How Many Kosovo Albanians Are There Really?

http://byzantinesacredart.com/blog/2008/04/numbers-game.html

BYZANTINE SACRED ART (CANADA)

The Numbers Game

How Many Kosovo Albanians Are There Really?

One would be hard pressed to find a single Western media article about
Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohija without the brief passage stating,
in one way or the other, that there are some 2 million ethnic Albanians in
the province. This most commonly repeated falsity has been so firmly
ingrained in the minds of the Western politicians and public, that no one
even thinks of questioning the veracity of the claim.

Playing with numbers to boost one side's quasi arguments in the absence of
real ones is the all-times' favorite game of the propagandists. It is
virtually impossible to verify in most cases, it is almost undetectable and
the easiest type of manipulation-you simply state and keep repeating that
Serbs have "executed" 7,000 "Muslim men and boys" in Srebrenica and killed
10,000 Albanians in Kosovo-Metohija province, that 500,000 Muslim women were
raped in Bosnia, that Serbs just killed 100,000 Albanians in a football
stadium in Pristina, that 500,000 Muslims were killed during the Bosnian
civil war... that there are 2 million, or 90 percent of Albanians in Kosovo
province.

Since no one is expected to go there after reading about it in NY Times,
Washington Post, London Times et al and count those who were allegedly
executed, killed, raped and stuffed in mysterious mass graves no one has
been able to find after ten and 18 years of digging, or count the actual
number of ethnic Albanians in southern Serbian province, such outright lies
remain the most stubbornly repeated, unquestioned Western mainstream media
staples.

In November 2007, after the UNMIK-organized elections, viewed as a form of
referendum where Kosovo Albanians were expected to vote in droves to confirm
their dedication to Kosovo independence, Western MSM reported a "record-low
turnout", citing the OSCE observers and UNMIK chief administrator Joachim
Ruecker, who said that "only between 40-45 percent of ethnic Albanians
voted". That would mean that only some 800,000 Albanians out of 2 million
took part in the elections they considered crucial.

However, adviser of the Serbia's prime minister Aleksandar Simic pointed
this was clearly not the case of a "low turnout", but the case of the
exposed number rigging, since there are no more than 1,1 - 1,2 million of
ethnic Albanians in the Serbian province, including the illegal immigrants
who are continually freely crossing the non-existent border between Albania
and Kosovo-Metohija province, which NATO was supposed to guard. Therefore,
the actual turnout in these elections was as high as expected, with more
than 70 percent of ethnic Albanians taking part. Of real ethnic Albanians,
not the imaginary ones.

No More Than 1,2 Million of Ethnic Albanians in Kosovo-Metohija Province
Responding to a recent article in Serbian media which cited the same
disinformation about the number of ethnic Albanians in Serbian province,
Zvonimir Trajkovic, a political commentator, reporter and adviser to several
Yugoslav and Serbian presidents wrote:

"There has never been, nor is there today more than 1,2 million Shiptars
[ethnic Albanians] in Kosovo and Metohija province, so please be careful not
to naively adopt Shiptar propaganda that there are 2, or even 2,5 million of
them.

"There are six cities in Kosovo and Metohija, or rather small towns:
Pristina with 180,000 residents, Mitrovica with 75,000 residents, Pec -
60,000, Prizren - 55,000, Gnjilane - 45,000 and Urosevac - 40,000. Each of
these includes the suburbs and surrounding municipalities, because the data
covers the total number of municipal residents. Those are the estimates from
1998, since Shiptars boycotted and obstructed every census in
Kosovo-Metohija from 1971 till present, precisely in order to be able to
continuously exaggerate their ethnic presence in the province.

"Before the mass ethnic cleansing in 1999, there were 320,000 Serbs in
Kosovo-Metohija, 45,000 Roma, 17,000 Gorani (Slavic Muslims, loyal to
Serbia)... At the same time [right before NATO marched in allowing massive
pogroms and expulsion of non-Albanians], 38 percent of the residents of
province's capital Pristina were Serbs.

