DECEMBER 2007
A SANE VOICE : Ending the Balkan curse
Ilana Bet-El
December 5, 2007 7:30 PM Letters to Guardian
Kosovo and its status is already going the way of all Balkan disputes: it is in danger of first being talked into a storm, before any heavier elements are introduced. Indeed, at a massive talk-fest on the Balkans in Brussels yesterday it merrily dominated proceedings, though all the other parts of the region were eager to get a look-in. On the other hand, all the talk also produced something useful: Bozidar Djelic, the deputy prime minister of Serbia, solemnly proclaimed that if Kosovo unilaterally declared independence Serbia would resist the move with all available means, but without the use of force. Other Serbian officials have claimed as much before, but this time the words were said before an audience in Brussels and on the same stage as Carla Del Ponte. If this actually happens, it means there would finally be a Balkan confrontation that did not become a conflict - which would be a true precedent in the region.
One good thing about the looming deadline for an agreed solution to the status of Kosovo (December 10) is that it may finally remove the distorting issue of whether the situation is unique, as the US and the EU claim, or a precedent, as Serbia and Russia claim. So much energy has been expended by both sides in defending their positions on this matter that there can hardly be any left to search for a solution. I would humbly suggest a compromise that enables both definitions: the Nato intervention that lead to the de facto independence of Kosovo was unique, since it has never been repeated anywhere else, as the oppressed and victimised citizens of Burma, Zimbabwe, Darfur and various other despot-ridden hellholes unfortunately know only too well. The attempt to give Kosovo de jure independence by simply hacking off part of a sovereign state without its consent would be a precedent.
There is every chance such phrasing would not be welcomed in the EU or the US, but it is no less part of the reality of the incoherent status of Kosovo as the original sin committed by Serbia, in its attempts to "ethnically cleanse" the region of its Albanian majority by driving hundreds of thousands out of the region, destroying their papers in the process. As such, it is incumbent upon all sides, Serbian and Kosovan as well as EU and US, to seek a compromise.
The first element of the compromise should be linguistic: the west should stop talking about "owing" Kosovo its independence, or "punishing" Serbia, or indeed that any solution other than independence would reward Serbia for its crimes. Seeking a solution must be the result of hard-headed thinking rather than emotion; and such hard-headedness must consider the reality that
Balkan wars have been started over a lot less than the status of a province.
The second element must focus on what compromise means: finding a just solution for both sides, which would inevitably involve painful concessions by both. Serbia must accept that the vast majority of Kosovans do not wish to live within Serbia, and that it is therefore inevitable that the
province, at least in its entirety, cannot remain part of its state. On the other hand, the Albanian majority of Kosovo must accept that Serbia has a deep emotional attachment to parts of Kosovo, which date back centuries.
The third element must therefore focus on agreed partition, which is not an international precedent, unlike imposed independence, which is. Partition holds within it the inter-alia acceptance of independence - but on agreed terms. The crucial Serb areas in Kosovo are in its north and in the south, which is geographically inconvenient, especially since the majority of the monasteries considered sacred to the Serb Orthodox religion are in the latter. The compromise can therefore be to offer Serbia part of the north in a partition scenario, with the option of Kosovan Serbs moving there if they wish; and giving the monasteries a special international status, under a separate international authority rather than the Kosovan government.
It is not a perfect solution, but there is no such thing: for the international community the Balkan curse has long been that inaction enables the malign sides to conquer alone and intervention helps them. In this case fears could be voiced that the suggested partition enables ethnic cleansing by offering the Kosovan Serbs the option of quitting the province-state - but the reality is that the option simply puts it clearly on the table rather than allowing it to happen once an Albanian Kosovan government takes office and the Serb minority flees.
There are no golden bullets in the Balkans, only hard lead ones. Solutions come hard, but the least we can do is seek one that not only avoids bloodshed now - but does not lay the foundations for a future war. Agreed partition may offer such an option. letters@guardian.
