Just what Europe needs; A micro pseudo-state run by criminals. Anyone who believes the promises of "respect" for the Serbs and the rule of law is either very, very stupid, or a liberal. By I repeat myself.
Posted at 2008-02-18 07:54:37 [PermaLink]I'm not sure even God knows. If there ever was a region that confounded advocates of a principled foreign policy, it's the Balkans. National and tribal emnity, corruption and warlords, incompatible irredentist claims that go back centuries, massacres in living memory and brutal populist thugs are just some of the features of this xenophobic, blood-soaked peninsula. It's hard to see anything but informed, hard-nosed, "don't-cross-this-line" realism keeping any semblance of stability, but in each of the four or five times they've gone to war since Yugoslavia broke up, Western public opinion just says: "Tell us who the underdog is and we'll tell you who we're supporting."
The peoples and countries of the Balkans only have one thing in common--they all have lousy neighbours.
"Western public opinion just says: "Tell us who the underdog is and we'll tell you who we're supporting."
Right on the money. About a dozen years ago when I was doing some consulting work, I was driving to a site with one of the engineers. While chatting in the car and commenting on his stay in Canada (he had a heavy accent) he mentioned he had arrived from Serbia - "you know, the bad guys" he said with a smile.
"Moreover, support for the independence of Muslim Kosovars will gain the West zero credit with Islamists and probably little with moderate Muslims."
So?
Terry: Just an observation about the difficulty of winning the approbation of certain Muslims, not a suggestion of a motive for the action.
Mark
Ottawa
So much of what has been said about the Serbs over the past 20 years is utter bullshit, and this very same bullshit is invoked time and agin to justify an "independant" Kosovo.
In this 'independant' Kosovo a new four-lane highway, ( the ONLY one!) is about to be completed. It runs from Prishtina in Kosovo to Tirana in Albania, and nowhere else. Yet inspite of such integrated transortation infrastructures we are asked to believe this isn't a about building a Greater Albania. I've no doubt that in only a short time the Albanians will be making further territorial claims on neighbouring Macedonia, a place where many of the '99 Kosovar *refugees*, of whom some had been force-marched at gunpoint by the KLA, decided to settle.
What's more, in just the past few years the Saudis have financed the construction of over 300 mosques in Kosovo.
A sure sign of an imminent upsurge in tolerant, secular Buddhism.
Considering that the overwhelming majority of the people living in Kosovo have no desire to remain part of Serbia, that NATO had to intervene to protect the majority in Kosovo from the Serbs, and that thousands of NATO troops are still stationed there for the same reason, I have no objection to allowing Kosovo to secede from Serbia.
And, John, whenever some damn fool thing in the Balkans creates a hash for the rest of the world it can be traced to a Serbian nationalist -- be it Gavrilo Princip, Ratko Mladic, or Slobodan Milosevic.
Bruce: The Serbs also played a major role in the origins of the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-78 which really sped up the "Balkanization" of the peninsula--with the consequences of which we are still living.
[External Link]
Mark
Ottawa
And then there was the strong pressure on the British government to intervene on the side of Turkey, leading to a word to describe overly-strong nationalism:
[External Link]
"We don't want to fight but by Jingo if we do,
We've got the ships, we've got the men, we've got the money too,
We've fought the Bear before, and while we're Britons true,
The Russians shall not have Constantinople."
Mark
Ottawa
Mark, from the Wikipedia: "on June 30, 1876 Serbia, followed by Montenegro, declared war against Ottoman empire." The mind boggles...
Of course, "In July-August Serbian army suffered several crushing defeats from the Turks, and on August 26 Serbia pleaded European powers for mediation in ending the war."
"in just the past few years the Saudis have financed the construction of over 300 mosques in Kosovo."
Paul
Can you provide a link or source for this comment? As someone who has studied the Balkans (including Islamic influence) I don't dispute that the Saudi's (and others) were financing mosques in the Balkans, but I find 300 in Kosovo alone to be a bit on the high side.
L.J. Brooks: Paul may have been inadvertently referring to Bosnia:
[External Link]
Mark
Ottawa
"And, John, whenever some damn fool thing in the Balkans creates a hash for the rest of the world it can be traced to a Serbian nationalist -"
So Bruce, the article states that twitchy Albanians are claiming parts of Macedonia, Bosnia and southern parts of Serbia. In light of that considerable shopping list, do you still refute the "racist" thesis proposed by "islamophobes" that the REAL "blood-and-soil" fascists, far from being Serbs, are in fact the Albanians?
