American Council for Kosovo - All News

Signs of Unraveling

Cracks in the Illusion

Gung-ho push for illegal seizure of southern Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohija, brought about through Albanian terrorism and ethnic cleansing of non-Albanians from the province, American-led NATO aggression against Serbia and unilateral declaration of independence by the Albanian secessionists in Pri�tina on 17 February 2008, and followed by the equally belligerent Anglo-American campaign for the recognitions of the first heroin state in Europe - with the biggest American military base on the continent as its capital - is slowly but surely starting to show the signs of unraveling.

It will be left to future historians to ponder whether the Empire's project of redrawing borders of internationally recognized states at will has failed due to the stubborn resistance of tiny Serbia which, among else, has managed to take the issue to the World Court, whether Kosovo Albanian bloodthirsty extremism and sheer barbarism soaked in organized crime and all forms of abhorrent deviance at the societal level is at the core of the failure, if Russia's recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia finally succeeded in properly focusing the world attention on the seriousness of the issue, or if the reason and the international law have prevailed in spite of the ruling elite's insistence that might makes right.

For now however, it suffice to say it is becoming more and more evident that the American-British pet project of 'independent Kosovo' is grinding to a standstill, hitting walls left, right and center.

Although the Western bloc of states kept touting the 'success' of their drive to carve up a new state on the territory of Serbia, the first embarrassing cracks in the illusion became painfully obvious during the UN General Assembly vote on Serbia's request to send amputation of Kosovo province to the court, on 8 October 2008.

Serbia, which needed a simple majority, scored a major victory at the biggest international forum, with 77 UN member states voting for its initiative. United States and Albania, which voted against Serbia, received support only from the four American colonies comprised of the Micronesian islands most of the world never heard of before: Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru and Palau.

World Muslims Snub Anglo-American Stillborn Child

Mafia state in the heart of Serbia didn't fare better in the second biggest international arena either, the Organization of The Islamic Conference (OIC), embodying 57 predominantly Muslim UN-member states.

At the 11th OIC Summit held in March 2008 in Dakar, Senegal, attempt by Turkey - British and American key ally in Euroasia - to include an article expressing the recognition of independence of Serbian province in the closing document of the Muslim World Conference was blocked by several countries including Azerbaijan, Egypt, Sudan and Indonesia. Instead of inviting the Islamic states to recognize the Anglo-American abomination on the Serbian territory as an 'independent state', OIC's closing document merely 'acknowledged' Pri�tina's unilateral declaration of independence.

Similarly, just closed 12th OIC conference brought major disappointment for the Washington-London-Brussels Axis: even after the clear instructions to the Muslim world by the British FM David Miliband to recognize integral part of Serbia as an independent state, and even as the main US ally in the Arab world - the Saudi king's representative - was elected to urge collective recognition of the fake state of Kosovo, the Islamic world convening in the Syrian capital Damascus refused to comply with the Anglo-American diktat, delivered via the notorious US errand-runners Albania, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Puppet States Recognizing Another Puppet

Though Albanians and their handlers are quick to point out that the fake state of Kosovo was 'recognized by 60 countries' (less than a third of 192 UN member states), closer examination reveals the list, apart from the Western bloc, is comprised of significant portion of token-states that should fight for their own independence first, being run by the US and incurably colonial Britain, such as the above mentioned Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru and Palau, or Maldives, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Samoa and Sierra Leone; and a majority of the countries subjugated to the US, like Karzai's Afghanistan, Turkey, Albania, Saudi Arabia, Costa Rica or Estonia and Lithuania.

On the other hand, majority of the UN member states refuse to condone the willful amputation of part of Serbian state territory, including the biggest and most populous countries in the world, such as Russia, China, India, Brazil and Indonesia, the key states in their respective regions like South Africa, Venezuela, Argentina and Egypt, the EU members like Spain, Slovakia, Romania, Cyprus and Greece, or the countries with a proud record of standing up to the US hegemony, such as Cuba, Syria, Libya, Azerbaijan, North Korea, Iran and Bolivia.

