Kosovo Serbs vow to stay divided
Kosovo's Serbs have rejected the region's self-proclaimed independence from Serbia, and on Saturday set up their own rival institutions. The BBC's Helen Fawkes says this is likely to cement Kosovo's divisions.
Kosovo may have declared independence almost four months ago, but in the Serb areas there is little sign of this being Europe's newest country.
When you wander around North Mitrovica, you see lots of Serbian flags.
Some of the shop signs are written in Cyrillic. Go inside, and you will be asked to pay with Serbian money.
Now this Serb-dominated town has its own self-proclaimed "parliament".
However, the assembly does not actually have its own building.
Its opening session was held in a cramped and sweaty university lecture hall.
There was no special seating, so the representatives sat on rows of wooden benches, alongside the members of the public.
The 40-or-so representatives of the new assembly were given laminated white cards to hold up when they wanted to vote.
Symbolic
''These people will be feeling victorious. The assembly preserves the status quo and the position of Mitrovica,'' says Jelena Bjelic, editor-in-chief of the Serbian language newspaper in Kosovo, Gradjanski Glasnik.
The assembly is designed to strengthen the position of Serbs in Kosovo.
It will cause trouble for the authorities in Belgrade. It will also cause additional problems for Kosovo Serbs
Dusan Janjic
Political analyst
Its constitution declared that it would act as co-ordination body with Belgrade.
However, it will not be able to make any laws, and so it does not have any significant power.
In some ways this does not matter.
It seems like the main purpose of the assembly is to be symbolic.
Not all Serbs support it, though. Some see it as joke.
The moderate Kosovo Serb leader Oliver Ivanovic says that rather than helping ordinary people, it will be used as a ''political weapon".
Nationalist base
Some of those at the opening session of the assembly wore badges with the face of Vojislav Seselj, the leader of the Serbian Radical Party, who is currently on trial at the War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague.
The politicians that make up the assembly are hard-line nationalists, belonging to the parties which are destined to be in opposition in Belgrade.
A pro-Western coalition government is expected to be formed this week in Belgrade.
So the assembly in Kosovo gives the nationalists a power base.
''The assembly does not represent all the Serbian political parties. It will cause trouble for the authorities in Belgrade. It will also cause additional problems for Kosovo Serbs,'' says political analyst Dusan Janjic.
The assembly was set up partly in response to Kosovo's new constitution, which came into force a few weeks ago, following the declaration of independence.
It says that the majority ethnic-Albanian government now runs Kosovo, and that it assumes many of the powers of the United Nations, which has administered Kosovo for the last decade.
The ethnic-Albanian political leaders have condemned the Kosovo Serb assembly as illegal.
The UN will not recognise the assembly - a spokesman for the UN described it as a virtual reality.
Whether it is legal or not, the assembly will be able to help ensure that the Kosovan government is not able to operate in Serb areas.
It will only deepen the ethnic divisions in Kosovo and strengthen the parallel structures that already exist here.
There are also fears that the rhetoric that is likely to come from the assembly will have a destabilising effect on one of the tensest region in the Balkans.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/7481299.stm
Kosovo's Serbs have rejected the region's self-proclaimed independence from Serbia, and on Saturday set up their own rival institutions. The BBC's Helen Fawkes says this is likely to cement Kosovo's divisions.
Kosovo may have declared independence almost four months ago, but in the Serb areas there is little sign of this being Europe's newest country.
When you wander around North Mitrovica, you see lots of Serbian flags.
Some of the shop signs are written in Cyrillic. Go inside, and you will be asked to pay with Serbian money.
Now this Serb-dominated town has its own self-proclaimed "parliament".
However, the assembly does not actually have its own building.
Its opening session was held in a cramped and sweaty university lecture hall.
There was no special seating, so the representatives sat on rows of wooden benches, alongside the members of the public.
The 40-or-so representatives of the new assembly were given laminated white cards to hold up when they wanted to vote.
Symbolic
''These people will be feeling victorious. The assembly preserves the status quo and the position of Mitrovica,'' says Jelena Bjelic, editor-in-chief of the Serbian language newspaper in Kosovo, Gradjanski Glasnik.
The assembly is designed to strengthen the position of Serbs in Kosovo.
It will cause trouble for the authorities in Belgrade. It will also cause additional problems for Kosovo Serbs
Dusan Janjic
Political analyst
Its constitution declared that it would act as co-ordination body with Belgrade.
However, it will not be able to make any laws, and so it does not have any significant power.
In some ways this does not matter.
It seems like the main purpose of the assembly is to be symbolic.
Not all Serbs support it, though. Some see it as joke.
The moderate Kosovo Serb leader Oliver Ivanovic says that rather than helping ordinary people, it will be used as a ''political weapon".
Nationalist base
Some of those at the opening session of the assembly wore badges with the face of Vojislav Seselj, the leader of the Serbian Radical Party, who is currently on trial at the War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague.
The politicians that make up the assembly are hard-line nationalists, belonging to the parties which are destined to be in opposition in Belgrade.
A pro-Western coalition government is expected to be formed this week in Belgrade.
So the assembly in Kosovo gives the nationalists a power base.
''The assembly does not represent all the Serbian political parties. It will cause trouble for the authorities in Belgrade. It will also cause additional problems for Kosovo Serbs,'' says political analyst Dusan Janjic.
The assembly was set up partly in response to Kosovo's new constitution, which came into force a few weeks ago, following the declaration of independence.
It says that the majority ethnic-Albanian government now runs Kosovo, and that it assumes many of the powers of the United Nations, which has administered Kosovo for the last decade.
The ethnic-Albanian political leaders have condemned the Kosovo Serb assembly as illegal.
The UN will not recognise the assembly - a spokesman for the UN described it as a virtual reality.
Whether it is legal or not, the assembly will be able to help ensure that the Kosovan government is not able to operate in Serb areas.
It will only deepen the ethnic divisions in Kosovo and strengthen the parallel structures that already exist here.
There are also fears that the rhetoric that is likely to come from the assembly will have a destabilising effect on one of the tensest region in the Balkans.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/7481299.stm
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