Father Sava (Janjic), a monk at the monastery of High Decani and secretary and advisor to the bishop of Raska-Prizren, Artemije (Radosavljevic), spent the last ten days in Great Britain, at the invitation of the University of Bedford and took part in the conference on the Yugoslav crisis at the Center for Peace and Reconciliation in Coventry.
"The reason for the visit was to present to the British public through various forums the positions of our Church and the Serb National Council of Kosovo and Metohija regarding the current situation in the province as well as ways to further resolve the Kosovo-Metohija problem," says Father Sava in an interview with Danas and the Frankfurt Vesti [News]. He indicates that his visit to Great Britain, which included a meeting in the Foreign Office with Robin Cook, also included conversations with the heir apparent Aleksandar Karadjordjevic and his spouse, Princess Katarina, the Serb emigrant community, representatives of Serb and other Orthodox Christian communities in this country, as well as participation in a panel discussion which, according to Father Sava, was also attended by several Albanians.
Father Sava assesses his meeting with Robin Cook as having been constructive.
"We received support for the realization of the project of the return of expelled Serbs to Kosovo and Metohija. I gained the assurance that the British government is seriously considering undertaking measures for the improvement of security and living conditions for those who are endangered in the province, that is, according to Cook's admission, the Serbs and other non-Albanians. He said that Britain would send detectives whose only task will be to fight against organized crime, that special security measures would be implemented by British KFOR troops and that British judges would come to Kosovo as well, as the solution to the justice system, which is not working for well-known reasons, is now believed to be in the bringing of international judges," explains Father Sava.
On the domestic scene, On April 2, the Serb National Council of Kosovo and Metohija is expecting a new assessment of the decision to enter the Temporary Administrative Council of Kosovo (the meeting is scheduled to be held at Gracanica Monastery). Father Sava believes that the Serbs should accept the status of observers for a fixed period and under certain conditions which would "make it impossible for the Albanians to monopolize the political scene in Kosovo and make decisions which are in direct conflict with the interests of the Serb people, while at the same time making sure that the responsibility for poor security and the almost complete lack of success of the peacekeeping mission not be blamed on the 'boycott' by the Serb community, which is what its lack of participation in the political life of the province is being called in the West with increasing frequency".
"Although our brothers in Mitrovica disagree with our idea, we believe that it is important that both us and them understand the specific nature of our respective situations. It would be best if we had a united stand but we believe that everything can be done without fight and conflict, with parallel actions, in accordance with the circumstances which suit best each of our two groups. We would be pleased if they supported our idea about the entry of an observer to the Interim Kosovo Administrative Council, since that will definitely not affect the final solution of the status of Kosovo, since IAKC is an interim political institution which is supposed to provide conditions for the functioning of a wide autonomy, as envisaged by the Resolution 1244.
"In case there is an attempt to give the Interim Council and Interim Advisory Boards the role of institutions which will work on the establishment of independent Kosovo, our community will refuse to participate in that, since that would be a direct violation of the Resolution 1244," emphatically states Fr. Sava.
He also mentions that "it would suit the best the Albanians if Serbs did not participate in the political life, since with the current regime in Belgrade, with which they refuse to have any dialog, and the West tolerates that, the road to independence of Kosovo would be wide open".
"If we want to prevent the process of independence for Kosovo and demand the implementation of the Resolution 1244, the participation of Serb representatives in IAKC is necessary. Of course, the degree of their engagement, participation and status will depend on forthcoming improvements in the field. We could form a commission for the implementation of our agreement which would after three months conduct an assessment of everything that will have transpired and based on that we would make a decision whether to become permanent members of the Interim Council or not. If the International Community demonstrates by its deeds that it does intend to establish better security, a functioning judicial system, and finally takes care of all those who make problems, and especially organized crime, mafia and extremists, who are still armed although they are under called the Kosovo Protection Corps, in that case we would accept the status of permanent members of the Interim Council.
"If our conditions are not fulfilled, we shall have full moral freedom and right to tell the West that we cannot participate in the process which leads to the extinction of our people in Kosovo and Metohija," explains Fr. Sava.
According to him, April 2 is not the final deadline for a reply to Bernard Kouchner, although "the realization of the project of the return of Serbs and many others who are supposed to improve the situation of the Serb community to the large extent depends on the participation and engagement of its representatives in the political process". Unofficial predictions that Dr. Rada Trajkovic could be one of the candidates for the position of a Serb observer in the IAKC agree with the view of many members of the Serb National Council of Kosovo and Metohija that she could be the best candidate.
