http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/balkans/ en-us Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:58:58 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050167/posts Radovan Karadzic was arrested after information provided to investigators by the Hague's other most wanted man, Ratko Mladic, German intelligence sources have revealed. General Mladic, who was Karadzic's military commander and led Bosnian Serb troops during the massacre at Srebrenica, is one of two Balkans war crimes suspects still on the run. His capture is expected within weeks as his political support network crumbles and the European Union continues to pressure Serbia to hand him over. But according to German intelligence sources, Mladic has been negotiating with those hunting him over the terms of his capture, and "gave information on... telegraph.co.uk http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050167/posts#comment Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:58:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2049933/posts Radovan Karadzic is accused of the most heinous crimes against humanity, from the siege of Sarajevo to the Srebrenica massacre. He is charged with having the blood of 20,000 lives on his hands and of bringing an entire country down by ethnic hatred. Today relatives of the thousands of victims said they had been waiting for this moment of justice for 13 years. Channel 4 News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2049933/posts#comment Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:13:37 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2049542/posts .....Radovan Karadzic will be duly convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity, and he will not come out of jail alive. The verdict is already written, but it reflects a fundamental imbalance. It ignores the essence of the Bosnian war—the Serbs’ striving not to be forced into secession—while remaining mute about the culpability of the other two sides for a series of unconstitutional, illegitimate and illegal political decisions that caused the war. The judgment against Karadzic at the U.S.-sponsored and largely U.S.-funded tribunal at The Hague will be built on this flawed foundation. It will be neither fair or just,... Chronicles http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2049542/posts#comment Tue, 22 Jul 2008 20:01:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2048998/posts Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic has been arrested in Serbia, presidential and government sources in Belgrade say. The Bosnian Serb wartime political leader disappeared in 1996 and was subsequently indicted by the UN War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague. He is accused of war crimes and genocide over the massacre of 7,500 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica. His wartime military leader, Ratko Mladic, remains at large. BBC http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2048998/posts#comment Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:31:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047174/posts On July 17, 1946, sixty-two years ago, the life of General Draza Mihailovich came to an end. Why should we care? Why did his life and death matter? He was a military officer who lived at a time in history when his dedication to democratic ideals would bring him into conflict with the fascists, the Nazis and, in the end, the communists. It would be the communists who would finally silence him, but not before he and his people fought valiantly to prevent his country, Yugoslavia, from falling into communist hands after the war. It would be too easy to... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047174/posts#comment Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:28:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2042817/posts 8 July 2008 | 16:36 | Source: Beta PRIÅ TINA -- Representatives of civil society in Kosovo will start lobbying for Kosovo's recognition, write PriÅ¡tina media. Daily Koha Ditore claims that there is financial support from George Soros and the Kosovo Fund for Open Society: “The lobbying group will include Veton Suroi and Blerim Shala, the coordinator of the former Kosovo negotiating team, Luan Shllaku, the director of the Kosovo Fund for Open Society, and Muhamet Mustafa, the dean of the Reinvest University.” The group‘s work will be based on the plan and recommendations of former international envoy to Kosovo Martti... B92 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2042817/posts#comment Wed, 9 Jul 2008 10:59:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2045979/posts S ixty prominent leaders from Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Qatar, and Iraq have supported development of closer ties with Kosovo and fast recognition of Kosovo independence by the Arab states. The conclusion came from the conference “Kosova and the Arab world” organized in Amman, Jordan, by the Al Quds Center for Political Studies and Forum 2015 from Prishtina. Speakers at the conference were Kosovo intellectuals like Veton Surroi, Muhamet Mustafa and Qemalj Morina, and influential intellectuals and civil society leaders from the Arab world. “Kosovo topic arose interest among the Arab participants at the conference, who saw it important to... