While it would be nice if the Albanians would acknowledge the crimes committed against our people in WWII, after the NATO bombing and in 2004, I personally do not feel it’s in my place to demand it. Some of the moderate Albanians here have done so, and for that, those people have my deepest respect.
The fact is Serbia, especially Tadic, are light years ahead in accepting that crimes were committed in the name of the Serbian people and that makes me proud to be a Serb. That makes us far more mature and better as a people. It is NOT a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of Great Strength and confidence.
I’m a US citizen, and just because crimes and torture were committed by American troops in Iraq does not mean I shouldn’t condemn those crimes. I oppose the crimes of Bush just as I opposed the crimes committed by Milosevic. That doesn’t make me any less of a person or make me any less proud to be Serbian or American.
Regardless, I never made any statement that Serbia must apologize first, I merely pointed out that were far ahead of the others involved in the region.
There are more than 425,000 Roman Catholic Albanians -- 65,000 in Kosovo; 235,000 in northern Albania; 25,000 in Montenegro and Croatia; and 100,000 in Italy -- and they make up an important part of Pope Benedict's regional constituency.
The number of Catholic Albanians roughly equals the 433,000 Roman Catholics who live in Serbia (excluding Kosovo), mainly in Vojvodina and in Belgrade.
The Pope cannot afford to alienate his Albanian followers' feelings, but at the same time he also doesn't want to create any potential difficulties for his Catholic flock living in Serbia. That is why the Vatican's official reception of Kosovo's president Fatmir Sejdiu was handled the way it was -- carefully and diplomatically.
True, the majority of Albanians in Kosovo are nominally Muslims, but most wear their religion lightly if at all. And many of them are under the -- entirely mistaken -- impression that western Europe would rush to embrace them and their national cause... if only Albanian identity were more closely and visibly tied to Catholicism. That is one reason why towns throughout Kosovo have renamed streets after Mother Theresa and have put up statues to her. And that is why a gigantic new Catholic cathedral is being built -- with government support -- in the centre of Pristina, of a size vastly out of proportion to that of the small Catholic population living in the Kosovo capital.
Many Serbs are equally badly mistaken, when they try to sell the story that Serbia is defending the front line of "Christian Europe" against an alleged "Islamist" menace in Kosovo. Few people outside of the Balkans take that kind of talk seriously.
European publics and their leaders are secular and they are not easily swayed by appeals to religious solidarity. All that Europe really wants of the Balkans -- from Serbs and Albanians alike -- is no more trouble. After 20 years of wars, refugees and endless economic and political crises, it does not seem unreasonable to ask for a bit of peace and quiet. We could all use some.
Serbia is slowly coming to terms with the crimes we committed in the 1990’s, isn’t it about time the Vatican did the same for their shortcomings in WWII?
(Matthew, 2 February 2008 20:32)
I do not agree. There should be nothing that says serbs have to come to terms with their crimes FIRST! You must be aware that this is painting serbs as the ONLY criminals, right? as long as serbs say themselves that theyre guilty theyll actually be far more guilty than they really are since nobody is doing the same
There are NOT 65,000 Catholics in Kosovo. There are NOT even 10,000 Serbs in Kosovo. What ever else we read is outright falsification from the "International Community" because saying that there is only 1% Serbs in Kosovo would make ALOT of people Ask themselves "How come?"
And that is something they cannot allow.
Noel,London, Pull the other one, as they say. K-Albanians are indeed very Muslim. Why else would there be so many churches destroyed in Kosovo and so many new mosques built?
Who are all these mosques being built for? If nobody is going to attend them then there is no reason to build them.
If you want to be taken serioously then please say something that cannot be so easily discredited.
Given the Vatican’s position on Stepinac its no wonder the Pope is meeting with persons accused of crimes against the Serbian people. The Vatican has participated in grave crimes against the Serbian people and has consistently refused to cooperate in any real investigation into WWII collaboration with Nazi atrocities.
