Posted on 11/30/2008 3:12:35 PM PST by Bokababe
BERLIN (AFP)--Germany had to press Kosovo to win the release of three of its nationals held as part of a probe into a bomb attack in Pristina, and is now considering cutting aid, a source told AFP Sunday.
"Nothing has been decided but it is accurate that a certain amount of pressure was exercised and that these considerations are taking place," the source with knowledge of bilateral ties said, confirming a report in the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag.
The newspaper reported Sunday that Berlin had brought "massive pressure" to bear on the Kosovan authorities to have the three men, who reportedly work for German intelligence, released over the weekend.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief of staff, Thomas de Maziere, called the prime minister of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, Tuesday and threatened to cap aid, particularly for defense, WAMS said.
Germany is Kosovo's primary financial backer after the U.S. It has pledged EUR100 million in aid for 2009 and 2010.
The three Germans, reportedly working for the BND foreign intelligence service, were captured Nov. 19 and accused of involvement in the bombing of the Pristina headquarters of European Union special envoy Pieter Feith.
Kosovo and German media reports said the trio were investigating the blast for the BND. Since they were not registered with the Kosovan government, however, they had no diplomatic immunity.
A U.N. court in Pristina ordered their release Friday and the three left Kosovo Saturday.
Last week, a German government spokesman had angrily dismissed as "absurd" the notion that Berlin could have been involved in an attack on an E.U. envoy.
The Pristina attack, in which no one was injured, came amid opposition by Kosovo Albanians to the planned deployment in December of an E.U. civilian mission focused on police, the judiciary and customs, under a deal reached between the U.N. and Serbia.
The US pledged $400M
Frankly, Angela Merkel was a moron to push for giving Kosovo to the enemies of Europe. As for Bush, I don’t know what got into him, but he was a moron, too.
I’d expect clinton to do the kind of thing he did in Kosovo, but it’s very distressing that Bush gave his support to these illegal and very stupid activities.
A terrorist leader of an outlaw providence happens to catch some Germans spies acting like terrorists and the German government threatens to defund the outlaw providence and it’s terrorist leader?
Just what kind of bizarro world is this?
Unfortunately "the world" we are living in!
Boggles the mind, doesn't it?
Yes, McCain was lousy on this issue. But at this point, he’s political toast.
Yeah...Germans are part of the problem.
Billions of dollars have disappeared in the rathole of Kosovo—enough to give every Shiptar muslim one million dollars.
Thanks to the US taxpayer.
Thank God!
I may not have wanted Obama, but I was just as afraid of a McCain victory as I was an Obama victory -- maybe more.
“...but it’s very distressing that Bush gave his support to these illegal and very stupid activities.”
Distressing, perhaps. But not at all surprising. History most likely won’t be very kind to Bush, whether written by liberals or conservatives.
Bttt
In that case, Germany at least had something to gain from that. I’m totally unclear as to what the motive could have been, disregarding the fact thst photographing the site of the attack does not exactly qualify you for being the attacker, except if you assume that secret service assassins are not only exceptionally stupid but also exceptionally nostalgic.
Of course that's only speculation, but as I can't think of any motive, that would be the most probable explanation to me. Someone else in this thread had already indicated that the whole affair could also be diplomatic infighting unrelated to the attack. I don't know much about the internal affairs of Kosovo, so I'll mostly read what's coming out of this.
Concerning the war, I mostly had the feeling that the EU decided not to let any conflict on the Balkans escalate again, because of what came of that in the past. The solution is definitely unsatisfactory, but meh, that's war.
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