Russia Asks EU To Withdraw Support Over Kosovo

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Russia May Veto Kosovo's U.N. Independence
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No Independence For Kosovo


By StaffJan 24, 2007
Russia may veto a U.N. resolution declaring Serbia's mainly ethnic-Albanian Kosovo province independent of Belgrade, a Russian lawmaker said.
Konstantin Kosachev, head of a Russian delegation attending a parliamentary session of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France, Wednesday asked EU lawmakers to withdraw their backing of a draft proposal supporting Kosovo's independence, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

Kosachev said the Council is not competent to support an independent Kosovo, and it is the U.N. Security Council that should decide on the future status of the province.
Moscow officials have suggested Russia may oppose a U.N.-produced resolution on Kosovo's independence, as it could encourage some of independence-seeking former Soviet regions.
Martti Ahtisaari, U.N. special envoy to Kosovo talks between Serbs and ethnic-Albanians, is to discuss his proposal on the future status of Kosovo with foreign ministers of the six-country Contact Group in Vienna Friday.
Next week, Ahtisaari is to have talks in Belgrade and Pristina, before he produces a final version and submits it to the Security Council for approval in March or April. (c) UPI

Ahtisaari Proposal Will Pave Way For Independence

Dear Readers,

This proposal of Ahtisaari is a ploy into trying to trick the American people and the Russian Federation into supporting at least eventual independence of Kosovo. No Independence For Kosovo simply means No. It means no now and it means no forever. We must see through the deception and I am sure that Kostunica and Putin already do. The Serbian Goverment will have the resources it needs to deal with the economic and social needs of all the citizens of Kosovo. God Himself will see to it. The region will pull together and help each other in unprecedented ways. Please allow them to take care of all their citizens. Educate yourselves.

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http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/savekosovo-metohija/
NO INDEPENDENCE FOR KOSOVO


Anticipated Proposal Will Offer Graduated Independence
PRISTINA, Serbia (Reuters) - Kosovo will gain access to international institutions under a U.N. package that Germany and Britain say will lead to independence for the breakaway Serbian province.
A plan to be presented to major powers on Friday is expected to "advocate independence for Kosovo but with limits on its sovereignty," German deputy foreign minister Gernot Erler told Reuters in Berlin.

Independence is demanded by the 90-percent ethnic Albanian majority in Kosovo, which was occupied by NATO in 1999 to end a counter-insurgency war and has been run by the
United Nations ever since. Serbia insists it must retain sovereignty.
In the Kosovo capital, Pristina, British Foreign Office political director John Sawers said the six Contact Group powers agreed a solution "should be acceptable to the great majority of the people of Kosovo, and I think that speaks for itself." Political and diplomatic sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, gave details of the proposal U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari would discuss with representatives of Russia, the United States, Britain, France, Italy and Germany on Friday. It states that Kosovo should be given "the right to seek membership of international organizations and institutions."

A Western official said these could include the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank although none were identified in the text of the document. If it passes the U.N. Security Council Kosovo would become Europe's newest independent state and the last to be carved from what was once Yugoslavia.

RIGHT OF VETO
Russia, a friend of Serbia's with the right of veto in the Security Council, says there can be no deal unless both sides agree. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he expected "a solution which will not be vetoed by Russia."
Diplomats say Russia may block Kosovo's membership of the U.N. but access to the World Bank and IMF will in the long run prove more important to the poor territory.
Ahtisaari, who mediated months of largely fruitless talks between the two sides last year, was due to present his proposal on a visit to Serbia and Kosovo on February 2, after which a fresh round of meetings would be conducted. "I don't think there's going to be a fundamental renegotiation of the whole process," Sawers cautioned. Contrary to Serbian reports that the deal would be re-opened, the new talks would simply involve "fine-tuning" of the proposal.
Publication of the Kosovo plan was postponed from the end of 2006 to prevent it influencing a parliamentary election in Serbia, where ultranationalists are still strong.
The election was held on Sunday but failed to produce a clear majority and Serbia now looks headed for lengthy coalition talks just as the fateful plan for its province is launched.
Serbia's main party leaders all reject independence but are divided on how to resist an international solution.
The pro-Western Democratic Party of Serbia's President Boris Tadic appealed to Ahtisaari to delay publication further. "Some speedy move on Kosovo could make formation of a democratic government more difficult, and that is not in anyone's interest," said Bozidar Djelic, the party's candidate for prime minister. "These are delicate issues and we have to have full control over things such as the armed forces," he said.
Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica who is key to a coalition deal and is seeking a new mandate, said he did not care what Ahtisaari did because Serbia was unanimously opposed to independence for Kosovo and had Russia to back it up. "It is absolutely irrelevant when (Ahtisaari) will give his proposal, before or after the government is formed," he said.
(Additional reporting by Noah Barkin in Berlin, Fatos Bytyci in Pristina and Douglas Hamilton in Belgrade)



Lessons of parliamentary elections in Serbia
19:31

24/ 01/ 2007

MOSCOW. (Pyotr Iskanderov for RIA Novosti) - Last Sunday's parliamentary elections in Serbia were indicative in many respects. They cast a new light on domestic political processes, prospects of Kosovo settlement and the future of Serbia's relations with the European Union (EU). Moreover, they are bound to affect the destiny of breakaway republics on post-Soviet territory. Preliminary results of the voting suggest the first conclusion - it was wrong to talk about voter apathy in Serbia. Over 60% of eligible voters have turned up at the polling stations - more than for elections held in the past few years. This fact not only attests to the Serbians' high political activity but also shows that the elections fairly and legitimately reflect the domestic situation.

Secondly, two formerly influential forces - the Socialist Party and the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) - have actually left the political scene. The former has barely passed a 5% threshold needed to win seats in parliament. The latter has remained without a faction in parliament, which is a heavy blow to SPO leader and current Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic.

Thirdly, the results of the elections are particularly alarming for the West. The Serbian Radical Party (SRS) is still the leading political force in the country. Its leader Vojislav Seselj has been on trial in the Hague since February 2003. It is an open secret that in the past few months, the West was doing all it could to secure success in the elections for the loyal parties, first and foremost, the Democratic Party (DP) headed by the current President Boris Tadic. UN envoy for Kosovo Martti Ahtisaari even broke his promise to resolve the Kosovo problem by the end of 2006. He delayed the publication of his plan till late January to prevent the Serbian authorities from having to choose between Kosovo and European integration. But this tactic has failed, and in preliminary estimates the DP has received less than 23% votes, which is a clear setback considering powerful propaganda support for its campaign at home and abroad.

As a result, the parliamentary majority will go to the fierce opponents of Kosovo's separation from Serbia. Unlike Boris Tadic, who called on the Serbian voters to accept Kosovo's potential loss, even his colleague in the democratic camp, DP leader Vojislav Kostunica, promised to do all he could against Kosovo's cessation, and actually sided with the radicals on this score. The Socialists, an opposition party, are most likely to vote against the Ahtisaari plan, all the more so if it is brought to parliament by the much-hated President Tadic. The DP and the other emphatically pro-Western party of Liberal Democrats (LDP), which has been elected to parliament, will not have enough votes to let it approve Kosovo's independence.

Moreover, it may happen that the forces united under the democratic opposition banner since the times of Milosevic will not be able to form a valid government. Despite a relative setback of his party, Vojislav Kostunica is not going to give up his premiership to a DP candidate and will need SRS support for this. A vague situation and political bargaining may last for three months (this is the term assigned by the Serbian constitution for the government's formation) and eventually lead to parliament's dissolution and new elections, at which the voters, disappointed over the squabble among the Democrats, are most likely to give even more support to the opposition radicals.

To sum up, the Sunday elections in Serbia have increased the likelihood of a scenario that has been a nightmare for the Kosovo separatists and their Western soul mates for a long time. If the Serbian parliament refuses to recognize Kosovo's independence, its cessation can only be imposed on Belgrade by force. This is exactly the case against which President Vladimir Putin has warned more than once. He is firmly resolved not to allow the UN Security Council to pass a decision on Kosovo that would be unacceptable for Belgrade. It is clear what he meant as the head of a state with the right to veto in the UN Security Council.

The leaders of the breakaway republics on post-Soviet territory should draw their own conclusion from the elections in Serbia. I think they will become even more disappointed with the ability of the Western leaders and international officials to exert effective influence on the domestic situation in foreign countries. Consolidation of the supporters of united Serbia may provide only a scant relief to Chisinau and Tbilisi. The Serbians' resolve to determine the destiny of their country without any outside interference fully conforms to the aspirations of breakaway republics. Hence, the idea of national self-determination will receive a new impetus in Transdnestr, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Pyotr Iskanderov, Institute of Slavic Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and may not necessarily coincide with the opinions of the editorial board.

