Kosovo Serbs

Serbs arent returning beceause they have nothing to return to and are in constant danger!!! Are we sure he is talking about Kosovo????

If Ruecker was a man in whom's words could be counted upon regarding safety and a life worth living for all non-Albanians in the Serbian province then he would have said

"I think integration, co-existence, living together, multi-ethnicity is the future and I think the international community has made very clear that partition is not a solution for Serbia's future."

Princip UK

I read your arguments (if you want to call them so, since they don’t have any reasons to back the claim) everyday and I’m amused how ethnocentric you can be.
“If Ruecker was a man in whom's words could be counted upon regarding safety and a life worth living for all non-Albanians in the Serbian province then he would have said”
When you say all non-Albanians you mean all Serbs, right, because all ethnicities except Serbs are pro-independence. No offense to you man, but you are the worst researcher I have ever seen. Please do give me facts when Turkish, Gypsies, Bosnians, etc, have protested against the independence. Please do tell me when they argued that they are feeling threatened in Kosovo. I apologize for being so straight forward but I think you deserve to hear it from somebody, and that somebody happened to be me. Can’t wait to read your copy and paste.

Obilic, those serbs that have committed crimes don't have anything to look for in Kosova, so yes, they will be in danger from being thrown in prison or payback from the very people they committed crimes against. On the other hand, if they had no part in the killing machine of your oh-so-saint leader Milosevic, those Serbs and Montenegrins are still living in Kosova today (I would know - they are my neighbors).

Princip, you crack me up as always. As soon as I start reading your rhetoric, it sounds like a chapter from the kingdom of heaven, then BAAAM with the punch line, which has nothing to do with the wellbeing of people living there, but entirely with Kosova getting back under the bloody claws of serbia. Excellent ...

Good day to all.

When you say all non-Albanians you mean all Serbs, right, because all ethnicities except Serbs are pro-independence. (Uran, Thursday, 1 March, 2007, 17:49)

There are very few "non Albanians left" in Kosovo, it was not only the Serbs who left Kosovo , many Roma's were forced out and the small Catholic Croatian community all but left. They were essentially forced out by the Albanian extremists, namely the KLA and UCK. This also included some Albanians who were sympathetic to the Milosevic regime who were summarily executed by the KLA and UCK.

Ruecker can talk all he wants about reassuring Serbs to return, but as long as trust between the two communities is absent, there won't be anybody returning. K-Serbs will pack up and leave their homeland begrudgingly because they believe they won't be safe in an independent Kosovo.

I have to disagree with your comments slightly Jeton. I've read a number of times from commentators on this site that all the K-Serbs that left after 1999 were collaborators. I find that hard to believe. Yes, some did collaborate with Milosevic, and some were responsible for taking part in the ethnic crimes, but I'm more likely to believe that the vast majority left because of threats to security and livelihood. The mob, be it Albanian, Serbian, or whoever, doesn't take the time to discriminate between who are guilty and who are innocent. The mob simply torches, destroys, and kills. The 2004 riots didn't discriminate either. It was simply "target anything that looks Serbian that gets in your way". With that said, many Serb (and Albanian) refugees have left because they've been forcibly uprooted from their homes, had family members kidnapped or worse, or just have their property confiscated. This has nothing to do with collaboration or whatnot. Without guarantees to life, freedom, and property, NO ONE is going to stay.

"Ruecker said the status proposal would "make absolutely sure that all the minorities, including the Kosovo Serbs, are not only going to be protected but are going to have a good future in Kosovo"."
To Mr. Ruecker, I demand he explain the abandonment of the "Standards" part of "Standards before Status". No "Standards" equals no true protection for the Serbian population. 1244 laid out clear proposals for the protections of minorities and that was not adhered to, what evidence do they have that somehow this proposal will be any different?
If the International Community wanted to make the claim that minorities will be protected, they should have abided by the "Standards" requirements. Any statements now about the protection of the Serbian population is utter hypocrisy.
I do not blame the Kosovars for this, I blame the International Community. You can not give up on minority protection, and then say for some magic reason that it exists. They already said it didn't!
Uran, we had Albanian posters earlier calling the Roma in Kosovo "Serbs" because they spoke Serbian! Even if you do not see them negatively, enough posters here have made it clear that they feel the Roma were as guilty as the Serbs for what happened and do not recognize the difference between the two.