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http://www.brussels
BRUSSELS JOURNAL (BELGIUM)
The West is Wrong on Kosovo
From the desk of The Brussels Journal on Wed, 2007-12-05 13:40
A quote from Fjordman at Jihadwatch, 4 December 2007
President Bush declared a "war on terror" after the Jihadist attacks on the United States in 2001. Six years later, all he has achieved is bleeding American tax payers financially and American soldiers literally while overseeing the eradication of non-Muslim communities in Iraq. Now his administration supports independence for terrorist-sponsoring Muslims in the Balkans and in the Palestinian territories. I listened to a speech by Patrick Sookhdeo, a former Muslim who recently launched his latest book, Global Jihad: The Future in the Face of Militant Islam. Sookhdeo had done a lot of excellent research regarding the Islamization of Western Europe, especially Britain. He recalled having a conversation with a senior Western official regarding what would happen if Muslims in a region of, say, Britain or the Netherlands, should declare that they would no longer accept the laws of the central government and would form a breakaway Islamic Republic. This official then stated that they would probably just have to quietly accept that. When witnessing the Muslim riots in France, which more and more resemble a civil war, this question is no longer just hypothetical............ Granting Jihadist Muslims independence in Kosovo after they have conducted ethnic cleansing of non-Muslims will establish an extremely dangerous precedent. Not only is it immoral to sacrifice the freedom or perhaps existence of smaller nations, be that the Serbs or the Israelis, in order to save your own skin. As the example of Czechoslovakia demonstrated during WW2, it is also counterproductive. Supporting independence for Muslim Albanians in Kosovo will not lead to stabilization of the Balkans; it will rather lead to the Balkanization of the West. The new thug state will serve as a launching pad for Jihad activities against non-Muslims, just like an independent Palestinian state would do in the Middle East. In the case of Kosovo, the Russians are right and Western leaders, both in the European Union and the United States, are wrong. The Serbs have suffered enough. Give them a break!
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Serbia's minister for Kosovo appealed to the EU for more talks on the province's future and insisted Belgrade would never give up the fight against its independence, in an interview published Friday. "The European Union is an important player on the world scene, which hasn't got a unanimous position regarding Kosovo," Minister for Kosovo, Slobodan Samardzic, told the newspaper Vecernje Novosti. "It's divided between inert policies in step with the United States and
fresh ideas that take international law and realistic consequences into consideration. "At the moment the EU is under heavy pressure from the US. If it manages to resist the pressure, there is hope that everything will move towards a continuation of negotiations.
............................
The United States and leading European allies are hoping to revive a plan, rejected by Serbia and its Russian backers, for a gradual, supervised move to statehood. Others, notably Spain, Romania, Slovakia and Greece, are more cautious, fearing that Kosovo independence with agreement from Serbia could encourage separatist movements in other regions. calibre.mworld.com
.............................
http://calibre.
Attorneys plan no defense for former Kosovo prime minister in UN war crimes
trial
MIKE CORDER Associated Press Writer
Released : Friday, November 30, 2007 3:28 PM
THE HAGUE, Netherlands-
declined to put up a defense, said prosecution spokeswoman Olga Kavran. "The defense does not have an obligation to put on a case," she said.
The prosecution case, which began in March, has been plagued by witnesses who have been unwilling to testify, citing fears of reprisals or intimidation. Ultimately, most witnesses did testify, though two refused and two others testified only after being indicted for contempt of court,
arrested and flown to The Hague. Despite the setbacks, Kavran said prosecutors were confident of convictions. "We believe we have put forward strong evidence for our case," Kavran said.
"It is obviously up to the judges to make the final determination.
Haradinaj's lead attorney Ben Emmerson could not be reached for comment Friday night. Haradinaj, Balaj and Brahimaj face a total of 37 counts of atrocities against Serbs and their suspected supporters in Kosovo in 1998 as the Kosovo Liberation Army fought Serb forces for control of the breakaway province. All have denied the charges. They face maximum life sentences if convicted on any charge. Haradinaj was a KLA commander who turned to politics after NATO air strikes against Serbia ended the Kosovo conflict in 1999. He served briefly as prime minister before quitting and turning himself in to the tribunal after he was indicted in 2005.
Judges ordered defense attorneys and prosecutors to file final briefs in the case by Jan. 14 and scheduled closing statements for Jan. 21-23.
serbia:
November 28, 2007
Request for convocation of a parliamentary session on Kosovo and Metohija
Belgrade, November 28 (SRNA) - The head of the Serbian Radical Party caucus
in the Serbian Parliament, Tomislav Nikolic, announced that Serbia is not
ready for what the Albanians have announced, that is, the proclamation of
the independence of Kosovo and Metohija, and stated that he will request the
convocation of a a parliamentary session on Kosmet so that deputies can find
out what the Government is doing.
