Voices from Russia

Cardinal Lyubomir Husar, the head of the Galician Uniate church, a false claimant to being archpastor of the Ukraine

Moscow, 27 February 2008 (Interfax):

Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko signed a decree to decorate Cardinal Lyubomyr Husar, the head of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church (better known as Uniates) with the order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (the 3rd class). He was honoured with the highest state award “for his outstanding personal contribution in spiritual revival of the Ukrainian nation, longstanding church work, and to mark his 75th birthday”, the official website of the Ukrainian president reported. Yushchenko also prohibited the establishment of places of entertainment and gambling sites near religious buildings, especially near the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Cathedral, and issued instructions to allot a plot of land for building an Armenian Apostolic cathedral.

Husar was born in 1933 in Lvov. His family fled to Austria in 1944, and five years later immigrated to the USA. He studied theology at Catholic University in Washington and Fordham University in New York. He was ordained a priest in 1948 in Stamford. He was consecrated a bishop in April 1977. He established a Studite monastery in Ternopol in 1994, and the same year was elected an exarch of the newly found Exarchate of Kiev and Vyshhorod. He became head of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church in December 2000. His residence was moved from Lvov to Kiev on 21 August 2005 over the strong objections of the Orthodox Church. Husar is considered a successor of the Uniate “patriarch” Josyf Slipyj, who was a spiritual leader of the Galizien Waffen-SS division and the Nachtigal battalion in the Wehrmacht.

Metroplitan Vladimir Sabodan, confessor-metropolitan of Kiev and all the Ukraine, the true archpastor of all Ukrainians (in Orthodox usage, a confessor is one who stands for the truth in times of great trial)

Editor’s note: This is an insult to all Orthodox Christians and spits in the face of the many brave people in the Ukraine who opposed the Jesuit Unia. This tells us that that the “Orange” fanatics are cooking up a new Unia embracing all the Ukraine, and they must be stopped by whatever means necessary. The Uniates must be kicked back to their Galician backwater, and the sooner, the better. Note from the picture how Husar apes the Romans in all things. If there is a choice between this traitor and Metropolitan Vladimir Sabodan (the true spiritual leader of the Ukraine), there is no contest… this Western lickspittle should be sent back to the US (he still holds an American passport, and pushes an anti-Orthodox US policy).

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=4334 (English version)

Russia emphasised its right to a “preventive” nuclear strike this week in what military analysts interpreted as a move to introduce more clarity into the national defence doctrine. These statements made on Saturday by General Yuri Baluyevsky, Chief of the General Staff, were followed by naval exercises in the North Atlantic that involved over 40 aircraft of the Air Force. Although unrelated, the developments point to a Russia that is not so much on the offensive as some think, rather, it is eager to bring its defence doctrine in line with that of the Western world and make it more up to date so that it can deal with contemporary military demands.

“We are not planning to attack anyone. But, our partners should clearly understand… that the armed forces will be used, if necessary, to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Russian Federation and its allies, if need be on a preventative basis, with the use of nuclear weapons, if required”, RIA-Novosti quoted General Baluyevsky as saying Saturday at a scientific conference in Moscow. He did point up, however, that “military force can and must be used to demonstrate the decisiveness of the top leadership of the country” only as “a last resort”, when all other methods have failed.

“This is a clarification of our nuclear doctrine”, Sergei Karaganov, a defence expert and the dean of the International Politics Department at the Higher School of Economics, told The Moscow News. “What [General Baluyev­sky] means is [that we shall use] the doctrine of enhanced deterrence, which originated in the United States” and was used by NATO for decades. While Mr Karaganov believes the statements might be interpreted more aggressively in the West, they are mostly meant to have a psychological impact. “We have adopted a concept of pre-emption”, he said, noting that it was not previously part of Russian [post-Soviet] nuclear doctrine.

General Gennady Yevstafyev, a former military intelligence officer, believes that though General Ba­luyevsky made some very important and necessary clarifications, there is nothing “extraordinary” about the statements. They are in line with the doctrine President Vladimir Putin began spelling out in 2000, which announced Russian readiness to use nuclear weapons for its own defence and [the defence of] its allies.