Sign Petition Against Kosovo Independence

No Independence For Kosovo-Metohija

Dear Brethren and Friends,

We have created a petition which can be accessed by clicking onto the link to the right of this blog, or by going to ipetitions.com and entering the above title or just by entering Kosovo in their search engines. Please tell all interested friends and brethren and write to your newspapers encouraging other like minded folks to sign. Don't forget to write to small town newspapers as well.

thank you,

xenia


UNs Kosovo plan to allegedly focus on minority rights
January 24, 2007 5:13 AM
STRASBOURG, France-The chief U.N. envoy for Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari, said Wednesday his plan for the future of the restive Serbian province focuses on minority rights protection and envisages a strong international presence.
Ahtisaari, who has mediated yearlong talks between Serbia and Kosovo's ethnic Albanians on the province's future, is expected to present his recommendations to Western governments and Russia in the coming days. He will then offer the plan to Serbian and ethnic Albanian leaders Feb. 2.
Human rights focus versus enforcement: Kosovo Albanian government has been focusing on human rights of Christians yet a Bishop needs an armed international escort to view desecrated Christian graves.
"My settlement proposal focuses strongly on the protection of minority rights. It provides the foundation for a democratic and multiethnic Kosovo in which the rights and interests of all communities are firmly guaranteed and protected by institutions based on the rule of law," Ahtisaari told the Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly.
"It also forces a strong international civilian and military presence within a broader future international engagement in Kosovo," he said.
Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority is pushing for independence from Serbia, while Serbian leaders and the Serb minority in the province want it to remain within Serbia's borders.
The province has been under U.N. control since mid-1999 and is currently patrolled by a 16,000-strong NATO-led peacekeeping force.
EU diplomats have said Ahtisaari is widely expected to recommend some form of conditional independence for Kosovo. Ahtisaari did not reveal more details of his plan to the Council of Europe.

Islamic Extremist Still At Large In Kosovo as Status Proposal Looms

Macedonia Warns On Kosovo Albanian Extremists, Criminals
Macedonia Seeks Resolution of Land Dispute Before Status Proposal is Revealed
SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP)--Macedonia's president warned Tuesday that stability in neighboring Kosovo is still at risk as the U.N. prepares to unveil its plans for the future of the disputed province, with extremists still at large.
"The capacity of Kosovo institutions is weak. We must not underestimate the risks and our institutions will remain vigilant and will closely monitor the developments in the region," said President Branko Crvenkovski.
Many extremists and criminals were still at large in Kosovo, he said.
Crvenkovski was speaking after a National Security Council meeting, convened ahead of a report by U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari on the future of Kosovo. The province of 2 million people has been under U.N. administration since 1999.
The proposals, due to be unveiled early next week, are widely expected to propose conditional independence for Kosovo. Serbia wants to keep Kosovo as part of its territory and has offered broad autonomy to its citizens, 90% of whom are ethnic Albanian and want independence.
Macedonia wants to settle an ongoing border dispute before Kosovo's final status is determined. Kosovo claims more than 2,000 hectares (4,900 acres) of land in Macedonia.
January 23, 2007 11:13 ET (16:13 GMT

From The United Nations:

KOSOVO STATUS PROPOSAL TO GO TO CONTACT GROUP ON FRIDAY
The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Kosovo Martti Ahtisaari’s status proposal will be presented to the general public very soon.

As a first step, Ahtisaari will share his proposal this Friday with the Kosovo Contact Group in Vienna. The Contact Group includes representatives from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Russia.

Asked whether the Secretary-General still intends to meet Ahtisaari, the Spokeswoman said that he intends to meet with Ahtisaari while both are in Paris this week.

Asked further about Ahtisaari’s plans, the Spokeswoman said that, at this point, Ahtisaari plans to travel on 2 February to Belgrade and Pristina to officially present his proposal to both parties.

He will then wait for feedback from the parties before sending the proposal on to the Secretary-General.

The Secretary-General will then transmit it to the Security Council, and it will be up to the Security Council to decide when it wants to consider Kosovo, Montas added.


Errata:

In some posts past I tried to correct myself about China role on the United Nations Security Council. Actually, China is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, but is has not been consistently listed as a part of the Contact Group which overseeing affairs of the Kosovo Status question . I apologise for the confusion.

Tadic Was Not Planning on Kostunica as PM

Serbia faces hard quest for stable majority
22/01/2007 20:49
By Beti Bilandzic
BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia headed for long coalition talks and a possibly short-lived government on Monday after elections failed to produce a clear majority, dashing Western hopes that nationalists would be sidelined.
European Union officials denied that the result, which gave the hardline Radical Party 28 percent of the vote, reflected the failure of Western efforts to quell chauvinist sentiment and steer Serbia onto a pro-EU path.

They said pro-Western parties were in the majority and would likely form the next government.
But there is little doubt they would have preferred a better result for the Democratic Party of Serb President Boris Tadic, the party most likely to be cool-headed over an imminent decision on the future of the breakaway province of Kosovo.
The Democrats won 23 percent and were seen seeking a deal with the party of outgoing prime minister Vojislav Kostunica, which won 16 percent, and smaller parties. They said they would insist on their candidate, economist Bozidar Djelic, as premier.
"It won’t be easy to form a government," said Democrat spokeswoman Jelena Markovic. The Democrats were not ready to let Kostunica be prime minister again.
Velimir Ilic, a minister in Kostunica’s coalition, said even though they came third they would be "the backbone of the new government" and hold key posts including that of prime minister.
Kostunica says the key issue in coalition talks would be the parties’ positions on Kosovo. The West is sitting on a plan expected to give some form of independence to the Albanian majority in Kosovo, run by the United Nations since NATO drove out the forces of late autocrat Slobodan Milosevic in 1999.
Tadic has said Kosovo may already be lost, but Kostunica echoes nationalist rhetoric that insists the land Serbs hold sacred as the cradle of their nation will never be conceded.
"The negotiations will last long and it is possible we have new elections soon," said political analyst Dusan Janjic. Tadic and Kostunica would need to compromise, especially because some Democrat officials oppose allying with Kostunica.
BRAVE FACE
The result cast a pall over European Union and U.S. hopes for a strong Belgrade government that could make a rapid decision on the future of Kosovo and resume Serbia’s frozen EU membership bid, by arresting war crimes suspects.
"I would say to the Serbs once again that we think their place is in Europe, among us in the European Union," EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in Luxembourg.
Kostunica and Tadic were once allies against Milosevic, who was ousted in 2000 and died in detention at The Hague last year. They fell out after reformist premier Zoran Djindjic was assassinated by Milosevic loyalists in 2003.
The Radicals would like to extend Serbia’s borders one day to embrace ethnic Serbs in Bosnia and Croatia, justifying the ethnic bloodshed of the 1990s when Yugoslavia fell apart.
Their official leader, Vojislav Seselj, is on trial in The Hague for war crimes. They would refuse to arrest former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic, charged with genocide in Bosnia, and send him to The Hague, because they see him as a war hero.

Ultranationalists Claim Victory

SERBIA POLL: ULTRANATIONALISTS CLAIM VICTORY


Belgrade, 22 Jan. (AKI) - Based on partial results, the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party (SRS) has retained its place as the strongest single party taking 28.32 percent of ballots cast in Sunday's general election. President Boris Tadics's centre-left Democratic Party (DS) ran second with 22.67 percent, followed by prime minister Vojislav Kostunica's centre-right Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) with 16.37 percent. A record 60.65 percent of registered electors voted in Sunday's poll, demanding revitalised democratic government that could set the country on a clear path to future membership of the European Union . The G-17 Plus of former finance minister Mladjan Dinkic was fourth with 16.38 and the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) of former president Slobodan Milosevic was fifth with 5.64 percent. The biggest surprise was the success of the Liberal democratic party (LDP) of former vice-premier Cedomir Jovanovic, which passed the required five percent threshold winning 5.33 per cent of votes. A total six parties have entered the 250-seat parliament.Jovanovic was the only party leader openly advocating independence for Serbia’s breakaway Muslim-majority Kosovo province - a position considered a blasphemous by other leaders. Nonetheless, he garnered 211,000 votes out of a turnout of over four million. The biggest loser was the Serbian Renewal Movement of foreign minister Vuk Draskovic, which failed to enter parliament with only 3.38 per cent of votes. Altogether, the four pro-European parties – DS, DSS, G-17 Plus and LDP - returned over 155 MPs to parliament and were in a position to form a coalition government. But analysts said it would take tortuous negotiations before the parties could come to terms on the distribution of power. The radicals have been the strongest single party for the past seven years, but they are unable to find a coalition partner in the pro-European bloc. The new parliament has to be constituted by the end of February. If a new coalition government is not formed in three months, new elections should be held. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Monday urged the rapid formation of a new Serbian government. "The majority voted for forces that are democratic and pro-European," Solana was quoted as saying as he arrived for a meeting of Eu foreign ministers to discuss the 27-member bloc's policy towards Belgrade in light of Sunday's vote."I hope very much there will be a speedy formation of a government that will be on the line of pro-European forces," he told reporters. He denid the election results had demonstrated the fialure of Western efforts to to quell nationalist feeling in Serbia.