Commenting on the conclusion of negotiations in Baden on the status of the
province, he assessed that it was "just a waste of time", adding that as
soon as the current session of the Serbian Assembly now in progress
concludes, he will request a new one on Kosovo.
He assess that "whoever is expecting the independence of the Province
without an Assembly resolution wants Serbia to be weak at the moment of
independence" and concluded that "during the course of the last few years
the Albanians have further reinforced their authority in Kosovo and
Metohija, and Serbs have grown even more distant from the province".
*********************************************************************
www.srna.co.yu
Serbian Press Agency SRNA
Bijeljina, Republika Srpska
November 28, 2007
Union of Serb Municipalities adopts declaration on Kosovo's staying a part of Serbia
Kosovska Mitrovica, November 28 (SRNA) - The Union of Serb Municipalities and Settlements in Kosovo and Metohija adopted [on Wednesday] a declaration on Kosovo's remaining a part of Serbia and rejecting any form of decision on unilateral proclamation of an independent and sovereign state of Kosovo. "If the Albanians proclaim an independent state, this will be followed by
our decision to form institutions of the Republic of Serbia and preservation of her state and legal integrity in all locations in Kosovo and Metohija where Serbs are the majority population," it is said in the declaration. The declaration emphasizes that the Republic of Serbia is expected to assume
authority from UNMIK and KFOR if they fail to prevent the proclamation of the independence of Kosovo in accordance with Resolution 1244.
The leader of the Serb National Council of North Kosovo, Milan Ivanovic, told SRNA that this was a unique decision which had been signed in the form of a declaration several months ago by more than 70 percent f the remaining Serbs in Kosovo. "This declaration once again expresses the will of the Serb people, that Serbia has been and remains the only country of which we have been and remain equal citizens," said Ivanovic.
He assessed that independent Kosovo will not be a country recognized by the international community. "We are convinced that Belgrade's proposal for continued negotiation and the finding of a compromise solution will receive the support of the international community, while the position of the Albanians that there is only one possible solution, that is, an independent country, will fail,"
said Ivanovic. He emphasized that the Albanians have been ordered by the U.S. administration that they must remain firm in the position that they will only accept an independent Kosovo. "This is confirmed by who has the main word and is advocating the idea that international law in the case of Kosovo is not valid," said Ivanovic. He added that the majority of Serbs in Kosovo are convinced that Russian diplomacy and the united position of Serbs will retain Kosovo within Serbia.
The session of the Union of Serb Municipalities and Settlements in Kosovo and Metohija where the declaration was adopted was attended by the presidents of all Serb municipalities in Kosovo and over 50 directors of health and educational institutions.
Albania's parliament votes in new prosecutor to replace fired predecessor
Released : Thursday, November 22, 2007 7:37 AM
http://calibre.
TIRANA, Albania-Albania'
Ina Rama, 35, was approved with a parliamentary vote of 83-33 after being nominated by President Bamir Topi to replace Theodhori Sollaku as prosecutor general. Five legislators abstained from the vote. Topi fired Sollaku, 45, earlier Thursday on the recommendation of a
parliamentary investigative committee's report earlier this month, which accused the former prosecutor of inadequately fulfilling the duties of his post, including failing to take on organized crime.
"It cannot be denied that the prosecutor's office has not responded well to the phenomena of organized crime, corruption and crime in general, which has ... created a lack of security for citizens' lives," the president's office said a statement. The report said that Sollaku had failed to cooperate with international law enforcement agencies, had approved the release of 22 convicted criminals without cause, and had failed to act in serious criminal cases.
Opposition parties had boycotted the committee's proceedings, accusing Prime Minister Sali Berisha's center-right Democratic Party of trying to seize control of the judicial system, and voted against the report. The opposition Socialists accused Topi of undermining the Balkan country's
democracy and legal system. "The president chose to commit a unilateral act which gravely violates
institutions, democracy, and judicial independence in the country," Socialist Party lawmaker Erion Brace said.
Sollaku, once Berisha's legal adviser, called his dismissal a "political farce" that violated the constitution. Corruption and organized crime are rife in Albania, one of Europe's poorest
countries.