Laci, you ask what the Vatican has against the Orthodox Church? I recommend you do a little research to find out. The Pope still dreams of abolishing the Orthodox Church and bringing the Orthodox people under his control. The leadership of the Catholic Church still act like we live in the Dark Ages and the world is flat.
The Vatican played a key role in the premature recognition of Croatia, despite the objections of the UN, which led directly to the violent dissolution of Yugoslavia, which could have been done in a peaceful manner through true compromise and negotiation. Much like any UDI of Kosovo will most likely result in violence.
That being said, the Pope does have an obligation towards his flock in Albania, and has had a positive influence for those people. However, the Pope should at all cost avoid getting involved in politics in this region, at least until it acknowledges its mistakes made in the past.
Once a true settlement based on compromise is reached, I see no reason why the Vatican shouldn’t lend aid and help Kosovo, but at this time, all it can accomplish is to alienate the Serbian people even further.
Serbia is slowly coming to terms with the crimes we committed in the 1990’s, isn’t it about time the Vatican did the same for their shortcomings in WWII?
"The audience of the highest institutional authority of the Autonomous Province of the Republic of Serbia, under UN administration, based on Security Council Resolution 1244 ......"
The K-Albanians are not reading what this statement actually says. The section above says it all, "...autonomous province of the Republic of Serbia ....."
Peter, I agree! Unfortunately that is ‘balkanski mentalitet’.
We all know that the majority of Albanians are very unhappy being labelled as Muslims, since they are in fact Agnostics or Atheists. However, once Kosovo becomes fully independent this issue needs a proper approach. Albanians where majority are agnostics like British will likely identify themselves as Christians in ‘paper’. Unfortunately for ‘Serbianna’ no more propagandistic material such as ‘Kosovo Muslim, Islamic state in EU’.
Just as I figured, the Vatican is taking a neutral approach in Kosovo. No doubt Benedict is worried about his Catholic flock, as he should, but I find it strange that Sejdiu would actually think he'd get a firm political statement out of a church leader.
Personally I do not think that this should be a religious issue, it should be on purely humanitarian and political grounds, religious nationalism has been the reason for enough conflict in the Balkans.
All I hope is that people can respect each other in the Balkans, regardless of religion, and not take out their frustrations on religious sites and such.
Pope to meet President Sejdiu?
An al-Qaida's terrorist? A president of soon to be new "Islamist state? Wow, what this world is coming to. I am sure pope has some links with al-qaida in Kosova as well, since he is meeting them, President Rugova first was meet by John Paul and now President Sejdiu by Benedict.
Where is Prinicip, Jovan, Cvele, Kate when you need them, to raise their voice againts this meeting, it is against international law to meet a "terrorist".
(Flamur, UK, 2 February 2008 13:45)
Poor Flamur, you just had to get on the Soap box to try and provoke a response. The Pope said i believe he supports a negoitated settlement between all people of Kosovo. Even Afrim Hoxha did not using any provoking language.
'he expressed his wish to see security and respect of rights guaranteed for all who live in the province, to in this way at last remove the danger of violent conflict and strengthen the European stability'
in other words, the pope believes in standards before status! jolly interesting :)
I doubt Pope will offer ANY significant support. There is nothing he can gain by that. We all know how he feels about Muslims anyway.
I don't understand why people continue to believe that influential people/countries want to jeopardize their relations with, Russia firstly, than everyone else opposing creating a new Albanian state.
All in all Vatican has nothing to gain from creation of Islamic state near its domain. I think thats pretty obvious.
Mike, the Vatican was one of the first to recognize the dissolution of Yugoslaviz and has fully supported the ethnic cleansing of everything orthodox in the area.
(joel, 2 February 2008 13:56)
Well joel ask yourself, Why?
What does Vatican has against the orthodox church?
Mike you're correct there's no way that Vatican will be one sided.
Mike, the Vatican was one of the first to recognize the dissolution of Yugoslaviz and has fully supported the ethnic cleansing of everything orthodox in the area.
Pope to meet President Sejdiu?
