Embassy of Norway Tika Jankovic
The Honorable Ambassador 6083 Loma Prieta Drive 2720 34th Street, NW San Jose, CA 95123 Washington, DC 20008-2714 T:( 408 ) 435-3450 T: (202 ) 333-6000 F: (408 ) 224-0420 F: (202 ) 337-0870 Copies: Permanent Mission of Norway to the UN Missions to the UN International News Outlets US Congress and Senate The White House May 17, 2005 Your Excellency, I would like to bring to your attention and care an ugly and reprehensible incident that occurred in Kosovo the other day, involving a unit of the Norwegian contingent of KFOR. As you may have already heard a group of exhilarated, looking and sounding like being drugged, Norwegian soldiers, were depicted in a TV spot dancing on a huge military transporter with glee while singing anti-Serb ethnic and racial slurs. The lyric like : " We will toss bombs at the bad Serb boys wherever they happen to hide.." and "You, Milos Obilc, son of a bitch.." (Milos Obilic is a Serbian hero, slain in the historic Battle of Kosovo against the invading Ottoman Turks on June 28, 1389) has been fashioned into a music spot by the KFOR "musical artists" to an American ensemble "Beach Boys" theme and distributed on Internet. I am urging you to immediately notify your government of this unforgivable act of such a crass and to the Serbs humiliating and painful racial attack by the Norwegian soldiers, unbecoming to any civilized person anywhere in the world, including Kosovo and the international military and civilian forces charged with the responsibility for peace and protection o human rights in this Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohija ( It is incorrectly referred to as "Kosovo" only!). If you, and your government, ignore this horrific incident, and do not take a serious investigation into it and bring the perpetrators to justice, the world will rightfully deem this act as being tacitly approved of by the Norwegian authorities. Your respectful and freedom loving people do not deserve a besmirched image of the nation of savages because of the condemning behavior of a bunch of unruly Norwegian soldiers in a foreign country and under the UN banner. In the anticipation of your favorable reply, I remain faithfully yours, ………………………………………. Tika Jankovic http://news.serbianunity.net/bydate/2005/May_17/25.html?w=p Serbian Unity Congress Scandalous move by Norwegian KFOR Blic May 17, 2005 Norwegian KFOR soldiers are dancing in untidy uniforms. They are in Kosovo, on a personnel carrier. Everything would be o.k., but let us hear what they are singing: 'We shall drop bombs wherever bad Serb guys are hiding' and 'Obilic Milos, you son of a bitch'. This song has a musical spot directed by KFOR members and is on Internet. It is in the rhythm of a famous hit of the 'Beach Boys'. 'KFOR is not leading anti-Serb policy. That is by no means the policy of NATO mission in Kosovo. We are working on the case of Norwegian soldiers and the matter will be investigated', on of KFOR spokesman said for 'Blic'. In a way the spot can be understood as ironical stance that young soldiers have regarding not only Kosovo, but the whole NATO mission throughout the world. Although the message can be 'why on earth are we going there' and the soldiers do not mention Kosovo only but other area of crisis in the world, this is not the first case that KFOR soldiers in Kosovo and Metohija have gone beyond their competencies. After March violence in Kosovo in 2004, KFOR soldiers opened a café in the churchyard of burnt St. Sava Church in southern Mitrovica. A French priest, without asking anybody took with him the holy bones from the destroyed Devic Monastery. 'The song by Norwegian soldiers is unacceptable behavior that hurts the historic feelings of our people. Such relation towards the history of a nation is to say the least absence of culture', Oliver Ivanovic, one of Kosovo Serbs leaders says for 'Blic'. Norwegian soldiers were stationed in Kosovo Polje and then were transferred. Today they are almost not present in Kosovo and Metohija. Serbian News Network - SNN news@antic.org http://www.antic.org/