Kosovo calls for NATO intervention after weekend of violence amid rising ethnic tensions

Kosovo’s Prime Minister urged NATO peacekeeping troops to intervene after minority Serb protesters blocked roads and unknown gunmen exchanged fire with police over the weekend amid rising ethnic tensions in the country’s restive north....

...Vucic demanded the release of recently arrested Kosovo Serbs “as they are held on trumped-up charges” and the pullout of Kosovo police, in line with an EU-brokered agreement that stipulates consent of Serb mayors in the area for that.

“Kosovo police has nothing to do in the north…especially people armed…up to their teeth,” Vucic said. “That causes uneasiness and fear among the Serb population.”

For some reason, the peoples of former Yugoslavia can get really riled up over license plates. And no, it’s not just Serbs — they are all that way. Anyway, over 20 years later, NATO is still babysitting Kosovo. Anyone who knew anything about Kosovo would have predicted this, and anyone could see Camp Bondsteel was built for the ages, but of course Clinton, Albright, Shea, Clark, at al, never told us this would be the case. And most Americans are unaware we still have troops there.

Okay, back to demographics.

During WWII the Nazi-allied Albanians wiped out nearly all the Jews in Kosovo, and great numbers of Serbs were killed or driven out. After WWII, Tito allowed Albanians from Enver’s Maoist gulag (called Albania) to pour into Kosovo, while making return of Serb refugees difficult.

During the 70s and 80s, when Kosovo had very generous autonomy and its governance was in the hands of corrupt ethnic Albanians, many Serbs fled. You could read in old Croatian newspapers of ethnic Albanian violence against ethnic Serbs, raping of women, blinding of cattle — the Serbs did not make this up.

Kosovo was a welfare province and very poor, with other provinces and constituent nations of Yugoslavia funneling money into it, only for it to wind up in the pockets of corrupt leaders or spent on showy projects such as ugly and expensive public buildings of crummy commie concrete (that often went unfinished). The Croats, who lived in the wealthiest constituent nation, resented “having to pay for their cesspool in Kossovo” the most and who could blame them?

The ethnic Albanians’ very high fertility rate and the ethnic Serbs’ low fertility rate was another reason for the shift in ethnic makeup of the province.

In 1999, the massive ethnic cleansing of ethnic Serbs (and other ethnic minorities) pretty much spelled the end of Serbs in Kosovo, aside from a few “bitter clingers” in the extreme north and still fewer in the extreme southeast around Štrpce. I think it would have been better to cede the area around North Mitrovica, Leposavić, etc., to Serbia, but nobody asked me and “the international community” has a weird thing for borders drawn by now-deceased commies.

1961 Kosovo Albanian population: 63%
1961 Kosovo Serb population: 24%

1981 Kosovo Albanian population: 78%
1981 Kosovo Serb population: 13%

2011 Kosovo Albanian population: 93%
2011 Kosovo Serb population: 1.5%

No wonder the ethnic Serbs in the north would prefer to be governed by Serbia:

Kosovo unemployment rate (2020): 25.5%
Serbia unemployment rate (2020): 10.1%

Kosovo GDP per capita (2021): $4,987
Serbia GDP per capita (2021): $9,215

Now, one might think Serbia would be relieved to be rid of their troublesome welfare province and let the EU pay for it for a change, and let NATO babysit it, but no. They consider it the spiritual birthplace of their culture and there are ancient Serbian churches and monasteries. Serbs. Inat.

>>>>>>Is it true that Kosovo is the home of some once important Serbian religious center?<<<<<

Yes, there are significant medieval Serbian churches and monasteries in Kosovo, some dating back to the 9th century. It was also the seat of medieval Serbian kings, and there are old Serbian fortresses, etc., as well. Some of the oldest Christian churches in Europe were built there, back during Roman times, but now only ruins remain of these. The 2nd - 5th century A.D. ruins of Upliana, including a 5th century cathedral:

https://www.world-archaeology.com/travel/ulpiana-the-romans-in-kosovo/

When the Ottomans invaded, they turned some churches into mosques after adding minarets, destroyed others and built mosques on top of the ruins. After the Serbs drove out the Ottomans in 1912, they set about restoring their churches and monasteries.