An al-Qaida's terrorist? A president of soon to be new "Islamist state? Wow, what this world is coming to. I am sure pope has some links with al-qaida in Kosova as well, since he is meeting them, President Rugova first was meet by John Paul and now President Sejdiu by Benedict.
Where is Prinicip, Jovan, Cvele, Kate when you need them, to raise their voice againts this meeting, it is against international law to meet a "terrorist".
The Vatican is going to say all the right words to make Sejdiu happy, but in the end remain neutral. No doubt Benedict will say something like "we need all faiths to come together to bring peace to Kosovo" or something like that, but for all practical purposes, the Vatican will remain largely on the sidelines. The Pope is largely interested in continuing the legacy of his predecessor in bringing Catholicism and Orthodoxy closer together. So coming out and pushing for the removal of Serbia's spiritual heartland is probably the worst thing he can do.
Of course Vatican will give its bless to Kosovo independence and perhaps give further instructions on disappearance of everything Serbian. Serbs cannot hope for anything good coming from Vatican since this time the pope is of German origin.
Thank you very much to Vatican and special thanks to Pope Paul II and to Pope Benedict for supporting Kosova through times of struggle for Independence.
Pope Paul II and Pope Benedict the XVI have always been giving enormous help to Kosova.
May God bless both Popes.
Thank You.
Mike, the Vatican was one of the first to recognize the dissolution of Yugoslaviz and has fully supported the ethnic cleansing of everything orthodox in the area.
Of course Vatican will give its bless to Kosovo independence and perhaps give further instructions on disappearance of everything Serbian. Serbs cannot hope for anything good coming from Vatican since this time the pope is of German origin.
Pope to meet President Sejdiu?
An al-Qaida's terrorist? A president of soon to be new "Islamist state? Wow, what this world is coming to. I am sure pope has some links with al-qaida in Kosova as well, since he is meeting them, President Rugova first was meet by John Paul and now President Sejdiu by Benedict.
Where is Prinicip, Jovan, Cvele, Kate when you need them, to raise their voice againts this meeting, it is against international law to meet a "terrorist".
The Vatican is going to say all the right words to make Sejdiu happy, but in the end remain neutral. No doubt Benedict will say something like "we need all faiths to come together to bring peace to Kosovo" or something like that, but for all practical purposes, the Vatican will remain largely on the sidelines. The Pope is largely interested in continuing the legacy of his predecessor in bringing Catholicism and Orthodoxy closer together. So coming out and pushing for the removal of Serbia's spiritual heartland is probably the worst thing he can do.
Thank you very much to Vatican and special thanks to Pope Paul II and to Pope Benedict for supporting Kosova through times of struggle for Independence.
Pope Paul II and Pope Benedict the XVI have always been giving enormous help to Kosova.
May God bless both Popes.
Thank You.
"The audience of the highest institutional authority of the Autonomous Province of the Republic of Serbia, under UN administration, based on Security Council Resolution 1244 ......"
The K-Albanians are not reading what this statement actually says. The section above says it all, "...autonomous province of the Republic of Serbia ....."
Given the Vatican’s position on Stepinac its no wonder the Pope is meeting with persons accused of crimes against the Serbian people. The Vatican has participated in grave crimes against the Serbian people and has consistently refused to cooperate in any real investigation into WWII collaboration with Nazi atrocities.
Laci, you ask what the Vatican has against the Orthodox Church? I recommend you do a little research to find out. The Pope still dreams of abolishing the Orthodox Church and bringing the Orthodox people under his control. The leadership of the Catholic Church still act like we live in the Dark Ages and the world is flat.
The Vatican played a key role in the premature recognition of Croatia, despite the objections of the UN, which led directly to the violent dissolution of Yugoslavia, which could have been done in a peaceful manner through true compromise and negotiation. Much like any UDI of Kosovo will most likely result in violence.
That being said, the Pope does have an obligation towards his flock in Albania, and has had a positive influence for those people. However, the Pope should at all cost avoid getting involved in politics in this region, at least until it acknowledges its mistakes made in the past.
