“No one cares for our future!”

Parliamentary elections have been scheduled to take place in Kosovo on October 23, 2004.

Obviously, such occasion cannot go unnoticed. Judging by foreign media's minimal interest in the upcoming elections in Kosovo, the elections aren't going to be the subject of vigorous discussions for another couple of days at least. After all, Kosovo is no Belarus with its dictator Lukashenko… There is nothing quite as exciting going on there!

In the meantime, it seems like Kosovo Serbs have already have lost their faith and no longer expect any positive changes to take place in the nearest future. They are doing their best to make the world aware of their problems. The result however seems to be minimal. To boycott the elections appears to be the only chance to get them noticed. This is pretty much all that the Kosovo Serbs can hope for. They cannot even count on Serbia’s help. Belgrade authorities could offer their help; however, nothing seems to improve the existing situation. The moment the subject of Kosovo comes up, Serbia finds itself isolated from the end of the world. At the same time, all of this takes place regardless of the solution offered by Belgrade. Back in the days, Serbia had been talking about establishing Serbian autonomy, UN, NATO and OSCE in order to solve the existing national conflict in Kosovo, nobody paid any attention. Albanians, of course, did not approve of the idea. So in the end it seems like the only help Kosovo Serbs can count on in Belgrade is mere advisory.

Serbian authorities along with the Serbian Christian Church have addressed Kosovo residents with a plea to boycott the upcoming elections. The number of Serbs in the region is so low that it can hardly influence the outcome. So, what’s the point of voting then?

Yesterday, Kosovo hosted a meeting of the Serbian minority aimed at boycotting the elections. One of the participants has stated the following: “Foreigners need us only to host the elections. No one cares for our future!” In fact, every Serbian will agree with this notion.

OSCE in turn has a much brighter vision of the events in Kosovo. During his speech in Pristina, acting chairman of the OSCE, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Pasi has stated that preparation for the elections is going just fine. “OSCE is pleased with the fact that the campaign is taking place in peaceful atmosphere and that the central elections committee is fulfilling its duty effectively.

“Politicians that are somehow connected with the Kosovo situation ought to listen to the concerns of the electorate in order to attract as many voters as possible,” states Pas with a real fatherly feeling. Well, too bad the head of the OSCE didn’t wish to address his speech to the protestors in Kosovo. The phrase about “calm and peaceful atmosphere” would have definitely surprised them.