Kosovo - the illegal 'independence movement'

By Michael Nesonica

Since the beginning of the break-up of the former Yugoslavia in the early 90's one has pondered how far it would eventually go. Milosevic held onto the dream of 'Greater Serbia' with the facade of Yugoslavia but now it is the Serbs who are paying the price for his ultra nationalist stance. Let's not kid ourselves the war in the former Yugoslavia was not about ancient hatreds, it was concerned with politics and economics and the lack of progress. Slovenia and to a lesser extent Croatia were tired of 'carrying' the Yugoslav economy. The politicians particularly Tudjman and Milosevic used the situation to stir up nationalist sentiment and promote their own causes through such an avenue. Fear was the tool used to preach the message of nationalism and turn neighbours upon one another after years of living together with the only recorded 'ancient hatred' to speak of being the Ustasa slaughters of Serbs, Bosnians during World War II. In a place full of historic symbolism and allusions to past empires long gone the lure of nationalist sentiment has proved to be far to incendiary than what anyone was prepared for. What does any of this have to do with Kosovo one may ponder? Well it is simple really, you only need to look to the early 90s to see what carnage division brought about in the name of nationalism. Kosovo is the pawn in Albanians dreams for a 'Greater Albania' that will one day seek to envelop parts of Macedonia and Greece with nostalgia justified in the context of ancient Illyria and modern Albanians claims to be the direct descendants of these people.

After reading a few news stories from the BBC, and various reader comments I found myself bemused as to why the West (EU, NATO & US) would be in favour and indeed allow Kosovo to delcare independence.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7132546.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7136233.stm

Anti-Islam or anti-Europe, which is it?
The US claims to fight Islamic terrorism yet is supporting the creation of an Islamic state in Europe? (Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo are known/reported training grounds for terrorists with links to the Middle East). The Albanians have no need for peace, they move to neighbouring territories ie. Kosovo, the Republic of Macedonia, Greece and multiply to one day become the majority and secede. It is primitive thinking but with the backing of the West it works. To set up Kosovo as independent is not only immoral it is also illegal.
A dangerous precedent shall be set
The West created the majority of problems in the Balkans with their farcical 'map drawings' yet they still have not learnt have they. The Treaty of Bucharest 1913 comes to mind of course!If Kosovo becomes independent that inadvertently or not sets a precedent for the Albanians in the Republic of Macedonia and in Greece to seek/declare their own independence in the areas where they are a majority. Furthermore it will set a precedent whereby the EU, NATO and UN will have to accept Basque and/or Catalonian independence as well as that of the Silesian minority in Poland and the Czech Republic. How about the Serbs in the Republika Srpska in Bosnia? (They too will demand independence, you can't have double standards now can you? Oh wait we are talking about the West, double-standards are the status quo). I ask the question does this mean the Macedonian minorities in today's Greece(occupied Aegean Macedonia) and Bulgaria (occupied Pirin Macedonia) can now set-up there own independent state? No it doesn't. Yet international law applies for them, but not for the Albanians as the West supports the development of Islam in Europe. Obviously the Ottoman occupation didn't teach the West well enough, of course it wasn't the West but the Balkans who took the brunt of Islamic expansionism in the past. Maybe the West need another dose of economic, cultural and religious stagnation to clear their mind... Perhaps when Islam is on the doorstep of Britain, France, Germany and the Netherlands they will think differently? Oh but wait, Islam is already encroaching in these lands yet the West still has not taken heed from the lessons supposedly learnt in their own backyards. Congratulations to the West! Invite the scourge of Islam into Europe a little more cordially if it is possible! By supporting the independence of Kosovo the West merely rubberstamps the Albanians irredentist policy.

The Albanians have a state of their own, they should go back to it. They can claim all they like to be descendants of the Illyrians but so far no one is convinced, it is all hearsay. Albania was created by Italy and Austria with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire to block Serb aspirations towards the coastline. Ironic now how it has all come to bite the Serbs in the rear-end as has the Serbs 'faith' in their ally Greece, who has sent them a Trojan Horse in the name of friendship as their stance on Kosovo has now changed with a concession made regarding the name dispute with Macedonia by the EU if reports are to be believed.

