Serbian president Boris Tadic visited Kosovo this week, touring besieged Serbian enclaves and opposing the occupied province’s independence. The visit was met with mixed sentiments by the Imperial press, largely depending on the degree of their Albanian favoritism. Unsurprisingly, Albanians themselves met it with open hostility. From Viceroy Jessen-Petersen’s statements, the impression is that UNMIK hoped Tadic would continue to pressure local Serbs to collaborate – which did not turn out to be the case.
The visit merits a more detailed analysis, but for the time being, here is an excerpt from a special communique of the Serbian Orthodox Church regarding Tadic’s visit, dispelling the myth of Albanian “frustration” with “Serb provocations” (such as, oh, existing):
“Kosovo still remains very explosive with high potential for ethnic violence. This violence emanates not so much from social problems of Kosovo Albanians (which exist elsewhere in the Balkans) but rather from the surprising lack of basic tolerance for others who live beside them, share different culture and religion.”