28.9.2007 by Lupo.

TV journalist Lirim Dulovi was attacked while covering Tuesday’s brawl

Macedonian media boycott government news conference citing assaults on colleagues

28/09/2007

SKOPJE, Macedonia — All accredited journalists boycotted Thursday’s (September 27th) government press conference to protest physical assaults on their colleagues inside parliament and by police earlier this week. On Tuesday, A1 TV journalist Lirim Dulovi was roughed up by bodyguards of lawmakers from the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI). Later in the day, police beat an Alsat TV crewmember who was trying to film them as they searched the car of two DUI MPs.

In a statement issued Thursday, US Ambassador to Macedonia Gillian Milovanovic deplored the attacks on the journalists. “This practice threatens the very foundation of democracy. We strongly condemn the unconscionable physical attack on a journalist. We reiterate that violence, threats and intimidation have no place in the democratic process.” (MIA, Makfax, MRT, A1 TV - 27/09/07)

Setimes

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28.9.2007 by admin.

Hague tribunal sentences “Vukovar Three”

28/09/2007

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The UN war crimes tribunal at The Hague handed down sentences Thursday (September 27th) in the notorious case involving the “Vukovar Three”, in which three former Yugoslav People’s Army officers were charged with the 1991 massacre of more than 260 Croats and other non-Serbs on a farm in Vukovar. Former Serb commander Mile Mrksic got 20 years in prison, while subordinate Veselin Sljivancanin got five years for aiding the crime. The third defendant, Miroslav Radic, was acquitted.

Vukovar suffered the worst devastation of any European city since World War II.

The judges decided that although Mrksic had not ordered the massacre, his actions had allowed local defence troops and paramilitaries to kill the victims. The court dropped five counts of crimes against humanity against Mrksic because the victims, who had first sought shelter in a hospital, were prisoners of war, not civilians. Hague tribunal chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte joined the Croatian government in criticising the sentences as too lenient. Prosecutors had sought life sentences for all three defendants.

In other news Thursday, the appeals chamber of the UN war crimes tribunal upheld verdicts reached in the 2005 trial of three former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). The judges agreed with the lower court’s decision to acquit Fatmir Limaj, a former senior KLA commander, and Isak Musliu, a KLA fighter, of all charges of murder and torture of prisoners. The 13-year sentence of a third defendant was upheld. Prosecutors had appealed the verdicts citing procedural errors. Serbian officials had characterised the initial rulings as a “disgrace”. (Vjesnik, Vecernji List - 28/09/07; UN press release, AFP, HINA, HRT, Makfax, B92, Tanjug, Reuters, AP, DPA - 27/09/07)

Setimes

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28.9.2007 by admin.

Business: Gas pipeline to connect Albania, Croatia, Montenegro

28/09/2007

Three regional countries signed a pipeline deal. Also this week: Eolica Bulgaria plans to invest 90m euros in a 60 megawatt wind farm and Albania’s Central Bank raises key interest rates.

Albania, Croatia and Montenegro signed an agreement Wednesday (September 26th) on the construction of a 400km natural gas pipeline which will connect the three countries. The 230m-euro facility will be later linked with various projects, enabling access to Middle Eastern and Russian natural gas.

***

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28.9.2007 by Lupo.

UN investigates deputy head of Kosovo mission

28/09/2007

During a press conference this week, Steven Schook said he is under investigation for inappropriately close ties with Kosovo officials — including UN war crimes indictee Ramush Haradinaj — and other alleged misconduct.

By Blerta Foniqi-Kabashi for Southeast European Times in Pristina - 28/09/07

UNMIK deputy chief Steven Schook confirmed on Wednesday (September 26th) that he is under investigation by the UN’s Internal Oversight Office for possible misconduct. He said that while the office has not informed him personally about the probe, he has become aware of it because of interviews conducted with members of his staff.

“According to the information I’ve managed to gather, the probe pertains to my alleged aggressive behaviour, unprofessionalism and close relationships with Energy Minister Ethem Ceku and former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, and extends to personal relationships I supposedly had with some women from Kosovo and those working with the UNMIK mission,” Schook told reporters.

