Posted on 02/18/2008 7:23:50 AM PST by CJ Wolf
President Bush on Monday hailed Kosovo's bold and historic bid for statehood, saying "The Kosovars are now independent."
It reminds me of the Iranian prez's public hallucinations.
Bush has never heard of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
He hasn’t a clue.
Yep, that’s because he’s a product of no child left behind.
“It couldn’t be so simple. If it is so simple how could it possibly be important?”
I wholeheartedly agree with your #59!
Yes he can, and those of us on this forum that tried to warn of this have been vilified for years.
Case in point, he is about (try) to force Israel to give up sovereignty of Jerusalem, which under Israel's Constitution is illegal, unless voted on by the Knesset, which is not being done.
Kosovo - the newest EU province
In fact, ultimate executive power will remain with the Eurocrats who govern the territory. The EU also has a monopoly on the use of legitimate force in Kosovo. Its officials even dictated the terms on which independence could be reached, forbidding the use of the double-headed eagle as a flag and ruling out a plebiscite on union with neighbouring Albania.
For all the fuss, Kosovo is not independent in any meaningful sense. It is an EU satrapy. Its subordination is reinforced by its symbols. Its flag is a variant on the EU emblem: stars on a blue background. And, at its independence ceremony, the EU anthem, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, was played.
Bush, the EU foreign ministers and some PMs have all tried to paint Kosovo as something unique, a situation sui generis which should not be seen as a go ahead for other secessionist movements.
If they really believed that anyone would listen, then we should be able to sell them loads and loads of used bridges. Stupidity galore!
As you've noted, already Abkhazia and South Ossetia have decided to ask Russia and the United Nations to recognise their own independence in the wake of Sunday's unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo.
Kosovo independence emboldens South Caucasus breakaway republics
But they are not the only ones. Leaders of Ngorno-Karabakh have also expressed their hope that Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence would set a precedent for their own unrecognised South Caucasian republic, officially part of Azerbaijan. And in Bosnia the serb enclave Republica Srebska one party has asked the local government to declare indendence.
Yes, this can certainly be a legacy that will be remembered.
What do you mean next, de-facto accomplished already.
And just wait. Indonesia is trembling and so is Spain.
Then again, history does repeat itself as politicans and govt's refuse to listen to history. This one will come back to haunt this nation in its Wars on Drugs and Terrorism. Kosovo is a proven ground in moving drugs, human trafficking, terrorist haven for training and recruitment and arms.
They will next want Presevo...big PROBLEMS. Serbia will now be recieving larger segments of training and weapon systems from Russia and China..this will definately be more of a Russian proving grounds..along with China as they both will now prove this was a major Balkan mistake to win a larger foothold within the Balkans..for their own interests, not for the Serb sake...
Yes, the Spanish blocked an EU resolution on Kosovo today - in the end they decided to remain split on the issue.
And Indonesia has condemned Kosovo’s action as illegal, and stated that they will not recognise its independence. And then we have Sri Lanka.....
I mean it is not as we didn’t have enough problems in the world today. Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Israel, Iran, Copenhagen is burning for the 8th day in a row....etc, etc.
Serbia recalls ambassador after U.S. recognizes Kosovo
BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia recalled its ambassador to the United States on Monday after Washington recognized Kosovo as independent, and said it would do the same for all countries that treat Serbia’s breakaway territory as a state.
“We ordered the urgent withdrawal of our ambassador to Washington, and his return to Belgrade, that is the government’s first urgent measure,” Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica told a special session of parliament.
“This will apply to all countries that recognize Kosovo’s unilateral independence,” he said, without specifically mentioning EU states that also said they would recognize Pristina.
Serbia’s southern province of Kosovo declared independence on Sunday after almost nine years under U.N. administration.
Kostunica said the U.S. move continued the NATO aggression which began when it bombed Serbia in 1999 to expel Serb forces from Kosovo and stop a brutal crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists.
“We all know that this unilateral, illegal, violent and immoral proclamation of a false state on the territory of Serbia was possible only under the auspices of brutal force, of the U.S. and NATO,” he said.
“The proof is the attempt to avoid the United Nations, and the disunity among European Union member states in spite of unbearable pressure by the U.S.”
Kostunica said recognition showed the true face of Washington’s “policy of force”. He repeated accusations that the United States supported Kosovo’s independence so that it can have a “military training ground and a NATO warehouse”.
“The main goal of Serbia’s state policy is the return of Kosovo to Serbia,” he said in the address carried live on state television. “From now on, we will act to secure a free and safe life for our citizens in Kosovo.”
Some 120,000 Serbs still live in Kosovo, among 2 million Albanians. Belgrade, which has said it will not use force, has no practical chance of winning the province back.
Kostunica said an EU police and justice mission that would soon be deployed to Kosovo was illegal and represented a breach of Serbian sovereignty. Belgrade did not recognize it, and dismissed its authority.
He also appealed for calm after two days of at times violent protests in Belgrade, directed mostly at U.S. and EU embassies and businesses, some of which were vandalized.
“We must be wise and persistent and show our dignity and strength,” he said. “Serbia has to maintain stability in order to regain Kosovo.”
(Reporting by Ljilja Cvekic and Ksenija Prodanovic; Writing by Ellie Tzortzi and Richard Meares)
Azerbaijan says not recognizing Kosovo independence
BAKU (Reuters) - Ex-Soviet Azerbaijan said on Monday it did not recognize Kosovo’s declaration of independence.
“We view this illegal act as being in contradiction with international law,” said Khazar Ibrahim, head of the press service at Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry.
“Proceeding from this, Azerbaijan’s position is clear: it does not recognize (Kosovo’s) independence.”
Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia on Sunday. The United States and most members of the European Union are expected to grant recognition soon.
Azerbaijan has been trying to restore control over its breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, where ethnic Armenian separatists threw off Azeri rule in a war in the 1990s that killed about 35,000 people.
The separatists’ foreign minister said on Sunday Kosovo’s independence would help Nagorno-Karabakh’s drive for international recognition.
Azerbaijan has 34 troops serving in the NATO-led Kosovo peacekeeping force KFOR.
(Reporting by Lada Yevgrashina; Additional reporting by Matt Robinson in Pristina; Writing by Christian Lowe)
Just a little reminder of the churches burned while the west protected Kosovo from the mean Serbians.
http://www.kosovo.net/ckos/page_02.htm
Where are those 100,000 mass graves that were used as justification for bombing the cilivians in Belgrade, anyway?
Other than the ones we found in Iraq, of course.
You betcha. It’s disgusting.
J’lem takes wait-and-see approach to Kosovo
independence yesterday, and will form its position in the future, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday stated in a laconic announcement on the predominantly Muslim region’s secession from Serbia earlier in the day.
Officials in Jerusalem have expressed reservations about recognizing Kosovo as Advertisement
an independent state, citing the fact that the secession is unilateral. Advertisement
Several Israeli diplomats said recognizing the declaration could have implications on the Palestinian issue.
“The Government of Serbia considers this decision, made outside the auspices of the United Nations Security Council, illegal,” Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic said in a statement on the declaration of independence.
Serbia’s leaders pledged peaceful resistance after Kosovo’s declaration, but some 2,000 angry protesters gathered at the United States Embassy in Belgrade to vent their anger at the American backing for the breakaway province. “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia,” many chanted.
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