Byzantine Blog

Real News Versus Blaring Propaganda

For those of us who are following the news about Serbian Kosovo-Metohija province and the development of the current situation surrounding the supposedly “secret” plan Ahtisaari (a.k.a. Adolfsen) is about to “unveil,” the sharp contrast between what Albanian/ Western mainstream and Soros-funded media is focusing on, and the real news they keep omitting, becomes — once again — glaringly obvious.

On the one side, there is Albanian/Western/Soros media’s unison RAH-RAH-Kosovo-Independence! earsplitting noise and, on the other, the actual news and informations that are kept hidden.

Since no one in the whole wide world has the problem finding the former, let’s take a look at some of the latter.

Kremlin Will Back Serbia

MOSCOW, Russia, Jan. 29, 2007 (Source: Tanjug) — There is no doubt Kremlin will back Serbia in the final stage of the resolution of the status of Serbian Kosovo-Metohija province, Professor at the Russian Academy of Diplomacy Boris Shmelov has said.

The claims of some in the West that they will supposedly reach an agreement and make a bargain over the Kosovo province, and thus prevent Russia from using the right to veto at the UN Security Council are malevolent and completely unfounded, Shmelov said in an interview for the Monday issue of the Belgrade daily Vecernje Novosti (Evening News).

He pointed out that Serbia can fully count on Russia’s support, adding that it is now important that Serbs remain united.

According to Tanjug, one of the world’s best Balkan experts said that the West is painfully aware that right now they have no mechanism whatsoever for exerting a pressure on Russia to change, or reverse its principled stance over the southern Serbian province.

Russia and China Share the Views Regarding Serbian Province

MOSCOW, Russia, Jan. 29, 2007 (Sources: Tanjug, Interfax) — Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov conferred in Beijing on Monday with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui on the resolving of the future status of Serbian Kosovo and Metohija province, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in Moscow.

The situation in certain regions of Europe was considered, including the Balkans, with particular emphasis on the topic of the resolving of the issue of southern Serbian province, the Ministry statement said.

Russia and China, both permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, with the right of veto, have stated that they have similar positions on the situation surrounding Kosovo province, Vladimir Titov said.

“The Russian and Chinese positions coincide in that we advocate a search for a compromise in the talks,” the Russian diplomat said after consultations with Zhang Yesui.

“This decision must not be locked in any time frames, if a solution is to be found that would strengthen peace and stability in the Balkans and in a wider context,” he said.

A Very Negative Precedent

Russia has said on many occasions, said Titov, that the method to be chosen in settling the Kosovo problem “will be of serious importance and will be projected to other regions and international situations.”

The first ever attempt is being made to detach a part from an integral state, not an independent entity from a federative state, the Russian diplomat said.

“If the separation takes place without the state’s consent, a very negative precedent will be created for other international situations,” he said.

Titov also announced that the UN secretary general’s special envoy Marti Ahtisaari was expected to inform Belgrade and Pristina of the proposals on ways to settle the situation. “Further developments will depend on the reaction to these proposals by the parties concerned. We’ve always wanted these proposals to facilitate the negotiations,” he added.

Former Soviet Republics With Separatist Movements Within Concerned

MOSCOW, Russia, Jan. 29, 2007 (Source: Tanjug) — Russia’s Permanent Representative in the UN Vitaly Churkin has said that Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova are concerned over the fact that the resolution of Serbian province’s future status will constitute a precedent for other areas, including their states formed after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Not only Gerogia, but also other countries of the GUAM (Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova), which have similar problems with secessionists, are expressing open concern over this, the Russian diplomat said in an interview to the Moscow daily Kommersant, referring to the January 11 report of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on the situation in Abkhazia.

Curkin confirmed that Ki-Moon pointed at a correlation between the resolution of province of Kosovo-Metohija future status and the conflict between Georgia and Abkhazia.

This is clearly a new concern raised by the speculations on granting the independence to the part of Serbian internationally recognized territory, Churkin said, adding that the issue was also raised during a consultation meeting of the UN Security Council.

Ahtisaari to Negotiate Kosovo Status, Not That of Serbia

BELGRADE, Serbia, Jan. 30, 2007 (Tanjug) — Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic told Spanish news agency EFE that Serbia is willing to compromise as much as possible on the status of its Kosovo province, provided that this does not threaten the status of the state of Serbia, i.e. that it does not change its current internationally recognized borders.

The Foreign Ministry announced that Draskovic told EFE that neither the President of Serbia, nor the current or new Serbian government, have the mandate to negotiate with anyone changing of the Serbian state borders and that only the coutry’s citizens can decide about this.

Draskovic recalled that Martti Ahtisaari was empowered by the UN secretary general to conduct talks only on the status of Kosovo-Metohija province, but not on the status of the state of Serbia.

Draskovic underscored that all proposals on the independence of Kosovo are outside Ahtisaari’s mandate since, in that case, negotiated would be the status of the state of Serbia and its internationally recognized and inviolable borders.

Thomas Fleiner: Invasion of the State Sovereignty Criminal

BELGRADE, Serbia, Jan. 31, 2007 (Radio Serbia) — If the UN Security Council carves out Kosovo-Metohija province from the Serbian sovereignty, which is internationally and legally guaranteed by the UN Resolution 1244, it will be for the first time in history that a body of the world organization is unilaterally, against the will of majority, divides one state and its peoples, warned leader of the Swiss Institute for Federalism and Advisor of the Serbian delegation at the Vienna negotiations on Serbian province’s status, Thomas Fleiner.

In his article published by the German daily Frankfurter Algemeine Zeitung, he pointed out that such invasion of the state sovereignty has no grounds in international law. Peoples prone to separatism would be encouraged to internationalize their conflicts in the future, pointed Fleiner. He reminded that the new Serbian Constitution recognizes broad autonomy for its southern province, but not the right to secession.

Body of an Elderly Serb Bludgeoned to Death Found in Kosovo Province

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Serbia, Jan. 30, 2007 (Source: Tanjug) - Seventy six years old Petko Ilic from the village of Binac near Kosovska Vitina, has been found dead on a nearby pasture where he took his sheep, the International Press Center of the Kosovska Mitrovica Coordination Center reported on Tuesday.

According to the Press Center, members of his family found Ilic’s lifeless body on Monday about 3 pm, which had severe head injuries that were probably the cause of death.

The vicious murder of an elderly man has caused anxiety among the Serbs in the ethnically mixed village of Binac, who stressed that Ilic was severely beaten by the group of Albanian Muslim thugs three years ago, and that his attackers have not been traced as yet.

Dispelling Disinformation of the Western Propaganda Machinery: Serbia Offers Only Basic Autonomy to Kosovo Province, Not “Internal Independence”

BELGRADE, Serbia, Jan. 30, 2007 (Tanjug) — Coordinator of the Serbian negotiation team for talks on the status of Kosovo-Metohija province, Slobodan Samardzic has told Tanjug that official Belgrade is offering Kosovo only basic autonomy within Serbia, not “internal independence,” as Reuters reported on Monday.

The British news agency reported on an interview with the adviser to Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, in which they claim Samardzic had said that Belgrade offered “internal independence” to Albanian Muslims in Kosovo province, with the preservation of a symbolic “membrane of Serbian sovereignty” around its southern province.

“The mentioning of independence in that interview actually referred to some other experiences - the Aland and Faroe Islands. However, as far as Kosovo-Metohija province is concerned, we are not willing to experiment with such experiences, and in the interview, I mentioned that just as a parallel example,” he explained.

Samardzic underlined that the stand of the Serbian negotiation team as a whole was that Kosovo can have only basic autonomy within Serbia.

“From the very beginning of the negotiation process, the Serbian negotiation team has had a clear stand on basic autonomy for its Kosovo-Metohija province. This is specified in our platform and we strictly abide by that, just as we have done in all public pronouncements. This is how it has always been and this is how we will continue to present our stand on the future status of the Serbian province should opportunities present themselves, should the negotiation process be continued, as we expect,” emphasized Samardzic.

He added that Kosovo province can get broad autonomy from Serbia only if it offers broad self government to Serbian communities as well.

...And now you know the rest of what’s really going on, from the other side of Western media’s Iron Curtain.

Cartoon by M. Miloradovic (Serbia)

Posted by Svetlana at 06:56 PM | Permalink

Kapo Del Ponte Gets Pried Off Serbian Back... Eventually

Italian Adnkronos International (AKI) press agency reports today that the chief kapo of the Hague’s kangaroo court, Carla Del Ponte, said she would finally be pried off Serbian back in September, “after serving two four-year terms”.

“My wish is that by that time Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic wind up in the Hague and I will work on it. I hope to leave the Hague satisfied, not as a frustrated prosecutor,” she continued. She was referring respectively to two of the tribunal’s top fugitive war crimes indictees - the wartime Bosnian Serb leader and his military commander.

Swiss-born lawyer Del Ponte told journalists in the Hague, she would like to see all the remaining six fugitive war crimes indictees, including Karadic and Mladic, arrested and handed over to the court by the time of her departure. It is due to to wrap up all trials by 2008 and all appeals by 2010, but Del Ponte said: “It is unimaginable that the tribunal would close its doors without Karadzic and Mladic, because doing so would be a mistake.”

AKI also cites Del Ponte’s admission that “the Swiss government had asked for her to step down as long ago as March last year, following the death of former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic, who died in his Hague jail cell” before the end of his mock-trial he was actually winning with his water-tight arguments and impressive witnesses versus “prosecution’s” false witnesses, ridiculous “indictement,” rampant omissions and blatant lies.

Italian agency doesn’t tell us what was kapo’s excuse for staying a year and a half longer, but we can assume her already deviant sense of “justice” must’ve been a factor that led her to refuse to leave and be left without the generous supply of fresh Serbian blood for that much longer.