United States Moves To Block Russia's Veto on Kosovo Succession

US to prevent Russian independence veto on Kosovo
January 20, 2007 1:16 AM
WASHINGTON-The U.S. government is pushing for a quick resolution on Kosovo's final status following the planned release of a United Nations proposal that could lead to independence for Serbia's breakaway province.
The United States is signaling that it will work to prevent Russia from using its veto in the U.N. Security Council to delay imposition of a settlement. Russia insists that any outcome must be acceptable to Serbia.
A special U.N. envoy, Martti Ahtisaari, is expected to recommend some form of independence for Kosovo when he issues a report in coming weeks. That report had been delayed, with the blessing of the United States and the European Union, so it would not inflame nationalist sentiment in Serbia ahead of national elections, and thereby hurt moderate politicians.
With the elections planned for Sunday, a senior U.S. government official said the White House would now like to see the process move quickly to a final settlement and approval by the U.N. Security Council. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried recently told the Voice of America that a consultation period with the Serbs and Kosovars would follow release of the Ahtisaari plan, but he signaled that the U.S. government would not let the negotiations drag on.
"We really can't stay where we are because it's been almost eight years, and the Kosovars and the Serbs both deserve to see this issue resolved so they can get on with their lives and have a future," he said.
Kosovo has been an international protectorate since 1999, when NATO airstrikes halted a brutal Serb crackdown on the province's ethnic Albanian Muslim majority. Belgrade has insisted that Kosovo, cherished by Serbs as the heart of their homeland, remain part of Serbia.
U.S. policy long has favored Kosovar independence, although some within the administration of President George W. Bush and in Congress have warned against alienating Serbs and undermining liberal and democratic Serbian politicians.
Pressure has increased on the White House from the new Democratic Congress. Democratic leaders of the committees that deal with foreign policy are strong proponents of independence for the mostly Muslim province.
The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Joseph Biden, is urging the Bush administration to make the final push for independence with muscular diplomacy.
"In the next few months, adroit diplomacy to secure Kosovo's independence could yield a victory for Muslim democracy, a better future for southeast Europe and validation for the judicious use of American power," Biden wrote in an opinion piece published in London's Financial Times on Jan. 2.
Some Congressional aides say that in the event of a Russian Security Council veto, pressure will grow for the United States and allies to recognize Kosovo directly, outside the U.N. framework.
"The Kosovo independence train has left the station," said Antony Blinken, Biden's staff director, in a statement sent to The Associated Press.
Biden's counterpart in the House of Representatives, Democrat Tom Lantos, also conveyed a sense of urgency on the issue by proposing a resolution on Jan. 5, the second day of the new Congress, that backs Kosovar independence and warns that further delay could lead to instability. The measure was co-sponsored by the top Republican member on Lantos' Foreign Affairs Committee, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.
Republican Sen. George Voinovich, also a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, who is of Serbian and Slovenian descent, has expressed concern in the past about rushing toward independence. But he said it is in Serbia's interest to eventually let the province go. He remains insistent that any settlement protect Kosovo's minority Serb population and have the support of the Serbian government.
"It is absolutely critical that before the U.N. Security Council decision is finalized, there is infrastructure for enacting the plan and protecting the rights of Kosovo's minority populations," Voinovich said.
"This plan cannot be successful without adequate infrastructure, including funding, troops, international police, international prosecutors, and the help and support of the government of Serbia."
For fair use only

Pre Election Silence Begins

Blessing of the Waters On Theophany

Dear Interested Persons:

Holy Serbia is voting once again, this time for its leaders. These leaders will be charged with protecting the Faith and the new Constitution. Let us all humbly pray for our brethren, that God will continue to guide them and support them. Isn't it so sweet that they are voting during the season of Theophany, and the Blessing of the Waters? All over Serbia now houses are being blessed by pious Priests. Glory to God!!!

About victory over the world

St. Nikoli Velimirovic

"In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world" (St. John 16:33).
The Only One and the Unique One, the Conqueror of the World, with these words, teaches His followers not to be afraid of the world.
Indeed, the world appears very strong; however, is not the One Who created the world, stronger than the world?
The world is very frightening for him who does not know that God rules the world and that He has the authority to hold it in existence as long as He wills and to return it into non-existence whenever He wills. But, to him who knows that, the world is not frightening.
Compared to Christ the Lord, this world is as a fabric woven of weakness itself; while in Christ the Lord, there is not a single weakness. To him who does not know that, the world is frightening and he who knows that, has no fear of the world.
The world has loaned us a body and because of that it wants to acquire our soul. How can the world overpower us if we stand as soldiers of the Conqueror of the world?
The Conqueror of the World gives us weapons for the battle. By His example, He teaches us how to fight it, reveals the hidden enemy, shows us the path of attack and retreat, holds us with His hand, protects us under His wing, feeds us by His Life-giving Body and more, He encourages us by shouting: "Take courage!" Brethren, what then can the world do when its defeat is sealed with the victory of Christ?
O Lord, the Conqueror of the World and our victorious commander, be close to us always that we may not become frightened and direct us, that we may always be close to You in heart, mind and soul.
To You be glory and thanks always. Amen.

Pre-election silence begins

Belgrade, Jan 19, 2007 – Pre-election silence before parliamentary elections began on January 18 at midnight, and will last until the polling stations are closed on January 21 at 8 pm.
According to the Law on electing parliament members, 48 hours before the day of elections and during the day elections are held until the closing of polling stations, party advertising through the media, public gatherings and announcing any evaluation of possible election results is banned. Polling stations will open on January 21 at 7 am, and will close at 8 pm.The number of eligible voters at these parliamentary elections is 6,652,105, which is some 14,000 more than at the referendum held on October 28 and 29, says the Serbian Electoral Commission (RIK).The Commission has announced that 31,370 voters will be able to cast their votes abroad in 58 polling stations. In penal institutions 7,082 voters will be able to participate in the voting. A total of 20 parties are taking part in the elections, including six minority ones.

Únited States and European Union Already Dividing the Spoils Before Serbian Election

KiM Info Newsletter 19-01-07
Ahtisaari's Kosovo Status Recommendation Seen To Cause EU Splits
BRUSSELS (AP) January 18
European Union officials and diplomats in Belgium expect U.N. mediator Martti Ahtisaari to recommend limited independence for Serbia's breakaway province of Kosovo when he submits his proposal on the future of the region that has been a U.N. protectorate since 1999.
The ruling, which must ultimately be approved by the U.N. Security Council, is likely to result in a diplomatic clash between Russia - which strongly backs Belgrade's claims that Kosovo should remain part of Serbia - and Washington, which has backed independence for the territory.
It could also result in a tug-of-war within the E.U. between countries that oppose any secession - including Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Romania and Slovakia - and those that have backed it, such as the U.K., the Netherlands and others.

Whatever happens, the E.U. itself plans to keep a mission in Kosovo to oversee the implementation of the accord. According to an E.U. report made available to The AP Thursday, its top envoy in Kosovo likely will have veto power over laws and government decisions, and the authority to sack officials "acting in a manner designed to prevent implementation of the settlement."

And in an apparent concession to Serbia, the E.U. document also says that the Serb minority in Kosovo will retain direct links with Belgrade, whether it gains some form of independence or remains a self-governing part of Serbia.
Although details of Ahtisaari's package - which is expected to be unveiled soon after Serbian elections on Sunday - remain a closely guarded secret, diplomats in Brussels say they have received some indication of what it will contain. The officials said they expect Ahtisaari to recommend "conditional and controlled independence" for Kosovo. During the period of "provisional independence," which would be supervised by the E.U. and other international bodies, Kosovo's government would be expected to meet a series of benchmarks. These will include respect for human rights and reaching an agreement with the Serbian minority about its future status. A fixed timetable for the authorities to achieve these goals isn't likely, officials said, adding Kosovo wouldn't move forward to full independence until all the set conditions are met.

A Western diplomat based in Brussels predicted that within the framework of limited sovereignty, Kosovo wouldn't become a fully independent nation for some time yet although it would effectively be free of Serbia. As such, it wouldn't be granted U.N. membership, nor have its own armed forces. Belgrade has insisted that Kosovo - which has been administered by the U.N. since a brief war in 1999 - must remain part of Serbia, albeit with a wide-ranging autonomy. But ethnic Albanian politicians in the provincial capital of Pristina say nothing short of outright independence will be acceptable.
The highly charged issue has serious international implications because Kosovo has been part of Serbia since medieval times, and any U.N.-approved move to grant it independence or greater autonomy will inevitably be regarded as a precedent in other independence-minded provinces elsewhere in the world.