This one was set on fire by ethnic Albanians in 2004:

http://www.kosovo.net/ljeviska.html

Decani Monastery is one of the best known (also heavily damaged in 2004):

https://www.decani.org/en/

Holy Archangels Monastery (yes, the ethnic Albanians set fire to it, too, in 2004). Tombs of medieval Serbian kings were there, lots of history:

http://www.kosovo.net/esarhangel.html

Scroll down for photos of 2004 destruction:

https://www.panacomp.net/holy-archangels-monastery-prizren/

The ethnic Albanians have not been kind to Orthodox Churches and monasteries. In 1999, they were already attacking, defacing, burning — and destroyed some altogether, and were photographed urinating on the ruins. Finally, KFOR (NATO troops) were set to guard the remaining ones of particular historic significance, but could not keep more from being badly damaged and destroyed. As of May 2004:

******
“The violence [of March 2004] left 19 people dead, 250 homes looted and burned, as well as 30 churches and monasteries and several graveyards heavily damaged, looted, burned or destroyed. With the previously destroyed 112 churches and monasteries, this brings the total number destroyed since international forces took over responsibility for Kosovo in 1999 to 140.
[snip]
UNESCO has estimated that 27 million US dollars worth of damage has been done to the 27 churches which can be rebuilt, out of the 30 destroyed. On 3 May, UNESCO director Koichiro Matsuura stated that the Decani Monastery, which was attacked by mortar fire on 17 March, will be recognised as a UNESCO world heritage site. Although Fr Sava believed such a listing was “significant”, he was sceptical about how it would protect the monastery. “In the existing security and political conditions such a decision represents no guarantee,” he told Forum 18.
[snip]
One Czech KFOR officer who took part in defending St Andreas Church in the town of Podujevo in northern Kosovo during the unrest has described the assault. “We were defending a Serb Orthodox church against a mob of 500 Albanians, but there were too many for us,” Captain Jindrich Plescher told the Prague Post. “When they broke through the wall [around the church], we got orders to retreat. They smashed everything inside, including our communications centre, made a big pile in front and set it on fire. Then they turned their attention to the adjacent Serb cemetery. They knocked over tombstones, dug up the coffins and scattered the bones in them.”
[snip]
As well as the destruction of frescoes, icons and other church property, Fr Sava is worried about the black market in stolen church goods. “Since 1999, more than 10,000 icons and other church vessels were destroyed or stolen for the purpose of selling them on the black market.” Many valuable books and treasures have been lost and, because the movement of Orthodox clergy has been restricted and no remains have been found of items such as metal filigree crosses and other vessels, the Orthodox fear that churches were first looted for the black market and then burned down or otherwise destroyed. The KPS has arrested several local Albanians who tried to sell church treasures on the black market.

Link: https://english.religion.info/2004/05/07/kosovo-nobody-charged-for-the-destruction-of-orthodox-churches-and-monasteries/

******

Finally, one of the most important holidays (Holy Days) on the Serb calendar is Vidovdan, the commemoration of the 1389 Battle of Kosovo Polje (Field of Blackbirds) when the army Ottoman Sultan Murad I defeated Serbian Prince Lazar and his Christian knights and soldiers. Foreigners find it strange that Serbs still care about a battle they lost over 600 years ago, but we Christians might imply understand. There used to be a good site with the story, but no longer findable. So from my memory:

According to legend, on the eve of the great battle, Prince Lazar was visited by an angel of God and offered a choice between an earthly or a Heavenly kingdom. His choice would result in a victory or defeat on the morrow. If he chose an earthly crown, he and his army would be victorious; if the Heavenly Crown, his army would be defeated and he would perish, along with most of his valiant knights. Prince Lazar chose the Heavenly kingdom: “Perishable is the earthly kingdom, but forever and ever is the Kingdom of Heaven!” Prince Laser was killed in battle the next day, calling out to his knights “We die with Christ, to live forever!”

Anyway, epic poems and songs were written, recited and sung down through the centuries to sustain the Serbian people’s faith and hope as they suffered under the Ottoman yoke and the hideously cruel devshirme (”blood tax” or “child levy”).