“I think I have finished my task and that it’s time for me to return to normal life,” Del Ponte explained according to AKI. Up to 150 people, mostly Serbs, have been indicted by the tribunal since in was founded in 1993, and more than 30 have been sentenced. “I think my successor will have much easier task,” Del Ponte was cited. In other words, her own pile of Serbian bones to chew on will be hard to match by the next Hague’s chief kapo.

Cartoon by Ranko Guzina

Petition “No Independence for Kosovo-Metohija” Taken Down

The praiseworthy initiative by an American convert to Orthodoxy, Xenia Williams, a petition “No Independence for Kosovo-Metohija,” has been taken off the web site where it was posted, yesterday evening. Xenia has been trying to get in contact with people who run the site and recover her petition, but was not able to get either the petition, nor any of the collected signatures back.

I most sincerely thank all of you who have backed Xenia’s initiative with your signatures and can only hope all of those who are, like Xenia, doing their best to help us preserve the cradle of our nation within Serbia will not get disheartened after this disappointment.

Meanwhile, James Jatras of American Council for Kosovo suggested we could expect to achieve much more if everyone would take ten-fifteen minutes of their time to send an email to the White House and their own Congressmen and Senators. While this is much more work in comparison to signing a petition, it certainly makes a lot of sense to expect more out of hundreds and thousands of individual requests, versus a single petition with hundreds or thousands of names on it.

As most of you already know, American Council for Kosovo has the whole thing figured down to a T — you can either go to the American Council’s site and click on the black box “Say No to Kosovo Independence,” or you can go straight to the USA.gov web site, to their Contact Elected Officials page.

As for what to say, apart from asking your President, Congressman and Senator to stop pursuing the carving up of Serbia and preserve Kosovo-Metohija province within Serbian borders, there really is no need to say much more, as long as one clearly underlines opposition to the hijacking of Serbian historical territory. Even just few sentences to the same effect would be a tremendous help and a strong signal that Americans are paying attention to what is being done in their name in another part of the world.

Thanks again and may God bless all of you who are willing to take this a step further in order to help!

Posted by Svetlana at 07:05 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (1)

“Democratic” Means Albanian Muslim “Democrats” Employ in Serbian Province’s Politics Today

PRISTINA, Serbia, Jan. 28, 2007 (Associated Press) — An explosion damaged the local headquarters of a Kosovo political party in the eastern part of the province Sunday, police said. No one was reported injured.

The explosion occurred around 6.15 p.m. (1615GMT) and is believed to have been caused by a device outside the building in the town of Gnjilane, some 60 kilometers (40 miles) east of Kosovo’s capital Pristina, police spokesman Veton Elshani said.

The damaged offices previously belonged to the local branch of the ruling Democratic League of Kosovo. But recently there have been disputes in that area after some party officials opted to split from it and create their own party.

The new party's name is the Democratic League. But it was unclear to whom the party offices now belong.

Police could not confirm whether the political offices were the target of the blast. The explosion also shattered the windows of several businesses nearby, Elshani said.

Two explosions hit the area in September, targeting vehicles belonging to government officials.

“Democracy” Albanian Muslim “Democrats” Practiced in Serbian Province During the WWII

Excerpt from the investigative research The Albanian Role in the Holocaust by Carl Savich, a Michigan-based historian with a B.A. in Political Science, an M.A. in History and a J.D. in Law.

[...] The Albanian government and Albanian authorities took an active part in the extermination of Albanian Jews: “In June, 1943… the Albanian police chief suggested the jailing of certain Jews:

‘According to our investigation the Jews listed below are dangerous because they are propaganderizing [sic] against the Axis (Rome-Berlin) and they want to organize and hold meetings. We think these people should be taken away from here as soon as possible to one of the concentration fields, because their staying here could be dangerous to the regime.’ [...]

The entire article by Carl Savich, related to Kosovo: Honoring Nazis and the SS.

Posted by Svetlana at 06:33 PM | Permalink

Greek Government: Kosovo-Metohija Hijacking Setting a Bad Precedent

ATHENS, Greece, Jan. 28, 2007 (Kathimerini Editorial) — The Greek government insists that any solution on the final status of the divided Kosovo province must have Belgrade’s approval before being ratified by the international community.

What No One Was Supposed to Notice: Using Military Violence to Extract Territory Followed by Recognition of Independence Unacceptable

And for good reason. The use of military violence to extract territory from a foreign state followed by a recognition of its independence by the world powers could set a dangerous precedent in settling other minority issues on the old Continent: The Turkish Cypriots on the Turkish-occupied, northern section of Cyprus, the Albanians in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), the Hungarian minorities in Romania and Slovenia, the separatist movements in Spain and France — all may be tempted to follow the example of Kosovo Albanians.

The negative fallout of such tendencies are not hard to imagine. Any solution must enjoy Serbian consent, otherwise it runs the risk of being interpreted as an encouragement, if not incitement, of a new round of minority crises.

...However, getting Serbian consent for Ahtisaari’s (i.e. Adolfsen’s) rotten plan now seems even less likely, since:

Serbia Boycotts UN Envoy Ahtisaari

Serbia plans to boycott the United Nations envoy for Kosovo when he arrives in Belgrade next week to present his plan for the breakaway province’s future, local media said Saturday.

[...] Serbian caretaker Premier Vojislav Kostunica said that he would not receive Ahtisaari when he arrives in Belgrade to present the plan to Serbia on February 2.

Ahtisaari was scheduled to visit Pristina later that same day.

Kostunica said that the caretaker government, which is to be replaced following the January 21 elections, was without authority to deal with big issues such as Kosovo’s status and that it would have to wait for the upcoming government.

On Saturday, Justice Minister Zoran Stojkovic said that no member of Kostunica’s cabinet would meet Ahtisaari, whom Serbia has frequently accused of being biased in favour of the Albanians.

[...] President Boris Tadic was “likely” to see Ahtisaari when he arrives, sources from his cabinet were quoted as saying.

Tadic, however, has little real power, his function being largely based on protocol. [...]

Why Bother?

Not that any of it really matters to Adolfsen and his handlers, since his announced visits are nothing but a continuation of the Grand Farce, in an effort to make the whole scam appear as a legitimate “diplomatic effort.” I-carve-your-heart-out-and-then-come-to-get-your-approval kind of diplomatic effort Herr Goebbels made famous.

No need to bother, really. He can shit in a jar and send it to Belgrade by airmail. It’ll convey the same message the Envoy intended to deliver in person, while saving U.N. some money.

Posted by Svetlana at 06:37 PM | Permalink

Heavenly Jerusalem Beyond and Here on Earth — No One

“At first we were confused. The East thought that we were West, while the West considered us to be East. Some of us misunderstood our place in the clash of currents, so they cried that we belong to neither side, and others that we belong exclusively to one side or the other.

But I tell you, Irenaeus, we are doomed by fate to be the East in the West and the West in the East, to acknowledge only heavenly Jerusalem beyond us, and here on earth—no one.”

—St. Sava to Irenaeus, 13th Century

Stand Up Along the Righteous and Be Counted!

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”

—Ephesians 6:12-13

Posted by Svetlana at 06:45 PM | Permalink

Serbia Couldn’t Care Less About What Ahtisaari Says

While most of the Western mainstream media (along with Soros-funded Serbian crabs gathered around B92 Brainwashing Center) acts as if Ahtisaari’s proposal is the 11th Commandment carved in stone, the truth of the matter is that Serbian Prime Minister was entirely right—more so than the whole Parrot Chorus—to assert that it is “absolutely irrelevant what Ahtisaari (a.k.a. Adolfsen) proposes, since Serbian parliament and people are unanimous in rejecting independence for their Kosovo-Metohija province”.

Add to it President Putin’s clear invocation of a Russian veto in the U.N. Security Council in case any form of independence is suggested for southern Serbian province and that’s it — Adolfsen might as well go propose the UN seats for Martians and the subterranean civilization of Agartha. Mind you, if giving “independence” to those two would help destroy Serbia further, you can bet your behinds he would’ve done that too.

Adolfsen’s Labor Pains Over the Wording

The proposal by the Finnish Serbophobe with the solid Nazi heritage and credentials, that was supposed to be “unveiled” just today, “behind the closed doors” (apparently those doors are riddled with so many holes, they shouldn’t have bothered closing them in the first place) in Vienna, Austria, has been more or less known ever since Adolfsen has gotten a mandate to put his signature on the imposed amputation of the Serbian province.

Adolfsen’s anti-Serbian zeal was well known in the international-troll circles all along, and his stubborn insistence that Serbia should be butchered further until it’s reduced to mere skin and bones was exactly the type of “diplomatic credentials” that earned him a privilege to make the first incision. The only thing that remained to be “unveiled” was the particular wording of the document he was to present, the mere form that was not to affect the substance, or the result: amputation.

Vienna “Talks”: Rambouillet II

Just like eight years ago in Rambouillet, Serbia was yet again presented with the fête accompli, a situation where it cannot win, where the decision has already been made well in advance, where the sham “negotiations” are destined to fail, and where, no matter what it does and says, regardless of the strength, rationality and the powerful and clean-cut legal foundation the Serbian arguments are based on, it keeps being reduced to following the prearranged set of motions until the death sentence is pronounced.

Back then, the decision to bomb Serbia precisely in order to hijack its Kosovo-Metohija province (to force Serbian troops and all of the non-Albanians residing in the province to leave and let Albanian Muslim aliens, terrorists and criminals from neighboring Albania take over), was made well in advance. The Rambouillet “negotiations” only served as a cover-up, so that the trolls can claim there were “negotiations”, that Serbia refused to sign the “agreement” they knew fully well no one in their right mind would have signed (giving U.S.-NATO a free reign over the entire country), and therefore, only after “all the diplomatic possibilities have been exhausted,” Serbia shall be viciously bombed and forced to relinquish control of the exact part the trolls have been eyeballing all along — Kosovo-Metohija province.