The US still has 70k military personnel in Germany and another 11k in the UK 60 years after the end of WW2.Why does the US not consider the Balkans important enough to keep 10k US troops there?No need for anybody to answer this because I already know the answer.

Why must Reucker, Athisarri, or the International community have to assure anything??

Independence comes with assurance. If those assurances can't be met........well, then do the math. Until then, both Belgrade and Pristina play their games.

Obviously, the good meaning Albanians of Kosovo, and the minority Serbs left in their enclaves are being held hostage here..

The notion that Serbia should retain control of Kosovo where 90% of the population is Albanian is simply not realistic in spite of the fact that it has been at one point the cradle of Serbian civilization. Let us be practical here, the issue of fundamental importance is preserving the security of those that remain and give the right of return to those who have been expelled. The Serbs must come to terms with this and the Kosovars must show a willingness to extend fundamental human rights to its minority; only at that point can the Kosovar Albanians legitimize their demands for self-governance.

Please do give me facts when Turkish... Please tell me when they argued that they are feeling threatened in Kosovo

Well Uranus looks like you are mistaken."ethnic Turks fear an independent Kosovo ruled by the Albanian elite will only mean assimilation or de facto deportation for them. They fear rising Albanian nationalism may turn violent against the Turks of Kosovo. Ironically, most ethnic Turks in Kosovo empathize with ethnic Serbs vis-à-vis the Albanians, disregarding their religious unity with the predominant Albanian ethnicity."
http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=16382

I agree with Pijetro.

someone is playing around with the balkans, and it´s just sad to watch it.
as long as the K-albanians don´t come to reason, there will be foreign influence dictating in the region more than necessary.

Who is Ruecker to assure anyone? Be realistic! NATO cannot defend itself from the Albanian extremists - or discourage them from attacking it - so how are the Serb civilians going to defend themselves?

answer to luciano:

"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free"

Johann Wolfgang Goethe

This was the same man who declared so many times "there is no evidence that the attack was ethinically motivated" whenever an violence on K-minorities occured.

K-Serbs afraid for their security should not move to central Serbia. They should move to north Kosovo to further cement their majority there. This will give the Serbs more bargaining strength.

To out of touch Konstantin Gregorevic

"There are very few "non Albanians left" in Kosovo, it was not only the Serbs who left Kosovo , many Roma's were forced out and the small Catholic Croatian community all but left. They were essentially forced out by the Albanian extremists, namely the KLA and UCK. This also included some Albanians who were sympathetic to the Milosevic regime who were summarily executed by the KLA and UCK.
(konstantin gregovic, Thursday, 1 March, 2007, 18:31)"

Mr Gregorevic i am not going to insult you on what you comented as it is useless to debate with you! However i will advice you not to spread out romours to Serbians throughout the world particularly the Serbians in Kosovo. it shows that you have no clue about Kosovo it is obvious that all the info youve got on Kosovo is from the Serbian state run media! from the milosevic era! to make the story short you have totally cracked me up and i bet others too! who actually are well informed on the kosovo issue. I say this due to the fact you cant distinguish the difference between the KLA and UCK! I will tutor you mr. gregorevic there is no difference at all they are the same one. KLA is UCK! KLA is for english(Kosovo Liberation Army) while UCK is albanian (Ushtria Clirimtare e Kosoves).
Please dont make comments on something that you know nothing about. let the Serbians come back to Kosovo and live alongside the Albanian neighbors while likes of you and others get on with your lives! because i will!
Kosovo will be independent regrdless what we all say in here...
god bless you all
Sean