Agonizing Milking of Recognitions

The obvious lack of wide support for Anglo-American border redrawing designs is underlined by the fact the excruciating ordeal of milking recognitions is strictly limited to each country's ruling elite, in essence boiling down to a few individuals at the helm of each state, with no referendums and no public debate being allowed in any of the countries which have issued recognition.

And while the Albanians are readily rolling in the mud and obligingly kissing behinds of global riffraff (reserving the Pri�tina street-naming 'tradition' for the American bureaucrats alone) in a pitiful show of slavish gratitude, the utterly disgraceful drive to sever Kosovo province from Serbia has been marred by the countless humiliating revelations, including the accusations of bribery and conditioning equal to the overt or covert threats.

Thus, it was revealed Maldives' recognition was bought for $2M, paid to the order of the state's foreign minister, while other countries, including Macedonia and Montenegro, openly complained of the unrelenting pressure by Washington, London and Brussels, which forced their recognition of the fake state in Serbia.

Wobbly Recognitions

It took a year and a half for Albanian secessionists in Pri�tina to realize premature euphoria they fueled with baseless promises, such as triumphant announcements of recognitions by the '100 countries' on the very day unilateral independence is declared, should be toned down in the light of sobering awareness things are not going quite as planned.

At the same time, it took less than a month for the world to learn the already pocketed recognitions are far from being as safe, sound and irreversible as Albanian lobbyists would want.

While some recognitions sounded more like the shame-ridden confessions that the states in question are, in fact, US colonies, like the Japanese recognition, dripping with apologies and discomfort, some were left open-ended from the start, such as Costa Rican pledge to withdraw the recognition if the International Court of Justice ruled against severing of Kosovo province.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski went public with his disapproval of the recognition issued by his government, punctuating his position by blocking an opening of the Polish embassy in the fake state.

The rift caused in the Czech Republic by issuing recognition of Kosovo province was even more pronounced and considered a trigger for toppling Mirek Topolanek's government.

Czech President Vaclav Klaus, one of the staunchest opponents of dismemberment of Serbia, said he was ashamed by the Czech recognition of the Serbian province as an independent state and refused to furnish the heroin state with the Czech ambassador.

Moreover, toppling of the government which issued recognition on behalf of the Czech Republic, has initiated calls in the state's parliament for withdrawal of the Czech recognition.

Similar indications are now coming from Macedonia.

Citing Albanian and Macedonian dailies, B92 today wrote Skopje is considering revoking its recognition of the mafia state on Serbian territory. The report was instantly followed by Solana representative's in Brussels knee-jerk reaction, ordering Skopje and Pri�tina to 'waste no time and start building good relations' - the best possible confirmation Macedonian government is indeed reconsidering its earlier, forced decision.

And while there can be no doubt Macedonians will once again be exposed to the full extent of London/Brussels fury, with their violent Albanian population possibly taking up arms yet again, one wonders whether the latest soundbites coming from France might suggest a u-turn neither Washington nor Brussels (nor London, in particular) could hammer back in line.

France: Nothing is Irreversible

What is entirely clear from the recent visit by Serbian President Boris Tadic to the Elys�e Palace is that France has made a decision Serbia will no longer be abused - enough is enough, Sarkozy said.

Reminding of the 'great sacrifices' Serbs have suffered in Kosovo province, French president said that 'Serbia has suffered a lot, it was humiliated and it's time to end that'. He added that 'conditions must not be imposed on Serbia again'.

According to Belgrade daily Blic, Tadic's meeting with Sarkozy signaled an end of Serbophobe Kouchner's steering of the French foreign policy anti-Serbian way. Vice president of the Serbian government pointed out the agreement President Sarkozy wants to sign with Serbia in Belgrade about the strategic cooperation between the two countries carries special weight in the light of the fact France has no similar agreement with any other non-EU member state.