"I support that choice because I believe that the role of women in the political life is very important. Rada Trajkovic is well known for her national and patriotic orientation, and in her work so far with the SNC and bishop Artemije she has confirmed her readiness to participate in the development of a democratic society which would not be based on the domination of one nation over others," says Fr. Sava.
Bishop Artemije's secretary also welcomes the involvement of the Serbian opposition in the consideration of the decision to send an observer to the IAKC. "Our attitude is to make decisions about such problems together with the representatives of the democratic opposition. Since we do not have any contacts with the ruling regime, nor do we think that it can provide any constructive contribution to the situation in Kosovo, it is very important to talk to people who have behind them a strong electoral support. Elected representatives of the Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija have left the province, and we cannot take upon ourselves a right to make decisions about the behavior of the Serb national community in this region. If we receive support of the Serbian opposition, I believe that our every decision will receive a wider mandate and credibility, not only in Kosovo but also in the whole Serbia of which Kosovo is a part," believes Fr. Sava.
"With respect to entry into the Temporary Administrative Council of Kosovo, the position of our Church is that we should enter it in the capacity of observers for a fixed period in order to see whether certain positive signals coming from Washington and the European capitals will show themselves in practice as the serious intention of those governments to help with the resolution of the Kosovo issue and especially of the difficult situation for the Serbs and other non-Albanians," emphasizes Father Sava.
He believes that "the complete administration of the Socialist Party of Serbia with all the mayors of Kosovo cities who are members of this ruling party and who have left the people to perish while themselves fleeing to their houses and expensive apartments in Serbia and Montenegro, and who are now debating and deciding about Kosovo in their villas in Kopaonik" does not have the moral right to criticize and accuse the Church, which remained with its people.
"As we have condemned violence against Albanians, we are hoping that Rugova will explicitly condemn the violence which is being conducted on behalf of the Albanian people against Serbs and other non-Albanians, as has already been done by Veton Surroi in an article published in Koha Ditore," says Fr. Sava about Serb-Albanian contacts in Kosovo and Metohija.
"This is yet another criminal act of the terrorist KLA now disguised as the 'Kosovo Protection Corps', whose goal is to intimidate and expel Goranci from Gora and another proof that the so-called KLA has not been disarmed. We do not want to believe that the International Community supports such actions of Albanian terrorists, but the events which have taken place in Gora since the arrival of KFOR have unfortunately convinced us that the opposite is true," stated Orhan Dragas, the president of the Goran National Community yesterday at the KFOR headquarters in Pristina.
Father Sava stated for the yesterday's issue of the Pristina magazine in Albanian Zeri that the SNV of Kosovo and Metohija, with the seat in Gracanica, is prepared to cooperate with Albanians if they show to be prepared to "respect the rights of Serbs and condemn crimes against them". According to Fr. Sava, the SNV of the Kosovska Mitrovica district has been manipulated. He accused the president of the executive council of the SNV of working for the interest of the authorities in Blegrade.
"Ivanovic and people around him are protecting Milosevic's interests. His goal is the division of Kosovo, while we are against an erection of a new Berlin wall," said Fr. Sava, who is the spokesperson of the president of the SNV of Kosovo and Metohija, Raska-Prizren bishop Artemije.
The same sources claim that Xhavid Hasani was released from captivity after paying bail of DM 200,000. Allegedly Macedonian soldiers were kidnapped to secure Hasani's release. Beta unofficially learned that the soldiers were kidnapped by members of the Kosovo Protection Corps, actually former members of the disbanded KLA, and that the Macedonian authorities on Sunday and Monday, with American assistance, negotiated with the kidnappers. Beta's source claimed that the kidnappers stated that their condition for the release of captured Macedonian soldiers was the release of Hasani and his return from Macedonia to Kosovo. Hasani was extradited a week ago by KFOR to Macedonian authorities.
Macedonia had been seeking the extradition of Hasani for a year and a half, because of an attempted murder of policemen and building inspectors who came to demolish his house in Skoplje, which had been build without a building permit. After that Hasani escaped to Kosovo and during the Kosovo crisis became one of the main leaders of KLA.
The arrest and extradition of Hasani, ten days ago, provoked protests and demonstration of Kosovo Albanians in front of the military base Bondsteel, near urosevac.