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  • FRIDAY JUNE 1 2007 3:00 AM

Russia, Serbia, Albania, the UN and Bill Clinton

Submitted by yeahrightjosue

Edited by erin_broadley

Tags: Bill Clinton, Russia, Serbia, Albania, UN, US



While time passes and the end of June looms closer, the heated debate regarding Kosovo Independence still seems uncertain.

Ever since the March 24, 1999 Nato Bombing Campaign to push out Serbs, the Serbian province of Kosovo has been under UN control. With the United States leading the campaign, former president Bill Clinton seems like a leader in Kosovo, where 90% of the population is ethnic Albanian.

The ethnic Kosovo Albanians are rising a statue of former President Bill Clinton on Clinton BLVD in Prishtina.

"He is our savior. He saved us from extermination," sculptor Izeir Mustafa told Reuters. "I was thrilled by the work because I know what he did for us."

The three-meter (10-foot) tall monument is still under construction in a studio in Podujevo north of Pristina.


The United States has said it would present a new resolution to the UN Security Council by June. However, Serbia considers Kosovo its heartland and will not let go. Russia, as Serbia's ally, threatened to use its veto if that resolution were to be presented.

To better understand why it's so hard for Serbia to let go of Kosovo, I'll quote what a Serbian interpreter told me while I was on an escort mission here in Kosovo.

Imagine if Cuban Immigrants flooded Florida and the United States Government sent out their Military to stop it. At that time, other countries stepped in with Russia infront to stop this. Cubans started to raise their flags everywhere in Florida. Now, with Florida under UN control, the UN is deciding on whether Florida should become an Independent country with the majority of the Florida population being 90% Cuba.


This is basically what happened in Kosovo. Yes, the Serbian military was wrong for killing "some 10,000 ethnic Albanians in an 18-month counter-insurgency war against Albanian separatist guerrillas." But that is not the people's fault so why should they lose their own land?

I am not here to criticize, but mainly to stress the point that although the status of Kosovo is near, there will never truly be a resolution.

With cultural and religious differences -- Albanians being Muslim and Serbians being Orthodox Christian -- problems might always be there, even after independence.

Either way, whether or not Kosovo gets it's independence, one side will not be happy.

The UN knows this, and is mainly the reason why it's taking them so long to decide on a resolution.

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Comments
Volkov

Volkov

San Antonio, TX
OLD SKOOL

JUN 01, 2007 04:08 AM

given the history of that area, I doubt that there will be any peace other than an enforced one for a very long time.

also that metaphor given with Cuban immigrants in Florida neglects to mention the atrocities and wholesale genocide perpetuated by the Serbian forces at the command of their government.

Serbia has lost Kosovo. that doesn't mean that Serbians can't live IN Kosovo, but the government has little right to be expected to maintain of a place that it nearly wiped out of human life.

RedBstrd

RedBstrd

Riverside, CA
April 2004

JUN 01, 2007 04:16 AM

The majority of Kosovo's population has been Albanian since just after the Treaty of San Stefano in 1878. The Florida metaphor your interpreter offered is ahistorical. Moreover, the Serbian army didn't move in to stop immigration, they moved in to commit genocide on already-established populations of civilians.

RedBstrd

RedBstrd

Riverside, CA
April 2004

JUN 01, 2007 04:21 AM

Volkov said:
also that metaphor given with Cuban immigrants in Florida neglects to mention the atrocities and wholesale genocide perpetuated by the Serbian forces at the command of their government.



Beat me to it...

Cash

Cash

USA
OLD SKOOL

JUN 01, 2007 04:22 AM

Volkov said:
given the history of that area, I doubt that there will be any peace other than an enforced one for a very long time.



Hey...things are just peachy in Slovenia.

That's one good thing about my people....while everyone else is fighting....they're hanging out in Ljubljana, drinking slivovitz....and they're all like "c'mon guys....just relax & have a drink".

King_Mob

King_Mob

I'm lost
September 2005

JUN 01, 2007 04:56 AM

Nationalism and religion have long been the guise of wanton greed and power mongering.

It's all about money and power.

Nothing more.

...doesn't Bill look stoned in that effegy?

NickFaust

NickFaust

USA
April 2004

JUN 01, 2007 05:20 AM

King_Mob said:
Nationalism and religion have long been the guise of wanton greed and power mongering.

It's all about money and power.

Nothing more.

...doesn't Bill look stoned in that effegy?