His comments came during what he described as a personal press conference. He stressed that he was not representing any official UNMIK stance.

“The first thing I’m guilty of is loving my job,” Schook said. “The second thing is being extremely passionate about what I do and doing it to the best of my ability, not acting like a diplomat, being determined to get things done, making friends and making enemies, having a low tolerance for anything that stops Kosovo from getting better, supporting elections and open lists, supporting Project C as a key to the future economic prosperity of Kosovo and as a part of that supporting everyone in the Project Steering Committee including its chairman, Minister Ethem Ceku.”

He said he had great respect for Haradinaj’s performance as prime minister and his “exemplary co-operation” with the UN war crimes tribunal, which indicted him in March 2005. Schook ruled out the possibility of stepping down, and insisted that he would not allow the allegations to affect his responsibilities and the status process.

Reaction in Kosovo has been mixed. In an editorial published Thursday, the local daily Express deemed Schook’s press conference insulting. “Perhaps he believed that we believe what he was saying to tens of journalists,” editor-in-chief Berat Buzhala wrote.

Writing in Zeri, however, Environment and Spatial Planning Minister Ardian Gjini accused the media of declaring Schook guilty without waiting to see whether the allegations against him are true.

This content was commissioned for SETimes.com

Kosovo Minister Defends UNMIK Chief

28 09 2007 Pristina _ A Kosovo government minister has appealed to local media for fair treatment for the deputy head of the UN mission in Kosovo, who is facing an internal investigation for alleged misconduct.

Ardian Gjini, Kosovo’s Minister of Environment, reacted on Friday to the harsh media coverage that followed an announcement by Steven Schook that he was under investigation by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services, OIOS.

“People are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court. This is a right that is supposed to be defended first and foremost by civil society”, said Gjini in a reaction published in the daily, Express.

“You have made a mistake with Mr Steven Schook… with your prejudices”, Gjini told the media with reference to the American official who is number two in the UN administration in Kosovo, UNMIK.

Gjini’s intervention was addressed to the print media in particular, for their unsympathetic coverage in Thursday’s editions while reporting on Schook’s news conference at which he revealed he was facing an investigation.

“Shameful end of UNMIK” was the front-page headline in Express.

Investigators have released no details of the allegations against Schook.

However, Schook said “the probe pertains to my alleged aggressive behaviour, unprofessional and close relationships with Energy Minister Ethem Ceku and former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, and extends to personal relationships I supposedly had with some women from Kosovo and those working with the UNMIK mission.”

Haradinaj resigned as prime minister in March 2005 after he was indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

It is believed that the allegations with regard to Ceku are linked to the planned construction of the “Kosovo C” power plant.

Kosovo has been administered by the UN since 1999 when NATO’s air campaign forced the Serbian authorities to withdraw from the territory.

UNMIK’s staff enjoy immunity from prosecution under the local justice system in Kosovo.

The OIOS has previously investigated UNMIK’s police mission, and founded that the administration was incapable of fighting corruption in Kosovo’s public institutions.
Read more on this: http://birn.eu.com/en/31/10/1180/

However, this is the first time that a senior UN official is being investigated in Kosovo.

http://www.birn.eu.com/en/105/15/5048/

Steven Schook unter Verdacht Drucken
Geschrieben von Alban Ademi
Donnerstag, 27. September 2007
Gestern trat der stellvertretende Leiter der UNMIK, der ehemalige US-Armee-General Steven Schook vor die Presse in Prishtina und verkündete, dass gegen ihn seitens der UN ermittelt wird. Vor allem stünde seine aggressive Führungsart, seine unprofessionellen Beziehungen mit einheimischen Politikern sowie sein freizügiger Umgang mit dem weiblichen Personal im Zielvisier der UN-Fahnder. Wortwörtlich sagte Schook: „Keiner aus dem Büro für innere Kontrolle der UN hat mit mir Kontakt aufgenommen, aber es wurde mir deutlich gemacht,

dass man gegen mich aufgrund von aggressivem Verhalten, dem unprofessionellen Umgang mit dem Minister Ethem Ceku und dem Ex-Regierungschef Ramush Haradinaj sowie den privaten Beziehungen zu internationalen und einheimischen Frauen während meiner Mission ermittelt wird“.