EU To Have Veto Over Kosovo Albanian Parliament
BRUSSELS (AP) 18 January
A European Union representative in Kosovo would likely have veto power over government decisions and the authority to sack officials, hampering the accord on the future status of Serbia's breakaway province, according to an E.U. report made available to The Associated Press Thursday.
The document - a report to the European Commission - outlines the role the European Union will play in the province once Kosovo's future status is resolved. The E.U. mission will replace the U.N. administration that is currently running Kosovo.
An E.U. representative appointed to the provincial capital, Pristina, will have "the authority to make certain defined appointments in the economic sphere, to annul decisions taken and laws passed by governmental bodies or by assemblies (at central and local level) which are at odds with the letter or spirit of the settlement," the report said.
"It is likely that he/she would also be mandated to remove individuals whom he/she judges to be acting in a manner designed to prevent implementation of the settlement," it said.
The system would be similar to that implemented in Bosnia after the war ended there in the 1995. There, a U.N. representative had final say in administrative issues, and had the power to block laws or fire ministers.
Martti Ahtisaari, the U.N. envoy mediating talks to determine Kosovo's status, is expected to recommend limited independence for the province when he submits his proposal on the future of the region that has been a U.N. protectorate since 1999.
Belgrade insists that Kosovo must remain a self-governing part of Serbia. But ethnic Albanians have warned they won't accept anything less than full independence.

Voinovich Resolution on Serbia passes the Senate

Voinovich Resolution on Serbia passes the Senate
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 17, 2006Contact: Chris Paulitz or Garrette SilvermanWASHINGTON, D.C.


- A resolution introduced by U.S. Senator George V. Voinovich (R-OH) expressing support for democratic forces in Serbia and encouraging the nation's commitment to a democratic path passed unanimously today in the U.S. Senate. The resolution recalls Serbia's historic fight for democracy and its September 2000 ousting of then-President Slobodan Milosevic, and pledges American support of Serbia's commitment to democracy as they move toward Parliamentary elections on January 21, 2007. It is co-sponsored by Senators Joe Lieberman (D-CT), Richard Lugar (R-IN), and Chuck Hagel (R-NE). The people of Serbia went to the streets and voiced their cry for freedom. They have come a long way since their historic transition, Sen. Voinovich said. This resolution affirms that the U.S. Senate is proud of Serbia's struggle and we support Serbia's commitment to stay on this path, despite the many challenges they continue to face today. We are good friends and we will remain so as the people of Serbia continue their fight for a better future.

In the resolution, Sen. Voinovich commends Serbia's advance toward progressive hallmarks-the rule of law, a free-market economy, and human and minority rights-and underscores the nation's current efforts, citing President Boris Tadic's public commitment to integration with Euro-Atlantic institutions and Serbia's inclusion of Albanian parties in elections for the first time in fifteen years. "A strong, stable, and democratic Serbia is critical to the future of the region", Sen. Voinovich said. The people of Serbia deserve American support through this critical stage of political maturity.

The resolution expresses the sense of the Senate that the United States should have a strong relationship with Serbia as it pursues its goals of membership in the EU, cooperation with NATO, and increased defense and security cooperation with the Serbian government. It also calls on Serbia to continue its progress on judicial, defense, and civil rights reforms, and to fulfill its obligation to the International Criminal Tribunal by arresting and extraditing known war criminal Ratko Mladic-a crucial condition for its EU and NATO membership. After widespread street protests in September 2000, Milosevic conceded power to the Democratic Opposition of Serbia, a broad coalition of parties that claimed he committed fraud in the federal election.

United States wants to Prevent Mole's Extradition to Montenegro

Arrested Kosovo Albanian al-Qaeda mole - paper
January 17, 2007 -- Kosovo Albanian that was arrested last month by the Austrian authorities at a Vienna Schwechat International Airport is a sought out intermediary for terror organizations across Europe and is in service of al-Qaeda, says Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung.

Dodu L. is a 55 year old Kosovo Albanian with combat experience acquired during terror attacks on Kosovo Serbs DURING 1990S. In December of 2007, he was to detonate 2 bombs inside Montenegro parliament in a plot that involves 12 other ethnic Albanians, some of them US citizens.
As the bombing plot folded, 12 ethnic Albanians in Montenegro have been arrested while Dodu L. managed to escape Montenegro and on a connecting flight in Vienna was arrested by the Austrian authorities. Kronen Zeitung says that the bomber, Dodu L. was on a trip to the USA.
" Outwardly Dodu L was calm... the more thorough examination caused the man to react suddenly nervous. To the policemen it became clear why: The 55-year old was on the terror list of the most wanted!" writes Kronen Zeitung.
"Around Dodu L. is a rope pulling him between USA and Montenegro. According to insiders this fighter is (an) in demand intermediary for terror organizations - such as the deliverers of messages for entire Europe," writes Kronen.
According to Kronen Zeitung, Dodu L. was an al-Qaeda member who was eventually recruited, with promises of money, to be a "mole" for the CIA inside al-Qaeda. Kronen Zeitung is not clear whether the Kosovo Albanian was a "mole" inside al-Qaeda operation in Kosovo or throughout Europe.
"This explains also why the US Government wants to absolutely prevent his extradition to Montenegro," concluded Kronen Zeitung.
January 17, 2007 (17:41 EST)

Putin Saids Russia Only Supports Principled Solution Applied to Belgrade and Kosovo

Status Proposal Won't Fly in UNSC, If not Acceptable to Serbia, Says Putin?
Radio Television Serbia, January 15, 2007
President Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica on Monday. “In the course of the conversation, practical issues of Russian-Serbian cooperation were touched upon, including in the energy and investment spheres,” the Kremlin press service said. “While discussing the situation in the Balkans and the Kosovo settlement in particular, Putin confirmed Russia’s principled position with regard to the resolution of the Kosovo problem,” the press service said.
According to the Serbian PM, Russian President Putin has reiterated that Ahtisaari’s proposal cannot receive support of the UN SC, if it is not acceptable to Belgrade. Kostunica stated that Putin had once again repeated the Russian principled stand that the solution to the future status of Kosovo must be in line with the international law and the UN Charter, which means that it must stem from the principle of inviolability of territorial integrity and sovereignty of the existing states. Kostunica says that Serbia at this crucial moment enjoys a clear and principled support of President Putin and the Russian people. According to the Serbian PM, Putin stressed that the Kosovo solution must be based on clear and universal principles and underscored that Belgrade must take an active part in the upcoming talks. Kostunica thanked the Russian President and added that the Serbian people would certainly appreciate the Russian support. The Serbian PM points out that Putin’s statement that Russia only recognizes universal solutions has brought about a turnaround in debates on the Kosovo future. “That was a breaking point in every meaning of that term,” said Kostunica.
RTS reports that almost at the same time the EU Special Envoy for the Kosovo status process Stephan Lehne met with the Russian Deputy FM Vladimir Titov in Moscow. The Russian diplomat reiterated that Moscow was in favour of an agreed solution to the future status of Kosovo in line with the international law. “The Russian side emphasizes the importance of a continued search for an efficient agreement between Belgrade and Pristina and of the continuation of status process without any artificial timeframes,” the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated. The statement underlines that Pristina should invest more efforts towards meeting the international standards related to the ethnic minority rights and the return of refugees and displaced persons. The Russian Foreign Ministry has stressed that the Kosovo Albanian leadership bears the main responsibility for preventing extremists from taking actions in Kosovo.