And why should Kosovar Serbs be forced to live in the minority?
Why can't Albanians be a minority within Serbia?
French Canadians are a minority within Canada.
Because Islamists, Bruce, with their supremacist mind-set, cannot broker minority status within a non-muslim majority nation.
Those who've condemned the Serbs repeatedly over the years are not the moral anti-fascist crusaders they believed themselves to be; they are the dupe lapdogs of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Bolton has courageously raised important points, among them the view that Russia shouldn't needlessly be antagonised.
Why is he advocating a rapprochement?
Has he found a curvy Serbian girlfriend?
Is he now taking both his pay-cheque and his marching orders from Slobo's ghost?
Perhaps Bolton's strongly worded comments concerning Greater Albania are comming on the heels of his realisation that Turkey is slowly, but surely, dismantling the country's secular foundations.
And the head Islamic cleric of this wonderous and secular Kosovo, only ONE day after independance, declared the state an "Islamic Sheihkdom".
That declartion, too, is the fault of Serbia, I suppose.
"French Canadians are a minority within Canada."
NATO doesn't have thousands of troops stationed in Quebec to keep French-speaking Canadians safe from their English-speaking neighbors.
"Russia shouldn't needlessly be antagonised."
What are they going to do, put Polonium 210 in the Kosovo water supply? Since when should our actions be governed by what Putin wants?
"the article states that twitchy Albanians are claiming parts of Macedonia, Bosnia and southern parts of Serbia."
Your point? Kosovo isn't going to become part of Albania, and European borders historically shift a lot. Just ask the Silesians.
"the head Islamic cleric of this wonderous and secular Kosovo, only ONE day after independance, declared the state an 'Islamic Sheihkdom.'"
Who's the Sheik?
Bruce, the Kosovo Albanians haven't just expelled Serbs, they've also expelled over 100,000 Roma. They're engaged in ethnic cleansing and it's being done right under the nose of NATO.
Jews are perhaps the best barometer of a country's tolerance and openness. There are no Jews in Saudi Arabia, there are millions in America.
When the Balkan hostilites resumed in '99 many of Kosovo's Jews pulled up stakes and fled, seeking refuge.........in Serbia.
And they did so at a time when Nato was bombing the country.
Why?
Perhaps they figured they had better chances for survival braving the Nato bombs and making it to Belgrade rather than remaining and facing the wrath of Kosovar nationalism.
Few if any of those Jews every returned and the barely 50 or so remaining in Kosovo are planning to leave.
The sheikhdom remark was posted at Islamonline.org and was made by the head cleric of Kosovo. The quote has since been removed.....a common practice at that website.
Here's a link to a site that links to the J. Post article outlining their plight
[External Link]
It's about time to recognize the historical right of Kosova (Dardania) to have its destiny fulfilled-That is full independence. Kosova never was a Serbian province. It was there, since the times of birth of European civilization, a very distinct Dardanian/llyrian identity. Always populated by Dardanias who, although under constant pressure of forcefully migration by Serbian shovinism, Tito's Yugoslavia & Milloshevic's Serbia, still make up 92% of the population. They speak ilirian language with the dialect GEGE. Serbs always have been a minority there. We know that Serbs appeared in Balkans (then llyria) only by the 6th Century AD, and they speak a language more similar to Ukrainian then Russian. They have always been a minority and 'the story' of Kosova being the Heartland of Serbia is just a pure Serbian nationalist fantasy. Facts Speak Louder Than Words and Serbian’s Lies Will Collapse by Themselves. Serbs always have been considered as oppressors there, not just by Albanian majority, but also by other ethnic groups too. Serbs just occupied Kosova during the rise of the Serbian nationalism early 20th century from Ottomans, who by then were loosing the Balkans after 500 years of occupation. The borders of Kosova are well established and recognized. Now Kosova should be Free! [External Link]
I can’t comprehend how a minority of 7% of the population, pretend to take off the land, the language, culture and the life of the rest of Kosova. Kosovars have the right to live free and independent in their land where they are born, generation after generation, live and will die.