AN INITIATIVE OF THE OVERALL
SERBIAN CHURCH-NATIONAL CONGRESS
AND
WORLD SERB CONGRESS
The above mentioned suggest the solution of the Kosovo
and Metohia crisis within the global minority problem solution
on the territory of former Yugoslavia. Bearing in mind the
sequence of events in the Balkans for the past ten years,
Serbian people has been an unquestionable loser. Being
one of the oldest nation with the state tradition in Europe,
having gained the victory in the Balkan Wars, an ally of the
victorious Alliance in both World Wars and a victim of one
among the three big genocides in the XX century (Armenians,
Jews and Serbs), Serbs have lived to see the partition of their
land and Kurdization of their national corpus - without their
helpless referrence to their rights and justice ever having a
chance to be listened to or accepted anywhere.
Is the partition of the Serbian state remnanats next? Should
Kosovo and Metohia, a-thousand-year-old Jerusalem of Serbian
spirituality and culture tradition, the core of history and tradition,
a cornerstone of Serbian national identity - become part of
great Albania? In the same manner as for centuries Serbian
Kraina became part of great Croatia by means of exile and
force!? In the same way as the ancient Serbian territories in
Bosnia and Herzegovina were by force made parts of a
unitary Islamic parastate creation?
> Who will believe in the that lasting piece and righteous new
> order could be achieved in these regions by injustice and
> violence inflicted upon the most biggest among the Balkan
> nations?
ON KOSOVO AND METOHIA
Over 1300 sacred monuments to the Serbian Christian
spirituality and culture bear witness to the 980-year-old
Serbian life in Old Serbia (a traditional name of Kosovo
and Matohia, which the communist dictator, Tito, urged
out of use and banned). The place where Christian
Serbian warriors were killed in 1389, defending themselves
and Europe from the Islamic conquerors. The place where
the Mohammedan Muslims for the first time committed
genocide over the Christian people between Djakovo and
the lake of Scadar in 1574. The place in which the Osmanli
punitive expeditions with the assistance of the Kosovo
ethnic Albanians massacred Serbian people forcing two
Serbian migrations from 1683 till 1739. The place on which
Serbian soldiers, finally expelling the conqueror in 1912,
died kissing the holy land and the place on which in the
period of 1941-1945, numerous Serbs were being shot since
they were still the live proof of the Serbian historic
Kosovo identity.
Ever since the Turkish forcible arrival at Kosovo and
Metohia up to the present days, Serbian history referring to
that region has been the history of exile, Islamization, poverty
and nihilization of a defeated old nation, forced to live with
the status of a national and religious minority:
- in the Ottoman empire in which only the Turkish masters
and their obedient Muslims, Albanians, had all the rights;
- in the communist Yugoslavia in which the Comintern
doctrine - "Weak Serbia - strong Yugoslavia" prevailed;
- in the post-communist rule of the present-day regime,
whose improper policy has neither been able nor willing
to look for and find adequate solutions.
Mistakes made by the contemporary Serbian politicians
should not serve the democratic International community
as a reason for punishing Serbian people since the
far-reaching consequences of this negative approach will
determine the future of the whole region.
The national population structure of Kosovo and Metohia
in the XX century (1929)was the following:
Serbs represented 61% of the total region population and
all the rest - 39%. Only during the period of the Serbian state
occupation by the nazi Germany and the fascist Italy, about
100 000 Serbs were exiled from Kosovo and the same
number of the Albanians were inhabited there.
