For everyone’s rights

December 10 marked the expiry of the last deadline of the Kosovans – Serbs negotiations on the future asset of Kosovo, while the unilateral proclamation of independence of the region of Pristina from Serbia is drawing near. Today, December 14, the issue will be addressed during the summit under way in Brussels, and next week it will be the object of examination by the UN Security Council. The U.S.A. and most EU Countries – except for Spain, Slovakia, Greece and Cyprus – are in favor of independence. While Serbia, supported by Russia, its historical ally, is strongly against. We asked Msgr. DODË GJERGJI, apostolic administrator of Kosovo (Pristina) and Father MARJAN MARCU Albanian Catholic Missionary in Switzerland, their views on the future of the region and the population’s expectations. Father Marjan, what are the expectations of the Kosovo population?“In Kosovo there are approximately 2 million inhabitants, 90% of whom are represented by Albanians. Kosovo Albanians want an independent State and want to decide their future for themselves. During the period of the war in Kosovo (1999), almost all Albanians present in this nation were expelled by the Serbs. My question is: will it be possible to live together with those who had expelled us in the past? Since the end of the war in June 1999, Kosovo has been administered by Unmik (United Nations interim administration mission in Kosovo) International forces and the Unmik and Kfor (Kosovo force) are engaged to preserve public order and security . What is the role of religious communities in Kosovo and what is their situation?“Religious community may play a major role in determining the establishment of peace in Kosovo. In the region there are three major religious communities: the Muslim community, accounting for 90%; the Roman Catholic Community with about 6 thousand faithful and the Serbian Orthodox Community, with 100 thousand believers. The Serbian Orthodox church is autocephalous, which means that it’s also a national Church which is closely tied to the State. The Catholic Church is organized in a diocese with 24 parishes. During the conflict, the Catholic Church always tried to act as a bridge, to play a binding role between the two parties.”.Europe doesn’t have a unanimous stand on this issue. What contribution could it give to peace in this region?“The U.S. and a large number of European States are in favor of Kosovo’s independence. Only a few countries, two or three, are against this process. However, I wish to point out that the Kosovans, and them only, should decide about their future. Nobody can force them to live with others against their will”. “The Catholic Church followed the social and political events in the Balkans step by step, especially in the past two decades, when the peoples, united in the Communist Federation against their will, wanted to free themselves of this imposed unity and unite themselves with the free populations of European Union. These aspirations of the different peoples in former Yugoslavia, were sadly considered negatively, both by Serbia and by the International institutions. They weren’t viewed as a new possibility of creating good relations with each other. Because of this behavior, once again in ex-Yugoslavia peoples were ready to invest their own lives for freedom, which led to countless victims, crimes of all kinds and destruction of Countries. Of this tragedy we must all feel a little bit guilty, especially those who could have stopped the war and hatred death-monger machine on time. We are now living the final phase of the Balkan tragedy, waiting for the definition of the Charter for Kosovo. This means that the Kosovo people are exerting their right to feel free to take their future into their own hands and we believe that most free peoples are free to grant this right to Kosovo citizens. The Catholic Church in Kosovo is constantly praying that this situation may be solved peacefully and with mutual respect. We believe that independence, under the control of a civil mission of the EU is the best compromised solution the Albanians could accept. The Church, as it defended the Albania’s right in the past, will continue defending the rights of the Serbs and of other minorities present in the new State of Kosovo also in the future”. Dode Gjergjiaspostolic administrator of Kosovo-Pristina