Foto: REUTERS/ HAZIR REKA Schook ist sich keiner Schuld bewusst, außer dass er seinen Job erledigt hat sagte der US-General und frühere Kommandant der SFOR-Friedenstruppen in Bosnien.In den letzten Monaten häuften sich Meldungen in den lokalen Medien in Prishtina über angebliche Ermittlungen und Verwicklungen des Steven Schook sowie von anderen UNMIK-Offiziellen in die Machenschaften der lokalen Vertretern des politischen Establishments Kosovas. Dieser Berichte wurde jedoch oft dementiert oder schlicht weg von der UNMIK ignoriert.Bestätigt man in den nächsten Tagen die Information über die Einleitung von Ermittlungsmaßnahmen gegen die zweite Person der UNMIK, so würde dies den ersten Präzedenzfall in Kosova darstellen, indem man rechtlich gegen einen hohen UN-Vertreter vorgeht.Schook betonte bei seinem kurzen, angespannten und hoch brisanten Auftritt, dass er die Information über das Ermittlungsverfahren von seinen engsten Mitarbeitern erhalten hätte, die kurz zuvor zu den Machenschaften des Herrn Schook befragt worden sind. Angenommen dies würde zutreffen, so hätten die Mitarbeiter des UN-Funktionärs ihrerseits auch gegen gesetzliche Bestimmungen verstoßen, weil sie im laufenden Ermittlungsverfahren interveniert, indem sie die Zielperson über den Ermittlungsgegenstand benachrichtigt haben. Des Weiteren ist hervorzuheben, dass Ex-General Steven Schook kein einziges Wort über einen möglichen Rücktritt oder Niederlegung des Amtes bis zur Klärung des Sachverhalts verlor
Quelle:
RTK
Balkanweb
Anmerkung der Redaktion: Steven Schook, der Stellvertreter des UNMIK Bosses Jochaim Rücker, hat zwischenzeitlich gegenüber anderen Medien seinen Rücktritt grundsätzlich ausgeschlossen.

Kosovo Aktuell

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28.9.2007 by Lupo.

Balkan Traffickers Arrested

28 09 2007 Podgorica _ Thirty eight people, suspected of involvement in smuggling Albanians to western Europe, were arrested by Montenegrin, Croatian and Bosnian police on Wednesday and Thursday.

Montenegrin Police Administration said late on Thursday that, as part of a coordinated international police action, code-named “Plitvice”, eight persons had been arrested in Montenegro, while another suspect was on the run.

Croatian police arrested 28 smugglers and Bosnia a further two.

There are five suspects still at large, three from Croatia, one from Montenegro and one from Albania.

“This organized smuggling of people from Albania, via Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia to EU countries went on for a long period of time”, the police statement said.

Montenegrin police have forwarded the case to the special prosecutor for organized crime.

All those arrested are suspected of involvement in a criminal organization, illegal crossing of state borders and the organized smuggling of people.

Two of those detained are also suspected of illegal possession of arms and explosives, as well as forging money.

“During the action Montenegrin police found a quantity of munitions, explosive devices and forged banknotes. Croatian police, in addition, confiscated 6,000 pills of the ecstasy drug”, Montenegrin police said.

http://www.birn.eu.com/en/105/15/5048/

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28.9.2007 by Lupo.

Airport Corruption Row Inflames Kosovo

20 04 2006 Airport Corruption Row Inflames Kosovo UNMIK accused of turning blind eye to an explosive probe that lifts lid on fraud and bribery at Pristina Airport.