"If we add to this the fact that Kosovo and Metohija is an area almost twice
smaller than Vojvodina [northern Serbian region with population of 2
million], where have those 1,9 million Shiptars you are talking about
squeezed in? If their electoral lists contains 1,08 million voters,
including the deceased Shiptars and the illegal immigrants who came from
Albania alongside NATO, then it follows that there are 820,000 Shiptar
children. Then calculate how many schools should there be for so many
children, and there is a total of 6 of them in Pristina, with classes
consisting not of 200 children each, but around 30, like in Belgrade.

Roaming "Residents": Using Old Yugoslav IDs to Rig the Numbers in the Region
"In order to gain the right to become a constitutive nation in Macedonia,
they needed to cross the 25 percent of the population threshold. There are
between 17 and 19 percent of Shiptars in Macedonia, but they managed to rig
that number up to 26,3% through the Western-orchestrated census.

"So, how are they doing it? Being that they have the old [Yugoslav] ID
cards, whenever there is a census or elections in Macedonia, half of the
Kosovo-Metohija and Presevo Albanians surge to Macedonia to be counted or to
vote. When there is a similar thing happening in Kosovo-Metohija, all the
Shiptars from surrounding areas of former Yugoslavia [Montenegro, Macedonia,
Presevo region in Serbia] go to Kosovo province to cast their votes.

"In conclusion, don't buy the Shiptar propaganda which aims to present its
population as numerically absolutely dominant, with the purpose of
justifying their claims upon others' territories. Listed as Shiptars in the
books of Yugoslav citizens in Kosovo-Metohija are 830,000 ethnic Albanians
and that is the realistic number, perhaps with additional 50-100,000. But
talking about millions is entirely incorrect and a pure propaganda which can
serve only the Shiptars, who wish to send a totally distorted picture into
the world.

"Therefore, I appeal to all to refrain from publishing completely false data
which is harmful to Serbia. This is written by a man who was born in
Pristina and who lived there until 1982. I was also an adviser to several
presidents, in a position from which I had access to all the data state has
to make public. This is not being done today, because a number of the
politicians in power have failed to realize the importance of making this
sort of information publicly available in regular, orderly fashion. Our
current leadership is not publishing this data at present, because it does
not suit the Western agenda, so even our own-let alone the foreign-public is
unaware of the real figures and facts."

Cartoon by Aleksandar Klas (Serbia)

Posted by BBlog Staff on April 10, 2008 10:20 PM

Bridging the great divide

http://torontosun.com/News/World/2008/04/12/5265631-sun.html

TORONTO SUN (CANADA)

April 12, 2008

Bridging the great divide

Contested Kosovo span is a symbol of international failure

By SCOTT TAYLOR

MITROVICA, Kosovo -- All seems quiet at the north end of the bridge. A pair
of NATO patrol vehicles, a handful of French soldiers, a couple of UN
policemen and several rolls of barbed wire block access to the roadway.

I take some photographs and start walking back into the Serbian sector of
the city.

It is only then that I spot a group of young Serbs lingering in the shade of
a kiosk.

These young men are known as the "bridgewatchers," and since the Kosovo
conflict began in June 1999, they have maintained a 24-hour vigil on the
Serbian side of this contested span across the Ibar River.

In the summer of 1999, as NATO forces deployed into Kosovo and Serbian
security forces withdrew, nearly 800,000 Albanian Kosovars came flooding
back into the province after they were displaced during the 78-day NATO
bombing campaign.

This in turn generated an exodus from Kosovo of approximately 200,000 Serb
and non-Albanian minorities who fled in fear of Albanian reprisals.

It was here in Mitrovica that the flood of Serb refugees halted at the Ibar
River and defiantly laid claim to the northern portion of Kosovo, which is
an entirely ethnic Serbian enclave connected to the Republic of Serbia.

Numerous violent encounters have taken place across the Mitrovica bridge
between Albanians, Serbs and NATO troops. Located next to the Republic of
Serbia, this entirely ethnic Serbian enclave has come to symbolize the
failure of the international community to overcome the divide of ethnic
hatred in Kosovo.

Following the Albanians' unilateral declaration of independence on Feb. 17,
the Serbs of the Mitrovica pocket and other protected enclaves have refused
to accept the authority of the newly proclaimed state of "Kosava."

To demonstrate their resolve, the Serbs took control of the Mitrovica
courthouse and installed their own officials. It was this occupation of
regional offices by the Serbs that led to a bloody confrontation with NATO
troops on March 17.

