http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Politics/?id=1.0.1183488742
ADN Kronos International (Italy) August 6, 2007 Kosovo: UN official sparks Serb protest for decision on usurped property -Over 200,000 Serbs have fled Kosovo since the province was put under UN control and their apartments, homes and land have in most cases been seized by the province's majority ethnic Albanian community. -Serbian deputy minister for Kosovo, Dusan Prorokovic, said Ruecker’s decision was “scandalous” and the worst taken by the UN administration in the past seven years....He said Belgrade should take diplomatic and political action, and even press criminal charges against Ruecker “for gross violation of international principles and norms”. Belgrade – The chief of the United Nations administration in Kosovo (Unmik) Joachim Ruecker has triggered a wave of protests by Belgrade officials and Kosovo Serbs for suspending a decree on the return of usurped property to their legal owners. Ruecker, who has wide arbitrary powers in Kosovo, which has been under UN control since 1999, last October ordered a special commission for the return of property to process some 25,000 cases of usurped property. But last week he abruptly suspended the decision. Ruecker said the suspension was of a temporary nature, because there was no agreement between all interested parties - in particular the Kosovo government and the international community on how to handle the problem. Over 200,000 Serbs have fled Kosovo since the province was put under UN control and their apartments, homes and land have in most cases been seized by the province's majority ethnic Albanian community. Serbian deputy minister for Kosovo, Dusan Prorokovic, said Ruecker’s decision was “scandalous” and the worst taken by the UN administration in the past seven years. “This decision in the first place violates the right to private property, which is inviolable everywhere in the world, and secondly it awards the usurpers from whom illegally usurped property now can’t be taken away by legal means,” Prorokovic told Belgrade media. He said Belgrade should take diplomatic and political action, and even press criminal charges against Ruecker “for gross violation of international principles and norms”. A Kosovo Serb leader Goran Bogdanovic said Ruecker’s decision would further encourage ethnic Albanian “extremist elements to continue the usurpation of Serbian property to show who is the real boss in Kosovo and that there is no room for Serbs”. Another Kosovo Serb leader, Marko Jaksic, said Ruecker was continuing his “anti-Serb policies which should pave the way for the creation of an independent state of Kosovo”. Most Western powers, headed by the United States, support Kosovo independence, demanded by majority ethnic Albanians, but the plan has been blocked by a threat of a Russian veto in the UN Security Council and new talks on Kosovo status should be held later this month. =============== Group Moderator: [Е-ПОШТА ЗАШТИЋЕНА] page at http://magazine.sorabia.net for more informations about current situation in Serbia http://www.sorabia.net Slusajte GLAS SORABIJE nas talk internet-radio (Serbian Only) http://radio.sorabia.net Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sorabia/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sorabia/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[Е-ПОШТА ЗАШТИЋЕНА] mailto:[Е-ПОШТА ЗАШТИЋЕНА] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [Е-ПОШТА ЗАШТИЋЕНА] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