Here are a number of comments from the BBC website regarding Kosovo independence.

Monday, 10 December, 2007, 11:59 GMT 11:59 UK
We should not be overseeing the break up of countries under the auspices of the UN. This kind of thing was the mistake the old Imperial powers used to make - redrawing lines on maps. These steps were taken against 'ethnic cleansing' but did you know that Albanians are now in the majority because Serbs were ethnically cleansed from Kosovo at the end of the 19th century?If we allow this then expect your countries to be broken up on ethnic grounds as a result of mass immigration in the future.
Steve, Rochester

Steve, nice to see some people know their history, and the pivotal back-stabbing the West continues to ply while they try to play peacemaker!

Tuesday, 11 December, 2007, 06:09 GMT 06:09 UKKosovo is just a Serbian province that received lots of immigrants from Albania! It´s never been a Yugoslavian republic!! Nobody is even thinking about giving one inch to Serbia!!Yes!! Let´s all repeat the same mistake again! Let´s give Czechoslovakia to Hitler again!Remember: both World Wars also started by a western tyranic power attacking a smaller Slavonic eastern european country!!Now it´s all Nato agains little Serbia!! Jesus Christ!!Have you all gone mad??just to have a taste of revenge?
João Alcides Olenski, Curitiba - Brazil

Nice to know that the people of Brazil are not just interested in football but also see the injustices of the world forced upon smaller nations by the West. João you are a credit to your people.

Tuesday, 11 December, 2007, 07:51 GMT 07:51UK
Unfortunately what comes out from too many of the comments is a polarisation of views fuelled largely by feelings of nationalism. The sooner Albania, Serbia and Kosovo become members of the EU the sooner more people will realise that traditional geographic boundaries matter less and less, and that our collective future development is more important than the past. Improved economic stability encouraging investment and prosperity will benefit those concerned much more than historic predjudices.
mike, athens, greece

Oh Mike from Athens, you have really put your foot in it. This is quite rich coming from someone in Greece considering your nation's illogical determination to deny ethnic Macedonians their identity! (If you are indeed a 'pure' Greek that is - is there any other kind of Greek!)

Monday, 10 December, 2007, 10:26 GMT 10:26 UK
I don't think anything short of independence is a viable solution. Firstly all of you who stricken from the greater Albania phobia are extremely wrong. Albanians and Kosovars alike have no interest in this. Secondly after what Kosovars suffered in 98-99 at the hands of the Serb army and paramilitaries there is no way they can accept to go back again to their prior status. Lastly if all the former Yugoslavia republics managed to break away then so should Kosovo.
irvin kalakulla, Brussels, Belgium

One problem here Irvin, Kosovo was never a former Yugoslavian republic! What the Albanians suffered was a result of their irredentist attitude towards Serbia. You seem to forget that it was the Serbs who were once the majority in Kosovo and they were 'ethnically cleansed' from the area in the past.

Monday, 10 December, 2007, 10:17 GMT 10:17 UK
Giving Kosovo independence will set a VERY dangerous precedent - if them then why not Transdnistria, South Ossetia, Crimea, Repuplica Srpksa, Catalonia, Basque territoty ? Why not them ? And where will it end ? Surely Macedonia will be engulfed in blood and flames - as no doubt so too will Bosnia - our great leaders have unwisely taken us down a dangerous road.Taras Bulba, Odessa

Taras some words of wisdom, but remember what applies for the rest of the world does not apply to those in Washington, London or Brussels.

Tuesday, 11 December, 2007, 08:35 GMT 08:35 UK
Kosovo has been taken over by Albanian bullies. Why are all these Albanians not in Albania next door, which has been free for many years now. I feel so sorry for the Serbs who live there, and for those who have fled. The sins of Milosevic et al should not be visited on the Serbian people. I am extremely disappointed that NATO and EU are considering supporting the Kosovo Albanians' potential declaration of independence. It is not in my name and I am not happy about it.
Brontus Horace

Tuesday, 11 December, 2007, 07:54 GMT 07:54 UK
Kosovo is part of Serbia and the Albanians should return to their own country which is Albania.The Albanians were behaving in an anti-social manner when I visted Yugoslavia in 1970 by smashing the windscreens and windows of cars passing on the highway through the town of Pec Many innocent tourists had their windscreens smashed by these people whom they had done no harm.
don caskey, New Zealand
Nice to see some truth coming out about the 'innocent' Albanians of Kosovo!

