This letter (below)
written by Dr.Jasmina Vujuc and Professor Dragoslav Djordjevic, regarding the
situation in Serbia and
Kosovo, which they urged
be FAXED to the
permanent members of the Security Council of the United Nations:
USA, Germany, Russia, France and China is outstanding.
I have taken the liberty of editing it for American spelling of some of the
words and will send it to my Serbian mailing list. This is exactly what
needs to be done and I urge everyone of Serbian descent to do so. Those
who are NOT Serbian-Americans ALSO should send it to the permanent members of
the Security Council, just begin the appeal: I, as an American citizen of the
United States, (or as a Citizen of Canada,
Australia,
Great Britain,
Germany….)
I will also post it on
my website and urge my readers to fax it to the UN ambassadors.
Mary
Mostert
PERMANENT MEMBERS OF THE SECURITY
COUNCIL
August 2005
THE UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK, USA
CHINA:
His Excellency,
Wang Guangua, FAX: 212-634-7626
FRANCE:
His Excellency
Jean-Marc De La Sabliere; FAX: 212-421-6839
RUSSIA:
His Excellency Andray I.
Denisov; FAX: 212-623-0252
UNITED
KINGDOM: His Exellency Sir Emyr Jones Parry; FAX:
212-745-9316
USA:
(Acting
Representative) Her Excellency Anne W. Patterson; FAX:
212-415-4443
RE: FUTURE STATUS OF SERBIAN PROVINCE
KOSOVO-METOHIJA
Your Excellency,
I, as a Serbian-American citizen of the
United States, have a great
respect for the United Nations and the Security Council, and thus submit for your consideration certain facts about the Serbian
province of
Kosovo-Metohija that may
help you in reaching a proper decision regarding this matter.
I. The UN Security Council Resolution
1244 is en excellent and just document that specifies an even-handed
policy toward the Kosovo problem thus, I request that all points from this
document are enforced, which unfortunately is not currently the
case.
II. The UN Security
Council should support reintegration of Kosovo-Metohija into a multi-ethnic,
multi-cultural and multi-confessional, modern and democratic, internationally
recognized Serbia-Montenegro, as a highly autonomous
region.
I and II above are based on the following
arguments:
1.
The UN SC Resolution 1244
emphasizes that
Kosovo-Metohija is the part of the sovereign state of Serbia-Montenegro, which I
fully support. Thus, it seems to me, there is no justification of giving
independence to Kosovo-Metohija. Serbia-Montenegro today is a democratic country
that fully implements human and minority rights, as well as religious freedom.
There is a large number of minority groups, including Albanians outside of
Kosovo (in Belgrade alone there are about 50 thousand of
them), living peacefully in Serbia-Montenegro
today.
2.
It needs to be pointed out that Kosovo-Metohija was never part of any Albanian
state (which did not even exists before 1913), but has belonged to
the Serbs since pre-medieval times. It has been considered the Holy Land and the heart of Serbian religion and culture.
Hundreds of Serbian
medieval churches and monasteries present today in Kosovo-Metohija are proof of
historical and continuous Serbian presence in the
province.
3.
The Albanian majority that we see
today in Kosovo-Metohija was formed during World War II when they fought on the
side of the Nazis and in decades after it, as a result of illegal immigration (from Albania), a
high birth rate, and through terrorizing of the local non-Albanian population
during communist Tito’s
regime, which gave Albanians the highest possible degree of autonomy. Since 1999
and under the UN watch, this terror continued, an additional 250,000 non-Albanians were
expelled from Kosovo-Metohija, and less than 1% of those people were allowed to
return. To this horrific statistics, we need to add 1000 kidnapped and 1200
murdered, with a sustained attempt at expunging the sacerdotal Serbian presence
in Kosovo-Metohija: of the original 1,657 churches, monasteries and monuments,
over 150 have been burned, looted and destroyed, 211 Christian
cemeteries and 5177 monuments smashed - all during the time of peace and not war, and all under UN/NATO
watch.
4.
The March 2004
pogrom is the most
recent example of
extreme Albanian violence in Kosovo.
According to UN statistics: 50,000 Albanians in the presence of
18,000 NATO “peacekeepers” drove 4,500 Serbs and other non-Albanians
from their homes, injuring 900, including 150 peacekeepers, and killing 19
persons. An additional
35 churches and shrines were destroyed, including those dating to the
12th and 14th century and over 800 Serbian houses were
looted and demolished.
5.
Many of the UN member states have
separatist movements. Great
Britain has Northern
Ireland, Belgium has the Wallons and the Flemish, the
Italians have the Tyrol, and France, like Spain,
has the Basques as well Bretons. Although the governments try to keep these
regions under control, violence breaks out from time to time. However, unlike
the situation with Kosovo-Metohija, the UN
does not administer and/or support these separatist regions, the UN does not
advocate independence for those separatist regions, and UN lets the
democratically elected governments resolve the problems within their
internationally recognized borders.
6.
Thus, it may be expected that the UN
Security Council will uphold and honor international laws, treaties and
agreements regarding Kosovo-Metohija as well. The border of former Yugoslavia as well as Serbia,
were repeatedly recognized by international agreements and peace treaties,
including: the Treaty of London
(1913 Kosovo internationally recognized as the territory of
Serbia), the Treaty of Versailles (1919), the
Paris Peace Treaty (1947), The EC Arbitrage Commission (Badinter
Commission, 1991), and the UN Security
Council Resolution 1244 (1999). In addition, the United Nations Charter (1945) and the Helsinki Accords
(1975). The latter defines the basic international principles of
prevention of sovereignty, territorial integrity, internationally recognized
borders, and preservation of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Hopefully,
all these standards should be applicable to the case of
Kosovo-Metohija.
