Kosovo Albanians armed to the teeth

Kosovo Albanians armed to the teeth
Blic - September 12, 2005

By: Z. V. Vlaskalic

PRISTINA - The most recent murder of two Serbian young men and the killing of two others on the road from Urosevac to Strpce in the south of Kosovo and Metohija only confirms the UNDP and Light Weapons Agency in Pristina that the south Serbian province is "the area with the most illegal weapons in Europe".

The report by UNDP and the Light Weapons Agency in the capital of Kosovo states that there are currently "between 380,000 and 460,000 pieces of illegal weapons - mostly rifles and guns" here.

The report, entitled "Kosovo and Weapons", says that illegal arms merchants have brought large quantities of weapons to Kosovo. What is certain is that there were fewer weapons in June 1999 and that they subsequently entered Kosovo and Metohija, states the report, mostly from Albania.

One month-long "weapons amnesty" campaigns have failed to yield results so far, even when the EU offered 20 million euros of aid to the municipality that gathered the most illegal weapons, back in September 2003. The aid was never delivered for the simple reason that the "amnesty" failed because during the entire month, only 127 rifles were turned in throughout the whole territory of Kosovo and Metohija.

And when we add 25,000 registered weapons, mostly hunting rifles, to the number of almost one half million pieces of illegal arms, it is not difficult to assess how many residents in the province have arms. Most of the weapons are in the hands of the Albanians.

There are 20 times more illegal weapons in Kosovo than the total weapons possessed by 18,000 KFOR troops and 10,000 members of the UN police and the Kosovo Police Service.

On the other hand, UN police information suggests that this is where the greatest number of criminal acts - threats, attacks, robberies and murders - are occurring with the use of illegal weapons. The report "Kosovo and Weapons" states "the number of incidents, attacks and murders committed with illegal arms is the highest in the world". Although somewhat reduced, it is still "highly outstanding", the report concludes.