Kosovo Sovereignty – Moon of Alabama

December 13, 2007

Kosovo Sovereignty

by Debs is Dead
lifted from a comment

‘Newfie’ Gwynne Dyer has just written an interesting piece on the unraveling Kosovo conundrum. I have included a link from my local fishwrap, the article will be syndicated through "liberal in name" rags around the planet.

In this article Dyer discusses the the cleft stick the EU nations
find themselves in over Kosovo and Russian opposition to independence.

The problem is that while no one likes Russia or their new
hydrocarbon pricing structure, and they certainly support some airy
fairy wish like "all Kosovars should be free" they like the notion of
forcing a sovereign state to fragment against it’s will, even less.

Who? What? Why? Could people possibly think that a culturally
distinct minority shouldn’t be allowed to up sticks and create their
own state?

Well how about Spain (the Basques), Cyprus (the Turks), and Romania
(Magyars and Roma). That’s just for a start the English wouldn’t be
happy if the Welsh or Scots rediscovered their balls and flicked away
hundreds of years of oppression, neither would France (Basque and
Catalan) or probably even Germany – Bernhard; I imagine there are still
some minorities in the East who didn’t get free when Germany was carved
up after the Nazi defeat, aren’t there?

We forget – those of us that live in the ‘New World’, exactly how
tribal and bloody ethnic conflicts were throughout Europe. In fact
delve too far and you’ll probably find that if your ancestors jumped
ship into the New World back before life in the New World was imagined
to be materially superior to that of Europe, and you’ll probably find
your forebears were fleeing some such conflict. (Mine was
Catholic/Protestant, Scots fleeing from english oppression post
Culloden, and anti-semitism, a good healthy cross section of what was
going around Europe in the 17th and 18th hundreds – yet it’s all forgotten,
just one example – probably the most popular stop for my nieces and
nephews gathering their post graduation O.E. (Overseas Experience as it
is known here) is with the proddy relatives of my great grandmother in
Armagh. No one ever mentions why the long lost errant son (her father)
had to leave, that he took a catholic wife)

It is worth noting that the most vociferous objection to the
succession of Kosovo comes from EU newbies Romania and Cyprus who just
don’t understand.

Consistency and precedent have never been an integral part of
Western European politics, the imaginative chap who devises the
rationale for a Kosavar state is more than capable of finding reasons
why it wouldn’t count in Cyprus, or to the Magyars of Romania, as for
the gypsies, well no one need worry about that. When is the last time
anyone got called a Nazi for telling a good gypsy joke?

Never the less as Dyer points out this is quite a conundrum. There
is no way that any support for a Kosovo free from Serbian influence is
legal. That and the opposition of the newbies, does raise a much bigger
question.

How much longer are we (ordinary shit kickers) going to pledge
support for such a manifestly unfair system. A system of laws about
sovereignty which has changed little from the days of the divine right
of kings to rule?

The only real hope for the future of the human being as an
individual is if we can organise ourselves into small (no bigger than a
couple of million people) state-lets which are largely self governing
apart from the guarantee of basic human rights to all citizens.

Yet it is illegal for even ethnically distinct groups of humans to get together and democratically decide to secede.

Obviously rules about such succession need to quite sophisticated,
be developed to prevent situations like Israel from occurring, where
culturally distinct geographical groupings have been created by force,
but how do we do that?

Until some peak multilateral forum such as the UN general assembly
does force a change to international law to legitimise ‘liberation
movements’ violence and injustice will prevail. Yet even those African
and Asian states created over brandy and cigars at some European town
cum holiday resort are unable to lawfully reorganize into more just and
administratively sensible sovereign entities, so how the hell are the
Kosovars, Roma or Turkomen ever going to be free?

Posted by b on December 13, 2007 at 06:58 UTC | Permalink

Comments

At Counterpunch Diana Johnstone writes about The Next Kosovo War

The Albanians and Serbs have totally opposing views of the very history of the disputed province of Kosovo. The role of diplomacy is to take such conflicting views of reality into account. It means avoiding pushing one party to a dispute into a humiliating corner. It involves seeking to promote mutual respect and understanding, at least enough to accept compromise.
Instead, the United States, followed by its irresponsible European allies, has from the start endorsed the extreme Albanian nationalist view, treating Serbia as a “rogue state” that does not deserve the normal protection of international law. Washington has orchestrated two rounds of totally sham “negotiations”, whose conclusions it dictated from the start, on behalf of its Albanian clients. The first round took place at Rambouillet, leading to the 1999 NATO bombing of Serbia and occupation of Kosovo. The second round took place this year, leading to what could be another, more muted but longer, unpredictable conflict.

