STORIES FROM LOCAL PRESS
- Putin and Nikolic: We have mutual past and good future (RTS/Tanjug)
- Demarche submitted to the Albanian Ambassador (Danas)
- Dacic: I didn’t know that Great Albania is a model (Beta/Blic)
- Djuric: Pristina responsible for tensions (B92)
- Drecun: Is there any sense in Edi Rama’s arrival (RTS)
- Djuric: Positive tone of German MPs (Tanjug)
- Mayors in northern Kosovo asking for protection for Serbs (Beta)
- Serbian police in UN missions (Politika/FoNet)
STORIES FROM REGIONAL PRESS
- Izetbegovic: B&H will not accept any steps backwards, new entities or more divisions (Oslobodjenje)
- Inzko shocks Sarajevo TV broadcast (Klix.ba)
RELEVANT ARTICLES FROM INTERNATIONAL MEDIA SOURCES
- Putin reiterates Russia’s principled stance on Kosovo issue (ITAR-TASS)
- Vladimir Putin warns over rise of neo-Nazism before Serbia visit (The Guardian)
- Serbia Welcomes Putin While Eyeing Europe (Reuters)
- Why is there tension between Serbia and Albania? (Euronews)
- Belgrade chaos fed off centuries of rivalry between Serbia and Albania (The Guardian)
- Serbia says UEFA should award THEM 3-0 win after match against ‘terrorist’ Albania abandoned after drone used to fly flag over the pitch leads to violent scenes [and arrest of PM’s brother] (Daily Mail)
LOCAL PRESS
Putin and Nikolic: We have mutual past and good future (RTS/Tanjug)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that the two states had a lot in common in the past and good future before them. At the opening of the meeting with Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic, Putin has reminded that 70 years ago the battle was waged to liberate Belgrade, and he assessed that had been a joint fight for the right cause. With regards to Kosovo, whose independence Russia does not recognize, Putin has said that Moscow holds a principled stance that is not based just on the friendly relations of the two countries, but also on the international law. That position will not change. We support Serbia and intend to keep supporting it in the future, Putin emphasized. He has assessed that the trade and economic relations have the tendency to grow, but added that they could be even better.
Demarche submitted to the Albanian Ambassador (Danas)
The Albanian Ambassador to Serbia Ilir Boska received a demarche at the Serbian Foreign Ministry due to provocations of Albanian extremists during the football match between Serbia and Albania in Belgrade. The Ministry assessed that such incidents, which were obviously very carefully planned, seriously undermined the efforts aimed at building the relations of trust and cooperation in the region. The Ministry expects Albanian state officials to clearly condemn the incident, which would be the first necessary step towards overcoming problems, the statement reads. Serbia is committed to fostering good relations with its neighbors and expect the same of them and will not tolerate such provocations, the Serbian Foreign Ministry stated.
Dacic: I didn’t know that Great Albania is a model (Beta/Blic)
In a comment to Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s statement that Albania was a model of inspiration for the future, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic remarked he did not know that Greater Albania was a model of the future. Belgrade deserves criticism over the organization of the football match between Serbia and Albania, but Tirana deserves to be most vehemently condemned over the open spreading of the Greater Albania project, commented Dacic. “This could only be a desire of the Greater-Albania politicians but for the EU, the USA and all countries in the region this is a project of the past,” the Minister said. He noted that things will also be difficult for the EU if a country with such dangerous intentions that threatens the entire region is a candidate country. “Serbia deserves criticism over the mistakes in the organization of the match, but Albanian deserves strongest condemnation over the outrageous provocation in the midst of Serbia and before the eyes of the TV auditorium of the entire world, public and open promotion of the Great Albania project, whereby it threatens Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Greece, but all of Europe and the world,” said Dacic. He says that Europe and the world must not remain silent over such open threat to the region’s stability, since “silence can be understood as support”. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has stated that what happened during the match was a show of violence and racism. “Albania and the Albanians will not fall to that level. Albania and Albanians are resolute to be a model of inspiration for the future,” said Rama. The flag of the “Great Albania” was taken by an Albanian soccer player, the Head of the Belgrade Police Administration Miladin Despotovic told Blic. Despotovic said the flag was found with the delegate of the match. He confirmed that they are suspecting that the brother of Albanian Prime Minister Olsi Rama controlled the drone.
