Very good article! Stella
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/embassy.htm
Embassy Row
By James Morrison
August 3, 2006
A BISHOP'S FAITH
His dwindling flock is scattered and under siege. His churches and
cemeteries have been vandalized. The world appears to sympathize with his
persecutors, but the spiritual leader of Kosovo's Orthodox Serbs says he
cannot afford the luxury of feeling sorry for himself.
"To be pessimistic is not an attribute for a man of faith," said Bishop
Artemije of Kosovo and Metohija, "particularly for a bishop."
But the bleak message the black-robed, white-bearded cleric brought with
him to Washington last week showed how little political progress has been
made since the 1999 NATO bombing campaign that drove Slobodan Milosevic's
Yugoslav forces from Kosovo, leaving the province a de facto international
protectorate until its final status is determined.
Kosovo's overwhelmingly ethnic-Albanian Muslim majority insists on
independence from Serbia, while the Serbian government is equally adamant
that the province remain under its control. Despite an effort by the United
States and allied countries to strike a deal on Kosovo by the end of the
year, desultory talks in Vienna have produced little progress.
Bishop Artemije is a frequent visitor to Washington, where he sounds the
alarm over what he says are increasing attacks by Kosovo's Muslims on the
minority Serbs and their churches. In a briefing at the National Press Club
last week, he said Kosovo had become "a black hole of corruption and
organized crime," a "rogue state" in the heart of Europe with growing ties
to radical Islamic movements in the Middle East.
"Sacrificing our land and our blood cannot buy protection from jihad,"
he warned.
In the interview with our correspondent David R. Sands, the bishop said
the more than 200,000 Kosovar Serbs -- two-thirds of his flock -- have been
forced to flee the province since the war because of ethnic and religious
intimidation and violence. More than 150 Christian churches and monasteries
have been destroyed, and the remaining Orthodox Serbs live in small, often
isolated pockets surrounded by hostile Muslim neighbors.
The opposite was the case during the Kosovo war that began in 1995, when
Serbian forces retaliated against attacks by rebels of the Kosovo Liberation
Army. An estimated 10,000 to 12,000 Kosovar civilians and about 3,000
Serbian civilians died in the conflict. NATO waged a 78-day bombing campaign
to drive the Serbian troops out of Kosovo and destroyed bridges, power
stations, factories and other civilian targets throughout what was then
Yugoslavia.
Bishop Artemije said he found "a little more understanding" from Bush
administration officials in his latest visit but acknowledged the difficult
diplomatic and political landscape.
"If you look at the situation with human eyes, it can seem depressing
and hopeless at times," he said.
"But if you look at Kosovo with the eyes of faith, hope is never lost.
There is always hope that there is still honesty in the world, a world that
seems to be asleep and that we will try with all our might to wake up."
Embassy Row
By James Morrison
August 3, 2006
A BISHOP'S FAITH
His dwindling flock is scattered and under siege. His churches and
cemeteries have been vandalized. The world appears to sympathize with his
persecutors, but the spiritual leader of Kosovo's Orthodox Serbs says he
cannot afford the luxury of feeling sorry for himself.
"To be pessimistic is not an attribute for a man of faith," said Bishop
Artemije of Kosovo and Metohija, "particularly for a bishop."
But the bleak message the black-robed, white-bearded cleric brought with
him to Washington last week showed how little political progress has been
made since the 1999 NATO bombing campaign that drove Slobodan Milosevic's
Yugoslav forces from Kosovo, leaving the province a de facto international
protectorate until its final status is determined.
Kosovo's overwhelmingly ethnic-Albanian Muslim majority insists on
independence from Serbia, while the Serbian government is equally adamant
that the province remain under its control. Despite an effort by the United
States and allied countries to strike a deal on Kosovo by the end of the
year, desultory talks in Vienna have produced little progress.
Bishop Artemije is a frequent visitor to Washington, where he sounds the
alarm over what he says are increasing attacks by Kosovo's Muslims on the
minority Serbs and their churches. In a briefing at the National Press Club
last week, he said Kosovo had become "a black hole of corruption and
organized crime," a "rogue state" in the heart of Europe with growing ties
to radical Islamic movements in the Middle East.
"Sacrificing our land and our blood cannot buy protection from jihad,"
he warned.
In the interview with our correspondent David R. Sands, the bishop said
the more than 200,000 Kosovar Serbs -- two-thirds of his flock -- have been
forced to flee the province since the war because of ethnic and religious
intimidation and violence. More than 150 Christian churches and monasteries
have been destroyed, and the remaining Orthodox Serbs live in small, often
isolated pockets surrounded by hostile Muslim neighbors.
The opposite was the case during the Kosovo war that began in 1995, when
Serbian forces retaliated against attacks by rebels of the Kosovo Liberation
Army. An estimated 10,000 to 12,000 Kosovar civilians and about 3,000
Serbian civilians died in the conflict. NATO waged a 78-day bombing campaign
to drive the Serbian troops out of Kosovo and destroyed bridges, power
stations, factories and other civilian targets throughout what was then
Yugoslavia.
Bishop Artemije said he found "a little more understanding" from Bush
administration officials in his latest visit but acknowledged the difficult
diplomatic and political landscape.
"If you look at the situation with human eyes, it can seem depressing
and hopeless at times," he said.
"But if you look at Kosovo with the eyes of faith, hope is never lost.
There is always hope that there is still honesty in the world, a world that
seems to be asleep and that we will try with all our might to wake up."
