Kosovo: News, Politics & Issues

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  • Struja
    Member
    • Sep 2008
    • 206

    Kosovo: News, Politics & Issues

    08 September 2008 Pristina _ Kosovo leaders say any move by Macedonia to condition its recognition of Kosovo’s independence on Pristina’s honouring of Macedonia’s constitutional name is unacceptable.

    Kosovo’s President Fatmir Sejdiu and Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said they are committed to “good neighbouring relations with Macedonia” but they would oppose such conditions.

    Although there have been no public statements from Skopje on linking the two, there has been speculation that Skopje leaders could ask Kosovo to first recognise the name ‘the Republic of Macedonia’ before Macedonia recognises Kosovo’s independence from Serbia.
    “For Kosovo it’s important that relations with Macedonia continue to be good as they are. This way recognition will come too,” said Sejdiu who besides his optimism said he would not speculate on a date when Macedonia would recognise Kosovo.

    Prime Minister Thaci on the other hand did not want to say anything on whether Kosovo would recognise Macedonia’s constitutional name. However, all politicians and most government and other public documents refer to Kosovo’s southern neighbour as Macedonia and not its provisional name, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

  • Struja
    Member
    • Sep 2008
    • 206

    #2
    MK leaders are doing the right thing, first recognise the name ‘the Republic of Macedonia’ then will recongnise your Republic of Kosovo.

    Comment

    • Risto the Great
      Senior Member
      • Sep 2008
      • 15658

      #3
      Too bad, so sad.
      Risto the Great
      MACEDONIA:ANHEDONIA
      "Holding my breath for the revolution."

      Hey, I wrote a bestseller. Check it out: www.ren-shen.com

      Comment

      • osiris
        Senior Member
        • Sep 2008
        • 1969

        #4
        the bullshit about kosovo must go down as one of the best propaganda campaigns in the history of the world, not even the nazis were as effective in selling such nonsense.

        here is an interesting article about kosovo and nato

        from www.antiwar.com

        Don't Forget Yugoslavia

        by John Pilger

        The secrets of the crushing of Yugoslavia are emerging, telling us more about how the modern world is policed. The former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia in The Hague, Carla Del Ponte, this year published her memoir, The Hunt: Me and War Criminals. Largely ignored in Britain, the book reveals unpalatable truths about the West's intervention in Kosovo, which has echoes in the Caucasus.

        The tribunal was set up and bankrolled principally by the United States. Del Ponte's role was to investigate the crimes committed as Yugoslavia was dismembered in the 1990s. She insisted that this include NATO's 78-day bombing of Serbia and Kosovo in 1999, which killed hundreds of people in hospitals, schools, churches, parks, and television studios and destroyed economic infrastructure. "If I am not willing to [prosecute NATO personnel]," said Del Ponte, "I must give up my mission." It was a sham. Under pressure from Washington and London, an investigation into NATO war crimes was scrapped.

        Readers will recall that the justification for the NATO bombing was that the Serbs were committing "genocide" in the secessionist province of Kosovo against ethnic Albanians. David Scheffer, U.S. ambassador-at-large for war crimes, announced that as many as "225,000 ethnic Albanian men aged between 14 and 59" may have been murdered. Tony Blair invoked the Holocaust and "the spirit of the Second World War." The West's heroic allies were the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), whose murderous record was set aside. The British foreign secretary, Robin Cook, told them to call him anytime on his mobile phone.

        With the NATO bombing over, international teams descended upon Kosovo to exhume the "holocaust." The FBI failed to find a single mass grave and went home. The Spanish forensic team did the same, its leader angrily denouncing "a semantic pirouette by the war propaganda machines." A year later, Del Ponte's tribunal announced the final count of the dead in Kosovo: 2,788. This included combatants on both sides and Serbs and Roma murdered by the KLA. There was no genocide in Kosovo. The "holocaust" was a lie. The NATO attack had been fraudulent.

        That was not all, says Del Ponte in her book: the KLA kidnapped hundreds of Serbs and transported them to Albania, where their kidneys and other body parts were removed; these were then sold for transplant in other countries. She also says there was sufficient evidence to prosecute the Kosovar Albanians for war crimes, but the investigation "was nipped in the bud" so that the tribunal's focus would be on "crimes committed by Serbia." She says the Hague judges were terrified of the Kosovar Albanians – the very people in whose name NATO had attacked Serbia.

        Indeed, even as Blair the war leader was on a triumphant tour of "liberated" Kosovo, the KLA was ethnically cleansing more than 200,000 Serbs and Roma from the province. Last February the "international community," led by the U.S., recognized Kosovo, which has no formal economy and is run, in effect, by criminal gangs that traffic in drugs, contraband, and women. But it has one valuable asset: the U.S. military base Camp Bondsteel, described by the Council of Europe's human rights commissioner as "a smaller version of Guantanamo." Del Ponte, a Swiss diplomat, has been told by her own government to stop promoting her book.

