November 30, 2006
Ltr in Response to Maj. Gen. Lewis MacKenzie
November 25, 2006
Bitterness, Irony, and Hope
| Bitterness, Irony, and Hope |
| by Nebojsa Malic |
| Bosnia, Year 11 Eleven years since the Dayton Six weeks after general A Functioning Government By Nov. 10, the Bosnian Serb Republic (RS) had On the other hand, in the Muslim-Croat Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, there On Nov. 15, a report in Oslobodjenje about the innumerable difficulties The outgoing PM of the joint government, Adnan Terzic, did just that at the Conspiracy Theories On Nov. 20, members of the new national parliament One of the MPs is Sefer As part of a series of interviews conducted with high-ranking ARBH officers, Halilovic's tale, pitting him and a faction of the Bosnian Muslim "patriots" As a result, in today's Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Muslims overwhelmingly believe Consider just this quote: "There is no Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina today, unfortunately. Bosniaks Givers and Takers Many soldiers that Halilovic and his successors The men of Spid have traveled to tournaments in ordinary buses they chartered; Unfortunately, Bosnia's legislation demands that they pay the import tariffs Humanity Prevails Mostar, the capital of Herzegovina, got its name The Old Bridge, destroyed by Croat artillery, was restored One resident of Mostar, a young man named Sanel Hrnic, was badly injured earlier His plight drew the attention of Nada Zovko, who owns a small business. She |
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November 24, 2006
Go big, go bold, and get it done - Maj. Gen. Lewis MacKenzie
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Go big, go bold, and get it done
Globe and Mail (Canada) ^ | November 22, 2006 | Maj. Gen. Lewis MacKenzie
Posted on 11/23/2006 2:29:31 PM PST by Doctor13
Tip-toeing won't work. We need another 30,000 NATO troops to protect Afghans while they get their country on its feet.
In 1999, I was an outspoken critic of NATO's ill-conceived bombing campaign against Serbia/Kosovo. For anyone playing close attention to the events leading up to the campaign, it was pretty obvious that the independence- seeking Kosovo Liberation Army - which, according to the CIA, was a terrorist organization - and its retained U.S.-based, public-relations support had played the West like a Stradivarius. This culminated with NATO volunteering to be the KLA's air force.
A few months after the negotiated end to the bombing, my branding as an opponent to NATO's intervention got me invited to a debate in the U.S. with General Wesley Clark, the NATO commander in charge of the campaign, regarding the wisdom of NATO's actions.
Following the debate, Gen. Clark shared a story that still resonates today regarding our mission in Afghanistan. He recalled that mid-way through the bombing campaign, he was exchanging small talk with Greece's ambassador to NATO. Gen. Clark opined to the ambassador, "This must be quite difficult for you, as I understand there is a good deal of controversy in your country regarding our bombing of Serbia." Without hesitation, the ambassador replied, "No, Gen. Clarke, there is no controversy. We are all against the bombing!" He could have gone on to say (unnecessary, considering his audience): "But we are a member of NATO and that means you can rely on us even if we don't agree with the mission."
Fast forward to today and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's first operation involving combat inside or outside of Europe. No one has rewritten Article 5 of NATO's Charter since April 4, 1949. It still reads, in part: "The parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognized by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force ..."
Article 5 was invoked by NATO's leadership following the attacks of 9/11, and as required by the same article, the decision to use armed force was reported to and endorsed by the United Nation's Security Council. NATO now finds itself fighting a major counterinsurgency campaign in three of the 34 Afghanistan provinces, one of which, Kandahar, is the responsibility of our Canadian battle group. With an area half the size of Nova Scotia, an all-too-modest number of Canadian troops are not just trying to keep the lid on the insurgency, they are trying to defeat it.
To make matters worse, they have a porous border with Pakistan staring them in the face. Replacements for Taliban killed in Afghanistan don't even need to sneak across the border through the mountain passes. They drive across in the backs of trucks with their kit in broad daylight.
General David Richards, commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, expressed his dismay with the resources at his disposal shortly after taking command in August. He quite rightly indicated he had no reserve capacity to exploit or secure successes on the battlefield and requested an additional 2,500 NATO troops be provided at the earliest opportunity.
As someone who has watched each and every UN mission since the end of the Cold War - in Croatia, Bosnia, Somalia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, East Timor etc. - stumble, and in all too many cases, fail due to overly optimistic best-case scenarios and subsequent undermanning and underbudgeting of the UN force, followed by hesitant and inadequate reinforcement as the mission became mired, I am surprised Gen. Richard's request was so modest. Perhaps he hoped that once the reinforcement flow was kick started, it could be increased. Other than Poland, no NATO member raised its hand to help in any significant way. On the contrary, some nations ignored the example mentioned above that was set by Greece and treated the requirements of Article 5 as if they were multiple choice. Select what you feel like, ignore the rest.
"Sure, we will come to Afghanistan but don't ask us to leave our comfortable [and safe] firm base after the sun goes down."
Or, "Sure, our troops will be there shoulder to shoulder with the rest of you, just don't ask us to participate in any combat actions!"
Mind you, at least the countries that insist on the so-called caveats are actually in Afghanistan, which is more than you can say for the NATO leaders with at least three-quarters of a billion troops at their disposal who refuse to respond to the Alliance's pleas for help while troops from across the Atlantic Ocean and English Channel bear the brunt of a fight with inadequate resources.
In my opinion, based on a recent visit to Afghanistan and too many years operating with chronically undermanned UN forces, Gen. Richards does not need 2,500 more soldiers. He needs to double his force with 30,000 more front-line troops. Adequate headquarters are already on the ground to look after a massive infusion of combat power "outside the wire." If we want to protect the local Afghans while they reconstruct their country and create their army and local and national police forces, we can't tip-toe toward a solution.
The time has come to be bold. With NATO's future hanging in the balance, fence-sitting NATO partners have to be convinced, coerced, intimidated to live up to their end of the contract they signed when they joined during more peaceful times. Failure to do so will signal the end of a 57-year-old alliance that failed when faced with its first real test in the field.
Retired major-general Lewis MacKenzie was the first commander of UN peacekeeping forces in Sarajevo.
Letters@globeandmail.com
Kosovo is dysfunctional cesspool
Kosovo is dysfunctional cesspool
Kosovo is dysfunctional cesspool
Your Nov. 8 editorial, "Same old Serbia," lacked clarity regarding what's really going on in what used to be Yugoslavia.
Perhaps when discussing Bosnia-Herzegovina, the concern should not be as much about the political divisions there but focus more on the fact that for the past 10 years Bosnia has become fertile territory for global jihadists. One has to look no further than the machinations of the Clinton administration to know how that came to be. This information is readily available on the Internet.
The editorial mentioned that the United Nations "wants to unload Kosovo to the EU." But why does the U.N. want to unload Kosovo? Because anyone who has paid any attention can plainly see that Kosovo post-1999, and the U.S.-led "humanitarian" bombing and takeover, is a dysfunctional cesspool of organized crime, murder, and mayhem, and a fellow with a murky track record is its so-called prime minister.
Since 1999, more than 150 ancient Christian holy places have been desecrated, severely damaged, and, in most cases, completely destroyed by marauding bands of intolerant Albanian Muslims. Simultaneously, hundreds of new mosques are being built, many of them carrying plaques acknowledging funding from Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates.
Interestingly, this registers nary a blip on the West's radar screen. Could it be that the U.S. and its UN/NATO allies have made such a mess in Kosovo that the less said in that regard the better? And then they have the audacity to recommend Kosovo's independence.
Your editorial took the easy road by blaming Serbia for the problems in the region. The blame rests closer to home.
LIZ MILANOVICH
Edmonton, Alberta
<http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061113/OPINION03/61112003>
--------------------------------------------------------------
Article published Wednesday, November 8, 2006
Same old Serbia
RECENT developments in Serbia, the Serbian part of Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Kosovo continue to stand as barriers to Serbia's joining the European Union and reaping for its people the economic benefits of that partnership.
Two votes last month highlighted the problem. The first, general elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina Oct. 1, including the election of the Serb, Muslim, and Croat presidents who together make up the country's presidency, showed continued loyalty on the part of the three groups to nationalist, separatist representatives.
The Serb president, Nebojsa Radmanovic, and his party oppose the abolition of the political divisions incorporated in the 1995 Dayton peace accords that ended the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. It is generally considered that the EU would be reluctant to move toward membership for Bosnia-Herzegovina with the current divisions intact.
The second vote was an Oct. 29 referendum on Serbia's new constitution, which includes an assertion that Kosovo is an "integral part of Serbia." The referendum was approved by 96 percent of the voters.
The problem is that the United Nations, which has governed Kosovo since 1999, wants to unload it to the EU by the end of the year. The United States currently has 1,000 troops in Kosovo.
A solution would involve granting Kosovo independence, or some form of self-government, perhaps with continued international oversight. The new arrangement would be dominated by the 90 percent of the people who are Albanian, but the rights of the Serbs, who account for less than 10 percent, will need to be guaranteed.
Serbian resistance to change in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo, in addition to its refusal to turn over two prominent former Bosnian Serb leaders to international authorities for trial, continues to be a barrier to Serbia's progress toward adherence to the EU as well.
Serbia can be respected for its independence, but its approach to the problems of the region does not seem to be in its people's best interests.
Kosovo independence would be ‘nightmare’ for Serbia
FT.com / World / Europe - Kosovo independence would be ‘nightmare’ for Serbia
Kosovo independence would be ‘nightmare’ for Serbia
By Tom Burgis in Brussels
Published: November 23 2006 14:06
| Last updated: November 23 2006 14:06
Independence for Kosovo would visit a “nightmare” on Serbia’s government by bolstering supporters of the late dictator Slobadan Milosevic, the country’s foreign minister has warned.
Vuk Draskovic said the centre-right administration could be outflanked by nationalists if the final status of the province is imposed on Belgrade by the international community.
“I am very afraid of the consequences of an imposed solution,” Mr Draskovic told the Financial Times in an interview. “It will strengthen the hands of the [ultra-nationalist] Radicals. This is my nightmare.” There was already pressure to cut ties with any state that recognises an independent Kosovo, he said.
Kosovo has been a ward of the United Nations since Nato troops drove Serb forces from the Albanian-dominated province in 1999. Martti Ahtisaari, the UN’s special envoy to Kosovo, has delayed making his recommendations on the province’s future until early next year after Belgrade called snap elections for January. In October, Serbs voted to adopt a new constitution describing Kosovo as an “intergral part” of the nation.
Mr Draskovic said there remained time to find a compromise solution that would see Kosovo gain full autonomy but remain within Serbian territory without the right to join Nato or the UN.
However, the Contact Group of nations marshalling negotiations has promised a solution “acceptable to the people of Kosovo”. One Western diplomat said that “any Belgrade proposal offering autonomy is unlikely to fulfil that”.
Belgrade argues that allowing the 2m Kosovans - among them 100,000 Serbs - to secede would set a precedent. “An imposed solution will have to respect the right to self-determination of Kosovans,” Mr Draskovic said. “But what happens when the next day the Serbs in Bosnia say: ‘We also want to use that right’?” Separatists in South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Taiwan might follow suit, he added.
In a meeting with Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Nato secretary general, in Brussels on Wednesday, Mr Draskovic will demand unconditional Serbian entry to a Partnership for Peace cooperation agreement. A pact with the treaty body could hasten the arrest of former Bosnian Serb army chief Ratko Mladic by demonstrating to his supporters that “they have lost the battle for the future”, Mr Draskovic said. However, Nato has made Serbian compliance with the tribunal a precondition of partnership.
The European Union has frozen talks with Belgrade on an accession agreement, widely seen as a waystation to membership, while Mr Mladic - wanted by the UN’s war crimes tribunal for the 1995 Srebrenica massacre - remains at large.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
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November 20, 2006
Homo Balkanus
Homo Balkanus
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 11/22/2006
Written: August 18, 1999
Could have been written today
How does one respond to a torrent of belligerent correspondence from Balkanians arguing against the belligerence of Balkanians asserted by one in one's articles? Were it not sad, it surely would have been farcical. Only yesterday (August 17th, 1999 - five months after the Kosovo conflict) Macedonian papers argued fiercely, vehemently and threateningly against an apparently innocuous remark by Albania's Prime Minister. He said that all Albanians, wherever they are, should share the same curriculum of studies. A preparatory step on the way to a Greater Albania perhaps? In this region of opaque mirrors and "magla" (fog) it is possible. And what is possible surely IS.
I do not believe in the future of this part of the world only because I know its history too well. every psychologist will tell you that past violent behaviour is the best predictor of future recidivism. Homo Balkanus is lifted straight off the rustling pages of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) IV-TR (2000) - the bible of the psychiatric profession - when it defines the Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
Narcissism is a result of stunted growth and of childhood abuse. It is a reactive pattern, the indelible traces of an effort to survive against all odds, against bestial repression and all-pervasive decay. Brutally suppressed by the Turks for hundreds of years and then by communism in some countries and by cruel, capricious banana republic regimes in others - Homo Balkanus has grown to be a full fledged narcissist.
The nation state structure and ideology enthusiastically adopted by Homo Balkanus in the wake of the collapse of the rotten Ottoman edifice - has proven to be a costly mistake. Tribal village societies are not fit for the consumption of abstract models of political organization. This is as true in Africa as it is in the Balkans. The first allegiance of Homo Balkanus is to his family, his clan, his village. Local patriotism was never really supplanted by patriotism. Homo Balkanus shares an Ottoman unconscious with his co-regionists. The "authorities" were and are always perceived to be a brutal, menacing and unpredictable presence, a natural power, to be resisted by the equal employment of cunning and corruption. Turkish habits die hard. The natives find it difficult not to bribe their way through their own officialdom, to pay taxes, not to litter, to volunteer, in short: to be citizens, rather than occupants or inhabitants. Their passive-aggressive instincts are intact and on auto pilot.
The Balkanian experiment with nation states has visited only misery and carnage upon the heads of its perpetrators. Borders tracked convulsively the movements of half-nomad populations. This instability of boundaries led to ethnic cleansing, to numerous international congresses, to fitful wars. In an effort to justify a distinct existence and identity, thousands of "scholars" embarked on herculean efforts of inventing histories for their newly emergent nations. Inevitably, these histories conflicted and led to yet more bloodshed. A land fertilized by blood produces harvests of bloated corpses.