Mike,

I hope you did get some of the hidden sarcasm in my post. But let me reply to your argument anyways. I do agree with you that not all of the displaced are criminals – I mean, that would be just idiotic to think that is the be all and end all. BUT, there is an abundance of them that indeed do fit that profile. Couple that with inflating the numbers (I am sure you know that numbers can be manipulated to prove almost anything) of displaced people, you have a good amount (maybe the majority) of these displaced persons. Couple that with some legitimate displaced persons (using number inflation again if needed), you have more than two or three hundred thousand “non-Albanians” displaced.
As I said, and I cannot really disprove this, there were revenge attacks against Serbs, so they left, others followed not wanting their fate, etc. But, making ALL of them, by giving them a label that ALL of them of being innocent and worst victims since the dark/middle ages, it’s just weak. That’s what I find appalling, and protest, and not because I somehow enjoy seeing human beings being on red tractors and sleeping in hell holes, regardless if they are Albanian or Serbs.

I do agree that without basic guarantees to life, liberty and justice there is no way people are going to return. But then again, what kind of guarantees is Belgrade giving to Albanians? They had almost a full century to prove that they can respect us and guarantee us the basic principles being able to live life. On the other hand, I am not saying that Albanian ruled Kosova is going to be a kingdom of heaven, but at least Kosovars won’t be under the rule of the very state that has repressed them for so long – I don’t think that should be a shock to anyone with two grams of brain capable of reasoning. Seeing the current state of affairs in Serbia, as much as I personally would like to believe that the government (and people!) have changed, actions and rhetoric of the elected officials makes things much harder to convince anyone, much less that the very people they represent haven’t voiced any discontent (to a larger scale than a handful of people) of what is being done in their name.

Seriously do only Albanians read this site?What an absolute joke this is,The Serbs have left in droves because of the lack of security and then this muppet has the nerve to come out and say they have nothing to worry about if it becomes independent,if you cant protect them now what hope is their under the Albanians who bring new meaning to the word lawlessness.And Albanian policeman protecting Serbian sacred sites and churches seriously what planet do these politicians come from,not Earth thats for sure.

However i will advice you not to spread out romours (Sean, Friday, 2 March, 2007, 02:51)

Your post is very insulting, stick to the facts. Of course the UCK and KLA are one of the same. So is Agim Ceku, KLA and UCK.

Serbs arent returning beceause they have nothing to return to and are in constant danger!!! Are we sure he is talking about Kosovo????

If Ruecker was a man in whom's words could be counted upon regarding safety and a life worth living for all non-Albanians in the Serbian province then he would have said

"I think integration, co-existence, living together, multi-ethnicity is the future and I think the international community has made very clear that partition is not a solution for Serbia's future."

Princip UK

I read your arguments (if you want to call them so, since they don’t have any reasons to back the claim) everyday and I’m amused how ethnocentric you can be.
“If Ruecker was a man in whom's words could be counted upon regarding safety and a life worth living for all non-Albanians in the Serbian province then he would have said”
When you say all non-Albanians you mean all Serbs, right, because all ethnicities except Serbs are pro-independence. No offense to you man, but you are the worst researcher I have ever seen. Please do give me facts when Turkish, Gypsies, Bosnians, etc, have protested against the independence. Please do tell me when they argued that they are feeling threatened in Kosovo. I apologize for being so straight forward but I think you deserve to hear it from somebody, and that somebody happened to be me. Can’t wait to read your copy and paste.

Obilic, those serbs that have committed crimes don't have anything to look for in Kosova, so yes, they will be in danger from being thrown in prison or payback from the very people they committed crimes against. On the other hand, if they had no part in the killing machine of your oh-so-saint leader Milosevic, those Serbs and Montenegrins are still living in Kosova today (I would know - they are my neighbors).

Princip, you crack me up as always. As soon as I start reading your rhetoric, it sounds like a chapter from the kingdom of heaven, then BAAAM with the punch line, which has nothing to do with the wellbeing of people living there, but entirely with Kosova getting back under the bloody claws of serbia. Excellent ...

Good day to all.

When you say all non-Albanians you mean all Serbs, right, because all ethnicities except Serbs are pro-independence. (Uran, Thursday, 1 March, 2007, 17:49)

There are very few "non Albanians left" in Kosovo, it was not only the Serbs who left Kosovo , many Roma's were forced out and the small Catholic Croatian community all but left. They were essentially forced out by the Albanian extremists, namely the KLA and UCK. This also included some Albanians who were sympathetic to the Milosevic regime who were summarily executed by the KLA and UCK.