The only differences between the slimy setup in Rambouillet and this one in Vienna are that this one is hosted by the U.S.-led United Nations (while the previous was an arm-bending exercise orchestrated mainly by Clinton/Blair love affair or, as they like to call it, NATO); and that, this time around, because there is some semblance of the UN included in the picture, they REALLY REALLY NEED Serbia to sign on the dotted line and go gentle into that dark night.

Adolfsen Gives Albanian Muslims Less Than Serbia Offered

So, back to the wording Adolfsen was sweating over in hope of getting the Serbian signature and avoiding Russian veto: the word “independence” isn’t mentioned, but it is effectually proposed, by envisaging Serbian province’s separate access (granted only to sovereign states) to all the major international institutions, like the IMF, the World Bank and UN itself. Adolfsen’s proposal is also entirely unacceptable because it recommends that southern Serbian province should no longer be governed by the United Nations Security Council resolution 1244, which pledged to uphold the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity and affirmed Serbian sovereignty in Kosovo province, which his “proposal,” designated to be morphed into the new UN resolution, scraps altogether.

While the Western mainstream media is full of fanfare over this latest step the West has made towards carving up Serbia, and although Adolfsen’s proposal is clearly and completely unacceptable to Serbs, one can hardly fail to see that the whole thing is a rather cruel joke on account of Albanian Muslim thugs occupying Serbian province.

Not only are they not given what they relentlessly demanded, prodded by not-so-well-meaning Western psychopaths Albanians have a tendency to confuse with “allies” — independence — but they are also offered a deal far worse than the one Serbia put on the table.

EU the Only Beneficiary: Jobs for the Boys and Other Perks

Although the widest possible autonomy any nation can have in Europe that Serbia offered did not include membership in the international organizations, it did provide for full and unobstructed self-rule and self-government. Under the provisions of the Serbian offer, Albanians in the Kosovo province would have been a state-within-the-state, and in fact essentially independent to a much higher degree than Adolfsen proposes.

Tricked by the couple of decades old Western promises of “independence,” Albanian Muslims in the Kosovo province have been fooled into missing the real opportunity for self-governance Serbia was more than willing and able to ensure, guaranteeing stability and peaceful coexistence they can hardly count on in case the solution is imposed.

In essence, Adolfsen’s proposal does not provide for either independence or self-governance, but instead merely transfers powers from the old “U.N. Mission in Kosovo” to the new one, with an accent on the EU gradually taking over the rule of the province. He also proposes his longtime friend, Dutch diplomat Peter Feith (under the good old jobs-for-the-boys motto), for the new post of an “international civilian representative” or something to that effect, with some hundred new positions for his staff members, that would have an “edict power” to remove officials and invalidate legislations — a veritable Kosovo King, with the EU to ensure his authority is more secure than Saddam’s ever was.

Unlike the easy road they had opened by the Serbian side, Albanian “friend” Adolfsen has also made provisions for a new, separate international “rule of law” monitoring mission, under the control of the European Union, that would number roughly 1,000 and exercise authority over “Kosovo‘s troubled local police force and corrupt local judiciary.” Their pal also proposes that the “Kosovo Protection Corps, a shadow local military force, be disbanded.”

So, the whole charade was focused on the EU getting a brand new flat without Serbia to keep their massive plunder in check, on providing hundreds of new jobs with heavy paychecks for the utterly useless and unemployable EU “diplomats” and pen-pushers, and on getting another resource-rich region which it can keep mining for decades for enormous profits, while using “youth-rich Albanian nation” as its workforce, for pennies: the EU’s own little sweatshop, drug cartel and gray-zone economy booster. (Among other things, Serbian Kosovo-Metohija province happens to have the Europe’s largest deposits of lignite coal so, if you think about it, keeping in mind Adolfsen’s grand vision that joins Albanian Muslims and Adolfsen’s Euro-American “diplomat”-friends, who would you say would be digging inside the mineshaft and who would collect the profits?)

Effectively, Adolfsen’s proposal is merely taking away Serbia’s sovereignty over Kosovo-Metohija province and passing it into the hands of the EU, instead of giving either the independence or the self-rule to Albanian Muslims occupying the province. Therefore, the EU, according to Adolfsen’s proposal, is the sole winner, while both the Serbs and Albanian Muslim occupiers are designated losers. Nice piece of work, indeed — Adolfsen was probably right to assume Albanian Muslim thugs, who can hardly see their noses out of hatred for Serbs, will be satisfied with getting rid of Serbia no matter what, and all the EU bureaucrats he has gotten the jobs and promotions for would surely be eternally grateful to the troll (and double their efforts on ensuring their benefactor gets the Nobel Prize before he croaks).

Albanian Muslim “leaders” (mostly war criminals turned “politicians”), as well as their brainwashers in the Albanian media will be placated by hefty commissions and a promise of few chairs in the mock-government with no real power, and sent forth to sell Adolfsen’s proposal as a wonderful deal, or at least “the best they can get right now,” conveniently forgetting they were offered better from the Serbian democratic government, a deal according to which they would actually have the province to themselves, without UN/EU wanna-be kings or anyone else meddling in their governance.

Only the Beginning

But that’s their problem — Albanian Muslims have demonstrated on too many occasions they are too blinded by hatred for Serbs to be capable of seeing through the oily Western “offers,” the “diplomatic” double-talk and the forked tongue smiles. A hatred Western colonizers have a long tradition of successfully using to their advantage.

As for the Serbs regarding Adolfsen’s proposal, I can only say one thing: When Hell Freezes Over.

Not only is this far from being over, it is in fact only the beginning — brace up, the reality is about to bite back.

Cartoon by Zoran Matic-Mazos

Posted by Svetlana at 05:02 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (2)

Short and Sweet

STRASBOURG, France, Jan. 24, 2007 — The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has accepted the request for deletion of paragraph 4 from the draft resolution, prepared by Russell Johnston, which assessed that “conditional independence” of Serbian Kosovo-Metohija province provides the best chance for peace and stability in the Balkans.

Ninety MPs voted for adoption of amendments deleting the unacceptable paragraph, as proposed by head of the Serbian delegation Milos Aligrudic and British MP David Wiltshire, while 64 of them voted against those amendments.

How a Certain Troll Keeps Failing

A careful observer of the numerous attempts at hijacking of Serbian Kosovo-Metohija province by various trolls figuring prominently at the top of what’s amicably referred to as the “international community” (in fact, a handful of bureaucrats from the richest Western countries forcing their will upon the rest of the world), might remember the early October session of Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Back than, thanks to the vigilance of the British conservative MP David Wilshire, report by the Troll Russell-Johnston proposing a form of independence for Serbian southern province was scrapped from PACE’s agenda until the Assembly’s January session.

The reason for the withdrawal of the Troll’s resolution at that point was the “utterly and completely undemocratic” way Albanian sock-puppet Russell-Johnston tried to push it in — through the back door, like a rotten egg no one was supposed to notice until it was too late.

Now, the same “resolution” by the same Troll was discussed at Assembly’s January 24, 2007 session, then voted on, then adopted, but with its key ingredient —“conditional independence” for the Serbian province—deleted, by the majority votes.

Trollympics

And here’s what Albanian lobbyist in the Europe’s Parliament, Russell-Johnston, was sweating over all along (apparently, for more than a decade now), only to see it shredded and thrown out with the rest of garbage:

[Paragraph 4 of the Draft Resolution] While respecting Serbia’s interest and right to preserve its territorial integrity, the Assembly believes that Kosovo’s independence — subject to certain conditions — is the solution which is liable to ensure the greatest chances of durable, long-term peace and stability for Kosovo and the entire region, in addition to being the one which corresponds to the will of the majority of Kosovars [meaning Albanian Muslims occupying Serbian province]. The Assembly therefore encourages Serbia to adopt a more flexible and pragmatic attitude during the status negotiations, as well as to reopen a discussion within Serbia’s main institutions to that effect.

Although another Major Troll, Martti Ahtisaari (a.k.a. Adolfsen) was also there to support his Troll Brother in the common quest, although some of the French, Swiss, Albanian and even an Albanian-Macedonian troll have also wholeheartedly backed the Alpha Troll Russell-Johnston (the Albanian from Macedonia successfully demonstrated the embarrassing level of ignorance regarding the elementary geopolitical facts of the region he inhabits, by referring to the northern Serbian region of Vojvodina as one of the former Yugoslav “republics” which became a “state” along with Croatia, Bosnia, etc.), although a number of speakers talked a lot while managing to say absolutely nothing, the reason prevailed and Europe’s Parliament scrapped the Troll’s independence proposal, voting for “a negotiated and mutually accepted solution to Kosovo’s status” instead.

Troll Defeaters

For the record, and just so the so-called “international community” won’t be able to claim tomorrow that they were not warned, here’s how the European Parliament members reacted to the Troll’s ideas of “peace, stability and security” the amputation of the Serbian province was supposed to bring. Also, these are the very arguments that have won the day and defeated Russell-Johnston’s reckless “proposal”:

Mr KYPRIANOU (Cyprus): Butchering a Country Not Conductive to Peace and Stability

“Kosovo can be characterized as an open wound that needs urgently to be healed if peace and stability are to prevail in the Balkans. If that is our aim, it would be a great paradox if we were seriously to consider or even discuss today the secession of Serbian Kosovo province and its recognition as an independent state.”

“The second matter is that the members of the Council of Europe have repeatedly declared our devotion to, and respect for, the UN charter and the basic principles of international law. In this respect, the possible recognition of Kosovo province as an independent state would constitute a severe violation of the UN charter and the basic principles of modern international law.”