Djuric: Pristina responsible for tensions (B92)
The Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric thinks that the fomenting of tensions in Kosovo and Metohija is proof of the irresponsibility of politicians in Pristina. He told the TV B92 broadcast that the incidents at the soccer match between Serbia and Albania are an assassination on the attempt to normalize relations. “We don’t need conflict and hatred to continue in the region. We need to resolve joint problems, and this obviously doesn’t suit somebody. Over the past and a half year we have been working on reducing tensions and for our people to live normally in Kosovo and Metohija. Following the chauvinist rampage, statements by politicians from Kosovo, there was an escalation of unrest, Serb houses and churches were attacked, a Serbian flag was burnt in Kosovska Mitrovica, and a Serbian flag was taken down from the fortress in Zvecan. We are reacting peacefully; we don’t want to enter a conflict that would damage the state of Serbia. The essence of the provocation is to provoke someone and to lead to behavior wanted by the provocateur. We don’t want this,” said Djuric. “Most of the fans remained at their seats and didn’t react. The investigation needs to establish who is responsible for the incident, those in charge should react since this could cause destabilization in the Balkans. As regards the Albanian Prime Minister’s visit to Serbia, I think that hooligans should not influence the visit,” said Djuric. Following the wave of violence that had spread to Kosovo and Metohija, Djuric points out that the Office has good communication with KFOR and the police in northern Kosovo and Metohija.
Drecun: Is there any sense in Edi Rama’s arrival (RTS)
The Chair of the Serbian parliament’s Committee for Kosovo and Metohija Milovan Drecun has stated that the question is raised in regard to the purpose of the announced visit of Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama to Belgrade on 22 October. On the occasion of the incident at the Serbia-Albania soccer match, Drecun told the morning broadcast of Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) that Serbia should strongly protest and insist on the apology from official Tirana.
Bearing in mind that Albania recognized the unilateral act of secession, Albania should explain whether it already sees Kosovo and Metohija as its own territory, says Drecun. He says that it hasn’t been seen so far that someone, for the sake of promoting some political, anachronous and anti-civilizational and greater-Albanian idea, abuses a sport event in this manner. Pointing out that he has no dilemma that official Tirana stands behind that, Drecun says this shows “that we will continue to face incidents that will send the same message” and that the greater-Albanian idea has “tremendous capacity to destabilize the region”. He says that the “Great Albania” map shows “Albanian pretensions to one part of Serbia’s territory”. He pointed out that Albania was not punished for the constant aggression against Serbia in 1998 and 1999 and the terrorist so-called Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), that on Albanian territory there were camps where Serbs were killed and where their body organs were removed and that it is unacceptable for Albania to lecture Serbia in any way. Drecun said there were failures in the organization of the match, because there was throwing of objects and entrance of fans into the field, because of which the UEFA will certainly punish Serbia, but, on the other side, the brutal manner of taking politics into stadiums must be sanctioned as well.
Djuric: Positive tone of German MPs (Tanjug)
The Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric assessed after talks in Bundestag, that a positive tone of joint discussion on problems faced by Kosovo Serbs and on the challenges Serbia is facing in EU integrations had prevailed. Djuric is a member of a Serbian government delegation led by Minister for EU Integrations Jadranka Joksimovic on an official visit to Berlin. He told Tanjug that he had also discussed the technical details of Belgrade-Pristina relations. The delegation, which also includes the head of the EU talks team, Tanja Miscevic, had talks with members of MP group Germany-Southeastern Europe, with MP Gunther Krichbaum and members of the Parliamentary Committee for the EU.
Mayors in northern Kosovo asking for protection for Serbs (Beta)
The representatives of the four Serb municipalities in northern Kosovo have asked the Kosovo police to take serious effort in protecting the Serb people and providing safety for all citizens. An extraordinary meeting of the leaders from those four municipalities and representatives of the Kosovo police has been held, attended by the missions in charge of security in the province. The mayors of those municipalities have underlined the deterioration of the security situation in northern Kosovo, and assessed it is a part of a well-organized provocation that was started during the football match of Serbia and Albania, held in Belgrade.