In the Balkans people fight for their very own identity. They aspire to purity, albeit racial, and to boundaries, albeit of the abstract kind. It is, perhaps, the kernel of this Greek tragedy: that real people are sacrificing real people on the altar of the abstract. It is a battle of tastes, a clash of preferences, an armageddon of opinions, judgements, lessons. Armies are still moved by ancient events, by symbols, by fiery speeches, by abstract, diffuse notions. It is a land devoid of its present, where the past and future reign supreme. No syllogism, no logic, no theory can referee that which cannot be decided but by the compelling thrust of the sword. "We versus They" - they, the aliens. Threatened by the otherness of others, Homo Balkanus succumbs to the protection of the collective. A dual track: an individualist against the authorities - a mindless robot against all others, the foreigners, the strangers, the occupiers. The violent acting out of this schizophrenia is often referred to as "the history of the Balkans".
This spastic nature was further exacerbated by the egregious behaviour of the superpowers. Unfortunately possessed of strategic import, the Balkan was ravaged by geopolitics. Turks and Bulgarians and Hungarians and Austrians and Russians and Britons and Germans and Communists and the warplanes of NATO - the apocalyptic horsemen in the mountains and rivers and valleys and sunsets of this otherworldly, tortured piece of land. Raped by its protectors, impregnated by the demon seeds of global interests and their ruthless pursuit - the Balkan was transformed into a horror chamber of amputated, zombie nations, a veritable hellish scene. Many a Pomeranian grenadier bequeathed their bones to the Balkans but Pomeranian grenadiers came and went while the people of the Balkan languished.
Thus, it was not difficult to foster a "We" against every "They" (or imagined "They"). A crossroads of faultlines, a confluence of tectonic clashes - the Balkan always obliged.
Religion came handy in this trade of hate. Orthodox Serbs fought Muslim Serbs in Bosnia (the latter were forced to convert by the Turks hundreds of years ago). Catholic Croats fought Orthodox Serbs. And Bulgarians (a Turkic tribe) expelled the Turks in 1989, having compelled them to change their Muslim names to Bulgarian sounding ones in 1984.
Race was useful in the agitated effort to prevail. Albanians are of Illyrian origin. The Greeks regard the Macedonians as upstart Slavs. The Bulgarians regard the Macedonians as rebel Bulgarians. The Macedonian regard the Bulgarians as Tartars (that is, Barbarian and Turkish). The Slovenes and the Croats and, yes, the Hungarians claim not to belong in this cauldron of seething, venomous emotions.
And culture was used abundantly in the Balkan conflicts. Where was the Cyrillic alphabet invented (Macedonia, Greece, Bulgaria) and by whom (Greeks, Macedonians, Bulgarians). Are some nations mere inventions? (the Bulgarians say this about the Macedonians). Are some languages one and the same? Minorities are either cleansed or denied out of existence. The Greek still claim that there are no minorities in Greece, only Greeks with different religions. The Bulgars in Greece used to be "Bulgarophone Greeks". The Balkan is the eternal hunting grounds of oxymorons, tautologies and logical fallacies.
It is here that intellectuals usually step in (see my article: "The Poets and the Eclipse"). But the Balkan has no intelligentsia in the Russian or even American sense. It has no one to buck the trend, to play the non conforming, to rattle, to provoke, to call upon one's conscience. It does not have this channel to (other) ideas and view called "intellectuals". It is this last point which makes me the most pessimistic. The Balkan is a body without a brain.
http://www.globalpolitician.com/articledes.asp?ID=2320&cid=3&sid=10
Until recently, he served as the Economic Advisor to the Government of Macedonia. Sam Vaknin's Web site is at http://samvak.tripod.com
You can download 22 of his free ebooks in our bookstore
Kosovo Serbs: Humanitarian catastrophe
In a press conference called in reaction to power cuts that lasted for hours and to what he called vandalism toward Telekom’s equipment in Kosovo, Jakšić said that UNMIK chief Joachim Ruecker was acting like “a Kosovo government member, rather than a high UNMIK official”.
“He [Ruecker] is one of those who authored the looting privatization and the economic discrimination against Serbs and Serb-owned companies, and is charged with driving everything that even reminds of Serbs and the Serb state away from Kosovo“, Jakšić said.
In his words, “out of 190 privatized companies in Kosovo not a single one is owned by a Serb, which means that the property belonging to one nation is taken and given to another”.
Jakšić said that beside the physical violence and persecution that the Serbs suffer at the hands of the Albanians, UNMIK is undertaking “torture on the economic level”, and called on Ruecker to “stop jeopardizing Serb interests making the lives of Serbs impossible.”
Serb National Council (SNV) president Milan Ivanović said that the situation in the province has deteriorated and dubbed it a humanitarian catastrophe.
Ivanović said the Montenegrin opposition leaders would be visiting Kosovo on Monday, as well as that he expected them to, after being acquainted with the situation in Kosovo, “support the only just solution, Kosovo’s future as a part of Serbia”.
November 18, 2006
Consider Kosovo's History (Ltr in WP by Michael Mennard
Saturday, November 18, 2006; Page A19
Regarding the Nov. 10 editorial "Here Comes Kosovo":
Americans don't understand or like history, which most other cultures accept and study as an invaluable source of knowledge and experience. Americans generally look at history as an unnecessary burden that can have only a negative influence on the present.
Your editorial regarding Kosovo, the very cradle of Serbia, showed such ignorance. Nowhere did it note that Kosovo has been part of Serbia since the Serbs moved to it in the sixth century, four centuries before any Albanians were heard of in the Balkans.
Moreover, the editorial said, "By incorporating Kosovo into a new constitution, Serbia's leaders staked out yet another of the reckless nationalist stands that have caused their country so much damage in the past 15 years."
Wrong. It is ignorance of historic facts displayed by The Post and other similarly inspired American publications that has caused so much damage to a small but brave nation and a loyal ally in two world wars. The Serbs do not want what belongs to others, but they will not give away what is rightfully theirs.
The United States and its citizens would react in the same way if someone suddenly decided that Southern California or New Mexico should secede just because Spanish-speaking Mexicans live there.
As for your specter of 2 million Albanians in Kosovo being enraged, they should just go back where they came from -- neighboring Albania. Most Albanians came to Kosovo during World War II or during the rule of Marshal Tito of Yugoslavia, which maintained an open border with Albania, its fellow communist neighbor. Since then the incoming Albanians have systematically pushed untold numbers of Kosovo Serbs out of Kosovo.
Your editorial writers should study history to ensure more meaningful and more accurate editorials.
-- Michael Mennard
Potomac Falls
November 16, 2006
INTEVIEW WITH DR. SRDJA TRIFKOVIC
INTEVIEW WITH DR. SRDJA TRIFKOVIC
www.trifkovic. mysite.com
November 15, 2006
Kosovo vs South Ossetia
Kosovo vs South Ossetia
The international community is vague about why Kosovo and South Ossetia cannot be compared, and the answers lie in geopolitics rather than principles of self-determination and international law.
Commentary by Jen Alic for ISN Security Watch (15/11/06)
In Western media offerings on South Ossetia's recent referendum for independence from Georgia there is an unwavering tone that suggests the breakaway republic either does not deserve, or should for unexamined reasons, not be granted , independence.
The opposite is true for Western media reports concerning the status of Serbia's UN-administered province of Kosovo. These reports adopt a tone that cheers for and approves of independence.
The international community has long strived for an independent Kosovo and is set to make a decision on the province's status early next year. That decision is most likely going to be independence, though conditional and gradual. At the same time, the international community opposes independence for South Ossetia, citing the unfairness of the Sunday referendum that did not include ethnic Georgians in the breakaway republic.
It has been impossible to find any arguments as to why South Ossetia should not be allowed to pursue self-determination. When questioned on this, Western officials have generally responded by saying that Kosovo and South Ossetia cannot be compared. End of story, no further explanation needed.
But perhaps they can be compared.
Neither South Ossetia nor Kosovo has ever been an independent nation, as far back in history as is rationally warranted to look. Both have at times enjoyed various levels of autonomy. Both have minorities whose rights may not be ensured and whose safety is anything but guaranteed. South Ossetia is home to 14,000 ethnic Georgians, while Kosovo is home to an estimated 120,000 Serbs, who live in fear in UN-guarded enclaves. There is no indication that either minority will be offered adequate protection or adequate rights. And conflict could result from a decision either way.
On Sunday, some 99 percent of South Ossetian voters backed independence from Georgia. The 14,000 ethnic Georgians living in a handful of villages in the breakaway republic were not allowed to vote, as registration required a Russian passport, which all Ossetians have been granted. This was unfair, as the international community has pointed out, but the ethnic Georgian vote would not have changed the outcome.
Furthering the comparison, neither Kosovo nor South Ossetia are necessarily prepared for independence, though Kosovo can expect help from its kin in neighboring Albania and the international community, while South Ossetia can expect some, though likely limited, aid from neighboring Russia. In economic terms, it is unclear how either could support their populations, however small. Industry is for all intents and purposes absent in both locales, while the majority of income is rumored to be made on the black market, largely through arms and drug smuggling.
What has been lacking throughout is an honest debate on these issues, which can easily be compared, despite vague statements to the contrary.
And the honest debate necessarily involves geopolitics.
South Ossetia is a buffer for Russia against the Western-leaning Georgia, while Georgia is a buffer for the US against Russia.
While Russia has played coy with the South Ossetia issue, refraining from recognizing its last declaration of independence in the 1990s and officially supporting Georgia's territorial integrity, it has clearly supported the separatists there. The US must do more than pay lip service to Georgia's territorial integrity, as the country moves toward NATO membership and continues to build its Western alliances.
And of course, there is energy to consider. The Caspian Basin is a place of intense competition, with the US, Russia and China all vying for a stronger foothold. In July, the US$4 billion Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline was inaugurated. The BTC pumps Caspian Sea oil to the Turkish Mediterranean, bypassing Russia and Iran. It should supply 1 million barrels of oil per day by 2009. It passes through the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, and also runs rather close to South Ossetia.
BP, formerly British Petroleum, has a 30.1 percent stake in the pipeline. The pipeline was commissioned by a BP-led consortium that includes energy companies from the US, Norway, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Japan, France and Italy. The BTC is a key to Western energy security. Upsetting Georgia - a major player in this energy security - by allowing South Ossetia to declare independence and be internationally recognized would be risky.
As far as Kosovo is concerned, granting independence is much easier. Serbia is of no strategic value to the West, and the international community has no bones about playing with fire there, despite some low-level concerns that granting Kosovo independence could be so unpopular in Belgrade that it would see a return to power of radical forces.
Russia, for its part, would be more than happy to see Kosovo granted independence - this, despite its support for its Serb allies and Serbia's territorial integrity - if only because it would set a precedent for similar moves in South Ossetia, Abkhazia (Georgia's other breakaway republic), and Moldova's breakaway republic of Transdneistr.
So, the question here is not really whether Kosovo or South Ossetia has a right to self-determination - which is indeed a romantic notion that is easy to digest in terms of principles - but why there has been a lack of honest debate at an official level.
Jen Alic is the editor in chief of ISN Security Watch.
The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author only, not the International Relations and Security Network (ISN).
Romancing the Independence
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?ID=16920
Kosovo's identity crisis
Kosovo's identity crisis
Guardian Weekly
"Why do the Serbs keep living in the past? Everyone knows where they ended up with their nationalist policies," says Agim Osmani. A year ago he and his wife, with their six children, bought and rebuilt a house in Caglavica, in the outskirts of Pristina, along the road to Macedonia. Previously it belonged to a Serb, now in Belgrade.
"We are all free to choose. There is plenty of room for everyone," adds Osmani.
In fact, along the 5km stretch between Caglavica and Pristina there is increasingly less room. In just a few years the fields have filled with Albanian-owned warehouses, filling stations and shops. Most of Osmani's neighbours are Serbs, but for how much longer? The average age of Kosovo's 130,000 Serbs is 54, compared with 28 for their 2 million Albanian neighbours.
Stamenko Kovacevic, 82, lives just behind Osmani's house, scraping by on his miserable Elektro Kosova pension. He hopes to end his days in this village of 1,500 people, all Serbs until recently. His children have left the province, which always been one of the poorest parts of the former Yugoslavia.
"Agim takes care of me, he brings me food and takes me to the doctor's," says Kovacevic. But he nevertheless voted "yes" in the referendum, "because it has always been that way".
In the distance the antiquated power station at Obilic belches poisonous smoke. Kovacevic has few illusions about the benefits of the new constitution, hurriedly drafted in Belgrade to replace the 1990 text.
Slobodan Milosevic, the former president of Serbia, was determined to end Kosovo's relative autonomy in a Yugoslav union that was already disintegrating. Fighting in Kosovo only flared up at the end of the 1990s, after Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia. But unlike the former republics which have gained independence - joined by Montenegro a few months ago - the fate of the former autonomous region of Kosovo is still undecided.
Kosovo has its own president, elected parliament and government, which raises taxes in euros. It also has a civil defence corps, more akin to an army than a pioneer group. Not many young Albanians speak Serbo-Croat any longer, as was the case for the previous generation brought up in Tito's Yugoslavia. The number plates on their German saloons and Yugo bangers are all marked KS and none of them are in any doubt about their imminent independence. "Only the Serbs shut their eyes so as not to see the elephant in their sitting room," says Veton Surroi, a Kosovar writer.
Milan Ivanovic, on the other hand, is among those who reject the idea of independence. Seated on the terrace of the Dolce Vita café, in the northern quarter of the divided town of Mitrovica, in northern Kosovo, he persists in maintaining that the province "was, is and always will be Serb. Nor will any Serb leader wreck his political career by abandoning Kosovo". "What is happening at present is temporary. In the medium term Serbia will regain control of Kosovo," he adds. He does not explain how, but then the democratic process is not his cup of tea.
Dr Ivanovic runs the local hospital and chairs the Serb National Council. A radical, with closely cropped hair and a steely gaze, he forecasts more violence: "It's inevitable. The only unknown quantity is its scale. As Serbs we could never accept Kosovo's independence. We will block the roads in the north and stop the Albanians coming here. If need be we'll organise our own referendum to ratify our independence, inside Kosovo. On the other hand, if Kosovo is not granted its independence, the Albanians will be angry because the international community promised it six year ago."
He recalls the rioting in March 2004 and the violence that claimed a dozen lives. Albanian extremists attacked isolated Serb homes and burned Orthodox churches, prompting villagers from around Mitrovica to take refuge in the town. The international community is terrified a similar uprising might engulf the whole of Kosovo - either spontaneously or stirred up by one of the opposing forces.
"We will defend ourselves against any attacks," warns Ivanovic, who has rejected any moves since 1999 that might bridge the gap between the two communities. Here in Mitrovica the health service, schools and university are all an integral part of the Serb system and completely dependent on Belgrade.
"Our politicians are heading for disaster," says Milos, a Serb studying philosophy at the local university. "They adopt an extremist line because they are paid by Belgrade. If things go wrong, they have a fallback solution, but I don't. My future is here," he adds, lowering his voice to express views shared by a silent minority.