Once a true settlement based on compromise is reached, I see no reason why the Vatican shouldn’t lend aid and help Kosovo, but at this time, all it can accomplish is to alienate the Serbian people even further.
Serbia is slowly coming to terms with the crimes we committed in the 1990’s, isn’t it about time the Vatican did the same for their shortcomings in WWII?
Noel,London, Pull the other one, as they say. K-Albanians are indeed very Muslim. Why else would there be so many churches destroyed in Kosovo and so many new mosques built?
Who are all these mosques being built for? If nobody is going to attend them then there is no reason to build them.
If you want to be taken serioously then please say something that cannot be so easily discredited.
Peter, I agree! Unfortunately that is ‘balkanski mentalitet’.
We all know that the majority of Albanians are very unhappy being labelled as Muslims, since they are in fact Agnostics or Atheists. However, once Kosovo becomes fully independent this issue needs a proper approach. Albanians where majority are agnostics like British will likely identify themselves as Christians in ‘paper’. Unfortunately for ‘Serbianna’ no more propagandistic material such as ‘Kosovo Muslim, Islamic state in EU’.
Pope to meet President Sejdiu?
An al-Qaida's terrorist? A president of soon to be new "Islamist state? Wow, what this world is coming to. I am sure pope has some links with al-qaida in Kosova as well, since he is meeting them, President Rugova first was meet by John Paul and now President Sejdiu by Benedict.
Where is Prinicip, Jovan, Cvele, Kate when you need them, to raise their voice againts this meeting, it is against international law to meet a "terrorist".
(Flamur, UK, 2 February 2008 13:45)
Poor Flamur, you just had to get on the Soap box to try and provoke a response. The Pope said i believe he supports a negoitated settlement between all people of Kosovo. Even Afrim Hoxha did not using any provoking language.
There are more than 425,000 Roman Catholic Albanians -- 65,000 in Kosovo; 235,000 in northern Albania; 25,000 in Montenegro and Croatia; and 100,000 in Italy -- and they make up an important part of Pope Benedict's regional constituency.
The number of Catholic Albanians roughly equals the 433,000 Roman Catholics who live in Serbia (excluding Kosovo), mainly in Vojvodina and in Belgrade.
The Pope cannot afford to alienate his Albanian followers' feelings, but at the same time he also doesn't want to create any potential difficulties for his Catholic flock living in Serbia. That is why the Vatican's official reception of Kosovo's president Fatmir Sejdiu was handled the way it was -- carefully and diplomatically.
True, the majority of Albanians in Kosovo are nominally Muslims, but most wear their religion lightly if at all. And many of them are under the -- entirely mistaken -- impression that western Europe would rush to embrace them and their national cause... if only Albanian identity were more closely and visibly tied to Catholicism. That is one reason why towns throughout Kosovo have renamed streets after Mother Theresa and have put up statues to her. And that is why a gigantic new Catholic cathedral is being built -- with government support -- in the centre of Pristina, of a size vastly out of proportion to that of the small Catholic population living in the Kosovo capital.
Many Serbs are equally badly mistaken, when they try to sell the story that Serbia is defending the front line of "Christian Europe" against an alleged "Islamist" menace in Kosovo. Few people outside of the Balkans take that kind of talk seriously.
European publics and their leaders are secular and they are not easily swayed by appeals to religious solidarity. All that Europe really wants of the Balkans -- from Serbs and Albanians alike -- is no more trouble. After 20 years of wars, refugees and endless economic and political crises, it does not seem unreasonable to ask for a bit of peace and quiet. We could all use some.
'he expressed his wish to see security and respect of rights guaranteed for all who live in the province, to in this way at last remove the danger of violent conflict and strengthen the European stability'
in other words, the pope believes in standards before status! jolly interesting :)
While it would be nice if the Albanians would acknowledge the crimes committed against our people in WWII, after the NATO bombing and in 2004, I personally do not feel it’s in my place to demand it. Some of the moderate Albanians here have done so, and for that, those people have my deepest respect.
