Kosovo fate divides Serbs

[Arthur Gordon Pym]

Kosovo fate divides Serbs

By JOVANA GEC, Associated Press Writer
Wed Jul 25

BELGRADE, Serbia - Serbia's airwaves are filled with patriotic slogans such as "Every Serb is born with Kosovo in his heart," relentlessly drumming home the official line that as the nation's sacred heartland, the province simply can't be allowed to break free.

But many Serbs don't feel that way.

"Kosovo means absolutely nothing to me, I have never been there and I never will go there," says Jelena Simovic, a 38-year-old anthropologist from Belgrade. "I am fed up with Kosovo. I just want to live normally."
That view is shared by many urban, educated Serbs who feel threatened by the resurgent nationalism that has flourished here as Serbia's southernmost province awaits a U.N. Security Council decision on independence.

They fear a hard line on Kosovo would further isolate Serbia from the West and endanger its ambition of joining the European Union as a prosperous democracy.

Serbian leaders portray it as a matter of life and death. Vows to keep Kosovo dominate public debate, pushing to the margins key topics such as economic recovery or tackling corruption.

Parliament on Wednesday approved a resolution stating the country's opposition to secession and threatening to reconsider diplomatic relations with any country that recognizes Kosovo's independence.
Milos Brocic, a 56-year-old taxi driver, agrees. He says "snatching away" Kosovo from Serbia would be an injustice and that Serbia "does not need anybody and is well off on its own and together with its friend Russia."
The province has been run by the United Nations and NATO since 1999, when NATO bombing forced authoritarian leader Slobodan Milosevic to pull out. Today, Kosovo is inhabited almost solely by independence-seeking ethnic Albanians.

A year of U.N.-mediated negotiations between Serbs and Albanians has produced no result. On Wednesday, representatives from the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Russia were meeting in Vienna to lay the groundwork for a new round of talks, which could start as early as August.
The Serb attachment to Kosovo dates to 1389, when the province, then the seat of a Serbian empire, fell to the Ottoman Turks. The battle has become the symbol of Serbia's fight for freedom.

The hard-line camp dominates Parliament, and on June 28, the anniversary of the battle, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said a "new Kosovo battle" was under way, pitting Serbia against the United States which strongly backs independence.

The head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Pavle, marked the occasion with a statement that it would be "better to vanish as humans" than lose Kosovo.

Simovic says such statements astound her.

"Do they know what they are doing?" she asked. "Has anyone asked us what we actually want and whether we are ready to risk anything anymore for Kosovo?"

In fact pollsters have asked these questions repeatedly, and their findings suggest that government claims of a Serbia united in keeping Kosovo at all cost are vastly exaggerated. While Serbs overwhelmingly want the province to remain part of Serbia, they differ greatly on what they'd be willing to give up for it.

In a June survey by Serbia's CESID agency, 48 percent said they were ready to sacrifice EU membership to keep Kosovo. And 39 percent said Serbia should cut diplomatic ties with a state that recognizes Kosovo sovereignty. But only 12 percent, mostly pensioners and housewives, said Serbia should wage war with Kosovo Albanians or the international community if Kosovo is declared independent.


The survey questioned 1,677 people; no margin of error was given.
The government hasn't indicated it will hold a referendum on whether to defy the international community over Kosovo independence, but if it does, the polls indicate the outcome would be highly uncertain.

Gordana Logar of the Strategic Marketing polling agency says its surveys indicate Serbs "are very much capable of making a difference between wishes and reality."
"Quality of life comes first for them," Logar said.

[source]

[Galaico]

Today, Kosovo is inhabited almost solely by independence-seeking ethnic Albanians.

Of course, thanks to the UN and NATO complicity with the terrorist KLA and the ethnic cleansing against the Serbs.

[Arthur Gordon Pym]

There are still between 120 000 and 150 000 Serbs, mostly in the North Western part of Kosovo.



Serb enclaves are marked red.

[Zrinski]

Originally Posted by Galaico

Of course, thanks to the UN and NATO complicity with the terrorist KLA and the ethnic cleansing against the Serbs.

Kosovo had the Albanian majority since the beginning of the century.

[Galaico]

Originally Posted by Zrinski

Kosovo had the Albanian majority since the beginning of the century.

I know, but it wasn't inhabited almost solely by independence-seeking ethnic Albanians.

[Menydh]

Today, Kosovo is inhabited almost solely by independence-seeking ethnic Albanians.

This is the result of the ethnic cleansing of Serbs in Kosovo, supported by the UN-US-NATO gang.

[Monolith]

Originally Posted by Mynydd

This is the result of the ethnic cleansing of Serbs in Kosovo, supported by the UN-US-NATO gang.

Albanians make majority in Kosovo because they have approx 5+ children per a couple, while Serbs have two or three at max. There are almost 2 million Albanians in Kosovo, and they didn't come from Albania. They simply had much more children then Serbs.
I would highlight that as a main reason.
It's true that many Serbs left Kosovo, but their number in that region was never above 200 000.