        Yugoslavia was a uniquely independent and multi-ethnic, if imperfect, federation that stood as a political and economic bridge in the Cold War. This was not acceptable to the expanding European Community, especially newly united Germany, which had begun a drive east to dominate its "natural market" in the Yugoslav provinces of Croatia and Slovenia. By the time the Europeans met at Maastricht in 1991, a secret deal had been struck; Germany recognized Croatia, and Yugoslavia was doomed. In Washington, the U.S. ensured that the struggling Yugoslav economy was denied World Bank loans and the defunct NATO was reinvented as an enforcer. At a 1999 Kosovo "peace" conference in France, the Serbs were told to accept occupation by NATO forces and a market economy, or be bombed into submission. It was the perfect precursor to the bloodbaths in Afghanistan and Iraq.

        Comment

        • El Bre
          Member
          • Sep 2008
          • 713

          #5
          Simply Amazing.

          Comment

          • Pelister
            Senior Member
            • Sep 2008
            • 2742

            #6
            Wow.

            Carla Del Ponte says "the Hague judges were terrified of the Kosovar Albanian..."

            Right on our doorstep.

            Kosovo is a sham, and the Macedonian are right asking to be recognized first.

            Comment

            • malenka
              Member
              • Sep 2008
              • 101

              #7
              Crap! I just googled this lady and read some more articles about her book. I hope we will be given the chance to read it in english.

              Comment

              • I of Macedon
                Member
                • Sep 2008
                • 222

                #8
                Originally posted by osiris View Post
                the bullshit about kosovo must go down as one of the best propaganda campaigns in the history of the world, not even the nazis were as effective in selling such nonsense.

                here is an interesting article about kosovo and nato

                from www.antiwar.com

                Don't Forget Yugoslavia

                by John Pilger

                The secrets of the crushing of Yugoslavia are emerging, telling us more about how the modern world is policed. The former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia in The Hague, Carla Del Ponte, this year published her memoir, The Hunt: Me and War Criminals. Largely ignored in Britain, the book reveals unpalatable truths about the West's intervention in Kosovo, which has echoes in the Caucasus.

                The tribunal was set up and bankrolled principally by the United States. Del Ponte's role was to investigate the crimes committed as Yugoslavia was dismembered in the 1990s. She insisted that this include NATO's 78-day bombing of Serbia and Kosovo in 1999, which killed hundreds of people in hospitals, schools, churches, parks, and television studios and destroyed economic infrastructure. "If I am not willing to [prosecute NATO personnel]," said Del Ponte, "I must give up my mission." It was a sham. Under pressure from Washington and London, an investigation into NATO war crimes was scrapped.

                Readers will recall that the justification for the NATO bombing was that the Serbs were committing "genocide" in the secessionist province of Kosovo against ethnic Albanians. David Scheffer, U.S. ambassador-at-large for war crimes, announced that as many as "225,000 ethnic Albanian men aged between 14 and 59" may have been murdered. Tony Blair invoked the Holocaust and "the spirit of the Second World War." The West's heroic allies were the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), whose murderous record was set aside. The British foreign secretary, Robin Cook, told them to call him anytime on his mobile phone.

                With the NATO bombing over, international teams descended upon Kosovo to exhume the "holocaust." The FBI failed to find a single mass grave and went home. The Spanish forensic team did the same, its leader angrily denouncing "a semantic pirouette by the war propaganda machines." A year later, Del Ponte's tribunal announced the final count of the dead in Kosovo: 2,788. This included combatants on both sides and Serbs and Roma murdered by the KLA. There was no genocide in Kosovo. The "holocaust" was a lie. The NATO attack had been fraudulent.

                That was not all, says Del Ponte in her book: the KLA kidnapped hundreds of Serbs and transported them to Albania, where their kidneys and other body parts were removed; these were then sold for transplant in other countries. She also says there was sufficient evidence to prosecute the Kosovar Albanians for war crimes, but the investigation "was nipped in the bud" so that the tribunal's focus would be on "crimes committed by Serbia." She says the Hague judges were terrified of the Kosovar Albanians – the very people in whose name NATO had attacked Serbia.

                Indeed, even as Blair the war leader was on a triumphant tour of "liberated" Kosovo, the KLA was ethnically cleansing more than 200,000 Serbs and Roma from the province. Last February the "international community," led by the U.S., recognized Kosovo, which has no formal economy and is run, in effect, by criminal gangs that traffic in drugs, contraband, and women. But it has one valuable asset: the U.S. military base Camp Bondsteel, described by the Council of Europe's human rights commissioner as "a smaller version of Guantanamo." Del Ponte, a Swiss diplomat, has been told by her own government to stop promoting her book.