Church Desecrecrated, Serbians Put Their Faith In God Almighty

Christ Is Born

KiM Info Newsletter 13-01-07

Celebration of Christmas in Visoki Decani Monastery

"Many Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija are again celebrating the Christmas holidays this year far from their homes in exile, while in many of our Church's holy shrines no Christmas hymns will be sung because 150 churches have been destroyed since the war, and many parishes have been completely extinguished," said Bishop Teodosije. "Nevertheless, we place our faith in the God-Child Christ, who was Himself born in a cave and in exile but who showed that a Bethlehem cave was more radiant than the palaces of the powerful men of that age."
Christmas liturgy in Visoki Decani Monastery (click on photo to enlarge)
KIM Info ServiceDecani, January 7, 2007
The feast of the Nativity of the Lord Jesus Christ was formally celebrated today in Visoki Decani Monastery. Christmas Day services began at 4:00 a.m. The morning services continued with Holy Hierarchal Liturgy served by the abbot of Decani Monastery, Bishop Teodosije of Lipljan, with the assistance of the priest-monks of Decani. Liturgy was attended by some one hundred faithful, monastery guests and Serbs from returnee villages who arrived early in the morning to celebrate the feast of the Nativity of Christ together with the monks. Liturgy was also attended by high representatives of the international community in Kosovo and Metohija: the UNMIK chief, Dr. Joachim Ruecker; the KFOR commander, General Roland Kather, and his deputy, General Bernardini; representative of the German office in Pristina; and local representatives of UNMIK. Also present in church were a number of KFOR troops who expressed a desire to see how Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas.
Christmas liturgy at Decani Monastery (click on photo to enlarge)
After Holy Hierarchal Liturgy the guests were received in the monastery library where Bishop Teodosije had the opportunity to speak with the UNMIK chief and the KFOR commander regarding current matters related to the protection of Serbian Orthodox holy shrines and the return of displaced Serbs. Special emphasis was placed on the fact that the preservation of the Serbian spiritual and cultural heritage is one of the key elements for the survival of the Serbs, as well as the return of the displaced.
"For centuries our holy shrines have been the spiritual sanctuary of our people and they continue to play this important role in these times we live in," said Bishop Teodosije. The guests were soon joined by the commander of the Italian contingent in Metohija, General Claudio Borrecca, who arrived directly from the Serb village of Gorazdevac near Pec, where he distributed Christmas and New Year's presents to the Serb children.
Bishop Teodosije and Fr. Sava with UNMIK chief Joachim Ruecker, General Bernardini and the commader of Spanish KFOR (click on photo to enlarge)
The UNMIK chief and the KFOR commander conveyed their most sincere greetings on the occasion of the feast of the Nativity of Christ and the Orthodox New Year (January 7 and January 13, respectively, according to the Julian calendar) to Bishop Teodosije and his monks. Bishop Teodosije thanked them for their greetings, saying that the Serbs are welcoming the Christmas and New Year's holidays with joy but also with fear and trepidation because of an uncertain future.
"Many Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija are again celebrating the Christmas holidays this year far from their homes in exile, while in many of our Church's holy shrines no Christmas hymns will be sung because 150 churches have been destroyed since the war, and many parishes have been completely extinguished," said Bishop Teodosije. "Nevertheless, we place our faith in the God-Child Christ, who was Himself born in a cave and in exile but who showed that a Bethlehem cave was more radiant than the palaces of the powerful men of that age."
After the luncheon, a formal Christmas banquet luncheon was prepared for all guests and pilgrims in the monastery refectory.
During the course of the day Visoki Decani Monastery received a visit from the Ambassador of the Republic of France in Belgrade Mr. Pernet with his wife and colleagues.

Bishop Teodosije with SRSG Dr. Joachim Ruecker and COMKFOR Gen. Roland Kather
Conversation with international officials during Christmas luncheonin the monastery refectory (click on photo to enlarge)
Bishop Teodosije with international officials and Serb returnees to the village of Drsnik near Klina, who celebrated Christmas today in Decani Monastery (click on photo to enlarge)


Many guests visited the monastery for Christmas(left - Serb returnees, right Italian soldiers)
Peace from God - Christ Is Born!
The KIM Info Service wishes all its readers (who follow the Julian Calendar) a happy and God-blessed Christmas and New Year holidays with the joyful greeting "Peace from God - Christ Is Born!"
Nativity of the Lord Christ - Visoki Decani Monastery fresco, 14th century

