Just what the Balkans need
More "Balkanization".
Yesterday the ICJ ruled that Kosovo, the little country that could, didn't break any international laws by declaring themselves independent of Serbia in 2008.
Thanks.
In case you weren't around much back in the 90's, Kosovo is a region of the former Yugoslavia that had Serbians, Bosnians, Croats, Albanians and many other ethnic groups living together ... as well as any of them could manage to live together, which means they didn't live together very well at all and fights routinely broke out between them. The only time this didn't happen was when they were all part of Yugoslavia. Since 1991 the country formerly known as Yugoslavia has broken into smaller and smaller fragments, Kosovo being the latest.
Hmm, and they say the Soviets never accomplished anything good ...
So what exactly did the ICJ say in their ruling? Not much actually, or a lot depending on how you look at it. They said Kosovo didn't break any rules declaring their independence, but what about are they actually independent? The ICJ didn't touch that issue at all. Way to keep the grey area grey, and be completely non-committal and vague.
Kosovo took the news well. Serbia announced that it would be business as usual when it came to dealing with Kosovo, a nation they do not recognize, along with two thirds of the UN general assembly. The United States do recognize them, along with most of the EU. I recall in 2008 George Bush being incredibly gung ho about this development, which concerned me because whenever Dubya thought something was a good idea the opposite was usually true. There's even a street named after him in Pristina as a way to thank him for the efforts the United States made to help Kosovo become independent of Serbia.
So exactly how did a land settled by Serbians in the 7th century and lived on by a Serbian majority until recently suddenly become a land occupied by an "oppressed" minority and yearn to break free of their Serbian oppressor yoke? Ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo pulled a "Now we see the violence inherent in the system! Help! Help! I'm being repressed!" maneuver and insisted the only way they wouldn't be treated like scum would be to break free from Serbia. But is that what really happened?
According to one friend who lives in a neighboring country, this is not a story of an oppressed minority yearning to break free of their Serbian yoke at all, but rather a carefully orchestrated manipulation by organized crime to create a state where money earned in illegal activities could slip in and out like a ... washing machine ... and make it appear to be clean money. Now why would the United States be interested in helping out a new country where that is the major contributor to their GDP? The new Kosovo was created by the Albanian mafia deliberately moving ethnic Albanians into the region, claiming they were an ethnic minority and demanding their own state. There's no Interpol there, and the government is made up of what passes for the mafia in the region. Remember back in 1998 when NATO member countries said the big bad Serbians were exterminating these poor ethnic Albanians in Kosovo and sweet Jesus what are we going to do to stop it? Slobodan Milošević was hardly a saint, but there's also very little proof that he was an evil totalitarian dictator that caused four wars NATO had to clean up; depending on who you talk to. Milošević died in prison despite the Hague's lack of evidence against him.
The well-founded concern of some now is that because of this ruling, other areas occupied by ethnic minorities will try to grab land and declare themselves an independent state. That's already happened in Georgia with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Hello? Kurdistan? This ruling could set a dangerous precedent for other parts of the world and create more conflicts.
Which you would think by some people's words and actions, that's exactly what they want.
Yesterday the ICJ ruled that Kosovo, the little country that could, didn't break any international laws by declaring themselves independent of Serbia in 2008.
Click to viewThanks.
In case you weren't around much back in the 90's, Kosovo is a region of the former Yugoslavia that had Serbians, Bosnians, Croats, Albanians and many other ethnic groups living together ... as well as any of them could manage to live together, which means they didn't live together very well at all and fights routinely broke out between them. The only time this didn't happen was when they were all part of Yugoslavia. Since 1991 the country formerly known as Yugoslavia has broken into smaller and smaller fragments, Kosovo being the latest.
Hmm, and they say the Soviets never accomplished anything good ...
So what exactly did the ICJ say in their ruling? Not much actually, or a lot depending on how you look at it. They said Kosovo didn't break any rules declaring their independence, but what about are they actually independent? The ICJ didn't touch that issue at all. Way to keep the grey area grey, and be completely non-committal and vague.
Kosovo took the news well. Serbia announced that it would be business as usual when it came to dealing with Kosovo, a nation they do not recognize, along with two thirds of the UN general assembly. The United States do recognize them, along with most of the EU. I recall in 2008 George Bush being incredibly gung ho about this development, which concerned me because whenever Dubya thought something was a good idea the opposite was usually true. There's even a street named after him in Pristina as a way to thank him for the efforts the United States made to help Kosovo become independent of Serbia.
So exactly how did a land settled by Serbians in the 7th century and lived on by a Serbian majority until recently suddenly become a land occupied by an "oppressed" minority and yearn to break free of their Serbian oppressor yoke? Ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo pulled a "Now we see the violence inherent in the system! Help! Help! I'm being repressed!" maneuver and insisted the only way they wouldn't be treated like scum would be to break free from Serbia. But is that what really happened?
According to one friend who lives in a neighboring country, this is not a story of an oppressed minority yearning to break free of their Serbian yoke at all, but rather a carefully orchestrated manipulation by organized crime to create a state where money earned in illegal activities could slip in and out like a ... washing machine ... and make it appear to be clean money. Now why would the United States be interested in helping out a new country where that is the major contributor to their GDP? The new Kosovo was created by the Albanian mafia deliberately moving ethnic Albanians into the region, claiming they were an ethnic minority and demanding their own state. There's no Interpol there, and the government is made up of what passes for the mafia in the region. Remember back in 1998 when NATO member countries said the big bad Serbians were exterminating these poor ethnic Albanians in Kosovo and sweet Jesus what are we going to do to stop it? Slobodan Milošević was hardly a saint, but there's also very little proof that he was an evil totalitarian dictator that caused four wars NATO had to clean up; depending on who you talk to. Milošević died in prison despite the Hague's lack of evidence against him.
The well-founded concern of some now is that because of this ruling, other areas occupied by ethnic minorities will try to grab land and declare themselves an independent state. That's already happened in Georgia with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Hello? Kurdistan? This ruling could set a dangerous precedent for other parts of the world and create more conflicts.
Which you would think by some people's words and actions, that's exactly what they want.