When UN police and NATO vehicles rolled in to arrest the violators, the
bridgewatchers sounded an air raid siren to summon other Serbs to the scene.
The angry crowds clashed with the international security forces and vehicles
were set ablaze, shots were fired.

One Ukrainian soldier died, 63 NATO soldiers were injured, and an
undetermined number of Serbs were seriously wounded.

In a scathing internal memo to his superiors, UN regional representative
Jerry Gallucci described the debacle as an "ill-conceived operation (that)
has led to the disappearance of law and order in the north (of Kosovo)."

Gallucci was particularly incensed that the international community chose
March 17 to launch their operation, as this date coincided with the
anniversary of the 2004 pogrom in which three dozen people were killed and
Albanians torched more than 800 Serbian homes.

In Gallucci's opinion, this timing coupled with the heavy-handed tactic of
arresting and transporting the courthouse squatters "seemed almost designed
to inflame Serbian sentiments."

In the leadup to, and in the immediate aftermath of Kosovo's declared
independence, a large number of UN field officers voiced their concerns
about the international community turning a blind eye to the reality of the
situation on the ground.

Last year, a number of UN observers took the unprecedented step of compiling
an independent analysis, which they published and circulated without
filtering it through the chain of command.

The stated intention of the anonymous authors was to illustrate "the divide
that exists between (their) first-hand knowledge ... and the rosy picture of
the overall situation that is officially presented by top UN officials."

The facts presented in the report show that over the past nine years, the UN
has failed to achieve its stated objectives in virtually every category.

To illustrate the international community's failure to provide a secure
environment for non-Albanians in Kosovo, they point to the fact that there
have been more than 1,000 abductions of Serbs and other minorities since
1999.

Of that number, only 253 bodies have been discovered, and yet not a single
person has been found guilty for these crimes.

Under the terms of UN Resolution 1244, which facilitated the entry of NATO
into Kosovo, the international community was to take full responsibility for
the protection of Serbian heritage religious sites.

Despite the presence of more than 20,000 security personnel over the past
nine years, Albanian extremists have managed to destroy more than 150
Serbian churches and monasteries -- many dating back to the 11th century.

One of the most alarming assessments in the UN field officers' report is
that the criminal leadership of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) guerrilla
force, which was supposed to be disbanded, has instead assumed positions of
power at all levels of Kosovo society. According to their summary, the KLA
has simply "transformed into criminal structures, carrying out organized
crime activities of drugs and weapons trafficking and prostitution."

As one field officer stated, those guerrillas "are the real power in Kosovo
and many of their leaders are now politicians at all levels -- including
Prime Minister (Hashim Thaci)."

The Kosovo police service is described as "poorly competent" and that, in
turn, has resulted in a "culture that promotes intolerance with little or no
moral obligation to non-Albanians."

The assessment of life in Kosovo for ethnic minorities is one of limited
freedom of movement and constant fear. Also cited in the report is the fact
that the international community has failed to protect non-Albanian language
rights and that they have allowed the flag of the Republic of Albania to fly
on most public institutions since 1999.

In their report's conclusion, the UN officers point out that the Pristina
sports stadium is emblazoned with "an enormous picture of an armed, bearded,
combat-uniformed KLA leader."

Such an image, they argue, runs counter to the UN's original mission of
making Kosovo a secure environment for all residents.

Failure to remove the provocative poster demonstrates that the international
community is in fact "bowing to the dictates of extremists and warlords."

Although this blunt assessment of the Kosovo situation was presented as a
briefing note to the fact-finding delegation of the UN security council, the
recommendation that the granting of independence would be an "irresponsible
act" has now been superseded by the Albanians' Feb. 17 unilateral
declaration.

Senior officials working with the UN in Kosovo confirmed that the analysis
of this report was accurate, and they are frustrated and disappointed with
the sudden elimination of their mandate.

"The original role for the (NATO-led Kosovo troops, or KFOR) was to enforce
UN Resolution 1244 -- which clearly recognized the Serbian sovereignty over
Kosovo," explained Edward Tawii, a Canadian adviser to the UN interim
administration police, who has spent the past eight years based there.

"Now they say that KFOR will be responsible to provide a secure environment
in support of the independence declaration."

