Both checkpoints in north Kosovo blocked

"So, will they always travel in helicopters back and forth?

Imperialist countries are provoking yet another bloody conflict in the Balkans. How tragic for the Albanians to fall into this trap once more!
(Attila, 16 September 2011 11:11)


Is not important how they travel, as long as they are manning border post.

I feels sorry for ordinary K-Serbs that are suffering due to some businessmen/criminals actions by blocking their own, so everybody up north is inside the box. Wonder how long they will manage to keep them locked, before ordinary K-Serb rise up against these thugs!?
(Kosova-USA, 16 September 2011 11:42)"


I'm sure, as in every group, there are conflicting interests and varying opinions among Kosovo Serbs. But suggesting that the majority of 'ordinary' Kosovo Serbs want to live under Albanian authority but are forced to act otherwise by a small number of 'thugs' is a prime example of self-deceit.

I am glad that even after the arrival of Kosovo customs officers in the Northern border the Serbs are calm. This is helping preserving peace and stability in the Kosovo and the region. We dont want more deaths and destruction. Pray to GOD that the operation will end smoothly, with no casulties in neither side.

Bring in the tanks, we cannot take this endless provocation. Under UN law Kosovo is Serbian territory, therefore it is more legitimate for our troops to take control of all crossings. We need to ensure we have support of Russia and China first. Albanians have a green light from the West to perform another operation storm. History always repeats. Nothing to lose, we can't lose Kosovo again.

So, will they always travel in helicopters back and forth?

Imperialist countries are provoking yet another bloody conflict in the Balkans. How tragic for the Albanians to fall into this trap once more!

If EULEX continues to be so brazenly partizan then Tadic (who allowed them in) must step down immediately or issue a stern warning to the EU that now Serbia is on a path that considers all other alternatives beyond EU and remove any cooperation with any anti-Serbian EULEX or EU partizan talks!

Tadic stand up as Serbian President or step aside now!

The west deceive themselves with their fait accompli - with EU friends like Tadic's D yeS that all the EU demands who needs enemies.

Serbs across Kosovo & Metohija remain resilient as ever and will never give in to this agression that happens daily.

This is comical. So they helicopter police to make a point. All to prop up that phony government in Pristina. Maybe you guys should send Thaci and his boys up there so they can get it over with. Give me a break. With everything else going on in Europe, this gets a headline on the BBC- hysterical. And of course the chest-thumpers are out in force today. Go ahead Albanians, give me thumbs down and then keep giving it to us Serbs as you get off on giving negative comments. Like something good will come out of this? Yeah, I'm sure of it. And then KFOR will be there another 50 years because they aren't getting anywhere...

Addig jár a korsó a kútra míg le nem lövik.
(Baldy Mary, 16 September 2011 11:42)

You should also mention it was _Croatian_ KFOR soldiers who flew the helicopter to the border crossing...
(kufr, 16 September 2011 11:40)

Than it was Croatian köcsög.

EULEX lost any credibility it may had among Serbs . Instead of prosecuting organ trafficker they are taking orders from him .

Dear Serbian neighbours,

You are so much consumed with hindering the progress of our initiatives that you have consistently failed to come up with any initiatives of your own (we do not mind this of course). We never expected yesterday's prosecutor to make things easy for us, if anything we are geared up for worse. This is going to be a long and arduous road but the important thing is that we are moving, slowly but moving and in the right direction. Vulgarity and hatred thrown at us are no substitute for losing terrain. You have lost countless opportunities to cut a good deal and with every day that passes the odds of doing so are getting rather dire. Can you really, really not see that? You owe it to your brethren in Northern (and elswhere in...) Kosova to come to your senses and quick.

Best Regards

Kosovo-USA; The only thugs the Serbs of Kosmet don't wish to live under are the ones coming out of Pristina. I suggest you send your 'police' to the Kosmet-Albania border posts. That's where the majority of smuggling takes place. And I'm not referring to tobacco and cooking oil.

Serbs, just use the tactic albanian`muslim brothers use in the ME, and u will see how KFOR and EULEX are running with their UCK terrosrists colleagues.
All the best to Serbs from Soviet European Union...

So, will they always travel in helicopters back and forth?
(Attila, 16 September 2011 11:11)

Addig jár a korsó a kútra míg le nem lövik.

''They stressed that the checkpoint will not be reopened until citizens, who spent the night at the barricade on the road leading to the checkpoint''

What if more than 20 000 people block you, for that amount of people 2000 anti riot police or soldiers wont be enough. Will London send its police to help?
(Hmmm, 16 September 2011 10:30)

You know the really funny thing about all this? As long as the checkpoints are blocked whether by Serbs or Kfor, there is no traffic flowing, therefore all traffic is rerouted through checkpoints that already have custom officers established. Mission accomplished with the help of the Serbs. All goods coming into Kosovo must pass through Kosovo customs.

"So, will they always travel in helicopters back and forth?
(Attila, 16 September 2011 11:11)"

"Addig jár a korsó a kútra míg le nem lövik.
(Baldy Mary, 16 September 2011 11:42)"

I'm sorry but despite my name, I'm not Hungarian, I'm Turkish. But as far as I could understand from what Google Translate offers, I kind of like your comment!

Oh and all you Albanians who keep saying how stupid our media is and how stupid our politicians are and how everyone just lies to the Serbian people etc etc..

You guys are the puppets... you worship the US and you bribe people to be your friends. Noone in Europe likes your race, you can go to any country in europe (perhaps excluding Turkey) and see for yourself the reputation you guys have.

You think the Serbian politicians have to tell the Serbian farmers the truth? You think the Serbian peasants in Kosovo don't have a history in Kosovo to base their knowledge on? The Serbs in KiM have a long history there and have ALWAYS looked to Belgrade.

You guys are changing the history in Kosovo books to educate the young people of Kosovo with a tailored version to suit your interests. Even K.ALbanian teachers and lecturers are AGAINST changing the history.

So, will they always travel in helicopters back and forth?

Imperialist countries are provoking yet another bloody conflict in the Balkans. How tragic for the Albanians to fall into this trap once more!
(Attila, 16 September 2011 11:11)


Is not important how they travel, as long as they are manning border post.

I feels sorry for ordinary K-Serbs that are suffering due to some businessmen/criminals actions by blocking their own, so everybody up north is inside the box. Wonder how long they will manage to keep them locked, before ordinary K-Serb rise up against these thugs!?

Why do the Kosovo Serbs want to live under Belgrade's umbrella anyway? It was Belgrade that lost Kosovo for them.

The Albanians don't want a Serbian rule & don't want to take orders from Belgrade.

Then how can you dumb Albanians not understand that the Serbians in the North DON'T want to take orders from Albanians in Pristina?

Pristina the capital came from the Slavs.. so why should Serbs EVER listen to Albanians who 'reside' in Pristina? It's a slavic named place with a slavic history.

You cannot just change history & act like the Serbs were never in Pristina.

If you don't want to be ruled by Serbians then maybe you can understand that you're doing the exact same thing and that Serbians will never take orders from Albanians in Kosovo, even if you have the majority population.

I really don't get it! Why would someone make a comment in the Albanian/Turkish language? Majority of readers won't get it! So could you please START speaking in your new masters language, German or English, even French will do!

Canadian Serb
(Canadian Serb, 16 September 2011 15:43)

Hey - I do not see a single comment here in Albanian or Turkish. All I see is something about shooting down some scum and it's in Hungarian. 100% legitimate, Hungarians have expertise how to shoot the scum down.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoltan_Dani

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlNQlZIKj0U

To be factual of the 2 KFOR helicopters that arrived at Brnjak, one of them had Croatian markings.

Reports say that one Kos Albanian customs officer was aboard one of those helicopters.

Airlift has always been a useful means to circumnavigate both physical and political problems, provided one has control of the air and one's 'opponent' cannot risk shooting down said aircraft.

However, it is getting rather confusing with all these actors (KFOR, UN, EULEX, Kos Albanian customs officers, KPS, Serb officers in KPS). Frankly I think that many people don't have an understanding as to whats going on.

The strange thing is that the Serbs are blocking themselves even more.

Kosovo customs are in both checkpoints. Not in just one

You should also mention it was _Croatian_ KFOR soldiers who flew the helicopter to the border crossing...

This is a continuation of the war on Serbia to steal Serb lands. This is part of an Albanian take over of land that was internationally accepted as part of Serbia - established by long treaty and other agreements.

The origin of very term 'ethnic cleansing' is attributed to the activities of Albanians living in Kosovo. The Albanians have proved that they can produce the pressures of ethnic cleansing and still deceive the international community. Be sure that if the borders are to be controlled by Albanians the next effect will be to complete the ethnic cleansing of Serbs that has been continuing since long before the time of Milosevic.

The time has come for the international community to come off its bland acceptance of the Albanian take over of Kosovo. The lands of the north of Kosovo are predominantly occupied by Serbs who are having their nationality stolen from under them. This is not necessary. Kosovo as a state is an attempt at a new and pointless invention - one that is unlikely to sustain for the longer term. The real aim of the Albanians living in Kosovo is not to have a new state - their faith in it and allegiance to it is very questionable - the real desire is to merge the land as a province of Albania.

Serbs - particularly in the North - do not want to change to living under Albanian rule.

However, force and coercion will be condoned by the international community.

The Albanians have permission to complete the ethnic cleansing of Serbs from Kosovo.

Look at the trouble KFOR and the albanians have to go through to secure 1 or 2 albanian customs officer at these two checkpoints. How in the world will KFOR and the albanians secure the rest of northern Kosovo?

I really don't get it! Why would someone make a comment in the Albanian/Turkish language? Majority of readers won't get it! So could you please START speaking in your new masters language, German or English, even French will do!

Canadian Serb
(Canadian Serb, 16 September 2011 15:43)

You must be talking about your friend Ataman, since he is gifted with ability to speak many languages.Take it up with him.

Poor Albanian pseudostate and his mafia-pseudogovernment want to start new conflict...

"Serbs have in the meantime reinforced their barricade near Brnjak by dumping a huge mass of soil onto the road - this barrier is now five meters high" Does this mean Serbs want to be separated from Serbia and not let any goods from Serbia pass through. K-Albanians are ok with this, this will cause some pain in Serbian Economy and will help Croatians, Macedonians Bulgarian products to be incorporated properly to Kosovo.

I say as before let them stay outside winter is here soon and they will need that wood for fire, once they see its not going any where they will find a way to accept the reality.

''They stressed that the checkpoint will not be reopened until citizens, who spent the night at the barricade on the road leading to the checkpoint''

What if more than 20 000 people block you, for that amount of people 2000 anti riot police or soldiers wont be enough. Will London send its police to help?

@bganon

I do not know what the interest of the Kosovo Serbs is, or for that matter what the interest of the Kosovar Albanain is. The way I see it this, it is better for Serbia to recognize Kosovo as a state and join the EU. The lives of ordinary Serbs would improve ten fold with this decision. As far as I can tell, Serbia's interest in Kosovo is merely symbolic, it isn't actual. The lives of ordinary people and I do mean ordinary people on the ground, would be best served with this decision. How are the lives of the Kosovar Serbs or for that matter Serbian Serbs being aided by the decision of Belgrade to disrupt Kosovo's statehood?

One Kosovo customs officer and one KPS person? That's it? They're either incredibly dedicated or were selected to "observe" what EULEX will do :)
(Balkan Anthropologist, 16 September 2011 15:52)

Actually both. K-Serbs are doing a good job for Prishtina with blocking themselves in and since no goods can pass those barricades, the custom and border officials have an easy job.

