Solana hits back after stormy Kosovo trip

AFP via Yahoo ^ | Thu Mar 25, 9:54 AM ET | AFP staff

[wonders]

BRUSSELS (AFP) - EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana hit back at criticism from Serbs after violent riots erupted in Kosovo, saying the international community was not to blame for the flare-up.

Solana, speaking a day after he was jeered by displaced Serbs during a visit to the UN-run province, said: "I would not say that it is a failure of strategy of the European Union (news - web sites).

"I think it is a failure of the behavior of the people of Kosovo. We are not responsible for the behavior of the people of Kosovo," he told reporters.

"We have expended capital on Kosovo more than any other place in the world. The blame should not be put on the international community. I think the blame has to be placed on the people who have not been able to organize themselves."

During a visit to Kosovo Wednesday, Solana faced abuse by displaced Serbs demanding to know why the international community did not intervene until well after the three-day rampage by the ethnic Albanian majority began.

On Thursday, he accused local political leaders of exploiting the Albanian mobs to their own advantage.

"(The violence) was not completely spontaneous. There were already a lot of people organized to take advantage of that moment of spontaneity," he said, speaking shortly before the start of an EU summit.

"That is something which is very serious because those people who were already organized probably belong to a political party with heavy responsibilities. The leaders of that party have to come out and say very clearly and very strongly that this is not possible," he said.

The violence, which erupted on March 17, killed 28 people and left a trail of destruction through Serb areas of Kosovo. Thirty Serb churches and monasteries were torched, seven villages were razed and 3,600 people were made homeless.

Kosovo has been a United Nations (news - web sites) protectorate since 1999, when NATO (news - web sites) jets bombed Serbian forces to end a crackdown on the province's separatist ethnic Albanian majority.

[MarMema]

Most of Europe decries the Albanians who live there. Some countries refuse to allow them in. The drug running and prostitution came in after the Albanians moved into Kosovo. I am pinging Joan to correct me if I err here, but this is how I understand the more recent history.

Albania was having horrible depression and poverty and there was no requirement at all to move across the border into Kosovo. Additionally some many years ago, some of it had been part of a larger ( greater) Albania.

Typical of muslim expansionist approaches, they began to move into Kosovo and dilute the population to their own favor. Eventually they began to speak about take overs. I think the Serbs at some point were harsh in that they refused to allow them their own language in the schools, some thing along those lines.

After that I think it pretty much just became ugly. I hope that Joan can add something to this. This is the history as given to me by a young guy who had a website while we were bombing Kosovo five years ago, name of Voji. It was called something like Under the Gun. He would post each day during the bombing.

[starys]

By the way, I did spend New Year in Constantinople. Aya Sofia is magnificent. Turks are removing plaster from the walls and dome, and old Christian frescoes are showing up again.

Apparently, Turks have been mostly tolerant toward Serbian Churches in Kosovo during 500 years of their occupation, and some of the churches have been built during that time. Compare that with record of modern, democratic and peace loving Albanians that burned down 30 Serbian Churches in Kosovo last week.

[starys]

The news that I read say that Serbs in Kosovo live in enclaves, guarded by KFOR, surrounded by Kosovo Albanians (said to be 90 % of population). Now Serbs live in military camps guarded by the same KFOR solders.

I have hard time imagining Serbs contributing to organized crime from Kosovo that threatens Europe with drugs etc. I beleive that this blank statement is typical exercise in damage control over results of '99 NATO military intervention.

[MarMema]

Aya Sofia is magnificent

I am so envious. It is one of my dreams to get there before I die. Thanks for telling me about it.

[MarMema]

The few Serbs left are often monastics or deeply religious, and staying to try to hold onto what, for all of us Orthodox, is a Holy Land.

This is of course, the significance of the entire issue.
Just as it is in Israel.

[Dr.Deth]

Solana, speaking a day after he was jeered by displaced Serbs during a visit to the UN-run province, said: "I would not say that it is a failure of strategy of the European Union (news - web sites).

"I think it is a failure of the behavior of the people of Kosovo. We are not responsible for the behavior of the people of Kosovo," he told reporters.

Solana, you duplicitous son of a b*tch, tell the truth just once. The problem is with the Kosovo Albanians, who are doing exactly what anyone with a brain could have told you would happen if you prevented the Serbs from defending themselves.

[starys]

Asking politician to tell the truth ??

[starys]

Definitely worth seeing it. It has been the biggest Christian Church in the World for a 1000 years since Justinian built it in fifth century, until St. Peter Chatredral was built in Rome.

[starys]

Clarification:

Asking SOCIALIST politician to tell the truth ??

[aquila48]

"We have expended capital on Kosovo more than any other place in the world. The blame should not be put on the international community. I think the blame has to be placed on the people who have not been able to organize themselves."

They have been able to organize themselves quite well, you idiot!! They've organized to cleanse themselves of the serbs. The euros are going to be overrun by the muslims and they deserve it.

And, while I'm at it, I have become so allergic to the word "community"!! Anybody else?

[starys]

Proposal for solution:

1. NATO out
2. Serbian Army in
3. Serbian Refuges back

[wonders]

And, while I'm at it, I have become so allergic to the word "community"!! Anybody else?

Me!

[jpsb]

"Any clue why?"

