Belgrade, Priština ready for direct talks

Europe should never give in to violent secessionists.Serbia owns the deed to the land regardless of which ethnic groups live there and there is no legal way to revoke that deed outside of the UNSC.Every important European leader has said that the process must culminate with a UNSC Resolution but there are obviously still a lot of delusional people who do not hear the message that Russia and China are more important to the EU than kosovo is.Bush is leaving office shortly and with him goes the disastrous policies which have plunged this country into a financial mess due to him spending borrowed money worse than a drunken sailor on leave.The US will very shortly give up the world policeman role because we are going bankrupt.We are a debtor nation whose overspending and overconsumption is being financed by China.We need to completely change our direction and put our financial house back in order by balancing the budget and not borrowing money which we will never be able to pay back.The person you owe money to is your master and I as an American do not look forward to being a Chinese servant in the not too distant future.The American eagle needs to come back home and guard our ports and borders from overflowing with Islamists who are intent on causing harm to our people.Kosovo is Europe's problem and the Europeans need to decide whether they will cave in to threats of violence by extremists on their continent or whether they will stand firm against it.Shalom

To Benny:

You wrote:
"What this is now, is Germany, GB and France will use these 100 days left to solidify and unify the EU position, and believe me they can do it. They've already gotten the neighbor states such as Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Albania and Bulgaria to agree to a plan for supervised independece, having the other 4-6 EU member states that have some doubts becoming on the same page won't be too difficult for them."

I am affraid the intl. politics are a little more complicated. No to mention that GB, France and Germany had plenty of time, up to date, to work on convincing Spain, Slovakia, Romania, Greec and Cyprus to support Ahtisaari Plan.

However, I canot see what kind of pressure could be put on Spain or Greece, or on Cyprus, to recognize Kosovo independence. Romania also is quite unhappy (by the way, we are also neighbours of Serbia, matter of fact even more than Slovenia!) with this proposal. However, I won't deny the fact that, most probably, big EU countries will try to persuade us, Slovakians or Cypriots, but this will take time, and they are only 100 days left.... And be sure that if Kosovo proclames itself independent before this EU common position to be clearly defined and secured, thse countries and even others inside EU (ex. Bulgaria) will step back and let GB and US to deal with the difficult outcome of not delivering the promises they've made to K/Albanians.

We, Romanians, we care more about Serbia, our neighbour, than pleasing Americans on the issue of Kosovo (we walked already the extra mile with US by sending and keeping trops in Afghanistan and Irak...)

Last but not least, I don't like to see my country on the same side with Russia, but one must admit that international law and principles should be upheld, not jeopardize.

Regards from Bucharest,
Daniel Comarasu

if the serbian negotiators are doing what should be expected, they will present the whole and complete package just at the end in order to present them as a breakthrough and in order to let the albanian team look like barrater and troublemaker.

so, the bottomline is: all those insinuations about the Serbs having no idea what to do with Kosovo can be seen as simply not realistic.

when that happens, just again, ...once again a cornerstone of the socalled albanian "argumentation" will break away.

let´s see what future brings...

Since the serbian leadership has no clue itself what that extended autonomy is, I think that it would be better for them to try and get some accessions for the serbs in the north and elsewhere in Kosova. Meaning even more than the Ahtisari plan provided. I know the Albanian party won't like this but the EU will take the initiative since it has gotten the green light from both US and Russia to do so, and they will make the Albanians see to it that they accept it even if they don't like it.

What this is now, is Germany, GB and France will use these 100 days left to solidify and unify the EU position, and believe me they can do it. They've already gotten the neighbor states such as Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Albania and Bulgaria to agree to a plan for supervised independece, having the other 4-6 EU member states that have some doubts becoming on the same page won't be too difficult for them.

Since the Serbian leadership itself does not know what the "extended autonomy plan" they propose is, this won't take much credence in the end. What the Serbian leadership should do now and especially towards the end of November and the beginning of Decemper is that they should ask for more concessions for the K-Serbs. Meaning even more than the huge writes provided by the Ahtisari plan for a minority. This they will probably get, even though Albanians won't like it. At the same time they can say that they killed the Ahtisari plan and got something even better, and avoided a UNSC resolution to be adopted, but make no mistake the EU will come unified on this issue and will impose a supervised independence of Kosovo even without a UNSC resolution.