@bganon

I do not know what the interest of the Kosovo Serbs is, or for that matter what the interest of the Kosovar Albanain is. The way I see it this, it is better for Serbia to recognize Kosovo as a state and join the EU. The lives of ordinary Serbs would improve ten fold with this decision. As far as I can tell, Serbia's interest in Kosovo is merely symbolic, it isn't actual. The lives of ordinary people and I do mean ordinary people on the ground, would be best served with this decision. How are the lives of the Kosovar Serbs or for that matter Serbian Serbs being aided by the decision of Belgrade to disrupt Kosovo's statehood?
(aronDi, 16 September 2011 14:32)

Very good observation.
You have to note that K-issue has been feeding Serbian politics for at least a century. There are plenty of Serb politicians, (or diplomats as they call themselves) who identify their complete political being with K-issue. Take for example Jeremic. The man all it does is talk about Kosova, Kosova and Kosova all day long. He can't even comprehend himself doing something else. Where ever he is, business forums, people's gathering, charities events, foreign invitations he will just sing the same song about Kosova.
As long as K-conflict remains alive, there is a constant need for people like Mr. Jeremic. His travels, his dinners, his megalomania is secured as long as Kosova is perceived as an on-going conflict. There is no doubt about Serb sentiment over K. but people need to be educated with the reality and as long as politicians bluntly refuse to see the reality, what's the chance for a Serb farmer to understand what's going on? The atmosphere of fear, anxiety, the sense that everyone is out there to get the Serbs is a predominant feeling in the Serbian society and has been like these for too long. As long as that feeling is kept alive, as long as they justify that feeling with Kosova, so-called politicians in Belgrade have something to talk about all day long and fatten their arses.

You must be talking about your friend Ataman, since he is gifted with ability to speak many languages.Take it up with him.
(Agim Kelmendi, 16 September 2011 16:55)

You should think what happens with Red Eagles if you spend way to much money on stupid things.

Why do the Kosovo Serbs want to live under Belgrade's umbrella anyway? It was Belgrade that lost Kosovo for them

aron - that is connected to the real question. If Belgrade and Pristina so want to embrace a multiethnic Kosovo then why doesn't each side reach out and start speaking to the people on the 'other' side.

Both sides need to start talking to ordinary citizens directly and not through the corrupt political leadership who have their own interests - seperate from the interests of the Serbian and Kos Albanian people.

I really don't get it! Why would someone make a comment in the Albanian/Turkish language? Majority of readers won't get it! So could you please START speaking in your new masters language, German or English, even French will do!

Canadian Serb

One Kosovo customs officer and one KPS person? That's it? They're either incredibly dedicated or were selected to "observe" what EULEX will do :)

Thats right! Lock yourselves in. That will show the government in Pristina who's boss! LOL

aron - that is connected to the real question. If Belgrade and Pristina so want to embrace a multiethnic Kosovo then why doesn't each side reach out and start speaking to the people on the 'other' side.
(bganon, 16 September 2011 14:00)

Belgrade and Pristina want a multiethnic Kosovo? Not really, none of them! That idea came from the EU, to justify an independent Kosovo. Do you think EU countries would support an Albanian-only Kosovo (which is what the majority of the Albanians, especially the 'self determination' extremists want... well, okay, in the end, they want a greater Albania ).

If Pristina get what they want & the borders become controlled by Kosovo customs then it just shows that the current government did not really have a plan or real desire to prevent this.

It will be truly heartbreaking to see this happen to the K.Serbs in KiM (especially in the north).

Just look at how the 'Rebels' in Libya around the position of the government. One day the government in Pristina will be turned over ;)

What blocked again are the turnips and watermelons keep falling of the trucks again it could be dangerous some one can get hurt.

Kosovo customs officers "arrive at Brnjak"

A bit contradictory, this article. Or do EULEX custom officers already count as 'Kosovo custom officers'?

aronDi, obviously the Kosovo Serbs do not trust the Kosovo Albanians to look after either them or their interests.

But that brings me back to my point about reaching out. It may go down well in Pristina's political circles and among the cheerleaders to make hard line statements about seizing control from the 'criminals' in the North. But how exactly does that help win over the Kosovo Serbs and gain any trust?

You suggest that neither Kosovo Serbs or Albanians want a multiethnic Kosovo (actually this was Analyst's suggest byt analyst is probably right). I'm not a supporter of monoethnicism, but if that assumption is correct the conclusion of that logic is to split Kosovo.

It seems to me that part of the reserve card being played by Pristina to counter this possible split is to make the Serbs leave Kosovo one way or another to prevent any talk of a split.

Of course none of this bodes well for Bosnia as if the reamining Serbs of Kosovo are driven out pressure on Bosnian territorial integrity will intensify. Some Kos Serb refugees might even migrate to Bosnia - as many Bosnian Croats migrated / occupied Croatian Serb homes in Krajina today.

The crap keeps on flying around, but unlike the internationals, Serbs, Albanians I really believe that an amicable solution for Kosovo is possible. Its a pity but the interests of the actors involves dooms us to yet more of this, whilst we continue to stagnate economically.

Bring in the tanks, we cannot take this endless provocation. Under UN law Kosovo is Serbian territory, therefore it is more legitimate for our troops to take control of all crossings. We need to ensure we have support of Russia and China first. Albanians have a green light from the West to perform another operation storm. History always repeats. Nothing to lose, we can't lose Kosovo again.
(Reality, 16 September 2011 12:45)

Reality such an odd name for a post that is totally not based in reality.
1st the placement of customs officers at these 2 crossings has been way over dramatized by the Serbian govt. Customs officers are at every other checkpoint. UNMIK, EULEX, Kfor all have from day one had the goal that all of Kosovo would be under the same police and justice system.
2nd to say placing customs agents at these 2 checkpoints compares to operation storm????? Nothing else need be said there.
3rd You way over estimate China's support. Just because China says they think status should be settled by a mutual agreement of the parties in no way even remotely suggests that China would support any military aggression by Serbia.
4th Russia wants Serbia to be a thorn in the side of the west but they are not eager to engage in a 3rd world war either. (Which is what would happen if Russian troops engaged NATO. For those who say NATO (US) is overstretched in Iraq and Afghanistan, do you think for a moment that should forces be needed for a major confrontation anywhere in the world there would be a single serviceman left in those 2 places.
However, you were right in the fact you cannot lose Kosovo again. You will never have that opportunity.

You have to note that K-issue has been feeding Serbian politics for at least a century. There are plenty of Serb politicians, (or diplomats as they call themselves) who identify their complete political being with K-issue. Take for example Jeremic. The man all it does is talk about Kosova, Kosova and Kosova all day long. He can't even comprehend himself doing something else. Where ever he is, business forums, people's gathering, charities events, foreign invitations he will just sing the same song about Kosova. As long as K-conflict remains alive, there is a constant need for people like Mr. Jeremic. His travels, his dinners, his megalomania is secured as long as Kosova is perceived as an on-going conflict. There is no doubt about Serb sentiment over K. but people need to be educated with the reality and as long as politicians bluntly refuse to see the reality, what's the chance for a Serb farmer to understand what's going on? The atmosphere of fear, anxiety, the sense that everyone is out there to get the Serbs is a predominant feeling in the Serbian society and has been like these for too long. As long as that feeling is kept alive, as long as they justify that feeling with Kosova, so-called politicians in Belgrade have something to talk about all day long and fatten their arses. (miri, 16 September 2011 17:06)

That's very well put, and needs to be said, even if it should be obvious. though i'm less concerned about them "fattening their arses" and much more concerned with the atrocities ag. fill-in-the-blank every couple of decades, with never the recognition, the coming "clean"....

i must also point out, altho not disagreeing with yr thesis, that somehow Bosnia winds its way back into the picture. sonia wrote, right after the decl of indp in 2008! that Bosnia was the real target. i think it threw ppl off, but i have this nagging feeling that when, if ever, the "Kosovo emergency" cools down, we will immediately start hearing from you-know-who in banja luka. the problem is quite deep, and did not start -- or end -- w/milosevic. that is what some of us needed to understand. and believe me, we get it by this point.

But what i still don't get is why the blgd regime thinks the eu can't wait to import the balkan wars, part 100. it is truly so irrational.

roberto frisco

This proves what I said in the past, KFOR don't give a damn about the Serbian people and have obviously sided with the criminal Thaci and his thugs. The next step is going to be to try and provoke the Serbian people into another conflict which in turn will give the NATO forces led by the two faced Americans the new nazis an excuse to invade Serbia proper. Those people in Washington want a confrontation so they can invade Serbia and occupy it and build more US bases. I wish to god that idiot Tadic with his fools would wake up and see the reality staring them in the face. They want a war with Serbia period. My words will be varified sooner or later I am sad to say. For God sake Serbia please wake up.

Attila, if you are a turk, you are such an arrogant to speak about imperialism...like 500 years wasn't enough...
(Pirro, 17 September 2011 00:13)

Pirro, I'm the last one to defend the Ottoman Empire. But the Ottoman Empire was not imperialist. Imperialism is a recent phenomenon and is closely related to capitalist. The Ottomans could be aggressive, oppressive... but not imperialist.

Except these poor Albanians are getting away with it and getting what they are after bit by bit. Cannot get anything done with strong / clever remarks alone.

Go Serbs!! Don't stop fight for Your holy land!! You should in retalition cut off water from Gazivode for Pristina. Thaci's "succes" (taking two checkpoint) can be the last one...

P.S. Sorry for using polish soldiers for oppresing K-Serbs by EU/NATO sponsored mafia state. They don't want do it...

UN official Gerard Galucci:

"When the international peacekeepers act outside international law, they become outlaws."

The "peace keepers" are of course the invaders and occupants themselves. To the Otporists™ and quislings of Serbia however, another opportunity to be "blessed" with western "democracy" has arised.
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Showdown at Goat Gate

Empire's Kosovo Gamble
by Nebojsa Malic, September 17, 2011
| Print This | Share This | Antiwar Forum

"Are there no Serbs in this room?" thundered Alexander Vasilevich Konuzin, Russia’s Ambassador to Belgrade, before the shocked audience at the Serbian capital’s Army House. It was Thursday, September 15, and the first reports began coming in of NATO’s movements to seize "customs posts" in the north of occupied Kosovo and turn them over to the self-proclaimed ethnic Albanian government. Yet nobody at the "international security" conference, organized by NGOs lavishly funded by EU and U.S. taxpayers, had said so much as a word. Not even the president of Serbia, Boris Tadic, who had given the opening speech.

After listening to hours of pointless prattle, Konuzin had had enough. He paced as he addressed the hostile crowd, blasting their slavish devotion to powers that sought to dismember Serbia. "We have common interests, and we will defend the country even though it seems that some Serbs wish to see their country under foreign control," Konuzin concluded. Interrupted by the moderator and not allowed to continue, Russia’s Ambassador left the hall.

Illegal and Criminal

Meanwhile, NATO’s Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen flew into the occupied province to personally support the much-heralded plan by the "government" of Hashim Thaci to "restore law and order" to the sliver of province still inhabited by Serbs. There would be "no turning back," Rasmussen announced, and echoing the words of "Prime Minister" Thaci, declared that NATO would not "back away from illegal and criminal structures."

By this he meant the remaining Serb institutions in the province Thaci and his backers claim is a sovereign state — yet it is Thaci’s regime that matches the description. Kosovo was seized from Serbia in a manifestly illegal and illegitimate war, occupied under a flimsy pretext of a UN resolution (that the Empire and its allies have shamelessly violated over the years) and eventually declared independent in a way that simply defied logic as well as law. And that’s without even considering that Thaci and his entire establishment — descended from the terrorist KLA - stand accused of being an organized crime syndicate involved in drug-running, sex slavery and trafficking of human organs harvested from tortured and murdered prisoners.