By Krenar Gashi in Pristina (Balkan Insight, 20 Apr 06)

Opposition parties and civil society groups here have accused the head of the entity’s UN authority and the Kosovo government of downplaying a damning report on Pristina Airport, which alleges that corruption has flourished in the public company. A government statement on April 14 supported the stance of Soren Jessen-Petersen, head of the UN authority, known as UNMIK, in saying the report’s explosive claims were out of date and referred “to a period of time when the actual head of UN mission was not present in Kosovo”.
Petersen has been accused of dismissing the significance of the report, released early in April by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services, OIOS. The opposition claims any tolerance of corruption will inflict severe damage on Kosovo’s drive for independence and on its attempt to build up transparent institutional frameworks.
The OIOS investigation said that “fraud and mismanagement were rife” and that “there was systematic corruption” at the airport.
A UN department, the OIOS has gained a reputation for probing the dark side of Kosovo after launching a successful investigation in 2002 into the entity’s mismanaged electric corporation, KEK.
The OIOS helped to track down and ensure the return of 4.3 million US dollars stolen by Jo Trutschler, KEK’s former German head. Trutschler is now serving a prison sentence.
Pristina Airport was designated a Publicly Owned Enterprise after the UN mission in Kosovo was established in 1999.
Since July 1, 2002, it has come under the responsibility of the Kosovo Trust Agency, which handles the privatisation and sell-off of the territory’s assets, among other things, and under the so-called Pillar IV of UNMIK, which deals with economic affairs.
The OIOS investigators said they found “a general disregard of and disrespect for procurement rules by persons employed at Pristina Airport”.
More damningly, they complained of “a complete failure of UNMIK to address this problem”.
The task force said it was “surprised to find that even after the transmittal of the individual investigation reports, substantial reluctance remained on the part of UNMIK senior management to take appropriate disciplinary action against those responsible for the lack of oversight and control of airport funds”.
Investigators said this inaction on the part of UNMIK towards fraud and corruption in publicly owned enterprises dated from the start of the mission in 1999.
The report concluded that this same “reluctance by senior Mission management to address fraud and corruption will have a devastating impact on public perception inside and outside of Kosovo, as the United Nations will be seen as escaping from the problems rather than solving them”.
However, on April 10, UNMIK flatly refuted the report’s conclusions and rated the report itself as flawed.
“The allegations made are not supported by the facts and are not substantiated by the evidence,” said a press release.
When Balkan Insight contacted UNMIK’s spokesperson, Gyorgy Kakuk, with regard to this, he referred back to the press release of April 10.
“The current head of UNMIK has nothing to do with these accusations from this report and we consider they are unfounded,” he said.
UNMIK’s defensive response has only fuelled charges that Petersen failed to take the harsh measures that were needed against corruption after he took over in June 2004.
There has been widespread concern about the running of the airport for years. The media have long bracketed it alongside other such troubled public firms as KEK and the Post and Telecommunications company of Kosovo, PTK.
Until now only the abuses in KEK have been resolved in court, while legal procedures relating to the running of the PTK are ongoing.
Pristina Airport hit the headlines - for all the wrong reasons - when a young man named Kastriot Zogiani was killed in November 2004.
According to the initial police statement, his murder was connected to a bribe he had given for a coveted job in airport.
Jobs at Pristina Airport are highly prized by Kosovars, not only because they are well paid, but also because airport is seen as a gateway for small and medium illegal benefits.
Three men, whom police said were running a scam, obtaining employment for staff at the airport in return for bribes, were then arrested over the murder. However, Zogiani’s death was not resolved and the murder charges were dropped for lack of evidence.
Then, in September 2005, four members of the airport management, including the chief of security, were suspended and charged with mismanagement and corruption.
Again, the result was inconclusive. The men were all released for lack of evidence and reinstated in their positions.
While these cases have left many members of the public uneasy over the airport’s management, UNMIK has praised it as a well-run local asset.
“The airport is a success story for Kosovo,” said the UNMIK statement on April 10.
“It manages almost one million passengers per year and internally it has been developed into a transparent and modern company.”
That has not convinced Hashim Thaci, leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, the largest opposition party, who says the OIOS charge sheet is too serious and comprehensive to ignore.
Thaci said attempts to bypass the accusations would only fuel public suspicions that elements within UNMIK were themselves involved in goings-on at the airport.
“From those who are involved in corruption you can always expect such a gesture as … silence,” he said.
Gyorgy Kakuk, UNMIK spokesperson, said Thaci’s allegations were groundless, maintaining it was unfair to say UNMIK downplayed the report.
“It’s not true … that OIOS allegation have not been taken seriously,” he said.
Thaci said the authorities’ seemingly casual attitude towards the report’s contents might have an undesirable impact on talks on Kosovo’s final status, which are expected to conclude this year.
It might also affect the territory’s economic development and its hopes of European integration, he opined.
“Kosovo cannot be an independent state and at the same time led by a mafia,” said Thaci. “Investors are also likely to run away from an insecure place with structural corruption at the heart of its institutions.”
Avni Zogiani, leader of Cohu, a new non-governmental organisation set up specifically to expose and combat corruption, said the affair had damaged Petersen’s personal standing.
“Since the airport affair, Petersen is viewed as person who is indifferent to corruption and organised crime,” Zogiani told Balkan Insight.
Mufail Limani, an analyst in Pristina, said the scandal had highlighted the mistaken priorities of the international community in Kosovo, in giving first consideration to “maintaining inter-ethnic peace in the region, while issues of fighting corruption, fraud and organised crime are left behind”.
Burim Ejupi, from the Kosovar Institute for Policy Research and Development, KIPRED, said UNMIK had decided to file away the report’s claims in order to ensure that its mission in Kosovo ended on a calm note.
“Ignoring the accusations from the airport affair is clearly convenient to Petersen and UNMIK,” Ejupi told Balkan Insight.
“As soon as UN mission is over, corruption and fraud will appear again, allowing the UN to say that such negative phenomena never happened while they were in charge.”

