Posted on 06/10/2006 7:24:49 PM PDT by A. Pole
PRISTINA, Serbia (Reuters) - Serbia must drop its "negative" influence on Serbs in Kosovo and tell them to re-engage with the ethnic Albanian majority, the major powers said on Thursday, as a decision nears on the province's fate.
[...]
The West holds Belgrade responsible for a Serb boycott of political life in the United Nations-run province, which it says is complicating efforts to decide Kosovo's future this year in U.N.-led talks.
[...]
Diplomats say the West favors independence. But with a decision due within the year, signs of resistance among the Serb minority are growing, with the explicit backing of Belgrade.
Leaders of 50,000 Serbs in the north, which runs adjacent to central Serbia, said last week they had cut ties with the capital Pristina over a spate of shootings they blame on ethnic Albanians.
The 17,000-strong NATO peace force plans to reopen an old base in the north to bolster mobile units, reflecting growing concern that Serb resistance there could escalate into a unilateral bid to partition the province.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
So they do not blame Milosevic anymore?
What about Ratko? Has "The West" forgotten this bogeyman already?
With his ouster in 2000, he hasn't been in a position to be blamed for anything except goings on at his ICTY trial, and thanks to his Moscow gambit going fatally awry on him, he's no longer anybody's concern outside of his fan club.
This latest fiasco is simply Belgrade politicians staking out maximalist positions to curry favor with the electorate in Serbia, rather than realistic positions to help Kosovo's Serbs in the transition to Kosovo's independence.
Alas, I guess there's no point in stirring the pot with the FREE SLOBO pictures anymore but I'm sure something just as instigating will come along again.
<looks behind, expecting someone sneaking up with a baseball bat. Sees nothing.>
Well, that's mighty civil of you, Incorrigible. I expect around here we've all got more in common than not, but it's more fun to, um, explore our differences than have a big ol' intellectual group hug.
Regards.
The US bungled in on the wrong side in this matter.
In summary, while the interim institutions were in place, as is the case now, Kosovo would be a part of the FRY, albeit one with "substantial autonomy".
Those interim institutions and Serbia's limited jurisdiction would only be in effect until the final status was determined.
And everybody, save for a sizeable portion of the Serbian electorate, has recognized that the final status will be in the form of independence.
Hence Serbia's politicians being unable to act pragmatically in regards to Kosovo, and the Contact Group getting in their faces about it.
Somebody had better remind the "west" that undermining civil society in favor of a narco terrorist state does not bode well for the future well being of Europe.
Let Serbia and those who have assumed power in the kosovo region decide what is best. The "west" seems to be pushing elections all over...why not in the matter of kosovo. Let there be a free and fair referendum to decide its political fate...with all Serbians and those Albanians residing in the Kosovo region participating.
Unbelievable.
Hello there, SOROS boy.
Serbs have a long memory.
The murderous Albanian muslims went "way too far."
I think the three cantons in the north that are now almost all Serb should be sliced off. Why not?
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