“[...] What would have happened if the principle that ‘where there is a nation there should be a state’ was implemented in a world with 5,000 to 6,000 ethnicities but less than 200 states? Would it be a return to the middle ages?”

“[...] We strongly believe that condoning the idea of Serbian Kosovo province becoming an independent state would mean disrespect to the United Nations charter and to the basic principles of international law — particularly the principles of territorial integrity, sovereignty and non-intervention. Additionally, such a dangerous step would not solve the problem but worsen it, as it would reverse the geopolitical balance, political stability and economic growth of the western Balkans, for which we declared our strong support last month.”

Mr LONCLE (France): Sovereignty a Fundamental Right

Mr Loncle of France said that the Parliamentary Assembly stood for human rights, democracy, the rule of law and peace. Sovereignty could be considered a fundamental right and it is not for the Council of Europe to divide a state, or add one to the list held by the United Nations; the Council of Europe should neither draw new frontiers nor define new countries.

“The international community had expended too much effort in attempting to integrate minority groups, and in an area with fewer than 2 million inhabitants, it was wrong to focus on decentralization. This could risk the “Lebanisation” of Serbian province and sow the seeds of the break-up of the state.”

“Many views of the economic viability of an ‘independent Kosovo’ were too optimistic. The local market was not economically viable and the necessary networks for exporting to neighboring countries were non-existent.”

Mr GARDETTO (Monaco): Independence is Not the Only Solution

Mr Gardetto thanked Lord Russell-Johnston for his detailed report, which fulfilled a far from straightforward task. It was certain that instability in Serbian Kosovo-Metohija province posed a risk to the stability of the region as a whole. A negotiated solution between all parties was the most desirable outcome.

“Independence is not the only solution for Kosovo province. Institutions were needed to guarantee human rights, democracy and the involvement of all ethnic groups. Public services needed to be improved and a remedy found for crimes based on the victim’s ethnic group. The effective investigation and prosecution of crimes motivated by ethnicity would give the authorities credibility and secure the confidence of the population.”

Mr GEVEAUX (France): France Supports a Negotiated Solution

Different ethnic groups have to live together. It is necessary to find out what had happened to those who had disappeared, to ensure freedom of religion, and to preserve the remaining cultural heritage. It was also important to address the state of the economy. Unemployment was high and industry was still not back on its feet, while at the same time there was a flourishing black economy, including trafficking. France had participated in the Kosovo Stabilization Force, and now supported a negotiated solution where the rights of minorities were respected.

Mr KOSACHEV (Russian Federation): Proposing Independence for Serbian Province Absolutely Unacceptable

Mr Kosachev said that whenever Kosovo was discussed, three issues needed to be addressed: human rights, the status of the territory, and the impact of any solution on other areas within Europe and further afield. On human rights, everyone agreed that standards in the region should be the same as the rest of the world. At present, people were having to live in different areas according to their ethnic origin and feared moving outside their own communities. Such a situation was shameful in a modern Europe. The report had considered this issue and was to be commended, but paragraph 4 of the draft resolution went beyond the competence of the Council of Europe and the Parliamentary Assembly. The status of Kosovo was properly within the competence of the United Nations’ Security Council, and the Council of Europe should not try to affect the former’s decision.

“Russia’s view is that Serbia should be allowed to maintain its territorial integrity. [War criminal] Agim Ceku had said that the Albanian Muslim leadership in Serbian province was integral to finding a solution where human rights were respected. However, there was no reason to trust this comment without seeing evidence of improvements on the ground. Moving forward on Serbian province’s independence without addressing human rights first might lead to further conflicts. The Council of Europe should not depart from the basic principles of human rights and territorial integrity. Paragraph 4 is therefore totally unacceptable.”

Mr HUGON (France): No Solution Without Acceptance by the Both Sides

Mr Hugon said that Ahtisaari’s negotiations in recent months had led to failure. Serbs might be ‘a minority’ in Kosovo province today, but Serbs have thousand of years of history in Kosovo, which also has particular religious importance for them. [...] No solution was viable in the long term unless compromises were accepted by both sides.

“A further challenge faced in Serbian Kosovo-Metohija province was the state of the economy: there was high unemployment, it was one of the poorest in the Balkans, not self-sufficient in energy and its industry was in a poor condition. It should therefore be no surprise that organized crime had flourished. A number of political parties in Kosovo were actually in favor of corruption. There needed to be reform of the civil service and other public services. There were many other minorities in Kosovo, such as the Roma and Turks, who were frequently ignored. The return of refugees to the region is still only hypothetical.”

Mr DAČIĆ (Serbia): Old Agreement was Never Honored — Why Enter into the New One?

Ivica Dačić said that, in 1999, Ahtisaari was in Belgrade when the peace agreement, United Nations Resolution 1244, was signed and the war stopped. Mr Dačić asked Ahtisaari who was present why this resolution had not been honored: 300,000 Serbs had left Kosovo, over 150 churches and monasteries had been destroyed and Serbian property had been stolen. The Serbs in their province of Kosovo are now forced to live in the same deplorable conditions as the Jews under Hitler — they are living in ghettos, in fear for the lives of their children. The UN Resolution 1244, behind which Ahtisaari and the whole world stood, stated that solution for Kosovo was autonomy within Serbia. The old agreement has not been honored, so why was there any question of a new resolution?

“Today, Kosovo province is a part of a Serbia where drug, arms and human trafficking represent the entire “economy”, and where al Qaeda recruits mujahedeens for the next stages of jihad. This created problems for the whole of Europe, not just for Serbia. The issue was self-determination or the inviability of borders. Kosovo was not unique; if the solution was independence, then questions remained about the Serbs in Republika Srpska in Bosnia, the Albanians in Macedonia, Montenegro, or Greece. Lord Russell-Johnston had said ten years ago that he favored independence for Kosovo, so this report is nothing new.”

“Albanian Muslims in Serbian Kosovo province demanded independence before Slobodan Milošević came on the scene. Before 1999, Serbs had formed a majority in Kosovo, but as a consequence of ethnic cleansing they were now in a minority. The rapporteur was telling a state to accept a division of itself, but how would he have reacted if somebody had proposed independence for Northern Ireland, Catalonia, Chechnya, South Ossetia or Nagorno-Karabakh? If, in a hundred years’ time, Albanians were the majority in Strasbourg, should Strasbourg become an Albanian state?”

Mr ALIGRUDIĆ (Serbia): Will of Serbian People at Least as Important as the Will of Albanian Muslim Minority

Belgrade and Pristina agreed to have the issue of the future status of Serbian Kosovo-Metohija province solved via the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy as an intermediary in the negotiations, after which the Contact Group would offer its position on the matter. Finally the UN Security Council will voice its position.

“This is a sensitive question and one should have knowledge of the historical and political facts before one talks about it. That is not the case with the report and the rapporteur. It is true that 90% of the population in the southern Serbian province are Albanian Muslims but, since 1999, more than 250,000 Serbs and non-Albanians have been ethnically cleansed and are now internally displaced persons with no right to return to their homes and properties. Those who have not been forced out of the province live in fear for their lives.”

“For most of the period after the Second World War, Serbs formed almost 50% of the population of the Kosovo-Metohija province. Their number decreased significantly in the 1980s and tragically by the end of the 1990s. Given all that and the fact that the talks on Serbian province’s future status are not over, it is not appropriate to state, as the resolution suggests, that ‘independence would guarantee stability and peace’ in Serbia and the region.”

“There are three key arguments. First, if we accept this wording, it will encourage one party to the negotiations, the Albanian Muslims from Serbian province, not to negotiate. Why should they invest any effort in the process if they have been told by this esteemed body that they are right and the other side is wrong? They need only to sit and wait for the outcome. That would directly jeopardize the possibility of an agreed solution.”

“Secondly, the proposed text states that the independence of Kosovo should correspond to the ‘will of the majority of Kosovars’ — meaning the will of Albanian Muslims who are now, as the result of decades of ethnic cleansing, a ‘majority’ in this Serbian province. This is wrong. We should take into account the will of the people of Serbia, as well as the will of Serbs and other non-Albanians residing in Kosovo-Metohija province. Serbian Kosovo province is not a federal unit nor an independent state. It is part of Serbian state under the provisions of UN Security Council Resolution 1244, which has not been changed.”

Cartoon by Toso Borkovic

Posted by Svetlana at 10:10 PM | Permalink

Help Serbia Survive to Preserve Your State in Future

You might not be aware of the latest telephone poll taken by the office of the Governor of California which asked whether people who live in California think illegal immigration is a serious problem:

A) 35% of respondents answered: “Yes, it is a serious problem.”

B) 65% of respondents answered: “No es una problema serio.”

Joking aside, luckily for Americans, Spanish speaking illegal immigrants have not formed an army trained by retired American generals and supported by intelligence agencies such as CIA, MI6 and German BND, they are not destroying six and seven hundred year old churches, they are not terrorizing their English speaking neighbors and are not demanding independence for the areas where they constitute a majority. Albanian Muslim illegal immigrants in Serbian Kosovo province do.

Help Serbia preserve its state sovereignty and territorial integrity today, and you may be helping your children preserve their state tomorrow.

And here’s how...

Instead of putting together petitions, James Jatras of American Council for Kosovo suggested we could expect to achieve much more if everyone would take ten-fifteen minutes of their time to send an email to the White House and their own Congressmen and Senators. While this is much more work in comparison to signing a petition, it certainly makes a lot of sense to expect more out of hundreds and thousands of individual requests, versus a single petition with hundreds or thousands of names on it.

As most of you already know, American Council for Kosovo has the whole thing figured down to a T — you can either go to the Council’s site and click on the black box “Say No to Kosovo Independence,” or you can go straight to the USA.gov web site, to their Contact Elected Officials page.

