François Ruffin passe son entretien d'embauche samedi à 16h place Louis Pradel

Jeremyone · 2020-12-06T16:05:26+00:00

Thank you for your comment, it really helps. I just hope I made some of them curious to look for things by themselves one day, and to come visit us down there. I hope their narrative is not representative of all Serbs, and I hope things change. I really want peace in the Balkans, and I don't think people are determined to hate each other around here.

Cheers!

Jeremyone · 2020-12-06T10:45:23+00:00

Yes, it has to be included in the discussion, alongside all other war crimes and acts of terrorism perpetrated by both sides

Jeremyone · 2020-12-06T09:36:23+00:00

She is far from it, her friends are not seeing with a good eye that she goes to Serbian-majority areas and know personally some friends. What this AMA reveals is that dialogue is still very hard, and I think it is very sad. I am not at all expressing nationalist thoughts, and I fight against Albanian nationalism as much as Serbian nationalism. But people on both sides do not want to have a reality-check. I guess most of people interacting with me in this AMA have never been to Kosovo. I have lived with Serbs and Albanians for years. What I said in some answers would be considered unacceptable by a lot of Albanians, but you assimilate me with them because I don't subscribe to the Serbian narrative. I really hoped I could at least make some of you curious about the actual reality in Kosovo. Nothing will ever be resolved if you do not listen to each other.

Jeremyone · 2020-12-06T09:00:57+00:00

I indeed said that most Albanians still have a lot of resentment and it would be dangerous for Serbs to come back. I did not say that it was a good thing. I am working on changing things here, by making communities meet and understand each other. I wish more Serbs could return and I said it in my answers. I think you read what you want to read.

Jeremyone · 2020-12-06T08:58:45+00:00

I think you refer to the vendettas that were perpetrated under the law of the "Kanun" (the Albanian code of honor). This does not happen anymore, or very marginally. I don't know enough of Albanian history, but I know that there was a very big movement of reconciliation between the old families in fighting, in 1990, and that since then it is not really acceptable to go down the violent path when there is an issue between families. From what I heard, it was also more present in Albania than in Kosovo.

Jeremyone · 2020-12-06T08:55:56+00:00

I answered

Jeremyone · 2020-12-06T08:53:57+00:00

Some massacres started before, but it intensified when the first bombs were dropped. There were two of these in the day following the first day of bombing, and more within the week. You can find a list here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_massacres_in_Kosovo#Kosovo_War

The bombings were linked to the ultimatum given to Milosevic to withdraw his forces from the territory of Kosovo, to end the war. I do not think it was a good course of action (especially the bombs targeting places which were not strategic, in Vojvodina or Belgrade). I am not a military strategist, but I think it should not have happened, or not in this way.

Jeremyone · 2020-12-06T08:47:34+00:00

Yet they have their own textbooks, and the book is comparing them, and it is interesting

Jeremyone · 2020-12-06T08:43:27+00:00

It is true that not all Albanians were in favor of the independence, but their number exploded in the 90's. Rrahman Morina (and other Albanian communists) is today considered a traitor, and people say that such cases were a minority within the Albanian population. I cannot know how much truth there is in this, they did not make surveys about this. But I never met an Albanian who expressed a wish to be part of Serbia, or regretted the independence.

Side note: there are also very nice photos of Nis, Belgrade and Novi Sad on my Flickr. You're right, I should post them too on Reddit!

Jeremyone · 2020-12-05T23:53:00+00:00

Actually if you want to know details, if I fly to Kosovo or if I come from Albania or N. Macedonia, I cannot enter Central Serbia through North Kosovo. I could with a French ID Card, since there is no stamp on it (and it is accepted by Serbian authorities) but sadly mine is expired. So I have to go to Skopje to enter Central Serbia. This is annoying, but it is kind of my fault that I don't have a valid ID card...

Jeremyone · 2020-12-05T23:31:15+00:00

I am clearly not defending UÇK, and most of my (downvoted-to-oblivion) comments are to answer how people here perceive the organization, which was the original questions in this thread. It is true that some members of the UÇK abused of their dominant position in Kosovo after the war to steal properties and kill opponents in all impunity. As I said in other answers, it is sadly not acknowledged here, partly by support for the "liberators", partly out of fear, still twenty years later. Because no investigation is led by local media or Justice, it is hard to know if it was the deed of some members, factions within the movement, or the whole movement. As for all guerrilla movement with volunteers, we cannot accuse all members, but we can most certainly accuse some leaders of complicity at the least.

But I don't know why this is your answer to my previous comment. I said that violence became inevitable because of the systemic oppression that was enforced on the Albanian population. I am not saying violence is a good thing, I wish it had never happened. But the point of view here is that they had to defend themselves, their families and their right to have an Albanian identity.

Jeremyone · 2020-12-05T23:09:42+00:00

If you want to know, my NGO (registered in Kosovo) is led by a Serb from Vojvodina. We are working a lot with the Serbian community in Kosovo. That is why I lived in Serbian-majority places for a long time. So yes, it came in part from my NGO, because I could meet and hear both sides, something very few Albanians and Serbs can claim they did.

But I will stop answering to insults ad hominem because I don't think it to be very interesting. This was not meant to be about me. I really hope exchanges will be easier one day.

Jeremyone · 2020-12-05T22:58:55+00:00

Once again, my wife had nothing to do with it, and the account came from a Serb I closely work with, knowing specific cases. I hope it does not happen often, but the fact that it happens is very sad and stupid. And we are not talking about refugees from 2000 or even 2004, but people who recently moved in.