It would be much easier though if the Serbian leadership got something out of this too and can finally say the EU was against us, but we managed to get more than the Ahtisari plan provided, and obstructed a UNSC resolution. This way they can save face as well.

Hopefully this whole thing gets resolved without any more bloodshed, because in Macedonia some clashesh already started and are ready to start if any partition occurs or this process gets prolonged even more. Who knows how fast that may spread and to where. I hope I'm wrong about these clashes but it does not look good.

"We, Romanians, we care more about Serbia, our neighbour, than pleasing Americans on the issue of Kosovo (we walked already the extra mile with US by sending and keeping trops in Afghanistan and Irak...)

(Daniel Comarasu, 1. September 2007 15:17)
We, the K-Albanians were convinced by the Romanian point of view on February 10th, 2007, when your policemen acted as your caring southwestern neighbours and what they did during the 20th Century.

Johny, your people were the ones that killed innocent Serbian civilians and police that started this whole mess. Did you think that Belgrade would just stand still and watch? KLA are the real murderers and terrorists. Never forget that.

"In his words(Ischinger), Serbia so far has failed to "sufficiently outline its proposal for extended autonomy for the province."

On the other hand, Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić said that the Troika was very interested to hear out Belgrade’s concept of autonomy in the meeting that the Serbian team described as constructive.

“All three Troika mediators asked numerous question, showing they were interested to comprehend what Belgrade has to offer and what the essential autonomy represents."

So Serbia's leaders dony really have an alternative plan for Kosovo.
That is the conclusion as far as this article.
It does not surprize me.
Vuk and Co. are making this very easy for them to get into a check-mate position.

I think we are far from a solution. But Kosovars will be happy as long as Kosovo remains a UN Protectorate (nowhere but the serbian constitution Kosovo is stated as part of Serbia) and there are no Serbian authorities present (those in the north are considered illegal by UN, and Serbia agrees to whatever UN says, isnt that right???!). Maybe there is still chance for Kosovo and Serbia to stay together but not with the present leaders, (i think LDP would be acceptable by kosovars, but not Kostunica - just type his name on google images and see the first picture). Nevertheless, people... we must bear in mind that it is future of Kosovo and its inhabitants we are talking about, so the decision on the status should not be forced to them. Whatever the final status will be, it will affect only Kosovars and their future, why not let them govern themselves? What is more important, the life of the kosovars and their future or the pride of serbs?
best wishes to everybody

"A day late and a dollar short"
That what the substantial autonomy sounds to me. More to the point, who is going to make K- Albanians accept anything but independence?!!!
Kostunica? MR. Nikoliq?
You guys still don't get it. IT IS NOT '99 anymore people.
I have read a lot of opinions from both sides on this issue, and none have offered anything concialitory toward the other camp. I know one thing though. Whatever the future brings, it will be very painful for both sides.
And as for the serbian camp claiming that Kosovo is Serbian or will remain as such, dreaming is not illegal, but illusions hurt when shattered.
Peace to all (only if you want it).

James, did you forget Wienna, (with Ahtisari) when Mr. Jeremic refused to shake hands with the Kosovo deputy prime minister Lutfi Haziri.

K_Albanian representatives are not politicians or diplomats - they are former soldiers and guerrila leaders. They were set up by NATO/EU because the Albanian people would listen to them. These people have no skills at addressing world ruling bodies. The NATO/EU has spoken for them thus far. They only know how to say "Independence". It will be interesting to actually hear them speak.

I want to thank all the Serbs who underestimate the Albanian side and their abilities.

It is very simple for us and the politicians that represent us. I mentioned it in an earlier post. It is a choice between freedom and slavery for us. No matter what external forces might say, it is always a choice between freedom and slavery and we will always go for freedom no matter what the situation or the circumstances. All of our politicians have family members who were killed in cold blood by the Serbs. For us it is more than some strange notion of culture or religion. For us it is about our own survival. Therefore I want to thank all those who underestimate our resolve for freedom.

