American Council for Kosovo - Organized Crime in Kosovo

RSS Feeds

The American Council for Kosovo is an independent U.S. nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting a better American understanding of the Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohija and of the critical American stake in the province's future. The Council's mission is to make accurate information and analysis about Kosovo available to officials of the Executive and Legislative branches of the U.S. Government; to think tanks, media, NGOs, religious and advocacy organizations; and to the general public. In particular, the Council’s educational activities will generate a heightened American awareness that an independent Kosovo – forcibly and illegally detached from Serbia, as is now being contemplated by the international community – would be harmful to U.S. national interests and to European and global security.

Important Notice Concerning Fraudulent “American Council for Kosova“ Website:
It has come to our attention at the American Council for Kosovo that there still may be some confusion about an unauthorized mirror site, created by persons styling themselves the "American Council for Kosova." This deceptive site closely patterns the appearance of the genuine American Council for Kosovo site (www.savekosovo.org) but with a pro-Albanian separatist, anti-Serbian, pro-Kosovo independence message. Indeed, suggestions even have been made that we at the American Council for Kosovo are also behind the mirror site in order to "work both sides of the street," on the pro-Albanian side as well as the pro-Serbian side.
Nothing could be further from the truth! The pro-Albanian "Kosova" site appeared within days of our creation of the genuine American Council for Kosovo site. Its purpose was clearly to detract from the effort we had launched on behalf of the Christian Serbian community in Kosovo and Metohija under the guidance of Vladyka Artemije. It is characteristic of the pro-separation advocates that they are afraid to engage on the facts and international standards concerning Kosovo -- both of which favor the Serbian position -- and need to stoop to cheap tricks and deception in a feeble attempt to undermine our increasingly successful message. In that sense, we take their efforts -- which, given the activity of the fraudulent site, clearly are quite well-funded -- as a compliment to our work and evidence of increasing fear on the Muslim Albanian side that the the pro-separatist agenda is in deep trouble.
We at the American Council for Kosovo have been asked (1) why we did not preempt the available internet addresses for the fraudulent site, and (2) why we don't take legal action to shut them down. The short answer is that doing so would take away time and resources from our own activities, which given the formidable opposition we still face, we cannot afford to spare. Conversely, we are confident that intelligent readers, if they do chance across the fraudulent mirror site will soon see it for what it is: just more of the dishonest and misleading "Kosova" propaganda to which the world has been subject for the past decade and more. We ask the critical reader to make the appropriate comparisons and dismiss the fraulent mirror site to the oblivion it so richly deserves.
Media requesting further information about this matter may contact press@savekosovo.org

December 2006

Organized Crime in Kosovo

Mr. Ceku's Disorderly House

Printer friendly version

source: The Wall Street Journal

Monday, 26 November 2007

The recent column by Agim Ceku ("Kosovo Wants Independence," Nov. 15) presents the critic with what military planners would call a target-rich environment. Virtually every assertion about Kosovo's prospects as an independent state screams out for rebuttal.

For the sake of brevity, let us focus on just one: Mr. Ceku's suggestion that Kosovo, under his U.N.-supervised administration, has "put our structures in place and our house in order." This month's report by the European Commission tells a very different story:

"Due to a lack of clear political will to fight corruption, and to insufficient legislative and implementing measures, corruption is still widespread," the report said. "Civil servants are still vulnerable to political interference, corrupt practices and nepotism" and "Kosovo's public administration remains weak and inefficient," the report added.

Furthermore, "the composition of the government anti-corruption council does not sufficiently guarantee its impartiality," and "little progress can be reported in the area of organized crime and combating of trafficking in human beings."

War crime trials are being "hampered by the unwillingness of the local population to testify" and "there is still no specific legislation on witness protection in place," according to the report. "Civil society organizations remain weak" and "awareness of women's rights in society is low."

If this is the "house" Mr. Ceku claims "is in order" in advance of what he hopes will be conferral of independence, one shudders to think what disorder would look like. To be sure, Mr. Ceku makes use of the usual dodge that Kosovo's progress is limited by the absence of "clarity on our future status," namely independence. But Taiwan, by contrast, has gone without such clarity for over half a century and is nothing like the disaster over which Mr. Ceku presides.

Instead of falling for his fairy tales about Kosovo's fitness for sovereignty the international community needs to open its eyes to the reality of this corrupt, criminal, and nonviable entity. Granting independence to Kosovo, which would mean handing de jure power to those responsible for this state of affairs, can only turn a disaster into a catastrophe.

Organized Crime in Kosovo

articles archive:

Wednesday, 6 May 2009
Kosovo and the EU's missing millions