Free Republic

It is hardly a conservative policy to support the establishment of an Islamist state on the European continent, turn a blind eye to the well-documented persecution of an ancient Christian community, engage in a Woodrow Wilson-style passion for nation building and follow in the footsteps of Bill Clinton. Yet that is what the United States has done by recognizing the independence of Kosovo. Kosovo is the ancient heartland of the Serbian people going back to the dawn of their history. It certainly had a Muslim ethnic Albanian majority before Clinton and his Secretary of State Madeline Albright bombed Belgrade back...

<p>WASHINGTON — With advancement in all the Balkans depending on it, a political solution in the Serbian province of Kosovo is too important to risk losing to a Dec. 31 deadline hanging over negotiations, says Greece's foreign minister.</p> <p>"All our efforts ... whether on a European or on a regional level, will be in vain unless we firmly entrench political stability in the region,"Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis said Tuesday."The key challenge we face as an international community relates to the fate of Kosovo."</p>

BELGRADE, Serbia — Serbia toughened its stand on Kosovo Tuesday as parliament decided that a planned new constitution would refer to the disputed province as an "integral" part of Serbia, regardless of U.N.-led negotiations on whether to grant it independence. The parliamentary vote effectively ruled out Belgrade's consent if the international talks decide in favor of the majority ethnic Albanians who want the province to be independent. The talks began this year to try to resolve the future of Kosovo _ a province about the size of Connecticut that has been run by the United Nations since NATO launched a...

PRIŠTINA -- Beta has learned that the announced meeting between the Kosovo team and the UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari has been cancelled. Martti Ahtisaari (FoNet) Although a new round of talks was announced after the end of the three-hour meeting last evening, sources close to the negotiating team today said the meeting has been cancelled. The stumbling blocks seem to be the number of Serb municipalities and the decentralization talks. The Serb negotiators have in the meanwhile asked the UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari to clarify his statement that “Serbs were guilty as a people”, and warned him that claims...