Most of the customers at the Dolce Vita are bulky skinheads who claim to be the "guardians of the bridge", a reference to the bridge across the Ibar river that separates the Albanian districts, to the south, from their Serb counterparts, to the north. There has been no communication between the two sides since Nato forces arrived in June 1999.
Milos does not much like the idea of an independent Kosovo. He says: "We have lost touch with our Albanian neighbours, but if we can have reasonable security and autonomy, then perhaps we can live together. I certainly do not fancy the sort of security the 'guardians of the bridge' are offering."
"Fortunately there is little fighting between the two communities now," says Romuald Pilchard, a political adviser to the commander of the KFOR international force deployed since 1999. The presence of 16,000 foreign troops and the setting up of a local police force have helped keep the peace. But other factors are also at work. "Now that they have almost achieved their goal of independence, the Kosovar Albanians are playing it safe. They have nothing to gain from upsetting negotiations on final status," says a European diplomat. "But there is a limit to their patience, and the politicians say it is increasingly hard to keep control of the more unruly elements," he adds. Many think the outburst of violence in 2004 was in fact salutary because it reminded the international community that Kosovo still existed.
During a visit to Paris last month the Kosovar prime minister, Agim Ceku, underlined his people's "concern" at the delay to negotiations. "People are fed up. They get the impression nothing is happening, whereas the situation is dramatic," says Nehad Islami, a moderate Albanian writer. "Almost half the population is unemployed and the others are living below the poverty line. They may blow their top at any time," warns Avni Zogani, of the Cohu! (Wake up!) organisation, which is trying to raise civic awareness among Kosovars.
Albanian politicians are keen to keep things calm but they lack the necessary credibility. "Most of them are corrupt and the political parties all have links of some sort with organised crime, which has infiltrated most official bodies," says Zogani.
He adds: "The public sector is more of a welfare operation, doing favours for specific groups, with 70,000 officials. That is three times more than in Slovenia for a comparable population. Added to which the UN Mission in Kosovo [known as Unmik] people turn a blind eye. They have already packed their bags and do not want any problems. We are increasingly fed up with our politicians but also with the international agencies."
"The only solution is independence, but it is like a lover you've been waiting for too long: part of the charm has gone," says Linda Gusia, a professor of sociology at Pristina University. "Daily life absorbs all our energy. We have no time to think of anything else. We realise that not having an international status is part of the problem, but we also know it will not solve all our woes, as if by magic, particularly the power cuts in the winter."
With a salary of only €150 a month, she has to do several jobs to feed her family. She says: "I feel humiliated at not being able to provide for my children, at not having a passport or being able to buy books on the net, because Kosovo is not a state. It isn't even Kosovo here, it's Unmikistan, and we're trapped."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianweekly/story/0,,1948467,00.html
November 14, 2006
N. Malic: The [diplomatic] battle for Kosovo not over yet
November 9, 2006
The Battle for Kosovo
by Nebojsa Malic
[Adapted from remarks given before the Njegos Endowment for Serbian Studies, Columbia University, New York, Nov. 3.]
Not Decided Yet
If one were to be informed strictly by the mainstream media in the English-speaking world, it would be very hard to harbor any doubts about the future status of Kosovo. The occupied Serbian province though, of course, never referred to as such, but always as a region with a 90 percent Albanian majority is expected to declare independence within months, if not weeks, with the full support of Washington, London, and Brussels.
Could it be, however, that these tireless tirades about the "inevitability"
of Kosovo's separation are an effort to counter the fact that it is by no means inevitable, perhaps not even as likely as it would have been several years ago?
Albanian arguments for secession are well known: majority of the population, a claim to self-determination, allegations of Serb repression, atrocities, "ethnic cleansing," etc. Most of this is fiction, the rest quite irrelevant.
There is only one real argument, that of force. NATO's
1999 intervention and the subsequent occupation of Kosovo have created a "reality on the ground." But since the civilized world still hesitates to endorse naked aggression, the case for "Kosova" is dressed in humanitarian clothing and the rhetoric of "liberation."
Logic favors the Serb arguments, though. If the borders of the Yugoslav republics were declared sacrosanct in an effort to deny the Serbs west of the Drina their right of self-determination in the 1990s, then Serbia's borders ought to be sacrosanct, too, no matter how loudly the KLA complains or how violent it gets. ICG founder Morton Abramowitz dismisses this as "Serbs seeking perfect reasoning," but there's nothing perfect about it. It is simple logic, unlike the completely irrational "logic" of the Empire, which proclaims one rule today and a completely different one tomorrow to suit its own caprices. As Doug Bandow once remarked, the only rule in the Balkans seems to be "the Serbs always lose."
For what it's worth, then, the law is firmly on Belgrade's side as well; no other country in the world has been forced to give up a part of its territory to a separatist minority, especially not through illegal occupation as a result of illegal aggression. It took the post-Milosevic leadership in Belgrade five years to understand this basic concept, but they appear to have lined up behind it to the best of their ability.
This is why the Contact Group an abomination resurrected from the ashes of Europe's dark past has organized the "negotiations" on Kosovo's status as a way to pressure Serbia to voluntarily surrender its occupied territory. In the words of one commentator, it is an offer to declare rape consensual.
Power and Control
What happened in 1998 and 1999 was not a result of Albanian lobbying. It came about as a result of joint policy by imperialists in America and Europe who saw Serbia as an obstacle to their control of "Southeastern Europe."
Albanians were used as a weapon against Serbia. This is why Kosovo did not become independent in 1999, and has not become independent yet.
The 1999 war was more than just a distraction from Clinton's sexcapades; other people were involved as well. Many principals of NATO's endeavor are still around, or have been promoted. Take for example Javier Solana, then secretary-general of NATO, now the de facto foreign minister of the EU.
More to the point, the worldviewimposed by NATO in 1999 the asserted "right" of those with military power to attack anyone, anywhere, on a fabricated pretext, in direct violation of international law, conventions, and treaties is dominant today.
The destruction of Yugoslavia was partly engineered certainly encouraged by imperialist politicians in Europe and America, as a way to claim more power, escape the confines of international law, and flex their newfound imperial muscle. In 1990, a German who dared envision the Bundeswehr occupying a portion of Serbia following the Luftwaffe bombing of Belgrade would have been arrested on charges of glorifying the Nazi past. Yet both of those things came to pass and were praised as "progress." Today, the German military is girding for more foreign intervention, without a word of protest.
In 1991, Americans wanted a "peace dividend" from four decades of gearing up for war with the Soviet Union. What they got was a "benevolent global hegemony" that seeks to insert American money, troops, and bombs into every corner of the globe that a handful of policymakers in Washington believes crucial to ongoing American world supremacy.
If rumors about Ahtisaari's proposal are true, the Empire is trying to establish a Bosnia-style arrangement in Kosovo, which would give Albanians independence on paper but make them a dependency of the EU in fact. As said here before, this sort of "solution" is the worst of all worlds; the Albanians would continue to blame everyone else for the barbaric state of their society and economy (for which they have only themselves to blame), taking that anger out on the few remaining Serbs who will be cut off from Serbia and trapped in "diversity reservations" much as they are now and the transient imperial bureaucrats, who will cower in their compounds much as they do now and issue statements about how democracy and human rights in "multi-ethnic" Kosovo are doing just fine, thank you very much. This isn't about Serbs or Albanians; it's about power and control.
Soul of a Nation
Kosovo is much more than 15 percent of modern Serbia's territory, or a depository of mineral wealth, as some materialistic analysts dub it. It is the birthplace of Serb ethnic identity. Every nation has its own "creation myth." Americans celebrate their own every 4th of July: the Declaration of Independence, George Washington and the Continental Army, the Boston Tea Party For Serbs, it is a hot summer day in 1389 when their quarrelsome nobles rallied to offer battle to the invading Turks. Perhaps the actions of Prince Lazar and his nobles were not so pure as the oral tradition made them out to be but they nonetheless inspired such a tradition, and ensured that a spirit of liberty and honor persevered for the next 400 years under the cruel Ottoman yoke. This tradition infuriates the modern "liberals" and "democrats," who true to their Communist roots fear and despise religion, deny objective morality, and wallow in relativist drivel. It is not a coincidence that the loudest and most obnoxious Serb-haters in Serbia itself are formerly privileged members of the Old Regime and their young protgs.
The Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary, Imperial or Nazi Germany, the Comintern, or the American Hegemony: every force that saw Serbia as a threat throughout its modern history has sought to deprive the Serbs of Kosovo in some way, recognizing its value to the Serb identity sometimes more than the Serbs themselves.
A Matter of Values
On Oct. 29, Serbian voters narrowly approved a new constitution, which asserts in the preamble that Kosovo is an integral part of Serbian territory. The constitution is far from ideal; it is too long, too cumbersome, too vague, and suffers from political correctness and welfare-statist nonsense. And it alone will not preserve Kosovo, nor make Serbia a better country. The American Constitution was written over two centuries ago, and is still one of the best in the world yet the U.S government has bent it out of shape for decades. Had any of the Founding Fathers imagined the modern federal bureaucracy and the taxation it requires to stay afloat, they would have surely chosen to remain English.
If it does not embody the values and beliefs of the population that created it, a constitution is nothing more than a scrap of paper. It is the values and beliefs or lack thereof that matter.
If Serbs truly value Kosovo, they have to assert not just sovereignty over the territory, but also a desire to live there. Otherwise, what is the point of keeping it in the first place? The biggest advantage the Albanians have in claiming Kosovo is that they want it. They also want other parts of Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Greece, but they can't even dream about any of that without Kosovo.
Liberty is a big part of Serb tradition. And property rights are inseparable from liberty. According to land registers, vast portions of the province are the outright property of the Orthodox Church (the name Metohija means "church land," after all). Yet how can Serbia claim Kosovo on that basis, while refusing to restore the property rights of the Church at home, or those of people whose possessions were seized by the Communists in 1945?
Not Theirs to Give
Struggling to rediscover their identity, culture, and tradition after decades of Communism, the Serbs need to decide whether to rebuild it on the already existing foundation of Kosovo, or choose something else altogether.
One alternative being offered is "Euro-Atlantic integrations,"
democracy, and human rights a worldview appealing greatly to the residues of Communist thinking.
A Serb poet commented last year: "If Kosovo is not ours, why are they asking us to give it up? If it is theirs, why are they taking it by force?
And if they can take it by force, why they are so circumspect about it?"
The Empire is pushing hard for the ruling circles in Belgrade to give up Kosovo, declare the rape of 1999 consensual, and abandon claims to law and principle in favor of temporary expedience. It is not a trade; the Empire is not offering anything. To take Kosovo, the Empire needs Serbia's consent.
Much as some people in Belgrade would be happy to oblige, that consent is not theirs to give.
The battle for Kosovo is not over yet.
Serbian News Network - SNN
news@antic.org
http://www.antic.org/
November 13, 2006
Ltr in response to "Kosovo cannot wait." Financial Times
The following is from todays Financial Times.
Kosovo cannot wait http://www.ft.com/cms/s/3ba4939a-72bb-11db-a5f5-0000779e2340.html
Published: November 13 2006 02:00 | Last updated: November 13 2006 02:00
The international deadline set for the settlement of the Kosovo question - the last big territorial issue left by the collapse of
While a few weeks' delay is tolerable, any longer postponement could undermine hopes of a peaceful settlement and of a brighter future for one of
Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanians want independence for a province that has been UN-ruled since 1999, when Nato troops forced out Slobodan Milosevic, former Serb leader. But Kosovo remains legally a part of
Mr Ahtisaari is expected to propose conditional independence in which Kosovo wins limited de facto sovereignty minus the full trappings of statehood. But even this will be too much for most Serbs. So he has delayed his announcement until after Serbian elections on January 21 - for fear that his plans would fuel extremist support.
Moderate Serb leaders are playing for time. Their tactics are not utterly hopeless.
There are risks in imposing an early settlement.
However, the dangers of international inaction are greater. Delay poisons Kosovo by preventing ethnic Albanians taking responsibility for their future and hampers economic development, as few companies will invest in a stateless zone. And, worst of all, it risks provoking renewed violence from frustrated ethnic Albanians.
An early settlement would give maximum political benefit to moderate ethnic Albanian leaders, creating the best environment for them to deal in future with Kosovo's Serbs and with
The likely settlement would also, rightly, impose tough conditions on Kosovo, including the presence of foreign troops and of a European Union supervisory mission. Local Serbs would have a lot of autonomy under decentralisation plans. Kosovo would be forbidden from merging with next-door
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
November 11, 2006
Kosovo: False calm before the real storm?
Kosovo: False calm before the real storm?
By M. Bozinovich
In the immediate aftermath of the successful referendum in Serbia on its new constitution, the EU foreign Minister Javier Solana congratulated Belgrade on referendum's orderly conduct and suggested that it is an important step in aligning Serbian legal structure with that of the European Union whose membership Serbia covets. In Washington, likewise, there was an approval of the referendum, while both, the EU and US stressed that the Kosovo status process must go on and Serbia is obligated to accept the results of the negotiating process.
Solana's and Washington's favorable reaction to the Serbian constitutional referendum was immediately objected by Albania, Kosovo Albanians and the International Crisis Group.
Albania blasted the Serbian constitutional referendum as "unacceptable" because it complicates the diplomatic negotiation on Kosovo at a time when, presumably, the UN Security Council is suppose to vote on amputating Kosovo from Serbia, and Serbia, finally got itself a constitution that major powers recognize and will have to consider what it says for any decision making process.
Albanian President Alfred Moisiu then raised the specter of violence with a claim that in case the Serbian referendum complicated the decision on Kosovo and precludes its independence then such "postponement of the decision on the final status of Kosovo will activate the extremist forces in the two countries." The countries Moisiu was referring to that will turn violent and extremist is Albania and Kosovo.
Kosovo Albanians dutifully dismissed the referendum as "not deserving a comment" so that by keeping their silence, Kosovo Albanians endorsed Moisiu's threat of violence and thus escalated their hostility against Serbia with whom Kosovo shares the longest border in case it ever becomes independent.
The International Crisis Group, however, sought to produce, at least some, civilized evidence for this forlorn dud and join the ethnic Albanian political body in malevolent attacks of spite on the Serbian state. In it's media release titled Serbia's Constitutional Referendum: A Question Of Validity, the Group sought to delegitimize Serbian referendum by making claims that it has witnesses that saw mass voter fraud although the only authoritativeness of that press release may be the appearance of a colon in the title that imitates serious analysis.
So says the Group: "Witnesses and videotape evidence indicate that many voters were permitted not only to vote without providing photographic identification," writes the Group and adds that "entire referendum process was deliberately skewed in advance by the authorities."
That ethnic Albanian political leadership is, indeed, seriously upset by the Western endorsement of the new Serbian constitution was expressed by ICG’s Belgrade director, James Lyon, who roared in his blog on the web site of B92 with a Stalinist parody of the Serbian referendum.