We all need to read this Washington Times article. http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20070829/EDITORIAL/108290006/1013

Please Laser, Mikel, Niksahla, Laki and other deniers about the reality on the ground in Kosovo and after you read this tell us if this is true or not? If Europe really wants to solve the Kosovo problem they can, all they need to do is eliminate all the national borders so people can live and work in a united Europe ruled by a European Parliament. Europe better think twice about solving this problem by setting Kosovo on fire. They know full well this fire will set hundred other fires in Europe and elsewhere. Europe keeps saying that this is a European problem but their only answer is to chop Kosovo from Serbia. When large families divide and subdivide an already small farm in the end everyone is impoverished and the problem remains. There are three ingredients in production LAND, LABOR and CAPITAL and if they are out of balance you have inflation, unemployment, poverty, war, and crime. Welcome to Kosovo as a great example of this and the article from the Washington Times said it all.

It is the first the albanians have the guts to meet the serbs for direct talks since this mess started with KLA back in 1997. In Rambouillet the albanians or should I say KLA couldn't, wouldn't, didn't want to talk to the serb side directly. First time in over 10 years if they start talking directly to each other in New York.

What are the albanians so afraid of? Or did they expect the US would do the talk for them forever?!?!

Laser my friend an editorial is not a letter to the editor it is a policy of the owner of Washington Times. As for David Binder he is “an award winning photojournalist, a successful commercial photographer and a first time documentary filmmaker. David's photojournalism has been published extensively by magazines throughout the world. His editorial clients include; People magazine, US News and World Report, Life Magazine, The New York Times, Paris-Match, Forbes, Fortune and Business Week.

He has twice been recognized by the prestigious Robert F. Kennedy Awards for Excellence in Journalism, The National Press Photographers "Best of Photojournalism" a New England Foundation for the Arts Grant, as well as other national and regional awards. David received a Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellowship Grant Award in 2001.” I am not sure how you can dismiss him as some anti Albanian journalist just because he calls a spade a spade. How do you expect Kosovo to enter EU followed by Serbia is beyond my comprehension when Kosovo and the part of the world which I left in 1952 i.e. Herzegovina retains the clan mentality while majority of Serbia is Europe. Kosovo, Herzegovina and parts of Montenegro are still in the third world and time is needed for them to emerge into the 21st century. As I said in my previous post land, labor and capital are factors in production and when any one of these factors is lacking or out of balance with the other we have the situation that Kosovo finds itself in today. Independence is not the answer the answer is let people live where they want and the population pressure that Kosovo experiences today will be eliminated. You see Laser Serbs don’t trust Albanians and Albanians don’t trust Serbs and they both have reasons for that but you see Europe does not trust ether one if they did they would open their borders to them, however their experience with the Balkan people in their midst has been mixed and we are all seen as an albatross around their neck. They seldom see Kosovo or Serbia as my nephew sees it. I told him one day that a Canadian friend mentioned that he was lucky to come to Canada and have a year of education paid by the government so that he could get his university English equivalency which he did.. His response was that Canada was lucky to have him since that education has resulted in him having a company where he hires four Canadians and pays in tax 30 times the amount that they paid for his English lessons. As many on this forum have said it is easy for you and me to pontificate from US and Canada when we don’t make a living in Kosovo. Read the article Laser and respond about the points that the author makes? I disagree with independence for Kosovo but I agree for unity of Europe under one set of laws for all. .

Albion New York, thank you very much for that article. It is obvious to me that you did not read it beyond the word Chetniks. What Binder writes about Chitin’s in those first few lines is totally true. Chetniks were the first and only organized European resistance to Hitler. Binder writes “Here were people inside occupied Europe who dared for the first time to resist the mighty war machine of Hitler... not in France, not in Poland, not in Czechoslovakia, not in Holland, not in Scandinavia, but in Yugoslavia, in the Balkans” Are you saying that this is not true? Partisans and Tito came later and Churchill on the advice of his son Randolph who was with Tito in Sumadija switched his support to Tito. You like most Albanians that post here you refuse to respond to legitimate questions by avoidance and by a statement look what he wrote here he has no credibility. This article gives him full credibility; all you need to do is read it and show me where he is wrong. It is you Albion that has no credibility since you have no answers to what he writes or an independent counter article to the one in the Washington Times so you dismiss it out of intellectual laziness. Rather than learning from what Binder writes by questioning his position you turn it into some sort of contest like a child by saying “nice try Walter”. It is obvious that I have fallen into the trap of legitimizing your comment by commenting on your empty words

Prishtina and Beograd are not ready to have direct negotiations. They should never be allowed to in the first place.