Serbian police in UN missions (Politika/FoNet)
State Secretary of the Serbian Interior Ministry Aleksandar Nikolic had talks with the Head of the UN Office in Belgrade Peter Due on participation of Serbian policemen in the UN peacekeeping missions. Nikolic stressed that the Ministry has at its disposal trained police officers for participation in peacekeeping missions, for whose engagement there are financial difficulties so in that sense Due promised assistance of the UN, reads the statement. Nikolic and Due also discussed the high-level roundtable on UN peacekeeping that will be held on 20-21 October in Belgrade.
REGIONAL PRESS
Izetbegovic: B&H will not accept any steps backwards, new entities or more divisions (Oslobodjenje)
Bakir Izetbegovic, the current chair of the tripartite Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) Presidency and deputy leader of the Bosniak Party for Democratic Action (SDA), said in an interview for “Anadolia” that B&H will not be making any backwards steps, or any new entities and there will be no more divisions here, said. Izetbegovic stressed that the SDA will control all major posts at the state and Entity Federation of B&H (FB&H) level, but also in most of the FB&H’s cantons, and reminded how this party is the leading party in many areas in B&H.
“The SDA was the first party established in B&H and it is the dominant party in many ways. This is most certainly the case when it comes to history, because SDA led the most important processes in B&H, and in this regard it is the first party. People want to see alternatives from time to time. They saw it during the last eight years and we experienced stagnation of reforms, a backwards economy and now people are coming back to vote for SDA”, explained Izetbegovic, who, according to preliminary data, is by far the leading candidate for the Bosniak member of the B&H Presidency. According to Izetbegovic, during those eight years when the SDA was ousted from parts of the state structures, and also the places where it was previously present in coalitions, yet it was still present in some other places. However, he stressed that “it is obvious that even from those positions the SDA successfully defended the state’s interests, stopped negative trends, managed to stop some laws from being adopted – laws that would have been bad for B&H, and succeeded in bringing investments, and opening new jobs. “There was always some good news when it came to the SDA, and the role I had. We always had new approved loans, investments, and some good visits. People realized that they have to rely on the SDA again”, he added. Izetbegovic said the success of the SDA at the general elections on October 12 in the Sarajevo canton was “spectacular.” “In Sarajevo, the SDA’s success is almost spectacular, considering all the attacks, protests, plenums, arsons, while I improved the result by 100%, and SDA’s by 50%, which is most certainly worthy of extensive analysis”, noted Izetbegovic.
He added that it is time for the issue of B&H’s future and fate to be approached in a more mature manner by all significant political factors in the country and “we are facing a time of maturation, as is happening in Serbia”. “We remember 15 or 20 years ago, the people who are now leading Serbia were in power, and not leading it in the best manner at that, but they have changed for this purpose, in the interest of improving Serbia’s position, improving the relations within the state and in relation to Kosovo, Brussels and Europe. I think something similar is going to happen in B&H as well, because the time that we have spent running in circles, isn’t wasted time. During this period we have seen what can be done and what can’t and from that we can reach conclusions regarding what should be done and how to proceed, and the only way is through compromise and integrations, not disintegrations, and this country will certainly not be making any steps backward, it will not be producing any new entities, there will be no more divisions here, those are stories which can get just a few votes in elections”, Izetbegovic said.
Any attempt to exclude the SDA from government formation would be a dangerous adventure
According to Izetbegovic the post-election period in B&H is the right time to make the right agenda of issues which are to the benefit of all in B&H and “I think this time everything will go a lot faster when it comes to making coalitions”. When speaking about forming the government at all levels in B&H, Bakir Izetbegovic said that “it is possible that they will unite themselves against us, and attempt to omit the SDA, but that would be an extremely dangerous adventure. A party that is actually the backbone of political life, which has done fundamental things for this country, which was the third party at the last elections, and the first at these elections, one should not try to omit.”
Euro-Atlantic integrations are priority
Izetbegovic pointed out that economics and politics are closely related, they can mutually improve each other, but they can also harm each other. As a priority SDA emphasized intensification of activities in the direction of EU integration and NATO membership.
According to him, in order to achieve this, it is necessary to create an atmosphere of collaboration and the termination of conflicts, which would lead to the next step, a strong fight against corruption. The acceleration of all the procedures would follow, to remove all the obstacles that stand in the way of the more intensive entry of foreign capital and investment in B&H. “This is a rich country in the middle of Europe, and it can very quickly attract investments,” Izetbegovic pointed out, emphasizing the need to make a step forward in the employment.
