SERBIA: Serbs in Kosovo look to the future with uncertainty as the United Nations nears decision on breakway Balkan province

The bells ring out at the newly-built Sveti Dimitrije church on Miners Hill above the divided town of Mitrovica in Kosovo. The city is divided between Serbs and ethnic Albanians, the line patrolled by NATO soldiers and United Nations police. Decision time is approaching for Serbia's southern province, run by the United Nations since 1999. Kosovo's Albanians, 90 percent of the population, are pushing for independence. The 100,000 remaining Serbs look to the future with uncertainty. On the banks of the river that divides Mitrovica sits a secondary school that since 1999 has been home to almost 200 Serbs - refugees in their own country, driven from their homes by fear and revenge. Ilinka Petkovic lives in a single room with her two children. They fled to Germany but were sent back by the immigration police. Petkovic is sceptical that many people will remain because of the lack of security and lack of freedom of movement that existed previously. "Those who have somewhere to go will go. Even the people who do not have (anyone) will leave, they are hoping for collective (refugee) centres in Serbia. Perhaps if there existed some security, freedom of movement like there once was, then perhaps some would stay. But as it is now, I don't believe anyone will stay, perhaps a very small number," Petkovic said. Legally part of Serbia, Kosovo has been run by the United Nations since 1999, when a NATO bombing campaign drove out Serb forces accused of ethnic cleansing in a two-year war with separatist guerrillas. Some 10,000 Albanians died and 800,000 were expelled. A wave of revenge attacks after the war saw at least half the Serb population flee. The 100,000 who stayed feel marginalised and under threat, targeted by sporadic violence. Direct talks to decide Kosovo's fate began in February in Vienna, mediated by former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari. He leaves for New York this week for a series of meeting that UN officials say will pave the way for a proposal on Kosovo's final status, possibly by November. Western diplomats say independence is likely. The Albanians are under pressure to prove their willingness to provide a better life for the remaining Serbs. The Serb village of Svinjare, nestled at the foot of rolling hills south of Mitrovica, was razed to the ground in March 2004 by a mob of Albanians, one of many in two days of riots that killed 19 people. More than 100 homes in Svinjare were destroyed. They have been rebuilt, with government money and Western pressure. But their occupants have yet to return. Radosav Mihajlovic, a 70-year-old former Mitrovica miner, comes each and every day to wait for a buyer. He is not alone in wanting to sell. He figures it will never be safe to live here again. In a bizarre twist of fate, the Kosovo Protection Corps, packed with former rebels who fought the Serb forces in 1998 and 1999, has been helping with the house reconstruction. Lieutenant Emin Musa said the force, which Albanians see as their future army, would work for all Kosovo's citizens. The UN mission running Kosovo says the rate of attacks on Serbs is falling. But the mistrust runs deep, even deeper since a bomb attack in late August on a Serb cafe in Mitrovica in which nine people were wounded. UN police spokesman Larry Miller says the police are ready to react. UNMIK police is certainly prepared to do what needs to be done should any situation arise. I cant even begin to think what situations might arise but we have taken precautions to ensure again security of all persons, he said. The UN mediators aim to find a solution by the end of the year. But Serb resistance is growing. Some have threatened to split Kosovo at the river that runs through Mitrovica. Without giving Serbs sufficient guarantees of a better life, UN officials fear an exodus in the event of independence.

ITN Source | September 13, 2006

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