Cleansed
Kosovo Serbs hope to return
April 22, 2007 9:15 AM
BELGRADE, Serbia-Thousands of Serb refugees will gather next week at
the boundary with Kosovo to tell a U.N. delegation visiting the contested
province that they still hope to return to homes they were forced to flee
after the 1998-99 war.
The visiting delegation is tasked with gathering firsthand information
on the situation in Kosovo before the Security Council makes a final decision
on a proposal by a U.N. envoy to grant Kosovo independence from Serbia
but keep it under international supervision.
The Serb refugees want to show the diplomats, who are expected to be
in Belgrade on Thursday and Kosovo on Friday, that they have been unable
to return to the province, said Nenad Popovic, who leads a Serbian government
body that deals with Kosovo.
About 200,000 Serbs fled or were forced to flee during a period of revenge
attacks by ethnic Albanians that followed the war between Serb forces and
armed separatists. Only small numbers have come back and had their homes
rebuilt. Some of the returnees have faced attacks.
Those Serbs remaining in the predominantly ethnic Albanian territory
live in isolated enclaves under NATO protection.
Serbs, who oppose independence for Kosovo, are also concerned that minority
Serbs in the territory will not have adequate security or rights and that
there will remain no freedom of movement for them outside of their guarded
enclaves.
Tensions between the two communities persist despite international efforts
at reconciliation. Kosovo has been administered by the U.N. and patrolled
by NATO peacekeepers since the end of the war.
U.N. authorities in Kosovo say the situation has improved in recent
years, although they acknowledged that the problems remain.
The U.N. proposal, drafted by chief envoy Martti Athisaari and backed
by the United States and its Western allies, envisages that Kosovo be allowed
to separate from Serbia, but remain under international supervision. It
would also be allowed to assemble its own army and have its own constitution.
The plan also has faced criticism from Russia, setting stage for a possible
showdown at the Security Council between Washington and Moscow.
Last week, Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, said in Belgrade
that Ahtisaari's plan has failed and called for more talks between the
two sides.
Lavrov and his Serbian hosts also insisted that the U.N. assessment
mission visit the isolated Serb settlements guarded by NATO during its
stay in Kosovo.
"Members of the mission should see for themselves how these people live
surrounded by barbed wire," Popovic said.
He added that the refugees, who plan to wait for the delegation at one
of the border crossings with Kosovo, "only want to tell them they want
to return to their homes, be safe and have the right to work."
"It is unimaginable that someone has to seek that in 21st century,"
Popovic said.