“If there is ever another war in Europe, it will come out of some damned foolish thing in the Balkans.” – Otto von Bismark

Posted by: b | Dec 13 2007 7:04 utc | 1

A commentator at the Guardian adds this:

SILLY QUESTION TIME ….starring a criminally overpaid dominatrix and cynical QUIZMASTER!!!!!!!!!!!
1. ‘Where is the MONEY?’ asked the CQ
Chorus of wise fools answers: ‘In the US and W. Europe’
2. ‘Where is all the energy?’ asked the CQ
Chorus answers:’In the Middle east and Caspian region’
3. ‘How can we get oil and gas from the Caspian region to Europe (as the Bosphorus is blocked and it can take oil and gas tankers two weeks to get through)?’ asked the CQ
Chorus answers:’Through the Southern Balkans by pipelines ‘
4.’ Would a Greater Serbia get in the way of such a plan?’ asked the CQ
Chorus answers: ‘Of course not’
5. ‘How to remove the threat?’
Chorus of wise fools answer: ‘accuse them of ethnic cleansing and use new improved liberal interventionism and regime change, the best political cleansing tools known to man’
Commercial break time……………….
Subsidiary questions by CONSPIRACY GRANDMA:
‘Remember Saddam? (Was he executed by Shi’ites to increase ethnic tensions?)’
‘Remember Slobodan? (Did he die in custody by any chance?)’
‘COINCIDENCE TIME!’ said conspiracy Grandma
Program resumes…………………
6 Curious Question Time: ‘Why are Moslem ”insurgents” in the southern Balkans innocent victims and ‘freedom fighters’ fighting for self-determination (and in need of armed intervention to support them), whereas ”Moslems” in Iraq and Afghanistan are ‘fanatical extremists’ who need to be invaded and controlled?’ asked the cynical quizmaster
(Note common factor: armed western intervention)’ said conspiracy Grandma. Surprised?

Posted by: b | Dec 13 2007 9:00 utc | 2

Kosovo is to Serbia what Chechnya is to Russia. And neither Serbia nor Russia wants to lose one of its provinces. Talk about setting a bad precedent.

Posted by: ralphieboy | Dec 13 2007 16:19 utc | 3

Kosovo will not declare independence until Washington and the EU permit it.
Hashim, our ould terrorist friend, Albright pal, has said so quite clearly (Thaci.)
This may unfold in April – May or later.
First, the KFOR will have to be somehow ‘recycled.’ The 16 000+ soldiers main task is protecting the Serbs in their enclaves. Who are closer to 150 and 200 thousand, I think. (Looking at various sources.)
The Serbs are really locked in – not by papers and controls – but by history, culture, habit, and since 9 years the MINUK. Serbian children go to their ‘own’ schools and learn Russian and English. (A recipe for disaster. ..)
Somehow, the Serbs will have to be protected. One plan, which will certainly be realized, is decided, is to send some 2000 policemen and legal experts – but how to replace or re-validate the soldiers? Something will be hammered out. Note that neither the UN plan, nor the recent letter by the original movers speaks of ‘independence.’
Albin Kurti, the ‘student’ leader, ‘Self Determination’ – has called for ‘territorial integrity’ without spelling out the actions to achieve it. He was arrested again recently by the Minuk and is now, afaik, under curfew and ‘night’ house arrest. He -perhaps not directly- but certainly his supporters see Kosovo as ruled today by the Int’l community, the local, some say Albanian, Mafia, and ex terrorists, all in cahoots in corrupt dance. Many young Kosovars agree, and have tremendous, misguided, hopes for ‘independence’. Kurti’s arguments are spoiled by his uber-nationalism and opportunistic if subdued ethnic ‘hate.’ It worked for others, I guess is the idea…
So, second, these ppl have to be neutralised, as attacks on the remaining Serbs will NOT be allowed to happen. Dreams of independence can only go so far, or be supported at some advantageous point.
In Pristina, the Kfor and the Minuk are lit by powerful generators. Elsewhere, the electricity is OFF. The similarities with Iraq are too dismaying. Half (? or more) of the money poured in by the EU has vanished. Water is a problem as well. Human trafficking. And so on.
The US has a conflict with Israel on this matter, but seems set on going ahead.
letter from the diplomats: link, best i could find on google
one link on Kurti from the Xtian Sci. Monit.

Posted by: Tangerine | Dec 13 2007 17:52 utc | 4

As a backgrounder a long good piece: The Dismantling of Yugoslavia: A Study in Inhumanitarian Intervention (and a Western Liberal-Left Intellectual and Moral Collapse)

The journalistic and historical narratives that were imposed upon these wars have systematically distorted their nature, and were deeply prejudicial, downplaying the external factors that drove Yugoslavia’s breakup while selectively exaggerating and misrepresenting the internal factors. Perhaps no civil wars—and Yugoslavia suffered multiple civil wars across several theaters, at least two of which remain unresolved—have ever been harvested as cynically by foreign powers to establish legal precedents and new categories of international duties and norms. Nor have any other civil wars been turned into such a proving ground for the related notions of “humanitarian intervention” and the “right [or responsibility] to protect.” Yugoslavia’s conflicts were not so much mediated by foreign powers as they were inflamed and exploited by them to advance policy goals.

Posted by: b | Dec 13 2007 18:10 utc | 5

Today, from the Guardian:
excerpt:
A draft statement by European leaders, obtained by the Reuters news agency today, said that if Serbia helped end the stalemate, “progress on the road towards the EU … can be accelerated”.
However, the Serbian foreign minister, Vuk Jeremic, said a “trade-off” was “out of the question”.
“It would be an indecent proposal, and European leaders are decent people, they have not made such an offer,” he told Reuters. (my ital)
(..)
Preparations for the EU mission to Kosovo, replacing the UN, are far advanced within the office of Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy coordinator.
EU officials say the mission could be dispatched “tomorrow” if a green light were given. But the 27 member states remain split over Kosovo despite months of trying to reach consensus.
(and so on…)
link

Posted by: Tangerine | Dec 14 2007 17:11 utc | 6

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