Yevstafyev pointed out, however, that Baluyevsky’s comments should be understood in a context that includes some of the other statements made at the conference. “Soon, we may not be able to maintain missile defence”, General Yevstafyev told The Moscow News, echoing Colonel General Aleksandr Zelin, who told a conference at the Academy of Military Sciences in Moscow that over the next 12 years foreign powers will “obtain fundamentally new means and systems” and integrate intelligence, communications, and navigation, leaving almost all Russian territory vulnerable. “Under these conditions, a potential enemy will gain the ability to carry out high-precision strikes, coordinated in terms of time and space, on practically any target on Russian territory”, RIA-Novosti quoted him as saying.

As for General Baluyevsky’s statements themselves, experts doubt they will have any serious impact on relations between Russia and NATO. “This is not news for NATO”, Mr Karaganov said. “As for our allies, we will see who’s ready to join our nuclear umbrella”. Asked what potential allies might benefit from this kind of protection, Mr Karaganov pointed to countries in Asia.

The statements came against a backdrop of the biggest military exercises staged in the Atlantic since the end of the Cold War as warships and nuclear bombers successfully test-fired supersonic cruise missiles close to the Iberian Peninsula. The missile cruiser Moskva of the Russian Black Sea Fleet staged a successful live fire exercise, while 40 aircraft, including Tu-160 Blackjacks, are set to take part. Colonel General Yuri Soloviev, meanwhile, announced this week that the Moscow Region would have a second unit operating the S-400 Triumph zenith anti-missile system by the end of the year.

24 January 2008

Anna Arutunyan

Moscow Times

http://mnweekly.rian.ru/news/20080124/55305669.html (in English)

The distinguished Kuban Cossack Choir shall perform at NATO headquarters in Belgium for the first time. The concert is scheduled for the end of March, and it is part of a jubilee tour to mark the 70th birthday of its artistic director, the composer and folklorist Viktor Zakharchenko. The tour shall begin on 18 March in the capital of the Kuban region, Krasnodar. Later, the choir will give concerts in cities in the Ukraine and Byelorussia, and, finally, they shall perform in Brussels.

The history of the Kuban Cossack Choir can be traced back to 1811, making this one of the oldest folklore groups in Russia. Collector and researcher Viktor Zakharchenko has headed it for almost 35 years. The choir has a large and varied repertoire: church music, works by classical and contemporary composers, and, certainly, folk songs, not only Cossack songs, but, also songs of other Russian and Ukrainian regions. Maestro Zakharchenko said that they try to ensure that every programme they perform is unlike the previous one. The singers of the choir have such clear and beautiful voices that any composition they perform is raised to a higher plane.

The Kuban Cossack Choir is the second Russian choir to give a concert at NATO headquarters in Brussels. Last May, a performance of the renowned Alexandrov Russian Army Ensemble (the former Red Army Chorus) was a great success there.

22 February 2008

T. Zavyalova

T. Kaperkina

Voice of Russia World Service

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=23233&cid=62&p=22.02.2008 (in Russian and English)

URL of the Kuban Cossack Choir website: http://www.kkx.ru

The world-famous Mariinsky Theatre is celebrating its 225th anniversary. Yesterday, it began the celebrations with an impressive gala-concert. It featured the cream of its opera and ballet troupes.

The event brought together practically all members of the country’s political and cultural elite. President Vladimir Putin attended the concert and congratulated the company on the event, saying, “Let me congratulate you on the 225th anniversary of the renowned Mariinsky Theatre. This theatre has long been a cradle of Russian musical culture in St Petersburg. There are many theatres in the world, but, the Mariinsky is really a unique company. Over the past two centuries it has demonstrated the highest levels of musical art”.

The oldest Russian theatre of opera and ballet, the Mariisnky was established in 1783 at the behest of Tsaritsa Yekaterina Fyodorovna Veliki. Then, the troupe performed 4 productions a year, while the current playbill offers 150 opera and ballet productions and a varied concert repertoire from its two symphony orchestras. There is also the Academy of Young Singers, where young prodigies from all over Russia and abroad have a unique opportunity to combine an intensive education in the Mariinsky Theatre with performances on its famous stage. Today, the Mariinsky Theatre can boast a unique troupe, featuring such world-famous opera and ballet artists as Anna Netrebko, Ulyana Lopatkina, Olga Borodina, Diana Vishnyova, Vladimir Galuzin, and Andrian Fadeyev.