Boston Globe: First Mainstream American News Outlet to Admit Milosevic did
not "Start" Balkan Wars
Posted by Julia under Republican Riot
November 21st 2007 05:45:26 PM
In a surprisingly sober Boston Globe editorial today titled "First Kosovo,
and then what?" - in which Globe editors understand that a unilateral
declaration of independence "could set off instability across the Balkans
and beyond" - the following paragraph is included:
"While 20 of the EU's 27 members favor independence for Kosovo, nearly all
dread a unilateral declaration. That prospect conjures up memories of
Europe's
careless acceptance of declarations of independence from Yugoslavia by
Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia in the early 1990s. Those acts ushered in
horrific wars and crimes against humanity."
Let the record show November 21, 2007 as the date that, for perhaps the
first time in history since the 1990s Balkan wars, the mainstream American
media has acknowledged that illegal acts of secession, hastily recognized by
European nations, are what set off the Balkan wars. This is the first time I
am seeing something other than, and in contradiction to, "Slobodan Milosevic
set off the Balkan wars."
ALBANIANS MAKING SHAPES
http://www.slobodan
SERBIA EX-SECURITY CHIEF SAYS ALBANIANS PLANNING TO ATTACK MITROVICA, KFOR
BBC Monitoring International Reports - November 13, 2007 Tuesday
Text of report by Serbian newspaper Vecernje novosti on 12 November
[Unattributed report: "Mitrovica First Target"]
Momir Stojanovic, former director of the Military Security Agency [VBA], said that if the talks on the status of Kosovo and Metohija [Kosmet] continued after 10 December and the outcome was not independence, Albanians would resort to radical steps, including an attack on northern Kosovska Mitrovica.
"Albanians are planning to carry out synchronized operations in Western Macedonia, Kosmet, and they operate illegally in Montenegro, with the aim of destabilization, and internationalizing the Albanian problem in the Balkans."
Stojanovic said he had reports that veterans from the OVK [Kosovo Liberation Army - UCK in Albanian] were touring Albanian houses in Kosovo, handing out arms and military equipment, preparing people for an attack on predominantly Serb northern Kosovska Mitrovica.
"They are planning an attack on Kfor [Kosovo Force] and northern Mitrovica, most probably after the last round of talks between Belgrade and Pristina in Brussels on 20 November," Stojanovic said and added that the operation would take place between 20 November and 10 December.
He said the operation would be swift, all for purposes of bringing the international community and Kfor to a fait accompli.
"It would be a prelude to the declaration of independence on 10 December," said Stojanovic and added that that was an alarm to relevant Serbian bodies to seek modalities with the international community urgently, to protect the Serbs.
He believes that the reforms have weakened and disoriented the Serbian Army, which should help the Kfor during the first few critical days, when the Albanians launched their stormy operation.
"The Kfor troops, considering their number, are incapable of handling the Albanians," said Stojanovic and announced a turmoil in Kosmet in the following month.
NEWLY CREATED PAN-ALBANIAN MILITANT GROUP THREATENS WAR
IF KOSOVO
PARTITIONED
BBC Monitoring International Reports - November 15, 2007
Thursday
Text of report by Kosovo Albanian newspaper Express on 14
November
[Report by Nebih Maxhuni: "UCK of Albanian
Lands"]
Decan [Decani], 13 November: Following the public
emergence of the Albanian National Army [AKSh], now the
so-called National Liberation Army of Albanian Lands
[Ushtria Clirimtare Kombetare e Trojeve Shqiptare -
UCKTSh] has also been formed. Avdyl Mushkolaj [leader of
the former Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) veterans
organization for western Kosovo] is one of its
co-founders. Mushkolaj has announced that the UCKTSh's
goal is to protect every square inch of Albanian
territories. In addition, he said, the organization
will not allow anyone to kill innocent (sic) Albanians,
as was the case in the Tetove [Tetovo] uplands a week
ago, when six Albanians were killed and others were
wounded and/or arrested.(SEE ARTICLE BELOW RE
.ESCAPED PRISONER AND CRIMINAL GANG MEMBERS OF LIRIM
JAKUPI'S and updated white table below)
| Two Kosovo prison break guards arrested 21 November 2007 | 17:59 | Source: B92, Beta PRISTINA -- Kosovo police have arrested two Dubrava prison guards they suspect of helping a jailbreak in August. Kosovo Police Service (KPS) spokesman Veton Elshani told reporters today that the pair are believed to have been among a group responsible for allowing seven inmates to run away. Seven Dubrava guards have been arrested so far, along with three persons who held the prison under siege, seven others who helped prisoners hide once they escaped, and two of the inmates. The escapees, identified as Faton Hajrizi, Burim Basha, Amir Sopa, Astrit Shabani, Ramadan Shiti, Xdavid Morina and Lirim Jakupi, were imprisoned for serious charges that include murder and armed robbery, committed in Macedonia and Kosovo. Morina was shot dead in Macedonia at the beginning of November, in what the authorities there called a shootout between rival gangs. Shiti was killed in a clash with Macedonian police earlier this month. Jakupi, thought to be the group leader, is still at large. |
The security situation in Kosova [Kosovo] and Macedonia
has become rather tense - in Kosova as result of the
delays in the status solution and in Macedonia following
the Macedonian police "Forest Storm" operation.