'Sarkozy said he views Serbia as the strongest state in the Balkan peninsula, in regards to its military and economic potential', �elic told Blic.

What is less clear right now is whether France's determination to support Anglo-American project of the fake state of Kosovo is as firm today as it was a year ago, when Bernard Kouchner was France's exclusive Balkan viceroy, personally crossing every �t' and dotting every �i'.

On the eve of Tadic's visit to France, Serbian-language edition of BBC carried an insightful interview with French deputy Jacques Myard from Sarkozy's ruling UMP party, who is also a member of French Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee.

Asked to comment the statement of American vice president Joseph Biden that United States considers amputation of the Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohija an 'irreversible' act, Myard said there is nothing 'irreversible' in politics.

'France recognized Kosovo, and that is its government's official position. However, in politics and international relations there is only one rule: Never say never. Nothing is irreversible. Many French deputies believe something will have to change, being that a dangerous precedent has been created in Kosovo which, for example, Russia used last summer in Georgia, when it occupied South Ossetia and Abkhazia. France is fully aware Serbia will never recognize Kosovo and it will not request any such thing, since that would be entirely absurd,' Myard said.

Kosovo minorities leave, claiming discrimination

The London-based Minority Rights Group International (MRG) says exclusion from political and social life and discrimination are forcing ethnic Bosniaks, Turks, Roma, Croats, Gorani, Ashkali Egyptians and even some Serbs out of Kosovo.

Non-Serb minorities have criticized the international community for paying too much attention to Albanian-Serb relations and ignoring other groups.

"The priority for the international community should be to ensure that there is some kind of international human rights mechanism to which minorities in Kosovo can turn," MRG director, Mark Lattimer, said.

Lack of political will

Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence in February 2008 and Serbia's opposition to the move had resulted in a vacuum in international protection for minorities, the MRG report says.

Since declaring independence, ethnic divisions have worsened between the enclave's two million Albanians, 120,000 Serbs, and 80,000 others from smaller ethnic groups, despite the presence of 14,000 NATO peacekeepers and a 2,000-strong European Union mission overseeing a fragile peace.

"There is a lack of political will and substantive investment in effective implementation of minority rights among majority Albanians," the report says.

"Together with a bad economy, these conditions mean that many members of minority communities are now leaving the new Kosovo state altogether," MRG concludes.

Integration "a fantasy"

The Kosovo government has called the report "not factually accurate" and says minority rights are guaranteed by the constitution. But Lattimer, in an interview with Deutsche Welle, described that claim as "a fantasy" and stressed that the trend toward greater ethnic segregation was continuing.

"Effectively," Lattimer said, "ten years of international rule have seen an increase in segregation between communities."

The MRG report says that the poor treatment of minorities was due to a perception that they had been allies of, or did little to oppose, the former Serb regime in the 1990s.

Serbia still regards Kosovo as part of its historic heartland and has asked the International Court of Justice in The Hague to rule on the legality of its secession.

Serb President Boris Tadic, ahead of a visit to France on Wednesday, told the French daily Le Figaro that Serbia would "never recognize" the unilateral independence of Kosovo.

Kosovo's independence has only been recognized by 60 of the world's 200 countries.

"Kosovo is about secession, not self-determination"

BELGRADE -- The Kosovo issue is not a case of self-determination but of secession, says Algerian Ambassador to Belgrade Abdelkader Mesdoua.

Algeria, the diplomat told FoNet news agency in Belgrade on Sunday, will not recognize Kosovo.

Mesdoua repeated that his country supports Serbia's territorial integrity and sovereignty.

"The Algerian government's position on the issue of Kosovo is clear. We consider this to be a problem of partition, secession, not of self-determination."

Algeria "said from the very beginning" it would not recognize the Kosovo Albanian unilateral declaration, "which was confirmed during Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic's visit".

