What would a patriot do?
I have no way of knowing who is responsible for a series of incidents in Kosovo targeting Serbs. What I do know is that whoever does these things is no patriot.
There is, as usual, some background here. The removal last week of a monument to fallen Albanian insurgents against the Milosevic regime* that had been erected in the southern Serbian town of Presevo has angered Albanians in Kosovo, including some who have sought refuge in Kosovo from police harassment in Presevo. It was foolish of the Serbian government to bother about the monument, but it was smart enough not to destroy it. Instead it is said to have taken it to Belgrade, as evidence in a court case.
Someone in Kosovo seems to think the right response is violence against Serbs and Serb property. That is not just foolish but positively counter-productive, as it will be taken by some as proof that Albanians aren’t civilized and don’t belong in Europe. It would be far wiser for those concerned to protest peacefully and prepare to argue their case in Serbia’s courts. The right response in Kosovo is for the government to arrest those responsible and charge them. Impunity for crimes against Serbs besmirches the Kosovo state and reduces its claim to being just.
People in Kosovo might also give a bit of thought to their own monuments, which tend to glorify Albanian history in general and the Kosovo Liberation Army specifically. We are all entitled to our heroes, but a bit of sensitivity to the other side in a war now almost 15 years past is in order. After all, the Presevo Albanians were asking that the Serbian government put up with a monument to insurgents who had killed Serbs. Where in Kosovo can I find monuments to Serbs? This may be asking too much, but at the very least Kosovo Albanians need to respect Serb cemeteries and leave them undisturbed.
That’s what a patriot would do.
*PS, added January 24: This is inaccurate and misleading. The Liberation Army of Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac was active also under the democratic regime that came after Milosevic’s fall in October 2000.
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I couldn’t agree more. And this directly relates to the topic I wrote about in my daily column earlier today, though in a somewhat broader context.
because they know that american politics suport albanian peopel , so they ruin all form serbs, i feel sorry because no one dont want too see what is real true, ther..but thank you least for this.
‘The removal last week of a monument to fallen Albanian insurgents against the Milosevic regime’…Milisevic wasnt in power at the time.
Would American authorities allow a monument to fallen al-Qaeda insurgents who brought down the Twin Towers in response to American foreign policies?
Why do you compare Albanians and AL-Qaeda??? Should Bosnia Muslims compare Serbs with Hitler after Srebrenica, or Croats call Serbs fascists after the massacre of 3000 Croats in one day in Ovcari?
Your comparison is completely out of any proportion You are comparing Serbs with faschists and Nazis and they actually fought i`ll repeat again with caps FOUGHT against them and won. If we put KLA on a side as real “liberation” guerilla movement and actually beleive in that (i am being ironic) how would you call ANA (Albanian National Army) or Liberation Army of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja? If my memory is corect war ended in 1999 and those two formations i`ve mentioned above continued their fight in 2000 and 2001 in South Serbia and Macedonia so i am now wondering were those very same Albanians we are talking about molested, humiliated and tortured in Macedonia aswell when they decided to start an arm mutiny? Were they “liberating” Macedonia from some bad guys aswell ? Also OVPBM contuned their campaign of “liberation (read terror) AFTER Milosevic regime went down so i am again trying to figure what forced them to fight now ? Was there some other dictator torturing poor Albanians ?
You`ve asked WHY would you compare KLA with Al Quaida?! There`s more than enough proof about aleged KLA and Al Quaida cooperation. Also citizens of any other sovereign World country would call any insurgent on their soil a “terrorists” so i think we have more than enough reasons to consider KLA, OVPBM and ANA without any doubts A TERORISTS ORGANIZATIONS!
I am not comparing Serbs with faschists and nazis, please read my comment carefully. You said fought (with caps) and won.
– How can you fight against 8000 unarmed people (a part of them even children) in Srebrenica, and kill them all in ONLY 10 days?!?! (that’s an average of 800 people per day, that’s a lot of blood, don’t you think?). Do you know that this mass murder (read Massacre) was described by the UN as the worst crime on European soil since the Second World War??? Does that make you proud as a Serb for this? Because your people and your government did this, even Serbian Orthodox Church blessed this action, and many more similar actions.
What would you call this, a humanitarian kill? You killed them all to save them from NATO, or what? Do you want a NOBEL for your massacres?
As to your question about ANA (Albanian National Army) or Liberation Army of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, they exist and will continue to exist until we return what was taken from us: FREEDOM.
p.s. You didn’t win. You never won!!!
if im not mistaken presevo is still part of serbia,so i dont understand why its “FOOLISH”for serbian authorities to “bother”with the monument.
“it was smart enough not to destroy it”
Wrong, twice : Seems damaged and in a pile of garbage to me http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/19416_538837862807580_1912559756_n.jpg
Wrong again, regarding Serbian monuments multiple times : For example, there’s this monument in Gorazde near Peje, dedicated to Serbian forces engaged in rapes and
ethnic cleansing, which reads “Victims of Albanian terrorists” http://ekuiliber.com/wp-content/uploads/14.jpg Last time I
checked the momumennt in Presevo didn’t bear any such offensive inscriptions. If you want to see more, have a walk just
outside Prishtina next time you visit Kosovo. You’ll bring home a very nice collection of such monuments to show your buddies over barbecue.