The Artistic Director of the Mariinsky, the outstanding Russian conductor Valeri Gergiev, has contributed much over the past 10 years to make the troupe one of the most popular worldwide. Thanks to his amazing energy, the theatre has presented up to 10 to 12 premières each year. Maestro Gergiev regularly invites foreign musicians and stage designers to work at the Mariisnky and organises large and impressive festivals. However, one of his major achievements is a high artistic level for all stage production under his direction.

“While staging an opera or a ballet, one has to think of the, so to speak, ‘life expectancy’ of his brainchild. Some productions are popular for 10 years, some for 30 and more. Sometimes, it happens that a concept of the production remains unchanged for a century! I plan the repertoire taking into account the theatre’s history”, Maestro Gergiev remarked.

The anniversary celebrations of the Mariinsky Theatre will continue during all of 2008. The climax of the celebrations will be in June, when St Petersburg traditionally hosts the “White Nights” festival.

28 February 2008

Voice of Russia World Service

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=23544&cid=62&p=28.02.2008 (in Russian and English)

One of the latest reports published by the human rights watchdog group Amnesty International attempts to “blow the whistle” concerning the human rights situation in Russia, in particular, it claims there are infringements of freedom of opinion and a crackdown on independent mass media and nongovernmental organizations.

Looking through Amnesty International’s report, one would think it is addressed to the Communist leadership of the former Soviet Union and it does not pertain to 21st-century Russia. One must be either completely blind or deeply biased not to see the enormous changes that have occurred in democratic post-Soviet Russia. Incidentally, just yesterday, the newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta published a very long article by one of the Kremlin’s opponents. It contained a tough assessment of the 8 years of Vladimir Putin’s presidency. No such article would ever appear in a country where dissent is not tolerated.

If you think that this is a singular event, you are wrong. During the current election campaign, which is coming to a close, one could hear the presidential candidates express their views live on state and private broadcasting channels, pouring tons of criticism on the government and accusing it of every possible thing.

True, not all is ideal in Russia. It is hard to expect regional authorities to flirt with journalists who criticise them. But, is there anywhere on Earth an oasis of democracy where things are different? Thousands of nongovernmental non-commercial organizations currently operate in Russia. No one infringes upon their rights if they are not financed from abroad and if they do not defend the national interests of other countries. This is absolutely normal practise for any sovereign state. President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly voiced readiness to heed constructive, honest, and objective human rights criticism from abroad. But, none is to be found in Amnesty International’s report. Its authors did not bother to think that if things were as bad as they allege, President Putin’s course would not have won support from the overwhelming majority of Russian voters.

27 February 2008

Viktor Yenikeyev

Voice of Russia World Service

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=23469&cid=56&p=27.02.2008 (in Russian and English)

Editor’s note: Amnesty International is up to its old tricks of being a shill for American interests. Contemporary Russia is not the USSR, the GULag no longer exists, and the KGB no longer spies on anyone (for it is as dead as the dodo, despite what you hear from ignorant American sources). Vladimir Putin is genuinely popular, he has great respect abroad as a leader, and he has improved the objective condition and standing of his country by his administration. All of which, by the way, George W. Bush lacks, and lacks copiously and conspicuously, especially in comparison with Mr Putin. When is Amnesty International going to write a report on the USA under neocon misrule? Now, THAT would be a good read!

First Vice Premier Dmitri Medvedev

The unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo puts Europe at risk, according to First Vice Premier Dmitri Medvedev during a campaign speech in the city of Nizhniy Novgorod in the Volga region.

The security and stability of a huge region is at risk. All you have to do is put a match to it and the whole thing will catch fire. These decisions which, if we are frank about it, are being incited from across the ocean, put Europe in a very difficult position. America is risking nothing, it is far away.