I wouldn't say that that is all that it is about. The Balkans have been the interface between Europe and the Middle East for about 800 years. There is a tremendous history in that region that I don't think most Westerners get. It is about more than money and power. It is about tradition, culture, vendetta, "honor" and a myriad of other pretty complex issues. Money and power figure into it, of course, but it is overly simplistic to say that that is all that there is to it.

I am not for the further balkanization of the region, I would really like to see some effort at uniting provincial governments under a central government. If we keep this up we will be back to the city state in a generation or two, individual freedom, contrary to most libertarian fantasies, does not thrive in feudal warlord social structures.

DhD_No_Pants

DhD_No_Pants

Katy, TX
May 2006

JUN 01, 2007 10:02 AM

Regardless of the outcome, there is going to be some very bad shit going down when a decision is finally reached. Let's just hope that we don't end up having to go and fight the same people we helped.

NickFaust said:
I wouldn't say that that is all that it is about. The Balkans have been the interface between Europe and the Middle East for about 800 years. There is a tremendous history in that region that I don't think most Westerners get. It is about more than money and power. It is about tradition, culture, vendetta, "honor" and a myriad of other pretty complex issues. Money and power figure into it, of course, but it is overly simplistic to say that that is all that there is to it.



From what my husband has told me about what he learned about the people while he was there, you are spot on. Their war heroes are elevated to a status that most Americans wouldn't understand.

Zarth

zarth

Seattle, WA
December 2004

JUN 01, 2007 10:23 AM

Cash said:

Volkov said:
given the history of that area, I doubt that there will be any peace other than an enforced one for a very long time.


Hey...things are just peachy in Slovenia.

That's one good thing about my people....while everyone else is fighting....they're hanging out in Ljubljana, drinking slivovitz....and they're all like "c'mon guys....just relax & have a drink".


Our people started the disintegration of Yugoslavia, though. Slovenia led the independence movement and was the first republic to formally secede. Luckily for our cousins, the Croats decided to follow suit and valiantly (or perhaps dimwittedly) interpose themselves, otherwise Belgrade would probably have retaken the Old Country pretty swiftly.

It's true, though, that "ethnic" strife in Yugoslavia (really it's more sectarian), particularly on a genocidal scale, has only become a serious issue relatively recently - except for the Jews and Gypsies, of course.

herbancowboy

herbancowboy

Houston, TX
June 2004

JUN 01, 2007 11:54 AM

King_Mob said:
...doesn't Bill look stoned in that effegy?



I think he looks alarmingly Reaganesque. Nice handle, btw.

Element_103

Element_103

Apo, AE
September 2005

JUN 01, 2007 12:03 PM

Volkov said:
given the history of that area, I doubt that there will be any peace other than an enforced one for a very long time.

also that metaphor given with Cuban immigrants in Florida neglects to mention the atrocities and wholesale genocide perpetuated by the Serbian forces at the command of their government.

Serbia has lost Kosovo. that doesn't mean that Serbians can't live IN Kosovo, but the government has little right to be expected to maintain of a place that it nearly wiped out of human life.



Quite right, Volkov. And that Serbian interpreter is correct as well as to the comparison. But having served in Kosovo myself, I agree with you more that Kosova (as they write it in Albanian) is lost to Serbia (former Yugoslavia). I was there during the last Kosova-wide riots against the U.N., and that saw the population go from 11% Serbian to perhaps 3% as the Kosovar drove entire Serb villages out into Serbia. It doesn't help that Kosova, like it's ethnic parent Albania, is now mostly controlled by the Baltic mafia cartels up through the politicians.

skull

Dawnridge

Dawnridge

I'm lost
May 2007

JUN 01, 2007 12:42 PM

King_Mob said:
It's all about money and power.

Nothing more.

[\QUOTE]

which is why the U.S. got involved: they wanted to build an oil pipeline through the region.

And they supported the KLA which had, and still has ties to Al-Queda

Atrocities happen on every side of every armed conflict. So don't go pointing fingers, especially if you are not involved in any way.

The conflict is complex and Kosovo isn't the prettiest place in the world right now.

FootNoteInMemory

FootNoteInMemory

Yugoslavia
April 2007

JUN 01, 2007 03:04 PM

as someone that is actualy here, it is quite intresting. peopel are deffently hopefull around here

SockPuppet

SockPuppet

I'm lost
July 2006

JUN 01, 2007 04:57 PM

King_Mob said:

...doesn't Bill look stoned in that effegy?



Whoa... you're complaining that a statue looks stoned ?!

biggrin

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