“For Serbian people, the Battle of Kosovo has a specific meaning, as it symbolise the ever going effort to achieve the freedom and independence. The battle did not mean the end of Serbian State that continued for almost another century, but it was the beginning of epic struggle for survival of a people that lasted for another five centuries.”

https://www.crkvenikalendar.com/tradicija/vidovdan_en.php

More here:

http://www.orthodoxresearchinstitute.org/articles/church_history/kesich_kosov_serbian_church.html

>>>>>>My understanding is that the Serbian government didn’t want to cede Kosovo because of its historic importance.<<<<<<

The Serbian people did not want to cede Kosovo because of its historic, cultural and religious importance to them — “where the soul of our culture was born”. The government was not too keen to let go of it, of course — it was a province of Serbia, not a constituent nation of Yugoslavia. UN Resolution 1244 wasn’t even honored — independence was unilaterally declared by the ethnic Albanians.

>>>>>If this is true it shows more than just a series of unfortunate events, but an active decision to undermine the religion and culture of the Serbs.<<<<<

Nobody gives a flip about the Serbs except the Serbs, and what can they do? All we were interested in was once again one-upping Germany and taking charge of the mess and proving the USA is the Indispensable Country and our fave lever of power, NATO, is necessary.

At the time, Kosovo’s little civil war had been simmering for about 18 months, with 2,000 dead on both sides. There were two factions of ethnic Albanians, the peaceful majority who followed Rugova, and the gun-running human-trafficking narco-mafia KLA faction led by Thaci, which had been designated a terrorist organization by our State Department and dubbed “The Scourge of Europe” by Interpol. The KLA had tortured and murdered Serb civilians, whooped up on and murdered Rugova followers and assassinated Serb police, and the Serb police and milicija were sometimes heavy-handed when fighting back against them.

The German BND had caught the KLA training with Al Qaeda a couple of times. Furthermore, the ethnic Albanians in neighboring North Macedonia (known as FYROM at the time) were restive — and there was this pesky dream of theirs for a Greater Albania that looked eerily like the old WWII Nazi map.

All this was troubling — the crime spread through Europe by the KLA, the terrorist connections, the little low-grade civil war that threatened an important EU corridor linking Turkey to Germany (this last really bugged the Germans) and which might spread into FYROM. We thought a NATO base there might come in handy, too. Besides, Hillary really hated Serbs. So we decided to become the Air force of the KLA. NATO to the rescue!

Before the bombing could commence, we had to act all civilized and peace-making. At Rambouillet, Madcow Albright was horrified when the Serb delegation was all willing to sign the agreement for peacekeeping troops (and mad at them for mistaking her for a cleaning lady). So she whipped out Annex B, which would have required the Serbs to agree to NATO military occupation of all of Serbia. Well, no sovereign nation could possibly sign such a document, of course. Annex B:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/23607665

Bombs away! Never mind it was in violation of both the UN Charter and the NATO Charter. For some reason, we no longer cared about Annex B after bombing the daylights out of Serbia for 78 days, as the Kumanovo Agreement was very much the same as Rambouillet, but minus that pesky Annex B. Hmm.

Once the Serb forces left Kosovo per the agreement, the 100,000 “missing men” — the ones our media had been breathlessly speculating had all been rounded up and murdered by evil Serbs (in soccer stadiums, no less) — suddenly poured from their hideouts just inside Albania, ahead of the NATO troops, and ethnically cleansed Kosovo of nearly all its ethnic Serbs, lots of Roma and other ethnic minorities, and every last one of its few remaining Jews.

Problem solved, and NATO troops would not have to deal with much in the way of protecting ethnic minorities. That can get messy. And yes, of course we knew all along where the 100,000 “missing” KLA men were, but hey, the media can spin a good (and useful) yarn, eh? Sometime later, sure enough, the ethnic Albanians in FYROM decided to run amok a bit and yeehaw and have a few shoot-em-ups, but the NATO troops were handily nearby and put the kabosh on that nonsense.

Now all is right in that part of the world, aside from a few silly tiffs over license plates. Indispensable America saved the day (and showed those Euroweenies), the EU Corridor is secure, we have a handy-dandy base, and best of all, our NATO lives on.

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