Kosovo Speaker's remark "announces" repeat of 2004 riots - Serb leader
BBC Monitoring Europe (Political) - September 19, 2006 Tuesday

Text of report by Serbia-Montenegrin radio Kontakt Plus on 19 September

[Announcer] The chairman of the Serb National Council [SNV] for Northern Kosmet [Kosovo-Metohija], Milan Ivanovic, today warned that latest statements by representatives of Kosovo Albanians were announcements that the March 2004 violence [Albanian riots] in Kosmet would be repeated. Ivanovic assessed Kosovo Assembly Speaker Kole Berisha's statement was yet another in a series of threats made by Albanians.

[Ivanovic] So this is a sure announcement of an escalation of the worsening security [changes thought], that is, of an escalation of violence - a repetition of the March 2004 wave of violence.

Nevertheless, this time I expect, perhaps, that there will be some response by the international community, and its representatives - by UNMIK [UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo] chief [Joachim] Ruecker, and those tasked with security situation - and that this call for violence would be condemned and penalized.

[Announcer] In a statement for Kontakt Plus radio, Ivanovic added that our state had a constitutional obligation to preserve Serbia's territorial integrity and take care about national interests, noting that it had to adequately respond to those very clear threats and announcement of an escalation of violence in Kosmet.

Source: Kontakt Plus, Kosovska Mitrovica, in Serbian 1400 gmt 19 Sep 06

Copyright 2006 British Broadcasting Corporation
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