RUSSIA DEMANDS RETURN OF DISPLACED SERBS IN KOSOVO
MOSCOW, March 25 (ONASA - AFP) - Russia Thursday demanded that the UN administration and NATO-led forces in Kosovo
ensure the return of thousands of Serbs forced from their homes during a recent wave of violence in the majority ethnic
Albanian province. "The refugees' return must be ensured, especially those who were forced to leave their
homes during the latest outburst of violence by Albanian extremists, as well as repairing destroyed houses and cultural
monuments," the Russian foreign ministry's spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said. Russia, which Wednesday sent
planes loaded with humanitarian aid to Belgrade, plans to establish two tent camps for approximately 2,000 Serb refugees
in Kosovo. The violence which erupted on March 17 left a trail of destruction through Serb areas of Kosovo. Some 28
people died, 30 Serb churches and monasteries were torched, seven villages were razed and 3,600 people were made
homeless. NATO and UN officials have called it an orchestrated campaign of ethnic cleansing, while the chief UN
administrator in Kosovo Harri Holkeri said it constituted "crimes against humanity". The Russian foreign
ministry official also insisted that the NATO-led forces arrest the instigators of the riots and crack down on illegal
ethnic Albanian armed groups. "We need to launch a strong crackdown on extremists, eliminate their organized units,
complete our efforts to disarm them and detain and punish the instigators and participants in the anti-Serb
pogroms," Yakovenko was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency. Any moves to change the status of Kosovo,
whose ethnic Albanian majority wants independence, would be premature until the security situation in the southern
Serbian province was under control, he said. "We cannot discuss the political status of Kosovo or set any timeframe
for this until we succeed in reining in extremism," the Russian diplomat said. Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav
Kostunica, in talks with top EU officials in Brussels this week, presented his vision for "decentralization"
and "territorial autonomy" for Serb areas. The Serbian province of Kosovo has been a United Nations
protectorate since 1999, when NATO jets bombed Serbian forces to end a crackdown on the province's separatist
ethnic Albanian majority. Russia, which shares cultural and historical ties with fellow Slav Serbs, bitterly opposed the
NATO campaign. UN Resolution 1244 guaranteed the continued status of the majority ethnic Albanian province as part of
Serbia, but Moscow has accused NATO of encouraging independence for Kosovo and failing to protect the Serb minority.
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RUSSIA IN FACTS