Outlaws International

All of this has happened before. At the end of July, Thaci sent his Special Forces to seize two checkpoints — Jarinje ("Goat gate") and Brnjak — at the administrative line between Kosovo and the rest of Serbia, located in the Serb-inhabited north. Officially it was a bid to establish proper customs controls at what Pristina claims it is an international border. In practice, however, it was a ploy to cut off the Serb-inhabited north from its lifeline, and end its 12-year resistance to KLA rule. Either way, it failed miserably.

Heralded as a "law and order" operation, there was nothing legal or orderly about it. Worse yet, Thaci’s thugs were aided by EU’s "legal assistance" mission (EULEX) and NATO’s "peacekeepers" (KFOR), supposedly "status neutral" institutions that had to be in compliance with UNSCR 1244. In the words of former UN official Gerard Galucci back in July, "When the international peacekeepers act outside international law, they become outlaws."

According to Galucci, the "chief threat to security" is actually NATO, whose behavior in support of Thaci constitutes "anti-peacekeeping." As for the self-appointed guardians of Kosovo, they are sowing the wind:

"The Quint [U.S., UK, Germany, France, and Italy] is either bluffing, prevaricating with the Kosovo Albanians, or totally abandoning the UN peacekeeping mandate under which their agents — KFOR & EULEX — are in Kosovo. Whichever turns out to be true, they are acting shamefully."

Galucci is not naïve; he knows KFOR and UNMIK have violated 1244 in the past — but never to this extent, and never so openly.

It ought to be noted that KFOR’s principal role in the province was never to protect the Serbs from the rampaging Albanians, but to protect the Albanians from Yugoslav and Serbian authorities. Even though KFOR has saved many Serb lives over the years, its mission has always been to serve the interests of Hashim Thaci, insofar as they coincided with those of the Empire. UNSCR 1244 was just the fig leaf allowing NATO a measure of modesty; now that UNSCR 1973 has essentially been used as a condom during the Rape of Libya, even that is being dispensed with.

A Threat to Tadic

Having installed Boris Tadic as the President of Serbia in 2004, and engineered his complete control of Serbian politics in 2008, the Empire has come to rely on near-absolute obedience of its quislings in Belgrade. Yet even Tadic and his cronies are now pleading with the Empire to stop Thaci, as the events in Kosovo are seriously threatening their survival.

In July, Tadic had sworn that Serbia’s army and the police would not fight. So the Serb civilians in Kosovo fought back by themselves. All this week, social networks have been abuzz with preparations for renewed resistance. A major opposition movement issued a call Wednesday to back the Kosovo Serbs with volunteers from all over Serbia. On Thursday, head of the Serbian Orthodox Church came to the province himself, and issued a call to the nation to pray and endure.

Over the past two weeks, the Serbian public has been shaken by the revelations from U.S. diplomatic dispatches published by Wikileaks — that almost the entire political establishment of the country has been taking its marching orders from the Empire. Washington’s envoys even interfered in the selection of the present head of the Church, following the passing of the previous Patriarch. With his empty promises of EU membership quashed in late August by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Tadic has absolutely nothing to offer the Serbian public.

Their palpable panic may help explain why the pro-government daily Blic (owned by the Swiss-German conglomerate Ringier) claimed on Thursday that the U.S. envoy to Kosovo, Christopher Dell, had a financial interest in backing the Thaci regime. According to the paper, Thaci’s regime is broke, and desperately needs hundreds of millions of Euros to pay a Turkish-American consortium (Bechtel-Enka) for a major highway contract. The paper’s source claims Dell has been helping Thaci plan the customs takeover, as well as negotiate the sale of "Kosovo Telecom" (illegally carved out of its Serbian parent) to Croatia, in exchange for a substantial kickback from the consortium."
http://original.antiwar.com/malic/2011/09/16/showdown-at-goat-gate/

What a farce!

The UN must act now and stop all unilateral moves of Kosovo provincial government. The world must act and show Serbs AND Albanians that no new state can emerge without mutual (!) agreement.

And US and EU: if realities on the ground are the way to go then we can expect you to recognize Palestine in the UN?

Wow! It is like another war all over again up in here.

It is really simple. I hope I'm not offending either side. The fact is that Kosovo is recognized by over 80 countries as independent. It is backed and supported by the strongest, most influential countries in the world. Therefore, I think that it has the right to secure it's borders. If someone does not want to follow the rules then why live in there.

Both sides need to be smart and realize that the only way to move forward is to accept the reality that K is independent and move on to better the lives of both Serbs and Albanians. The Serbs will benefit from EU opening it's doors and the Albanians will benefit from being their own county's rulers.

If we can get along in the united states where every ethnicity and religion occupies every town then sure as hell you people can learn to live by each other and respect each other. This is the only smart solution. Everything else will bring more conflict and no one wants that.

Just my humble opinion!
(Paul, 16 September 2011 22:48)

Your not a neutral. Your an Albanian. Any neutral would say divide the failed state in two. Attempting to intergrate N.Kosovo with the South would result in bloodshed, as would Reintergrating the South with Serbia.

Attila, if you are a turk, you are such an arrogant to speak about imperialism...like 500 years wasn't enough...

Personally. I couldn't give a toss what happens. I have no vested interest in either Kosovo, Serbia or Albania. I do find it sad though that some people view symbolism as of more paramount importance than improving the acual lives of the ordinary people. Take trizo's posts for example. Apparently Kosovo is Serbian because in some distant past, it was full of Serbian names, full of Serbian people and what not. However, if you want to solve the Kosovo problem by virtue of history, we really should give it to the Italians because guess what, they were rulers of it for far longer than either Ottomans, Albanians or Serbs. By the same token, Istanbul should be given to Greece because the Hagia Sophia was once a Greek monastery. This is what happens when people look at the past, not critically but dogmatically.
For me, the simple solution to Kosovo is independence, but a neutral country open to both Serbs and Albanians to observe their cultural rights. It is obvious that that piece of territory has played a part in both nations developments and both sets of people should shape its future. As far as I'm concerned, the actual lives of people in Serbia proper would also be best served if Serbia recognized Kosovo's independence and then lobbied for the Serbian populace there. With Kosovo no longer an obstacle to EU membership, Serbia's economic ascent would take of and the standard of living of most Serbs would increase.
The other bit of course is that Kosovar Albanians have to stop naming streets and apartment blocks after fallen KLA men, as that does indeed disrupt any hope of reconciliation. There must also be an effort to acknowledge that Serbs too suffered in the war.
This is how I see it personally. Of course its easy for me to make observations from my armchair, but it seems to me that the Balkans and Serbs & ALbanians in particular are stuck in the Ottoman Empire still.

Wow! It is like another war all over again up in here.

It is really simple. I hope I'm not offending either side. The fact is that Kosovo is recognized by over 80 countries as independent. It is backed and supported by the strongest, most influential countries in the world. Therefore, I think that it has the right to secure it's borders. If someone does not want to follow the rules then why live in there.

Both sides need to be smart and realize that the only way to move forward is to accept the reality that K is independent and move on to better the lives of both Serbs and Albanians. The Serbs will benefit from EU opening it's doors and the Albanians will benefit from being their own county's rulers.

If we can get along in the united states where every ethnicity and religion occupies every town then sure as hell you people can learn to live by each other and respect each other. This is the only smart solution. Everything else will bring more conflict and no one wants that.

Just my humble opinion!

"You suggest that neither Kosovo Serbs or Albanians want a multiethnic Kosovo (actually this was Analyst's suggest byt analyst is probably right). I'm not a supporter of monoethnicism, but if that assumption is correct the conclusion of that logic is to split Kosovo."

Now, now, there are not only Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo. There are also thousands of internationals. That must count for something. That must make Kosovo a bit more multiethnic. If you then go analyze the division of power among ethnicities then you will see that Kosovo is one of the most multiethnic places in the world. EU judges, NATO army, EULEX police. They are fewer than Serbs and Albanians in numbers but hold a lot more power. Now, they have decided that Kosovo will be multiethnic. In particular, they hold the Kosovo government by the balls when it comes to certain decisions. Which means that the scaremongering from Belgrade about ethnic cleansing etc etc etc will never happen (assuming the Albanian gov. really wants to cleanse the Serbs and that is a strong assumption). The worse that could happen is what happened to the Serbs in the south of Kosovo. Except from small incidents, which should not have happened, nothing major since 2008. Oh yeah, they pay for electricity now. Really, the sovereignity of Kosovo's governement has been limited so much from the start just to please Belgrade and create trust, but Belgrade is wasting this occasion too. It is not going to last forever. Good luck.

Can somebody tell me how serbs are having peacefull protest when they are blocking the roads ? I think KFOR and Kosovo Police should take action and open the roads because what Serbs are doing is not peacefull protests .
The funny thing is Serbs are Blocking themselfs because nothing will come through from Serbia so the was no point for Serbia to accept Kosovo stamp .

It's ridiculous how the US can be so bias when it comes to supporting/rejecting acts of unilateral declarations of independence.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/16/palestinian-leader-ignores-us-statehood

Bganon,
I don't always agree with your statements. However, I think you're a voice of reason and I respect you for that.

In order for any reconciliation to begin Belgrade 'must' first apologize to the Albanians in Kosovo for all the destruction it caused during the 90s.

Second, they must allow Albanians in Serbia to prosper the same as the rest of the Serb population.

And third, they must stop financing parallel structures in the north and recognize Kosovo.

Let's start small and apologize first. You will see that Albanians will extend their hand.

Give it a try!

@trizo

A very interesting observation. You assume I'm an Albanian because I disagree with you. You also seem to make parallels between ethnic minorities in Western Europe & the US & Kosovo Albanians. Let me tell you why those parallels do not exist. Turks in Germany are not being murdered by the German Gov. for the sole reason of being Turkish. Nor are Pakistanis in the UK being hounded out for being Pakistanis. I also do not know of a concerted US effort to drive out its Latin populace. You see, this is where Serbia lost Kosovo, it did try to cleanse the territory of its Albanian inhabitants. This is why you now find such stern opposition by them to being under Serbia's control again. This is why the West sees no other possible solution other than pure independence. You try convincing a people, who have been pillaged, beaten up, discriminated against brutally that they should be under the control of their oppressor again and see how far you can go. You seem to forget that in 1997 & 1998, the US and Europe continued to reiterate that Kosovo was part of Serbia. It was only when Serbian forces tried to deal with a few armed men (that is all that the KLA was) with village burning and mass murder that their changed their tact. No my friend, it is not the West that took Kosovo from you, it is Serbia's lack of common sense that lost you Kosovo.

As for your history and assertions that Kosovo was Serbian from day one, answer me this, when does day 1 in Kosovo start? Because you see, Kosovo is nothing other than a geographical location. You remove all the sentimental history that has been given that place and all you're left with is a territory, a territory that existed long before the Nemanjas and Rascia. A territory that was ruled by the Romans for far longer than either Serbs, Ottomans or Albanians, which is why I said perhaps we should give it to Italy.

Daylight robbery. End of. God is the best schemer of them all, and they will be punished for this. In fact, they already are being.

Hard development for the Otporists™. Sell out or not? For western wannabees, sell out until nothing remains is always a good choice no matter what....

Serbia is acting like an abusive parent whose child has been taken into care by the social services.
"But our child misbehaved, so I had to beat it black and blue!" says Serbia, "But if you let it come back to my family I promise I will beat it no more."
However, the child is now an adult, can take care of itself, and does not want to rejoin the family.
(daresbury,

Daresbury....I wonder what the hell you are talking about! Firstly, Albanians have been always welcomed into former Yugoslavia ever since Tito came to power in 1945. Albanians have been coming into Yugoslavia, mainly Kosovo, due to extreme poverty they were faced back home in Albania. Tito welcomed them and also let them establish their own communities, religion, newspapers, schools in the Albanian language etc. Soon enough Kosovo become the poorest area in the former Yugoslavia. Without the financial help from rest of the Yugoslav republics, Kosovo Albanians would literally starve to death. Without support and help from the Yugo./Tito regime Kosovo Albanians would never get on their feet, and would continue to be the poorest, underdeveloped area in Europe, probably doing slightly better than their home country of Albania.