"Macedonia has also provoked tensions, because we
are the people of the same blood and we have been
striving for the state of Kosova. Macedonia has caused
bitterness not only among fellow fighters, but also in
the camp that emerged among the population during the
wars. We feel extremely upset when people get killed by
the Slav Macedonian police," Mushkolaj said.
He announced that the Albanians who were killed last week
in the Tetove villages were not members of the AKSh or
UCKTSh, but were simply former participants in the three
wars in Kosova, Macedonia, and the Presheve [Presevo]
Valley. "I have information that they were not AKSh
members. They were men of the war and were not intending
to launch any action against the Macedonia forces, as the
latter alleged. Their killing shows in the best way how
fragile the situation in Macedonia is - people can be
killed and bombed,
which is simply a day of war," he said.
The UCKTSh has warned that, if Kosova's status is not
resolved after 10 December, a new conflict will take
place. Mushkolaj told Express that, if the Kosova leaders
did not set a date for declaring independence, they
should leave the posts that they occupied. In his view,
the boys of the
liberation armies would take over those posts. "If
those elected by the people do not declare it, then other
obligations will arise - we (the UCKTSh) will take our
fate into our own hands, declare independence, and defend
it," said the leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army
War Veterans' Organization for the Dukagjin [western
Kosovo] region. In Mushkolaj's view, this should happen
because the current leaders lack the courage to do it,
while the UCKTSh "soldiers" are ready to
"defend the declared independence.
responsibility,
The first step in forming this organization was taken in
Decan at a meeting of war veterans' organizations from
the Albanian territories. Mushkolaj announced that the
UCKTSh enjoyed the support of veterans of the UCK (of
Kosova), UCPMB, and UCK of Macedonia and that their
number exceeded 50,000. He declined to say if they were
armed and in which parts of the Albanian
territories they operated and he also refused to give the
exact number of the UCKTSh.
"If the need arises and if we are provoked again, as
happened in the case of Tetove, then a new war is likely,
a war against those who are trying to kill and massacre
us, as happened recently in Macedonia," Mushkolaj
said.
Mushkolaj said that no Albanian territory could be
partitioned. In his view, the division of northern
Kosova, at which some leaders have hinted, would never be
allowed. The UCKTSh boys will not allow the surrender of
northern Kosova in exchange for the Presheve Valley, he
said. "If that happens, I can guarantee to you that
a new conflict will break out and, whatever the cost, the
Albanians will defend every square inch of their land,
because blood was shed for it and no political leader can
be allowed to trample over it," Mushkolaj said.He
asked the ShPK [Kosovo Police Service] commander General
Sheremet Ahmeti publicly to account for the killed
Albanians in Macedonia and to explain in detail what he
had discussed with Shkup [Skopje] Police Commissioner
Ljubce Teodorski just a few days before the Macedonian
police operation in the Tetove region.
Mushkolaj called on the country's leaders not to betray
the people of Kosova and to keep the promise that they
had given about independence; otherwise they "will
be removed" from the posts that they occupied.
The last meeting of the UCKTSh leaders was held in
Tirana. According to them, the next meeting will be held
in Macedonia very soon.
Source: Express, Pristina, in Albanian 14 Nov 07, p10
Macedonia police chase
Kosovo fugitive, at least 6 gang members killed
Associated Press Worldstream - November 7, 2007 Wednesday
7:20 PM GMT
By: KONSTANTIN TESTORIDES, Associated Press Writer
SKOPJE Macedonia - Police search teams chased a Kosovo
prison fugitive and his criminal gang on Wednesday,
killing six gang members and arresting 12 others in
northwestern Macedonia, police said.