Anywho…
Land-for-protection offer
The EU appears less alarmed by the ethnic Albanian threats of violence then Washington.
"The issue of the future status of Kosovo is a different matter that is being dealt with by [UN envoy] Martti Ahtisaari," said European Commission spokeswoman Krisztina Nagy and left the matter at that.
Washington, however, was quick to send its envoy Frank Wisner to Kosovo while some "unnamed" diplomats told the Kosovo Albanian newspaper Ekspres that UN is prepared to take away Serbian sovereignty over Kosovo but was not willing to grant full independence.
"Although the draft solution on the status of Kosovo, presented to the Contact Group by the mediator in the negotiations Martti Ahtisaari, does not contain the term independence, it provides for authorizations that could lead to conditional independence", wrote the daily citing some unnamed source who may have spoken in order to lay some ground work in advance of Frank Wisner's discussion with Kosovo Albanians.
Nevertheless, this is a significant development because it is the first time that, supposedly a Washington-based, unnamed source has altogether sidelined independence, unconditional and conditional, from the negotiating table.
In the past, this "unnamed" source close to the Contact Group was first promising an unconditional independence, then a "precisely worded" Security Council Resolution that will recognize Kosovo independence once some 13 criteria are met by Albanians, then rumors floated of a supervised independence and now the independence is sidelined altogether and replaced by administered sovereignty.
The point here is that there is a gradual and sustained reduction in the levels of independence that the Contact Group is offering to Kosovo Albanians and that for every reduction in the independence offer we have an escalation of independence rhetoric in the media in order to compensate for the anger the reduction may cause to the ethnic Albanian political leaders.
Exhausting All Independence Options
It then emerges that the deadline that Washington is chasing may be more for military reasons then for any practical matters of diplomacy that sound logic dictates.
"You need only three people, one landmine, one flag and a press communique to have an incident," says Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki after talks with EU officials. Then he added that it is always best to take difficult decisions in the Balkans in winter before the snows melt and fighters can take to the mountains.
Since the Serbian army is mostly a mechanized mobile force that prefers to stay away from mountains, it follows that whatever the tough decision Contact Group makes, that decision will trigger Kosovo Albanian military reaction against the NATO troops on the ground.
It is perhaps this forward diplomatic knowledge of the effects of the actual decision that prompted NATO to sign military withdrawal rights through Serbia last year while using media to raise Kosovo Albanian expectations through the heavens not that they will ever be delivered but in order to tranquilize and perhaps set the most extremist elements of the Kosovo Albanian leadership in power and for a dramatic fall.
It is unlikely that the 1,100 US military personnel will institute the fall because they are there to stay. Recent beating of an American serviceman by Kosovo Albanians in a gas station demonstrates the precariousness of these troops that are afraid to even retaliate for that brutal beating although many know the names of these Kosovo Albanian drug-military gangsters that did the beating.
Before and if any military action breaks out in Kosovo, Washington appears to be engaged in a demonstration to the Kosovo Albanian leadership that it is willing to explore all diplomatic venues and thus exhaust all independence options. Given that independence is taken off the table, Washington has delinked sovereignty from independence and is publicly peddling that mantra.
Promising that he will press on the issue of an administered sovereignty with Belgrade, Wisner probably asked Kosovo Albanians in his recent visit for some additional token bargain that he could offer once he arrives in Belgrade.
According to a UPI report, once in Belgrade, Wisner said that in an independent Kosovo minority Serbs will be the best protected national group in the Balkans although, a wise diplomat that Wisner is, he should have known how ridiculous this "land-for-protection" offer sounds.
Wisner then proceeded to real business of reminding Serbia that status decision is near, a code word for urging Belgrade to quickly ratify the constitution because the idea of writing a new Serbian constitution suddenly became a paramount issue in Serbian politics only after Serbian President Tadic's visit to Washington in early October.
As the showdown on the decision on Kosovo status rapidly approaches the Security Council table, Washington and the British are also refining their promises to Kosovo Albanians arguing that, despite Russian and Chinese promises to veto independence, the Security Council will allow other states to recognize Kosovo Albanian independence.
“The Security Council would issue a mandate for a mission led by the European Union and invite individual countries to recognize Kosovo,” says said Anthony C. Welch of Britain, the coordinator of a review of Kosovo’s future security needs commissioned by the United Nations.
In other words, Kosovo Albanians are no longer promised any independence and, based on the track record of broken promises, a sane Kosovo Albanian politician now in power should not believe anything that the West is saying.
Instead of independence then, Washington and London are telling Kosovo Albanians that the Security Council will veto independence, that the EU will come in to rule Kosovo and perhaps, if they are good pets, individual countries may recognize them.
Will there be criteria for recognition? If so what is it? Is there a time line and if so what is it? Kosovo Albanians have no answer to any of these concrete questions yet they are blindly believing anything that Washington and the British promise to them.
According to a Reuters report, Agim Ceku expressed this blind trust in Western powers to grant Kosovo independence by the end of 2006.
“We trust the international community to drive this process through to the correct conclusion," Ceku said in a speech at Chatham House, the foreign policy think-tank, after meeting the British government on final status talks.
According to another unnamed senior European diplomat in the Kosovo capital Pristina the Security Council will offer Kosovo Albanians a solution proposal that only appears to have characters of independence but in reality, Kosovo Albanians will not get it.
“He doesn't mention independence but Ahtisaari is describing the criteria which characterise an independent country,’ the unnamed one said.
As a result of a Security Council deadlock, no independence but only promises, Kosovo Albanians would unilaterally declare independence and thus instigate a crisis with Serbia.
At that point, the Resolution 1244 would be suspended because it would be replaced with another. The language of the resolution that replaces the 1244 will dictate what happens after Kosovo Albanians unilaterally declare independence.
http://www.serbianna.com/columns/mb/052.shtml
Serbian News Network - SNN
news@antic.org
http://www.antic.org/
WT EDITORIAL "HERE COMES KOSOVO"
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
TO: Editor, Editorial Page
The Washington Post
SUBJECT: EDITORIAL "HERE COMES KOSOVO" (11/10/06)
It is generally known and accepted that most Americans do not know, understand or like history, which most other cultures accept and study as an invaluable source of knowledge and experience. "Mater studiorum," the old Romans used to call it.
Less informed Americans, on the other hand, look at history as an unnecessary burden that can only have a negative influence on the present state of affairs. That is best reflected in the saying, "You are history," which is usually directed at someone who has little to say or is possibly too closely associated with the past.
The Washington Post editorial, "Here Comes Kosovo" (11/10/06) is a perfect example of willful ignorance with respect to the Serbian province of Kosovo, the very cradle of the Serbian nation. Nowhere does the editorial note that Kosovo, which means in Serbian, the field of black birds, has been a part of Serbia, ever since the Serbs moved to it in the sixth century, four centuries before any Albanians were heard of in the Balkans,
Moreover, the editorial says that "By incorporating Kosovo into a new constitution, Serbia's leaders staked out yet another of the reckless nationalist stands that have caused their country so much damage in the past 115 years." Wrong again! It is the malevolent ignorance of historic facts, so grossly displayed by The Washington Post and other similarly inspired American publications that has caused so much damage to a small but brave nation and a loyal ally in two world wars. The Serbs do not want what belongs to others, but they will not give away what is rightfully theirs.
I am fully confident that the US and its citizens will react in the same way if someone suddenly decides that Southern California and/or New Mexico should secede just because there are more Spanish speaking Mexicans living there.
The "2 million enraged Albanians" in Kosovo, need to control their "meltdown" or just go where they came from, the neighboring Republic of Albania. Most Albanians came to Kosovo during World War II. with the help of the Albanian volunteer SS Division Skenderbeg, and during Marshall Tito's rule of Yugoslavia that maintained an open border with Albania as a show close wartime relationship between Yugoslavia's communist leader Tito and Albania's communist leader Enver Hoxha. Ever since then the incoming Albanians have systematically ethnically cleansed Kosovo of untold numbers of Kosovo Serbs.
The Washington Post editorial writers should study history. That would assure, at least, more meaningful and more accurate editorials
Michael Mennard, Ph.D.
20804 Noble Terrace #312
Potomac Falls, VA 20165
tel. 703/450-0789
e-mail: mmennard@aol.com
Here Comes Kosovo
A decision to make the Serb province independent is near. Will Serbia and Russia obstruct it?
Friday, November 10, 2006; Page A30
THE SERBIAN parliament formally adopted a new national constitution on Wednesday, following its narrow approval by voters in a referendum last month. The document was a necessary replacement of the previous charter, which was adopted during the rule of nationalist warlord Slobodan Milosevic. But it may have won acceptance only because it included a preamble that would have warmed Mr. Milosevic's heart: a declaration that the province of Kosovo, which Serbia in effect lost seven years ago, is an "integral" and "inalienable" part of the country.
In fact, the United Nations, which has governed Kosovo since NATO freed it from Mr. Milosevic's brutal ethnic cleansing campaign, is due to decide the province's future by year-end -- though a decision may be delayed until after a Serbian election scheduled for late January. Serb leaders know what a U.N. mediator will recommend and what all Western governments will support: independence for the territory, perhaps with transitional conditions. Kosovo is populated overwhelmingly by ethnic Albanians; after the ethnic war Mr. Milosevic initiated, there is no chance the province can be returned to Serbian sovereignty. By incorporating a claim to Kosovo into a new constitution, Serbia's leaders staked out yet another of the reckless nationalist stands that have caused their country so much damage in the past 15 years.
They also set the stage for some difficult and potentially dangerous diplomacy between the Bush administration and Russia over the next two months -- negotiations that could settle or destabilize the Balkans and the equally volatile Caucasus region on Russia's southern border. Russia, Serbia's long-standing ally, is the largest potential obstacle to consensus in the U.N. Security Council on a Kosovo solution. Though he knows that independence for Kosovo is inevitable, Russian President Vladimir Putin is hinting that he may support Serbia's obstructionism. He may hope to extract favors from President Bush in exchange for his eventual cooperation -- such as U.S. acquiescence to Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization.
Or Mr. Putin may try to use Kosovo to trigger a showdown with his Caucasus neighbor, Georgia, which has infuriated him by embracing liberal democracy and seeking integration into Western institutions such as NATO. Mr. Putin has said that Kosovo's independence could be a precedent for Moscow-sponsored breakaway regions in Eurasia, including two rebel provinces of Georgia. If Western governments recognize Kosovo's independence, Mr. Putin could respond by recognizing Abkhazia and South Ossetia. This could easily trigger a war that would draw in Russian troops; meanwhile, Moscow's position could encourage Serbs in Kosovo and Bosnia to set up splinter states.
Moscow is no doubt hoping that as the Bush administration contemplates this scenario, as well as its continuing need for Russian help in stopping Iran's nuclear program, it will be bluffed into postponing any decision on Kosovo or will abandon its support of Georgia's democracy and NATO aspirations. Either would be a serious mistake. Putting off Kosovo's independence would only enrage the province's 2 million Albanians and trigger the Balkan meltdown that the West hopes to avoid. It would also encourage Mr. Putin's growing tendency to use threats -- whether of energy-supply interruptions or violence -- to get his way with the West.