Epistle From Mount Athos

16 January 2007, 11:42
Statement by the Sacred Koinotos of the Holy Mountain Athos (updated)
The recent visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the Ecumenical Patriarchate on the occasion of the Saint Andrew's day (30 November 2006) and the later visit of His Beatitude the Archbishop of Athens Christodoulos to the Vatican (14 December 2006) gave rise to many impressions, evaluations and reactions. Leaving behind what the secular media evaluated as positive or negative, we shall focus on those things that pertain to our salvation, for the sake of which we had abandoned the world in order to live in the barrenness of the Holy Mountain. As monks of the Holy Mountain, we respect the Ecumenical Patriarchate, under whose jurisdiction we fall. We honour and revere His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and we rejoice about all his God-loving achievements and diligent works for the good of the Church. We particularly commemorate his strong and unceasing defense of the Ecumenical Patriarchate as well as the impoverished local Orthodox Churches, amid many unfavourable conditions, and his care for making the message of the Orthodox Church heard throughout the world. Furthermore, we as monks of the Holy Mountain, honour the Holy Church of Greece, from which most of us originate, and we respect His Beatitude the Primate.However, the events that took place during the recent visits of the Pope to Phanarion and of His Beatitude the Archbishop to the Vatican brought immense sorrow to our hearts.We desire and struggle during all our lives to safeguard the legacy of the Holy Fathers, which was left to us by holy founders of our sacred monasteries and reposed fathers before us. We strive our best to live the mystery of the Church and the unblemished Orthodox faith, which we learn every day from divine services, holy readings, and teachings of the Holy Fathers which are set out in their writings and in the decisions of the Ecumenical Councils. We keep our dogmatic awareness "as the apple of our eyes", and we reinforce it by urging ourselves to God-pleasing works and the careful study of the achievements of the holy Confessor Fathers who overcame manifold heresies, and especially of our father among the saints, St. Gregory of Palamas, the Holy Martyrs of the Holy Mountain and the Holy Martyr Kosmas the First, whose holy relics we venerate with every honour and whose sacred memory we incessantly celebrate. We fear keeping silence whenever issues arise that pertain to the legacy that our Fathers left to us. It feels as our responsibility towards the most venerable fathers and brothers of the overall brotherhood of the Holy Mountain and towards the pious faithful of the Church, who regard Athonite Monasticism as the non-negotiable guardian of the Holy Tradition.The visits of the Pope to Fanarion and the Archbishop's visit to the Vatican may have secured certain worldly benefits. However, during those visits there took place a number of other events, which disaccorded with the ways of Orthodox ecclesiology, and there were made a number of commitments, which would benefit neither the Orthodox Church, nor any heterodox Christians.First of all, the Pope was received as though he were a canonical bishop of Rome. During the service, the Pope wore an omophorion; the Ecumenical Patriarch greeted him saying "blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord" as though he were Christ the Lord; the Pope gave blessing to the congregation and was mentioned in prayers as "His Holiness and His Beatitude the Bishop of Rome". The Pope's reciting of the Lord's Prayer and liturgical greetings with the Patriarch demonstrated, too, something more than just common prayer. And all of this happened without having the papery recanting from its heretical teachings and policy; on the contrary, the Pope in fact openly promotes and tries to reinforce the Unia and with the papist dogmas of primacy and infallibility, and even inter-faith common prayers and the pan-religious hegemony of the Pope of Rome that discerns from that.As for the reception of the Pope in Phanarion, we are especially grieved by the fact that all the Media has kept repeating the same incorrect information, that the troparia, which were (unduly) sung during the visit, were composed by monks of the Holy Mountain. We take this opportunity to responsibly inform all pious Christians that their composer was not, and could never be, a monk of the Holy Mountain.Now we come to the attempt by His Beatitude the Archbishop of Athens to commence relations with the Vatican on social, cultural and bio-ethical issues, as well as the objective to common defense of the Christian roots of Europe (positions which are also found in the Common Declaration of the Pope and the Patriarch in Phanarion), both of which may seem innocuous or even positive, given that the aim is to cultivate peaceful human relations. However it is important to avoid an impression that the West and the Orthodoxy continue to have the same bases, or not to make one forgetting the distance that separates the Orthodox Tradition from that which is usually mentioned as the "European spirit". The (Western) Europe is burdened with a series of anti-Christian institutions and acts, such as crusades, the "holy" inquisition, slave trade and colonialism. It is burdened with the tragic division, which took form of the Protestant schism, the devastating world wars, the man-centered humanism and its atheist worldviews. All of these are the consequence of Rome's theological deviations from the Orthodoxy. Step by step, Papal and Protestant heresies gradually replaced the humble Christ of the Orthodoxy and enthroned the proud Man instead. The holy bishop Nicholas of Ohrid and Zica wrote from Dahau: "What, then, is Europe? The Pope and Luther... This is what Europe is, at its core, ontologically and historically". The St. Justin Popovic says: "The Second Vatican Council comprises the rebirth of every kind of European humanism... because the Council persistently adhered to the dogma of papal infallibility"; "Undoubtedly, the authorities and the powers of (western) European culture and civilization are Christ-expellers," he concludes. That is why it is so important to set forth the humble morality of Orthodoxy and to support the truly Christian roots of the united Europe; the roots that Europe had during the first Christian centuries, during the time of the catacombs and the seven holy Ecumenical Councils. It is advisable for Orthodoxy not to burden itself with foreign sins neither give an impression to those, who became de-Christianized in reaction to the sidetracking of Western-style Christianity, that Orthodoxy is related to it, thus ceasing to testify that it is the only authentic faith in Christ, and the only hope for the peoples of Europe.The Roman Catholics demonstrate no willingness to disentangle themselves from the decisions of their pursuant (and according to them, Ecumenical) Councils, which enacted the Filioque, the Primacy, the Infallibility, the secular authority of the Roman Pontiff, the 'created Grace', the immaculate conception of the Mother of God, the Unia. Despite all these, we as Orthodox continue the so-called traditional exchanges of visits, bestowing honors befitting an Orthodox Bishop on the Pope and totally disregarding a series of Sacred Canons which forbid common prayers, while the theological dialogue repeatedly flounders, and, after being dredged from the depths, it again sinks down.So we have to conclude that the Vatican is not orienting itself to discard its heretical teachings, but only to "re-interpret" them, or in other words, to veil them.The Roman Catholic ecclesiology varies from one circular to the other; from so-called "open" ecclesiology of the Encyclical "Ut Unum Sint", to the ecclesiological exclusivity of the Encyclical "Dominus Jesus". It should be noted that both of the aforementioned views are contrary to the Orthodox Ecclesiology. The self-awareness of the holy Orthodox Church as the only One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church does not allow recognition of other, heterodox churches and confessions as "sister churches". "Sister Churches" are only the local Orthodox Churches sharing the same faith. No other homonymous reference to "sister churches" other than the Orthodox ones is theologically permissible.The Filioque is presented by the Roman Catholic side as an alternative though acceptable expression of the doctrine of the procession of the Holy Spirit theologically equivalent to the Orthodox teaching of procession "only from the Father" - a view that is unfortunately supported by some of our own theologians.Besides, the Pontiff is maintaining his primacy as an inalienable privilege, as one can see from the recent revocation of the title "Patriarch of the West" by Pope Benedict XVI; also, from his reference to the worldwide mission of the Apostle Peter and his successors during his homily in the Patriarchal Chapel, as well as from his recent speech, which included the following: "...within the society, with the Successors of the Apostles, whose visible unity is guaranteed by the Successor of the Apostle Peter, the Ukrainian Catholic Community managed to preserve the Sacred Tradition alive, in its integrity" (Catholic Newspaper, No.3046/18-4-2006).The Unia is reinforced and reassured in many and various ways, despite the papal proclamations of the contrary. This dishonest stance is witnessed, apart from other instances, by the provocative intervention of the previous pope, John Paul II, which made the Orthodox-Roman Catholic dialogue in Baltimore a disaster, as well as by the letter sent by the current Pope to Cardinal Ljubomir Husar, the Uniate Archbishop of Ukraine. In this letter dated 22/02/2006, the following is emphatically stressed: "It is imperative to secure the presence of the two great carriers of the only Tradition (the Latin and the Eastern)... The mission that the Greek Catholic Church has undertaken, being in full communion with the Successor of the Apostle Peter, is two-fold: on one side, it must visibly preserve the eastern Tradition inside the Catholic Church; on the other, it must favour the merging of the two traditions, testifying that they not only can coordinate between themselves, but that they also constitute a profound union amid their variety".Seen in this light, the polite exchanges such as the Pope's visit to Phanarion and the Archbishop of Athens' to the Vatican, without the prerequisite of a unity in the faith, may on the one hand create false impressions of unity and thus turn away the heterodox who could have seen in the Orthodoxy the true Church, and on the other hand, blunt the dogmatic sensor of many Orthodox. Even more, they may push some of the faithful and pious Orthodox, who are deeply concerned by the recent violations of holy canons, to detach themselves from the body of the Church and create new schisms.Thus, with love for our Orthodoxy, with pain regarding church unity, and being determined to preserve the Orthodox faith free of all innovations, we now repeat what was proclaimed by the extraordinary double assembly of the Sacred Koinotos of the Holy Mountain of the 9/22 April 1980:"We believe that our Holy Orthodox Church is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of Christ, having the fullness of Grace and the Truth, and for this reason, an uninterrupted Apostolic Succession. On the contrary, the "churches" and the "confessions" of the West, having distorted the faith of the Gospel, the Apostles and the Fathers on many points, are deprived of the hallowing Grace, the true Sacraments and the Apostolic Succession...Dialogues with the heterodox - if they are intended to inform them about the Orthodox Faith so that when they become receptive of divine enlightenment and their eyes are opened they might return to the Orthodox Faith - are not condemned. In no way should a theological dialogue be accompanied by common prayers, participation in liturgical assemblies and worship by either side and any other activities that might give the impression that our Orthodox Church acknowledges the Roman Catholics as a complete Church and the Pope as a canonical (proper) Bishop of Rome. Such acts mislead the Orthodox as well as the Roman Catholic faithful, who are given a false impression of what Orthodoxy thinks of them...With the Grace of God, the Holy Mountain remains faithful - as do the Orthodox people of the Lord - to the Faith of the Holy Apostles and the Holy Fathers, and also out of love for the heterodox, who are essentially helped, when the Orthodox with their steadfast Orthodox stance point out the extent of their spiritual ailment and the way they can be cured.The failed attempts for union during the past teach us that for a permanent union, according to the will of God, within the Truth of the Church, the prerequisite is a different kind of preparation and course, than those which were followed in the past and appear to be followed to this day".Representatives and Superiors of the Holy Koinotos of the twenty sacred monasteries of the Holy Mountain AthosKaryae, 30 December 2006Translated by the Interfax-Religion

Church Desecrecrated, Serbians Put Their Faith In God Almighty

"If the international community is fighting against terrorism everywhere in the world, why is it tolerating it Kosovo and Metohija? What is happening here is the most brutal form of terror that can be imaged." --Bishop Artemije

KiM Info Newsletter 10-01-07
Church desecrated in village of Gornja Brnjica in Kosovo

GRACANICA, January 9, 2007 (Tanjug, SRNA) - Unknown persons desecrated the church of Sts. Peter and Paul in the village of Gornja Brnjica near Pristina, representatives of the Kosovo Police Service advised today.
"Two nights ago a side window was broken on the church through which the criminals then entered. They stole the donations collected in the church on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, as well as taking a number of icons from the church," said village representative Dragi Djordjevic. He said that the KPS visited the site yesterday and initiated an investigation.
This is the second time the church has been broken into in the past two months. Last time the tongue of the church bell was stolen.
KPS spokesman Veton Elsani said that unknown persons broke a window on the church through which they entered the church and stole some money. According to Elsani, a police investigative unit and forensic experts went to the scene this morning. It is assumed that the motive for the break in was robbery, and there are no suspects at this time.
The church in Gornja Brnjica was desecrated late in the night on January 7 or early in the morning on January 8.

Church in Gornja Brnjica near Pristina robbed and damaged

KIM Radio, Caglavica, January 9, 2007
In the night between January 7 and 8 the church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Gornja Brnjica near Pristina was broken into and robbed. The bars were removed from a window and the church, windows broken, icons damaged and all the money in the church was stolen, parish priest Stevan Markovic told KIM Radio. "Recently a lot of things have been happening in Serb enclaves and villages where Serbs are surviving and living under difficult conditions. Everything seems to be going wrong but this, too, is some kind of test we are getting from the Lord," said Father Stevan. He added that he hopes that the Serbian people can overcome all the difficulties it is currently experiencing.
"We place our hope in God's mercy that in the future such things will not reoccur."Dragan Djordjevic, representative of the village of Gornja Brnjica, said that this is not the first attack on this church; on the contrary, recently such attacks have become increasingly frequent. "Since the end of the war this is the fourth time the church was been desecrated."Coordinating Center (for Kosovo and Metohija) vice-president Nenad Kostic said that the damage to the church is one in a series of many acts of vandalism that have befallen the Serbian people recently. "We can only place our hope in god that better times await us, i.e. that after this incident similar ones will not reoccur," said Kojic.The church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul was built on the foundation of an older church. It faces large tombstones with crosses which according to folk tradition and Kosovo legend is supposed to indicate the burial place of the legendary Serbian heroes, the Jugovices.

