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# White House Spokesman Says Building Multiethnic Society in Kosovo is Work in Progress
# Orthodox Press: Kosovo and Metohija Chronicle, August 06

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KOSOVO - Official U.S. Government Documents
For more information regarding the latest policy statements and other materials related to the Kosovo crisis, visit http://www.usia.gov/regional/eur/balkans/kosovo/
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Building Multiethnic Society in Kosovo Is "Work in Progress," Lockhart Says

Asked if he was alarmed by the fact that many Serbs, the ethnic minority in Kosovo, are leaving the province, White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart said he knows that "indeed, many have left, but there are still many who have stayed behind."  KFOR and the United Nations, he added, are "working hard to make sure that those who remain are able to live safely."

"Anyone who watched and knows the brutal activity that went on in Kosovo over the last year will understand the difficulty and the enormous challenge that face the United Nations and KFOR in keeping the peace and protecting the rights of both the overwhelming Kosovar Albanian majority and the Serb minority," he said.

"There have been many who have left; there are many who have stayed. It is our goal and our objective there to reverse the ethnic cleansing, which we have done; bring peace to the region, to Kosovo, which we have done; and now build the kind of institutions that can continue on and build on what we have already done.  I don't think there was ever any expectation that there wouldn't be some Serbs who would leave, who would make that decision.  I think it's the goal there to build the kind of stable society and government that will protect all people in Kosovo, including the Serb minority who is staying, and down into the future, perhaps entice many of those who have left to return."

Efforts to build a true multiethnic society in Kosovo "is a work in progress," Lockhart said. Kosovo, he noted, "is not like Bosnia, where you have roughly equivalent different ethnic groups as far as population." The Serbs, he pointed out, are a minority in Kosovo.  "But we have committed to protecting their rights and their well-being and creating an environment where they feel that they can live safely and prosper... But this is something where there's a lot of hard work that has yet to be done."

Asked if he feels that the United Nations has been fast enough in putting together a police force to deal with some of the problems in Kosovo, Lockhart said:  "I think KFOR moved quickly, and I think the UN is moving quickly.  These are not simple, easy problems to solve.  I think some of the discussion that's come out of the region has been somewhat oversimplified. But these are difficult issues, and they have moved quickly to address them."

Information Service of the Serbian Orthodox Church
PRAVOSLAVLJE PRESS

Belgrade, August 6, 1999
Kosovo & Metohia Events

After two months of the afflictions of the Serbs in Serbian Metohia, this day is the first one not recording any case of Serbian killing or kidnapping by the Albanians. Moreover, we have found out in the monastery of the Patriarchate of Pec, that one woman, Desanka Lalic - one of the four remaining inhabitants of the Serbian nationality in Pec that we spoke about on August 3 - has come from the very centre of the town, 29. novembar Street, on foot, without KFOR escort, into the monastery of the Patriarchate of Pec, and therefrom she has returned home, again on foot, carrying two bags full of personal things for her co-residents Milica Lalic, Bela Lazic and Milica Karac. All this should be comprehended as an act of personal courage of the old woman Desanka Lalic, and not as some sign showing safety for the Serbs.

The nuns in the monastery of the Patriarchate of Pec every day listen to and endure verbal attacks and provocations coming from the Albanians who pass by the monastery. It is still happening that the Albanians cast stones in the churchyard, and every night the shooting can be heard serving the Albanians as a means of intimidation.

Belgrade Events

Rt. Rev. Artemije, the Bishop of Raska and Prizren has been in Belgrade today, where he has attended the regular session of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The next session of the Holy Synod of Bishops has been planned for August 10.

Bishop Atanasije
Rakita

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