Partition ‘Would Wipe out Kosovo Serbs’

Pristina _ Kosovo Serbs condemned the Serbian President’s claim that Belgrade does not rule out Kosovo’s partition, arguing the move would wipe out Serb communities living in enclaves.

Senior Kosovo Serb politicians claimed President Boris Tadic’s declaration had sent a negative message to Serbs living in the enclaves that are spread out across Kosovo.

Marko Jaksic, Vice President of the Parliament of Serb Communes in Kosovo, seen as illegal by Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian-dominated government, argued partition does not offer any alternative for local Serbs living in the other regions of Kosovo.

“An opinion has been created that we are backing partition. Nobody wants to leave out Gracanica, and the Pec and Decani Patriarchates,” claimed Jaksic.

Gracanica, Pec and Decani are home to important Serbian Orthodox monasteries but they lie in enclaves outside the overwhelmingly Serb-dominated regions of northern Kosovo.

Jaksic said Serbs cannot give away something they have inherited for generations.

Meanwhile the Vice president of the Serb National Council, moderate politician Rada Trajkovic claimed the partition of Kosovo would complete the ethnic cleansing of Serbs from Kosovo.

“Partition is against modern European values. Albanians may have such an option in exchanging northern Kosovo with the Presevo Valley,” added Trajkovic.

The Presevo Valley is a small region of Serbia proper where ethnic Albanians make up a majority.

According to her, this would lead to the creation of a Greater Albania.

Alexander Ivanko, a spokesman for the United Nations Mission in Kosovo, also condemned Tadic’s remarks.

“Partition has been ruled out as an option not only by the United Nations Mission but also the Contact Group. Therefore there is no need to discuss this issue,” said Ivanko.

The Contact Group, which played a key role in mediating in talks to find a solution to Kosovo’s final status, is composed of the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Russia. Tadic made the remarks on Serbian state television on Monday.
 
He said Kosovo’s partition along ethnic lines will be considered by Belgrade if all other options regarding the former province’s status have been exhausted.

“I’m ready to think about that option (partition) as well if we exhaust all other numerous alternatives. There are a lot of possibilities to find a solution within substantial autonomy,” Tadic said. Read more: http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/13585/

Although Tadic did not specify where the line of partition would run, it is most likely to include the municipalities of Zvecan, Leposavic and Zubin Potok as well as the northern half of the flashpoint town of Mitrovica.

This area in northern Kosovo is overwhelming ethnic Serb and Pristina’s influence holds little weight here.
 
However just half of the 100,000 Serbs living in Kosovo actually live in northern areas while the rest are in isolated enclaves that dot the former province.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on February 17 in a move still disputed by Belgrade.