Bishop Artemije condemns desecration of church in Brnjica

KIM Radio, January 9, 2007
Bishop Artemije of Raska and Prizren condemned the desecration of the church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Brnjica near Pristina, saying that this most recent attack on the property of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo and Metohija also occurred at the time of the greatest Christian feast of Christmas. In a statement for KOSMA, Bishop Artemije reminded that during the past seven years many messages have been sent to representatives of the international community regarding the desecration of churches in Kosovo, and that the question that must now be asked is whether there is any point at all in doing so.
"They know what is happening, and they are aware of their guilt but they are not doing anything to prevent crimes. The message appears to be that they are supporting criminals and terrorists in Kosovo and Metohija. If the international community is fighting against terrorism everywhere in the world, why is it tolerating it Kosovo and Metohija? What is happening here is the most brutal form of terror that can be imaged," said Bishop Artemije.
KIM Info-service ARCHIVE
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World Notes Patriarch Pavle's Nativity Message

Southeastern Europe

ORTHODOX CHURCH LEADER CALLS ON SERBS TO REMAIN IN KOSOVO

In an Orthodox Christmas message on January 7, Patriarch Pavle, the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, urged Kosovar Serbs to remain in the province, AKI reported the same day. Pavle asked Serbs in Kosovo to "hold out to the end." He also sharply criticized those pushing for the province's independence. "The day will come when the tyrants will be ashamed. We pray for our enemies to realize that doing evil things can bring good to no one," Pavle said. "They should be aware that after all the humiliating defeats they impose on others, they will ultimately defeat themselves by hopelessness."
SERBIAN PREMIER CALLS ON CITIZENS TO DEFEND KOSOVO

In an appeal published on January 6, Vojislav Kostunica called on Serbs to defend Kosovo and vowed that Belgrade will "not hand over" the separatist province, dpa reported the same day. "Citizens of Serbia, no one can be between two minds with regard to Kosovo," Kostunica wrote in a two-page advertisement published in the Belgrade daily "Politika." "As long as Serbia exists, Kosovo, the first letter in the spiritual alphabet of the Serbian people, will be a part of Serbia," he added. "We must defend Kosovo together, every citizen, all the people. Otherwise, we will lose not only Kosovo, but also Serbia and its identity." Kostunica also wrote that demanding Serbia give up 15 percent of its territory is "unacceptable and impossible."

SERBIAN PRESIDENT SEEKS FURTHER EXTENSION ON KOSOVO PROPOSAL BUT UN REFUSES

Boris Tadic appealed to UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari on January 5 to postpone a final-status proposal for Kosovo until a new Serbian government is formed after parliamentary elections on January 21, AP reported the same day. Tadic said the proposal Ahtisaari is expected to unveil after the elections "may not be very favorable for the Serbian side." Press reports citing unidentified officials say Ahtisaari will propose a form of "supervised independence" for the province (see "RFE/RL Newsline," January 5, 2007). "Therefore, it would be much better if the proposal comes after a new government is formed," possibly a few weeks after the ballot, Tadic said. He added that the proposal could "complicate in every sense" efforts to form a democratic Serbian government. Ahtisaari's spokesman, Remi Durlot, said there will be no further delays and the proposal will be unveiled "immediately after" the January 21 elections. "We are in the final stage" of putting it together, Durlot said.

MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT VOWS TO PRESERVE COUNTRY'S NAME

Branko Crvenkovski said on January 5 that Skopje will insist on its right to use Macedonia as the country's official name, Makfax reported the same day. "We will remain steadfast on our position that the constitutional name of our country has to be applied in both domestic and foreign use," he said. Greece opposes Macedonia's use of the name, which Athens says implies territorial claims on the northern Greek province of the same name. Greece has warned it might block Skopje's NATO and the EU bids unless the dispute is resolved, AP reported on January 5. Crvenkovski said it is unlikely that Skopje and Athens will resolve the conflict this year. "The maneuvering space that would enable finding a mutually acceptable solution is rather narrow," he said. He added that if Greece blocked Macedonia's NATO or EU bids over the issue, "that would constitute violation of the [1995] interim agreement, which actually serves as a basis for the ongoing negotiations."

ALBANIAN ELECTION CHIEF SAYS POLITICS DELAYED LOCAL POLLS

Albania's election commission chief, Clirim Gjata, said on January 6 that political infighting have caused local elections to be postponed, AP reported the same day. The elections, considered to be a test of Albania's democratic reforms, were scheduled for January 20. The governing coalition and opposition have agreed in principle to postpone them until February, but the decision has yet to be approved by parliament. "I am ringing the alarm bell," Gjata said. "We cannot hold elections on January 20 under these conditions. Everything remains in the hands of politics, parliament, and the president to reach a solution." Opposition parties decided on December 11 to boycott the January 20 local elections, claiming that the governing coalition, led by Sali Berisha's Democratic Party, is preparing to engage in fraud (see "RFE/RL Newsline," December 14, 2006). A January 5 report by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said that local elections are in jeopardy due to a lack of political will in pushing through electoral reform, AP reported. BW
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Patriach Pavle's Nativity Message

