YUGOSLAVIA: AROUND 200 KOSOVO SERB RAILWAY EMPLOYEES RETURN FROM EXILE TO HELP GET KOSOVO'S TRAINS RUNNING AGAIN

Record ID: 636750

  • Title: YUGOSLAVIA: AROUND 200 KOSOVO SERB RAILWAY EMPLOYEES RETURN FROM EXILE TO HELP GET KOSOVO'S TRAINS RUNNING AGAIN
  • Date: 16th August 1999
  • Summary: KOSOVO POLJA, YUGOSLAVIA (AUGUST 16 1999) (REUTERS) 1. VARIOUS OF TRAIN STATION IN EARLY MORNING (2 SHOTS) 0.11 2. VARIOUS OF SECURITY (4 SHOTS) 0.30 3. VARIOUS OF BUSES CONTAINING SERB WORKERS ARRIVING AT STATION FROM SERBIA (6 SHOTS) 1.33 4. SCU SOUNDBITE (Serbo-Croat) RAILWAY EMPLOYEE "Before the war, Serbs and Albanians used to work together. We would like to again. But there is no guarantee." 1.42 5. VARIOUS OF GOODS BEING UNLOADED FROM BUSES (3 SHOTS) 1.56 6. MV SECURITY 1.59 7. WIDE OF COACHES AT STATION 2.06 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 31st August 1999 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: KOSOVO POLJA, YUGOSLAVIA
  • City:
  • Country: Yugoslavia
  • Reuters ID: LVAADNV76W18OEZZZ3SI0DTTWKPS
  • Story Text: About 200 Kosovo Serbs who used to work at the main
    train station outside Pristina have returned from exile in
    Serbia under armed protection to get Kosovo's trains running again.

    Tired after a five-hour bus trip from Serbia, about
    200 Kosovo Serb employees of the railways pulled into the main
    train station outside Pristina on Monday (August 16, 1999).

    Their return was a minor success for the United Nations,
    which had negotiated for several weeks with the workers,
    Kosovo Albanians and Serb authorities to make their return possible.

    The workers, most of whom fled Kosovo following the withdrawal of
    Serb troops in July, were apprehensive but optimistic.

    "We used to work together before" said one former train
    conductor who turned up for work in a tattered uniform.

    For the Serbs, it was a one-way ticket home.Under close
    NATO protection they will live in the accomodation they
    occupied before the war.

    And their role will be vital.During the long harsh Kosovo
    winter, when temperatures drop way below freezing point, the
    train system will be an essential link for the import of
    supplies and food.


  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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