Posted on 02/21/2003 7:00:23 PM PST by Destro
February 22, 2003
Serbs may back rebel republic in Kosovo
By John Phillips
BELGRADE will sponsor a breakaway Serbian mini-state in Kosovo if the West prevents Serbian troops returning to the province to guarantee Serb rights, Zoran Djindjic, the Serbian Prime Minister, said yesterday.
In an interview with The Times, Dr Djindjic dismissed the American contention that it is too early to discuss Kosovo, saying that its hard-won democracy could be at risk.
This month, the United States issued a statement saying that it was concerned with developments in Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo and said that any attempt to force the pace of change could lead to instability.
Dr Djindjic said nationalist extremists could regain power in Belgrade in elections next year if the international community did not stop Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian majority obtaining independence, which, he argued, the UN was already fostering.
“What is going on is the transfer of all sovereignty to the Kosovar institutions,” he said. “This didn’t just happen. It was planned. International institutions are creating a fully independent Kosovo. By passing laws in Kosovo’s parliament they don’t care what happens in Serbia.”
Dr Djindjic, a formidable opponent of Slobodan Milosevic, received Western support after the former Yugoslav President was overthrown in 2000.
Recently, however, his increasingly patriotic stance has alarmed Western diplomats. But Dr Djindjic is now concerned about a nationalist backlash.
He said that the powers of Kosovo’s parliament, elected under the auspices of the UN interim administration, exceeded the “substantial autonomy”, envisaged under UN Resolution 1244.
According to Dr Djindjic, this outrages Serb refugees from Kosovo in Serbia, who make up about 15 per cent of the electorate.
“They would explode if Kosovo became fully independent. People would say my Government was not defending them,” he said.
“It is time to put our cards on the table. The international community should say how it imagines the future. I don’t think that democratic government can survive if we don’t do enough now.
“Next year we have elections. Kosovo will be the issue. We can’t say it is not time now. We can offer a solution from Belgrade’s side but, if we say we are unable to do that, nationalistic forces will say: ‘We have a solution’.”
Dr Djindjic said that “a thousand or a few hundred” Serb troops should be deployed in Kosovo to enable Serb refugees to return.
“None of the promises have been implemented. All the promises to the Albanian side have been implemented but nothing on the Serbian side.”
“I can leave office and say: ‘OK, I can’t handle this’. But what will come after this Government? In the 2002 elections, the extreme nationalists, led by (Radical Party leader Vojislav) Seselj, got 30 per cent.”
Dr Djindjic denies courting nationalist votes, saying he is entrenched politically because he has outmanoeuvred his rival, Vojislav Kostunica.
Mr Kostunica became Yugoslav President after Milosevic’s downfall but was marginalised when Yugoslavia became the Union of Serbia and Montenegro.
“Some people say this is an attempt to get support. I don’t need that now. Kostunica is not competition,” he said.
“My proposal is to give the Kosovo Serbs constitutional rights and the institutional tools to protect their interests. As a first step it would be enough for the Serbs to be recognised like the Croats in the Bosnian federation. The Croats were 17 per cent and they got a third of representation. In 1999, Kosovo’s Serbs were 18 per cent.
“The people say: ‘Why do Albanians in Macedonia come into the constitution and why do Croats in Bosnia? Why South Tyrol? Why ten other situations?’ What should I answer?” Without a Western-brokered compromise, he said Belgrade would not shrink from partition; with the Serb majority in northern Kosovo, next to Serbia proper, forming a breakaway mini-state similar to the Republic of Srpska in Bosnia.
Ethnic Albanian leaders would oppose that since the province’s mineral wealth is in the north around the city of Mitrovica and war could erupt again in Kosovo threatening Nato peacekeepers.
Time to push the muslims back into Albania and return the region to their rightful owners - the Serbians.
Where is Slobo when we need him most? Free Slobo and let him take care of Kosovo and Montenegro.
Uh oh. He better be careful. The last guy that thought like that is sitting in the Hague.
Excellent post and well worth of a repost. Couldn't have said it better myself.
It started when Western states like United States and Britain through NATO started training, arming and using local terrorist forces to further their strategic aims thus producing the wars in Chechnia, Kosovo, Macedonia and others.
It is time to reverse the trend. War on terrorism goes on. The terrorists in Kosovo and Macedonia should not be rewarded for their gains.
It is going to be a hot spring in the Balkans.
Thank you for the belly laugh! We happy few....
Maybe when the Serb troops return the Serbs will escort Albanian Muslim terrorists in air conditioned buses to safety like American Airborne troops did outside of Skopje?
Yet, U.S. still supports islamist terrorists. Not particularly wise, but it is American choice. Until next return on investment arrives.
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