Posted on 02/20/2006 3:35:30 PM PST by kronos77
REGNUM: What parallels can be set between Kosovo and South Ossetia deriving from a possibility that Kosovo independence can be recognized?
Of course, analogies can be set between the Kosovo variant and our situation, if we put Georgia on the place of Serbia and South Ossetians instead of Albanians. Each conflict is backed by forces of more powerful states. Well, it is clear that the US stands behind Kosovo, and Russia stands behind us. But in our case it is more comprehendible and grounded, as we used to live in a single country. It is natural that Russia has its interests here, and Russians live here. If Western countries recognize Kosovo, they would do what they allegedly condemn. Putin has put it straight forward that such a decision grants opportunities for action to Russia.
(Excerpt) Read more at regnum.ru ...
Balkan ping! If anyone wants to be added/removed from my Balkan ping list, please FRmail me.
Thank You
It is simplest as it can be. Man said it all.
Why some idiot back in 1991 when Yugoslavia started to fall apart thought that fallof multhniethnical countries will stop on Yugoslavia?
Why some idiot belived in 1999 that it will end with Serbia?
Why today some idiot belive that it will end with kosovo?
It is like some quasi scientist says: "Lets brake an atom, byt i belive that only three will breake and other 300 billion won`t. Darling, put out the lights, I want to see atom splitting!"
Pre-1989 Albanian Rule in Kosovo Discriminated Against ALL non-Albanian Minorities
Kosovo was an integral part of Serbia when the area was conquered by the Turks in the fifteenth century. In Serbian history books it is often called Old Serbia. Albanians began arriving in the seventeenth century during the Turkish occupation. It has been recognized as an integral part of Serbia by the international community since 1912.
When the Axis powers invaded and dismembered Yugoslavia in 1941, they attached Kosovo and Albanian-speaking regions of Montenegro, Macedonia, and Greece to Albania to form a greater Albania under the rule of a fascist dictator. The Kosovo Albanians formed military units to fight for the Nazis, killed more than 10,000 Kosovo Serbs, and drove more than 100,000 out of the province into the rest of Serbia. They brought immigrants in from Albania to fortify the Albanian presence in the province.
When the Croatian Communist dictator Tito came to power in Yugoslavia in 1945, he forbade the Serbian refugees to return to their homes in Kosovo. He then signed a deal with the new Communist dictator of Albania to bring in another 100,000 Albanian settlers. The Albanian majority in Kosovo appears to date from the years around World War II.
An upsurge of Albanian Kosovo violence in 1969-1974 caused another 200,000 Serbs and Montenegrins to leave Kosovo and gave Tito an excuse to separate Kosovo from Serbia. He made it an autonomous province under the total control of the now Albanian majority.
Autonomy under Kosovo Albanian control did not result in ethnic peace. Once in control of the province, the Kosovo Albanians continued harassing non-Albanians through legal and extralegal means. They required Gypsies to use Albanian first names. They enacted zoning legislation designed to break up non-Albanian residential communities. They outlawed use of the Cyrillic alphabet even among the Serbs, who had always used it. They refused to permit federal authorities to participate in census-taking, claiming they didn't know how to count Albanians.
The Kosovar Albanians required mandatory instruction in Albanian for all inhabitants of Kosovo, and they imported history and social science texts books from Albania for use in the schools. These taught Albanian nationalism rather than Yugoslav citizenship and praised the era of Turkish control over the Balkans.
There were continuing incidents of violence against Serbs and frequent attacks on Orthodox churches, shrines, and monasteries. More Serbs and Montenegrins left. Ignoring Yugoslav immigration laws, the Albanian Kosovars permitted more illegal aliens to immigrate from Albania. By the early 80s, the province was three-fourths Albanian, large numbers of them born in Albania.
After Tito's death, there was another upsurge of Albanian violence beginning in 1981. Throughout the 80s, Western news media, including the New York Times, reported on the ongoing murders and rapes of Serbs and Montenegrins perpetrated by Albanians, the constant attacks on Orthodox churches and monasteries, and the inability of the local Albanian authorities ever to punish anyone.
Yugoslavia finally reversed the autonomy decision in 1989 because of obstructionist constitutional tactics by the Kosovo provincial government. This decision was not a unilateral act of Slobodan Milosevich, the newly elected president of Serbia, though he pushed for it. It was made jointly by all the republics of Yugoslavia, including Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, and Macedonia.
Forgot to add:
The author of the above article is Dr. Stephen K. Stoan (Ph.D. History, Duke University, 1970; Director of Library and Information Services, Drury College)
The KLA thugs were clearly the instigators of the conflict but their "victory" is only short-lived. Peace and justice will return to Kosovo alongside the Serb Army.
Seven years later, U.S. State Department still diplomatically supports Islamic terrorists in Kosovo.
What are you talking about?
I know the subject matter quite well, its your post that I was refering to.
Ah, ok, now it reads clearer! Thanks!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.