Despite a unilateral declaration of independence, Kosovo has not yet become a sovereign state, but, the situation has lead to a kind of a “parade of sovereignties”. This is not only true in the Balkans, but, also far beyond it. Parliamentarians of the Republika Srpska, which is one of the two governing entities of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, called for a referendum. Hungarians from Transylvania (a historical region in central Romania) and the Rusyns from the western Ukraine have already announced their plans to follow the example of the Kosovars. The leaders of the de facto independent republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia have long been talking about sovereignty. The nationalists in Scotland and the Basque separatists in Spain are also inspired by the current situation in Kosovo.

Serbia announced it would fight until the end. Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said Serbia would oppose the UDI of Kosovo until Washington understands that a pseudo-independent state should not exist in the Balkans. Russia condemned the UDI of Kosovo from Serbia and its recognition by the US and major EU powers, and it promised political support to Belgrade. Mr Medvedev believes that the participation of Serbia in the South Stream gas pipe project would provide “significant” economic assistance to Belgrade.

28 February 2008

Voice of Russia World Service

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=23508&cid=58&p=28.02.2008 (in Russian and English)

Sermon of Metropolitan Amfilohije after the molieben in front of St Sava Cathedral

Kosovo and Metohija must not be a word forgotten for us nor for anyone else in the world. Today we have been told by those who want to cross us out from history and erase us by taking Kosovo and Metohija from us that it is a unique case. That is true, Kosovo and Metohija is a unique case, in its fate and in what the powerful leaders of this world seek to make of it at the beginning of the 21st century.

Belgrade, 21 February

We stand before the face of the living God and His justice, and before the face of our holy ancestors, before the face of the Great-martyr Lazarus of Kosovo and the Great-martyr Stefan of Dečani. We stand here at this decisive moment in history, called upon to witness before God and humanity, before all the peoples of the world, to repeat and confirm once again who we are and what we are.

We know once again now that we are all Kosovans, that our cradle and the cradle of our people, the place of our birth is Kosovo and Metohija. We attest that it is in Kosovo and Metohija that we joined the ranks of mature, historical peoples, and that it is through Kosovo and by Kosovo that we have built ourselves into the foundations of a respectable Europe and the entire respectable world of God and all its peoples.

When we say this here, before the face of the living God and before the face of St. Sava, our spiritual father, in whom our soul encountered and committed itself to the Lord God and God’s eternal justice, then that means that for us Kosovo and Metohija is not the geography of a territory but the topography of our life purpose and commitment. Be our witnesses once again, O Christ God, Great-martyr Lazarus of Kosovo, and St Sava, that we must not under any circumstances renounce the Peć Patriarchate nor the relics of the holy Archbishops of Serbia who are the holiest, most powerful deeds of title of our people and continuity. That we cannot renounce, as a people with its own place under the sun given us by God, the holy reliquary of the Holy King and Great-martyr Stefan of Dečani. May the head of Lazarus attest for us now and for always that our faith is strong before God and before humanity.

Now the mother of the Jugović brothers* (*heroes from Kosovo Battle) is mother to all of us: “Do not, my son, speak falsely, no matter what say your father and your uncles”. Do not, O powerful leader of the modern world, repeat what say your father and your uncles but speak in accordance with the justice of the true God.

Metropolitan Amfilohije with the clergy at the Molieben (prayer service)

And sister to all of us is the maiden of Kosovo. And still our hero Obilić asks us who is loyal and who is disloyal. Here before us we also have the Great Leader Karadjordje and his descendant, (king) Alexander Karadjordjević, to confirm that a person, that a people, is nothing without freedom and without dignity.

We also hear the Kosovo covenant of Kosovo oath-taker Njegoš* from Lovćen (*famous Serbian poet from Montenegro): “O Kosovo, site of Judgment Day”. And today still we are being judged in Kosovo as are the Albanians, the Americans, the English and the French, who today renounced their Victor Hugo, Franchet d’Espérey, and de Gaulle.

