Kosovo Albanians to returning Serbs: "Go away, criminals!"
Several hundreds ethnic Albanians protested in a street with predominantly Serb-owned houses in Djakovica, western Kosovo.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Monday, August 31, 2009
The Serbs were there to attend the consecration of a church destroyed in ethnic Albanian violence in March 2004.
Although the protesters blocked the street, Serbs managed to leave Djakovica after the liturgy, with strong Kosovo police, KPS, presence
The ethnic Albanians shouted "criminals", "KLA", "we do not need you here", "go away", but there were no other incidents, Tanjug reported.
The majority of Serbs, who attended the liturgy, were in Djakovica for the first time since they were driven out at the end of the 1999 war.
The Serbian Ministry for Kosovo condemned on Friday the behavior of ethnic Albanians in Djakovica, assessing that such actions do not contribute to the mitigation of the situation.
"We consider unjustifiably blaming and calling somebody a criminal without any evidence, which is what ethnic Albanians in Djakovica are doing, to be completely inadmissible and unacceptable, and we strongly condemn it," a statement from the ministry read.
The ministry believes that such actions "do not contribute to the mitigation of the situation, but rather provoke further conflicts and instability," and that "they are entirely contrary to generally accepted norms of a civilized society and adopted international documents on human rights".
The statement also expressed regret over "all the innocent victims in Kosovo and all the missing people whose destiny remains unknown, regardless of their nationality and religion", pointing out that they "strongly support all activities directed to revealing the facts about the missing persons, and bringing the perpetrators of crimes to justice".
The authorized institutions in Serbia have shown that they are prepared and capable to responsibly bring decisions on all the perpetrators of the crimes, regardless of their nationality and religion, the statement underscores.
The ministry stressed that they would continue to strive for recognition of the rights of all communities in Kosovo and called on the international representatives to strongly oppose behavior seen during the protest.
