Arno Guyon, a French citizen who founded the NGO Solidarity of Kosovo and contributed to the training of hundreds of children from Kosovo, was notified of the ban on staying in republic.
His name is Arnaud Guyon. He is 33 years old. He lived in Serbia for a long time, but is a citizen of France. In 2004, he founded an NGO called Solidarity of Kosovo to help thousands of Serbs who live in the enclaves of Bantustan south of the Ibar River: after the war in Kosovo and unilateral proclamation of its independence in February 2008 (recognized by many states, such as France , but not recognized by Serbia, Russia, Spain, China, for example), 120,000 Serbs (Orthodox Christians) remained in this region, which is in the center of the memory, history and identity of the Serbs.
With an annual budget of one million euros and a card index of 12,000 patrons (most of whom are 90% French), Solidarity of Kosovo, renovated or built 31 schools, built dozens of farms, dairies and canneries, developed a network of agricultural greenhouses, helped rebuild churches and monasteries damaged by weather, wars or Albanians. Thanks to this association, more than 400 tons of food, clothing and necessary goods were delivered to the village, which were guarded by 4,000 KFOR soldiers, and whose residents do not have access to work or services, to health or local transport because of the hostility of their neighbors. Some monasteries are even surrounded by barbed wire
All this is so. But here, in Kosovo, Arno is also a felon. At least in the eyes of the state of Kosovo, which he arrested and briefly imprisoned last week at the border crossing of Merdar, while he was expected across the border to open a poultry farm in the presence of the Bishop of Kosovo-Metohija, Theodosia. His interrogation was conducted without physical violence, but lasted three hours. In particular, he was asked what his relations with Russia are. The authorities claimed that he “blackened” the people of Kosovo in an interview with the newspaper “Figaro” a few years ago. He was threatened with “blackening” himself (his family, reputation, honor). Then he was deported from the convention that he was permanently prohibited from staying in Kosovo. The official motive was not given.
Arnaud Guyon, as already mentioned, is a citizen of France. Thus, he always avoided talking about regional politics. His only concern is to help and reassure civilians who simply want to live, to survive on the land of their ancestors. Deliver the lonely old woman on the farm the medicines that she needs; allow a little girl to wear glasses that she can not afford; provide hundreds of peasants with enough food to feed their families; soothe them when their tractors or cows were stolen by Albanian extremists dreaming of ethnically pure Kosovo.
A resident of Grenoble, married to a Serbian, Arno came every month for seven years to this region, and never was he blocked or arrested at the border. More than once, he was asked to open the trunk of his car! What happened now? Why is this an arbitrary decision against a non-citizen of Serbia, whose organization has never been accused from an ethical, financial or political point of view? No doubt, he is paying for the internal politics of Kosovo. The Republic of Kosovo, devoured by corruption, scandals and the ubiquitous mafia, is a constant battleground between clans, factions and parties that almost all practice nationalist bidding with public opinion, not inclined to reconciliation even to pacify its relations with the hated Serb neighbor. Giving promises to anti-Semitism is a guarantee of the popularity of local politicians from the UAC (Kosovo Liberation Army: Albania’s paramilitary organization at the forefront of the struggle against Serbia,
suspected of war crimes and yet supported by the West after he was originally considered a terrorist group). Does President Hashim Thaci want to tell Prime Minister Ramush Haradina about this? The resurgence of discontent, caused by the possibility of exchanging territories with Serbia to pacify the region, finally pushed him to this punitive act against a person and association in the service of the Serbs from Kosovo?
In Serbia, the case caused excitement. Prime Minister Ana Bnabić and Minister for Kosovo Affairs Marco Djuric (he was arrested and expelled a few months ago during his visit to Kosovo!) Expressed their support to Guyion.
Meanwhile, at least 500 Serbian schoolchildren and 5,000 families, who thanks to Arnaud Guyon and his organization have been able to learn, eat, dress and work for many years. And, finally, imagine a surgeon, who is denied access to the operating room?