As for what to say, apart from asking your President, Congressman and Senator to stop pursuing the carving up of Serbia and preserve Kosovo-Metohija province within Serbian borders, there really is no need to say much more than to clearly underline you are against the hijacking of Serbian historical territory. Even just few sentences to the same effect would be a tremendous help and a strong signal that Americans are paying attention to what is being done in their name in other corners of the world.

Thanks again and may God bless all of you who are willing to take this a step further in order to help!

Entry edited by Svetlana on January 30, 2007.

Posted by Svetlana at 04:43 PM | Permalink

Kninjas’ Fury

Recent article When will World Confront the Undead of Croatia? by Julia Gorin published in the Baltimore Sun has revealed the shocking degree of Croat collective state of denial and the pigheaded resolve to act as if their country, built upon the bones of Ustasha victims, old and new is somehow eternally exonerated of all responsibility and must, therefore, always be presented in the most flattering light, as the champion of liberty, democracy and human rights. None of which it really is.

Croat daily Vecernji List has provided a glance at some of the Croat fury Julia’s article was met with — enraged over the fact an American mainstream newspaper would dare to write about Croatia in less than flattering terms, Croats apparently slipped into the mass-hysteria and instantly went in the harassment mode, laying a virtual siege on The Sun’s editors, journalists, even secretary — threatening, demanding explanations and apologies.

Scribe, Musician and One Hundred Midgets

On January 18 and 19, Croat Jadranka Jureško-Kero based in New York, wrote two articles for Croatian Vecernji List, first entitled “The Baltimore Sun Slanders,” and second under the title “Julia Gorin’s Slanders” — titles that must’ve been pulled straight out of Kero’s derrière, since neither of her articles contains a single line pointing to ONE “slanderous” piece of information Julia’s article is supposedly brimming with.

In her January 18 piece, Kero cites certain Frank Bilaver of “American HDZ” (Franjo Tudjman’s ultranationalist right wing political party — the very undead themselves) saying that some hundred Croats, members of the same party, have sent their letters on that day to the Baltimore Sun editors in order to “warn them that Croat community will not buy that newspaper, and you’ll just see how quickly will they issue an apology” after that.

The author also claimed that someone by the name of Nenad Bach, a Croat musician, “personally spoke with Julia Gorin, warning her of the injustice of her writings” (once again failing to show which part of Julia’s article is incorrect and therefore “unjust”; unless, of course, the “injustice” in Croatia simply means “correct, but contrary to how we see ourselves”).

The very next day, same Croat scribe contradicted her earlier claims, now saying that no one from either The Baltimore Sun or American Council for Kosovo (?!) was willing to give the overzealous Croat musician Julia Gorin’s personal phone number and home address (!!!). It remains unclear who lied the day before, musician or the scribe, but the very idea that anyone in their right mind would be so boorish to actually think it’s perfectly alright to harass and bully the author of the article he doesn’t like is entirely beyond comprehension.

Imagine the Impertinence!

In the article published by Vecernji List on January 19, Kero also wrote:

[Croat Embassy worker in the U.S.] Neven Jurica claims they are regularly following the articles about Croatia in American media and react when necessary. Diaspora doesn’t stop calling Baltimore Sun. Their journalists claim that no article in the history of the newspaper has prompted so many reactions and letters by the readers. Rondra J. Matthews, the Baltimore Sun president was not in the mood to speak with Vecernji List journalists. She was not willing to comment on the number of reactions, but has, impertinently, hung up the phone.

So, the president of the reputable American newspaper was “impertinent” because she refused to be abused by a Nobody who feels her Croatness gives her the right to chew others’ ears off. How awfully rude and impolite, wouldn’t you agree?

In the same article, Kero also says that same musician, Nenad Bach, has phoned (e.g. harassed) the Baltimore Sun editor Franz Schneiderman too, in order to give him a piece of his mind as well. Mr. Schneiderman, fortunately for him, wasn’t scolded for impertinence by the Croat scribe; otherwise, God only knows what could have happened to his career afterwards.

On January 20, 2007, The Baltimore Sun published three letters — one by press attaché for Croatia’s embassy to the United States, one by the Serbian-American, Michael Pravica, whose 68 relatives were killed by the Croat Ustashas during their WWII genocide, and one by another Baltimore Sun contributor and Balkan expert, Christopher Deliso, who also wrote to commend The Sun for publishing Julia Gorin’s “very brave and factually impeccable article.” Personally, I think Croat musician, scribe and thugs who attempted a lynching of an American journalist should be grateful for managing to squeeze by without being slapped with the lawsuit for harassment and abuse of the media representatives, but next time they launch a similar crusade in order to shut someone up they might not be so lucky.

Croats Eager to Repeat the Storm in States

Meanwhile, Julia took time to respond to the letter of Croat press attaché:

My editor at the Baltimore Sun tells me that the secretary, who has been there for ages, has never in all her years in the newspaper business, witnessed the storm that my article last week elicited. In case you missed it, the piece was titled “When Will World Confront the Undead of Croatia?” and it called attention to the fact that not only has Croatia not sufficiently acknowledged its zealous Nazi past of WW2, but the past followed it into the 1990s — and the criminals of that decade are widely celebrated by Croatians even today.

Apparently, this was the first piece of mainstream American journalism that didn’t place the blame for the 1990s Balkan wars squarely on Serb shoulders. For unlike the Serbs — who are accustomed to being vilified in the press on a daily basis for 15 years now — the hundreds of Croats, Croat defenders and Serbophobes I heard from were breathless in their fury and disbelief. [...]

Complete reply by Julia Gorin to letter from Croat Embassy »

Vitriolic Filth

In addition, Julia also started posting some of the letters she has received (and here’s Part II and Part III of the Ape-Fest) over the past week from Croats on her blog. The vulgarity, ferociousness and sheer brutality these letters reek of can rarely be seen nowadays. For all the vitriolic filth Croats poured their hearts and souls in over Julia’s excellent article, no one, not a single Croat foaming at their mouth over this has been able to point to one concrete provable error, mistake, or incorrect piece of information in Julia’s article — sadly, it’s all true, factual and easy to confirm through dozens of reputable Western sources. The Croats simply can’t help hating her for telling the truth, they keep bellowing it’s somehow “all wrong” and they want her to just shut up.

In the end, if anyone deserves profuse apologies for having to suffer the obscene threats, vicious insults, harassment and bullying because, unlike the greatest majority of her colleagues, she dared to be true to her profession and has honored American journalism with her honesty and courage, it is no other than Julia Gorin herself.

When, Indeed?

For further proof of the real need for the world to finally confront the undead of Croatia, take a look at CBC video The Battle of the Medak Pocket that describes in the Canadian soldier’s own words the horrors Croats perpetrated against the Serbs in the 1990s: Part 1, Part 2.

Posted by Svetlana at 09:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

President Putin: Imposing Kosovo Status Solution from the Outside Unacceptable

MOSCOW, Russia, Jan. 21, 2007 (Source: Tanjug) — Russia views as unacceptable the outside imposition of a solution for the status of Serbian Kosovo-Metohija province, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Sunday following talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

Merkel underscored that it is not her wish that the efforts for the resolution of Serbian province’s status should destabilize the situation in Serbia.

Putin pointed out that a longterm solution to the problem could be achieved only if it is acceptable to both Belgrade and Pristina.

He noted that Russia is not opposed to the proposals being prepared by Ahtisaari, but urges that proposed solutions should satisfy both Belgrade and Pristina.

“I believe that Europe is not interested in imposing on one side, say Belgrade, such solutions which would be humiliating to the Serbian people,” the Itar-Tass news agency cited Putin as saying.

He stated that however the problem of Kosovo province gets resolved, that solution will become a universal one.

This does not refer only to the post-Soviet territories, but also to other countries, including certain European states where the problem of separatism also exists and isn’t unknown, Putin explained, warning about the threat of hasty solutions.

“Today We See Results of Bombardment of Serbia, Which was a Huge Mistake”

There is an increasing drive to ‘solve’ problems based on immediate interests. This is dangerous for small countries that do not feel safe, Putin set out, adding that it is necessary to arm oneself with patience and to seek acceptable solutions which must be reached.

“No one is interested in undermining the foundations of international stability. I believe that if we were to take that path, the consequences could be serious,” the Russian president warned.

“You are familiar with our position when Serbia was bombed — we were opposed to this and we continue to view this as a huge mistake, and today we see the results of that mistake,” Putin said.

“However, we are ready to seek an answer to that situation,” he noted, emphasizing that a solution can be reached if care is taken and if violent solutions are not imposed on anyone.

Putin told a joint press conference with Merkel that they discussed the situation in the Balkans, including in the context of today’s parliamentary election in Serbia.

Radicals Win Serbian Parliamentary Elections

BELGRADE, Serbia, Jan. 22, 2007 — According to CeSID (Center for free elections and democracy), Serbian Radical Party is the winner of the parliamentary elections of January 21, but won’t be able to form the government by itself.

Commenting on the success of Serbian Radicals, some Western analysts claim the result has “cast a pall over European Union and United States expectations they would have a ‘progressive’ Serbian government to deal with when the future of Kosovo province is decided.”

“We are convinced that hard days lie ahead of Serbia,” said Radical leader Tomislav Nikolic who claimed victory and acknowledged he needed to find a strong coalition partner.

Nikolic said the supposedly “pro-Western” bloc had “once more failed to fool Serbia’s citizens” and is now in panic.

Shrugging off threats by Western bullies in the shape of various ambassadors and “envoys” that “chauvinist policies could lead to renewed isolation,” Serbian voters underlined on Sunday the Radicals’ unbreakable bedrock of support. Obviously, Serbs are fed up with threats and humiliations West keeps shoveling their way.