Communist Yugoslavia lawfully banned the return of the
exiled Serbs to Kosovo and Metohia and their abandoned
homes in 1945, but allowed Albania to export 300 000 their
citizens to the territory of Kosovo and Metohia. As far as the
Serbs were concerned, ethnic cleansing went on. In the period
between 1968 and 1988, about 220 000 Serbs were forced to
leave the area, so that about 700 settlements became
ethnically clean. For the last forty years the number of exiled
Serbs has amounted to 400 000 which matches the (forcible)
change of the demographic structure:
1961:
Serbs: 264 604 (27,40 %); Albanians: 646.605 (67,10 %)
1971:
Serbs: 334 276 (26,30 %) Albanians: 916 108 (73,70 %)
1981:
Serbs: 348 324 (22,52 %) Albanians: 1.226 736 (77,48%)
1991:
Serbs:214 555 (11%) Albanians:1.607 690 (82,2 %)
Demographic statistics as well as the unbribable histori-cal facts
are distinctly prove that the Albanian numerical domination is
the consequence of * an illegal and violent eviction of Serbian
natives, illegal settling down of Albanians who came from the
neighbouring Albania as well as the commonly known colossal
birthrate of the domestic and the illegally settled down Albanians *
on the ancient and holy Serbian land.
This and in this way acquired numerical domination cannot be
the argument to the right of self-determination ***Ex iniuria ius
non oritur***. Nor may it (by means of terrorism) extract the
solution ("a high degree of autonomy") since it would
inevitably lead to the secession of Kosovo and Metohia from Serbia;
it would be a kind of precedent, dangerous (not only) for many
European countries: for example, the percentage of the ethnic
Albanians in Macedonia is much bigger than in Serbia, and
so is the percentage of the Hungarians in Slovakia and
some parts of Romania...
Great powers'faulty attitude will obvously not contribute to the
achievement of permanent solutions and lasting peace without
any consequences being reflected to other countries, above
all to those in Europe. Applying double standards has aleady
caused a great deal of injustice to Serbian people.
That is why Overall Serbian Church- National Congress and
World Serb Congres demand a global and an all-embracing
solution to the national minority issue in the states that came
into being on the territory of former Yugoslavia. In point of fact
this means urgent summoning of the
INTERATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR SOLVING THE
ISSUE OF THE ETHNIC ALBANIAN MINORITY ON THE
TERRITORY OF KOSOVO AND METOHIA (Serbia) and
THE KRAINA SERBS IN CROATIA (The Kraina of Knin,
Western and Eastern Slavonia)".
- Stoppage of Serbian people punishment and one-sided
pressures upon the Serbs which only demonstrate partiality
of the International community, encourage terrorism of the
radical ethnic Albanian secessionists and prevent dialogue
without blackmail;
- Unconditional sentencing of ethnic Albanian terrorism in
the Kosovo and Metohia region and the Yugoslav state
power abuse of the peaceful demonstrators (of both belligerent
sides);
- Urgent beginning of the constructive dialogue between the
ethnic Albanian minority representatives and the Serbian state
representatives, leading to peaceful political crisis solution and
the Albanian minority position within Serbia. The agreed
compromising solutions on the highest level of autonomy known
and applied lawfully by European countries, ought to be verified
during the suggested International conference and would have
to be strictly confirmed as an incumbent model for the minority
status solution of (at this very moment mostly exiled) the Serbs
in Croatia.
- Unconditional respect of the outer and inner borders of the
sovereign state of Serbia, as well as the ultimate respect of
the natural rights regarding the autochthon population, that is
all the positive rights of the natives.
> For the Overall Church-National Congress
> Serbian Christian Orthodox Church
> The Eparchy of Raska and Prizren,
> Bishop dr Artemie (Radosavljevic)
> For World Serb Congress
> Dr Djordje Jovanovic
> Dr Vera Bojic
> Radmila Ninic
> Predrag R. Dragic Kijuk
> Angelina Markovic
> Prof. dr Zorica Kojic
> Dr Vladimir Umeljic
> In Prizren, May 21. 1998.
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CONGRES MONDIAL SERBE
WORLD SERB CONGRESS
WELTKONGRESS DER SERBEN
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Bruxelles -- Heildeberg -- Bonn
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* * * Iustitia regnorum fundamentum * * *
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For fair use only
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[FWD]: Angelina Markovic
ninam@beotel.yu