22 May 2008 | 14:05 | Source: Beta
PRAGUE -- A bus from the Czech Republic carrying humanitarian aid to the Kosovo Serbs has been stoned near Dečani, Czech radio reports.
An informal Czech group called the Petition Board Against Recognizing Kosovo’s Independence organized a visit by a group of 20 students to visit Kosovo and bring aid to the Serbs living in Kosovo.
Czech radio confirmed that on their way to High Dečani monastery, Albanian youths threw stones at the bus bearing Czech license plates. It was also confirmed that no-one was injured during the incident.
“The fact that the Czech government recognized Kosovo’s independence, of which I am deeply ashamed, has meant nothing to those ‘peace loving’ and ‘democratic’ Albanians”, said Jaroslav Foldina, regional leader of the Czech Social Democrats, in a statement given to the online edition of daily Pravo. Foldina was one of the passengers on the bus.
"We’re talking a lot with people in Kosovo, and everyone kept asking about it (yesterday’s recognition of Kosovo by the Czech government). I kept repeating the same answer: Serbia was not betrayed by the Czech people, but by the Czech government. The people have always been the same”, he insisted.
Following distribution of the humanitarian aid, the students and the Petition Board intend to organize demonstrations in Kosovska Mitrovica in protest at the Czech government’s decision to recognize Kosovo’s independence.
The Kosovo Police Service (KPS) has not received any information about any attack on the the bus.
KPS spokesman Veton Elshani told the Beta News agency that they had received no reports or information about a bus with Czech license plates, nor any other bus for that matter, being attacked yesterday.
“No one reported any attack on a bus to the police", said Elshani.
He added that since the beginning of this year, four Serb families had been living in Dečani, and that, so far, they had reported no problems.