RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 12, No. 55, Part II, 20 March 2008

SERBIA'S NEIGHBORS RECOGNIZE KOSOVA. Kosova's Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said in Prishtina on March 19 that "on behalf of the Kosova government and the citizens of Kosova, I want to express my gratitude to the [neighboring] countries of Croatia, Hungary, and Bulgaria, which today decided to recognize the state of Kosova," RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," February 27 and March 6, 2008). He added that "this is the best proof and the most positive message to all other countries that have not yet recognized Kosova's independence.... Countries in the region are confident that the Republic of Kosova will be a factor of stability in the Balkans, and that it will contribute to peace, stability, and to increasing cooperation between countries in the region." In Zagreb on March 19, Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said at a news conference that he fully understands "this is a problem for Serbia, and a difficult one [at that].... This is one of the reasons why...we have waited until now [to recognize Kosova] and why we have consulted and discussed the issue with a number of international actors and with the Serbian government as well." Standing next to Sanader, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry's Senior State Secretary Marta Fekszi Horvath said that Hungary's "foreign-policy makers and the Foreign Ministry worked very hard to make sure this recognition would take place together with Serbia's neighbors. So we made a joint political statement together with our EU partner Bulgaria, and with Croatia." She warned Serbia against taking unspecified measures against its own Hungarian minority in response. In Athens on March 19, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said at a news conference with Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyianni that "any country that decides to recognize the illegal declaration of independence by Kosovo...thereby violates the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia. And no country that unilaterally violates our country's sovereignty can expect to have the same good relations with us as before." He added that he wanted "to use this opportunity and appeal to countries in the region: do not violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of your good neighbor by any unilateral action. Help us find a solution that allows us to live in peace and stability. Do not recognize Kosovo." According to kosovothanksyou.com, 32 countries officially recognize Kosova, with three more expected to do so soon. PM

UN REASSERTS AUTHORITY IN NORTHERN KOSOVA. UN Mission in Kosova (UNMIK) police returned on March 19 to mainly Serb-inhabited northern Mitrovica, from which they withdrew recently as a result of orchestrated violence against the UN and NATO, international media reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," March 17, 18, and 19, 2008). About 40 UNMIK police are expected soon to take up duties together with 80 local Kosova police, most of whom are ethnic Serbs. Bridge traffic between the two halves of the ethnically divided city resumed on March 19. A UN spokesman said that UNMIK received assurances from local Serbian authorities that UN personnel will not be attacked. PM

U.S. AUTHORIZES MILITARY ASSISTANCE TO KOSOVA. President George W. Bush signed a Presidential Determination on March 19 authorizing military aid to Kosova, which the United States was one of the first countries to recognize in February, international media reported. Kosova is now eligible to receive defense articles and services under the Foreign Assistance Act and the Arms Export Control Act, which require that the president determine that the aid "will strengthen the security of the United States and promote world peace." Each request by Kosova for assistance will be considered on a case-by-case basis. In an article entitled "The Serb Problem," "The Wall Street Journal" argued on March 20 that Kosova's emergence as an independent state "went off peacefully, except for the Serb outbursts [in the north].Outside military, diplomatic, and economic support will be crucial to Kosovo's future. Serb thugs in the streets, and Serb thuggery in international diplomatic salons, have succeeded in giving certain countries pause." The paper stressed that "Serbia did too much harm in the 1990s to get a free pass on its destructive behavior over Kosovo today. Fortunately, with every other country in its immediate vicinity opting for a future in the West, Serbia isn't strategically important. With NATO on the case -- and it will need to stay -- Serbia isn't a threat to Kosovo's sovereignty. The 16,000 NATO troops in Kosovo, as well as in a still unsettled Bosnia, are the first line of defense against Serb recidivism." PM

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Sot paradite, kryetari i PLL Ekrem Spahiu dhe nje konference per shtyp ne Seline e kësaj Partie.

Me poshte po ju përcjellim tekstin e plote te deklarates se lexuar me kete rast.