                Yugoslavia was a uniquely independent and multi-ethnic, if imperfect, federation that stood as a political and economic bridge in the Cold War. This was not acceptable to the expanding European Community, especially newly united Germany, which had begun a drive east to dominate its "natural market" in the Yugoslav provinces of Croatia and Slovenia. By the time the Europeans met at Maastricht in 1991, a secret deal had been struck; Germany recognized Croatia, and Yugoslavia was doomed. In Washington, the U.S. ensured that the struggling Yugoslav economy was denied World Bank loans and the defunct NATO was reinvented as an enforcer. At a 1999 Kosovo "peace" conference in France, the Serbs were told to accept occupation by NATO forces and a market economy, or be bombed into submission. It was the perfect precursor to the bloodbaths in Afghanistan and Iraq.
                I think this article should also be placed as a seperate thread on exposing lies and propaganda
                No need to sit in the shade, because we stand under our own sun

                Comment

                • Pelister
                  Senior Member
                  • Sep 2008
                  • 2742

                  #9
                  Originally posted by Struja View Post
                  08 September 2008 Pristina _ Kosovo leaders say any move by Macedonia to condition its recognition of Kosovo’s independence on Pristina’s honouring of Macedonia’s constitutional name is unacceptable.

                  Kosovo’s President Fatmir Sejdiu and Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said they are committed to “good neighbouring relations with Macedonia” but they would oppose such conditions.

                  Although there have been no public statements from Skopje on linking the two, there has been speculation that Skopje leaders could ask Kosovo to first recognise the name ‘the Republic of Macedonia’ before Macedonia recognises Kosovo’s independence from Serbia.
                  “For Kosovo it’s important that relations with Macedonia continue to be good as they are. This way recognition will come too,” said Sejdiu who besides his optimism said he would not speculate on a date when Macedonia would recognise Kosovo.

                  Prime Minister Thaci on the other hand did not want to say anything on whether Kosovo would recognise Macedonia’s constitutional name. However, all politicians and most government and other public documents refer to Kosovo’s southern neighbour as Macedonia and not its provisional name, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

                  http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/12950/
                  Kosovo really isn't in a position to be holding back on the Macedonians.

                  I'd like to see the Macedonian government start making more demands from other States, particularly Albania.

                  Comment

                  • Pelister
                    Senior Member
                    • Sep 2008
                    • 2742

                    #10
                    Should Macedonia recognize Kosovo?

                    I thought I would open this up discussion.

                    Kosovo needs the recognition of more countires. It has asked the Macedonians to recognize it, and at the same time, if refuses to recognize the Macedonian Republic by its constitutional name.

                    What should the Macedonians do?

                    Comment

                    • osiris
                      Senior Member
                      • Sep 2008
                      • 1969

                      #11
                      recognize them as kosovo the former province of the former yugoslav republic of serbia.

                      Comment

                      • Risto the Great
                        Senior Member
                        • Sep 2008
                        • 15658

                        #12
                        Do nothing.
                        Why deal with a drug cartel?
                        ... unless you can get cheaper drugs.
                        Risto the Great
                        MACEDONIA:ANHEDONIA
                        "Holding my breath for the revolution."

                        Hey, I wrote a bestseller. Check it out: www.ren-shen.com

                        Comment

                        • malenka
                          Member
                          • Sep 2008
                          • 101

                          #13
                          Yes, as Former Jugoslav Province of Kosovo and Metohia

                          Comment

                          • Six Guns
                            Member
                            • Sep 2008
                            • 31

                            #14
                            Macedonia should recognise Kosovo only if it benefits from it e.g. giving it a better chance in getting into the EU and only if they recognise Macedonia by it's constitutional name.

                            p.s Hi by the way, I'm Six Guns! =)

                            Comment

                            • Coolski
                              Member
                              • Sep 2008
                              • 747

                              #15
                              In two words Pelister, NO WAY!


                              Kosovo is an illegal state which has broken off from Serbia. THe moment Macedonia recognises an illegal breakaway ethnic Albanian state, you know what precedent has been set.

                              There are several levels of "NO WAY" which can be argued.

                              1. Kosovo is demanding (not asking) for Macedonia to recognise them
                              2. Kosovo has shown no interest in recognising the Republic of Macedonia
                              3. Kosovo is an illegal state formed under illegal conditions for the support of a particular entity.
                              4. Macedonia is not a part of NATO, nor is there any indication that Macedonia will be allowed to join (because of Greece). Recognising Kosovo while Macedonia remains without decent security is worse than waiting for NATO entry.
                              4. Kosovo is not part of a natural alliance with Macedonia. In fact, its people have shown themselves to be very anti-Macedonian since their refugees entered Macedonia in the 1999 conflict. The same ethnic Albanian people call for a breakaway region of Iliria from Macedonia.

                              5. Russia has asked Macedonia to recognise South Ossetia and Abkhazian independence. They too are technically illegal states. Setting a precedent with Kosovo and not recognising South Ossetia and Abkhazia will create problems for Macedonia's eastern relations.

                              6. Recognition of Kosovo will kill Macedonia's relations with Serbia, both economic and cultural. Like it or not, they are one of Macedonia's closer friends in the Balkans.

                              So, my answer? "NO WAY".

                              My solution? Macedonia should recognise Kosovo only as an autonomous territory (which it is), and offer similar recognition to South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

                              It is one thing to satisfy super-powers, but when both satisfactions involve recognising a precedent for separatists in your own country, it is an absolute death sentence.
                              - Секој чоек и нација има можност да успеат колку шо си дозволуваат. Нема изговор.
                              - Every human and nation has the ability to be as great or as weak as they allow themselves to be. No excuses.

                              Comment

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