Inzko shocks Sarajevo TV broadcast (Klix.ba)
During the broadcast “I choose guests” on the Sarajevo TV1 channel an unusual situation occurred that was caused by the High Representative in B&H Valentin Inzko by suddenly appearing in the studio, as if he was coming to a café for a chat, joining the guests, Klix.ba portal reports. Before the “intrusion” of the High Representative, the guests were the Head of the OSCE Mission in B&H Jonathan Moore, university professor Damir Marjanovic and former Yugoslav politician Bogic Bogicevic who, according to Inzko, told the latter that they were gathering on TV1. Inzko thought at issue was some social evening, showing he thought they would drink. The anchorman Vlastimir Mijovic said jokingly that Inzko’s sudden arrival is perhaps an indication of a state of emergency in the state.
INTERNATIONAL PRESS
Putin reiterates Russia’s principled stance on Kosovo issue (ITAR-TASS, by Alexei Nikolskiy, 16 October 2014)
Russia has a principled stance, which is based not only on friendship and proximity, but also on international law and justice, Russian president said at a meeting with Serbian President in Belgrade
Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting with Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic on Thursday reiterated Russia’s principled stance on the Kosovo issue.
You mentioned the Russian stance on the Kosovo issue. Russia has a principled stance, which is based not only on our friendship and proximity, but also on international law and justice,” Putin said.
Nikolic expressed gratitude to Russia for its support to Serbia in this matter, calling this support “precious.”
Your support in the preservation of territorial integrity and independence of Serbia, especially on the Kosovo issue, is highly precious for us today,” the Serbian president said.
Serbia also regards Russia as its big ally, and Serbia will not put at risk its moral principles by some negative attitude to Russia. We simply have no choice and we cannot act differently,” Nikolic said.
Vladimir Putin warns over rise of neo-Nazism before Serbia visit (The Guardian, by Julian Borger, 15 October 2014)
Russian president to attend military parade commemorating 70th anniversary of Belgrade’s liberation from Nazi occupation
Vladimir Putin will seek to use a military parade in Belgrade on Thursday to portray Russia and its allies as a bulwark against the rise of neo-Nazism across Europe.
The cold war-style parade involving tanks, phalanxes of soldiers and a flyover by military jets will be the first of its kind that Serbia has held for nearly three decades. The last time, the country was still part of socialist Yugoslavia.
The event is to commemorate the liberation of Belgrade from Nazi occupation by Yugoslav Partisans and the Red Army 70 years ago. The date of the ceremony was moved forward four days to fit in with Putin’s timetable.
At a time of deep rifts between Russia and the European Union over Ukraine, Putin’s one-day visit will be an opportunity to show he has friends and influence close to the heart of Europe. For the Serbian government it is a chance to curry favour with an important friend and energy supplier at a time of chronic economic crisis with winter approaching, and to counter rightwing criticism that it is leaning too far towards the west in the hope of eventual EU membership.
For much of Wednesday the skies above Belgrade shook as Russian jets rehearsed formation flying for the parade. Rightwing groups had plastered central Belgrade with pictures of Putin and the slogan “Let us welcome our president”.
As part of intense security measures for the visit, roads in Belgrade and to the airport will be closed on Thursday, as will airspace over the capital. Residents who live in buildings along the route have been ordered to keep their windows closed, their blinds shut and to remove any laundry drying outside, as a precaution against snipers.
In an interview due to be published in the Serbian newspaper Politika, Putin is expected to attribute the simmering conflict in Ukraine and friction between Russia and its neighbours to the resurgence of Nazi ideology.
“Unfortunately, the vaccine against the Nazi virus, developed at the Nuremberg trials, is losing its effectiveness in some European countries. A clear sign of this trend is open manifestations of neo-Nazism, which have become common in Latvia and other Baltic states,” Putin told Politika, according to early excerpts published by the Russian agency RIA Novosti.
“Today, our common goal is to counter the glorification of Nazism, firmly counter attempts to revise the results of world war II and consequently fight any forms and manifestations of racism, xenophobia, aggressive nationalism and chauvinism.”