Before witnesses such as these we must unite our hearts and the will of the people so that we can speak with one voice and with one heart, not just now but tomorrow and the day after tomorrow and for as long as we exist and for as long a single descendant of our people exists in this world, so we can tell them that Kosovo and Metohija is the apple of our eye, the heart of our hearts, our holy city of Jerusalem and that we can renounce it neither in this worldly life nor in God’s eternal one any more than we can renounce our soul and our destiny.

The only thing that is lost is what we ourselves renounce. That is why we are a historical people. Merely because we are few in number and because we cannot control the general circumstances of historical events in the modern world should we give up on the fact that we are great by our nature and historical calling and summons.

The service was attended by the highest state and Church dignitaries, members of the Royal family, and thousands of ordinary people (at least (estimated) 300,000)

Kosovo and Metohija must not be a word forgotten for us nor for anyone else in the world. Today we have been told by those who want to cross us out from history and erase us by taking Kosovo and Metohija from us that it is a unique case. That is true, Kosovo and Metohija is a unique case, in its fate and in what the powerful leaders of this world seek to make of it at the beginning of the 21st century. What is being attempted in Kosovo and Metohija today can occur only during times of occupation, tyranny, and aggression.

How to explain that in a period of mature humanity which has its United Nations, Security Council, international law and conventions, swears by human rights, how to explain that these rights and this justice is valid for every corner of the earth, every people, and every country, but, it is not valid for Kosovo and Metohija.

A massive and peaceful rally at the National Assembly Square preceded the Molieben in front of St Sava Cathedral

Yes, Kosovo and Metohija is unique and every country of our modern age is being judged there. Simple and coerced solutions are a sign of moral debility and weakness, not of strength, a sign of trust in the use of force as the ultimate method for resolving human disagreements and conflicts, not in God, God’s justice and the human justice upon which the world rests.

Both America and Europe know this, but, their rulers do not.

(photo: peaceful protest-walk between the National Assembly and St Sava Cathedral)

We have belonged to this Europe from the very start of our self-knowledge, historical maturity, and we desire community with its people in dignity and equality.

If the price that the EU, as a community of interests, asks is that we renounce ourselves, our historical memory, the Kosovo covenant that is by its nature a New Testament sealed not with ink but with the blood of our people – this, we cannot accept. As a people we have never accepted, neither before Prince Lazarus nor after him until 1941 nor today, such blackmail and such calls to trample on our dignity, but, on the justice that upholds states and cities. To trample on the dignity of all the countries and peoples of this world is something we cannot allow ourselves.

Today, we are here for the same holy purpose: to defend not only our own honour and reputation, our freedom and dignity, but, also the dignity of a humiliated Europe. For Europe has never been more humiliated than it is today. The USA has never been more humiliated that it has humiliated itself today with such injustice against an honourable people and its dignity.

As we stand before God, before this holy shrine, let us stand upright and as it was resolved in 1941 and as it is written in our Kosovo choice: if we are to live, let us live in freedom and if we are to die, let us die for freedom, not just our own freedom and the freedom of our Kosovo and Metohija, but, for the freedom of every honourable person and people on the face of this earth.

May God return reason to the powerful leaders who today by their decisions are casting shame on their peoples, trampling justice and honesty. And may God grant us loyalty to our Kosovo covenant, our human and national dignity, loyalty to the holy reliquaries of the Archbishops of Peć, the Holy King Stefan of Dečani and the holy Great-martyr Lazarus of Kosovo.

Through their prayers, O Lord, strengthen this people in its sense of justice and everything that is good and enlighten all persons and people that they may live in justice, peace, and God’s compassion.

The entire plateau before St Sava Cathedral and the National Library was filled with many faithful who participated in the Molieben

I would just like to conclude by asking you to depart in the same peace of God in which we gathered around this holy shrine. Let us part in peace and let me ask all those who gathered today in this capital to demonstrate that we are a dignified people, that we are not a people that destroys and devastates, but, a people that for centuries has built and to this day continues to build its soul with dignity and its future. Therefore, in God’s peace with a prayer to God that He intercede with us and among us and with the people of this world and accomplish what we mere mortals cannot that we may show that we are truly the descendants of the Great-martyr Lazarus of Kosovo and all those who gave their lives for their dear ones and their fatherland.