Krenar Gashi is a contributor to Balkan Insight. Balkan Insight is BIRN’s online publication

http://birn.eu.com/en/31/10/1180/

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28.9.2007 by Lupo.

Serbia to ‘offer Kosovo autonomy’

Serbian President Boris Tadic will meet ethnic Albanian leaders of Kosovo
The issue of Kosovo’s future status has been fiercely debated over the past year

Serbian President Boris Tadic addresses the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Thursday.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Serbia is prepared to offer its secessionist province of Kosovo the “largest autonomy in the world” in upcoming talks on the future of the independence-seeking region, the nation’s president said Thursday.

Serbian President Boris Tadic addresses the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Thursday.

Serbian President Boris Tadic described as “unhelpful” statements by President Bush and other members of his administration to the effect that Kosovo will gain independence at the end of the current negotiating process which is set to conclude on December 10.

“This is not very useful,” Tadic said. “Saying that Kosovo has to become an independent country by the end of negotiations on December 10. These statements are not encouraging Kosovo Albanians to show flexibility in the talks.”

Tadic is due to meet in New York on Friday with ethnic Albanian leaders of Kosovo for the first face-to-face talks between the two sides. They will be mediated by negotiators from the United States, Russia, and the European Union….

http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/2007/WORLD/europe/09/28/kosovo.talks.ap/art.tadic.gi.jpg

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28.9.2007 by CrniLabudovi.

27. September 2007, 21:36 Uhr

Von Stefanie Bolzen

Kosovo-Frage

Serbiens Außenminister kritisiert die USA

Der serbische Außenminister Vuk Jeremic warnt vor “falschen Signalen” in der Kosovo-Politik. Sollte die Provinz gegen den Willen Serbiens unabhängig werden, würde die ganze Region destabilisiert. Serben und Kosovo-Albaner verhandeln derzeit in New York.

Foto: AP

Der serbische Außenminister kritisiert Washingtons Unterstützung für ein unabhängiges Kosovo

Nach Berichten, Washington werde möglicherweise eine einseitig von den Kosovo-Albanern erklärte Unabhängigkeit anerkennen, hat die serbische Regierung Kritik an den USA geäußert. „Das sind die falschen Signale“, sagte Serbiens Außenminister Vuk Jeremic WELT ONLINE. „Der Druck der internationalen Gemeinschaft, eine Einigung zu erreichen, fehlt völlig.“ Er warnte, dass eine einseitig erklärte Unabhängigkeit ohne Plazet der UN „das Kosovo, Serbien, den gesamten Westbalkan destabilisieren“** werde.