The Serbian prime minister, Aleksandar Vucic, said there was no contradiction between his government’s aspirations for EU accession and its warm welcome for Putin. “Serbia is going towards the EU, which is a strategical goal, but that it will not impose sanctions on Russia for many reasons, economical being one of them,” he said in a television interview this week. “Our policy is not swaying but firm, hard, decisive and clear. For a year and a half it is not moving, neither to the left nor to the right.”
Vucic said he hoped the visit would lead to trade and investment deals, particularly in agriculture and energy. But any such deals would cool relations between Belgrade and Brussels, which has slapped sanctions on Russia for its annexation of Crimea and its armed support for Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Putin is expected to press the Serbian government to start construction work on the planned South Stream pipeline intended to bring Russian gas to southern Europe. Belgrade has been hesitating because of a dispute between Moscow and the EU, which wants the pipeline to be available to all gas producers, not just Russia’s Gazprom. Gazprom owns a majority stake in Serbia’s main energy corporation.
Putin is due to sign seven agreements with the Serbian government while he is in Belgrade, including one on exchange of military technology, a further irritant to Brussels, which has imposed an arms embargo on Russia. There will also be an agreement on the “immunity and privileges” of a Serbian-Russian humanitarian response centre set up last year in the city of Nis.
According to Jelena Milic, head of the Centre for Euro-Atlantic Studies in Belgrade, the Nis centre has been used not just for flood relief and fighting forest fires but also to supply equipment to “civil protection” units run by minority Serbs in northern Kosovo. Russia has supported Serbian opposition to Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence, refusing to recognise the former Serbian province.
“There has been a mushrooming of pro-Russian NGOs in north Kosovo,” Milic said. “The worst of the seven agreements is the one giving special status to the Russians at the Nis base. It is a completely non-transparent agreement. Out of the blue, they are using a Sofa [status of forces agreement] template used by the US for military bases.”
Jovo Bakic, a sociologist at Belgrade University said: “The Kosovo issue is rather painful for the majority of Serbs and this is an opportunity for the government to show gratitude for Russian non-recognition of Kosovo.
“It’s not often presidents of powerful countries come to Serbia, and meanwhile it’s important for Russia to show it has friends in Europe. Of course this could have been done without the parade. It’s not really necessary to organise such an expensive event, but politicians – especially in Serbia – are not known for being reasonable.”
Serbia Welcomes Putin While Eyeing Europe (Reuters, 16 October 2014)
President Vladimir Putin is guest of honor at a military parade in Belgrade on Thursday to mark 70 years since the city’s liberation by the Red Army, a visit loaded with symbolism as Serbia walks a tightrope between the Europe it wants to join and a big-power ally it cannot leave behind.
The United States and European Union are unlikely to welcome the sight of Putin taking the salute at a parade of more than 3,000 Serbian soldiers while NATO says Russian troops are fighting on the side of separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine.
The East-West split over Ukraine, recalling the Cold War, has exposed the balancing act Serbia faces, politically indebted to Russia for helping to keep the breakaway region of Kosovo out of the United Nations but seeing its economic future inside the EU.
Though invited to the parade, the United States Embassy said U.S. Ambassador Michael Kirby would not attend.
Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, however, said he had spoken by phone with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday evening, noting the “significant improvement” in ties between the two countries, 15 years after Washington led a NATO air war to halt Serbian atrocities in Kosovo.
The parade is Serbia’s first in almost 30 years, commemorating how the Soviet army and Communist Yugoslav partisans drove Nazi German forces from the city. It will give Putin the chance to demonstrate the influence and reverence Russia still commands in parts of the Balkans, be it through gas supplies or notions of Slav brotherhood rooted in history, shared Orthodox Christianity and common conservative values.
The military pomp will also play well for Putin at home, where the Russian economy has taken a hit from sanctions imposed by the West over Ukraine.
For Serbia, the threat of Russia’s United Nations veto is the only thing standing in the way of its former Kosovo province joining the world body — a red line for Belgrade six years after the majority-Albanian territory declared independence with the support of the West.
That has put Serbia in an awkward spot, refusing to sign up to the Western sanctions despite EU pressure to align its foreign policy with the 28-nation bloc which it is negotiating to join. Belgrade still has time, however, with EU accession unlikely before 2020 at the earliest.
“EU membership won’t come on the agenda for another 10 years or so, and there’s little that can speed that up or slow it down,” political commentator Filip Svarm wrote in the Serbian weekly Vreme.