May God bless you and bestow upon you every form of divine and worldly advancement. Amen, God grant that it be so!

Translation: Snezana de Berthet

Mp3 recording of the Sermon in Serbian is available at Svetigora web-site:

http://www.svetigora.com/node/3241

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Communiqué of the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church on the riots after the protest against the UDI of Kosovo

Informativna service SOC

Belgrade, 22 February 2008

The Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church after yesterday’s public protest and the Molieben for the salvation of Kosovo and Metohija appeals on Serbian Orthodox people to intensify their prayers for protection of our people in Kosovo and Metohija and for peace amongst us and the entire world.

SOC as well as numerous representatives of the political and public life in Serbia strongly condemned yesterday’s riots of hooligans in front of foreign Embassies and the streets of Belgrade, particularly the setting of a fire in the US Embassy (photo)

Let us not allow ourselves to be driven by any worldly interests and do anything which is unworthy of the People of God, anything inhuman. Let us beware in these difficult times of all irrational and insane acts of violence, such as those that could be seen yesterday in Belgrade to our great regret and shame.

One can say that most probably these acts were provoked by a great injustice inflicted on Serbia and the Serbian people by proclaiming of an illegal state on the Serbian territory or find other excuses. However, such typically orchestrated acts of thieves and mafia-oriented individuals and groups which use the national catastrophe as an alibi for their unlawful and indecent acts deserves our regret and every condemnation.

A magnificent and prayerful assembly of people was tainted by acts of these irresponsible individuals and criminal groups. They showed by this that they do not really care about Kosovo and Metohija, but, only about chaos, looting, and disorder. This is not the way to defend the right and justice neither of the Serbian people nor of Kosovo and Metohija, but, essentially, such acts undermine such efforts. In fact, these acts inflict undeserved shame upon the Serbian people, its justified struggle for preservation of its holy sites, its identity, dignity, and national and state integrity.

The Serbian Orthodox Church hereby expresses its regret and sorrow for such shameful and irresponsible acts of individuals and groups towards the public order, the property of our Capital, and the Embassies of some countries.

We appeal to our people to preserve national honour, justice, and dignity as our national values and eternal values of humanity.

Holy Synod of Bishops

Serbian Orthodox Church

Attempting to restore peace and order after riots of isolated groups of hooligans, the police intervened in several locations in Belgrade. Dozens sustained light injuries, among them several policemen. Besides sporadic incidents and the attack on the Embassy which deserves utter condemnation, the vast majority of people expressed their protest in a dignified way, concluding the rally with a molieben at St Sava Cathedral.

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Massive rally against the UDI of Kosovo held in Belgrade

21 February 2008 | 10:30 -> 18:43 | Source: B92, Beta

BELGRADE:

Hundreds of thousands of Serbians gathered today in Belgrade for a protest against the UDI of Kosovo.

The rally, called by the country’s top officials in protest of the Kosovo Albanians’ unilateral declaration of secession, started at 17:15 CET, with a choir singing the national anthem, Bože Pravde (God of Justice).

The stage background was a huge Serbian national flag and a banner reading, “Kosovo Is Serbia”.

The plateau and surrounding streets in front of the Parliament Hall were filled with protesters, who were first addressed by Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica, followed by the deputy leader of Serbia’s largest opposition party, the Radicals (SRS), Tomislav Nikolić. President Boris Tadić was on a one-day visit to Romania today and did not attend. MPs from G17 Plus and the Liberal-Democrats (LDP) were also absent.

Mr Koštunica told the crowd that Serbia will never recognise the unilateral declaration “for as long as it exists as a state”.

“For as long as we live – Kosovo is Serbia and our brothers in Kosovo are not alone and forgotten! While we reject ultimatums and accept friendship – Serbia is free! The pledge has been made, and the whole world has heard it. And everyone knows the value of a Serbian pledge”, the prime minister said.

He continued by saying that Serbia is not alone, and that it will not forget the friendship and principled policy of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The mention of Putin’s name drew loud cheers from the crowd.

