[ALBSA-Info] EU to Kosovo condemn violence or face isolation

[Gazhebo at aol.com]

EU to Kosovo condemn violence or face isolation

SKOPJE, Feb 23 (Reuters) - The European Union issued a blunt warning to 
Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority on Friday to condemn and stop violence 
against Serbs or face international isolation. 

EU External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten told a summit of Balkan leaders 
that leaders and ordinary citizens had to speak out and act against the 
attacks which have plagued Kosovo since it came under international rule in 
June 1999. 

"It is time for every Kosovar leader, every Kosovar to make a stand -- time 
to abandon silent indifference, time to make clear that you will not tolerate 
this violence, time to stand up against it and outlaw its perpetrators," 
Patten said. 

"If it does not happen, it will be a tragedy. Because the rest of this region 
is moving forward now, along the road to a peaceful, prosperous future. Most 
people across the region are sick and tired of conflict and war," he said. 

At least 10 Serbs were killed in a bomb attack on a bus in northern Kosovo a 
week ago. 

On Sunday, three Serbian police were killed by landmines in the Presevo 
Valley area just across the border, where ethnic Albanian guerrillas are 
fighting Serbian security forces. A guerrilla was also killed in fighting on 
Sunday. 

Patten also said the spectre of the recent violence hung over the summit in 
the Macedonian capital Skopje. 

"The recent violence in southern Serbia reminds us that there are still 
individuals determined to pursue their political agenda through ethnic 
cleansing, murder and terror -- in this case against Serbs," Patten said. 

He said borders would not be changed in the region and told Presevo 
Albanians, some of whom want the area to be part of Kosovo, they had to start 
a dialogue with Belgrade. 

"But the people of Kosovo need a wake-up call too, because it is the whole of 
Kosovo that risks paying -- literally and figuratively -- if this barbarism 
carries on," he said. 

Javier Solana, the EU's high representative for foreign policy, said people 
would pay a high financial price if the killings and attacks did not stop. 

"The continuation of violence will affect the fledging stability of the 
region as a powerful deterrent to direct foreign investment," he said at the 
summit.