The fact is Serbia, especially Tadic, are light years ahead in accepting that crimes were committed in the name of the Serbian people and that makes me proud to be a Serb. That makes us far more mature and better as a people. It is NOT a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of Great Strength and confidence.
I’m a US citizen, and just because crimes and torture were committed by American troops in Iraq does not mean I shouldn’t condemn those crimes. I oppose the crimes of Bush just as I opposed the crimes committed by Milosevic. That doesn’t make me any less of a person or make me any less proud to be Serbian or American.
Regardless, I never made any statement that Serbia must apologize first, I merely pointed out that were far ahead of the others involved in the region.
Mike, the Vatican was one of the first to recognize the dissolution of Yugoslaviz and has fully supported the ethnic cleansing of everything orthodox in the area.
(joel, 2 February 2008 13:56)
Well joel ask yourself, Why?
What does Vatican has against the orthodox church?
Mike you're correct there's no way that Vatican will be one sided.
I doubt Pope will offer ANY significant support. There is nothing he can gain by that. We all know how he feels about Muslims anyway.
I don't understand why people continue to believe that influential people/countries want to jeopardize their relations with, Russia firstly, than everyone else opposing creating a new Albanian state.
All in all Vatican has nothing to gain from creation of Islamic state near its domain. I think thats pretty obvious.
Just as I figured, the Vatican is taking a neutral approach in Kosovo. No doubt Benedict is worried about his Catholic flock, as he should, but I find it strange that Sejdiu would actually think he'd get a firm political statement out of a church leader.
Serbia is slowly coming to terms with the crimes we committed in the 1990’s, isn’t it about time the Vatican did the same for their shortcomings in WWII?
(Matthew, 2 February 2008 20:32)
I do not agree. There should be nothing that says serbs have to come to terms with their crimes FIRST! You must be aware that this is painting serbs as the ONLY criminals, right? as long as serbs say themselves that theyre guilty theyll actually be far more guilty than they really are since nobody is doing the same
There are NOT 65,000 Catholics in Kosovo. There are NOT even 10,000 Serbs in Kosovo. What ever else we read is outright falsification from the "International Community" because saying that there is only 1% Serbs in Kosovo would make ALOT of people Ask themselves "How come?"
And that is something they cannot allow.
Personally I do not think that this should be a religious issue, it should be on purely humanitarian and political grounds, religious nationalism has been the reason for enough conflict in the Balkans.
All I hope is that people can respect each other in the Balkans, regardless of religion, and not take out their frustrations on religious sites and such.
Thank you very much to Vatican and special thanks to Pope Paul II and to Pope Benedict for supporting Kosova through times of struggle for Independence.
Pope Paul II and Pope Benedict the XVI have always been giving enormous help to Kosova.
May God bless both Popes.
Thank You.
Peter, I agree! Unfortunately that is ‘balkanski mentalitet’.
We all know that the majority of Albanians are very unhappy being labelled as Muslims, since they are in fact Agnostics or Atheists. However, once Kosovo becomes fully independent this issue needs a proper approach. Albanians where majority are agnostics like British will likely identify themselves as Christians in ‘paper’. Unfortunately for ‘Serbianna’ no more propagandistic material such as ‘Kosovo Muslim, Islamic state in EU’.
Pope to meet President Sejdiu?
An al-Qaida's terrorist? A president of soon to be new "Islamist state? Wow, what this world is coming to. I am sure pope has some links with al-qaida in Kosova as well, since he is meeting them, President Rugova first was meet by John Paul and now President Sejdiu by Benedict.
Where is Prinicip, Jovan, Cvele, Kate when you need them, to raise their voice againts this meeting, it is against international law to meet a "terrorist".
Of course Vatican will give its bless to Kosovo independence and perhaps give further instructions on disappearance of everything Serbian. Serbs cannot hope for anything good coming from Vatican since this time the pope is of German origin.