According to CeSID’s final counts, Serbian Radical Party has won 28,7 percent of votes (or 1,150,000 votes). Serbian Radicals will have 81 representative in the Serbian parliament, more than any other political party in Serbia today.

Posted by Svetlana at 03:35 AM | Permalink

Ahtisaari’s Proposal for Serbian Province — No Independence

LONDON, VIENNA, Jan. 20, 2007 (Source: KIM Radio) — Martti Ahtisaari’s Kosovo status proposal will not contain the word “independence”, diplomats have reportedly said.

KIM Radio cites several diplomats well acquainted with the content of the UN special envoy’s proposal due to be presented to the Contact Group on January 26, and to Belgrade and Pristina on February 2, as saying that the document does not include independence for southern Serbian province.

“Speaking symbolically, Ahtisaari’s proposal will not mention the i-word. At the same time, there are not entirely irrelevant fears about the Kosovo Albanian reaction to such a proposal. The proposal will recommend a higher degree of decentralization, as well as a transfer of jurisdiction to Kosovo province’s institutions, but that’s it,” a diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told KIM radio.

There is a belief that avoiding the inflammatory terminology would stabilize the situation and bring the two diametrically opposed views to some form of compromise.

New Round of Negotiations in February

Earlier, it was reported that a two-week round of fresh talks between Belgrade and Priština could take place in Vienna in February.

The BBC’s Albanian language service reported the news, quoting high international officials in Serbian province’s capital, Priština. According to the same source, the negotiation’s framework will be determined during the January 26 Contact Group meeting in Brussels, to be attended by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Albanian Muslim KLA Members Indicted for Massacring Serbian Christians

BELGRADE, Serbia, Jan. 19, 2007 — Belgrade war crimes prosecution has issued indictments against the terrorist Albanian Muslim Orahovac group, responsible for abduction, torture, rape and execution of 29 Serbian men, women and children, including an entire 11-member family in Kosovo in 1998.

Prosecution spokesman Bruno Vekaric stated that the Belgrade District Court War Crimes prosecution considers Sinan Morina, currently in custody, as one of the persons responsible for the crime.

The murdered Kosovo Serbs, whose remains were identified last year, lived in the villages of Opterusa and Retimlje, Orahovac municipality, in southern Serbian Kosovo-Metohija province. The prosecution charges that the gruesome crime took place in the nights between July 17 and 19, 1998.

Twenty nine victims were forced out of their homes, subjected to beatings and torture, stripped of their belongings, including their money and jewelery. The men and boys were then separated from the women and taken to Volujak, where they were further tortured and abused, and in the end executed. Their dismembered bodies were then thrown into a nearby cave.

The women and girls were taken to a different location, where they were raped, abused and imprisoned in a school in the village of Samodraze, Suva Reka municipality. Terrorist KLA Orahovac group members burnt the houses in both villages, after which they demolished and destroyed both Orthodox Christian churches in the two villages.

The prosecution suspects 35 persons of having committed the crime, but believes more may be involved. One of the suspects, Sinan Morina, is in custody, while others are believed to be in Serbian Kosovo province, which could present a problem as the process evolves.

“The prosecution suspects that the person recently transferred from Montenegro on terrorism charges is also among those responsible for the crimes committed against Kosovo-Metohija Christian Serbs near the Volujak cave, when 29 children and grown-ups were brutalized and executed”, Vekaric said.

“We expect the case to be taken over by the War crimes prosecution and that a request for the start of the investigation into the crime will ensue shortly,” concluded Serbian war crimes prosecutor, Vekaric.

Posted by Svetlana at 05:09 AM | Permalink

Former German Chancellor Schroeder Opposes the Imposed Solution for Serbian Kosovo Province

BELGRADE, Serbia, Jan. 19, 2007 — Former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has said that an imposed solution for Serbian Kosovo-Metohija province would be useless, and expressed belief that such a move will not be made after all.

In an interview for the Friday issue of the Belgrade daily Blic, former chancellor Schroeder assessed that since it was presiding over the European Union (EU), Germany should first and foremost insist that negotiations with Serbia on the signing of agreement on stabilization and association with the EU be resumed.

“I am convinced that Germany will do all in its power to encourage and assist the European integration of Serbia, in the way that we did in 2005 and after,” Schroeder said.

“The conclusion of the agreement on association and stabilization is only the first step in that process, but it is very important for ensuring that Serbia really joins the EU,” he said.

EU: Serious and Lengthy Negotiations After Ahtisaari’s Proposal

BRUSSELS, Belgium, Jan. 19, 2007 — The European Union expects a lengthy period of negotiations to ensue after United Nations special envoy Martti Ahtisaari presents his proposal for the future status of Serbian Kosovo and Metohija province, a senior official of Germany’s EU Presidency said in Brussels on Friday.

It is difficult to predict the duration of these negotiations, but they will be lengthy ones, depending on the proposal and the extent to which it will be accepted by the two sides, the German official said.

It is expected in Brussels that Ahtisaari will present his proposal on Feb 2.

The EU Ministerial Council will discuss this issue at a meeting on Monday, in the course of a working lunch dedicated to the elections in Serbia, but the German official expects the issue of the southern Serbian province and Ahtisaari’s proposal will be discussed more thoroughly at the next Council meeting, on Feb 12.

Serbia’s PM: Finn’s Proposal Will be a Surprise, Since He Held No Negotiations With Us

BELGRADE, Serbia, Jan. 18, 2007 - Serbia’s most powerful weapon in finding a solution to the final status of its Kosovo-Metohija province is the United Nations Charter, which has to be observed in the case of Serbia as well, that is in the case of the country’s territorial integrity and state sovereignty, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica assessed late on Thursday.

”No one can find a reason why the UN Charter ought to be violated in the case of Serbia, while observed in all other cases,” Kostunica pointed out, reminding that the integrity of every state represents the very foundations of the Charter.

In an interview to Pink TV Kostunica reminded that along with Russia, another permanent member of the UN Security Council, China, shares this opinion as well, adding that there are several European countries which also think in a similar manner, such as Romania, Slovakia, Greece, Cyprus and Spain.

“I think that the talks will soon have to be approached in a different way, at the very moment when Ahtisaari makes his proposal public,” Kostunica said, adding that the proposal will come as a surprise to the public, simply because no negotiations were held in the meantime.

Kostunica: We Shall Implement Any Solution that is in Keeping with the International Law and UN Charter

BANJA LUKA, Republika Srpska, Jan. 19, 2007 — Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said on Friday that the Serbian government would implement any solution on the future status of Kosovo-Metohija province which is in keeping with international law and the UN Charter, which guarantee states’ sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Speaking at a news conference in Banja Luka, Kostunica said that the framework for the resolution of the future status of Serbian Kosovo-Metohija province should be sought within the international constitution or the UN Charter, which represents the foundation of stability and security in the world.

He said that the Serbian government had proposed a solution for the future status of southern Serbian province, the main feature of which is essential autonomy, stressing that this was a compromise solution.

Cartoon by Nikola Otas

Posted by Svetlana at 03:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

EU Willing to Sacrifice Kosovo-Metohija Independence

MOSCOW, Russia, Jan. 18, 2007 (Novye Izvestiya, Tanjug) — Europe is considering the possibility of reaching a decision on unacceptability of independence for Serbian Kosovo-Metohija province, and is willing to sacrifice the “friendship” of Albanian Muslims in Serbian province in order to continue to have a predictable partner in current Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, the Russian daily Novye Izvestiya reported on Thursday.

Europe is willing to sacrifice the planned hijacking of the Serbian province of Kosovo-Metohija in order to prevent a victory of the Radicals in Serbia, the daily said, adding that pressure was being intensified from Brussels onto the Albanian Muslim leadership in the province which was urged to peacefully accept any possible outcome of the process of defining the status of the sovereign Serbian province.

The Russian daily also reports, quoting sources close to the Serbian Foreign Ministry, that Javier Solana’s Commissariat of Foreign Affairs and Security was considering the possibility that a decision be reached at the level of the EU Council of Ministers on unacceptability of independence for Serbian Kosovo province, which would be viewed in the Serbian public as a major diplomatic success of its current government.

Brussels which, according to the author of the text, has already become used to the moderate Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, is afraid of a possible victory of the Serbian Radical Party at the elections, and European emissaries are willing to do all they can in order to prevent Serbian Radicals from setting up a new government.

Cartoon by Ranko Guzina

Posted by Svetlana at 06:16 PM | Permalink

Behold Your Allies: White al-Qaeda Snake Pits — Bosnia and Kosovo

Arrested Kosovo Albanian is al-Qaeda Member from the Most Wanted Terror List

January 17, 2007, Austria — Albanian Muslim from Serbian province of Kosovo-Metohija that was arrested last month by the Austrian authorities at a Vienna Schwechat International Airport is a sought out intermediary for terror organizations across Europe and is in service of al-Qaeda, says Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung.

Dodu Ljucaj is a 55 year old Kosovo Albanian with terrorist experience acquired during terror attacks on Kosovo Serbs in the 1990s. In December of 2007, he was to detonate two bombs inside Montenegro parliament in a plot that involves 12 other Albanian Muslims, some of them US citizens.

As the bombing plot folded, 12 Albanian Muslims in Montenegro have been arrested, while Dodu Ljucaj managed to escape Montenegro and on a connecting flight in Vienna was arrested by the Austrian authorities. Kronen Zeitung says that terrorist Dodu Ljucaj was on a trip to the USA.

“Outwardly Dodu Ljucaj was calm... the more thorough examination caused the man to react suddenly nervous. To the policemen it became clear why: The 55-year old was on the terror list of the most wanted!” writes Kronen Zeitung.

“Around Dodu Ljucaj is a rope pulling him between USA and Montenegro. According to insiders this bomber is in demand intermediary for terror organizations — such as the deliverers of messages for entire Europe,” writes Kronen.