November 10, 2006
The Battle for Kosovo
| The Battle for Kosovo |
| by Nebojsa Malic |
| [Adapted from remarks given before the Njegos Endowment for Serbian Studies, Columbia University, New York, Nov. 3.] Not Decided Yet If one were to be informed strictly by the mainstream media in the English-speaking world, it would be very hard to harbor any doubts about the future status of Kosovo. The occupied Serbian province – though, of course, never referred to as such, but always as a region with a 90 percent Albanian majority – is expected to declare independence within months, if not weeks, with the full support of Washington, London, and Brussels. Could it be, however, that these tireless tirades about the "inevitability" of Kosovo's separation are an effort to counter the fact that it is by no means inevitable, perhaps not even as likely as it would have been several years ago? Albanian arguments for secession are well known: majority of the population, a claim to self-determination, allegations of Serb repression, atrocities, "ethnic cleansing," etc. Most of this is fiction, the rest quite irrelevant. There is only one real argument, that of force. NATO's 1999 intervention and the subsequent occupation of Kosovo have created a "reality on the ground." But since the civilized world still hesitates to endorse naked aggression, the case for "Kosova" is dressed in humanitarian clothing and the rhetoric of "liberation." Logic favors the Serb arguments, though. If the borders of the Yugoslav republics were declared sacrosanct in an effort to deny the Serbs west of the Drina their right of self-determination in the 1990s, then Serbia's borders ought to be sacrosanct, too, no matter how loudly the KLA complains or how violent it gets. ICG founder Morton Abramowitz dismisses this as "Serbs seeking perfect reasoning," but there's nothing perfect about it. It is simple logic, unlike the completely irrational "logic" of the Empire, which proclaims one rule today and a completely different one tomorrow to suit its own caprices. As Doug Bandow once remarked, the only rule in the Balkans seems to be "the Serbs always lose." For what it's worth, then, the law is firmly on Belgrade's side as well; no other country in the world has been forced to give up a part of its territory to a separatist minority, especially not through illegal occupation as a result of illegal aggression. It took the post-Milosevic leadership in Belgrade five years to understand this basic concept, but they appear to have lined up behind it to the best of their ability. This is why the Contact Group – an abomination resurrected from the ashes of Europe's dark past – has organized the "negotiations" on Kosovo's status as a way to pressure Serbia to voluntarily surrender its occupied territory. In the words of one commentator, it is an offer to declare rape consensual. Power and Control What happened in 1998 and 1999 was not a result of Albanian lobbying. It came about as a result of joint policy by imperialists in America and Europe who saw Serbia as an obstacle to their control of "Southeastern Europe." Albanians were used as a weapon against Serbia. This is why Kosovo did not become independent in 1999, and has not become independent yet. The 1999 war was more than just a distraction from Clinton's sexcapades; other people were involved as well. Many principals of NATO's endeavor are still around, or have been promoted. Take for example Javier Solana, then secretary-general of NATO, now the de facto foreign minister of the EU. More to the point, the worldview imposed by NATO in 1999 – the asserted "right" of those with military power to attack anyone, anywhere, on a fabricated pretext, in direct violation of international law, conventions, and treaties – is dominant today. The destruction of Yugoslavia was partly engineered – certainly encouraged – by imperialist politicians in Europe and America, as a way to claim more power, escape the confines of international law, and flex their newfound imperial muscle. In 1990, a German who dared envision the Bundeswehr occupying a portion of Serbia following the Luftwaffe bombing of Belgrade would have been arrested on charges of glorifying the Nazi past. Yet both of those things came to pass and were praised as "progress." Today, the German military is girding for more foreign intervention, without a word of protest. In 1991, Americans wanted a "peace dividend" from four decades of gearing up for war with the Soviet Union. What they got was a "benevolent global hegemony" that seeks to insert American money, troops, and bombs into every corner of the globe that a handful of policymakers in Washington believes crucial to ongoing American world supremacy. If rumors about Ahtisaari's proposal are true, the Empire is trying to establish a Bosnia-style arrangement in Kosovo, which would give Albanians independence on paper but make them a dependency of the EU in fact. As said here before, this sort of "solution" is the worst of all worlds; the Albanians would continue to blame everyone else for the barbaric state of their society and economy (for which they have only themselves to blame), taking that anger out on the few remaining Serbs – who will be cut off from Serbia and trapped in "diversity reservations" much as they are now – and the transient imperial bureaucrats, who will cower in their compounds much as they do now and issue statements about how democracy and human rights in "multi-ethnic" Kosovo are doing just fine, thank you very much. This isn't about Serbs or Albanians; it's about power and control. Soul of a Nation Kosovo is much more than 15 percent of modern Serbia's territory, or a depository of mineral wealth, as some materialistic analysts dub it. It is the birthplace of Serb ethnic identity. Every nation has its own "creation myth." Americans celebrate their own every 4th of July: the Declaration of Independence, George Washington and the Continental Army, the Boston Tea Party… For Serbs, it is a hot summer day in 1389 when their quarrelsome nobles rallied to offer battle to the invading Turks. Perhaps the actions of Prince Lazar and his nobles were not so pure as the oral tradition made them out to be – but they nonetheless inspired such a tradition, and ensured that a spirit of liberty and honor persevered for the next 400 years under the cruel Ottoman yoke. This tradition infuriates the modern "liberals" and "democrats," who – true to their Communist roots – fear and despise religion, deny objective morality, and wallow in relativist drivel. It is not a coincidence that the loudest and most obnoxious Serb-haters in Serbia itself are formerly privileged members of the Old Regime and their young protégés. The Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary, Imperial or Nazi Germany, the Comintern, or the American Hegemony: every force that saw Serbia as a threat throughout its modern history has sought to deprive the Serbs of Kosovo in some way, recognizing its value to the Serb identity – sometimes more than the Serbs themselves. A Matter of Values On Oct. 29, Serbian voters narrowly approved a new constitution, which asserts in the preamble that Kosovo is an integral part of Serbian territory. The constitution is far from ideal; it is too long, too cumbersome, too vague, and suffers from political correctness and welfare-statist nonsense. And it alone will not preserve Kosovo, nor make Serbia a better country. The American Constitution was written over two centuries ago, and is still one of the best in the world – yet the U.S government has bent it out of shape for decades. Had any of the Founding Fathers imagined the modern federal bureaucracy and the taxation it requires to stay afloat, they would have surely chosen to remain English. If it does not embody the values and beliefs of the population that created it, a constitution is nothing more than a scrap of paper. It is the values and beliefs – or lack thereof – that matter. If Serbs truly value Kosovo, they have to assert not just sovereignty over the territory, but also a desire to live there. Otherwise, what is the point of keeping it in the first place? The biggest advantage the Albanians have in claiming Kosovo is that they want it. They also want other parts of Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Greece, but they can't even dream about any of that without Kosovo. Liberty is a big part of Serb tradition. And property rights are inseparable from liberty. According to land registers, vast portions of the province are the outright property of the Orthodox Church (the name Metohija means "church land," after all). Yet how can Serbia claim Kosovo on that basis, while refusing to restore the property rights of the Church at home, or those of people whose possessions were seized by the Communists in 1945? Not Theirs to Give Struggling to rediscover their identity, culture, and tradition after decades of Communism, the Serbs need to decide whether to rebuild it on the already existing foundation of Kosovo, or choose something else altogether. One alternative being offered is "Euro-Atlantic integrations," democracy, and human rights – a worldview appealing greatly to the residues of Communist thinking. A Serb poet commented last year: "If Kosovo is not ours, why are they asking us to give it up? If it is theirs, why are they taking it by force? And if they can take it by force, why they are so circumspect about it?" The Empire is pushing hard for the ruling circles in Belgrade to give up Kosovo, declare the rape of 1999 consensual, and abandon claims to law and principle in favor of temporary expedience. It is not a trade; the Empire is not offering anything. To take Kosovo, the Empire needs Serbia's consent. Much as some people in Belgrade would be happy to oblige, that consent is not theirs to give. The battle for Kosovo is not over yet. |
Kosovo: Bulgaria, Macedonia and Montenegro have betrayed Serbia
Kosovo: Bulgaria, Macedonia and Montenegro have betrayed Serbia
In the last months, the head of the interim government of Kosovo Agim Ceku have visited a number of countries to enlist their support for Kosovo's independence. He visited the US and the UK, Bulgaria and FYR Macedonia. Ceku's visits have not gone unnoticed: the world community is very much interested in what status Kosovo will get and in what stance the UN SC and Contact Group members and Balkan states have on the matter. Special attention was given to Ceku's Nov 3 visit to Montenegro, who quite recently voted to secede from Serbia.
In Montenegro Ceku met with the prime minister, the speaker of the parliament, the FM, and all of them treated him as the head of the government of a state. Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic said that the key topic of his talk with Ceku was not the status of Kosovo but the future of the region and good neighbor relations between Montenegro and Kosovo. Ignoring the fact that Kosovo is an integral part of Serbia, Djukanovic stressed that, despite its status, Kosovo is Montenegro's neighbor and so, the sides should be interested in being good neighbors.
Djukanovic and Ceku exchanged their views of how to eliminate structural restrictions to the liberalization of the energy and other markets in the Balkans and how to attract big investors in the region. They also stressed the need to open new border crossings for bringing closer the business interests of Montenegro and Kosovo and discussed ways to strengthen border control and to jointly fight organized crime. Djukanovic said that Montenegrin and Kosovan government delegations would meet to discuss the return of Kosovan refugees in Montenegro.
Concerning the status of Kosovo, Djukanovic said that Montenegro is interested in the urgent resolution of this problem – under the agreement between Belgrade and Pristina and with the consent of the world community – and is ready to support any decision to be passed by the world community. Ceku used his visit to state once again that the provision of Kosovo with independence is the only permanent decision. He once more expressed conviction that this decision will be made by the end of this year.
During his visit to Montenegro, Ceku also met with the leaders of the Albanian parties in Montenegro and with the heads of the Albanian community of Ulcinj, a municipality where Albanians constitute over 70% of the population. Ceku said that the Albanian community in Montenegro has always been constructive: it has never posed a threat to the country's interests but, on the contrary, has actively protected them. Ceku commended the Albanian community for their active role in the current processes in Montenegro and expressed hope that "the Montenegrin Government will respond positively by guaranteeing the exercise of the rights of Albanians in Montenegro."
It is not clear what rights Ceku meant, but it is known well that the Montenegrin Albanians want autonomy and hope that Kosovo's independence will help them in the matter. Some people believe that the Montenegrin authorities invited Ceku to Montenegro with a view to improve their relations with the local Albanian minority after the Sept 2006 arrest of Albanian extremists from the Movement for the Rights of Albanians in Montenegro. On Nov 6, Montenegrin Public Prosecutor Vesna Medenica said that this group, together with the fighters from the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army, were plotting terrorist acts in the territory of Montenegro.
The visit of Ceku has received a very negative response from the opposition parties of Montenegro, who said that it was "a scandal that will cause grave political consequences" and "an attempt to stab in the back the Serbian leaders and all Serbs in the Balkans." The Socialist People's Party of Montenegro said that the invitation of Ceku, "the well-known representative of the Kosovan extremists," was an act of open support for those forces who want to separate Kosovo and Metohija from Serbia. "The visit of Ceku, who is suspected of having committed military crimes against Serbs, Montenegrins and other non-Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija, looked especially provocative as it took place right after the adoption of the Constitution of Serbia and exactly at the moment when the world community is trying to solve the problem of Kosovo and Metohija in line with the UN Charter and UN SC Resolution 1244."
The Democratic Serbian Party said that "now that Serbia is taking active diplomatic steps to keep Kosovo from secession and the problem of the status of this southern Serbian region is entering the final stage, the invitation of Ceku to visit Montenegro was a non-diplomatic act" and can be interpreted as an interference in the internal affairs of another state. The Socialist People's Party of Montenegro said that "by inviting Ceku, Djukanovic and his regime have openly taken the side of the Albanian extremists in Kosovo and Metohija," while the People's Party of Montenegro said that "by so doing they have shown support for the Ceku separatist regime" and that "Montenegro's independence gained with the decisive support of Albanians was just the first step towards the possible secession of Kosovo and Metohija from Serbia." The party urged all opposition parties to initiate a special parliamentary session for considering "the Montenegrin authorities' open support for the Albanian separatists in Kosovo."
They in Serbia have strongly criticized the invitation of Ceku to Montenegro. Serbian President Boris Tadic said that it was "an unacceptable and unnecessary gesture" by Djukanovic now that the sides are negotiating the future status of Kosovo. They in the Serbian Government said that Kosovo is an inalienable part of Serbia rather than "a neighbor state for Montenegro" as the Montenegrin officials said. Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica warned the Montenegrin Government that they "should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia in line with the UN Charter and the international law. Otherwise, they will be responsible for possible serious consequences in Serbian-Montenegrin relations."
The G-17+ party said that the position of the Montenegrin authorities does not contribute to the development of good neighbor relations between Serbia and Montenegro and must be condemned, while the secretary general of the Serbian Radical Party Aleksandar Vucic said that it was "the most shameful act in the history of Montenegro" and "the Montenegrin authorities just returned the favor done to them during the referendum [on Montenegro's independence]." The Socialist Party of Serbia demanded that the Serbian authorities show tough reaction to this "anti-Serbian gesture" of the Montenegrin leadership. The Blitz daily (Belgrade) said that "Djukanovic may go into history as the person who restored Montenegro's independence but he is also the person who spoiled Montenegro's relations with Serbia — the first and most natural ally."
Djukanovic and Montenegrin Foreign Minister Vlahovic denied the charges and said that the talks with Ceku have not spoiled Montenegro's relations with Serbia, who remains the country's key partner, and were not aimed at influencing the talks for Kosovo's future status.
In their turn, the Kosovan authorities have blamed Serbia for interfering in the policies of its neighbors. The spokeswoman of the Kosovan Government Ujlpijana Ljama said that Serbia should accept the new reality in the Balkans. However, some forces in Kosovo think otherwise. The Serbian Vece believes that the decision of the Montenegrin authorities to officially receive Ceku has deeply hurt the Serbs and the Montenegrins in Kosovo. However, this step was not unexpected as Djukanovic is deeply in debt to the Albanian community for his stay in power all these years.
After his visit to Montenegro, Ceku continued his tour: he visited Albania, on Nov 6 he went to Slovakia, where local officials told him that the decision on Kosovo's status requires absolute consensus and that the Kosovan authorities should refrain from one-sided steps. And now Ceku is planning to go to Moscow and is waiting for the Russians' response to his wish to visit Russia for explaining the stance of the Kosovan leadership…
Kosovo, Montenegrin Separatists In Criminal Collusion
http://www.regnum.ru/english/736189.html
Regnum (Russia)
November 11, 2006
Kosovo: Bulgaria, Macedonia and Montenegro have
betrayed Serbia
-Some people believe that the Montenegrin authorities
invited Ceku to Montenegro with a view to improve
their relations with the local Albanian minority after
the Sept 2006 arrest of Albanian extremists from the
Movement for the Rights of Albanians in Montenegro. On
Nov 6, Montenegrin Public Prosecutor Vesna Medenica
said that this group, together with the fighters from
the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army, were plotting
terrorist acts in the territory of Montenegro.
-"The visit of Ceku, who is suspected of having
committed military crimes against Serbs, Montenegrins
and other non-Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija, looked
especially provocative as it took place right after
the adoption of the Constitution of Serbia and exactly
at the moment when the world community is trying to
solve the problem of Kosovo and Metohija in line with
the UN Charter and UN SC Resolution 1244."
-"Montenegro's independence gained with the decisive
support of Albanians was just the first step towards
the possible secession of Kosovo and Metohija from
Serbia."
In the last few months, the head of the interim
government of Kosovo Agim Ceku has visited a number of
countries to enlist their support for Kosovo's
independence.
He visited the US and the UK, Bulgaria and FYR
Macedonia.
Ceku's visits have not gone unnoticed: the world
community is very much interested in what status
Kosovo will get and in what stance the UN Security
Council and Contact Group members and Balkan states
have on the matter.
Special attention was given to Ceku's Nov 3 visit to
Montenegro, which quite recently voted to secede from
Serbia.
In Montenegro Ceku met with the prime minister, the
speaker of the parliament, the FM, and all of them
treated him as the head of the government of a state.
Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic said that
the key topic of his talk with Ceku was not the status
of Kosovo but the future of the region and good
neighborly relations between Montenegro and Kosovo.
Ignoring the fact that Kosovo is an integral part of
Serbia, Djukanovic stressed that, despite its status,
Kosovo is Montenegro's neighbor and so the sides
should be interested in being good neighbors.
Djukanovic and Ceku exchanged their views of how to
eliminate structural restrictions to the
liberalization of the energy and other markets in the
Balkans and how to attract big investors in the
region.
They also stressed the need to open new border
crossings for bringing closer the business interests
of Montenegro and Kosovo and discussed ways to
strengthen border control and to jointly fight
organized crime. Djukanovic said that the Montenegrin
and Kosovan government delegations would meet to
discuss the return of Kosovan refugees in Montenegro.
Concerning the status of Kosovo, Djukanovic said that
Montenegro is interested in the urgent resolution of
this problem – under the agreement between Belgrade
and Pristina and with the consent of the world
community – and is ready to support any decision to be
passed by the world community.
Ceku used his visit to state once again that the
provision of Kosovo with independence is the only
permanent decision. He once more expressed his
conviction that this decision will be made by the end
of this year.
During his visit to Montenegro, Ceku also met with the
leaders of the Albanian parties in Montenegro and with
the heads of the Albanian community of Ulcinj, a
municipality where Albanians constitute over 70% of
the population.
Ceku said that the Albanian community in Montenegro
has always been constructive: it has never posed a
threat to the country's interests but, on the
contrary, has actively protected them.
Ceku commended the Albanian community for their active
role in the current processes in Montenegro and
expressed hope that "the Montenegrin Government will
respond positively by guaranteeing the exercise of the
rights of Albanians in Montenegro."
It is not clear what rights Ceku meant, but it is
known well that the Montenegrin Albanians want
autonomy and hope that Kosovo's independence will help
them in the matter.