** weil die Albaner Faschisten und Kriminellen Clans, einfach dann ebenso beabsichtigen den Plan von Hitlers Groß Albanien umzusetzen! Dahinter steckt seit 20 Jahren, die Albanische US Mafia Nr. 1 der Gambino Clan vor allem und deren Sprachrohr der AACL www.aacl.com

Weiterführende links

• “Teilung wäre Betrug am multiethnischen Prinzip”
• Orthodoxe Mönche fürchten Unabhängigkeit
• Deutscher Diplomat sucht Lösung für Kosovo
• Kosovo-Verhandlungen bei UN gescheitert
• Fahne, Hymne und Wappen sind in Planung
• Russland bleibt bei seinem “Njet”
• Russland droht in der Kosovo-Frage mit Veto
• Parlamentarier verlängern Kosovo-Mandat
• Sicherheitsrat berät über Zukunft des Kosovos
• Ahtisaari empfiehlt unabhängiges Kosovo
• Die letzte Reise der Opfer des Kosovo-Kriegs

• WELT DEBATTE: Europa darf sich in der Kosovofrage nicht spalten lassen

Am Freitag kommen ranghohe Vertreter Serbiens und der Kosovo-Albaner in New York zu Gesprächen über die Zukunft der südserbischen Provinz zusammen.

Jeremic zufolge missbilligt nicht nur die Veto-Macht Russland einen solchen Schritt, sondern auch andere, nicht ständige Mitglieder des UN-Sicherheitsrats, beispielsweise Südafrika. „Russland und andere Länder verspüren großes Unbehagen angesichts der Möglichkeit einer einseitig erklärten Unabhängigkeit. Das schafft einen Präzedenzfall, wenn Leute in einem Land ihre Unabhängigkeit erklären und Drittländer diese anerkennen“, so Jeremic. Er weigere sich, zu glauben, „dass es die Mission der internationalen Gemeinschaft ist, einen ideologisch determinierten Status gutzuheißen“, so Jeremic weiter.

Schlagworte

Kosovo Serbien Vuk Jeremic USA Balkan

Bereits am Donnerstag hatten sich die Außenminister der Kosovo-Kontaktgruppe, die mit der Verhandlungsführung beauftragt ist, in New York getroffen, um Bewegung in die festgefahrenen Gespräche zu bringen. Der Kontaktgruppe gehören neben Deutschland drei weitere EU-Staaten sowie Russland und die USA an. Bis zum 10. Dezember muss die Kontaktgruppe der UNO eine Empfehlung für das weitere Vorgehen vorlegen. Bei einem Scheitern gilt eine einseitige Unabhängigkeitserklärung des Kosovo als wahrscheinlich.

Die Welt

UNO/ NEW YORK, 28. September (RIA Novosti). Der britische Außenminister David Miliband hat das Ministertreffen der Kosovo-Kontaktgruppe, das dem ersten Direktdialog zwischen Kosovo und Belgrad am heutigen Freitag voranging, als sehr konstruktiv bezeichnet.

„Das Treffen der Kontaktgruppe war sehr konstruktiv. Alle Teilnehmer sahen einhellig beide Seiten für den Verhandlungsverlauf verantwortlich“, zitiert ihn eine RIA-Novosti-Korrespondentin aus New York.

Wie die Korrespondentin berichtet, war Miliband der einzige Außenminister, der Stellung zu den Ergebnissen des Sechser-Treffens im UN-Hauptquartier am Donnerstagabend nahm. Dennoch wich er der Frage nach der automatischen Gewährung des Unabhängigkeitsstatus an das Kosovo nach dem 10. Dezember aus. An diesem Tag laufen die Verhandlungsfrist und das Datum der Berichterstattung an den UN-Generalsekretär Ban Ki Moon ab.

…….

http://de.rian.ru/world/20070928/81473809.html

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27.9.2007 by CrniLabudovi.