KiM Info Newsletter 06-01-07
Patriarch Pavle's Christmas Message
The Serbian Orthodox Churchto her spiritual children at Christmas, 2006
P A V L E
By the grace of God
Orthodox Archbishop of Pec, Metropolitan of Belgrade-Karlovci and Serbian Patriarch, with the Hierarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church - to all the clergy, monastics, and all the sons and daughters of our Holy Church: grace, mercy and peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, with the joyous Christmas greeting:
PEACE FROM GOD - CHRIST IS BORN!
“Great indeed is the mystery of our religion:God is manifested in the flesh, vindicated in the Spirit,seen by angels, preached among the nations,believed on in the world, taken up in glory.”(I Tim. 3:16)
These words of the Apostle Paul, our dear spiritual children, most fully depict all the beauty of the joy of Christmas in which we truly participate in the great mystery of God descending from Heaven to earth and man’s ascending from earth to Heaven and sitting at the right hand of God the Father. This, in essence, is the divine sonship of everyone who desires it through an active faith. The Son of God came to call us into the everlasting Kingdom of God and to bring us into the reality of eternal life, being that He, our Lord, is always the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:5).
The event of Christ’s birth from the Virgin Mary brings together all hopes and longings of mankind throughout the centuries preceding it, as well as the faith of all the centuries that followed it, and it will last throughout all the centuries to eternity. This is the fullness of time (Gal. 4:4), for God and man are united together in the person of Christ. God is born as a man without ceasing to be God, so that man can become “god by grace”, without ceasing to be man.
Rejoicing in eternal and indescribable joy because of the great gifts of God’s love, let us ask ourselves as believing Christians, called out and sent into the world to be “the salt and light of the earth” (Matthew 5:13-14), are we, and to what degree are we, truly responsible in our God-given freedom. It is not good to make excuses for ourselves to someone else and yet see his mistakes, for condemning is not the way of faith. Often times this is an obstacle on the road of life and too heavy a yoke for him who acts this way. This is why we turn to you, sons and daughters of Christ’s Church, “not as lords over your faith, but as helpers of your joy” (II Cor. 1:24). On bended knees we implore you: show love without hypocrisy toward one another and toward all people – “let us not grow weary in well-doing.” (Gal. 6:9) Let us work to carry out the lesson of our Holy Fathers: “Every Christian needs to be such a person that God is never ashamed of him.” We can fulfill this axiom, noble people of God, but only if we make some effort will we succeed in the good works of our noble faith.
There are many selfish people today who think that they can do everything alone. Many are the false “great” people and nations and, each thinks that he alone can change the world. That is why we need the faith of the righteous Joseph, the simplicity and hospitality of Bethlehem’s shepherds, and the wisdom of the Magi from the East who, guided by the star, brought gifts to Christ without fearing King Herod. Let us believe with the faith of the prophets and righteous from the Old Testament, and let us persevere together with the holy apostles in witnessing to the great Mystery of faith, knowing that besides Christ “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
This knowledge in faith does not hinder us in love toward others. On the contrary, it directs us forward and opens us up to every person, regardless of who he is, how he prays, or whether he prays. For “God shows no partiality, but in every nation any one who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” (Act. 10:35) Our faith that Christ is the Savior of the world and mankind, equips and enables us to always serve the improvement and salvation of the world. The Son of God, for us and our salvation, became man and our servant. So each one of us is called to serve for the betterment of life and for the salvation of all and everyone. How much better and different everything would be if we Christians would actively understand the meaning of the “great ones” serving the “little ones”! Life would be more beautiful and the world would be much better. It is possible — but only if each one conquers self-will, renounces his own selfishness, abandons personal self-interest, and exchanges it for a self-sacrificing and unselfish way of life.
We were committing lawless acts – let us stop, and God will forgive. The greatest error we commit is abortion, because we will not admit that it is the sin of murdering a child, motivated by the selfishness of unworthy parents. It is most hideous murder, the refusal of God’s blessing and the denial to a new person of the right to life. The unborn child is not a nameless embryo, a fetus; it is a person – a living soul. We implore you, dear parents, not to do this any more; do not close the door of your hearts and homes to the blessing of life. There is enough room and food for all. Remember those childless parents who with tears in their eyes beseech God to bless them with children! Do not let the lack of material possessions be an excuse for abortion. Do not cut yourselves off from God’s blessing!
We know that some self-proclaimed defenders of people’s rights will say that the Church is limiting freedom and the rights of people, but let it be known that we are counseling with love, without degrading. May God forgive their sin and may He bring them into the communion of love. We will rejoice if they favorably respond. Many nations give heed to their historical existence and eternal salvation, and our Serbian people have killed, regretfully, more unborn children than all our enemies in all wars put together. We would mention that in our homeland the annual number of deaths, more than twenty five thousand, is greater than the number of new births. It is hoped that this statistic will move many to a more responsible way of thinking and to better actions.
In doing good works, in forgiving and in prayer, we need to persist and endure to the end, for “when reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we try to conciliate…” (I Cor. 4:12-13), knowing that “the victory that overcomes the world – (is) our faith.” (I John 5:4) Orthodox Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija experience and know this very well, along with all those who have been left homeless, driven by persecution from their homesteads. They bear the wounds of Christ on their bodies and are victorious over their persecutors. Many, because of their self-absorption and fear, do not understand them. They, like the early Christian martyrs and confessors, are victorious over those who think that they can reach their goal by defeating others. We deeply believe that the time will come when the aggressors will be put to shame. We pray for our enemies, that they may see that doing evil cannot bring good results to anyone. May it be known to them that after all debacles which they are inflicting upon others, in the end, they themselves will be defeated with hopelessness. And for them we pray that they may overcome “self” in order to become partakers of the peace which Christ gives.
Dear spiritual children, our holy Serbian Orthodox Church has survived all historical Golgothas and crucifixions by the joy of Bethlehem’s shepherds and by the wisdom of the Magi from East, and it will continue to survive forever, in conciliar unity with all the local Orthodox Churches which together comprise One Holy Church. In her fullness (sabornost) she gathers the entire Serbian population, on all continents and in all countries, and is open to all people of good will. She has gathered her faithful children throughout the centuries, walking the narrow path and building bridges of peace and love among people and nations.
We know well our downfalls, schisms and divisions. We pray to God that they cease, forever asking all of you to be one in our Lord, so that we may show others the pure faith and holy unity, all the beauty of faith in God and faith in the man of God. It will happen when we stop creating divisions among ourselves, mostly for foolish reasons. Let us strive, in the joy of the Christmas celebration, to reconcile ourselves and let us gather around the crib of the Divine Infant, overcoming all our senseless divisions!
Of course, it is necessary to think through everything, to encounter different opinions and to discuss things, but this cannot be a reason for hatred either among ourselves or towards anyone. The rule must remain in force which states: “he who would be first, should be servant to all”. Christ with His life showed all this, and we Christians have a sacred duty to affirm this life of service. Today is the most appropriate day to reexamine and correct ourselves and others so that our joy can be complete and lasting.
Every one of us needs to see in every other person the image of God, the image of our brother and of our eternal friend. Then will our hearts truly be Bethlehem’s cave in which Christ is continually being born anew. And the more hearts there are like this, the better everything will be and the better we will all be.
PEACE FROM GOD - CHRIST IS BORN!
Given at the Serbian Patriarchate in Belgrade, at Christmas, 2006. (Julian Calendar)
Your intercessors before the divine Christ-Child:
Archbishop of Pec, Metropolitan of Belgrade-Karlovci and Serbian Patriarch PAVLE
Metropolitan of Zagreb and Ljubljana JOVAN Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Coastlands AMPHILOHIJE Metropolitan of Midwestern America CHRISTOPHER Metropolitan of Dabro-Bosna NIKOLAJ
Bishop of Sabac-Valjevo LAVRENTIJE Bishop of Nis IRINEJ Bishop of Zvornik-Tuzla VASILIJE Bishop of Srem VASILIJE Bishop of Banja Luka JEFREM Bishop of Budim LUKIJAN Bishop of Canada GEORGIJE Bishop of Banat NIKANOR Bishop for America and Canada (New Gracanica Metropolitanate) LONGIN Bishop of Eastern America MITROPHAN Bishop of Zica CHRYSOSTOM Bishop of Backa IRINEJ Bishop of Great Britain and Scandinavia DOSITEJ Bishop of Ras and Prizren ARTEMIJE Retired Bishop of Zahumlje and Hercegovina ATANASIJE Bishop of Bihac and Petrovac CHRYSOSTOM Bishop of Osijek and Baranja LUKIJAN Bishop of Central Europe CONSTANTINE Bishop of Western Europe LUKA Bishop of Timok JUSTIN Bishop of Vranje PAHOMIJE Bishop of Sumadija JOVAN Bishop of Slavonia SAVA Bishop of Branicevo IGNATIJE Bishop of Milesevo FILARET Bishop of Dalmatia FOTIJE Bishop of Budimlje and Niksic JOANIKIJE Bishop of Zahumlje and Hercegovina GRIGORIJE Bishop of Valjevo MILUTINBishop of Western America MAXIM Bishop of Gornji Karlovci GERASIMBishop of Australia and New Zealand IRINEJ Vicar Bishop of Hvostno ATANASIJE Vicar Bishop of Jegar PORFIRIJE Vicar Bishop of Lipljan TEODOSIJE Vicar Bishop of Dioclea JOVAN Vicar Bishop of Moravica ANTONIJE
THE ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE OF OCHRID
Archbishop of Ochrid and Metropolitan of Skoplje JOVAN Bishop of Polos and Kumanovo JOAKIM Bishop of Bregal and locum tenens of the Diocese of Bitolj MARKO
[Path of Orthodoxy translation]

Persecution of Serbians In the United States

Refugees Hunted by Over-Zealous U.S. Government Agencies, Serbian Bar Association of America
Serbian Bar Association of America
5315 N. Clark St., PMB 279,
Chicago, Illinois 60640

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Saturday, December 30, 2006www.serbbar.org

CHICAGO - At least 45 U.S. citizens and permanent residents across the country have been selectively targeted, indicted and arrested on federal charges related to their refugee and immigration applications. Many more face immigration related deportation charges on similar grounds. The Serbian Bar Association of America has joined with the Serbian Orthodox Church of America and other national organizations in calling upon the U.S. Attorney General and or Congressional leaders to review and reject what appears to be an abuse of prosecutorial discretion by the various United States Attorney’s Office and the United States Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
During the past fifteen months, legal immigrants currently living in Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Ohio and Illinois have been arrested on immigration charges related to refugee applications completed nearly ten years ago. In many instances, U.S. contracted refugee agencies assisted these individuals with their applications which are now the subject of the charges against them. By way of example, one woman was arrested for omitting “military service” due to her position as a cook for local military personnel.
Of major concern is the manner and method of prosecution of these individuals. Many had little or no knowledge of English, and wholly relied on these agencies to assist them with their immigration in order to leave their war torn country. Also disturbing is the fact that, no matter of ethnicity, all refugees from Bosnia were conscriptive soldiers during the war, yet only Serbs are being singled out in what appears to be a discriminatory purge of Serbian refugees.
The Serbian Bar Association of America questions the manner and method of these charges. In almost all instances, U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents made early morning raids of individual homes and made arrests at gunpoint frightening innocent women and children, where communication and notice to individuals would have sufficed. While the U.S. Governmental agencies purport the premise for these arrests was to capture those in this country “known to commit atrocities”, no such charges are leveled against any of these individuals. Moreover, no indictment carries war crimes charges yet these individuals are being treated like terroists.
It is of grave concern that the U.S. government is targeting Serbian refugees from the former Yugoslavia while other ethnic groups from the same region with ties to terrorist organizations are not being investigated. “These poor people fled the wrath and oppression of a fascist mujahadeen and relied upon the counsel of US appointed immigration officials in order to seek refuge and legal entry into the United States. Unfortunately, they again find themselves inappropriately targeted by authorities simply because of their ethnic background,” says Metropolitan Christopher, the senior Serbian Orthodox Bishop in North America.
The SBAA demands full disclosure of all files of all refugees from a similar time period, regardless of ethnicity, to determine whether this is a discriminatory purge of one ethnic group, and calls for all indictments to be held in abeyance until an investigation is fully conducted.
The SBAA strongly encourages all those interested to donate to the Serbian Refugee Defense Fund “SRDF”, sending those donations to the address above, and view specific information regarding these arrests on the SBAA website at www.serbbar.org. In addition, the website provides additional information about the rights of any individual facing similar mistreatment, and encourages all to download these basic rights and present them at time of arrest.
The Serbian Orthodox Church of North America and Canada and the following organizations are signatories to this release:
The Serbian Bar Association of AmericaSerbian Unity Congress
Serbian National Defense Council of America
Serb National FederationSerbian Brothers
Help Serbian American Medical & Dental Society