“Kosovo – this is Serbia’s first name. Kosovo belongs to Serbia. Kosovo belongs to the Serb nation. This is how it has been since the dawn of time. This is how it will be forever. There is no force, no threat, no punishment severe and horrible enough to make any Serb, anywhere, ever say otherwise but – Kosovo is Serbia!”, the prime minister said.

Mr Koštunica also said that Serbia must not resist under pressure to recognise Kosovo’s independence since that would mean it gave up on its very identity.

“They are asking us to forsake our brothers in Kosovo. They are telling our brothers in Kosovo that they have, without leaving their homes, their fields, gone to another state. They have not and they never will! They tell them we are separated. We are not and never will be”, Mr Koštunica said.

He added that Serbia did not break any human, divine, or European law, but, that it instead reached out to everyone, “and yet, this was not enough”.

“It will suffice, they say, that you Serbs accept to be humiliated. To sign your own humiliation. No one will ever win a mandate from the Serbian people to accept such an ignoble trade-off. Never, and no one!” Mr Koštunica told the rally.

He also said Serbia will seek its place in the family of nations under the same conditions guaranteed to other countries.

“You can deal with us, Serbs, in a friendly manner, but you can never deal with us by force. This is what we inherited from our ancestors. If we agree to [succumb to] force and fear, every sacrifice of everyone who created Serbia will have been in vain. If we accept this violence, each battle won by our ancestors, will be lost by us today”, Mr Koštunica said.

He repeated that Serbia has annulled and will continue to annul each act of the illegal and false state on its territory.

Koštunica ended his speech with an exclamation, “Kosovo is Serbia!” to cheers from the huge crowd.

His speech was several times interrupted by chanting of, “Kosovo in the heart of Serbia”, and, “Russia”.

“I will not rest until Kosovo and Metohija is under Serbia’s control”, Tomislav Nikolić said as he started his speech.

“On behalf of all the citizens of Serbia, I promise I will not rest until Kosovo and Metohija is under Serbia’s control. Hitler couldn’t take it away; these nowadays won’t be able either. We owe it to ourselves and our children”, he said.

“We grieved for two days only, and on the third, Serbs set outposts on fire, on the fourth, they organised a rally such as that Serbia has never seen before”, he continued.

Mr Nikolić added that Serbia will remember who recognised Kosovo’s independence, but, also those who did not, and urged Europe to reconsider and return to the path of friendly relations with the Serbian nation.

“Serbs know how to forgive, but, they better not prompt us to show how we fight for Kosovo, they don’t want that. They better not force us to go to Kosovo to hold a rally like this”, he concluded.

Students and deans from the universities in Belgrade and Priština also addressed the mass rally, as well as RS Prime Minister Milorad Dodik.

The famous Serbian tennis player Novak Đoković spoke in a previously recorded message, to say that he and his family are with Serbia in this difficult time, and that Kosovo belongs to Serbia.

The Serb people are ready only defending what’s theirs, Đoković said.

He regretted not being able to be with the protesters and added he thanked everyone who came to show the world that “Serbia is not small, that it is united and that we are ready to defend that which belongs to us”.

“Kosovo is Serbia and it must remain this way forever,” Đoković ended his address.

A number of other well-known athletes and actors also addressed the crowd.

After a speech given by film director Emir Kusturica, the choir sang Vostani Serbie, (Rise Up Serbia), a song from the country’s 19th century revival, after centuries of Ottoman occupation.

The mass of people, which according to estimates numbered 250,000, then proceeded toward St Sava Cathedral, where a molieben interceding for the safety of Kosovo Serbs was held.

26 February 2008

www.kosovo.net

Editor’s Note: To think that American news outlets covered only the action of less than 500 drunken football yobs, whilst ignoring the massive and peaceful protest against American high-handedness and arrogance. Americans are not bad people, all too often they are misinformed by their president, his officials, and news agencies such as CNN. Is this July 1914?

19 Albanian Policemen were injured as a result of disorders in Kosovo, according to information revealed to the Tanjug news agency by Veton Elshani, press secretary of the Kosovo Police. According to his version of events, Serbian reservists left the Kosovo border only after the appearance of KFOR troops. The Serbian side reported that Kosovo police units used force to resist the attempts of Serbian reservists to enter Kosovo. This has been the first direct confrontation of Serbians from the central provinces and Kosovo Albanians in the last several years.