Some people believe that the Montenegrin authorities
invited Ceku to Montenegro with a view to improve
their relations with the local Albanian minority after
the Sept 2006 arrest of Albanian extremists from the
Movement for the Rights of Albanians in Montenegro. On
Nov 6, Montenegrin Public Prosecutor Vesna Medenica
said that this group, together with the fighters from
the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army, were plotting
terrorist acts in the territory of Montenegro.
The visit of Ceku has received a very negative
response from the opposition parties of Montenegro,
who said that it was "a scandal that will cause grave
political consequences" and "an attempt to stab in the
back the Serbian leaders and all Serbs in the
Balkans."
The Socialist People's Party of Montenegro said that
the invitation of Ceku, "the well-known representative
of the Kosovan extremists," was an act of open support
for those forces who want to separate Kosovo and
Metohija from Serbia.
"The visit of Ceku, who is suspected of having
committed military crimes against Serbs, Montenegrins
and other non-Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija, looked
especially provocative as it took place right after
the adoption of the Constitution of Serbia and exactly
at the moment when the world community is trying to
solve the problem of Kosovo and Metohija in line with
the UN Charter and UN SC Resolution 1244."
The Democratic Serbian Party said that "now that
Serbia is taking active diplomatic steps to keep
Kosovo from secession and the problem of the status of
this southern Serbian region is entering the final
stage, the invitation of Ceku to visit Montenegro was
a non-diplomatic act" and can be interpreted as an
interference in the internal affairs of another state.
The Socialist People's Party of Montenegro said that
"by inviting Ceku, Djukanovic and his regime have
openly taken the side of the Albanian extremists in
Kosovo and Metohija," while the People's Party of
Montenegro said that "by so doing they have shown
support for the Ceku separatist regime" and that
"Montenegro's independence gained with the decisive
support of Albanians was just the first step towards
the possible secession of Kosovo and Metohija from
Serbia."
The party urged all opposition parties to initiate a
special parliamentary session for considering "the
Montenegrin authorities' open support for the Albanian
separatists in Kosovo."
Those in Serbia have strongly criticized the
invitation of Ceku to Montenegro.
Serbian President Boris Tadic said that it was "an
unacceptable and unnecessary gesture" by Djukanovic
now that the sides are negotiating the future status
of Kosovo.
Those in the Serbian Government said that Kosovo is an
inalienable part of Serbia rather than "a neighboring
state for Montenegro" as the Montenegrin officials
said.
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica warned the
Montenegrin Government that they "should respect the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia in
line with the UN Charter and international law.
Otherwise, they will be responsible for possible
serious consequences in Serbian-Montenegrin
relations."
The G-17+ party said that the position of the
Montenegrin authorities does not contribute to the
development of good neighborly relations between
Serbia and Montenegro and must be condemned, while the
secretary general of the Serbian Radical Party
Aleksandar Vucic said that it was "the most shameful
act in the history of Montenegro" and "the Montenegrin
authorities just returned the favor done to them
during the referendum [on Montenegro's independence]."
The Socialist Party of Serbia demanded that the
Serbian authorities show tough reaction to this
"anti-Serbian gesture" of the Montenegrin leadership.
The Blic daily (Belgrade) said that "Djukanovic may go
into history as the person who restored Montenegro's
independence but he is also the person who spoiled
Montenegro's relations with Serbia — the first and
most natural ally."
Djukanovic and Montenegrin Foreign Minister Vlahovic
denied the charges and said that the talks with Ceku
have not spoiled Montenegro's relations with Serbia,
who remains the country's key partner, and were not
aimed at influencing the talks for Kosovo's future
status.
In their turn, the Kosovan authorities have blamed
Serbia for interfering in the policies of its
neighbors. The spokeswoman of the Kosovan Government
Ujlpijana Ljama said that Serbia should accept the new
reality in the Balkans.
However, some forces in Kosovo think otherwise. The
Serbian Vece believes that the decision of the
Montenegrin authorities to officially receive Ceku has
deeply hurt the Serbs and the Montenegrins in Kosovo.
However, this step was not unexpected as Djukanovic is
deeply in debt to the Albanian community for his stay
in power all these years.
After his visit to Montenegro, Ceku continued his
tour: he visited Albania, on Nov 6 he went to
Slovakia, where local officials told him that the
decision on Kosovo's status requires absolute
consensus and that the Kosovan authorities should
refrain from one-sided steps. And now Ceku is planning
to go to Moscow and is waiting for the Russians'
response to his wish to visit Russia for explaining
the stance of the Kosovan leadership.
Kosovo (Serbia): The UN in Kosovo - a Legacy of Impunity.
Amnesty International.
November 08, 2006
The Globe and Mail: Keep an eye on that "damned silly thing" in Kosovo
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
31 oct. 2006
James Bissett (former Canadian Ambassador to Yugoslavia)
Interview with Jim Jatras: In search for Kosovo solution
November 1st, 2006
Boba Borojevic interview with Jim Jatras
IN SEARCH FOR KOSOVO SOLUTION
Message by Bishop Artemije to democratic world:
Do not tolerate violations of religious freedoms and the extermination of Christianity in Kosovo by Albanians.
Do not consider the creation of an independent Kosovo managed by criminals and jihad supporters.
Bishop Artemije of Raska and Prizren has appealed to the Canadian authorities to use their influence with UN members and NATO to secure ''a re-examination of the wrong policy of the international community in connection with the recognition of the independence of Kosovo and Metohija.'' ''I wonder how it is possible that the international community and the democratic world tolerate violations of religious freedoms and the extermination of Christianity, while they are considering the creating of an independent Kosovo managed by criminals and jihad supporters,'' Bishop Artemije told a press conference held at the Canadian Parliament in What is the significance of these visits?
Each of the countries you have mentioned is very important to the effort we have been mounting on behalf of the Serbian community in Kosovo, under the spiritual guidance of Bishop Artemije. The American government (my government) is largely the source of the problem. It appears that the Russian government is largely the solution to the problem, and we think that Canadian government can be a very useful catalyst in opening the eyes of the international community to the seriousness of the error, which some people would like to commit in Kosovo. The Canadian government has a very high international reputation regarding the rule of law and observance of international standards. It was with that appeal we came to the Parliament to enlist the support of the Canadian public and government in voicing their opinion against the illegal and unjustified detachment of Kosovo from .
As a Director of the American Council for Kosovo, adviser to Bishop Artemije and the Serbs from Kosovo, what is your strategy in fighting against enormous pressure by many foreign factors that insist on granting independence to Albanian Muslims in Kosovo?
Essentially, through several ways: One is to broaden the circle of public opinion here in the to focus the concerns of politically and socially active sectors on Kosovo. This means we are reaching out to groups that are concerned about a number of issues like human rights, religious freedom, global terrorism, and so forth, and directing their attention toward Kosovo, because until now most of these interests are not focused on Kosovo. Instead, Kosovo is being dealt with by a small group of bureaucrats who made up their minds a long time ago as to what the solution for Kosovo ought to be independence -- and are still perusing that option. We are trying to make as hard for them as possible. At the same time, the second element -- and that was the reason for our trip to
You have just mentioned your and Bishop Artemijes visit to
There has been an increased assertiveness from that is very different from the kind of policy we saw during the Yeltsin era and even in the early years of the Putin presidency, where we had the color revolutions and NATO expansion and, essentially, just over and over again diktat from
We have heard on CNN two days ago, David Gergeneditor-at-large for US News and World Report repeating what Clinton and others have said before, that in order to build new bridges of trust so that Muslim lands do not remain a breeding ground for new waves of terrorists, we should point out to these Muslims how much America has sacrificed to protect Muslims in Bosnia and Kosovo. Will this kind of appeasement of Muslims by the West work?
There is no doubt that that kind of thought among many people in
Kosovo is part of and will remain so. This is what we have heard from Bishop Artemije and you during your visit to
One very important thing and this is something that was clear during our visit to Ottawa is to keep in mind that Bishop Artemije is the shepherd of a flock that will be eradicated if Kosovo becomes an independent state. Bishop Artemije speaks out with an overwhelming moral voice in support for his Christian Serbian community in Kosovo, for the Christian presence in Kosovo against jihad terrorism and organized crime in Kosovo. Everyone who hears this program in or elsewhere can do two things. First, they should contact their elected representatives and tell them it would be wrong for their government (if they are listening in , the Canadian government, -- in the the American government) to support this illegal detachment of Kosovo from , which would result in a major gain for terrorism and organized crime. Second, the other very important thing is to do anything and everything that can be done to support Bishop Artemije. Please visit our site www.savekosovo.org . In light of the delay in the decision on imposing a final status -- which we now see -- there is an element of growing panic on the Albanian side that things are slipping away from them. We need to build on that momentum. Contact your government, say NO to Kosovo independence -- and support Bishop Artemije.
Kosovo sours relations between Montenegro and Serbia
November 07, 2006 9:30 AM
PODGORICA, Montenegro-Montenegro's government leader on Tuesday rejected Serbia's criticism about his recent meeting with the separatist leader of Kosovo, the breakaway province whose future status is being discussed in U.N.-mediated talks.
Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic said he saw no problem in meeting last week with Agim Ceku, the ethnic Albanian leader of Kosovo, which has been an international protectorate since the 1998-99 war there between Serb troops and the separatist rebels.
"I absolutely reject any objections from Serbia concerning Ceku's visit ... we did not discuss Kosovo's future status," said Djukanovic, following accusations by Serbian officials that receiving Ceku was a "stab in the back" to Serbia's efforts to prevent Kosovo's secession.
Serbia's leadership has said that accepting Ceku as a visiting statesman meant Montenegro's readiness to recognize Kosovo as a state.
Talks over Kosovo's future are under way under the auspices of the U.N., Western powers and Russia. The province has been run by the U.N. and NATO since 1999 when the alliance's bombing forced Serbs to halt their crackdown on the separatists and pull out.
The crackdown was led by former Serb leader, Slobodan Milosevic, who was toppled in 2000 by pro-democracy politicians. The new leadership contends that, despite Milosevic's devastating brutality in Kosovo, Serbs cannot give up completely on the southern province, considered Serbia's historic heartland.
"It's an inertia of old, failed policies," Djukanovic said about the comments from Belgrade. "Whatever Kosovo becomes in the future, it borders Montenegro" and needs good relations with neighbors.
Montenegro itself declared independence from Serbia earlier this year. Belgrade did not contest that move because Montenegro was a partner republic from the old Yugoslav federation, but insists that Kosovo is not entitled to same.
Ceku declared after his Friday meeting with Djukanovic that Kosovo would follow in Montenegro's steps.
Djukanovic himself is expected to step down as Montenegro's prime minister on Wednesday.
His Democratic Party of Socialists triumphed in recent elections, but Djukanovic, for years the most powerful figure in Montenegro, said he would not seek a third term and has hand-picked a trusted aide, Justice Minister Zeljko Sturanovic, as his successor.
November 07, 2006
Serbia tells Kosovo mediator to quit
Serbia tells Kosovo mediator to quit
Web posted at: 11/7/2006 4:9:31
Source ::: AFP
BELGRADE • Belgrade yesterday told the United Nations envoy to Kosovo talks to resign, accusing him of bias against Serbia in negotiations on the future status of the disputed province.
“It would be best if (Martti) Ahtisaari resigned on his own because he has failed to organise serious talks and achieve a compromise,” the independent FoNet news agency quoted government spokesman Srdjan Djuric as saying.
Djuric accused Ahtisaari, a former Finnish president, of trying to control the talks and impose a solution that he had come up with before they began in February.
“Ahtisaari was certainly not given a mandate to secretly write with Albanians any paper on Kosovo, so it has been a failure in advance,” Djuric said of the negotiations.
Kosovo is formally still a part of Serbia but has been administered by the UN for the past seven years. Its ethnic Albanian majority wants independence but Serbia is not prepared to allow this.
“It is high time that Ahtisaari leaves this job to a new international mediator, who would stick to the UN Charter and international law from the beginning,” Djuric said.
Simultaneously, the Kosovo Albanian negotiating team said there was no reason to continue direct talks with Belgrade because they had failed so far.
“The Unity Team is convinced that the talks with Belgrade cannot bring any outcome. Thus the team is of the opinion that it is absolutely profitless... to even think of continuing the negotiations,” said spokesman Skender Hyseni.
Hyseni told reporters the team was “ready to continue contacts and partnership with the international community untill the (decision on final) status is completed”.
Ahtisaari said in October that eight months of negotiations between Belgrade and the leaders of Kosovo’s ethnic-Albanian majority had led nowhere and suggested a deal be imposed.
He is expected on Friday to present his recommendations to the Contact Group of six powerful nations overseeing peace in the Balkans.
A Kosovo newspaper reported last week that Ahtisaari had proposed offering “limited sovereignty” to the ethnic Albanians, who comprise around 90 percent of the province’s two million population.
Kosovo has been managed by the UN since 1999, when a 78-day Nato bombing campaign halted a crackdown by Serbian forces against Kosovo’s separatist Albanian rebels.
Kosovo has been in limbo ever since. Its future status was set to be resolved by the year’s end. But a decision could be delayed because of an expected Serbian general election in December.
Speaking during a visit the Slovakian capital Bratislava on Monday, Kosovo’s ethnic-Albanian prime minister, Agim Ceku, urged the international community not to delay its decision on the province’s status.
Missing persons in Kosovo
Missing
The real question is: why?
Danijela Slavnic
Unexpectedly for many Kosovo crisis observers, proliferation of terrorism and violence resulted with huge number of cases of missing and kidnapped civilians, mostly non-Albanians (especially Serbs): in the summer of 1998, spring 1999 and during 2000. Actually, last reported kidnappings occurred in 2004. Although such acts of terror were well known to local population and local authorities, eccentric doubts could be summarized with only one question: If victims were held in hidden prisons and if after some time they were executed, where are the bodies?
Searches, investigations, intelligence and identifications took more then 6 years for many international and local authorities who worked on missing persons cases, but still there are many unanswered questions concerning the fate of missing. There are still discrepancies between the figures: number of reported missing persons cases doesnt match with number of recovered and identified NN bodies in Kosovo. This is the factual condition regardless on the missing persons nationalities, but utmost divergence is with so called non-Albanian cases. The real question is: why?
Recently published story concerning the fate of two Serbian missing soldiers in Kosovo, who were secretly and illegally held in US Army prison in Germany, brought the missing persons issue to the scope of public again. Sadly, this problem was almost forgotten.
Speaking about treatment and approach to this issue by the local and international authorities, we may see that missing persons issue was politically hindered. It is not so surprising if this concerns some foreign policies and institutions, but it is odd when this comes to local authorities, especially for some in Serbia proper.
At the very beginning, families of missing persons and other people offered lot of information that indicated existence of civil, foreign military and local illegal detentions region wide: in Republic Albania, FRY Macedonia, Federation B&H but in Europe too. Such information were treated as unreliable and were never seriously checked which was intentional informational handling whose aim was to prevent from any professional investigations. Somebodys plan was to leave aside known and unknown prisons in Kosovo (and region-wide) from police inquiries.