Kosovo was paradise for Albos, when Yugoslavs were feeding you. Because you could not do it on your own. Even today Kosovo can't take care of itself. without help and support from the rest of the world. Nothing has changed, other than you ethnically cleansed the rest of the non muslim population from the area that never belonged to you anyways. Thank god Serbs don't have to feed you anymore! I am sure Thaci and the rest of the clan are there to satisfy their own ass. Just look at the average BMI (body mass index) for a kosovo albanian child. Mainly skinny and underdeveloped kids due to lack of proper nutrition. Compare that Kosovar Albanian child with Thaci's fat kid. Thaci makes sure he's child is well fed while the rest of the kosovar albanian kids are starving. Think about it.....

Attempting to intergrate N.Kosovo with the South would result in bloodshed, as would Reintergrating the South with Serbia.
(New Zealander, 17 September 2011 12:03)

"Integrate" ?! I'm not aware that N. Kosovo has declared independence from Kosovo. How can you integrate something that was never separated ?!


I think we can speak about integration of N. Kosovo to Kosovo, only if and when the majority of inhabitants in N. Kosovo decide to declare independence from Kosovo. So far the majority of N. Kosovo has not expressed a desire to be independent from Kosovo.

Personally. I couldn't give a toss what happens. I have no vested interest in either Kosovo, Serbia or Albania. I do find it sad though that some people view symbolism as of more paramount importance than improving the acual lives of the ordinary people. Take trizo's posts for example. Apparently Kosovo is Serbian because in some distant past, it was full of Serbian names, full of Serbian people and what not. (aronDi, 17 September 2011 00:49)

Since when did Italy have soem sort of vested in interest in the Balkans unless you are trying to link it with the Roman Empire? To put it bluntly, Rome is the capital and cultural centre of Italy and was created as part of the Holy Roman Empire under King Constantine , the first to introduce Christianity to the Holy Roman Empire. That empire split and Constantinople was engulfed by the Ottoman empire. Agia Sofia is not some "monastery" but is the centre of Orthodoxy and the Patrichiate of the entire Orthodox patrons is still in Istanbul just like the Pope is in Rome.

Raska and Gora are the first European civilizations of Serbs which are essentially in Kosovo and Metohia. Metohia means land of "churches" , Orthodox churches to be exact. Therfore, the birhtplace of Serbians has been invaded which include the regions of Kosovo and Montenegro which were the empires of Raska and Gora.

If your birthright was taken away, than what do you have left? Nothing.

''I wonder what the hell you are talking about! Firstly, Albanians have been always welcomed into former Yugoslavia ever since Tito came to power in 1945. Albanians have been coming into Yugoslavia, mainly Kosovo, due to extreme poverty they were faced back home in Albania. Tito welcomed them and also let them establish their own communities, religion, newspapers, schools in the Albanian language etc. ''

Funny. It appears to me that no one truly knows history around here. In 1945, Europe was totally devastated, no country was poor or richer. Taking more Albanians in Yugoslavia was the last thing Tito would do in trying to balance the brittle political balance among slavs [serb croats, muslims, slavs without proper identity such fyromians etc] and other minorities [hungarians, albanians, bulgraians]...


''Soon enough Kosovo become the poorest area in the former Yugoslavia. Without the financial help from rest of the Yugoslav republics, Kosovo Albanians would literally starve to death. Without support and help from the Yugo./Tito regime Kosovo Albanians would never get on their feet, and would continue to be the poorest, underdeveloped area in Europe, probably doing slightly better than their home country of Albania. ''

Strange that the richest region in mineral resources in comparison with its tiny population was the poorerst region at the same time. Clearly the revenues of the mines [in which Albanians worked] went to Belgrade, and not to Kosovo, also, the Kosovo field is the largest fertile plain a region could have in proportion with its population...albanians worked there as well. It is a well known fact that Tito gave passports to Kosovo Albanians and encuraged them to work abroad in Europe etc, or the diaspora as the albanians call it, which later formed the main economical force of the albanians, and which even sponsored the UCK movement...ironic huh?

Listen kid, west does not sponsor anything, all the projects with western funds are debts, donations are only a small portion and they can never help, usually west never donates sth in cash but in products, they donate computers, vehicles for the adminsitration and the army, symbolic quantity of guns , equipments...which even the weakest state in africa can easily afford, but real projects are sth else, it has to do with infrastructure, raising wages, collecting taxes from oligopolic industries and businesses, they cost billions of dollars, just like the ones we finished two years ago , with our own money... gov duty is to bult bridges, schools, hospitals, provide securety, order etc...implement laws that make sure a balance between businesses and the employees etc, don't expect the gov to get you a job, you are suposed to find it yourself, you are talking about tito like he was some kind of god breast feeding albanians, actually he wasn't, he was another communist dictator, and by default he messed things really badly, at least tito was smart to milk two cows...Tito was one of the reasons jugoslavia was disintegrated in such a bloody conflict..., Jugoslavia should have been disintegrated as soon as the ww2 ended...

Talking about E.Hoxha...he was a more stalinist than stalin himself, what do you expect, yet, the large quantites of guns we inherited from E Hoxha dictatorship helped Bosnian and UCK resistance at certain extent...until 80s, those guns, tanks, planes, submarines, rockets that we spend our fortune on were still new and powerful, who would have known collapse of yugoslavia would have been delayed to the 90s...Still in the 90s, we had the power to keep on buying guns and serbia didn't even dare to step our border, although we openly supported albanian resistance in kosovo...

The best way to solve this conflict that keeps going on since centuries ago, is to change the borders of 1.Albania; 2.Kosova; 3.Serbia; 4.Bosnia.

Does any Albanian or 'neutral' want to give an opinion on the burning and destruction/desecration of over 150 Serbian Orthodox monasteries in recent years, and how this variable plays into the equation?

All you neutrals think that it's the Ottoman Empire we're living in but you are so ignorant and naive when you say it should be simple to 'get along'.

Yes Kosovo was Serbian for the longest time in history & to the guy who said it should be given back to "Italians"?

I would love to see which history book you got this from & the dates you think "Italians" occupied Kosovo.

Serb named villages since day 1. We do not accept unilaterally declared independence.

Russia/China/India/Brazil/Spain... do you think these countries count for anything???

These countries make up half the world's population & well over half the world's total land mass.

Just because war mongers like the US, Germany, UK want to support the Albos for their own political agenda, it doesn't mean it's the right thing to do.

Before you give your opinion on Serbia & Kosovo, please take a moment to think of how you would feel and react if a certain ethnicity were to spread throughout your 'state' and then slowly move toward becoming an independent state and changing their flag/constitution... how would you respond?

If you tell me that you would accept it and live happily ever after then I know you're a closed minded Albanian or a Serbian hating troll.

I wish the Turks in Berlin declared independence.

I wish the Arabs in the UK and northern Paris declared independence.

I wish the Mexicans in the U.S.A declared independence.

I would love to see how these so called Westerners would react.


Mexicans are treated like s*** in America.
Sarkozy kicks out all the Gypsies/Romani from France.
Riots & rebellions have just taken place in the UK stemming from racism.
Germany...no comment on fascism here.

The problem is that each country is being controlled by a select number of powerful politicians and their political agendas are ambiguous. If average Joe learns the truths & hears both sides of the story & takes everything into account then I'm sure things would not be panning out the way they are.

@ Paul,

Your 'humble opinion' is outrageous.

I think we can speak about integration of N. Kosovo to Kosovo, only if and when the majority of inhabitants in N. Kosovo decide to declare independence from Kosovo. So far the majority of N. Kosovo has not expressed a desire to be independent from Kosovo.
(icj1, 17 September 2011 18:18)

Nobody care about what the majority of inhabitants in N. Kosovo want. US/NATO leaders said long before that Kosovo division was out of question and unfortunatelly this is the only thing which matters.

sure as hell you people can learn to live by each other and respect each other.
Paul

People didn't learn how to live by each other and respect each other in Yugoslavia. People didn't learn how to live by each other and respect each other in Serbia. Why do you think they will learn it in Kosovo?

''Pirro, I'm the last one to defend the Ottoman Empire. But the Ottoman Empire was not imperialist. Imperialism is a recent phenomenon and is closely related to capitalist. The Ottomans could be aggressive, oppressive... but not imperialist.
(Attila, 17 September 2011 14:42) ''

Sorry but i fail to understand, you say ottomans were oppressive and aggressive, but on the other hand you say they were not imperialist, this sounds like ottomans were simply uncivilised crazy reckless barbarian hordes who were unable to run an empire, which might be true, you know more about ottomans since you are a turk... frankly, you speak a terminlogy found in E Hoxha books which i can not understand as i am from younger generations :) ...capitalism is a socio economic system, politico-economical systems and such ideologies have not much to do with balkan conflicts my friend, looking back to history , in 1922-39 and 1943-44 we had a conservative rightist gov, in 1945-92 period we had a communist gov, and now we have so called democratic gov, but during the last 100 years , serbs have allways been our enemies, wether we [or them] were 'supported'' by the evil capitalist imperialists...and even in the very past, we have been enemies since 7th century my friend, and since then not much has changed...if official belgrade reckognised kosovo in 90s, it may have been a great step toward reconcilation, but once they started the war, awareness about empiralism, evil capitalists etc just go out of the window...

As for previous posts, i get your point now, frankly, Albanians don't care about north of iber, general opinion is pro for a solution which divides kosovo among ethnic lines, provided that presevo valley is included in such a solution, you can see it from the posts here as well.. US and Germany is supporting us and encouraging us to take control over north, and Albanian politicans, are glad as they want to pay back the favour to Belgrade and show them who is the boss...it is more a symbolic act and as a patriot albanian i support Thaci and Kosovo gov on this one more than ever, finally, after 100 years, we are not in the deffensive stage anymore, and finally we have started to take over what we lost in 1913...

...and, please, if Albanians are being mislead by the capitalists, what about the serbs, and their russian mentors? Do you think Russians care enough about the well being of the people who live in Kosovo?

"Integrate" ?! I'm not aware that N. Kosovo has declared independence from Kosovo. How can you integrate something that was never separated ?!

I think we can speak about integration of N. Kosovo to Kosovo, only if and when the majority of inhabitants in N. Kosovo decide to declare independence from Kosovo. So far the majority of N. Kosovo has not expressed a desire to be independent from Kosovo.
(icj1, 17 September 2011 18:18)

Haha. What a creative way to produce nonsensical reasoning! Sir/Ma'am, you should be a ICJ judge!

"Integrate" ?! I'm not aware that N. Kosovo has declared independence from Kosovo. How can you integrate something that was never separated ?!

I think we can speak about integration of N. Kosovo to Kosovo, only if and when the majority of inhabitants in N. Kosovo decide to declare independence from Kosovo. So far the majority of N. Kosovo has not expressed a desire to be independent from Kosovo.
(icj1, 17 September 2011 18:18)

Haha. What a creative way to produce nonsensical reasoning! Sir/Ma'am, you should be a ICJ judge!
(Attila, 18 September 2011 09:59)

that would be boring... I'm leaving that ICJ position to you if you are interested :)

Note though that a reasoning does not become "nonsensical" or sensical because you say so. You need to provide your "sensical" reasoning to support that...

No my friend, it is not the West that took Kosovo from you, it is Serbia's lack of common sense that lost you Kosovo.
(aronDi, 18 September 2011 11:11)

Good luck with that! For Serbs, every bad thing that goes on with Serbia is the fault of others. Tipical looser mentality...