Kosovo
In a gesture branded obsequious by critics, the main event of this year’s anniversary falls on Thursday, four days before the traditional Liberation Day, to accommodate Putin as he heads to an EU-Asia summit in Milan.
Soviet forces and their partisan allies were still fighting their way into Belgrade 70 years ago on Thursday. The Nazis abandoned the city on Oct. 20, 1944, retreating across the River Sava.
“Russia is our mother, and with or without Liberation Day, the Russian president deserves a parade,” said 56-year-old carpenter Milorad Lazic.
Many younger Serbs, however, feel little affection for Russia. “It’s such a shame they moved Liberation Day four days, and this rain is divine punishment,” said 29-year-old office clerk Aleksandra Pasic. “This government demonstrates such servility towards Russia, which is our ally only when it suits it.”
The Yugoslav federation under Josip Broz Tito quickly split with Stalin, balancing itself between Cold War foes for the next four decades.
Under late strongman Slobodan Milosevic in the 1990s, Serbia aligned itself with Russia as Yugoslavia collapsed in war. Since Milosevic’s overthrow in 2000, Serbs have gradually turned West, and the EU has become Serbia’s biggest trade partner, donor and source of investment, outstripping Russia.
Serbia has softened its stance on Kosovo in return for the start of EU accession talks, and is seen increasingly by the West as a stabilizing factor in the region having exported war for a decade under Milosevic to Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo.
That said, Serbia, like much of eastern Europe, depends on Russia for gas. It also wants to woo Russian orders for its agricultural produce and Russian investors to a host of run-down state enterprises, as well as expand a free trade agreement.
Russia’s South Stream gas pipeline, which is due to pass through Serbia, will also come up; Belgrade promised to start construction in July, but has quietly held off due to EU legal objections rooted in the Ukraine crisis.
Putin will hold a speech at the parade, which will involve tanks, boats and a fly-past including a Russian aerobatic team. Despite the red-carpet treatment, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said last week that Putin would “hear that Serbia is on the European path.”
Timothy Ash, head of emerging markets research at Standard Bank, said the Russian leader was unlikely to object.
“Rather, experience is that Russia appreciates having ‘friendly’ nations within the EU, which provides some leverage to try and influence broader EU policy towards Russia and the region.”
Why is there tension between Serbia and Albania? (Euronews, by Chris Harris, 15 October 2014)
A Euro2016 qualifier between Serbia and Albania was called off on October 14, 2014, after fights among players and supporters, sparked by a drone with a pro-Kosovo flag landing on the pitch. Here euronews examines why both countries are at loggerheads.
The tension centres around the history of Kosovo, a disputed area between Serbia and Albania. The majority of its inhabitants are ethnic Albanians.
Kosovo had enjoyed a high degree of autonomy within Serbia. But that changed in 1989 when the then province’s status was rescinded, bringing it under the direct control of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia.
It came as communism was collapsing in Europe. That saw increased nationalism in Yugoslavia, which was made up of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia.
Slovenia, Croatia and the Muslim government of Bosnia-Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia in the early 1990s.
Serbs in Bosnia-Herzegovina opposed this and began attacking the country’s Muslims, forming the basis of the Balkans War.
Then, in 1998, Slobodan Milosevic launched a Serb attack against ethnic Albanians, who were fighting for independence in Kosovo.
The conflict saw at least 5,000 Kosovans executed, according to NATO. One-and-a-half million people, 90% of Kosovo’s population, had been expelled from their homes.
NATO intervened and in June 1999 Serbian troops withdrew from Kosovo.
After the war Kosovo was placed under transitional UN administration, while the region’s future status was hammered out.
Talks broke down in 2007. Then, the following year, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia.
The government of Serbia does not recognise Kosovo’s independence. However talks took place in 2013 which saw a thawing of relations.
Serbia now recognises the government in Pristina – the captial of Kosovo – exercises administrative authority over Kosovo.
COMPETING CLAIMS FOR KOSOVO
Serbs settled in the Balkans in the 7th century and ruled Kosovo for more than two centuries until, in 1389, following the Battle of Kosovo, control passed to the Ottoman Empire.
Kosovo remained part of Ottoman territory until the Balkan Wars of 1912, when it was re-conquered by Serbia.