While the UN mission continues to function in this interim period, the
administrative oversight in Kosovo is slowly being assumed by the European
Union.

The EU will monitor and assist the newly proclaimed independent Kosovar
government and oversee the operation of the Kosovo police service.

KFOR troops will remain in place for the foreseeable future, and NATO will
continue to train and equip the Kosovo defence forces.

Since Serbia refuses to recognize Kosovo's independence, the government
continues to administer services such as the issuing of pension cheques to
those residing in non-Albanian enclaves.

Despite the presence of so many foreign troops and police officers -- 20,000
in a region of only two million inhabitants -- this overlapping of
responsibility has generated a lot of confusion.

In many cases, the various and diverse national interests of the
contributing NATO and non-NATO security forces have been exploited by the
criminal elements of the Albanian population.

In the village of Orcusa, in the southern Kosovo mountainous region known as
Gora, Norbert, a German master warrant officer, pointed out that the border
to Albania here is wide open.

"Between us and the Albanian towns across the valley there is not even a
checkpoint, let alone any barriers." According to the German officer, NATO
soldiers in this sector refer to the Kosovo border police as the traffic
police, since their purpose seems to be in assisting the flow of contraband,
rather than impeding it.

In addition to the drugs and weapons smuggled across this border, there are
vast tracts of deforested hillside where the Albanians crossed into Kosovo
to cut down trees.

According to the German, this uncontested exploitation of Kosovo's resources
and the open conduit for illegal trade could easily be curtailed.

"We have reconnaissance vehicles with incredible surveillance capability,"
he said. "Our cameras would be able to pick up the colour of the
woodcutter's eyes -- right across the valley. And one platoon of troops
would suffice to close the border."

Asked why, over the past nine years, this has never been done, Norbert
shrugged and said, "because somebody higher than my rank level wants it to
remain open."

While international observers on the ground may be highly critical of the
way events are unfolding in Kosovo and remain hard-pressed to explain the
often contradictory policies and mandates they are asked to enforce, the one
thing that is quite clear is that another confrontation is imminent and
unavoidable.

A second showdown with the Serbs in Mitrovica is likely to erupt when NATO
attempts to make good on their public promise to arrest the Serbian
ringleaders of the March 17 incident.

Such a policy would ignore the recommendations of UN regional representative
Jerry Gallucci. In his report, Gallucci urged his colleagues to offer the
Serbs some "contrition or recognition of the mistake (the international
community) made."

Instead, it seems that NATO wants to force submission on the Mitrovica Serbs
as quickly as possible.

One reason for this is that the Serbian parliament has been suspended and an
election is scheduled for May 11.

The primary battle cry in that campaign for both the Serbian Democratic
Party and the nationalist Radical Party is "Kosovo is Serbia."

A solution imposed on Mitrovica while the Serbian leadership is in limbo
would encounter far less opposition than after the next government is
formed -- especially if they're elected with a pro-Kosovo mandate.

The clock is also ticking towards the next general assembly meeting at the
UN in September.

So far, 34 countries, including Canada, have recognized Kosovo's
independence. However, it is Serbia's intention to gain a consensus at the
UN assembly that will declare Kosovo's unilateral independence illegal.

"We will be seeking a solution which will accommodate everyone and still
uphold the UN Charter," said Serbian ambassador to Canada Dusan Batakovic
from Belgrade.

Following Canada's recognition of Kosovo, Batakovic was recalled to the
Serbian capital.

"While we are firm on Serbian sovereignty over Kosovo, we are willing to
discuss a power-sharing arrangement," he said, "and we want a renewal of
multilateral discussions under UN auspices."

As for Canada's position on Kosovo, Batakovic was disappointed there was no
parliamentary debate before Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the
decision.

"What exactly is independent about Kosovo? The UN resolution covering its
status remains valid, there are thousands of international troops deployed
to provide security, and significant numbers of non-Albanian Kosovo
minorities are defying this decision."

As the international community engages in a war of words and diplomatic
manoeuvring, the bridgewatchers in Mitrovica continue to monitor NATO
activity on the far river bank.

According to a senior NATO intelligence officer, the next confrontation is
expected to occur within a matter of "days or weeks -- not months."