Monday, 10 December, 2007, 10:03 GMT 10:03 UK
To Alice, Wonderland, EUYou couldn't have chosen a better nick!! Your opinion would really be more suitable for someone from a tale, and not from real life! If Albanians from Kosovo could live normally with Serbs, they wouldn't want to break away from Serbia. They considered the whole of Yugoslavia their exclusive property - Yugoslavia=Greater Serbia. That's why they can't accept it fell apart. Kosovo is only their most painful spot, but it's their problem. You reap what you sow.
Ivana, Čakovec, Croatia

Yes Ivana, the Serbs did consider Yugoslavia as Greater Serbia and theirs to do with as they pleased. But you neglect to mention that Yugoslavism or Illyrianism actually began in Croatia. It was a Croatian ideal, and the Croats wanted union with Serbia when they seceded from Austria-Hungary. The Croats were displeased that 'Yugoslavia' wasn't in their hands to control as they envisioned they would have a much greater say in what happened!

Monday, 10 December, 2007, 09:53 GMT 09:53 UK
Nothing I have seen over the last 10-15 years can convince me that the Serbian nationalists are a peace-loving movement. The West stood idly by during the last conflict, mostly because of British and UN inaction, while the Serbs massacred thousands of Croats. Serbia now threaten Kosovo over their independence. I say leave the Serbs to go down their own fascist road with the Russians, turning their back on democracy and reason. There is a new cold-war in the air.
ed stubbs, London
Ed, and Britain (aka England as that is essentially all it represnts) is the fountain of peace-loving nationalism! The Scots, Welsh and Irish all lost their culture and part of their identity due to British nationalism. Saying give Kosovo independence is like saying give London to an independent Scotland!

Kosovo: The Fuse on the Balkan Powder Keg

By David Edenden

Below is an brief analysis by Stratfor of the "independence for Kosovo is inevitable" doctrine followed by the United States and the EU. They hope that it will not destabilize Macedonia, but have not given any thought of what to do if all hell breaks lose. This was the same policy process by which the Americans invaded Iraq.

I have come th the conclusion that some of the leading policy makers regarding the Balkans are just plain dumber than dirt. That's the only explanation that makes any sense..

If things go badly in the Balkans after Kosovo's independence, no doubt the pundits in Washington, London and Paris will shake their heads and say "wow look at those nut cases in the Balkans".

Kosovo: The Fuse on the Balkan Powder Keg:
Stratfor, Nov 16, 2007

Macedonia

The militants in Kosovo have also been linked to Albanians crossing the border from Macedonia. Albanians are the ethnic minority within Macedonia but hold the majority of the northwestern part of the country. The Macedonian-Kosovar border is mountainous and incredibly porous, leading to large border crossings that the already weak Macedonian military cannot prevent. These Albanians and Kosovar Albanians have been seen actively engaging in violence on both sides of the border, proving that the wounds from the 2001 Macedonia conflict -- in which the Albanians within the country began attacking Macedonian forces -- are still fresh.

Internally, Macedonia has been politically unstable because of the main Albanian party actively pushing against the government as it keeps its eyes on Kosovo. Macedonia is trying to keep a lid on any large-scale violence because of its aspirations to join the EU, but hostilities have broken out within Macedonia's borders. On Nov. 7, Macedonian police killed four Albanians in an operation called Mountain Storm on Mount Sar Planina. Macedonian police said the Albanians were planning a major terrorist act that would destabilize both Kosovo and Macedonia.

BIRN Stokes the Fires for War

Macedonian Albanians ‘Ready to Fight for Kosovo’
BIRN: 10 07 2007 Skopje, Pristina _

A senior official from Macedonia’s main Albanian opposition party on Tuesday claimed thousands of former fighters in Macedonia could take up arms for the independence of Kosovo.