Ruecker can talk all he wants about reassuring Serbs to return, but as long as trust between the two communities is absent, there won't be anybody returning. K-Serbs will pack up and leave their homeland begrudgingly because they believe they won't be safe in an independent Kosovo.

I have to disagree with your comments slightly Jeton. I've read a number of times from commentators on this site that all the K-Serbs that left after 1999 were collaborators. I find that hard to believe. Yes, some did collaborate with Milosevic, and some were responsible for taking part in the ethnic crimes, but I'm more likely to believe that the vast majority left because of threats to security and livelihood. The mob, be it Albanian, Serbian, or whoever, doesn't take the time to discriminate between who are guilty and who are innocent. The mob simply torches, destroys, and kills. The 2004 riots didn't discriminate either. It was simply "target anything that looks Serbian that gets in your way". With that said, many Serb (and Albanian) refugees have left because they've been forcibly uprooted from their homes, had family members kidnapped or worse, or just have their property confiscated. This has nothing to do with collaboration or whatnot. Without guarantees to life, freedom, and property, NO ONE is going to stay.

"Ruecker said the status proposal would "make absolutely sure that all the minorities, including the Kosovo Serbs, are not only going to be protected but are going to have a good future in Kosovo"."
To Mr. Ruecker, I demand he explain the abandonment of the "Standards" part of "Standards before Status". No "Standards" equals no true protection for the Serbian population. 1244 laid out clear proposals for the protections of minorities and that was not adhered to, what evidence do they have that somehow this proposal will be any different?
If the International Community wanted to make the claim that minorities will be protected, they should have abided by the "Standards" requirements. Any statements now about the protection of the Serbian population is utter hypocrisy.
I do not blame the Kosovars for this, I blame the International Community. You can not give up on minority protection, and then say for some magic reason that it exists. They already said it didn't!
Uran, we had Albanian posters earlier calling the Roma in Kosovo "Serbs" because they spoke Serbian! Even if you do not see them negatively, enough posters here have made it clear that they feel the Roma were as guilty as the Serbs for what happened and do not recognize the difference between the two.

The US still has 70k military personnel in Germany and another 11k in the UK 60 years after the end of WW2.Why does the US not consider the Balkans important enough to keep 10k US troops there?No need for anybody to answer this because I already know the answer.

Why must Reucker, Athisarri, or the International community have to assure anything??

Independence comes with assurance. If those assurances can't be met........well, then do the math. Until then, both Belgrade and Pristina play their games.

Obviously, the good meaning Albanians of Kosovo, and the minority Serbs left in their enclaves are being held hostage here..

The notion that Serbia should retain control of Kosovo where 90% of the population is Albanian is simply not realistic in spite of the fact that it has been at one point the cradle of Serbian civilization. Let us be practical here, the issue of fundamental importance is preserving the security of those that remain and give the right of return to those who have been expelled. The Serbs must come to terms with this and the Kosovars must show a willingness to extend fundamental human rights to its minority; only at that point can the Kosovar Albanians legitimize their demands for self-governance.

Please do give me facts when Turkish... Please tell me when they argued that they are feeling threatened in Kosovo

Well Uranus looks like you are mistaken."ethnic Turks fear an independent Kosovo ruled by the Albanian elite will only mean assimilation or de facto deportation for them. They fear rising Albanian nationalism may turn violent against the Turks of Kosovo. Ironically, most ethnic Turks in Kosovo empathize with ethnic Serbs vis-à-vis the Albanians, disregarding their religious unity with the predominant Albanian ethnicity."
http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=16382

I agree with Pijetro.

someone is playing around with the balkans, and it´s just sad to watch it.
as long as the K-albanians don´t come to reason, there will be foreign influence dictating in the region more than necessary.