In any case if the word "status" is brought up the Kosova Unity Team will walk out. These negotiations have nothing to do with the status and should be kept that way.

Actually Lazer, those of us looking for the truth respect David Binder. He is one of the few western journalists who does not seem to have bought into the official propaganda. He retired from the New York Times after a long and respected career.

Wlter, since i do not know how to do a link, check this page: http://www.snd-us.com/Liberty/binder_1773.htm
Now you see who your hero is.
David binder the writer of the article you mentioning in Washington Times.
He is a person that is impressed by Chetnicks, and praises them for their bravery, and you know and we know who chetnicks are.
If you think you will gain anything by his articles, you are sadly mistaken.
I read his article about Chetnicks, and it shows that he has problem with his innerself, associating himself with Chetnicks.
BTW his article about chetnicks was writen in a Serb list called " National Defense of Serbs in America"
"List Srpske Narodne Odbrane u Americi"
Some articles in that list are disturbing, full of propaganda and radicalism, and all against the non serbs in the former Yugoslavia.
Good try though Walter.

Walter, as you know anybody can send a letter to an editor of any newspaper in US.
We know who David Binder is.
He use to work for NY Times and got let go because of his comments on many issues that were out of whack.
I remember, he was in Bosnia and went with Serb paramilitaries and wrotte an article in NY Times how Serbs were only shooting Bosnian Muslims in self defence!!!
Anyway, he is compromised very much in American Media. Only a Serb can listen to him because he writtes everything with a great bias.
And look, I have been saying that the best way forward is for Kosovo to become INDEPENDENT and go into EU, and Serbia to follow and in EU there is no borders.
So having said that, I think the economy of both places will flourish and they will go about doing business with each other, and once the economical momentum takes place they will forget fighting each other.
Agree or disagree?

We, Romanians, we care more about Serbia...
You romanians don't care about serbians but about Romanian(read:hungarian) Banat.As you know, Romania got the biggest part of Hungarian Banat.By supportin serbs,you care for yourself.Hungary can claim Transilvania.
Anyhow,you are not talking on behaf of Romanian President or prime minister,are you?

B92, why did you delete the part were I said that Ceku's father was decapitated by Serbian soldiers. That is a fact, it is not an opinion and I am not saying anything that is not true. Most of the other politicians have family members who were killed by Serbian soldiers too. That is also a fact.
I hope this time you do not delete it. I don't remember reading anywhere in the rules that one cannot post facts.

Over and over I read the following comments that make me laugh:
- kosovo belongs to serbia and international law should be upheld. Where was the internaltional law when Serbs attacked Kosova, killed tens of thousands and pushed 900,000 albanians out of kosova? Did the law all of the sudden change? Are those Albanians part of the Serbia country then - that now Serbia wants them in its own country?

- I also read that K/Albanian started this whole mess by killing Serbs? Did Albanians also start the wars in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia? Or did Serbs and Milosevic start that?

It is interesting how we have selective memory. Listen people Albanians dont want and will never want anything with Serbia. Ever. You can not keep 2Million people hostage and if there is any division of Kosova - I - can guarantee you that there will be a division of Macedonia (half of it for sure), Serbia (Presevo region), Montenegro (Tuz, Gusinje etc) and probbaly Greece as 1/2 of Greece is most likely Albanian (changing/forcing people to change their last and first names does not make them Greek - as their blood is Albanian). You are asking for and will be getting a Great Albania.

"You can not keep 2Million people hostage and if there is any division of Kosova - I - can guarantee you that there will be a division of Macedonia (half of it for sure), Serbia (Presevo region), Montenegro (Tuz, Gusinje etc) and probbaly Greece as 1/2 of Greece is most likely Albanian (changing/forcing people to change their last and first names does not make them Greek - as their blood is Albanian). You are asking for and will be getting a Great Albania.
(john, 2. September 2007 06:57)"

Well, if Albanians really covet all these territories, and openly seek to destabilize and create havoc in Europe, the interntional community would respond by imposing an entire economic, military and political blockade. How are you going to survive then? You are not exactly self-sufficient or filthy rich to begin with.

These talks very much resembles two deaf people arguing politics.

You are not exactly self-sufficient or filthy rich to begin with.
(lowe, 2. September 2007 15:28)

Umm yes we are. That's the only reason why Serbia wants control of Kosova. LOL never happening.