Constant obstacles and underestimations stroke any serious attempt to look after some missing people at designated places. Simply, real searches and operations were impossible. Even in several exceptions, there were no enough courage and will of certain individuals who rather looked into their careers, profit and local politicians then the professional and human values of their duty. It seemed that human lives dont worth much in the Kosovos gloomy ghetto.
In 2000 some people who were reported missing in 1999, managed to escape illegal prison in Tropoja (small town nearby Serbian and Albanian border). The "case" was managed in deep silence by KFOR. The same happened with some missing persons who were kidnapped in 2000 and managed to escape illegal detention center that was located in northern-east Kosovo in 2001. Again, the case was the mystery. In addition, we could recall many cases from 1998 and at least 10 KLAs illegal detentions that re-operated after international forces arrival to Kosovo, such as in Jablanica, Musutiste, Drenovac, Pakastica, Junik, Milosevo, Kacanik, Stimlje and many other places throughout Kosovo. Lack of real operational cooperation and activities between Serbian and international security forces resulted in minor results concerning recovery of dead, but not alive victims of kidnappings although there were a number of possibilities to find somebody alive. However, this never happened. If any person would manage to survive illegal detention, that was because of his/her escape or release by kidnappers it never happened that international police, KFOR, ICRC, local police or local authorities succeeded to find and release kidnapped and missing people. Bearing this in mind, we can only think about how is this possible? Are the all "professionals" indeed incapable or they are somehow prevented from doing their job?
Families of missing are well introduced with this situation and they have reasonable doubts to trust no one. More specific situation gain more suffer and efforts for the families of missing soldiers, volunteers and policemans, who are confronted with more bureaucracy, rules, roughness of systems and opinionated international and local players. Comparing to other cases, local military and police systems were not provided with prompt equipment, budget and human resources to deal with these cases at the right way. Especially military representatives were played down by own political establishment and international authorities on the other side. Each attempt to use official intelligence channels, Interpol, European high-levels of ICRC and designated contacts in other countries simply have failed. Sometimes there was no will to initiate such scope of work, but sometimes such attempts were stopped. In several cases operations to raid suspected facilities were intentionally prolonged once in took almost 30 days, which was too late even for the traces. Under regular circumstances, raids would be done immediately.
Finally, according to some recent experience we shouldnt be in shock if in the future there will be more cases of missing persons sudden appearance. Regretfully, we might hope for only small number of "lucky" individuals who somehow managed to survive years of torture and secret imprisonment or there will be no more survivors to witness horrible and inhumane scenes. But the most horrifying and bizarre is the fact that all of that would never happened if the authorities of all sides involved did their job responsibly, professionally, humanly, fairly, incalculable and fearlessly.
Remarks:
The author is pre-graduate from the Faculty of Security in Belgrade
See also:
- Albanian terrorists (english version) http://www.guskova.ru/misc/balcan/AT/
- KLA and NATO against Yugoslavia http://www.apisgroup.org/pr.html?id=46
- Albanian Terrorism and Organized Crime in Kosovo and Metohija - Albanski terorizam i organizovani kriminal na Kosovu i Metohiji http://www.apisgroup.org/pr.html?id=64
- Jugoslovenska kriza i ratovi http://www.apisgroup.org/pr.html?id=69
27. oktobar 2006. godine
November 06, 2006
Briefly: Decision on Kosovo could be delayed
INTERNATIONAL
Ethnic Albanians' hopes of Kosovo's being granted independence by the end of the year were placed in doubt over the weekend as Secretary General Kofi Annan of the United Nations said talks on the future of the province could be delayed.
Annan told a Croatian newspaper that fears that a UN proposal for Kosovo's future status might influence elections in Serbia, which is struggling to retain its links with the province, meant that the world body might "not stick to the deadlines as we had originally planned."
His comments are the most serious suggestion so far that a timetable advanced by five Western governments and adopted by the UN could be dropped. On Sunday, Annan's office confirmed that negotiations could be extended into next year after Serbia holds parliamentary elections, but maintained that the UN's chief negotiator on Kosovo still aimed to conclude negotiations by the end of the year.
November 05, 2006
Depleted Uranium Haunts Kosovo and Iraq
Iraq and Kosovo may be thousands of miles apart, but they share the dubious distinction of contamination with radioactive residue from depleted uranium (DU) bullets used in American air strikes. After several years of silence, US officials finally admitted that 340 tons of DU were fired during the Gulf war. In Kosovo, American delays in providing details of quantities and target points have frustrated international efforts to assess health risks. Despite repeated requests, NATO waited almost a full year after the start of bombing in March 1999 to say that 31,000 DU bullets--a fraction of the number fired in Iraq--were fired by A-10 "tankbuster" aircraft over Kosovo. A Belgrade report published this April estimates that about 50,000 DU bullets had been used in parts of Serbia and Montenegro as well as Kosovo. Evidence is plentiful on the ground that DU was used in heavily populated areas, and that civilians and returning refugees were never warned of the danger.
The high-density bullet is made of low-level radioactive waste left over from manufacturing nuclear fuel and bombs. DU bullets were designed in the 1970s to defeat top-line Soviet tanks. Some 20 nations now keep the world's best armor-piercing rounds in their arsenals. First used in combat during the Gulf war, they proved to be unmatched tank slayers. (A Pentagon official points to one other benefit: the US can give away its 1.2 billion pound stockpile of radioactive waste to weapons manufacturers.) When DU smashes into a hard target, it pulverizes into breathable dust that remains radioactive for 4.5 billion years. American nuclear scientists have found that DU dust can travel at least 26 miles. Scientists of the National Institute for Health Protection in Macedonia detected eight times higher than normal levels of alpha radiation--the primary type emitted by DU--in the air during the air war. Yugoslav soldiers have found DU rounds in Bujanovic in the south, and a Swiss-led international team found "serious radioactivity" when it dug up many rounds at a radio tower near Vranje.
Despite predicting that "every future battlefield will be contaminated" with DU, the Pentagon asserts that DU risk is minimal. But training materials developed in the 1990s require full protective gear and masks in contaminated areas, in line with Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) rules. The US military requires an NRC license to handle the smallest amount of the restricted material. A US Army-commissioned health report issued just days before the Gulf war noted that radiation is linked with cancer and said that "no dose [of DU] is so low that the probability of effect is zero." Still, the Pentagon argues that "residual DU from battlefields in Kosovo does not pose a significant risk to human health."
US soldiers partly ascribe Gulf war syndrome to DU exposure. British troops deployed in Kosovo are suing their defense ministry for ailments they attribute to DU. The UN refugee agency in Kosovo now includes papers in personnel files to note work in potentially DU-contaminated areas. In Kosovo, Western de-mining groups were told by NATO to "exercise caution" and not to climb on destroyed armored vehicles. Last October Col. Eric Daxon, the US Army's top radiological expert, said: "The best thing I can tell anybody about entering a contaminated vehicle or damaged vehicle is: 'Don't do it. It is a dangerous place to be.'"
But that message never got through to hundreds of thousands of Kosovar Albanians, in whose name the Kosovo campaign was fought, and whose DU exposure could be highest. Rexh Himaj, a mechanic who lost most of his tools during the conflict, didn't think twice about salvaging parts from destroyed Serbian vehicles. Like thousands of returning refugees, he was just glad to get back to work.
But the concrete surface of a Serbian military base on the west side of Djakovica where I found him working was pockmarked with DU hits, as was the nearby road. The ground was littered with spent aluminum shell casings that are unique to 30 mm DU bullets. A boy climbed on a burned-out armored vehicle, then jumped off and kicked at a shell casing.
"Now I know it's dangerous, but that is a risk I've got to take," said Himaj, when the telltale casings are explained. His hands were greasy-black with work. "If [the Americans] didn't use this stuff, then we might still have Serbs here. On the other hand...I hope they clean it up." But cleanup is virtually impossible. One US Defense Department report lists eight soil decontamination techniques, including multiple nitric acid washes, but "in no case did the achieved separation suffice to allow unrestricted disposal."
A confidential preliminary UN report leaked in May 1999, as the bombing continued, did not mince words: "This type of ammunition is nuclear waste, and its use is very dangerous and harmful," it said. After NATO released its figures, the UN recommended that "measures should be taken to prevent access." For Kosovars, like Iraqis, such warnings may be too late.
Scott Peterson covers the Middle East for the Christian Science Monitor.
For comprehensive coverage of depleted uranium, visit <http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/1999/04/29/p1.htm>
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=PET20061105&articleId=3715
Healing Kosovo
Healing Kosovo
The Boston Globe
Published: November 5, 2006
The war that drove the Serbian forces of Slobodan Milosevic out of Kosovo seven years ago is not much remembered today, but the nation- building mission international actors have undertaken in that breakaway region of Serbia is now approaching a fateful turning point. Getting Kosovo's future right is crucial for stability in the Balkans, for the process of European Union enlargement, and for relations among Muslims and Christians across the continent. What happens to Kosovo may also influence ethnic minorities in multiethnic states such as Russia, Iraq and Sri Lanka who form a majority in one region and want to secede and become a majority in a new independent state.
The United Nations Special Envoy for Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari of Finland, is poised to present a proposal on the region's final status that is likely to leave maximalists among both Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority and its Serb minority dissatisfied. Even the timing of Ahtisaari's presentation is controversial, with some EU representatives wanting to delay it until after elections in Serbia that are expected before the end of the year. The logic of such a delay is politically sound. It assumes that even a protracted UN-backed process leading to some form of independence for Kosovo will provoke voters in Serbia to support hard-line nationalists in the forthcoming elections.
So it makes sense to wait a month or two before undraping a final- status plan for Kosovo that both Albanian Kosovars and Serbs will see as an imposed solution. With so much invested in the rehabilitation of Kosovo, care must be taken to prevent political passions from wrecking the construction of a peaceful and stable Kosovo.
Toward that end, a successful UN prescription for Kosovo ought to include strong guarantees of minority rights. This will be crucial. The new Kosovo will have to be constructed as a multiethnic state in which not only Serbs but Bosnian Muslims, Turks and other minorities are protected. To answer the anxieties of Serbs who are concentrated in the north of Kosovo, the new state must also be truly decentralized. And there must be cooperation with the Serbian Orthodox Church in safeguarding religious and historical sites in Kosovo that are cherished by Serbs everywhere.
Today in Opinion
Blinding Americans on Iraq
The neighborhood bully
Healing Kosovo
The 1999 war to liberate Kosovo can be counted a success only if the postwar work of nation-building is done right.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/11/05/opinion/edkosovo.php
Serbian News Network - SNN
news@antic.org
http://www.antic.org/
November 04, 2006
Russia rules out Iran sanctions, stays tough on Kosovo
ussia rules out Iran sanctions, stays tough on Kosovo (Roundup)By Shada Islam Nov 3, 2006, 16:23 GMT |
| Brussels - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday rejected a draft United Nations resolution calling for sanctions against Iran, saying the text drawn up by European nations was too tough to be acceptable. Voicing equally strong views on other global flashpoints, Lavrov, who attended a meeting with senior European Union officials in Brussels, insisted that any decision on a final status for Kosovo must take account of the views of all parties, including Serbia. The Russian Foreign Minister also warned leaders in Georgia to stop making 'insulting statements' and to establish a 'normal, civilized relationship with Moscow.' With discussions on Iran's nuclear programme currently under way at the UN, relations with Tehran were top of the agenda in Lavrov's talks with chief EU diplomat Javier Solana and Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja. In a joint press conference with Tuomioja, Lavrov told reporters he was not ready to back a European-authored draft UN resolution calling for sanctions against Tehran. The draft text 'goes way beyond what was agreed,' warned Lavrov. Any action taken against Iran must be 'reasonable, proportionate and...in stages,' he said. The tough-talking Lavrov insisted that Moscow was still ready to continue discussions on the issue. 'We do not intend to drop back our efforts as regards dealing with Iran...all our efforts are concentrated on achieving a single aim: ensuring that we have no nuclear proliferation,' Lavrov underlined. Moscow's continuing refusal to back sanctions against Iran is a major concern for Britain, France and Germany and the US which argue that Tehran's nuclear programme is aimed at the development of illicit nuclear weapons. China - which like Russia is also a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council - also opposes tough sanctions against Iran. Iran argues that its nuclear programme is aimed at the peaceful, civilian use of nuclear energy. The draft resolution currently under study in the UN calls on nations to stop the sale and supply of equipment, technology and funds which could help Iran's nuclear programme. It also calls for a freezing of assets of people and entities involved in these programmes. A visa ban against key Iranian officials would also be enforced. Turning to the final status of the Serbian breakaway province of Kosovo, Lavrov insisted any agreement reached by special UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari would have to be based on a 'compromise.' A final decision has to be 'acceptable to all parties,' including Serbia, said Lavrov, adding: 'I am not aware of any conflict anywhere in the world which can be solved in any other way.' The Russian Foreign Minister warned that a decision imposed from the 'top down' would unravel. 'We support the efforts by Ahtisaari...but not necessarily any ultimatum to any party,' said Lavrov. Ahtisaari is set to propose a checklist plan which would gradually lead Serbia's breakaway province from conditional to full independence. The package needs to be fine-tuned by Ahtisaari and the Contact Group during the first few half of November. If the plans work out, the package would then be passed to Serbian and Kosovar leaderships. The EU has dismissed references to Belgrade's sovereignty over Kosovo contained in the new Serbian constitution. A spokeswoman for the European Commission - the EU's executive arm - said last week that the future status of Kosovo 'was a separate matter' which could only be decided as part of negotiations being conducted by Ahtisaari. Kosovo has been run by the UN since 1999, when NATO intervened to stop a Serb crackdown against the ethnic-Albanian population. Focusing on Russia's relations with the EU, Tuomioja said he expected negotiations on a new bilateral agreement between the two sides to be launched at summit talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and EU leaders in Helsinki on November 24. 'The EU is one of our key partners in economic affairs and more and more in political affairs,' added Lavrov. © 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur |
November 03, 2006
Jim Jatras: In search for Kosovo solution
Interview with Jim Jatras
IN SEARCH FOR KOSOVO SOLUTION
Jim Jatras: In search for Kosovo solution
Interview with Jim Jatras
IN SEARCH FOR KOSOVO SOLUTION
November 02, 2006
Don't Support Independence for Kosovo, Urges Former Envoy
http://www.embassymag.ca/html/index.php?display=story&full_path=/2006/november/1/kosovo/
Embassy, November 1st, 2006
NEWS STORY
By Brian Adeba
Don't Support Independence for Kosovo, Urges Former Envoy
Canada's last ambassador to Yugoslavia says rights, but analysts say last week's independence vote is purely symbolic.
