After much hemming and hawing, the International Court of Justice finally declared today that the "declaration of independence" by the Albanian provisional government in the occupied Serbian province of Kosovo did not violate international law, or UNSCR 1244.
Seriously?
Certainly there is no law against declaring independence. But that doesn't mean "Kosovo" had the right to do so. Under UNSCR 1244, it had to remain a part of Serbia - even if under temporary UN control - pending the outcome of status talks. But there were never any talks - there was just NATO messenger Martti Ahtisaari, declaring that Kosovo ought to become an independent, Albanian state. And Serbia was told to take it or leave it.
Technical details, you'll say. After all, the Albanians are such an overwhelming majority. But you never wonder how they got to be such a majority over the past century. Could it be because they sided with the Austrians, the Nazis, the Communists, and NATO - every time at the expense of the Serbs? Between the murder and expulsion of non-Albanians, and the highest birthrates in Europe (much higher than in the neighboring Albania, and unrelated to the level of education), no wonder the Albanians are a majority today. Yet they claim they have historically been the victims of oppression....
But weren't there Serb atrocities? Genocide, mass ethnic cleansing, tens of thousands killed? In short, no. Lies your friendly NATO spokesman fed you to go along with the program. The KLA was romanticized by the media as this idealistic, young, progressive freedom-fighting movement. KLA hats are New York chic. Surely these people have nothing to do with jihadism, and all the church-burning and throat-slitting and bus-bombing - if you've ever heard of them, to begin with - are just righteous revenge for whatever evils the Serbs must have committed to merit such treatment. But then, what of the Albanian behavior in the 1980s, before any of the alleged Serb atrocities had taken place?
This isn't about democracy. It isn't about liberty. There is no such thing as a "Kosovar" ; it is just a matter of time and convenience before the "independent" Kosovo merges into Greater Albania (or "ethnic Albania," as its advocates claim). Meanwhile, Kosovo still buys most of its power, even most of its bread, from the rest of Serbia. Its "government" is a collection of murderous mobsters; between them, they've killed more Albanians than the Serbs were ever accused of.
Oh sure, the U.S. government, much of the EU and many of their client states elsewhere recognize the "Republic of Kosovo." And I suppose more will jump on the bandwagon now, as the propaganda mill spins the ICJ verdict as "justice". But saying something exists doesn't make it so.
No, dear reader, it really isn't as simple as the mainstream media, the State Department, NATO, and now even the ICJ would have you believe.
I know many of you out there can't be bothered to care about this. What's it to you that some country out there got robbed of a piece of land, along with its dignity? But if fabricating and exaggerating atrocities to attack and occupy a country on behalf of a separatist, terrorist movement, isn't illegal... then what, pray tell, is?
You may not care about it now, because the people being bullied are the Serbs, a people you've been told was OK - nay, necessary even - to hate and despise. But tomorrow, it may happen to you. And then it will be too late.
7 comments:
Ugh, I hate the ICJ. This whole Kosovo thing is so stupid. Thanks for the article--I linked to it in my latest blog entry.
And by the way, I didn't realise you had a blog in Serbian until I lurked your Blogger profile this evening. I assume соко means "falcon" in Serbian?
Thanks for the link!
That is correct; I started the Serbian version some months after Falcon, and then it sort of assumed a life of its own, to the extent that I publish more on that blog these days.
Falcon, do you know what was the situation in Kosovo before 1999 in regard to land ownership? How much of the land would be owned by Serbs and Albanians respectively and how much of it was state owned?
I have the feeling Albanians had individual titles to rather less than 90% of the land.
Hero, I don't have the numbers handy, but I recall reading that over 50% of the land used to be privately owned by the Serbs. The Church also owned much land (which was only partially restored under Milosevic). However, the Albanians have been steadily expropriating the land ever since the occupation, and much property has been "privatized" (i.e. turned over to Albanians) by UNMIK as well.
For the life of me I do not understand why is any of this treated as a shocking surprise.
Tadich and Jeremich more than knew what the outcome would be. They went to court to further their agenda: lose Kosovo without losing popular support.
Any discussion or interpretation of the ruling is meaningless. Even if there were any meaning to it Tadich has rendered it meaningless by repeatedly saying - and now the Skupstina said the same - we shall do nothing to reclaim Kosovo.
Could someone please change the record? This one is getting old.
Simon, I am sure there is a point you are trying to make, but I'm not sure what precisely it may be.
I was saying back in December 2009 that this whole thing was an exercise in smoke and mirrors, and that Tadic set out to lose. But did you honestly expect the verdict to be worded exactly the way it was? And how is discussing that "meaningless"? Perhaps it has no further bearing on Serbia, but it certainly has on the rest of the world.
If by "changing the record" you mean getting rid of the quisling coterie and the ideology that animates it, I am all for that. Been working on it for quite some time, actually, while the majority of Serbs prefer to just stand there and bitch instead.
But if you mean I should shut up and trudge along, then I'm going to have to disappoint you. Never been much for trudging, myself.
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