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2045979/posts#comment Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:34:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047147/posts 16 July 2008 Gjakova _ The UN authorities in Kosovo have pledged to hold talks with council officials in Gjakova after it emerged a park is being built over the remains of a Serbian Orthodox Church. Local Serb radio KIM found that the construction of the park in Gjakova (known in Serbian as Djakovica), an overwhelmingly ethnic Albanian town in western Kosovo, is now in its final stages. A metre of soil was placed on top of the church’s foundations and trees and flowers planted over it. Some 20 workers from the Bala construction company were finishing work at the... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047147/posts#comment Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:25:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047144/posts Last update: 3:22 p.m. EDT July 17, 2008 GRACANICA, Serbia, July 17, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The following statement was issued today by His Grace ARTEMIJE, Bishop of Ras and Prizren, and pastor of Orthodox Christians in the Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohija: "On July 21, President George W. Bush is scheduled to meet with Hashim Thaci, styled by some 'Prime Minister' of the separatist Albanian Muslim administration in the Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohija. As pastor of the Orthodox Christian people of Kosovo, I protest to the fullest possible degree the fact that President Bush would... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047144/posts#comment Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:21:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041626/posts YPSILANTI, MICHIGAN (WTOL) - As we celebrate Independence Day, four veterans of World War II want to thank those who kept them safe in enemy territory years ago. They were recently reunited at the Yankee Air Museum in Ypsilanti thanks to the Experimental Aircraft Association. News 11's Jennifer Boresz was there and has their story. These men are called the 'Forgotten 500' in a published book. As more and more people hear the story, however, they're hoping the daring rescue mission and the men behind it will never be forgotten again. "When they said pull that rip cord, I started... WTOL Toledo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041626/posts#comment Mon, 7 Jul 2008 00:42:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041102/posts The travel section of the paper featured a story on Kosovo the other day with a recommendation that readers visit this latest "must see" spot on the globe. It made me laugh. Almost forty years ago--1971 to be exact -- I traveled in what was then called Yugoslavia and is now called Kosovo. The memories of that trip remain so vivid and so utterly at odds with this report. AmericanThinker http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041102/posts#comment Sat, 5 Jul 2008 15:22:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-backroom/2038104/posts On February 17, 2008, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia. Some are concerned about what NATO, the United Nations, and the European Union have nurtured there since the military and humanitarian intervention in 1999. James Jatras, a U.S.-based advocate for the Serbian Orthodox Community, put it bluntly last year when he said Kosovo was a “a beachhead into the rest of Europe” for “radical Muslims” and “terrorist elements.” It’s an assertion without evidence. “We’ve been here for so long,” said United States Army Sergeant Zachary Gore in Eastern Kosovo, “and not seen any evidence of it, that we’ve reached the assumption... Standpoint http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-backroom/2038104/posts#comment Sun, 29 Jun 2008 12:50:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2037774/posts Professor John P. Maher reviews "July 1914: Soldiers, Statesmen, and the Coming of the Great War: A Brief Documentary History." Edited by Samuel R. Williamson and Russel Van Wyk. 2003. Bedford / St Martin's Press. A commonplace in recent books on the Balkans is to draw parallels between 1990s Serbia and the Third Reich. Williamson and Van Wyk confirm the consensus view that that Germany and Austria-Hungary started the Great War, but fail to pursue another parallel. They say nothing about activities of Germany and Austria in the break-up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. But policy and press in those... Amazon.