"We will not recognize Kosovo as independent and we will remain firmly on this position, unless there is a development that would have Serbia change its stance, but that would be a different question that we would consider then," Mesdoua said.

Taking into account the present situation, Algeria will not recognize Kosovo and will continue to support Serbia's territorial integrity and sovereignty, the ambassador reiterated.

He also confirmed that Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika had accepted an invitation to visit Serbia, and that the trip can be expected in late 2009, or early 2010.

Also by the end of this year, a mixed cooperation committee is due to meet, when Algerian foreign affairs and defense ministers are expected in Belgrade.

"We have very close military cooperation and I am certain that relations will improve in this sector in the future as well," said Mesdoua, and reminded that a number of Algerian army officers are currently attending Serbia's Military Academy.

The ambassador said that the peoples of Algeria and Serbia are very close, that there are many friends of his country here, and that he feels at home in Belgrade.

He divided the history of relations between the two countries in two periods � from Algeria's independence until the 1990s, and after 2000.

"We had very close ties with former Yugoslavia, because both countries were very active in the Non-Aligned Movement, but we had a break of relations, that was not political, because of a period when both Serbia and Algeria faced problems. Contacts always existed, although they were not as close as before."

Mesdoua reminded that Yugoslavia was the first European country to recognize Algeria's independence, and said that after 2000 the ties with Serbia have been improving and becoming closer.

Colombia deports ex-Kosovo PM sought for war crimes

COLOMBIA has expelled former Kosovo prime minister Agim Ceku, sought by Serbia for alleged war crimes, intelligence sources said.

The Administrative Department of Security - Colombia's intelligence service known as DAS - declined to detain Ceku because the crimes he is accused of took place prior to January 2005, when Colombia's current penal law took effect, the DAS said in a statement.

So Ceku was expelled on an Interpol request, the DAS statement added, without giving his destination.

Ceku, 48, arrived in Colombia last Sunday to attend an international meeting on disarmament and demobilisation which concluded Wednesday in the Caribbean port city of Cartagena.

Serbia accuses Ceku of crimes against humanity during the 1998-1999 war in Kosovo when he was military chief of the Kosovo Liberation Army, made up of ethnic Albanian Kosovo guerrillas.

Kosovo and the EU's missing millions

There's a breaking story just about to go online about the alleged serious fraud and corruption swirling around the millions the European Union pumped into Kosovo just after the war ten years ago.

Internal documents - click here for a blog world exclusive - show that at least GBP62.3 million was pretty severely compromised in two key economic projects, funded by the EU and supervised by the United Nations.

The UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) ran the protectorate from 1999 to 2008 following the controversial Nato intervention there.

The EU has not covered itself with glory: Kosovo has "supervised independence" (a nasty colonial oxymoron) and divided European countries have fudged its future.

As can be seen by the documents, cash and projects that should have helped the people lined the pockets of crooks, cronies and dodgy officials.

Under Kosovo's "supervised independence" it now appears that this money has disappeared raising all kinds of questions about the growing trend of having unaccountable organisations running countries.

The European Commission has been left on the sidelines.

"The Commission continues to raise these concerns with the Kosovo authorities and demand that they clarify the steps they have taken," a spokesman told me rather plaintively.

For once, the European Parliament is doing the right thing with a threat to block EU cash for the UN unless there is proper oversight and accounting for the money is spent.

"Parliament must have assurance evidence in order to be able to accept channelling about a thousand million euros on a yearly basis to international organisations," says the confidential letter to the European Commission.

The parliament's budgetary control committee is demanding that the commission halts funding to UN projects which do not hand over accounts to European auditors.

"We urge the commission in future not to finance where there is doubt regarding the existence of such structures and procedures," says the letter.

As the European Parliament notes, UN mismanagement is case of bad politics and murky accountability.

Should we be putting the destinies of regions and people in the hands of people who can not even be trusted with the simple financial administration of public money?