Posted on 08/21/2008 3:50:19 PM PDT by kronos77
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia's foreign minister said the link is clear — U.S. and Western support for Kosovo's secession from Serbia has helped fuel tensions in Georgia's separatist province of South Ossetia.
Minister Vuk Jeremic was quoted by the Vecernje Novosti daily on Thursday as saying the recognition of Kosovo's independence on Feb. 17 by the United States and its NATO allies has "destabilized" other parts of the world.
"We have pointed out to the international community from the very start that the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo could present a dangerous precedent," Vuk Jeremic was quoted as saying. "Unfortunately, this has proven to be true much sooner than anyone expected." Jeremic was not immediately available for comment, but his spokeswoman confirmed the authenticity of the newspaper interview.
Serbia lost control over Kosovo in 1999 after it launched a military campaign in the province against Kosovo's ethnic Albanian separatists. Then-President Slobodan Milosevic was forced to pull out of Kosovo after Serbia was bombed by NATO for 78 days in retaliation for its brutality against civilians in Kosovo.
Serbia's new, pro-Western leadership that came after Milosevic was ousted in 2000 has refrained from using force in Kosovo but has refused to give up its claim on the territory.
Earlier this month, Jeremic sought support in the United Nations for Serbia's request that the Netherlands-based International Court of Justice rule on weather Kosovo's declaration of independence was legal under international law.
If approved at the upcoming U.N. General Assembly session, the Serbian request would present an important diplomatic victory for the Balkan country, although the court's ruling would be nonbinding.
Serbia has refused to acknowledge the secession of predominantly ethnic Albanian region. It has sought to block Kosovo's membership in the United Nations and other international organizations.
(Excerpt) Read more at ap.google.com ...
Ping!
I hate that the USA did this to the Christian Serbs.
Kosovo is Christian land and has been for over 2k years.
Thanks Cigar Bill, you gave Russia the go ahead.
Hey, if Bush had Clinton’s problems, we’d have invaded Georgia ourselves.
I disagree Kronos, Georgia should have it’s territory returned, Kosovo should never have been stolen in the first place.
I hate what Satanic Russia is doing to the Christian Georgians. Serbs can go to hell, and anybody who supports Serbia and Russia against their own country should get the hell out of the USA and never come back.
Go ahead to do what? Send Chechens to slaughter Christians? The Serb silence on this matter speaks volumes.
It’s really not about Islam for the Serbs. They hate Christian Croats just as much as the hate muslim Albanians. Serbia has a military alliance with jihadist Iran so what does that tell you?
The Serbs risked their lives to save American pilots in WW2.
A lot of nasty stuff I could say but, I will keep my piece.
You act like the Russians are not Christians.
We are certainly finding that out now, after years of being told the exact opposite.
When Clinton attacked the Serbs he in fact told Putin the USA has no respect for Russia.
When Bush backed the Jihadist Muslims in Kosovo he told Putin the same thing.
We as a nation needs to stay out of Eastern Europe!
Let the EU handle this.
You act like the Russians are not Christians.
Gee, I wonder why. Imagine that.
No Joe, you don’t get to tell anyone on this board where to live.
You back the wrong side in Kosovo.
And there it is: crystalline Serb “logic.” Because the Serbs got screwed, the Georgians deserve it.
I most likely will remain here.
But, visiting Serbia to see all the Christian Icons that have stood over 2k years being destroyed by the Muslims that now lives in Kosovo might be interesting.
WW2 began in the Balkans. Life is full of irony
Oh you mean when the US allowed Iranian arm shipments to reach the Bosnian Muslims, I do remember that alliance. Your pink underwear is showing Traitor Joe.
The Russian case for S.O. independence is a lot more valid than our case for KosovO independence.
"...And let's not forget: We made it a condition of Train and Equip that Bosnia sever all military and intelligence ties with Iran - so a nation that exports radicalism and sponsors terrorism has lost the important foothold in Europe that it gained when the war began in 1992."
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
Remarks by Samuel R. Berger,
Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
Georgetown University
Washington, D.C.
September 23, 1997
"The Road Forward in Bosnia"
Ahem, where in the Balkans did WW2 begin?
I suspect you mean WWI (?).
The Christian Serbs are cheering on Russia doing to Georgia what Nato did to them. They’ve lost my sympathy now. And I used to be a very vocal advocate for them. But their morality apparently is situational.
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