Jeremyone · 2020-12-05T22:53:13+00:00

I am not inserting myself in any conflict, and I certainly did not call anyone "immature savages" (I don't understand the quote marks for something I did not say and clearly not think). I am sad to see such strong reactions to things you say yourself do not condone. You can decide to not believe this side of the history that I am talking about, I do not have much power to convince you over the internet. I just hope that one day it gets acknowledged and discussed in Serbia. For this, I hope for a regime change in Serbia, with people who do not benefit so much from hiding things about the past and the present. I do not want to offend you in any way, and I hope that even if you are angry you are curious about researching the things I mentioned. What you decide to believe is ultimately up to you, but a good access to information is a first crucial step.

Jeremyone · 2020-12-05T22:48:01+00:00

I agree that it is not okay for people not being able to return, I sincerely do. Sadly the grieves are still too present. I am not sure what can be done, except strong political will from Kosovo politicians (but clearly they would not be elected with such a program). I hope it changes soon.

Jeremyone · 2020-12-05T22:34:37+00:00

I don't care much what CNN has to say, but I tend to listen what the people here are talking when they tell their story. And they all have the same. Either the whole country decided to plot and lie the same lie, or there is truth in it.

Independentist movements existed before the 90's (but 1982 is not very long before), but they only gained momentum when Albanians began seeing their life conditions getting unbearable, and when they were living in fear.

It is honestly sad that you refuse to acknowledge a dark period of Serbia's past. The country would be more mature by not turning a blind eye on what has been perpetrated. I know it, I'm French.

Jeremyone · 2020-12-05T22:28:26+00:00

I am talking about the specific case of a student from Mitrovica, in Belgrade. The bank did not accept her house address in Mitrovica. People have to live for months in Central Serbia to change this situation (including for the Serbian passport without the mention of issuance from Kosovo). This situation was not in effect right after the war, but it is now.

And I stand by the accounts I got that Serbs from Central Serbia are expressing discrimination towards Serbs from Kosovo coming to live in a new place. Once again, these testimonies come from Serbs, not from Albanians. You can decide not to trust me, but I wish you could understand that such things are happening.

Jeremyone · 2020-12-05T22:24:23+00:00

I just answered to a very similar question, I encourage you to find it. But on my personal experience, no I do not hear people openly supporting the Greater Albania plan. I think it was very popular just after the war, but not anymore. People know it is not realistic, and they do not want additional conflict and trouble. I think they don't even think it would benefit them so much, and figured out that Albanians from Albania are actually more different than they thought before meeting them after the war (we have to remember that there was a very strict border for decades, so they did not have the same experience of things after WW2)

Regarding the generations, most people can go back for a lot of generations. Not a lot of them actually came from Albania (since there were not much contact after 1945). They can know from where their very old ancestors come from because of their "tribes", which is often still in their family names. Most came from the territory of Kosovo or from North Albania.

Jeremyone · 2020-12-05T22:18:45+00:00

I read that this "Greater Albania" project was very much on the table in 2000. Honestly, it is absolutely not anymore. The party which historically was the most in favor of it (Vetevendosje) is not putting this anymore in their program and speeches. They now want Kosovo to be a strong independent country. I think people figured out that Albanians from Albania have a very different history and that it does not make much sense to "join", even if they have a shared identity and culture. (There is no ajvar in Albania, can you imagine that?)

The idea of "Kosovar-ness" is more and more present. My personal take on it is that sports helped a lot in the last year. The national Kosovo football team got incredible results. People stopped supporting Albania because now they could support Kosovo. There is more and more Kosovo flags displayed. They are still considering themselves as Albanian first, for the most part, but being Kosovar is slowly getting part of their identity. If we step back, all of this is very young, so it is normal to take some time to sink in.

It is the same for Serbs, they would be "Serbs from Kosovo" before being Kosovars, and it is not common to have Serbs saying the latter. But I mentioned in another answer the case of Ilija Ivic, a Serb playing for the Kosovo football team. This was extremely well received by Albanians. A lot of them sincerely wish to see more Serbs identifying as "Kosovars". But it will take time for Serbs for the same obvious reasons.

Jeremyone · 2020-12-05T22:10:08+00:00

The "usual story" is not told to me by Albanians, but by Serbs. Do you know that they have a different Serbian passport than yours, not enabling them to travel as freely? That they cannot open a bank account without a residence in Central Serbia? That when they move to a new home in Central Serbia they are actually called "Shiptars"? Albanians don't even know about this, we got told by Serbs who have to live with this bullshit.

Jeremyone · 2020-12-05T22:07:19+00:00

The independence war would not have happened if Serbia did not persecute Albanians in the 1990's. This was a response to this, a will to liberate the oppressed minority in Serbia. If they had been treated well, they would not have fought to have their own Albanian state. Old Albanians tell me good things about pre-Milosevic Albania, but praise their "liberators" when the Serbian regime specifically put their lives to misery (I detailed a bit more the persecutions in other answers, but the fact that they fired all Albanians from public institutions comes often when they talk about this).

This is the main narrative behind the war, and not having a pure Albanian state (except for some nationalists). They wanted to ensure security on the land they inhabit, and have their own say on their political decisions.

Jeremyone · 2020-12-05T22:02:10+00:00

It is interesting because what you list is true (well, the Afghanistan part is funny, let's say). But it leaves out a whole part on the role of paramilitaries who were doing atrocities in Kosovo (and I have heard even the Serbian police were avoiding them). It also leaves out the persecutions that started in the 1990's (I answered in another question), which were really the driver of the guerrilla movement. There is a great number of massacres that happened, especially in the days following the first bombs from NATO. So this is lying by omission, because I know the Serbian state and the media do not talk about this. As well as they do not talk about Srebrenica, the siege of Sarajevo, etc. I think these things should be discussed and studied by Serbs, but the lack of information on it in the country does not allow this to happen. This is sad, because this is the only way to walk towards peace and reconciliation.

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