Zyra e shtypit e PLL

Tiranë, më 20 mars 2008

Deklaratë për mediat

Partia Lëvizja e Legalitetit" vëren me shqetësim se fatkeqësia e Gërdecit po shfrytëzohet në mënyrë abuzive dhe të rrezikshme për qëllime politike prej opozitës shqiptare në një xhest të paparë imoraliteti që fyen rëndë viktimat e aksidentit, familjarët e tyre dhe çdo qytetar të ndershëm.

Shfrytëzimi dhe manipulimi i ndjeshmërisë shoqërore që krijoi aksidenti fatal është kriminal, i rrezikshëm dhe antikombëtar, sepse përmes këtij manipulimi, Partia Socialiste dhe aleatët e saj të hapur apo të fshehtë, ëndërrojnë përsëritjen e ngjarjeve të vitit 1997. Po ashtu, tendenca për të inkriminuar qeverinë shqiptare dhe krijimin e një destabilitetit politik në prag të anëtarësimit të Shqipërisë në NATO ka si qëllim të vetëm kundërvënien ndaj këtij anëtarësimi.

Partia "Lëvizja e Legalitetit" ka deklaruar me kohë se opozita aktuale është e paaftë që të prodhojë alternativa konkurruese dhe si e tillë, por edhe për shkak të trashëgimisë gjenetike, ajo është e gatshme që për të mbijetuar politikisht të inskenojë ose shfrytëzojë situata të caktuara siç është edhe rasti i tragjedisë së Gërdecit.

Përkundrejt rolit destruktiv të opozitës, PLL vlerëson masat e marra nga qeveria dhe strukturat e shtetit për minimizimin e viktimave të mundshme, emergjencën shëndetësore, ndihmën ndaj familjeve të viktimave, vlerësimin dhe kompensimin e dëmeve të shkaktuara dhe shprehet e vendosur që të punohet energjikisht dhe në mënyrë të pandikuar nga presioni destruktiv i opozitës.

Në të njëjtën kohë, PLL vlerëson dorëheqjen e Ministrit të Mbrojtjes Fatmir Mediu si një veprim politik dhe qytetar i një politikani të përgjegjshëm dhe gjen rastin të theksojë se aksidenti i Gërdecit nuk mund të zbehë kontributin e tij në reformimin e Forcave të Armatosura dhe afrimin e Shqipërisë në NATO.

PLL nuk mund të mos vërej dhe mos përmendë solidaritetin mbarëshqiptar të të gjitha trevave, i cili krahas humanizmit, ka një domethënie më të thellë.

Partia Lëvizja e Legalitetit, ashtu si në çastet e para, vazhdon te mbetet jo vetëm fizikisht por edhe me mendje, zemër dhe çdo mundësi tjetër pranë familjeve të viktimave dhe të gjithë atyre që u dëmtuan nga kjo fatkeqësi.

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RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 12, No. 54, Part II, 19 March 2008