"A day late and a dollar short"
That what the substantial autonomy sounds to me. More to the point, who is going to make K- Albanians accept anything but independence?!!!
Kostunica? MR. Nikoliq?
You guys still don't get it. IT IS NOT '99 anymore people.
I have read a lot of opinions from both sides on this issue, and none have offered anything concialitory toward the other camp. I know one thing though. Whatever the future brings, it will be very painful for both sides.
And as for the serbian camp claiming that Kosovo is Serbian or will remain as such, dreaming is not illegal, but illusions hurt when shattered.
Peace to all (only if you want it).

I think we are far from a solution. But Kosovars will be happy as long as Kosovo remains a UN Protectorate (nowhere but the serbian constitution Kosovo is stated as part of Serbia) and there are no Serbian authorities present (those in the north are considered illegal by UN, and Serbia agrees to whatever UN says, isnt that right???!). Maybe there is still chance for Kosovo and Serbia to stay together but not with the present leaders, (i think LDP would be acceptable by kosovars, but not Kostunica - just type his name on google images and see the first picture). Nevertheless, people... we must bear in mind that it is future of Kosovo and its inhabitants we are talking about, so the decision on the status should not be forced to them. Whatever the final status will be, it will affect only Kosovars and their future, why not let them govern themselves? What is more important, the life of the kosovars and their future or the pride of serbs?
best wishes to everybody

"In his words(Ischinger), Serbia so far has failed to "sufficiently outline its proposal for extended autonomy for the province."

On the other hand, Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić said that the Troika was very interested to hear out Belgrade’s concept of autonomy in the meeting that the Serbian team described as constructive.

“All three Troika mediators asked numerous question, showing they were interested to comprehend what Belgrade has to offer and what the essential autonomy represents."

So Serbia's leaders dony really have an alternative plan for Kosovo.
That is the conclusion as far as this article.
It does not surprize me.
Vuk and Co. are making this very easy for them to get into a check-mate position.

"We, Romanians, we care more about Serbia, our neighbour, than pleasing Americans on the issue of Kosovo (we walked already the extra mile with US by sending and keeping trops in Afghanistan and Irak...)

(Daniel Comarasu, 1. September 2007 15:17)
We, the K-Albanians were convinced by the Romanian point of view on February 10th, 2007, when your policemen acted as your caring southwestern neighbours and what they did during the 20th Century.

Since the serbian leadership has no clue itself what that extended autonomy is, I think that it would be better for them to try and get some accessions for the serbs in the north and elsewhere in Kosova. Meaning even more than the Ahtisari plan provided. I know the Albanian party won't like this but the EU will take the initiative since it has gotten the green light from both US and Russia to do so, and they will make the Albanians see to it that they accept it even if they don't like it.

What this is now, is Germany, GB and France will use these 100 days left to solidify and unify the EU position, and believe me they can do it. They've already gotten the neighbor states such as Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Albania and Bulgaria to agree to a plan for supervised independece, having the other 4-6 EU member states that have some doubts becoming on the same page won't be too difficult for them.

Since the Serbian leadership itself does not know what the "extended autonomy plan" they propose is, this won't take much credence in the end. What the Serbian leadership should do now and especially towards the end of November and the beginning of Decemper is that they should ask for more concessions for the K-Serbs. Meaning even more than the huge writes provided by the Ahtisari plan for a minority. This they will probably get, even though Albanians won't like it. At the same time they can say that they killed the Ahtisari plan and got something even better, and avoided a UNSC resolution to be adopted, but make no mistake the EU will come unified on this issue and will impose a supervised independence of Kosovo even without a UNSC resolution.

It would be much easier though if the Serbian leadership got something out of this too and can finally say the EU was against us, but we managed to get more than the Ahtisari plan provided, and obstructed a UNSC resolution. This way they can save face as well.

Hopefully this whole thing gets resolved without any more bloodshed, because in Macedonia some clashesh already started and are ready to start if any partition occurs or this process gets prolonged even more. Who knows how fast that may spread and to where. I hope I'm wrong about these clashes but it does not look good.

James, did you forget Wienna, (with Ahtisari) when Mr. Jeremic refused to shake hands with the Kosovo deputy prime minister Lutfi Haziri.