I really don't get it! Why would someone make a comment in the Albanian/Turkish language? Majority of readers won't get it! So could you please START speaking in your new masters language, German or English, even French will do!

Canadian Serb
(Canadian Serb, 16 September 2011 15:43)

You must be talking about your friend Ataman, since he is gifted with ability to speak many languages.Take it up with him.

Bring in the tanks, we cannot take this endless provocation. Under UN law Kosovo is Serbian territory, therefore it is more legitimate for our troops to take control of all crossings. We need to ensure we have support of Russia and China first. Albanians have a green light from the West to perform another operation storm. History always repeats. Nothing to lose, we can't lose Kosovo again.

EULEX lost any credibility it may had among Serbs . Instead of prosecuting organ trafficker they are taking orders from him .

So, will they always travel in helicopters back and forth?

Imperialist countries are provoking yet another bloody conflict in the Balkans. How tragic for the Albanians to fall into this trap once more!

Poor Albanian pseudostate and his mafia-pseudogovernment want to start new conflict...

Dear Serbian neighbours,

You are so much consumed with hindering the progress of our initiatives that you have consistently failed to come up with any initiatives of your own (we do not mind this of course). We never expected yesterday's prosecutor to make things easy for us, if anything we are geared up for worse. This is going to be a long and arduous road but the important thing is that we are moving, slowly but moving and in the right direction. Vulgarity and hatred thrown at us are no substitute for losing terrain. You have lost countless opportunities to cut a good deal and with every day that passes the odds of doing so are getting rather dire. Can you really, really not see that? You owe it to your brethren in Northern (and elswhere in...) Kosova to come to your senses and quick.

Best Regards

''They stressed that the checkpoint will not be reopened until citizens, who spent the night at the barricade on the road leading to the checkpoint''

What if more than 20 000 people block you, for that amount of people 2000 anti riot police or soldiers wont be enough. Will London send its police to help?

Why do the Kosovo Serbs want to live under Belgrade's umbrella anyway? It was Belgrade that lost Kosovo for them.

@bganon

I do not know what the interest of the Kosovo Serbs is, or for that matter what the interest of the Kosovar Albanain is. The way I see it this, it is better for Serbia to recognize Kosovo as a state and join the EU. The lives of ordinary Serbs would improve ten fold with this decision. As far as I can tell, Serbia's interest in Kosovo is merely symbolic, it isn't actual. The lives of ordinary people and I do mean ordinary people on the ground, would be best served with this decision. How are the lives of the Kosovar Serbs or for that matter Serbian Serbs being aided by the decision of Belgrade to disrupt Kosovo's statehood?

Thats right! Lock yourselves in. That will show the government in Pristina who's boss! LOL

So, will they always travel in helicopters back and forth?

Imperialist countries are provoking yet another bloody conflict in the Balkans. How tragic for the Albanians to fall into this trap once more!
(Attila, 16 September 2011 11:11)


Is not important how they travel, as long as they are manning border post.

I feels sorry for ordinary K-Serbs that are suffering due to some businessmen/criminals actions by blocking their own, so everybody up north is inside the box. Wonder how long they will manage to keep them locked, before ordinary K-Serb rise up against these thugs!?

Oh and all you Albanians who keep saying how stupid our media is and how stupid our politicians are and how everyone just lies to the Serbian people etc etc..

You guys are the puppets... you worship the US and you bribe people to be your friends. Noone in Europe likes your race, you can go to any country in europe (perhaps excluding Turkey) and see for yourself the reputation you guys have.

You think the Serbian politicians have to tell the Serbian farmers the truth? You think the Serbian peasants in Kosovo don't have a history in Kosovo to base their knowledge on? The Serbs in KiM have a long history there and have ALWAYS looked to Belgrade.

You guys are changing the history in Kosovo books to educate the young people of Kosovo with a tailored version to suit your interests. Even K.ALbanian teachers and lecturers are AGAINST changing the history.

So, will they always travel in helicopters back and forth?
(Attila, 16 September 2011 11:11)

Addig jár a korsó a kútra míg le nem lövik.

One Kosovo customs officer and one KPS person? That's it? They're either incredibly dedicated or were selected to "observe" what EULEX will do :)
(Balkan Anthropologist, 16 September 2011 15:52)

Actually both. K-Serbs are doing a good job for Prishtina with blocking themselves in and since no goods can pass those barricades, the custom and border officials have an easy job.

You have to note that K-issue has been feeding Serbian politics for at least a century. There are plenty of Serb politicians, (or diplomats as they call themselves) who identify their complete political being with K-issue. Take for example Jeremic. The man all it does is talk about Kosova, Kosova and Kosova all day long. He can't even comprehend himself doing something else. Where ever he is, business forums, people's gathering, charities events, foreign invitations he will just sing the same song about Kosova. As long as K-conflict remains alive, there is a constant need for people like Mr. Jeremic. His travels, his dinners, his megalomania is secured as long as Kosova is perceived as an on-going conflict. There is no doubt about Serb sentiment over K. but people need to be educated with the reality and as long as politicians bluntly refuse to see the reality, what's the chance for a Serb farmer to understand what's going on? The atmosphere of fear, anxiety, the sense that everyone is out there to get the Serbs is a predominant feeling in the Serbian society and has been like these for too long. As long as that feeling is kept alive, as long as they justify that feeling with Kosova, so-called politicians in Belgrade have something to talk about all day long and fatten their arses. (miri, 16 September 2011 17:06)

That's very well put, and needs to be said, even if it should be obvious. though i'm less concerned about them "fattening their arses" and much more concerned with the atrocities ag. fill-in-the-blank every couple of decades, with never the recognition, the coming "clean"....

i must also point out, altho not disagreeing with yr thesis, that somehow Bosnia winds its way back into the picture. sonia wrote, right after the decl of indp in 2008! that Bosnia was the real target. i think it threw ppl off, but i have this nagging feeling that when, if ever, the "Kosovo emergency" cools down, we will immediately start hearing from you-know-who in banja luka. the problem is quite deep, and did not start -- or end -- w/milosevic. that is what some of us needed to understand. and believe me, we get it by this point.

But what i still don't get is why the blgd regime thinks the eu can't wait to import the balkan wars, part 100. it is truly so irrational.

roberto frisco

@bganon

I do not know what the interest of the Kosovo Serbs is, or for that matter what the interest of the Kosovar Albanain is. The way I see it this, it is better for Serbia to recognize Kosovo as a state and join the EU. The lives of ordinary Serbs would improve ten fold with this decision. As far as I can tell, Serbia's interest in Kosovo is merely symbolic, it isn't actual. The lives of ordinary people and I do mean ordinary people on the ground, would be best served with this decision. How are the lives of the Kosovar Serbs or for that matter Serbian Serbs being aided by the decision of Belgrade to disrupt Kosovo's statehood?
(aronDi, 16 September 2011 14:32)

Very good observation.
You have to note that K-issue has been feeding Serbian politics for at least a century. There are plenty of Serb politicians, (or diplomats as they call themselves) who identify their complete political being with K-issue. Take for example Jeremic. The man all it does is talk about Kosova, Kosova and Kosova all day long. He can't even comprehend himself doing something else. Where ever he is, business forums, people's gathering, charities events, foreign invitations he will just sing the same song about Kosova.
As long as K-conflict remains alive, there is a constant need for people like Mr. Jeremic. His travels, his dinners, his megalomania is secured as long as Kosova is perceived as an on-going conflict. There is no doubt about Serb sentiment over K. but people need to be educated with the reality and as long as politicians bluntly refuse to see the reality, what's the chance for a Serb farmer to understand what's going on? The atmosphere of fear, anxiety, the sense that everyone is out there to get the Serbs is a predominant feeling in the Serbian society and has been like these for too long. As long as that feeling is kept alive, as long as they justify that feeling with Kosova, so-called politicians in Belgrade have something to talk about all day long and fatten their arses.

This is a continuation of the war on Serbia to steal Serb lands. This is part of an Albanian take over of land that was internationally accepted as part of Serbia - established by long treaty and other agreements.

The origin of very term 'ethnic cleansing' is attributed to the activities of Albanians living in Kosovo. The Albanians have proved that they can produce the pressures of ethnic cleansing and still deceive the international community. Be sure that if the borders are to be controlled by Albanians the next effect will be to complete the ethnic cleansing of Serbs that has been continuing since long before the time of Milosevic.

The time has come for the international community to come off its bland acceptance of the Albanian take over of Kosovo. The lands of the north of Kosovo are predominantly occupied by Serbs who are having their nationality stolen from under them. This is not necessary. Kosovo as a state is an attempt at a new and pointless invention - one that is unlikely to sustain for the longer term. The real aim of the Albanians living in Kosovo is not to have a new state - their faith in it and allegiance to it is very questionable - the real desire is to merge the land as a province of Albania.

Serbs - particularly in the North - do not want to change to living under Albanian rule.

However, force and coercion will be condoned by the international community.

The Albanians have permission to complete the ethnic cleansing of Serbs from Kosovo.

Kosovo-USA; The only thugs the Serbs of Kosmet don't wish to live under are the ones coming out of Pristina. I suggest you send your 'police' to the Kosmet-Albania border posts. That's where the majority of smuggling takes place. And I'm not referring to tobacco and cooking oil.

"Serbs have in the meantime reinforced their barricade near Brnjak by dumping a huge mass of soil onto the road - this barrier is now five meters high" Does this mean Serbs want to be separated from Serbia and not let any goods from Serbia pass through. K-Albanians are ok with this, this will cause some pain in Serbian Economy and will help Croatians, Macedonians Bulgarian products to be incorporated properly to Kosovo.

I say as before let them stay outside winter is here soon and they will need that wood for fire, once they see its not going any where they will find a way to accept the reality.

Serbs, just use the tactic albanian`muslim brothers use in the ME, and u will see how KFOR and EULEX are running with their UCK terrosrists colleagues.
All the best to Serbs from Soviet European Union...

If Pristina get what they want & the borders become controlled by Kosovo customs then it just shows that the current government did not really have a plan or real desire to prevent this.

It will be truly heartbreaking to see this happen to the K.Serbs in KiM (especially in the north).

Just look at how the 'Rebels' in Libya around the position of the government. One day the government in Pristina will be turned over ;)

aronDi, obviously the Kosovo Serbs do not trust the Kosovo Albanians to look after either them or their interests.

But that brings me back to my point about reaching out. It may go down well in Pristina's political circles and among the cheerleaders to make hard line statements about seizing control from the 'criminals' in the North. But how exactly does that help win over the Kosovo Serbs and gain any trust?

You suggest that neither Kosovo Serbs or Albanians want a multiethnic Kosovo (actually this was Analyst's suggest byt analyst is probably right). I'm not a supporter of monoethnicism, but if that assumption is correct the conclusion of that logic is to split Kosovo.

It seems to me that part of the reserve card being played by Pristina to counter this possible split is to make the Serbs leave Kosovo one way or another to prevent any talk of a split.

Of course none of this bodes well for Bosnia as if the reamining Serbs of Kosovo are driven out pressure on Bosnian territorial integrity will intensify. Some Kos Serb refugees might even migrate to Bosnia - as many Bosnian Croats migrated / occupied Croatian Serb homes in Krajina today.

The crap keeps on flying around, but unlike the internationals, Serbs, Albanians I really believe that an amicable solution for Kosovo is possible. Its a pity but the interests of the actors involves dooms us to yet more of this, whilst we continue to stagnate economically.

Kosovo customs are in both checkpoints. Not in just one

"So, will they always travel in helicopters back and forth?

Imperialist countries are provoking yet another bloody conflict in the Balkans. How tragic for the Albanians to fall into this trap once more!
(Attila, 16 September 2011 11:11)


Is not important how they travel, as long as they are manning border post.