It is perhaps Serbia’s medieval period of control of Kosovo which lies behind nationalists’ claims to the province – some consider it the cradle of the culture and state of the Serbian people.
But Albanian claims to the territory pre-date the arrival of the Serbs. Nationalists argue Albanians are descendants of an ancient tribe who allegedly inhabited the western Balkans before the 7th century.
Belgrade chaos fed off centuries of rivalry between Serbia and Albania (The Guardian, by Julian Borger, 15 October 2014)
Abandonment of European qualifier is the latest chapter in a long history of grudges and conflict in the Balkans
In the Balkans, more than anywhere else, football is the continuation of war by other means. There is a long history of violence underlying the chaos in the Belgrade stadium – this is just the first time it has taken the very 21st-century form of a drone conflict.
Every scene on Tuesday night was freighted with centuries-old grudges and rivalries that last erupted into armed conflict in the 1998-9 war between Serbia and ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, which left 10,000 people dead and was halted only by a Nato bombing campaign.
The map suspended from the drone showed a map of a “Greater Albania” including Kosovo and parts of Macedonia. On either side were portraits of two heroes from Albania’s war of independence against the Ottoman Empire. The country that the Albanians thought they were going to get after the collapse of the Ottomans was cut in half at an international conference in London in 1912-13, and the Albanians have never forgotten.
Similarly, the Serbs have not forgotten, or accepted, the loss of Kosovo. Serbia, and its Russian allies, have not recognised Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence. Serb nationalists regard Kosovo as the birthplace of their culture, and the most important date in the Serb nationalist calendar commemorates the loss of a 1389 battle to the Ottomans in Kosovo, seen as the beginning of the end for greater Serbia. The notorious Serb hooligan who led the pitch invasion on Tuesday night, Ivan Bogdanov, is not just part of the hardcore Red Star Belgrade fans, the Ultra Boys. He is also part of Movement 1389, a far-right nationalist group which has been involved in rioting against Kosovo Albanians and their western backers.
In that sense, Bogdanov is continuing a tradition of mingling football hooliganism with ultra-nationalist politics. The first really violent incident leading up to the bloody wars of the 90s was a 1990 clash between Zagreb and Belgrade fans in the Croatian capital. The most violent paramilitary leader of the Croatian and Bosnian wars, Zeljko Raznatovic, known universally as Arkan, was the leader of the most violent Red Star fans, the delije, who he recruited to form the core of his paramilitary group, the Tigers, who murdered and pillaged their way across the wreckage of Yugoslavia, before Arkan was assassinated in Belgrade in 2000. Bogdanov is sometimes described as Arkan’s heir apparent, ideologically if not militarily.
It was left to the respective team captains to remind people that it was supposed to have been a football match rather than the latest skirmish in the Serbian-Albanian territorial struggle. The Albanian captain, Lorik Cana, went out of his way to thank his Serbian counterpart, Branislav Ivanovic, for protecting his team on the field.
Ivanovic said after the game: “What’s most important to us is that we stood by the Albanian representation as a team and supported them. We regret that football was presented as a secondary issue here.”
Serbia says UEFA should award THEM 3-0 win after match against ‘terrorist’ Albania abandoned after drone used to fly flag over the pitch leads to violent scenes [and arrest of PM’s brother] (Daily Mail, by Oliver Todd, 15 October 2014)
Serbia’s FA has reportedly called on UEFA to reward them with a 3-0 victory after their politically-charged Euro 2016 qualifier against Albania in Belgrade was abandoned and said the visitors’ response to a flag being flown on to the pitch was a ‘scenario of a terrorist action planned in advance’.
The match was called off after home defender Stefan Mitrovic pulled down a flag carried by a drone – leading to chaos on the field and in the stands of the Partizan Stadium and the arrest of the brother of the Albanian Prime Minister.
However, the Serbs say they gave Albania’s players three chances to continue with the match but their opponents refused, and this means the hosts should get the win. They also accuse the Albanians of ‘ridiculing’ UEFA.
A Serbian FA statement said: ‘We estimate that they (the Albania team) are directly guilty for the match abandonment and we expect that UEFA disciplinary bodies will register the match with 3-0 result, in favour of Serbia.
‘It is a scandalous fact that the other party, with their “job well done” is ridiculing not only FA of Serbia and Serbian people but also, we dare to say, UEFA.’