UN, NATO SAY SERBIAN VIOLENCE WAS ORCHESTRATED. Larry Rossin, who is deputy head of the UN civilian administration in Kosova (UNMIK), said in Prishtina on March 18 that the recent unrest by Serbs in northern Mitrovica was organized, international media reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," March 17 and 18, 2008). Rossin argued that it is clear to UN officials that the violence that left Ukrainian policeman Ihor Kynal dead "was orchestrated, [and] we believe we know who was responsible." Rossin stressed that "we've never had what we could consider a clear and unambiguous denunciation of this kind of violence from the ministers or indeed any other Belgrade government official.... We're having trouble continuing some of our operations in the north of Kosovo right now, and it's directly because of either their interventions or lack of interventions with those who are causing these problems." Rossin said that statements that Slobodan Samardzic, who is Serbia's minister for Kosova, made in Mitrovica on March 17 were "objectionable." Samardzic told demonstrators that "we will protect you just like we protect the Serbs in Serbia [and] will reach the goal only if we are patient, smart, and organized, and if we believe in what we want to accomplish." On March 18, Serbian officials said that they are trying to calm the situation. Britain's ambassador to the UN, John Sawers, said on March 18 that "what we saw yesterday showed the lengths to which some people...in the Kosovo Serb community are prepared to go." The BBC reported on March 19 that boxes of stones had been prepared for the rioters to use before they launched the violence on March 17. In Prishtina on March 18, KFOR commander General Xavier Bout de Marnhac said that "yesterday morning, clearly the red line was crossed with the deliberate intent to kill people. Molotov cocktails, fragments, hand grenades, and direct fire have been targeted at UNMIK and KFOR soldiers, and we are not going to tolerate that." He praised the "professionalism" of the NATO-led KFOR peacekeepers. Captain Milija Milosevic, an ethnic Serb in Kosova's police force, told Reuters in Mitrovica on March 18 that "following yesterday's events, KFOR has taken over authority for north Mitrovica and occupied the northern police station. UN police have ordered us to stay at home until further notice." PM

UN REJECTS REPORTED SERBIAN OFFER TO PARTITION KOSOVA. Reuters on March 18 quoted unnamed UNMIK "sources" in Prishtina as saying that Samardzic, who is Serbian minister for Kosova, recently presented a plan to UNMIK under which Belgrade would take responsibility for governing ethnic-Serbian areas in Kosova (see "RFE/RL Newsline," March 4, 2008). The sources said that the offer amounts to an attempt to partition Kosova along ethnic lines, which the United Nations, European Union, United States, and Kosovar government firmly reject as illegal. Deputy UNMIK head Rossin said on March 18 that his organization has received what was intended to be "a framework for a comprehensive relationship between Serbia and UNMIK." He did not elaborate. PM

La Serbie proteste contre la reconnaissance de l'indépendance du Kosovo par le Japon
	2008-03-19 11:24:46

RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 12, No. 53, Part II, 18 March 2008

UN, NATO SAY SERBIAN RIOTERS VIOLATED UN RESOLUTION FOR KOSOVA. A small group of Serbian youths threw stones at a convoy of French KFOR peacekeepers in mainly Serbian northern Mitrovica on March 18, RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," March 17, 2008). The situation there otherwise remained tense but calm following televised appeals by local Serbian leaders against violence. On March 17, clashes between Serbian crowds on the one hand and KFOR and the UN's police on the other left one Ukrainian policeman dead, and 63 police, 45 KFOR troops, and about 100 protesters injured. At least four UN vehicles were burned before UN police withdrew and left KFOR to ensure security. In Brussels, NATO spokesman James Appathurai said on March 17 that "NATO condemns firmly the violence that we have seen in northern Mitrovica. The rioters who threw stones, then threw Molotov cocktails, then threw grenades, then it seems used automatic weapons, are in clear violation of the law, clear violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1244. All parties should exercise restraint and obey the law of Kosovo. KFOR will respond firmly to acts of violence." In Prishtina, Larry Rossin, who is deputy chief of the UN mission, similarly said on March 17 that the rioters flagrantly violated the terms of Resolution 1244, which Belgrade often cites as a basis for its continuing legal claims to Kosova. In New York on March 17, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Serbia to use its influence to halt the violence and thereby allow the UN and KFOR to carry out their respective mandates. In Washington on March 17, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said that "the United States condemns the violence.... We urge all communities in Kosovo to remain calm, and we call on the Serbian government to denounce these acts of violence and take affirmative steps to reduce tensions." But Slobodan Samardzic, who is Serbia's minister for Kosova, said in televised remarks on March 17 that Belgrade has "to be present here as a state to provide security for Kosovo Serbs.... Our battle continues. Kosovo is part of Serbia." The UN, EU, United States, and Kosova's government have repeatedly warned Serbia against setting up "parallel structures," which are aimed at promoting a de facto partition of Kosova. PM