Who is Ruecker to assure anyone? Be realistic! NATO cannot defend itself from the Albanian extremists - or discourage them from attacking it - so how are the Serb civilians going to defend themselves?

answer to luciano:

"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free"

Johann Wolfgang Goethe

This was the same man who declared so many times "there is no evidence that the attack was ethinically motivated" whenever an violence on K-minorities occured.

K-Serbs afraid for their security should not move to central Serbia. They should move to north Kosovo to further cement their majority there. This will give the Serbs more bargaining strength.

To out of touch Konstantin Gregorevic

"There are very few "non Albanians left" in Kosovo, it was not only the Serbs who left Kosovo , many Roma's were forced out and the small Catholic Croatian community all but left. They were essentially forced out by the Albanian extremists, namely the KLA and UCK. This also included some Albanians who were sympathetic to the Milosevic regime who were summarily executed by the KLA and UCK.
(konstantin gregovic, Thursday, 1 March, 2007, 18:31)"

Mr Gregorevic i am not going to insult you on what you comented as it is useless to debate with you! However i will advice you not to spread out romours to Serbians throughout the world particularly the Serbians in Kosovo. it shows that you have no clue about Kosovo it is obvious that all the info youve got on Kosovo is from the Serbian state run media! from the milosevic era! to make the story short you have totally cracked me up and i bet others too! who actually are well informed on the kosovo issue. I say this due to the fact you cant distinguish the difference between the KLA and UCK! I will tutor you mr. gregorevic there is no difference at all they are the same one. KLA is UCK! KLA is for english(Kosovo Liberation Army) while UCK is albanian (Ushtria Clirimtare e Kosoves).
Please dont make comments on something that you know nothing about. let the Serbians come back to Kosovo and live alongside the Albanian neighbors while likes of you and others get on with your lives! because i will!
Kosovo will be independent regrdless what we all say in here...
god bless you all
Sean

Mike,

I hope you did get some of the hidden sarcasm in my post. But let me reply to your argument anyways. I do agree with you that not all of the displaced are criminals – I mean, that would be just idiotic to think that is the be all and end all. BUT, there is an abundance of them that indeed do fit that profile. Couple that with inflating the numbers (I am sure you know that numbers can be manipulated to prove almost anything) of displaced people, you have a good amount (maybe the majority) of these displaced persons. Couple that with some legitimate displaced persons (using number inflation again if needed), you have more than two or three hundred thousand “non-Albanians” displaced.
As I said, and I cannot really disprove this, there were revenge attacks against Serbs, so they left, others followed not wanting their fate, etc. But, making ALL of them, by giving them a label that ALL of them of being innocent and worst victims since the dark/middle ages, it’s just weak. That’s what I find appalling, and protest, and not because I somehow enjoy seeing human beings being on red tractors and sleeping in hell holes, regardless if they are Albanian or Serbs.

I do agree that without basic guarantees to life, liberty and justice there is no way people are going to return. But then again, what kind of guarantees is Belgrade giving to Albanians? They had almost a full century to prove that they can respect us and guarantee us the basic principles being able to live life. On the other hand, I am not saying that Albanian ruled Kosova is going to be a kingdom of heaven, but at least Kosovars won’t be under the rule of the very state that has repressed them for so long – I don’t think that should be a shock to anyone with two grams of brain capable of reasoning. Seeing the current state of affairs in Serbia, as much as I personally would like to believe that the government (and people!) have changed, actions and rhetoric of the elected officials makes things much harder to convince anyone, much less that the very people they represent haven’t voiced any discontent (to a larger scale than a handful of people) of what is being done in their name.

Seriously do only Albanians read this site?What an absolute joke this is,The Serbs have left in droves because of the lack of security and then this muppet has the nerve to come out and say they have nothing to worry about if it becomes independent,if you cant protect them now what hope is their under the Albanians who bring new meaning to the word lawlessness.And Albanian policeman protecting Serbian sacred sites and churches seriously what planet do these politicians come from,not Earth thats for sure.

However i will advice you not to spread out romours (Sean, Friday, 2 March, 2007, 02:51)

Your post is very insulting, stick to the facts. Of course the UCK and KLA are one of the same. So is Agim Ceku, KLA and UCK.