The Serbian FA also claimed their their team acted with restraint despite being provoked by the ‘offensive’ flag and were then attacked when they tried to remove it from the field.
In a 1,500-word statement, the organisation said Albania’s reaction to the controversy had been ‘scandalous’ and suggested it had been a ‘scenario of a terrorist action planned in advance’.
The statement said: ‘Serbian player Stefan Mitrovic managed to catch the flag and, as it can be clearly seen on all the footages, started to fold it as calmly as possible, in order to give it to the fourth official and for the match to be continued.
‘Absolutely all of the Serbian players and officials on the bench were in their seats, calm and without any attempt to show force or rage because of the incident. However, Albanian players acted very aggressively and physically attacked Mitrovic.
‘For the truth and justice we will not and do not want to allow the perpetrators who violated football to present themselves as victims.’
UEFA banned Albania fans from attending the Group I clash in Belgrade but elected to allow the two countries to face each other, despite long-standing political tensions.
And when the Albanian flag – accompanied by a map of Kosovo and the message ‘autochthonous’, meaning indigenous – was flown above the pitch using a remote-operated drone, Mitrovic’s actions led to fighting between players and officials and havoc in the stands.
Olsi Rama, the brother of Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, was arrested in the VIP box for allegedly instigating the stunt, confirmed CNN.
He was arrested on suspicion that he masterminded and executed the incident in which a flag with a map of greater Albania was flown over the pitch and the terraces, after which the match between Serbia and Albania was abandoned,’ Serbian state television said on its official website (www.rts.rs).
UEFA have also launched an inquiry into the violence.
Serbia refuse to recognise Kosovo as an independent nation – an issue that is hotly disputed by Albanians who dominate the population.
English referee Martin Atkinson interrupted the match in the 41st minute after Mitrovic grabbed the flag and Albania’s players tried to protect it. Several Serbian fans invaded the pitch and clashed with Albanian players.
One invader was the notorious Serbian hooligan Ivan Bogdanov, who is part of the hardcore Red Star Belgrade fans, the Ultra Boys and of Movement 1389, a far-right nationalist group which has been involved in rioting against Kosovo Albanians and their western backers.
The Albanian players had to flee the field, followed by Serbia’s XI that included the likes of Premier League stars Branislav Ivanovic, Matija Nastasic, Aleksandar Kolarov, Dusan Tadic and Nemanja Matic.
At first, the home support had cheered the flag, but once it became clear that it was Albanian the mood in the stands turned. Flares were lit, with a NATO flag burnt as supporters clashed with riot police.
Manchester City defender Kolarov was among the players who urged fans to calm down as the Albanian players fled to the tunnel, putting his arm around one opponent to help him away from the pitch.
Bizarrely, the announcer at the stadium played Cher’s ‘Believe’ in an attempt to calm fans during the break, to no avail. After a delay of around half an hour, Atkinson abandoned the game.
UEFA delegate Harry Been told journalists: ‘It is a regretful situation on which we will report; the referee, myself and the security adviser. The circumstances were such that we couldn’t continue the match.
‘You all saw what happened and I cannot comment on who is to blame or what to blame. I will submit a report with my colleagues to UEFA and UEFA will decide what will happen further.’
Chelsea defender Ivanovic said: ‘What happened is something we can’t comprehend at the moment. All I can say I that we wanted to carry on. We shielded the Albanian players every step of the way in the tunnel.
‘The Albanian team said they were unfit physically and mentally to carry on after talking to the officials.
What’s most important to us is that we stood by the Albanian representation as a team and supported them. We regret that football was presented as a secondary issue here.’
Albania captain Lorik Cana went out of his way to thank Ivanovic, for protecting his team on the field.
The tie was goalless at the time of the suspension and clear-cut chances were in short supply in the Serbian capital.
Zoran Tosic and Ivanovic both missed the target from the edge of the area as the hosts attempted to force the issue while Tadic’s long-distance effort was well blocked by Albania defender Andi Lila.
The best chance of the game fell to the visitors as an Ansi Agolli free-kick from the left wing found Mergim Mavraj, whose shot from inside the area was tipped wide by Serbia goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic.
From the following corner, Lorik Cana’s header at the far post sailed wide, while the visitors were appearing to gain the upper hand before the controversy erupted.
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