I feels sorry for ordinary K-Serbs that are suffering due to some businessmen/criminals actions by blocking their own, so everybody up north is inside the box. Wonder how long they will manage to keep them locked, before ordinary K-Serb rise up against these thugs!?
(Kosova-USA, 16 September 2011 11:42)"


I'm sure, as in every group, there are conflicting interests and varying opinions among Kosovo Serbs. But suggesting that the majority of 'ordinary' Kosovo Serbs want to live under Albanian authority but are forced to act otherwise by a small number of 'thugs' is a prime example of self-deceit.

If EULEX continues to be so brazenly partizan then Tadic (who allowed them in) must step down immediately or issue a stern warning to the EU that now Serbia is on a path that considers all other alternatives beyond EU and remove any cooperation with any anti-Serbian EULEX or EU partizan talks!

Tadic stand up as Serbian President or step aside now!

The west deceive themselves with their fait accompli - with EU friends like Tadic's D yeS that all the EU demands who needs enemies.

Serbs across Kosovo & Metohija remain resilient as ever and will never give in to this agression that happens daily.

Kosovo customs officers "arrive at Brnjak"

A bit contradictory, this article. Or do EULEX custom officers already count as 'Kosovo custom officers'?

"So, will they always travel in helicopters back and forth?
(Attila, 16 September 2011 11:11)"

"Addig jár a korsó a kútra míg le nem lövik.
(Baldy Mary, 16 September 2011 11:42)"

I'm sorry but despite my name, I'm not Hungarian, I'm Turkish. But as far as I could understand from what Google Translate offers, I kind of like your comment!

I really don't get it! Why would someone make a comment in the Albanian/Turkish language? Majority of readers won't get it! So could you please START speaking in your new masters language, German or English, even French will do!

Canadian Serb

''They stressed that the checkpoint will not be reopened until citizens, who spent the night at the barricade on the road leading to the checkpoint''

What if more than 20 000 people block you, for that amount of people 2000 anti riot police or soldiers wont be enough. Will London send its police to help?
(Hmmm, 16 September 2011 10:30)

You know the really funny thing about all this? As long as the checkpoints are blocked whether by Serbs or Kfor, there is no traffic flowing, therefore all traffic is rerouted through checkpoints that already have custom officers established. Mission accomplished with the help of the Serbs. All goods coming into Kosovo must pass through Kosovo customs.

Addig jár a korsó a kútra míg le nem lövik.
(Baldy Mary, 16 September 2011 11:42)

You should also mention it was _Croatian_ KFOR soldiers who flew the helicopter to the border crossing...
(kufr, 16 September 2011 11:40)

Than it was Croatian köcsög.

Except these poor Albanians are getting away with it and getting what they are after bit by bit. Cannot get anything done with strong / clever remarks alone.

What blocked again are the turnips and watermelons keep falling of the trucks again it could be dangerous some one can get hurt.

The Albanians don't want a Serbian rule & don't want to take orders from Belgrade.

Then how can you dumb Albanians not understand that the Serbians in the North DON'T want to take orders from Albanians in Pristina?

Pristina the capital came from the Slavs.. so why should Serbs EVER listen to Albanians who 'reside' in Pristina? It's a slavic named place with a slavic history.

You cannot just change history & act like the Serbs were never in Pristina.

If you don't want to be ruled by Serbians then maybe you can understand that you're doing the exact same thing and that Serbians will never take orders from Albanians in Kosovo, even if you have the majority population.

Look at the trouble KFOR and the albanians have to go through to secure 1 or 2 albanian customs officer at these two checkpoints. How in the world will KFOR and the albanians secure the rest of northern Kosovo?

This is comical. So they helicopter police to make a point. All to prop up that phony government in Pristina. Maybe you guys should send Thaci and his boys up there so they can get it over with. Give me a break. With everything else going on in Europe, this gets a headline on the BBC- hysterical. And of course the chest-thumpers are out in force today. Go ahead Albanians, give me thumbs down and then keep giving it to us Serbs as you get off on giving negative comments. Like something good will come out of this? Yeah, I'm sure of it. And then KFOR will be there another 50 years because they aren't getting anywhere...

I am glad that even after the arrival of Kosovo customs officers in the Northern border the Serbs are calm. This is helping preserving peace and stability in the Kosovo and the region. We dont want more deaths and destruction. Pray to GOD that the operation will end smoothly, with no casulties in neither side.

I really don't get it! Why would someone make a comment in the Albanian/Turkish language? Majority of readers won't get it! So could you please START speaking in your new masters language, German or English, even French will do!

Canadian Serb
(Canadian Serb, 16 September 2011 15:43)

Hey - I do not see a single comment here in Albanian or Turkish. All I see is something about shooting down some scum and it's in Hungarian. 100% legitimate, Hungarians have expertise how to shoot the scum down.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoltan_Dani

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlNQlZIKj0U

The strange thing is that the Serbs are blocking themselves even more.

You should also mention it was _Croatian_ KFOR soldiers who flew the helicopter to the border crossing...

This proves what I said in the past, KFOR don't give a damn about the Serbian people and have obviously sided with the criminal Thaci and his thugs. The next step is going to be to try and provoke the Serbian people into another conflict which in turn will give the NATO forces led by the two faced Americans the new nazis an excuse to invade Serbia proper. Those people in Washington want a confrontation so they can invade Serbia and occupy it and build more US bases. I wish to god that idiot Tadic with his fools would wake up and see the reality staring them in the face. They want a war with Serbia period. My words will be varified sooner or later I am sad to say. For God sake Serbia please wake up.

aron - that is connected to the real question. If Belgrade and Pristina so want to embrace a multiethnic Kosovo then why doesn't each side reach out and start speaking to the people on the 'other' side.
(bganon, 16 September 2011 14:00)

Belgrade and Pristina want a multiethnic Kosovo? Not really, none of them! That idea came from the EU, to justify an independent Kosovo. Do you think EU countries would support an Albanian-only Kosovo (which is what the majority of the Albanians, especially the 'self determination' extremists want... well, okay, in the end, they want a greater Albania ).

One Kosovo customs officer and one KPS person? That's it? They're either incredibly dedicated or were selected to "observe" what EULEX will do :)

Bring in the tanks, we cannot take this endless provocation. Under UN law Kosovo is Serbian territory, therefore it is more legitimate for our troops to take control of all crossings. We need to ensure we have support of Russia and China first. Albanians have a green light from the West to perform another operation storm. History always repeats. Nothing to lose, we can't lose Kosovo again.
(Reality, 16 September 2011 12:45)

Reality such an odd name for a post that is totally not based in reality.
1st the placement of customs officers at these 2 crossings has been way over dramatized by the Serbian govt. Customs officers are at every other checkpoint. UNMIK, EULEX, Kfor all have from day one had the goal that all of Kosovo would be under the same police and justice system.
2nd to say placing customs agents at these 2 checkpoints compares to operation storm????? Nothing else need be said there.
3rd You way over estimate China's support. Just because China says they think status should be settled by a mutual agreement of the parties in no way even remotely suggests that China would support any military aggression by Serbia.
4th Russia wants Serbia to be a thorn in the side of the west but they are not eager to engage in a 3rd world war either. (Which is what would happen if Russian troops engaged NATO. For those who say NATO (US) is overstretched in Iraq and Afghanistan, do you think for a moment that should forces be needed for a major confrontation anywhere in the world there would be a single serviceman left in those 2 places.
However, you were right in the fact you cannot lose Kosovo again. You will never have that opportunity.

Why do the Kosovo Serbs want to live under Belgrade's umbrella anyway? It was Belgrade that lost Kosovo for them

aron - that is connected to the real question. If Belgrade and Pristina so want to embrace a multiethnic Kosovo then why doesn't each side reach out and start speaking to the people on the 'other' side.

Both sides need to start talking to ordinary citizens directly and not through the corrupt political leadership who have their own interests - seperate from the interests of the Serbian and Kos Albanian people.

You must be talking about your friend Ataman, since he is gifted with ability to speak many languages.Take it up with him.
(Agim Kelmendi, 16 September 2011 16:55)

You should think what happens with Red Eagles if you spend way to much money on stupid things.

Daylight robbery. End of. God is the best schemer of them all, and they will be punished for this. In fact, they already are being.

Bganon,
I don't always agree with your statements. However, I think you're a voice of reason and I respect you for that.

In order for any reconciliation to begin Belgrade 'must' first apologize to the Albanians in Kosovo for all the destruction it caused during the 90s.

Second, they must allow Albanians in Serbia to prosper the same as the rest of the Serb population.

And third, they must stop financing parallel structures in the north and recognize Kosovo.

Let's start small and apologize first. You will see that Albanians will extend their hand.

Give it a try!

Does any Albanian or 'neutral' want to give an opinion on the burning and destruction/desecration of over 150 Serbian Orthodox monasteries in recent years, and how this variable plays into the equation?

All you neutrals think that it's the Ottoman Empire we're living in but you are so ignorant and naive when you say it should be simple to 'get along'.

Yes Kosovo was Serbian for the longest time in history & to the guy who said it should be given back to "Italians"?

I would love to see which history book you got this from & the dates you think "Italians" occupied Kosovo.

Serb named villages since day 1. We do not accept unilaterally declared independence.

Russia/China/India/Brazil/Spain... do you think these countries count for anything???

These countries make up half the world's population & well over half the world's total land mass.

Just because war mongers like the US, Germany, UK want to support the Albos for their own political agenda, it doesn't mean it's the right thing to do.

Before you give your opinion on Serbia & Kosovo, please take a moment to think of how you would feel and react if a certain ethnicity were to spread throughout your 'state' and then slowly move toward becoming an independent state and changing their flag/constitution... how would you respond?

If you tell me that you would accept it and live happily ever after then I know you're a closed minded Albanian or a Serbian hating troll.

I wish the Turks in Berlin declared independence.

I wish the Arabs in the UK and northern Paris declared independence.

I wish the Mexicans in the U.S.A declared independence.

I would love to see how these so called Westerners would react.


Mexicans are treated like s*** in America.
Sarkozy kicks out all the Gypsies/Romani from France.
Riots & rebellions have just taken place in the UK stemming from racism.
Germany...no comment on fascism here.

The problem is that each country is being controlled by a select number of powerful politicians and their political agendas are ambiguous. If average Joe learns the truths & hears both sides of the story & takes everything into account then I'm sure things would not be panning out the way they are.

@ Paul,

Your 'humble opinion' is outrageous.

Serbia is acting like an abusive parent whose child has been taken into care by the social services.
"But our child misbehaved, so I had to beat it black and blue!" says Serbia, "But if you let it come back to my family I promise I will beat it no more."
However, the child is now an adult, can take care of itself, and does not want to rejoin the family.
(daresbury,

Daresbury....I wonder what the hell you are talking about! Firstly, Albanians have been always welcomed into former Yugoslavia ever since Tito came to power in 1945. Albanians have been coming into Yugoslavia, mainly Kosovo, due to extreme poverty they were faced back home in Albania. Tito welcomed them and also let them establish their own communities, religion, newspapers, schools in the Albanian language etc. Soon enough Kosovo become the poorest area in the former Yugoslavia. Without the financial help from rest of the Yugoslav republics, Kosovo Albanians would literally starve to death. Without support and help from the Yugo./Tito regime Kosovo Albanians would never get on their feet, and would continue to be the poorest, underdeveloped area in Europe, probably doing slightly better than their home country of Albania.