The search operation led to gun battles in ethnic
Albanian villages near Macedonia's volatile border with
Kosovo, but the main target of the operation fugitive
Lirim Jakupi was still at large.
Special police officers searched houses and seized
weapons, including rocket-propelled grenade launchers and
automatic weapons, in village of Brodec, some 45
kilometers (28 miles) west of the capital, Skopje.
At least 10 nearby villages were cordoned off as police
searched door-to-door. Several of the men arrested had
been disguised as women, police spokesman Ivo Kotevski
said.
Police arrested 12 suspected gang members and found the
bodies of six others, Kotevski said, but added that more
might have been have been killed or wounded in the
gunbattles. He did not confirm earlier media reports that
eight people had been killed.
The identities of the men killed were not yet known, but
Interior Minister Gordana Jankulovska said no bystanders
or police were among the dead.
Police said they were trying to capture the group of
gunmen led by Jakupi, who was still at large after
escaping from Kosovo's Dubrava prison two months ago.
Jakupi, nicknamed the "Nazi," was a member of
the outlawed Albanian National Army, and was wanted in
Macedonia and Serbia for alleged participation in attacks
in both countries.
In 2004 he was arrested in Skopje on suspicion of
murdering a policeman and planting bomb outside a police
station, but he escaped custody while awaiting trial. He
was arrested by U.N. forces in Kosovo, and jailed on
terrorism charges.
Gunfire was first reported Wednesday in Brodec, before
the fighting moved into an open area, according to
private news agency Makfax.
The mountainous area, close to the border with Kosovo,
was also the center of an uprising by ethnic Albanian
armed rebels in 2001, which was put down by government
forces after several months.
An opposition party official in Tetovo condemned the
police raid, which he said threatened area peace.
"With these actions, whatever freedom and peace we
had as Macedonians will fade," Xhevat Ademi said. He
also claimed several villagers had been injured in the
raids.
Last week, another Kosovo prison fugitive was shot dead
in the same region. Police denied involvement, saying
Xhavid Morina had been killed in a skirmish between rival
criminal gangs.
Macedonia is currently courting membership in both NATO
and the European Union and is keen to project an image of
stability.
Associated Press writers Llazar Semini in Tirana,
Albania, and Elida Ramadani in Tetovo, Macedonia,
contributed to this report.
BELOW Newspaper report of Albanian massacre of Serbs in
2003
TIRASPOL TIMES (MOLDOVA)
On Kosovo and Transdniestria, United States hammered for
"pseudo-reality"
portrayals
Claiming that Kosovo is already independent, the United
States portrays a
"pseudo-reality" that does not exist. That is
the opinion of Russia's envoy to Kosovo. On
Transdniestria, Washington promotes another
"pseudo-reality"
by refusing to admit that the unrecognized country
already has de facto
independence.
By Jason Cooper, 22/Nov/2007
Real reality: Transdniestria has its own flag, while
Kosovo doesn't. Justone of dozens of differences between
the two
PRISTINA (Tiraspol Times) - On the issue of Kosovo
independence, Russia
calls the U.S. view a 'pseudo-reality' and says that
clinging to a legal fiction which doesn't exist in the
real world is a sure-fire way promote instability in the
Balkans.
In an interview published Wednesday, Russia's envoy to
Kosovo accused the
United States of living in a "pseudo-reality"
by claiming that the Serbian province already has de
facto independence.
" - The Americans believe that Kosovo's de facto
separation has already taken place. We look at the
situation from the point of view of international law,
not pseudo-reality," Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko
told the Izvestia newspaper. He added that several
Western countries already assumed that Kosovo
independence was inevitable, and said that "mildly
speaking, this does not help Serbian-Albanian
dialogue."
The United States State Department is the world's leading
advocate of independence for Kosovo, having said lately
that the area is already 'de
facto' independent. This is despite the fact that Kosovo
is governed by the
international community as a UN protectorate with no
separate sovereignty.
Kosovo also does not have a truly independent parliament,
no foreign
ministry and not even a flag of its own.
Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko, Russia's envoy to Kosovo,
says the United
States portrays a "pseudo-reality" of a
situation that simply does not exist
in Kosovo (Photo: SETimes).