K_Albanian representatives are not politicians or diplomats - they are former soldiers and guerrila leaders. They were set up by NATO/EU because the Albanian people would listen to them. These people have no skills at addressing world ruling bodies. The NATO/EU has spoken for them thus far. They only know how to say "Independence". It will be interesting to actually hear them speak.

I want to thank all the Serbs who underestimate the Albanian side and their abilities.

It is very simple for us and the politicians that represent us. I mentioned it in an earlier post. It is a choice between freedom and slavery for us. No matter what external forces might say, it is always a choice between freedom and slavery and we will always go for freedom no matter what the situation or the circumstances. All of our politicians have family members who were killed in cold blood by the Serbs. For us it is more than some strange notion of culture or religion. For us it is about our own survival. Therefore I want to thank all those who underestimate our resolve for freedom.

Johny, your people were the ones that killed innocent Serbian civilians and police that started this whole mess. Did you think that Belgrade would just stand still and watch? KLA are the real murderers and terrorists. Never forget that.

Over and over I read the following comments that make me laugh:
- kosovo belongs to serbia and international law should be upheld. Where was the internaltional law when Serbs attacked Kosova, killed tens of thousands and pushed 900,000 albanians out of kosova? Did the law all of the sudden change? Are those Albanians part of the Serbia country then - that now Serbia wants them in its own country?

- I also read that K/Albanian started this whole mess by killing Serbs? Did Albanians also start the wars in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia? Or did Serbs and Milosevic start that?

It is interesting how we have selective memory. Listen people Albanians dont want and will never want anything with Serbia. Ever. You can not keep 2Million people hostage and if there is any division of Kosova - I - can guarantee you that there will be a division of Macedonia (half of it for sure), Serbia (Presevo region), Montenegro (Tuz, Gusinje etc) and probbaly Greece as 1/2 of Greece is most likely Albanian (changing/forcing people to change their last and first names does not make them Greek - as their blood is Albanian). You are asking for and will be getting a Great Albania.

if the serbian negotiators are doing what should be expected, they will present the whole and complete package just at the end in order to present them as a breakthrough and in order to let the albanian team look like barrater and troublemaker.

so, the bottomline is: all those insinuations about the Serbs having no idea what to do with Kosovo can be seen as simply not realistic.

when that happens, just again, ...once again a cornerstone of the socalled albanian "argumentation" will break away.

let´s see what future brings...

To Benny:

You wrote:
"What this is now, is Germany, GB and France will use these 100 days left to solidify and unify the EU position, and believe me they can do it. They've already gotten the neighbor states such as Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Albania and Bulgaria to agree to a plan for supervised independece, having the other 4-6 EU member states that have some doubts becoming on the same page won't be too difficult for them."

I am affraid the intl. politics are a little more complicated. No to mention that GB, France and Germany had plenty of time, up to date, to work on convincing Spain, Slovakia, Romania, Greec and Cyprus to support Ahtisaari Plan.

However, I canot see what kind of pressure could be put on Spain or Greece, or on Cyprus, to recognize Kosovo independence. Romania also is quite unhappy (by the way, we are also neighbours of Serbia, matter of fact even more than Slovenia!) with this proposal. However, I won't deny the fact that, most probably, big EU countries will try to persuade us, Slovakians or Cypriots, but this will take time, and they are only 100 days left.... And be sure that if Kosovo proclames itself independent before this EU common position to be clearly defined and secured, thse countries and even others inside EU (ex. Bulgaria) will step back and let GB and US to deal with the difficult outcome of not delivering the promises they've made to K/Albanians.

We, Romanians, we care more about Serbia, our neighbour, than pleasing Americans on the issue of Kosovo (we walked already the extra mile with US by sending and keeping trops in Afghanistan and Irak...)

Last but not least, I don't like to see my country on the same side with Russia, but one must admit that international law and principles should be upheld, not jeopardize.