So many mistakes in less than half dozen sentences.
Now, I find it illogical and beyond human decency to focus on the evil done by a few anonymous people, and ignore the whole
political and intellectual Kosovo Albanian class which was very quick and overzealous to not only condemn them but also pledge
Kosovo taxpayer money to restore what’s been damaged This in stark contrast in regards to the Serbian state : calling them smart (leaving aside their role
in the 90s massacres and ethnic cleansing in several states) because has no money to invest in the Albanian inhabited areas,
but actually has lots of money to build a billion dollar army base. I find it terribly ironic that you as a diplomat cheer
for the Serbian state sponsored terrorism which deceived your colleagues at OSCE just as they were to find a solution to the issue, and intervened during the night like thieves with a very imposing force. 200 heavily armed police and vehicles just to take down
a monument. Only because it was Albanian, as the numerous statements by Serbian politicians can testify. Nothing to with any law.
To date, what other presence has Serbia had in this area, army and special police aside?
Mr Server, how much taxpayer money has Serbia used to repair all the destruction it has wrought to the Kosovan people?
0 AFAIK. Are they smart for these facts as well?
All in all, the worst piece so far. Even worse than Gallucci’s copy and paste.
According to Blic there are 9 similar monuments to the Albanian terrorist organization in Presevo and Bujanovac Municipalities. Pictures of two complexes are provided in the article. The issue with this particular monument was that it was erected recently by the Presevo Municipality in front of the Town Hall building itself.
As far as the picture you provided goes, it looks more like a Serbian family grave. Serbian graves, churches, monasteries and other monuments alike have fallen prey to coordinated Albanian destruction, whether in this recent wave, in the 2004 pogrom, during the 1999-2004 period or the 1980s.
For pictures that document the wanton destruction refer to “Crucified Kosovo” a publication which is over 13 years old and only documents the destruction carried out in the first 5 months.
http://www.rastko.rs/kosovo/crucified/default.htm
OK, you gave us your pictures.
Now it’s our turn to give you our pictures. Just please filter your search: From which part of Kosovo do you want it? And please select your category: massacre of Albanian women, children and old people by the Serb police and army, or destruction of Albanian houses and villages, or deportation of almost 1 million Albanians from Kosovo in only 3 months (that’s for Guinness)? I also forgot the category about the rape of lots of Albanian women, destruction of schools, religious objects, shopping centers, mass graves, you name it!!!
We have them all my friend, just tell me the category.
Mate there`s alot of wrong stuff written in your post. Monument was removed becouse it wasnt legalized and it was placed there without any permision. Also if you look at Serbian monuments they arent on public squares as this was (as we can see from picture you linked for example). Lt me ask you something go around Kosovo and Serbia and look carefuly at Serbian monuments (cultural monuments) you`ll see medieval churches, monasteries (what`s left of them) famous scientists or monuments important to Serbian history. Couldn`t Albanians do the same or maybe everything Albanians have in their history is KLA, OVPBM ?! I am starting to beleive that`s the case.
Serbia did alot more for Albanians than Albanians for Serbs I dont know if i have to remind you on period while you`ve suffered under Enver Hogha and border opening for thousands of refuges fleeing from Albania. You are askign what Serbis`s taxpayers did to repair all the destruction for Kosovars ? Please only god know how many houses, churches and monasteried were burned by the very same hand of those Kosovars you are talking about. I dont even wana mention all those houses that Albanians freely walked in after Serbs left so give me a break please.
Dear All
I want to say something what I feel, the history turned back in Kosovo, Serbs do something and them they post that to the Albanians in Kosovo, Albanians in Kosovo never disturb the dead people and their Cemeteries, we had a War before, but we never broke them, they are still on the form es they were before the war, and what do you think mister Serwer, If we were so bad we had a chance to broke them, but we did not cause we are not the Who is trying to disturb the Dead people and the Balkan, we were here as you know Mr Serwer, we belong to this place, we came not from Mountains of Carpates, but the Serbs came here from there and they are trying to make a place where to live, or try one more time to do the big Serbia, but it going every day to be smaller than it it( do not forget Vojvodina).
So the Cemeteries was good planned before they removed out that Monument from Presheva , just to remove the Eyes of the press from Serbia and to speculate for something what they did by themselves in Kosovo. it is not first time, but the problem is that how the World is not jet learned with those things that Serbian government do. They did a War in Croatia, they did Genocide in Bosnia, in Kosovo same and still they (Serbia) are the Victims, no no that is what I cannot understand, they did everything to the others and at least they play the role of a Victim.
It is not bad to say reality cause it doesn`t hurt Mr. serwer, am I richt sir.
This reminds me of Santa Claus. There is nothing more to say about it.
Nevertheless, I totally agree with Mr. Server, no patriot would do that, EVER.
Dear Mr Serwer now you are wondering where you can find a monument dedicated to Serbs in Kosovo, in couple of years you`ll wonder where you can find a Serb in there !