27.09.2007

Serbien und Montenegro: Diskussion um doppelte Staatsbürgerschaft

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:  Wirbt Serbien um montenegrinische Staatsbürger?

Serbien hat sein Staatsbürgerschaftsrecht vereinfacht. Sehr zum Missfallen Montenegros: Dort könnten aufgrund des geltenden Rechts dreißig Prozent der Bevölkerung die montenegrinische Staatsbürgerschaft verlieren.

Das serbische Parlament hat am Dienstag (24.9.) das Gesetz über die Staatsbürgerschaft geändert. Demnach können nun alle ethnischen Serben, die außerhalb des Landes leben, die serbische Staatsbürgerschaft erhalten. Erleichtert wurde die Einbürgerung außerdem für Staatsbürger von Montenegro, die zurzeit der Unabhängigkeitserklärung des Landes nicht in Serbien gemeldet waren, sowie für alle Staatsbürger des ehemaligen Jugoslawien.

Fehlende Rechtsgrundlage

Diese neuen Regelungen sind in Montenegro überwiegend mit Skepsis aufgenommen worden. Bereits vor der Abstimmung im serbischen Parlament hatte die montenegrinische Botschafterin in Belgrad, Anke Vojvodic, gefordert, die Gesetzesänderung erst dann in Kraft treten zu lassen, wenn Montenegro sich auf eine neue Verfassung und ein neues Staatsbürgerschaftsgesetz verständigt habe. Denn nach geltendem montenegrinischen Recht verliert man die Staatsbürgerschaft Montenegros, wenn man eine andere annimmt. Rund ein Drittel der etwa 600.000 Einwohner Montenegros sind ethnische Serben. Würde für sie nicht die Möglichkeit einer doppelten Staatsbürgerschaft eingeführt, so wäre mit einem massiven Bevölkerungsschwund zu rechnen, sollten sich die Betroffenen für die nun mögliche serbische Staatsangehörigkeit entscheiden.

Umstrittene doppelte Staatsangehörigkeit

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27.9.2007 by Lupo.

Parliamentary dispute turns physical in Macedonia

27/09/2007

Macedonia’s parliament was in chaos Tuesday as a heated verbal dispute among ruling and opposition parties escalated into a brawl. The largest ethnic Albanian party, the Democratic Union of Integration, is now refusing to participate in the institution.

By Zoran Nikolovski for Southeast European Times in Skopje - 27/09/07

(From left) Social Democratic MP Nikola Kjurciev, DUI’s Rafiz Aliti and Sadula Duraku. [Tomislav Georgiev]

Prolonged political tensions erupted into a brawl at the Macedonian Parliament on Tuesday (September 25th). It happened at the end of a heated session concerning changes to the election code. Speaker Ljubisa Georgievski announced a break after a fierce verbal exchange between the leader of the Party for Democratic Prosperity (PDP), Abduladi Vejseli, and members of the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI). Immediately afterwards, Vejseli was punched by DUI member Sadula Duraku.

The PDP, an ethnic Albanian party, is a member of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski’s ruling coalition. The DUI is the largest party representing ethnic Albanians in the country.

Menduh Taci, leader of a third ethnic Albanian party, the Democratic Party of Albanians, then appeared during the break. Along with a few other members of his party, he allegedly attacked DUI member Teuta Arifi, who asked for medical assistance. By then, the halls of parliament were in chaos. A reporter from A1 Television was slapped in the face by DUI party security, and a crew from TV ALSAT was detained while filming police intervention outside the building.

The same evening, police detained nine people who were found in possession of two pistols outside parliament. Pistols, machine guns and bullets were also found in cars.

The following day, a TV ALSAT cameraman was beaten by police on the way to Tetovo. He had been filming the police as they stopped a vehicle containing two DUI members of parliament. The car with the MPs was allowed to go, but the police attacked the journalist and broke his camera. According to the City Hospital in Skopje, the man has two broken ribs and contusions on his back and chest.

The DUI has now convened an emergency meeting and decided to freeze its participation in the work of the parliament.

….

http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2007/09/27/feature-02

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