The Vatican is going to say all the right words to make Sejdiu happy, but in the end remain neutral. No doubt Benedict will say something like "we need all faiths to come together to bring peace to Kosovo" or something like that, but for all practical purposes, the Vatican will remain largely on the sidelines. The Pope is largely interested in continuing the legacy of his predecessor in bringing Catholicism and Orthodoxy closer together. So coming out and pushing for the removal of Serbia's spiritual heartland is probably the worst thing he can do.
Serbia is slowly coming to terms with the crimes we committed in the 1990’s, isn’t it about time the Vatican did the same for their shortcomings in WWII?
(Matthew, 2 February 2008 20:32)
I do not agree. There should be nothing that says serbs have to come to terms with their crimes FIRST! You must be aware that this is painting serbs as the ONLY criminals, right? as long as serbs say themselves that theyre guilty theyll actually be far more guilty than they really are since nobody is doing the same
There are NOT 65,000 Catholics in Kosovo. There are NOT even 10,000 Serbs in Kosovo. What ever else we read is outright falsification from the "International Community" because saying that there is only 1% Serbs in Kosovo would make ALOT of people Ask themselves "How come?"
And that is something they cannot allow.
"The audience of the highest institutional authority of the Autonomous Province of the Republic of Serbia, under UN administration, based on Security Council Resolution 1244 ......"
The K-Albanians are not reading what this statement actually says. The section above says it all, "...autonomous province of the Republic of Serbia ....."
Mike, the Vatican was one of the first to recognize the dissolution of Yugoslaviz and has fully supported the ethnic cleansing of everything orthodox in the area.
There are more than 425,000 Roman Catholic Albanians -- 65,000 in Kosovo; 235,000 in northern Albania; 25,000 in Montenegro and Croatia; and 100,000 in Italy -- and they make up an important part of Pope Benedict's regional constituency.
The number of Catholic Albanians roughly equals the 433,000 Roman Catholics who live in Serbia (excluding Kosovo), mainly in Vojvodina and in Belgrade.
The Pope cannot afford to alienate his Albanian followers' feelings, but at the same time he also doesn't want to create any potential difficulties for his Catholic flock living in Serbia. That is why the Vatican's official reception of Kosovo's president Fatmir Sejdiu was handled the way it was -- carefully and diplomatically.
True, the majority of Albanians in Kosovo are nominally Muslims, but most wear their religion lightly if at all. And many of them are under the -- entirely mistaken -- impression that western Europe would rush to embrace them and their national cause... if only Albanian identity were more closely and visibly tied to Catholicism. That is one reason why towns throughout Kosovo have renamed streets after Mother Theresa and have put up statues to her. And that is why a gigantic new Catholic cathedral is being built -- with government support -- in the centre of Pristina, of a size vastly out of proportion to that of the small Catholic population living in the Kosovo capital.
Many Serbs are equally badly mistaken, when they try to sell the story that Serbia is defending the front line of "Christian Europe" against an alleged "Islamist" menace in Kosovo. Few people outside of the Balkans take that kind of talk seriously.
European publics and their leaders are secular and they are not easily swayed by appeals to religious solidarity. All that Europe really wants of the Balkans -- from Serbs and Albanians alike -- is no more trouble. After 20 years of wars, refugees and endless economic and political crises, it does not seem unreasonable to ask for a bit of peace and quiet. We could all use some.
Pope to meet President Sejdiu?
An al-Qaida's terrorist? A president of soon to be new "Islamist state? Wow, what this world is coming to. I am sure pope has some links with al-qaida in Kosova as well, since he is meeting them, President Rugova first was meet by John Paul and now President Sejdiu by Benedict.
Where is Prinicip, Jovan, Cvele, Kate when you need them, to raise their voice againts this meeting, it is against international law to meet a "terrorist".
(Flamur, UK, 2 February 2008 13:45)
Poor Flamur, you just had to get on the Soap box to try and provoke a response. The Pope said i believe he supports a negoitated settlement between all people of Kosovo. Even Afrim Hoxha did not using any provoking language.