Wrong! The number of Serbs in Kosovo, in particular in the southern part of Kosovo, is increasing. Please check the official statistics of UNHCR and OSCE. However, the number of those Serbs who participated in the killings of civil population surprisingly is not increasing.
As Mr. Serwer points out it will be very hard for Kosovo to establish international recognition and respect without the rule of law. In Kosovo’s path toward EU requirements for the standard and the quality of laws that are being implemented for all of its citizens will only rise. Same situation is in Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia. These countries must implement higher standards that are required for a country to join and be compatible to EU. In BIH the next elections will not be recognized by EU if law is not changed to create all the citizens equal under the law. Croatia will have to return properties of its citizens that fled during the war.
Victims of former autocracies, dictatorships and tribal mentalities Balkan nations never had a chance to really come to value The Rule of Law. Until such a time when The Rule of Law is the supreme authority in the Balkan countries people will suffer corruption and state failed democracies. No one wants countries such as that to taint the Union of countries with long democratic tradition and with great set of laws that protects and respects all of its citizens. So grow up and take life and living as respectable thing to do.
Amen to that! 🙂
I do not now if mr Serwer has ever been in Kosova! and it is being talked a lot of reciprocity between two States Kosova and Serbia.
But talking about serbs as natonal heros people who`s been killing butchering raping women and children and in the end ethnic cleansing the country from albanians and to forget all that in 15 years time – I dont think so!
By the way mister Serwer in Kosova you have a reputation of a unofficial spokesman for albanian rights so for you should not be a problem to take a trip in Kosova and se through Gracanica and other serbian communities in Kosova how the pictures, flags and names of those who were killing people of Kosova being treated as heros.
And after all that, my dear having a patience and to accept and live with all that must be a virtue of its one.
P.s. With outmost respect, Not expected such a harsh comment, very surprised!
And in the last couple of years everybody else, except evil Serbs, got wings! So, angels flying around Balkan and evil Serbs are expelled from heaven! Oh, how innocent you are…Oh, you didn’t do anything wrong and evil Serbs are so evil… And yes…Mr Serwer is official (I mean it is so obvious) defender of poor, molested Albanians (irony)! He didn’t tell you that it is wrong to destroy someone else monuments and you should respect someone else dead people because this is what civilized nation do . He told you that it is not smart to do so! What a joke!
According to the United Nations Special Tribunal for Hague, Albanians are innocent, and yes – lots of Serbs are guilty and responsible for all the evil that happened in the Balkans. I know it sounds a bit harsh, but hey, it’s the truth. You’ll live with it.
Mr. Server’s article is a wonderful example that the numerous so called experts on the Balkans are in essence unprofessional charlatans who have only to thank the absolute obscurity of the field in which they so eagerly lavish their thoughts on us for not being the subject of public ridicule.
If I understand it correctly Mr. Server is now an academic and I truly feel only compassion for his students as he himself fails to meet the standards which are usually required for high school student essays. His article is factually (if one was to be cynical one might add and probably deliberately) incorrect as the monument was raised to those who fought in the uprising which erupted AFTER the toppling of Slobodan Milosevic and was ended in Serbian favor (disarmament and disbandment of the Albanian terrorist groups together with the return of Serbian forces in to the previously demilitarized zones used by the terrorists as their base) with the full support of the West and NATO. Now this information is public knowledge and can easily be verified so one cannot give a passing grade to Mr. Server. Secondly, the monument was never taken to Belgrade (it is located in a police station near Presevo) while there is no court case regarding this matter in Serbia taking place. Again, we deal with easily verifiable publicly available information, and again Mr. Server does not reach the standard demanded of high school students. One must be more diligent in his research Mr. Server, but I suspect that research and facts are not entirely your area of expertise. So from the factual accuracy point of view Mr. Servers writing might be mistaken as his attempt (a rather poor one) at fiction.
On the other one must remind Mr. Server that the Albanians have been present in Kosovo and Metohija for the last 3 to 4 centuries in comparison to roughly 14 centuries of Serbian presence. The cemeteries are targeted, as they have been for at least 100 years, purposefully in order to accomplish two goals: a) to send a message to the Serbs already expelled that they are not welcome even if they are dead, b) to erase any trace of evidence of Serbian presence in Kosovo and Methohija. The Albanians have been supported by people such as Mr. Server in using the most hideous means of accomplishing the stated two goals. In other words, Mr. Server what is happening in Kosovo at the moment is the usual state of affairs and is nothing to be surprised at, particularly by someone who has contributed to unchecked bestiality of the new anti-Serb apartheid prospering in Albanian ruled Kosovo and Metohija at the moment. Actually, your attempt at indignation is a sign of a lack of good manners and decorum.
However, I would like to thank Mr. Server for this article. Namely, Serbs often seem overwhelmed by the negative propaganda about them and the unlimited understanding for those who do them wrong. I quite understand that what you feel for Serbs can only be compared to rampant antisemitism. On the other hand, when one realizes the intellectual capacity of those standard bearers of anti-Serb propaganda and the soundness of their moral reputation, one can only feel relieved. The struggle for the truth and right cannot be that difficult when those such as yourself are the opposition.