Regards from Bucharest,
Daniel Comarasu

Europe should never give in to violent secessionists.Serbia owns the deed to the land regardless of which ethnic groups live there and there is no legal way to revoke that deed outside of the UNSC.Every important European leader has said that the process must culminate with a UNSC Resolution but there are obviously still a lot of delusional people who do not hear the message that Russia and China are more important to the EU than kosovo is.Bush is leaving office shortly and with him goes the disastrous policies which have plunged this country into a financial mess due to him spending borrowed money worse than a drunken sailor on leave.The US will very shortly give up the world policeman role because we are going bankrupt.We are a debtor nation whose overspending and overconsumption is being financed by China.We need to completely change our direction and put our financial house back in order by balancing the budget and not borrowing money which we will never be able to pay back.The person you owe money to is your master and I as an American do not look forward to being a Chinese servant in the not too distant future.The American eagle needs to come back home and guard our ports and borders from overflowing with Islamists who are intent on causing harm to our people.Kosovo is Europe's problem and the Europeans need to decide whether they will cave in to threats of violence by extremists on their continent or whether they will stand firm against it.Shalom

It is the first the albanians have the guts to meet the serbs for direct talks since this mess started with KLA back in 1997. In Rambouillet the albanians or should I say KLA couldn't, wouldn't, didn't want to talk to the serb side directly. First time in over 10 years if they start talking directly to each other in New York.

What are the albanians so afraid of? Or did they expect the US would do the talk for them forever?!?!

Prishtina and Beograd are not ready to have direct negotiations. They should never be allowed to in the first place.

In any case if the word "status" is brought up the Kosova Unity Team will walk out. These negotiations have nothing to do with the status and should be kept that way.

We all need to read this Washington Times article. http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20070829/EDITORIAL/108290006/1013

Please Laser, Mikel, Niksahla, Laki and other deniers about the reality on the ground in Kosovo and after you read this tell us if this is true or not? If Europe really wants to solve the Kosovo problem they can, all they need to do is eliminate all the national borders so people can live and work in a united Europe ruled by a European Parliament. Europe better think twice about solving this problem by setting Kosovo on fire. They know full well this fire will set hundred other fires in Europe and elsewhere. Europe keeps saying that this is a European problem but their only answer is to chop Kosovo from Serbia. When large families divide and subdivide an already small farm in the end everyone is impoverished and the problem remains. There are three ingredients in production LAND, LABOR and CAPITAL and if they are out of balance you have inflation, unemployment, poverty, war, and crime. Welcome to Kosovo as a great example of this and the article from the Washington Times said it all.

Walter, as you know anybody can send a letter to an editor of any newspaper in US.
We know who David Binder is.
He use to work for NY Times and got let go because of his comments on many issues that were out of whack.
I remember, he was in Bosnia and went with Serb paramilitaries and wrotte an article in NY Times how Serbs were only shooting Bosnian Muslims in self defence!!!
Anyway, he is compromised very much in American Media. Only a Serb can listen to him because he writtes everything with a great bias.
And look, I have been saying that the best way forward is for Kosovo to become INDEPENDENT and go into EU, and Serbia to follow and in EU there is no borders.
So having said that, I think the economy of both places will flourish and they will go about doing business with each other, and once the economical momentum takes place they will forget fighting each other.
Agree or disagree?

We, Romanians, we care more about Serbia...
You romanians don't care about serbians but about Romanian(read:hungarian) Banat.As you know, Romania got the biggest part of Hungarian Banat.By supportin serbs,you care for yourself.Hungary can claim Transilvania.
Anyhow,you are not talking on behaf of Romanian President or prime minister,are you?

B92, why did you delete the part were I said that Ceku's father was decapitated by Serbian soldiers. That is a fact, it is not an opinion and I am not saying anything that is not true. Most of the other politicians have family members who were killed by Serbian soldiers too. That is also a fact.
I hope this time you do not delete it. I don't remember reading anywhere in the rules that one cannot post facts.

Wlter, since i do not know how to do a link, check this page: http://www.snd-us.com/Liberty/binder_1773.htm
Now you see who your hero is.
David binder the writer of the article you mentioning in Washington Times.
He is a person that is impressed by Chetnicks, and praises them for their bravery, and you know and we know who chetnicks are.
If you think you will gain anything by his articles, you are sadly mistaken.
I read his article about Chetnicks, and it shows that he has problem with his innerself, associating himself with Chetnicks.
BTW his article about chetnicks was writen in a Serb list called " National Defense of Serbs in America"
"List Srpske Narodne Odbrane u Americi"
Some articles in that list are disturbing, full of propaganda and radicalism, and all against the non serbs in the former Yugoslavia.
Good try though Walter.