Kosovo was paradise for Albos, when Yugoslavs were feeding you. Because you could not do it on your own. Even today Kosovo can't take care of itself. without help and support from the rest of the world. Nothing has changed, other than you ethnically cleansed the rest of the non muslim population from the area that never belonged to you anyways. Thank god Serbs don't have to feed you anymore! I am sure Thaci and the rest of the clan are there to satisfy their own ass. Just look at the average BMI (body mass index) for a kosovo albanian child. Mainly skinny and underdeveloped kids due to lack of proper nutrition. Compare that Kosovar Albanian child with Thaci's fat kid. Thaci makes sure he's child is well fed while the rest of the kosovar albanian kids are starving. Think about it.....

Wow! It is like another war all over again up in here.

It is really simple. I hope I'm not offending either side. The fact is that Kosovo is recognized by over 80 countries as independent. It is backed and supported by the strongest, most influential countries in the world. Therefore, I think that it has the right to secure it's borders. If someone does not want to follow the rules then why live in there.

Both sides need to be smart and realize that the only way to move forward is to accept the reality that K is independent and move on to better the lives of both Serbs and Albanians. The Serbs will benefit from EU opening it's doors and the Albanians will benefit from being their own county's rulers.

If we can get along in the united states where every ethnicity and religion occupies every town then sure as hell you people can learn to live by each other and respect each other. This is the only smart solution. Everything else will bring more conflict and no one wants that.

Just my humble opinion!

UN official Gerard Galucci:

"When the international peacekeepers act outside international law, they become outlaws."

The "peace keepers" are of course the invaders and occupants themselves. To the Otporists™ and quislings of Serbia however, another opportunity to be "blessed" with western "democracy" has arised.
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Showdown at Goat Gate

Empire's Kosovo Gamble
by Nebojsa Malic, September 17, 2011
| Print This | Share This | Antiwar Forum

"Are there no Serbs in this room?" thundered Alexander Vasilevich Konuzin, Russia’s Ambassador to Belgrade, before the shocked audience at the Serbian capital’s Army House. It was Thursday, September 15, and the first reports began coming in of NATO’s movements to seize "customs posts" in the north of occupied Kosovo and turn them over to the self-proclaimed ethnic Albanian government. Yet nobody at the "international security" conference, organized by NGOs lavishly funded by EU and U.S. taxpayers, had said so much as a word. Not even the president of Serbia, Boris Tadic, who had given the opening speech.

After listening to hours of pointless prattle, Konuzin had had enough. He paced as he addressed the hostile crowd, blasting their slavish devotion to powers that sought to dismember Serbia. "We have common interests, and we will defend the country even though it seems that some Serbs wish to see their country under foreign control," Konuzin concluded. Interrupted by the moderator and not allowed to continue, Russia’s Ambassador left the hall.

Illegal and Criminal

Meanwhile, NATO’s Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen flew into the occupied province to personally support the much-heralded plan by the "government" of Hashim Thaci to "restore law and order" to the sliver of province still inhabited by Serbs. There would be "no turning back," Rasmussen announced, and echoing the words of "Prime Minister" Thaci, declared that NATO would not "back away from illegal and criminal structures."

By this he meant the remaining Serb institutions in the province Thaci and his backers claim is a sovereign state — yet it is Thaci’s regime that matches the description. Kosovo was seized from Serbia in a manifestly illegal and illegitimate war, occupied under a flimsy pretext of a UN resolution (that the Empire and its allies have shamelessly violated over the years) and eventually declared independent in a way that simply defied logic as well as law. And that’s without even considering that Thaci and his entire establishment — descended from the terrorist KLA - stand accused of being an organized crime syndicate involved in drug-running, sex slavery and trafficking of human organs harvested from tortured and murdered prisoners.

Outlaws International

All of this has happened before. At the end of July, Thaci sent his Special Forces to seize two checkpoints — Jarinje ("Goat gate") and Brnjak — at the administrative line between Kosovo and the rest of Serbia, located in the Serb-inhabited north. Officially it was a bid to establish proper customs controls at what Pristina claims it is an international border. In practice, however, it was a ploy to cut off the Serb-inhabited north from its lifeline, and end its 12-year resistance to KLA rule. Either way, it failed miserably.

Heralded as a "law and order" operation, there was nothing legal or orderly about it. Worse yet, Thaci’s thugs were aided by EU’s "legal assistance" mission (EULEX) and NATO’s "peacekeepers" (KFOR), supposedly "status neutral" institutions that had to be in compliance with UNSCR 1244. In the words of former UN official Gerard Galucci back in July, "When the international peacekeepers act outside international law, they become outlaws."

According to Galucci, the "chief threat to security" is actually NATO, whose behavior in support of Thaci constitutes "anti-peacekeeping." As for the self-appointed guardians of Kosovo, they are sowing the wind:

"The Quint [U.S., UK, Germany, France, and Italy] is either bluffing, prevaricating with the Kosovo Albanians, or totally abandoning the UN peacekeeping mandate under which their agents — KFOR & EULEX — are in Kosovo. Whichever turns out to be true, they are acting shamefully."

Galucci is not naïve; he knows KFOR and UNMIK have violated 1244 in the past — but never to this extent, and never so openly.

It ought to be noted that KFOR’s principal role in the province was never to protect the Serbs from the rampaging Albanians, but to protect the Albanians from Yugoslav and Serbian authorities. Even though KFOR has saved many Serb lives over the years, its mission has always been to serve the interests of Hashim Thaci, insofar as they coincided with those of the Empire. UNSCR 1244 was just the fig leaf allowing NATO a measure of modesty; now that UNSCR 1973 has essentially been used as a condom during the Rape of Libya, even that is being dispensed with.

A Threat to Tadic

Having installed Boris Tadic as the President of Serbia in 2004, and engineered his complete control of Serbian politics in 2008, the Empire has come to rely on near-absolute obedience of its quislings in Belgrade. Yet even Tadic and his cronies are now pleading with the Empire to stop Thaci, as the events in Kosovo are seriously threatening their survival.

In July, Tadic had sworn that Serbia’s army and the police would not fight. So the Serb civilians in Kosovo fought back by themselves. All this week, social networks have been abuzz with preparations for renewed resistance. A major opposition movement issued a call Wednesday to back the Kosovo Serbs with volunteers from all over Serbia. On Thursday, head of the Serbian Orthodox Church came to the province himself, and issued a call to the nation to pray and endure.

Over the past two weeks, the Serbian public has been shaken by the revelations from U.S. diplomatic dispatches published by Wikileaks — that almost the entire political establishment of the country has been taking its marching orders from the Empire. Washington’s envoys even interfered in the selection of the present head of the Church, following the passing of the previous Patriarch. With his empty promises of EU membership quashed in late August by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Tadic has absolutely nothing to offer the Serbian public.

Their palpable panic may help explain why the pro-government daily Blic (owned by the Swiss-German conglomerate Ringier) claimed on Thursday that the U.S. envoy to Kosovo, Christopher Dell, had a financial interest in backing the Thaci regime. According to the paper, Thaci’s regime is broke, and desperately needs hundreds of millions of Euros to pay a Turkish-American consortium (Bechtel-Enka) for a major highway contract. The paper’s source claims Dell has been helping Thaci plan the customs takeover, as well as negotiate the sale of "Kosovo Telecom" (illegally carved out of its Serbian parent) to Croatia, in exchange for a substantial kickback from the consortium."
http://original.antiwar.com/malic/2011/09/16/showdown-at-goat-gate/

Wow! It is like another war all over again up in here.

It is really simple. I hope I'm not offending either side. The fact is that Kosovo is recognized by over 80 countries as independent. It is backed and supported by the strongest, most influential countries in the world. Therefore, I think that it has the right to secure it's borders. If someone does not want to follow the rules then why live in there.

Both sides need to be smart and realize that the only way to move forward is to accept the reality that K is independent and move on to better the lives of both Serbs and Albanians. The Serbs will benefit from EU opening it's doors and the Albanians will benefit from being their own county's rulers.

If we can get along in the united states where every ethnicity and religion occupies every town then sure as hell you people can learn to live by each other and respect each other. This is the only smart solution. Everything else will bring more conflict and no one wants that.

Just my humble opinion!
(Paul, 16 September 2011 22:48)

Your not a neutral. Your an Albanian. Any neutral would say divide the failed state in two. Attempting to intergrate N.Kosovo with the South would result in bloodshed, as would Reintergrating the South with Serbia.

To be factual of the 2 KFOR helicopters that arrived at Brnjak, one of them had Croatian markings.

Reports say that one Kos Albanian customs officer was aboard one of those helicopters.

Airlift has always been a useful means to circumnavigate both physical and political problems, provided one has control of the air and one's 'opponent' cannot risk shooting down said aircraft.

However, it is getting rather confusing with all these actors (KFOR, UN, EULEX, Kos Albanian customs officers, KPS, Serb officers in KPS). Frankly I think that many people don't have an understanding as to whats going on.

Can somebody tell me how serbs are having peacefull protest when they are blocking the roads ? I think KFOR and Kosovo Police should take action and open the roads because what Serbs are doing is not peacefull protests .
The funny thing is Serbs are Blocking themselfs because nothing will come through from Serbia so the was no point for Serbia to accept Kosovo stamp .

Hard development for the Otporists™. Sell out or not? For western wannabees, sell out until nothing remains is always a good choice no matter what....

Go Serbs!! Don't stop fight for Your holy land!! You should in retalition cut off water from Gazivode for Pristina. Thaci's "succes" (taking two checkpoint) can be the last one...

P.S. Sorry for using polish soldiers for oppresing K-Serbs by EU/NATO sponsored mafia state. They don't want do it...

The best way to solve this conflict that keeps going on since centuries ago, is to change the borders of 1.Albania; 2.Kosova; 3.Serbia; 4.Bosnia.

Attila, if you are a turk, you are such an arrogant to speak about imperialism...like 500 years wasn't enough...
(Pirro, 17 September 2011 00:13)

Pirro, I'm the last one to defend the Ottoman Empire. But the Ottoman Empire was not imperialist. Imperialism is a recent phenomenon and is closely related to capitalist. The Ottomans could be aggressive, oppressive... but not imperialist.

It's ridiculous how the US can be so bias when it comes to supporting/rejecting acts of unilateral declarations of independence.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/16/palestinian-leader-ignores-us-statehood

What a farce!

The UN must act now and stop all unilateral moves of Kosovo provincial government. The world must act and show Serbs AND Albanians that no new state can emerge without mutual (!) agreement.

And US and EU: if realities on the ground are the way to go then we can expect you to recognize Palestine in the UN?

Attempting to intergrate N.Kosovo with the South would result in bloodshed, as would Reintergrating the South with Serbia.
(New Zealander, 17 September 2011 12:03)

"Integrate" ?! I'm not aware that N. Kosovo has declared independence from Kosovo. How can you integrate something that was never separated ?!


I think we can speak about integration of N. Kosovo to Kosovo, only if and when the majority of inhabitants in N. Kosovo decide to declare independence from Kosovo. So far the majority of N. Kosovo has not expressed a desire to be independent from Kosovo.

''Pirro, I'm the last one to defend the Ottoman Empire. But the Ottoman Empire was not imperialist. Imperialism is a recent phenomenon and is closely related to capitalist. The Ottomans could be aggressive, oppressive... but not imperialist.
(Attila, 17 September 2011 14:42) ''

Sorry but i fail to understand, you say ottomans were oppressive and aggressive, but on the other hand you say they were not imperialist, this sounds like ottomans were simply uncivilised crazy reckless barbarian hordes who were unable to run an empire, which might be true, you know more about ottomans since you are a turk... frankly, you speak a terminlogy found in E Hoxha books which i can not understand as i am from younger generations :) ...capitalism is a socio economic system, politico-economical systems and such ideologies have not much to do with balkan conflicts my friend, looking back to history , in 1922-39 and 1943-44 we had a conservative rightist gov, in 1945-92 period we had a communist gov, and now we have so called democratic gov, but during the last 100 years , serbs have allways been our enemies, wether we [or them] were 'supported'' by the evil capitalist imperialists...and even in the very past, we have been enemies since 7th century my friend, and since then not much has changed...if official belgrade reckognised kosovo in 90s, it may have been a great step toward reconcilation, but once they started the war, awareness about empiralism, evil capitalists etc just go out of the window...