“We have at least five thousand volunteers in Macedonia that are willing to fight for Kosovo if necessary,” Fazli Veliu, a member of the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, presidency and head of the war veterans association of the National Liberation Army, NLA, the force that launched an insurgency in Macedonian 2001, told Balkan Insight.

In a statement published in daily Dnevnik, Veliu gave similar comments but talked of ten thousand former fighters.

A senior source in the DUI presidency criticised Veliu’s remarks as “not serious”, adding that they were “unnecessarily raising tensions”.

“After a serious warning in February, Veliu is again playing with his status in the party,” the source said. “The DUI cannot pay a price for the adventurous statements of people who did not really even have a serious role in the NLA but were just tagging along,” the same official said.

In February, the Democratic Union for Integration distanced itself from Veliu after he led a group of Macedonian Albanians to attend a protest in Pristina called by Kosovo’s radical nationalist movement, Vetevendosje.

Veliu said the fighters from Macedonia would help the struggle against all those who are stopping Kosovo’s independence, “First of all Serbia and then all its allies”.

He said that if Kosovo’s final status was not resolved soon, “I can say with full responsibility that we are going to fight. This will not be a classic war with one AK47, this will be a wide war that will include all Albanians,” he went on.

However, a representative from Kosovo’s war veterans association said aid from Macedonia was totally unnecessary. “We don’t need these 5,000 men from Macedonia, we have enough men of our own,” he said.

Did Albanians Pay Ahtisaari To Play?

"Serbia's Dulic calls for inquiry in Ahtisaari bribe allegations"
NewsRoom Finland:
26.6.2007 at 19:32

Oliver Dulic, the speaker of the Parliament of Serbia, is calling for a formal inquiry into allegations that Martti Ahtisaari, the UN special envoy for Kosovo, has accepted bribes from an Albanian organised crime figure in exchange for recommending independence for the Serbian province, US-based news portal Serbianna.com reported on Monday.

Bosnian news agency Focus had reported over the weekend that Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), Germany's federal foreign intelligence agency, had uncovered bank accounts held by Mr Ahtisaari that had received two million euros and that on at least two occasions he had received cash payments of more than 40 million euros.

Neither the UN nor Mr Ahtisaari, a former Finnish president, has commented on the allegations."

Sir Ivor Roberts: Share Kosovo

By David Edenden

Partitioning Kosovo makes good sense. Those in favor of independence make no sense.

"Ambassador Roberts: Division of Kosovo - only option"
Makfax vesnik:

London /20/06/ 16:23

The solution on Kosovo should be sought in some kind of division that will left both sides equally discontented, said Sir Ivor Roberts, a former British Ambassador to Serbia and current President of Trinity College, Oxford.

In an interview with BBC, he said it would be much better 'to divide the province and inflict pain to both sides than to adopt the absolutistic decree of Martti Ahtisaari.

When BBC's journalist asked if the divisioSave as Draftn of Kosovo wouldn't trigger Pandora's Box's opening and jeopardize survival of Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sir Roberts said: 'I think we should solve the problems one at a time, and Kosovo is the most urgent one'.

His stance is that the borders should be shifted 'if the existing ones do not provide sense of security and prosperity to the citizens'.

According to Sir Roberts, the multi-ethnicity is a coSave as Draftncept that should not be imposed or instigated.

'Everybody's talking about multiethnic states now. However, we had one already - SFRY, in which disintegration we from the West also took part. Therefore, we have to redouble our efforts and make sure that the newly established states do not endanger minorities' right', said the former British Ambassador to Se"

EU Firm Against UDI for Kosovo

EU says declaring Kosovo independence would create problems, not solve them
(SETimes.com):
"By Blerta Foniqi-Kabashi and Bekim Greicevci for Southeast European Times in Pristina – 22/06/07

EU officials made it clear Thursday (June 21st) that the bloc would not support a Kosovo independence declaration and warned the province's leadership against any unilateral action in that direction."