According to Kronen Zeitung, Dodu Ljucaj was an al-Qaeda member who was recruited, with promises of money, to be a “mole” for the CIA inside al-Qaeda. Kronen Zeitung is not clear whether the Kosovo Albanian was a “mole” inside al-Qaeda operation in southern Serbian province of Kosovo or throughout Europe.

“This explains also why the US Government wants to absolutely prevent his extradition to Montenegro,” concluded Kronen Zeitung.

Attempt at Fixing Some of the Bosnian War Blunders: Citizenships to Imported Bosnian Jihadists Revoked

January 15, 2007, Bosnia (Sources: Finacial Times, Tanjug) — Under pressure, Bosnia is revoking citizenship Alija Izetbegovic’s Islamic regime granted to thousands of foreign Muslim jihadists who came to the country to fight the Serbs in the civil wars that tore former Yugoslavia apart in the 1990s. Many of the Jihadists have stayed in Bosnia after the war, taking up residence in apartments and houses of Christian Serbs ethnically cleansed by the Muslims and married local Bosnian Muslim women.

The announcement that the first batch of passports had been canceled coincided last week with the decision of a Bosnian court to convict four men of planning a bomb attack on an unspecified European target.

“So far we have revoked 330 citizenships,” said Vjekoslav Vukovic, the head of a commission established to review the granting of about 1,500 passports since 1991.

“The majority of them are from African and Asian countries,” Mr. Vukovic said of the people whose citizenship had been revoked, adding that some 500 cases were still pending.

Previous U.S. Administration, CIA Actively Helped Foreign Mujahedeen’s Infiltration in the Balkans

With the tacit approval of Clinton administration and the U.S. State Department, thousands of Muslim jihadists arrived in Bosnia to fight as mujahideen, or “holy warriors,” during a 1991-1995 war of Bosnian Islamists against Serbs. Many obtained citizenships afterwards by marrying local women or as a reward for their “service” to the Bosnian Muslim jihadists. The worst atrocities against Christians have been committed by these foreign fighters and not a single one has been indicted by the Hague court.

Bosnia has come under suspicion in recent years as a potential base for terror cells and organizations that raise and launder money for groups linked to al-Qaeda.

Last week, two Bosnians, a Swede and a Turkish man were convicted of preparing a terrorist attack against a European target, with the intention of forcing western troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan [see below]. A fifth man was jailed last May after admitting involvement in the same plot.

Six Algerians were arrested in Bosnia in late 2001, on suspicion of planning attacks on the country’s US and British embassies. They have been held in the US-run Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba since early in 2002.

Biting the Hand that Feeds: White Al-Qaeda Organizes Terrorist Attacks on their Western Allies

Jan. 10, 2007, Bosnia — Four men were convicted Wednesday of plotting to blow up an unidentified European target and sentenced to lengthy prison terms, court officials said.

Prosecutors said the four men, two Bosnians, a Swede and a Turkish citizen, were preparing to launch a terror attack a European country to force to pull foreign troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. The exact target of the plot remains unclear.

Police found a “suicide belt” rigged with a powerful homemade explosive device; pistols; ammunition and a videotape outlining how to build a bomb when they raided a Sarajevo apartment in late 2005, prosecutors said.

Mirsad Bektasevic, 19, a Swedish citizen of Bosnian Muslim origin, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, and Abdulkadir Cesur, 18, a Turk who had been living in Denmark, was sentenced to 13 years for planning a terrorist act, court officials said.

Bosnian Muslim Bajro Ikanovic, 30, was sentenced to eight years for supplying them with explosives. The fourth defendant, Senad Hasanovic, also a Bosnian Muslim, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years for illegal possession of weapons and explosives. Both are Bosnian citizens.

A fifth suspect, Bosnian Amir Bajric, pleaded guilty in May and was sentenced in July to two years in prison for helping the group to purchase explosives.

The five were arrested in late 2005 following the raid on an apartment occupied by Bektasevic and Cesur.

The suspects planned “to commit a terrorist act on the territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina or some other European country” to force United States and other Western countries to pull their troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, prosecutor said during a May hearing at Bosnia’s State Court.

Dispatch to Balkan Mujahedeens: “Attack Those Who Are Killing Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan!”

The videotape included a voiceover saying: “Brothers are preparing for an attack here. They are showing you the things they will use in the attack. ... These brothers will attack ... those who are killing our brothers and Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

The voiceover said the attack was aimed against Europe.

Investigators have not yet managed to find out which country the men were plotting to attack and could only specify that it was a European country with soldiers were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Authorities in Denmark, Sweden and Britain have been cooperating in the investigation, officials said.

Cartoon by Nikola Otas

Posted by Svetlana at 05:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Reading the Signs

Few years before 9/11— a brutal attack on American civilians that some analysts believe was a direct consequence of deeply flawed U.S. foreign policies — the writing on the wall was both read and correctly interpreted by those who have the eyes to see and the ears to hear.

James George Jatras, a former policy analyst at the United States Senate and a Director of American Council for Kosovo belongs to those few and far-between capable of properly interpreting the ominous signs. In February 1999, before the U.S.-led NATO bombarded Serbia for three months, demanding that Serbian troops relinquish control of their southern province of Kosovo and Metohija in favor of the rampaging Albanian Muslim terrorists, James Jatras wrote Insurgent Islam and American Collaboration — a painfully straightforward, damning analysis showing that something as tragic as September 11 was bound to happen.

Western part of “Christendom” losing its identity is one piece of the puzzle. A thousand-year old bias against Eastern Orthodox Church is another. James Jatras dubbed it very aptly:

Pravoslavophobia

[...] It is hardly a surprise that business executives who would sell their grandmothers to Abdul Abulbul Amir for oil drilling rights would see the world as a reflection of their balance sheets, nor is it a surprise that secular, socially progressive opinion is viscerally anti-Christian.

What is not expected is that so many Western Christians, Americans in particular, are willing to believe the worst about their Eastern Christian cousins, who, only lately freed from Islamic (and later, in most cases, communist) servitude, are desperately attempting to avoid a repeat of the experience.

Today, when all of the Russian North Caucasus is subject to plunder and hostage-taking raids staged from Shari’a-ruled Chechnya, when not just Nagorno-Karabakh but Armenia proper is in danger of a repeat of 1915, when Cyprus and Greece receive unvarnished threats to their territorial integrity on a weekly basis for the offense of purchasing defensive weapons, and when the borders of Serbia are rapidly approaching those of the pashaluk of Belgrade in order to appease America’s new friends in Bosnia and Kosovo, organized Roman Catholic and Protestant sentiment in America overwhelmingly sides with non- and anti-Christian elite opinion in its pro-Muslim, anti-Orthodox tendency.

Western Christians Urging Military Intervention on Behalf of Islamic Regime in Sarajevo

For example, in 1993, statements were issued by a number of Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Anglican spokesmen in the United States urging military intervention on behalf of the Islamic regime in Sarajevo. “We are convinced that there is just cause to use force to defend largely helpless people in Bosnia against aggression and barbarism that are destroying the very foundations of society and threaten large numbers of people,” wrote the chairman of the U.S. [Roman] Catholic Conference, at a time when the Muslim beneficiaries of the intervention were not only impaling Serb POWs on spits but also were slaughtering Roman Catholic Croats by the hundreds in an offensive in central Bosnia. “What is going on in Bosnia is genocide by any other name,” observed a prominent Baptist spokesman. “The ghosts of Auschwitz and Dachau have come back to haunt us. If we do nothing we are morally culpable.” “Those of us who opposed the Gulf War believed that war was not the answer,” opined the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, “but today we find ourselves confronted with an evil war, the sure elimination of which may be possible only by means of armed intervention.” Thus did the high-minded guardians of the West’s Christian integrity give their blessing for NATO to aid the resumption of jihad in Europe. Granted, they were to some extent victims of the melodramatic media coverage that has characterized the Balkan war, but that is not much of an excuse: Who told them to believe everything dished up by CNN?

In a previous article in Chronicles, I have noted that Western anti-Orthodox bias, which I have dubbed Pravoslavophobia, rarely means antipathy for Orthodoxy as such. Most serious Protestants and Roman Catholics often have a fairly positive attitude toward Orthodox Christianity as a morally conservative and liturgically traditional bulwark within the spectrum of Christian opinion. Perhaps it has been so long since Western Christians have had to defend themselves physically as Christians (as opposed to Americans, Englishmen, Germans, etc.) that they just do not understand those for whom it is a current concern.

Renounce Orthodoxy or We’ll Throw You to the Wolves — Again

On the other hand, there are Westerners for whom antipathy is based on the traditional Orthodox character of the front-line states bordering on Islam. Indeed, from this viewpoint, the desire of these countries to avoid not only islamicization but Westernization as well is a major count against them. Though differing in the specifics, the overall attitude toward Orthodox nations today is strongly reminiscent of that of the West toward the East as the dying Byzantine, Bulgarian, and Serbian states faced Ottoman conquest in the 15th century. The West then was explicit: We will help you only if you renounce Orthodoxy and adopt Roman Catholicism. The Orthodox East is being told today that unless they unquestioningly submit to the West’s tutelage in political, social, moral, and economic matters—the collective “religion” of the Enlightenment heritage—they again will be thrown to the wolves. In fact, the West will even help the wolves to devour them.

West’s Own Fate Depends on the Survival of Orthodox Christian Civilization

The immorality, not to mention the stupidity, of this should be obvious. Maybe Christians will never come to agreement on doctrinal matters; maybe the East will insist on retaining its distinctive religious and cultural heritage. Whatever happens, the survival of Orthodox Christian civilization in the East should be hardly less important to the West than to the Orthodox themselves, and indeed over the long term, the West’s own fate may depend on it. The fact that the West cannot recognize this reality is evident in the forest of minarets going up mainly in Western Europe but also now in North America.