The Serbs have been a pain the German butt's for a long long time. It was a Serb that started WW1 by assassinating a German (I consider Austria and Germany, German) Duke. The cause of the bad blood is German attempts a dominating the Slavic peoples. Hitlers murdering a million Serbs (with Albanian help) in WW2 didn't help things.

[jpsb]

This bears careful watching, Russia will go to war over this. Time to get US troops the hell out of the Balkins.

[wonders]

(Introducing longjack for those who don't know him. He's tirelessly translated articles from the German press for us here on FR. I pinged him to this thread to help out with a question and he gallantly replied. Now we need to help him out with his questions. Thanks in advance for your help. And I'm sorry to any I forgot to ping.)

Yes, the problem was already there, longjack. It began in real earnest with the rise of the UCK/KLA in the latter nineties. And one side (Albanian) is mainly responsible for the drug/gun/white slave smuggling. Yes, there are Serbs, Bulgarians, Macedonians, etc. also involved (just as there are Germans, Swiss, Spaniards, Brits, etc. involved on the "delivery" end) but it's not called the "Albanian mafia" for nothing.

There was a really good article in the Times of London about it all back in late 1998/early 1999. I'm using a different computer now and no longer have the link.

About law and order problems with Albanian refugees in Germany. I don't know anyone who worked directly with Albanian refugees from Kosovo in Germany, but I did know a Red Cross official who worked with them in Switzerland (this was '98 and first half of '99). She told me that most of the refugees were themselves non-KLA Albanians (and very nice people) who were much more afraid of the KLA than they were of Serbs. She also said that the KLA mafia goons came around to all the refugees in her area of Switzerland extorting money from their poor little refugee allowances for the "KLA cause" and that the refugees were terrified of these guys.

I occasionally read the German-language Swiss newpapers back in the 90s, and noticed were also a number of articles about KLA mafia crime in them in the late nineties, especially gun-running and drug-dealing. (I once lived in Switzerland.)

[MarMema]

I think it is also bringing a disturbing degree of confidence to the worldwide islamonazi's. They won in Spain, and they think they won in Kosovo. They are bursting with pride and confidence. Let us all pray often and long. It's not as if they like us here in America any. :-)

If Russian bombs Albania, I will send them a donation for their trouble.

[jpsb]

I think the chances of Russian intervention in Kosovo are very real if the violence continues. Russia tried to intervene in 99, but could not get passage thru eastern Europe. Will Eastern Europe prevent Russia from helping the Serbs in Kosovo this time? I kinda doubt it, since it is now as plain as day that the Albanians are and have been the aggressors.

Time to rethink our involvment in NATO. Do we really want to fight over the Balkins? I think not. Let the Russians and German fight over it, my money is on the Russians.

[wonders]

Can anyone help MarMema out here? I'll do a bit, but I'm not up to the whole thing.

Additionally some many years ago, some of it had been part of a larger ( greater) Albania.

The more time anyone spends in former Yugoslavia, the more than someone sees how it all goes back to WWII. Have a look at this map (wait, and move your mouse, and a button to enlarge the map will appear at lower right). You'll notice the shaded "Occupied by Albania 1941-44" corresponds to the present "Greater Albania" map. Just as in the old Nazi days, most of Kosovo, plus chunks of Macedonia and a sliver of Montenegro are included.

During the WWII occupation, Serbs and Roma were slaughtered and driven from Kosovo by Nazi-allied Albanians. Tito did not allow the Serbs to return to their homes after the war and present boundaries had been established. (I honestly don't remember, if I ever knew, about the Roma, whatever Roma were left alive in 1945.) Meanwhile, Tito looked the other way as Albanians snuck out of Enver's insane gulag into Kosovo. Illegal immigration from Albania continued, of course, in the post-Tito years.

I'll let someone else take over for the poverty/autonomy/boycott issues. Got a headache. Also hope someone will correct me if I'm wrong here, add anything that should be added. I just wrote this from memory, didn't check any sources.

[longjack]

Thanks, wonders for the background information.

I do know from reaing the paper from Kaiserslautern in Southwestern, Germany, in the late 90's that there was a UCK criminality problem. The mayor, I think talked about it.

I was reading the paper more to get soccer scores, so I can't give all the details, other than remembering the criminality issues in Kaiserslautern and, I think, Mannheim.

When I was in Germany in the late 70's and the 80's Yugoslavia was a hot vacation spot. I really can't remember Yugoslavia having any where near even a thievery rap, let's say, like Italy had back then.

I'm sure the tourist areas were north of the Kosovo region, but even then, figuring organized crime would radiate toward tourist areas, there weren't any real criminal issues that I can remember.

Was there a point, that you can remember, when there was a turning point (if there was a turning point, that is), when the crime wave really became noticeable, say in the early 90's?

Thanks for the cordial introduction :>)

longjack

[getoffmylawn]

I don't know the details of the rise in organised crime in the former Yugoslavia but I imagine it went up proportionally with free market reforms. You didn't see any organised crime in the 70s and 80s because it was still a very socialist country.

Organized crime is one of the nasty byproducts of a free market. In fact, organised crime is epitome of a deregulated free market economy. I imagine if free market reforms are inserted without matching it with an equal effort of curtailing organised crime, organised crime will gain a strong hold within that setting.

By removing the Serbian police from Kosovo and inserting the impotency of the international community's "rent-a-cop", organised Albanian crime has flourished.