Mike, the Vatican was one of the first to recognize the dissolution of Yugoslaviz and has fully supported the ethnic cleansing of everything orthodox in the area.
(joel, 2 February 2008 13:56)
Well joel ask yourself, Why?
What does Vatican has against the orthodox church?
Mike you're correct there's no way that Vatican will be one sided.
I doubt Pope will offer ANY significant support. There is nothing he can gain by that. We all know how he feels about Muslims anyway.
I don't understand why people continue to believe that influential people/countries want to jeopardize their relations with, Russia firstly, than everyone else opposing creating a new Albanian state.
All in all Vatican has nothing to gain from creation of Islamic state near its domain. I think thats pretty obvious.
Personally I do not think that this should be a religious issue, it should be on purely humanitarian and political grounds, religious nationalism has been the reason for enough conflict in the Balkans.
All I hope is that people can respect each other in the Balkans, regardless of religion, and not take out their frustrations on religious sites and such.
'he expressed his wish to see security and respect of rights guaranteed for all who live in the province, to in this way at last remove the danger of violent conflict and strengthen the European stability'
in other words, the pope believes in standards before status! jolly interesting :)
Just as I figured, the Vatican is taking a neutral approach in Kosovo. No doubt Benedict is worried about his Catholic flock, as he should, but I find it strange that Sejdiu would actually think he'd get a firm political statement out of a church leader.
Given the Vatican’s position on Stepinac its no wonder the Pope is meeting with persons accused of crimes against the Serbian people. The Vatican has participated in grave crimes against the Serbian people and has consistently refused to cooperate in any real investigation into WWII collaboration with Nazi atrocities.
Laci, you ask what the Vatican has against the Orthodox Church? I recommend you do a little research to find out. The Pope still dreams of abolishing the Orthodox Church and bringing the Orthodox people under his control. The leadership of the Catholic Church still act like we live in the Dark Ages and the world is flat.
The Vatican played a key role in the premature recognition of Croatia, despite the objections of the UN, which led directly to the violent dissolution of Yugoslavia, which could have been done in a peaceful manner through true compromise and negotiation. Much like any UDI of Kosovo will most likely result in violence.
That being said, the Pope does have an obligation towards his flock in Albania, and has had a positive influence for those people. However, the Pope should at all cost avoid getting involved in politics in this region, at least until it acknowledges its mistakes made in the past.
Once a true settlement based on compromise is reached, I see no reason why the Vatican shouldn’t lend aid and help Kosovo, but at this time, all it can accomplish is to alienate the Serbian people even further.
Serbia is slowly coming to terms with the crimes we committed in the 1990’s, isn’t it about time the Vatican did the same for their shortcomings in WWII?
Noel,London, Pull the other one, as they say. K-Albanians are indeed very Muslim. Why else would there be so many churches destroyed in Kosovo and so many new mosques built?
Who are all these mosques being built for? If nobody is going to attend them then there is no reason to build them.
If you want to be taken serioously then please say something that cannot be so easily discredited.
While it would be nice if the Albanians would acknowledge the crimes committed against our people in WWII, after the NATO bombing and in 2004, I personally do not feel it’s in my place to demand it. Some of the moderate Albanians here have done so, and for that, those people have my deepest respect.
The fact is Serbia, especially Tadic, are light years ahead in accepting that crimes were committed in the name of the Serbian people and that makes me proud to be a Serb. That makes us far more mature and better as a people. It is NOT a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of Great Strength and confidence.
I’m a US citizen, and just because crimes and torture were committed by American troops in Iraq does not mean I shouldn’t condemn those crimes. I oppose the crimes of Bush just as I opposed the crimes committed by Milosevic. That doesn’t make me any less of a person or make me any less proud to be Serbian or American.
Regardless, I never made any statement that Serbia must apologize first, I merely pointed out that were far ahead of the others involved in the region.
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