De facto independent Transdniestria
Whereas Kosovo doesn't have its own flag or official coat
of arms,
Transdniestria (officially: Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia
Respublica) has
plenty. And not only that: The small country with the
long name has a level
of true and sovereign independence that Kosovo is
lacking.
" - Transnistria has been de facto independent since
the early 1990s," says
Bruno Coppieters, head of the Political Sciences
Department at Brussels Free
University.
At least one of Transdniestria's closest neighbors agree.
An official report
from the government of Ukraine, which is posted on its
government portal
kmu.gov.ua, is very clear on the point:
"Though de jure this republic remains unrecognized
by the international
community, de facto Transdniestria possesses all the
attributes which are
inherent in independent states, such as a Constitution,
national flag,
anthem, coat-of-arms, bodies of state authority, army,
national monetary
unit, and so on."
Aid group "People in Need", an NGO, confirms in
its 2006 report that
Transdniestria "has all the attributes of an
independent state: its
president, parliament, elections, army (which is bigger
than the Moldovan
army), currency, custom services etc."
The criteria for determining whether statehood has
objectively been
established include a reasonably well-defined territory,
a permanent
population, a stable government, the capacity to enter
into relations with
other states and substantial independence from other
states - see James
Crawford, The Creation of States in International Law
(Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1979), p. viii.
Analyzing whether Transdniestria is currently a state,
American commentator
Michael Garner says that it is much more of a state than
Kosovo is.
" - Transdniestria already meets the requirements
for statehood under
international law. Kosovo doesn't, at least not yet. That
is the reality
which is supported on the facts alone, instead of a
"pseudo-reality" based
on wishful thinking," says Garner. (With information
from AFP)
http://www.tiraspol
the international court's legal case that defense of
yugoslavia was the equivalent of war crimes"Army
had nothing to do with Albanian exodus"
23 November 2007 | 09:17 | Source: SENSE
THE HAGUE -- General Vladimir Lazarevic, one of the
Kosovo Six, continued
his defense at the Hague.
On the last day of Lazarevic's cross-examination, the
prosecutor returned to what is, as he himself said, his
favorite topic - the question whether the Joint Command
of the army and the police in Kosovo existed or not.
Since the beginning of the trial of the six former
Serbian officials charged with Kosovo crimes in 1999, the
prosecution has been trying to prove that there existed a
Joint command and that it served Slobodan Milosevic as an
informal body implementing the plan for the expulsion of
Albanian civilians. The prosecution alleges that
Lazarevic, a former Yugoslav Army (VS) general, was
himself a member of this body. Together with other five
politicians and generals, Lazarevic is charged with
taking part in a joint criminal enterprise whose goal was
to change the ethnic balance of the province.
When Lazarevic called the Joint command a non-existent
body, the prosecution showed minutes from a meeting of
the Interdepartmental Staff for the Fight against
Terrorism from October 1998.
At that meeting, Slobodan Milosevic invites Nebojsa
Pavkovic, the then Pristina Corps commander, to present a
report on behalf of the Joint Command. Lazarevic first
contended that the person taking minutes might have made
a mistake. When the prosecutor showed him that the Joint
Command was mentioned in ten other places, Lazarevic
repeated what he had said in his examination-in chief:
the joint command was a term used for combined operations
of the army
and police, and not a body.
In his examination-in-chief, Lazarevic said that the term
armed non-Albanian population used in a number of
military documents referred to the Civil Defense troops
subordinated to the Ministry of Defense. The prosecution
then showed him a document issued by the General Staff in
February 1999 ordering them to participate in actions
together with the VJ units. Lazarevic replied that such
an order was, in his view, in the sphere of the
impossible as the army had no authority over these
groups.
Many witnesses testifying for the prosecution identified
local armed Serbs as the perpetrators of the gravest
crimes against civilians. According to the prosecution,
these local armed Serbs were actually the people behind
the phrase armed non-Albanian population.
Lazarevic admitted yesterday that during the war, he was
aware of the fact that many people left Kosovo, but
rejected the possibility that the army was responsible
for this. The people fled from the battlefield and this
caused concern for the army, he told the court. The
general testifying in his own defense will be re-examined
by Mihajlo Bakrac, his defense counsel. Lazarevic's
testimony will thus take full fifteen working days.