Some Christians see the Muslim influx primarily as an opportunity for evangelization, and indeed we should never neglect to share the Gospel, the only real liberation, with Muslims, who should not, as individuals, be held responsible for the violent system into which they were born and of which they are—perhaps more than anyone else—victims. At the same time, in light of the growing volume of Muslim immigration, Western Christians will soon find out—maybe sooner than they think, given Western birthrates—that confronting the Islamic advance has become, as it has always been for Eastern Christians, a simple matter of physical survival. But by that time, it may be too late for the West as well.

Entire article by James George Jatras »

Posted by Svetlana at 12:05 AM | Permalink

President Putin: Russia Will Oppose Any Settlement that Violates Serbia’s Integrity

BELGRADE, Serbia, Jan. 15, 2007 (Sources: Associated Press, Tanjug) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered assurances Monday that Moscow would oppose any settlement for the Serbian Kosovo province that violates Serbia’s integrity.

Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica spoke in Belgrade after a telephone conversation with President Putin in Moscow. During the conversation the Russian leader told Serbian Prime Minister that “the U.N. Security Council cannot support a solution by the special U.N. envoy for Kosovo Martti Ahtisaari that is not acceptable to Belgrade.”

Putin said in September that his country would use its veto power in the U.N. Security Council if it disagrees with a proposal by Ahtisaari.

Ahtisaari last year mediated mostly inconclusive talks on Kosovo’s future. In a few weeks, he is expected to propose a solution, “possibly some form of supervised independence” for the southern Serbian province. The province’s Albanian Muslim population wants independence, but Belgrade has vowed never to agree to the amputation of part of its sovereign territory.

Kremlin Statement: Any Proposal Must Be Acceptable to Serbia

A Kremlin statement said that during a telephone conversation, President Putin affirmed Russia’s fundamental position on the issue of Kosovo province — that any proposal must be acceptable to Serbia.

Ahtisaari’s widely anticipated but as yet-unannounced proposal would need U.N. Security Council approval before becoming an internationally accepted solution for the Serbian province, which has been under the NATO/UN administration since June 1999, after the end of 78 day US-led NATO bombardment of Serbia.

“President Putin has stressed that a solution must be derived from the principles of territorial integrity and sovereignty of existing countries,” Kostunica told reporters, reiterating that Serbia cannot and will not accept the loss of 15 percent of its territory.

Legally an integral part of Serbia, Kosovo province has been run by a U.N. mission and NATO troops since the 1999 war between Serbian army and Albanian Muslim separatists. Won on the ground by the Serbian army, the war instigated the punitive aggression by the U.S./NATO which bombed Serbia for three months, demanding that Serbian troops be pulled out of their southern province.

Moscow has not specified what solution for Kosovo it would like to see, but Kostunica said Putin believes anything without consent from both sides would “lead to unnecessary conflicts.”

Serbia’s Prime Minister thanked the Russian President for the support, adding that “Putin’s word has brought about a turnaround” in debates on Serbian province’s future.

Contrary to Russian support, the United States has repeatedly signaled to Serbia that it should “drop” its opposition to the hijacking of their province.

Prime Minister Karamanlis: Greece Backs Mutually Acceptable Solution for Kosovo

BELGRADE, Serbia (ANA-MPA - A. Panagopoulos), Jan. 17, 2007 — Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis underlined Athens’ backing for a mutually acceptable solution in Kosovo that would define and promote its multi-ethnic character, following talks with Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica in Belgrade on Tuesday.

Karamanlis stressed that Greece, as a country within the region, was fully aware of the need for such a solution for the security and stability of southeastern Europe.

Kostunica said that a solution must be based on compromise and must be in agreement with international law, while respecting the borders and the integrity of the country.

He said that Serbia would not accept any solution that did not respect international law and the United Nations charter, nor any solution that was imposed and did not arise through compromise.

The Serbian Premier also stressed that compromise could only be achieved through negotiations and voiced complaints about the lack of movement in UN-led negotiations over the past six months, though noting that UN special envoy for Kosovo Martti Ahtisaari was expected to present his proposals on January 26, shortly after general elections taking place in Serbia on Sunday.

Karamanlis and Kostunica also discussed the construction of new roadways to enhance infrastructure in the area.

Earlier on Tuesday, after being received by Serbian President Boris Tadic, Karamanlis had stressed that the solution for Kosovo province must respect human and minority rights, while providing protection to the Serbian Orthodox Church in the province.

The Greek Prime Minister underlined that all sides must avoid unilateral actions that attempt to preempt the results of the process now underway.

President Tadic: Autonomy, Not Independence

Tadic stressed that Belgrade could not accept any form of independence for Kosovo and said that this would lead to destabilization, noting that the Serbian position could be summed up as “full autonomy, not independence”. He also underlined that Serbian policy for southern Kosovo province will not be affected by the upcoming elections.

The Greek prime minister expressed hope that Serbian general elections on Sunday would be carried out in a way that demonstrated the country’s democratic maturity to the international community, adding that a democratic government with a European orientation would accelerate the rate of progress toward the EU after the polls. He noted that the climate toward Serbia within the EU was more positive than in the past.

Posted by Svetlana at 04:25 AM | Permalink

When Will World Confront the Undead of Croatia?

Article by Julia Gorin

President Bush recently echoed Vice President Dick Cheney’s support for Croatia to join the European Union, a bid that has been stalled because of the former Yugoslav republic’s slowness to own up to and prosecute its 1990s war crimes and its failure to ensure protections and rights for minorities, including returning Serb refugees.

Croatia also faces the possibility of being excluded from the 2008 European soccer championship because when an Italian team’s fans taunted the Croatian team’s fans at a match in August by waving Yugoslavia’s old communist flag, the other side took great offense and showed the competition what it was really made of: They formed a giant human swastika and gave Nazi salutes.

Old habits are hard to break. “In World War II, Hitler had no executioners more willing, no ally more passionate, than the fascists of Croatia,” A. M. Rosenthal wrote in The New York Times in 1998. “They are returning, 50 years later, from what should have been their eternal grave, the defeat of Nazi Germany. The Western Allies who dug that grave with the bodies of their servicemen have the power to stop them, but do not.”

In 1995, The London Evening Standard’s Edward Pearce wrote that “you can understand Croatia best by saying flatly that if there is one place in the world where a statue of Adolf Hitler would be revered, it would be Zagreb,” Croatia’s capital.

And The Washington Times reported: “A German tank rolls through a small village, and the peasants rush out, lining the road with their right arms raised in a Nazi salute as they chant, ‘Heil Hitler.’ Mobs chase minorities from their homes, kicking them and pelting them with eggs as they flee into the woods. Europe in the 1940s? No. Croatia in the 1990s.”

Last month Croatian TV broadcast video of a speech made 10 years ago by Stjepan Mesic, now Croatia’s president. Mr. Mesic is seen saying, “This thing they’re asking Croats to do: go kneel in [Croatian concentration camp] Jasenovac ... we have no reason to kneel anywhere. We Croats have won twice in World War II, while all the others did it only once. We won on April 10, when the Axis powers recognized Croatia’s independence, and we won after the war since we once again found ourselves with the victors.”

Such were the “allies” to whom retired American generals were dispatched in the 1990s to train against the Serbs and help restore Croatia to its Hitler-defined borders. (We later did the same for Kosovo, whose independence we continue to push for.) One has to wonder at the ubiquitous “Nazi” analogies hurled at the Serbs — the designated villains of the Balkans — considering that this analogy was started by a former Nazi state that in 1995 ethnically cleansed 350,000 Serbs and by its Muslim former apprentices who helped kill hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Jews and other undesirables in 40 of Croatia’s World War II concentration camps.

One has to wonder also because Croatia (along with Bosnia and Kosovo) hired American PR firms to make the analogy stick. Sure enough, our policymakers and our media — on the same page when it comes to the Balkans — bought it and recycled the propaganda to us, and continue to do so today. This despite the fact that our ally, President Franjo Tudjman — the “Father of Croatia” — was about to be hit with a war crimes indictment that was finally, slowly and quietly being prepared by the United Nations, allowing him to die a free man. (As was the case with wartime Bosnian-Muslim leader Alija Izetbegovic, a fundamentalist who asked to be buried “next to the martyrs.”)

To placate the European powers, Croatia has finally apprehended two of its most notorious criminals from the Balkan wars, Ante Gotovina and Branimir Glavas — despite the move being very unpopular because, as with Bosnian and Albanian Serb-killers, Croatian Serb killers are national heroes.

While to the world, “Serb” is synonymous with “war criminal,” Croatians, Albanians and Bosnians accused of war crimes get acquitted, or get convicted and released to a hero’s welcome, or go unpunished and pursue political careers, as is the case with indicted war criminal and Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku (and Ramush Haradinaj before him). All the while, we refuse to admit our 1990s alliance in Croatia with Nazi sympathizers, and in Bosnia and Kosovo with forces supplied and trained by al-Qaida, Iran and others.

A recent breakthrough occurred in October, when Zarko Puhovski, the Croatian president of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, said on a radio program that war crimes in the Croatian town of Osijek are still unsolved because 1990s Croatia was a place where killing Serbs was normal. “In the first few years it was normal to kill Serbs, then it was normal to forget they had been killed, and now we finally talk about it,” he said.

The Serbs weren‘t angels, but they are the only Balkans players to have admitted as much and actively done something about it. The media, our policymakers and our filmmakers still refuse to take the messier but more accurate view of the Balkans. For it is the more daunting task, one that could force the realization that the Serbs weren’t just fighting their enemies; they were fighting ours.

Nazism is not “part of the ugly past.” It was not a bout of madness that has been straightened out. The undead are among us.

Julia Gorin is a member of the Advisory Board of