Respectfully,
PERMANENT MEMBERS OF THE SECURITY
COUNCIL
August 2005
THE UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK, USA
CHINA:
His Excellency,
Wang Guangua, FAX: 212-634-7626
FRANCE:
His Excellency
Jean-Marc De La Sabliere; FAX: 212-421-6839
RUSSIA:
His Excellency Andray I.
Denisov; FAX: 212-623-0252
UNITED
KINGDOM: His Exellency Sir Emyr Jones Parry; FAX:
212-745-9316
USA:
(Acting
Representative) Her Excellency Anne W. Patterson; FAX:
212-415-4443
RE: FUTURE STATUS OF SERBIAN PROVINCE
KOSOVO-METOHIJA
Your Excellency,
I, as the Serbian-American citizen of the
United States, have a great
respect for the United Nations and the Security Council, and thus submit for your consideration certain facts about the Serbian
province of
Kosovo-Metohija that may
help you in reaching a proper decision regarding this matter.
I. The UN Security Council Resolution
1244 is en excellent and just document that specifies an even-handed
policy toward the Kosovo problem thus, I request that all points from this
document are enforced, which unfortunately is not currently the
case.
II. The UN Security
Council should support reintegration of Kosovo-Metohija into a multi-ethnic,
multi-cultural and multi-confessional, modern and democratic, internationally
recognized Serbia-Montenegro, as a highly autonomous
region.
I and II above are based on the following
arguments:
7.
The UN SC Resolution 1244
emphasizes that
Kosovo-Metohija is the part of the sovereign state of Serbia-Montenegro, which I
fully support. Thus, it seems to me, there is no justification of giving
independence to Kosovo-Metohija. Serbia-Montenegro today is a democratic country
that fully implements human and minority rights, as well as religious freedom.
There is a large number of minority groups, including Albanians outside of
Kosovo (in Belgrade alone there are about 50 thousand of
them), living peacefully in Serbia-Montenegro
today.
8.
It needs to be pointed out that Kosovo-Metohija was never part of any Albanian
state (which did not even exists before 1913), but has belonged to
the Serbs since pre-medieval times. It has been considered the Holy Land and the heart of Serbian religion and culture.
Hundreds of Serbian
medieval churches and monasteries present today in Kosovo-Metohija are proof of
historical and continuous Serbian presence in the
province.
9.
The Albanian majority that we see
today in Kosovo-Metohija was formed during World War II when they fought on the
side of the Nazis and in decades after it, as a result of illegal immigration (from Albania), a
high birth rate, and through terrorizing of the local non-Albanian population
during communist Tito’s
regime, which gave Albanians the highest possible degree of autonomy. Since 1999
and under the UN watch, this terror continued, an additional 250,000 non-Albanians were
expelled from Kosovo-Metohija, and less than 1% of those people were allowed to
return. To this horrific statistics, we need to add 1000 kidnapped and 1200
murdered, with a sustained attempt at expunging the sacerdotal Serbian presence
in Kosovo-Metohija: of the original 1,657 churches, monasteries and monuments,
over 150 have been burned, looted and destroyed, 211 Christian
cemeteries and 5177 monuments smashed - all during the time of peace and not war, and all under UN/NATO
watch.
10. The March 2004
pogrom is the most
resent example of extreme Albanian violence in Kosovo; according to UN
statistics: 50,000 Albanians in the presence of 18,000 NATO peacekeepers
drove 4,500 Serbs and other non-Albanians from their homes, injuring 900,
including 150 peacekeepers, and killing 19 persons. Additional 35 churches and
shrines were destroyed, including those, dating to the 12th and
14th century, and over 800 Serbian houses were looted and
demolished.
11. Many of the UN member states have
separatist movements. Great
Britain has Northern
Ireland, Belgium has the Wallons and the Flemish, the
Italians have the Tyrol, and France, like Spain,
has the Basques as well Bretons. Although the governments try to keep these
regions under control, violence breaks out from time to time. However, unlike
the situation with Kosovo-Metohija, the UN
does not administer and/or support these separatist regions, the UN does not
advocate independence for those separatist regions, and UN lets the
democratically elected governments resolve the problems within their
internationally recognized borders.
12. Thus, it may be expected that the UN
Security Council will uphold and honor international laws, treaties and
agreements regarding Kosovo-Metohija as well. The border of former Yugoslavia as well as Serbia,
were repeatedly recognized by international agreements and peace treaties,
including: the Treaty of London
(1913 Kosovo internationally recognized as the territory of
Serbia), the Treaty of Versailles (1919), the
Paris Peace Treaty (1947), The EC Arbitrage Commission (Badinter
Commission, 1991), and the UN Security
Council Resolution 1244 (1999). In addition, the United Nations Charter (1945) and the Helsinki Accords
(1975). The latter defines the basic international principles of
prevention of sovereignty, territorial integrity, internationally recognized
borders, and preservation of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Hopefully,
all these standards should be applicable to the case of
Kosovo-Metohija.
Respectfully,
