Byzantine Blog

Reminder: Ahtisaari Must Go

Article by Dr. Vojin Joksimovich, Ahtisaari Must Go

The UN special envoy for Kosovo, former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, suggested that Serbia must take into account the legacy of Slobodan Milosevic’s regime while negotiating the Kosovo status. During Vienna talks on August 8, according to the Belgrade negotiators and there is unanimity among them (four of them), Athissari said, “Serbs are guilty as a people.” Subsequently, his spokesperson attempted to spin that his remarks were misrepresented and taken out of context.

The Serbian Prime Minister, Vojislav Kostunica, issued a number of statements saying: “Although Ahtisaari has been entrusted with the mandate of enabling negotiations in order to achieve a compromise, a historical just solution based on the principles of international law, it appears that Ahtisaari is doing everything but that… On several occasions in the past, he has more or less covertly advised that compromise and negotiations are superfluous because a solution already exists that need only to be implemented, and that is independent Kosovo. For this solution, which is in direct contravention of the fundamental principles of international law, Ahtissari has now offered a justification… Ahtisaari has thus joined the advocates of the darkest ideas in the history of mankind on the collective responsibility of entire nations… Ahtisaari has thus not only trampled the mandate entrusted to him but declared war on international law, democratic values and historical facts…What represents a threat to Serbia today may soon represent a threat to other countries, too, and to the entire world.”

U.S. Ambassador: Kosovo Negotiations are a Farce

Former U.S. ambassador to Belgrade William Montgomery said that the talks for Kosovo future status that are held in Vienna are a “farce directed by the international community. We saw how even in public statements various Contact Group representatives give signals that the inevitable result of this process would be an independent Kosovo.” It is true that Ahtissari was not the first one in so-called international community to make such outrageous remarks. Similar remarks are only to be expected from Serbophobes, like Mort Abramowitz, or the entire International Crisis Group, as they have run out of any compelling arguments why independence should be given to the Serbian province run by Albanian thugs, war criminals and terrorists. Nicholas Burns, number three in the State Department, has even suggested that Kosovo is a unique case. This in contrast to the statements made repeatedly by the Russian officials, president Putin included, that Kosovo independence would set a clear precedent in the international law that cannot but be projected to numerous frozen conflicts and not only in the post-Soviet space. Hence, yet another Pandora’s box would be open after Iraq with potential detrimental consequences for the world. This Pandora’s box would lead to creation of micro nationalist states boosting the UN membership to over 400 and in the process causing perpetual wars. Does the world really want to see two Albanias?

Ahtisaari Using Fascist Axioms to Justify His Serbophobia

It should be borne in mind that Athisaari represents the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, whose continent of Africa was a most notorious victim of racism. It was smart on behalf of the Serbian government to seek from Kofi Annan to clarify Ahtisaari’s statements. Dr. Raskovic-Ivic, head of the Coordinating Center for Kosovo and Metohija, pointed out: “To say the Serbs are responsible as a people or that any nation is responsible as a nation is one of the axioms of fascism and we simply cannot ignore it.”

The Third Reich was a promoter and implementer of racism in the 20th century in proclaiming the superiority of the Aryan race. Even after all Nazi horrors including the holocaust the Germans were not deemed guilty as a people. Both NATO and the German Federal Republic were created in 1949. Democratic Germany joined NATO in 1955 as an important step in the country’s post-war rehabilitation. This most applicable example seems to reject the notion that any people can be characterized as guilty because of some misdeeds of their leaders or egregious crimes committed by some of their members. [...]

Albanian “Legacy” Ahtisaari Chooses to Ignore

What is this Serbian historic legacy that must be taken into account during the status process and what is the Albanian legacy that Ahtissari and others choose to ignore? Serbia should also demand from the Contact Group and others to spell out what exactly is that historic responsibility. The millennium old history apparently starts and ends with Milosevic. Nothing happened either beforehand or afterwards! Even during the Milosevic era the fairy tale propaganda stories are used instead of the hard facts.

As an example Milosevic allegedly ethnically cleansed and deported Albanians. During the vicious fighting between the KLA insurrections from Albania, supported by the Islamic world including Al Qaeda as well as by the Western intelligence agencies, there were some 2000 fatalities on both sides but mainly between the KLA fighters and the Serbian police. There were some displacements of civilians within Kosovo but applies not only to Albanians but to Serbs, Roma and the others. The claim that Milosevic deported some 800,000 Albanians into Macedonia and Albania is nothing short of absurd. The scores of witnesses testified in the Hague, including a British journalist on the ground, that the Albanians were by and large running away from NATO bombs as well as being ordered by the KLA to leave their homes for Macedonia and Albania. Recently about 800,000 Lebanese civilians were uprooted from their homes during the 34-day Israeli-Hezbollah war. Were they deported or they were running away from the Israeli bombs as well as from fighting in Southern Lebanon?

The Serbs in Kosovo have been subjected to ethnic cleansing for five centuries during the Ottoman Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Mussolini/Hitler rule, communist dictator Tito rule and lastly during the UN/NATO rule. Albanian terrorism can be traced back to 1912 when the Serbian troops liberated Kosovo from the Ottoman Empire. During WWII, the Albanian Balli Kombetar and the 21st Waffen SS Division Skanderbeg committed merciless persecution of Serbs killing 10-20,000 and ethnically cleansing 100-120,000. Massive colonization of Albanians into Kosovo took place, which continued during the communist dictatorship. The Albanians matched their WWII “performance” during now 7-year UNMIK/KFOR rule: — 3000 Serbs and other minorities were murdered (missing ones are presumed dead), — 230,000 have been ethnically cleansed and an eradication of Christianity took place with over 150 Serbian churches/monasteries demolished while — 200 mosques were built [according to the latest information from southern Serbian province, over 400 new mosques were built since NATO occupied Kosovo province]. Should all these facts be ignored?

Compromised Muslim Appeaser Should be Fired

Albanian terrorists instantly responded to Ahtisaari’s statement by throwing a bomb in Kosovska Mitrovica wounding nine–seven innocent Serb citizens, a Dutch pregnant woman and a UK policeman. Both Kostunica and President Tadic sharply condemned the attack. In the last six months over 70 attacks on Serbs have been recorded. By their irresponsible behavior and cover up of crimes UNMIK/KFOR as well as individuals like Ahtisaari have been encouraging Albanians to commit them.

Kofi Annan and the UN Security Council should have never appointed Ahtisaari. His track record is the one of a Muslim appeaser. Together with former Russian prime minister Chernomyrdin he convinced Milosevic to capitulate without providing effective guarantees for the Kosovo Serbs as the Serbian troops withdrew and the KLA terrorists started murdering and ethnically cleansing helpless Serbs and other minorities. Subsequently he became the honorary president of the most Serbophobic organization on the globe—The International Crisis Group (ICG)—that has been championing Albanian separatism for years. Very recently the Israeli foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, asked him to negotiate Israeli soldier’s release from Hamas. Ahtissari is viewed as an outstanding expert on Muslim affairs and negotiations. He is believed to have good connections with the Qatar-based Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qadarawi, a mentor of the Muslim Brotherhood and a recognized religious authority who says it is a duty for Muslims to turn themselves into human bombs in Israel and Iraq and who, in a speech to an Islamic conference in Ohio in 1995, had said: “We will conquer Europe, we will conquer America, not through the sword but through dawah [proselytism].”

There is little doubt that Ahtisaari has breached his mandate, is in conflict with the international law, democratic values and historic facts. His integrity as a special UN envoy has now been compromised and this cannot be good for an equitable resolution of the Kosovo issue. [...]

Cartoon by Arsenic