You are not exactly self-sufficient or filthy rich to begin with.
(lowe, 2. September 2007 15:28)

Umm yes we are. That's the only reason why Serbia wants control of Kosova. LOL never happening.

Albion New York, thank you very much for that article. It is obvious to me that you did not read it beyond the word Chetniks. What Binder writes about Chitin’s in those first few lines is totally true. Chetniks were the first and only organized European resistance to Hitler. Binder writes “Here were people inside occupied Europe who dared for the first time to resist the mighty war machine of Hitler... not in France, not in Poland, not in Czechoslovakia, not in Holland, not in Scandinavia, but in Yugoslavia, in the Balkans” Are you saying that this is not true? Partisans and Tito came later and Churchill on the advice of his son Randolph who was with Tito in Sumadija switched his support to Tito. You like most Albanians that post here you refuse to respond to legitimate questions by avoidance and by a statement look what he wrote here he has no credibility. This article gives him full credibility; all you need to do is read it and show me where he is wrong. It is you Albion that has no credibility since you have no answers to what he writes or an independent counter article to the one in the Washington Times so you dismiss it out of intellectual laziness. Rather than learning from what Binder writes by questioning his position you turn it into some sort of contest like a child by saying “nice try Walter”. It is obvious that I have fallen into the trap of legitimizing your comment by commenting on your empty words

These talks very much resembles two deaf people arguing politics.

Laser my friend an editorial is not a letter to the editor it is a policy of the owner of Washington Times. As for David Binder he is “an award winning photojournalist, a successful commercial photographer and a first time documentary filmmaker. David's photojournalism has been published extensively by magazines throughout the world. His editorial clients include; People magazine, US News and World Report, Life Magazine, The New York Times, Paris-Match, Forbes, Fortune and Business Week.

He has twice been recognized by the prestigious Robert F. Kennedy Awards for Excellence in Journalism, The National Press Photographers "Best of Photojournalism" a New England Foundation for the Arts Grant, as well as other national and regional awards. David received a Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellowship Grant Award in 2001.” I am not sure how you can dismiss him as some anti Albanian journalist just because he calls a spade a spade. How do you expect Kosovo to enter EU followed by Serbia is beyond my comprehension when Kosovo and the part of the world which I left in 1952 i.e. Herzegovina retains the clan mentality while majority of Serbia is Europe. Kosovo, Herzegovina and parts of Montenegro are still in the third world and time is needed for them to emerge into the 21st century. As I said in my previous post land, labor and capital are factors in production and when any one of these factors is lacking or out of balance with the other we have the situation that Kosovo finds itself in today. Independence is not the answer the answer is let people live where they want and the population pressure that Kosovo experiences today will be eliminated. You see Laser Serbs don’t trust Albanians and Albanians don’t trust Serbs and they both have reasons for that but you see Europe does not trust ether one if they did they would open their borders to them, however their experience with the Balkan people in their midst has been mixed and we are all seen as an albatross around their neck. They seldom see Kosovo or Serbia as my nephew sees it. I told him one day that a Canadian friend mentioned that he was lucky to come to Canada and have a year of education paid by the government so that he could get his university English equivalency which he did.. His response was that Canada was lucky to have him since that education has resulted in him having a company where he hires four Canadians and pays in tax 30 times the amount that they paid for his English lessons. As many on this forum have said it is easy for you and me to pontificate from US and Canada when we don’t make a living in Kosovo. Read the article Laser and respond about the points that the author makes? I disagree with independence for Kosovo but I agree for unity of Europe under one set of laws for all. .

Actually Lazer, those of us looking for the truth respect David Binder. He is one of the few western journalists who does not seem to have bought into the official propaganda. He retired from the New York Times after a long and respected career.

"You can not keep 2Million people hostage and if there is any division of Kosova - I - can guarantee you that there will be a division of Macedonia (half of it for sure), Serbia (Presevo region), Montenegro (Tuz, Gusinje etc) and probbaly Greece as 1/2 of Greece is most likely Albanian (changing/forcing people to change their last and first names does not make them Greek - as their blood is Albanian). You are asking for and will be getting a Great Albania.
(john, 2. September 2007 06:57)"

Well, if Albanians really covet all these territories, and openly seek to destabilize and create havoc in Europe, the interntional community would respond by imposing an entire economic, military and political blockade. How are you going to survive then? You are not exactly self-sufficient or filthy rich to begin with.