As for previous posts, i get your point now, frankly, Albanians don't care about north of iber, general opinion is pro for a solution which divides kosovo among ethnic lines, provided that presevo valley is included in such a solution, you can see it from the posts here as well.. US and Germany is supporting us and encouraging us to take control over north, and Albanian politicans, are glad as they want to pay back the favour to Belgrade and show them who is the boss...it is more a symbolic act and as a patriot albanian i support Thaci and Kosovo gov on this one more than ever, finally, after 100 years, we are not in the deffensive stage anymore, and finally we have started to take over what we lost in 1913...

...and, please, if Albanians are being mislead by the capitalists, what about the serbs, and their russian mentors? Do you think Russians care enough about the well being of the people who live in Kosovo?

I think we can speak about integration of N. Kosovo to Kosovo, only if and when the majority of inhabitants in N. Kosovo decide to declare independence from Kosovo. So far the majority of N. Kosovo has not expressed a desire to be independent from Kosovo.
(icj1, 17 September 2011 18:18)

Nobody care about what the majority of inhabitants in N. Kosovo want. US/NATO leaders said long before that Kosovo division was out of question and unfortunatelly this is the only thing which matters.

sure as hell you people can learn to live by each other and respect each other.
Paul

People didn't learn how to live by each other and respect each other in Yugoslavia. People didn't learn how to live by each other and respect each other in Serbia. Why do you think they will learn it in Kosovo?

Personally. I couldn't give a toss what happens. I have no vested interest in either Kosovo, Serbia or Albania. I do find it sad though that some people view symbolism as of more paramount importance than improving the acual lives of the ordinary people. Take trizo's posts for example. Apparently Kosovo is Serbian because in some distant past, it was full of Serbian names, full of Serbian people and what not. (aronDi, 17 September 2011 00:49)

Since when did Italy have soem sort of vested in interest in the Balkans unless you are trying to link it with the Roman Empire? To put it bluntly, Rome is the capital and cultural centre of Italy and was created as part of the Holy Roman Empire under King Constantine , the first to introduce Christianity to the Holy Roman Empire. That empire split and Constantinople was engulfed by the Ottoman empire. Agia Sofia is not some "monastery" but is the centre of Orthodoxy and the Patrichiate of the entire Orthodox patrons is still in Istanbul just like the Pope is in Rome.

Raska and Gora are the first European civilizations of Serbs which are essentially in Kosovo and Metohia. Metohia means land of "churches" , Orthodox churches to be exact. Therfore, the birhtplace of Serbians has been invaded which include the regions of Kosovo and Montenegro which were the empires of Raska and Gora.

If your birthright was taken away, than what do you have left? Nothing.

''I wonder what the hell you are talking about! Firstly, Albanians have been always welcomed into former Yugoslavia ever since Tito came to power in 1945. Albanians have been coming into Yugoslavia, mainly Kosovo, due to extreme poverty they were faced back home in Albania. Tito welcomed them and also let them establish their own communities, religion, newspapers, schools in the Albanian language etc. ''

Funny. It appears to me that no one truly knows history around here. In 1945, Europe was totally devastated, no country was poor or richer. Taking more Albanians in Yugoslavia was the last thing Tito would do in trying to balance the brittle political balance among slavs [serb croats, muslims, slavs without proper identity such fyromians etc] and other minorities [hungarians, albanians, bulgraians]...


''Soon enough Kosovo become the poorest area in the former Yugoslavia. Without the financial help from rest of the Yugoslav republics, Kosovo Albanians would literally starve to death. Without support and help from the Yugo./Tito regime Kosovo Albanians would never get on their feet, and would continue to be the poorest, underdeveloped area in Europe, probably doing slightly better than their home country of Albania. ''

Strange that the richest region in mineral resources in comparison with its tiny population was the poorerst region at the same time. Clearly the revenues of the mines [in which Albanians worked] went to Belgrade, and not to Kosovo, also, the Kosovo field is the largest fertile plain a region could have in proportion with its population...albanians worked there as well. It is a well known fact that Tito gave passports to Kosovo Albanians and encuraged them to work abroad in Europe etc, or the diaspora as the albanians call it, which later formed the main economical force of the albanians, and which even sponsored the UCK movement...ironic huh?

Listen kid, west does not sponsor anything, all the projects with western funds are debts, donations are only a small portion and they can never help, usually west never donates sth in cash but in products, they donate computers, vehicles for the adminsitration and the army, symbolic quantity of guns , equipments...which even the weakest state in africa can easily afford, but real projects are sth else, it has to do with infrastructure, raising wages, collecting taxes from oligopolic industries and businesses, they cost billions of dollars, just like the ones we finished two years ago , with our own money... gov duty is to bult bridges, schools, hospitals, provide securety, order etc...implement laws that make sure a balance between businesses and the employees etc, don't expect the gov to get you a job, you are suposed to find it yourself, you are talking about tito like he was some kind of god breast feeding albanians, actually he wasn't, he was another communist dictator, and by default he messed things really badly, at least tito was smart to milk two cows...Tito was one of the reasons jugoslavia was disintegrated in such a bloody conflict..., Jugoslavia should have been disintegrated as soon as the ww2 ended...

Talking about E.Hoxha...he was a more stalinist than stalin himself, what do you expect, yet, the large quantites of guns we inherited from E Hoxha dictatorship helped Bosnian and UCK resistance at certain extent...until 80s, those guns, tanks, planes, submarines, rockets that we spend our fortune on were still new and powerful, who would have known collapse of yugoslavia would have been delayed to the 90s...Still in the 90s, we had the power to keep on buying guns and serbia didn't even dare to step our border, although we openly supported albanian resistance in kosovo...

"Integrate" ?! I'm not aware that N. Kosovo has declared independence from Kosovo. How can you integrate something that was never separated ?!

I think we can speak about integration of N. Kosovo to Kosovo, only if and when the majority of inhabitants in N. Kosovo decide to declare independence from Kosovo. So far the majority of N. Kosovo has not expressed a desire to be independent from Kosovo.
(icj1, 17 September 2011 18:18)

Haha. What a creative way to produce nonsensical reasoning! Sir/Ma'am, you should be a ICJ judge!

@trizo

A very interesting observation. You assume I'm an Albanian because I disagree with you. You also seem to make parallels between ethnic minorities in Western Europe & the US & Kosovo Albanians. Let me tell you why those parallels do not exist. Turks in Germany are not being murdered by the German Gov. for the sole reason of being Turkish. Nor are Pakistanis in the UK being hounded out for being Pakistanis. I also do not know of a concerted US effort to drive out its Latin populace. You see, this is where Serbia lost Kosovo, it did try to cleanse the territory of its Albanian inhabitants. This is why you now find such stern opposition by them to being under Serbia's control again. This is why the West sees no other possible solution other than pure independence. You try convincing a people, who have been pillaged, beaten up, discriminated against brutally that they should be under the control of their oppressor again and see how far you can go. You seem to forget that in 1997 & 1998, the US and Europe continued to reiterate that Kosovo was part of Serbia. It was only when Serbian forces tried to deal with a few armed men (that is all that the KLA was) with village burning and mass murder that their changed their tact. No my friend, it is not the West that took Kosovo from you, it is Serbia's lack of common sense that lost you Kosovo.

As for your history and assertions that Kosovo was Serbian from day one, answer me this, when does day 1 in Kosovo start? Because you see, Kosovo is nothing other than a geographical location. You remove all the sentimental history that has been given that place and all you're left with is a territory, a territory that existed long before the Nemanjas and Rascia. A territory that was ruled by the Romans for far longer than either Serbs, Ottomans or Albanians, which is why I said perhaps we should give it to Italy.

Attila, if you are a turk, you are such an arrogant to speak about imperialism...like 500 years wasn't enough...

"You suggest that neither Kosovo Serbs or Albanians want a multiethnic Kosovo (actually this was Analyst's suggest byt analyst is probably right). I'm not a supporter of monoethnicism, but if that assumption is correct the conclusion of that logic is to split Kosovo."

Now, now, there are not only Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo. There are also thousands of internationals. That must count for something. That must make Kosovo a bit more multiethnic. If you then go analyze the division of power among ethnicities then you will see that Kosovo is one of the most multiethnic places in the world. EU judges, NATO army, EULEX police. They are fewer than Serbs and Albanians in numbers but hold a lot more power. Now, they have decided that Kosovo will be multiethnic. In particular, they hold the Kosovo government by the balls when it comes to certain decisions. Which means that the scaremongering from Belgrade about ethnic cleansing etc etc etc will never happen (assuming the Albanian gov. really wants to cleanse the Serbs and that is a strong assumption). The worse that could happen is what happened to the Serbs in the south of Kosovo. Except from small incidents, which should not have happened, nothing major since 2008. Oh yeah, they pay for electricity now. Really, the sovereignity of Kosovo's governement has been limited so much from the start just to please Belgrade and create trust, but Belgrade is wasting this occasion too. It is not going to last forever. Good luck.

Personally. I couldn't give a toss what happens. I have no vested interest in either Kosovo, Serbia or Albania. I do find it sad though that some people view symbolism as of more paramount importance than improving the acual lives of the ordinary people. Take trizo's posts for example. Apparently Kosovo is Serbian because in some distant past, it was full of Serbian names, full of Serbian people and what not. However, if you want to solve the Kosovo problem by virtue of history, we really should give it to the Italians because guess what, they were rulers of it for far longer than either Ottomans, Albanians or Serbs. By the same token, Istanbul should be given to Greece because the Hagia Sophia was once a Greek monastery. This is what happens when people look at the past, not critically but dogmatically.
For me, the simple solution to Kosovo is independence, but a neutral country open to both Serbs and Albanians to observe their cultural rights. It is obvious that that piece of territory has played a part in both nations developments and both sets of people should shape its future. As far as I'm concerned, the actual lives of people in Serbia proper would also be best served if Serbia recognized Kosovo's independence and then lobbied for the Serbian populace there. With Kosovo no longer an obstacle to EU membership, Serbia's economic ascent would take of and the standard of living of most Serbs would increase.
The other bit of course is that Kosovar Albanians have to stop naming streets and apartment blocks after fallen KLA men, as that does indeed disrupt any hope of reconciliation. There must also be an effort to acknowledge that Serbs too suffered in the war.
This is how I see it personally. Of course its easy for me to make observations from my armchair, but it seems to me that the Balkans and Serbs & ALbanians in particular are stuck in the Ottoman Empire still.

"Integrate" ?! I'm not aware that N. Kosovo has declared independence from Kosovo. How can you integrate something that was never separated ?!

I think we can speak about integration of N. Kosovo to Kosovo, only if and when the majority of inhabitants in N. Kosovo decide to declare independence from Kosovo. So far the majority of N. Kosovo has not expressed a desire to be independent from Kosovo.
(icj1, 17 September 2011 18:18)

Haha. What a creative way to produce nonsensical reasoning! Sir/Ma'am, you should be a ICJ judge!
(Attila, 18 September 2011 09:59)

that would be boring... I'm leaving that ICJ position to you if you are interested :)

Note though that a reasoning does not become "nonsensical" or sensical because you say so. You need to provide your "sensical" reasoning to support that...

No my friend, it is not the West that took Kosovo from you, it is Serbia's lack of common sense that lost you Kosovo.
(aronDi, 18 September 2011 11:11)

Good luck with that! For Serbs, every bad thing that goes on with Serbia is the fault of others. Tipical looser mentality...