According to the Beta and B92 news agencies, Serbian border police did not stop the passage of the reservists into the neutral zone between the border posts because, as they put it, “they didn’t see anything and they weren’t looking at the other side (of the border)”.

At the same time, protests are continuing in the northern city of Mitrovica against Albanian rule. The demonstrators are demanding that all former Serbian officials in place in 1999 be restored to their positions. In addition, a rally by Serbian youth was held in Mitrovica in honour of the memory of Zoran Vujovic, a young Kosovo Serb refugee killed in the disorders in Belgrade last Thursday.

26 February 2008  

IA Regnum

http://www.regnum.ru/news/fd-abroad/serbia/962223.html (in Russian)

The Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) failed to halt the publication of a book about the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), which during World War II helped the Nazis against the Soviet army. When the OUN campaign surfaced in Simferopol, thousands of people organised a rally to protest against the OUN. The Nürnberg International Tribunal proclaimed the UPA a criminal organisation that collaborated with the Fascist occupiers of the Ukraine. Under the Ukrainian Constitution, any kind of Nazi propaganda is banned, but, recently, some have made attempts to revive the memory of the UPA.

25 February 2008

Editor’s note: The UPA was one of the premier Nazi collaborationist groups in World War II, being exceeded in cruelty only by the Croatian Ustashi. Members of the UPA aided the Einsatzkommandos in the killing of Jews, they helped to deport helpless civilians to slave labour in Germany, and German records indicate that they killed between 100,000 to 500,000 Romanians, Magyars, Rusyns, Russians, and Roma (Gypsys) in areas under their control. To be fair, most Ukrainians are decent people who did not, and do not, support such terrorism and enormities. Be wary of anyone who praises this group, for it the same as glorifying the SS. Indeed, many UPA members served in the SS, such as Sturmbannführer (Major) Roman Shuskevych, who was recently awarded a posthumous medal by Yushchenko. Let God see and judge!

Voice of Russia World Service

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=23365&cid=48&p=25.02.2008 (in Russian and English)

The precedent of Kosovo is set to produce a negative impact on the situation around the globe. Speaking in Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that calls to emulate Kosovo have come from Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and across Europe.

Three unrecognised republics on the post-Soviet space – Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Transdnestria – are devising plans of action to obtain independence. Across the Balkan region there has been talk of setting up a Greater Albania, which would comprise Albania, Kosovo, and the Muslim population of Serbia, Montenegro, and Macedonia. In addition, Basques in Spain and Corsicans in France have voiced their intention to seek independence.

The list of territories which nurture similar claims following the US- and EU-backed unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo is far from complete. The initiators of the outrageously lawless move say everything is proceeding according to plan. But, the signs indicate the opposite, and there is enough proof to believe that the recent calls for independence are all but a prelude. There are about 200 Kosovo-style conflicts simmering around the globe, so a flare-up of separatism may occur anywhere with far-reaching consequences, be it Iraqi Kurdistan, the unrecognised Turkish republic of Northern Cyprus, Canadian Québec, Indian Jammu and Kashmir or Chinese Hong Kong and Taiwan. Granting independence to Kosovo bypassing the United Nations and international law is bound to send a powerful wave across the world. This sort of warning came from Thomas de Vaal, an expert with the Institute for War and Peace in the United States, who writes of this in The Wall Street Journal.

But, anyone can figure out that Washington and its allies have created a dangerous precedent in world politics. A time bomb is ticking under the foundation of the whole system of world order humanity has built since the Second World War, and UN prestige has suffered a serious blow. It’s for this very reason that Russia, China, India, Indonesia, Spain, Rumania, Cyprus, Vietnam, South Africa, Brazil, Portugal, Venezuela, Belorussia, Tajikistan, Georgia, Kirghizia, and a large number of other nations have said no to the unilateral and illegitimate declaration of independence by Kosovo.

22 February 2008

Viktor Yenikeyev

Voice of Russia World Service

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=23287&cid=67&p=22.02.2008 (in Russian and English)