Flanked by Bishop Artemijc Radosavljevic of Kosovo, James Bissett, who was Canada's last ambassador to the country formerly known as Yugoslavia, told a press conference on Parliament Hill that the ethnic Albanian leadership in Kosovo is incapable of protecting the rights of non-Albanians in the former Yugoslav province.
"If there's any group of people in the world less deserving of independence, it's the Albanians in Kosovo, who have proven by their terror and their barbaric treatment of non-Albanians in the last seven years that they are not meeting any standards that would qualify them for joining the democratic nations of the United Nations," said Mr. Bissett.
Kosovo has been under UN protection since 1999 when NATO launched an air campaign to drive out Serbian forces to stop the mass killing of the region's Albanian population. The region was the centre of the Serbian Empire until 1389, when the Ottoman Turks defeated the Serbs. The Serbs regained Kosovo from the Turks in 1913 and proceeded to declare it a province of Serbia. There are 1.5 million ethnic Albanians in Kosovo and 200,000 Serbs. When fighting erupted between ethnic Albanian guerillas of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in the late 1990s, about 100,000 Serbs were forced to flee their homes in the province. KLA activities elicited a brutal response from Serbian forces, leading NATO to intervene to stop what at the time was seen as the cleansing of ethnic Albanians. Serbs consider Kosovo as the birthplace of their empire and have resisted attempts to grant it independence, even though the region is ruled by ethnic Albanians under UN protection.
Bishop Artemijc accused the ethnic Albanian leadership of allowing the destruction of 150 churches and abetting the expulsion of Serbs from the region.
"Independence means the destruction of my people and uprooting from my birth place," he said.
Although Canada did not take part in the NATO bombing, it has a duty, as a member of the international community, to prevent an imposed independence on Kosovo, Mr. Bissett said.
Symbolic Vote Won't Drive Independence
The UN, under former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, is expected to deliver a verdict on the status of Kosovo by the end of this year. Diplomats and analysts predict Mr. Ahtisaari will suggest independence for Kosovo under the supervision of the European Union. Mr. Bissett also called on Mr. Ahtisaari to resign for uttering partisan statements in public.
"The parameters are geared in such a way that will grant one solutionindependence. Ahtasaari has said as much and that statement alone should have completely disqualified him and he should have been asked to step down," said Mr. Bissett.
Agim Hadri, president of the Kosovo Information Centre, a Toronto-based non-profit organization that aims to inform Canadians about Kosovo, dismissed claims that the Albanian population is forcing Serbs out of Kosovo as "pure manipulation." He also said the region's Albanian population supports independence, and nothing short of it will satisfy them.
"It is now almost the reality, it just remains to be put on paper," he said.
Mr. Hadri also dismissed Bishop Artemijc's claims that Serbs are facing eviction in Kosovo, arguing that many left Kosovo on their own will. Mr. Hadri also said Mr. Bissett should not be taken seriously because he is partisan.
"He was always pro-Serbia during the NATO humanitarian intervention, and I don't think we have to take into consideration what he said."
Last week Serbians voted by a thin majority of 51 per cent to recognize Kosovo as an integral part of Serbia. Edith Klein, program advisor for the European Studies progam at the University of Toronto, said the vote will remain symbolic, as it is unlikely to halt the drive for independence.
"It's a way for the government of Serbia to make noise, but there's no substantial meaning to it," she said, adding that the thin majority is a clear indication that some Serbs want to move beyond the Kosovo issue.
"More moderate Serbs accept that Kosovo is not part of the future," said Ms. Klein.
Fears that political stability will remain elusive in a scenario where Kosovo becomes independent are unrealistic, said Robert Austin, from the Centre for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies at the University of Toronto.
"I think an independent Kosovo is the best thing for stability in the region because there's no way you could put the old Yugoslavia back," he said, adding that it will normalize political life and lead to a new focus on the economy. Mr. Austin also said UN and international mediators are aware that last week's referendum in Serbia will have no impact on the future of Kosovo.
Ethnic Albanians, who have boycotted previous elections organized by Serbia, were barred from voting.
Mr. Austin also believes that an independent Kosovo will put into place measures to ensure the rights of the Serb minority are respected since the region will still be under the scrutiny of the European Union.
brian@embassymag.ca
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November 01, 2006
Serbia and its New Constitution: On the Brink of a New Era?
| Serbia and its New Constitution: On the Brink of a New Era? | ||||||||||||
| Can Karpat, AIA Balkan Section | ||||||||||||
| Since the overthrow of Slobodan Milosevic in 2000, Serbia has been supposed to adopt a new Constitution. Finally, after endless delays and hesitations, Serbia adopted its first post-communist Constitution last weekend. Within weeks, the exact date of the early elections will be fixed. And President Boris Tadic insists that the presidential elections be held before the end of this year as well. Serbia is definitely on the brink of a new era. Will this era also bring luck to Serbia and the rest of the Balkans… Since the overthrow of Slobodan Milosevic in 2000, Serbia has been supposed to adopt a new Constitution. Finally, after endless delays and hesitations, Serbia adopted its first post-communist Constitution last weekend.
Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica stated with proud that "there is no country which checked the mood of its public in the way Serbia has done with the new Constitution - first with the voting in Parliament, and then with its confirmation at the referendum with a majority vote". This is nothing but Premier's wishful thinking. Of course, superficially, it seems as though the Constitution had been adopted with two levels of voting, one by Parliament, the other by the people - thus with genuine gravity. Yet, much criticised and with right was the way the Constitution prepared: in a great rush so that Zoran Ostojic from the liberal Civic Alliance of Serbia (GSS) calls it "49-hour Constitution" and without the participation of the public nor the minorities. And of course, no surprise that Prime Minister declared "victory". Although in a deliciously diplomatic way he called it "victory of Serbia", he must have hinted at his government's victory as well. However, statistics do not lie. It is obvious that with such figures ( 53.66 and 51.46 percent), the adoption of the Constitution is far from being a victory. Rather, it indicates the weariness of the Serbs from politics - or even their indifference towards it. If we must see the empty side of the glass … Almost one Serb over two rejected the Constitution supported by the four major political parties. This fact is crystal clear. The intriguing question is: Did they also reject the preamble on which the government counted all its success? During the pre-referendum campaigns, which, without surprise, turned into a sort of pre-elections campaigns too, the "Kosovo preamble" was the focus of all arguments. In order to stimulate the people, Pink TV broadcasted films on the Battle of Kosovo. It is extremely regrettable that this Serbian television found nothing but a battle coming from as early as 1389 in order to justify Serbia's sovereignty over Kosovo. Did the channel insinuate that the international community of modern times is in fact a reflection of the Ottomans of Kosovo Polje? Complete mystery indeed. Thus, it must be of an extreme relief for the outside world that ordinary Serbs did not let themselves be influenced by such suspect arguments. And thus, the poll according to which 60 percent of the Serbs would "tolerate" the secession of Kosovo was confirmed. For ordinary Serbs, there are more serious and urgent economic and social problems than the Kosovo question. In a way, there was no surprise at this referendum. More than 90 percent of the Kosovo Serbs voted for the Constitution. Albanians of the Presevo Valley boycotted the referendum as a sign of solidarity with their brethren from Kosovo. And only 42 percent of the inhabitants of Vojvodina approved of the new Constitution. It seems that finally Serbia alienated all of its Albanian inhabitants. Since the focus was the notorious Kosovo preamble, this was the price to pay indeed. As for Vojvodina, it seems that the people sided with the President of the Assembly Bojan Kostres who called the citizens to boycott the referendum, rather than with Prime Minister Bojan Pajtic who supported the new Constitution. Pajtic was even enthusiastic about the draft: "We even got what we didn't state in the platform, for example that Vojvodina has its symbols, and the Constitution stipulates those symbols". With this Constitution, Vojvodina is granted financial autonomy. However, we live in the "era of minorities" so that minorities are even on the brink of demanding more rights than majorities - with the blessing of the EU. And finally the Serbs of Kosovo. It is no surprise that the preamble just hypnotised them. What is worrying is the way that they celebrated their -though statistically scarce as we have seen- "victory" in the divided town of Mitrovica (northern Kosovo), hailing Ratko Mladic among others. Unless being a disagreeable Cassandra, this was far from being a good sign for the future when Kosovo will obtain some kind of independence.
Of course the new Constitution has its good points. According to Zoran Ivosevic, a former judge of the Supreme Court of Serbia, "the areas of economy, public financing and property rights, and organisation of power -especially the judiciary- were done very carefully". However, the Kosovo preamble and the first article which declares that "Serbia is the homeland of the Serbs" either alienated some (Albanians and other minorities) or toughened others (Kosovo Serbs). Yet, one must admit that to criticise is an easy and comfortable job. Every analyst criticise à fond Serbia's deeds and advise her not to do what she does, though no one really tell her what she should do instead. En résumé, Vojislav Kostunica has not much reason to rejoice. The Constitution has been adopted with a very scarce majority. His government is always a precarious minority government. Within weeks, the exact date of the early elections will be fixed. And President Boris Tadic insists that the presidential elections be held before the end of this year as well. Therefore, Serbia is definitely on the brink of a new era. However, whether this era will also bring luck to Serbia and the rest of the Balkans is yet to be seen in coming months. http://www.axisglobe.com/article.asp?article=1113 Related items: Serbia Holds Referendum - on Constitution or on the Preamble? (24.10.2006) Serbia: The Bee Hive of the Balkans (08.10.2006) Serbia or Swan that Refuses to Sing its Final Song in Kosovo (17.09.2006) Balkans under the Threat of a Fragmentation Bomb Called Kosovo (03.08.2006) Serbia: Between the Empire of Heaven and the Empire of the Earth Again (23.07.2006) From the Wisdom of Suffocating Serbia (22.06.2006) Kosovo: Riddle whose Answer everyone knows (06.06.2006) |
Kosovo Serbs called best-protected group
Kosovo Serbs called best-protected group
BELGRADE, Serbia, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- A U.S. envoy says minority Serbs in Serbia's mainly ethnic-Albanian Kosovo province will be the best protected national group in the Balkans.
Frank Wisner, U.S. envoy in talks on Kosovo's future status, told Serbian leaders in Belgrade that Washington wants the U.N.-led talks between the Serbian government and leaders of ethnic-Albanians to be completed this year, Belgrade's B92 radio-television reported Wednesday.
In an interview with B92, Wisner said the United States hopes the talks will be completed with as much cooperation and compromise as possible.
The Serbian government in Belgrade, representing about 100,000 Serbs in Kosovo, and the leaders of ethnic-Albanians, who make up 90 percent of Kosovo's population of 1.8 million have shown in the talks, begun in February, their stands are diametrically opposed.
The ethnic-Albanian leaders insist on Kosovo's independence from Belgrade, while the Belgrade government says Kosovo will always be an integral part of Serbia.
The U.N. civil administration and NATO protection troops have been deployed in Kosovo since 1999 to contain ethnic armed conflicts.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20061101-090753-7709r
James Bissett: Keep an eye on that 'damned silly thing' in Kosovo
Centre for Research on Globalization
October 31, 2006
KEEP AN EYE ON THAT 'DAMNED SILLY THING' IN KOSOVO
UN and NATO in defiance of International Law
by James Bissett
Serbian voters have approved a new constitution that, among other things,
reaffirms sovereignty over Kosovo which, since the bombing of Serbia in
1999, has been administrated by the United Nations with the help of NATO
troops. The weekend referendum result will further complicate efforts of
Western policy- makers to grant independence to Kosovo since, to do so
without Serbia's consent, would violate the U N Charter on territorial
integrity and inviolability of borders. Nevertheless, there have been
indications that the UN special envoy, Marrti Ahtisaari, will soon recommend
that Kosovo be separated from Serbia and become an independent country.
This would be a mistake.
For the past seven years Kosovo has become one of the most dangerous places
on Earth. It is the center of heroin, weapons and human trafficking into
Western Europe. Murder and abduction of non –Albanians are a daily
occurrence. Civil society is non-existent and living standards are
equivalent to those of Haiti. There is evidence that Islamic extremists with
Al Qaeda connections are a growing presence. In short, Kosovo has all the
characteristics of a failed state.
Under the watchful eyes of the UN and NATO, more than 200,000 Serbs, Jews,
Romans and other non-Albanians have been expelled from Kosovo. Those who
remain are in constant danger. And some of those encouraged by the UN to
return have been murdered The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Agim Ceku, a former
leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army, has been accused of war crimes by the
Serbs. He is the man who led Croatian forces in 1993 that over ran Serbian
villages protected by Canadian peacekeepers. When his fighters were driven
out, the Canadians found all of the civilians and animals in the villages
had been slaughtered.
One of the crimes committed by the Albanian majority in Kosovo has been the
razing of over 150 Christian churches and monasteries. Many of these
churches dated back to the 13th and 14th centuries. Their destruction has
been a deliberate effort to remove all semblance of Christian heritage in
Kosovo. Shamefully, there has been no international outrage, no serious
attempt to apprehend the perpetrators and no expression of alarm or protest
on the part of Christian churches in the West.
The U N resolution that ended the bombing campaign against Serbia guaranteed
that Kosovo would have a functioning civil society, democratic institutions,
security for all citizens and respect for the rule of law. It called for the
disarming of the Kosovo Liberation Army and other armed groups. It provided
for the return to Kosovo of limited numbers of Serbian security forces to
guard the Christian Holy places. And it reasserted Serbia's sovereignty over
Kosovo.
Sadly, it seems the UN and NATO had no intention of honouring these
commitments. These are hard facts and they stand as a testimony of failure.
The performance of these two international institutions has been marked by
duplicity, double standards and cowardice.
Independence for Kosovo would establish a dangerous precedent. President
Vladimir Putin of Russia has already warned that a decision to grant Kosovo
independence could be applicable to post-soviet territory .He has particular
interest in regions of the former Soviet Union that have aspirations for
independence. The most volatile ones are the Georgian provinces of Abkhazia
and South Ossetia; these two regions broke away from Georgia in 1992 and
want independent status. Recognition of Kosovo independence would give them
their precedent. And could result in bloodshed with serious implications for
world security.
Bismarck, once said that the Balkans were not worth the bones of a single
Pomeranian grenadier. Yet, he also predicted that, if there were to be
another war in Europe, it would be because of some "damned silly thing" in
the Balkans. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in
1914, sparking off the First World War, proved him right.
Ominously, there is again a strong possibility that another "damned silly
thing" is taking place in the Balkans: the seeming determination of Western
policy makers to grant the Serbian province of Kosovo its independence. In
foreign policy, as in other human endeavours, you can't get good results if
you do dumb things.
James Bissett is former Canadian Ambassador to Yugoslavia
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