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2037774/posts#comment Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:28:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036526/posts 24 June 2008 Zagreb _ A former US ambassador to Croatia has accused Zagreb of plotting and sanctioning the exodus of Serbs in 1995 to create an "ethnically clean" country. Peter Galbraith told The Hague war crimes trial of three Croatian generals, that the leadership headed by late President Franjo Tudjman used ‘Operation Storm’ to ‘cleanse’ Croatia of Serbs. “Croatian authorities either ordered or allowed a mass destruction of the Serb property in former (Serb-held region of) Krajina to prevent the return of the population. I consider that to have been a thought through policy,” he said, testifying at the... Balkan Insight http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036526/posts#comment Thu, 26 Jun 2008 02:21:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2035250/posts Pristina _ Spain is lobbying against Kosovo's independence in the countries of Latin America, a former British Minister for Europe says. In a comment in today's Independent newspaper, published in London, Denis Macshane writes that “key European Union nations like Spain, Greece, Romania and Slovakia weaken the unity of Europe by refusing to recognise Kosovo”. “Greece blocks Macedonia’s EU and NATO ambitions, while Spain lobbies in Latin America against recognition of Kosovo”, writes MacShane, adding that “this bodes ill for the notion that a united EU diplomacy of weight can develop”. MacShane outlined some of the recent developments that have... Balkan Insight http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2035250/posts#comment Mon, 23 Jun 2008 20:48:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2035081/posts MOSCOW, June 23 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is not opposed to an EU mission replacing the UN force in Kosovo, but the move should have the formal backing of the UN Security Council and Serbia, a senior Russian diplomat said on Monday. "We are not opposed to the European Union taking on part of the responsibility for what is happening in Kosovo," Vladimir Chizhov, envoy to the European Communities, said adding a European mission should be approved by a UN Security Council resolution and Belgrade. Chizhov said UN Security Council Resolution 1244 was currently the only legal basis for an... rian.ru http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2035081/posts#comment Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:54:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034643/posts In her book "The Hunt: Me and War Criminals," Carla Del Ponte, former chief prosecutor at The Hague, reveals the gruesome details of the hundreds of Serb prisoners whose bodies were stripped of their organs during the Kosovo war. According to her sources, senior figures in the KLA were aware of the scheme, in which hundreds of young Serbs were reportedly taken by truck from Kosovo to northern Albania, where their organs were removed. Miss Del Ponte provides grim details of the reported organ harvesting and of how some prisoners were sewn up after having kidneys removed. Miss Del Ponte... The Washington Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034643/posts#comment Sun, 22 Jun 2008 10:33:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034005/posts (UNITED NATIONS) - The United States on Friday defended UN chief Ban Ki-moon's plans to transfer some powers from the UN mission in Kosovo to the European Union despite opposition from Serbia and its ally Russia. US Ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad told the Security Council that Washington backed Ban's plan to reconfigure the UN mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) by transferring responsibilities in the areas of police, justice and customs to a EU mission. He told Ban that despite objections raised by Serbia and Russia, "You have to act. 1244 gives you that discretion," referring to the Security Council... AFP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034005/posts#comment Fri, 20 Jun 2008 19:09:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2027704/posts PARIS: It was time for another French Open women's final, and though four-time winner Justine Hénin was still on the grounds, she was no longer on the clay. This year, with Hénin retired and watching from the front row, it would be time for a new Grand Slam champion, and it turned out to be the same young, elegant Serbian who had let her nerves get the best of her against Hénin in last year's flop of a final. Ana Ivanovic is a better, fitter, more composed contender now, and on Saturday, she filled the void at the top of... IHT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2027704/posts#comment Sat, 7 Jun 2008 23:18:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2025884/posts "Stolen Kosovo" Documentary Censored in Czech Republic: Suffering of Kosovo Serbs Cannot be Shown on National TV That there can be no freedom of expression under the dictatorial regimes was confirmed yet again by the state-owned Czech TV, supposedly a "public service" which took part in the financing of the Vaclav Dvorak's documentary "Stolen Kosovo" prior to Czech Government's recognition of the mafia state on Serbian territory, but now, after their FM announced recognition of the fake state, refused to air it. According to the Czech daily Aktualne, the representatives of the state television justify their refusal to show the... Byzantine Sacred Art http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2025884/posts#comment Wed, 4 Jun 2008 16:05:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2025819/posts Kosovo Muslims arrest Serbs over t'shirts SERBIANNA June 3, 2008 Brothers Miomir and Milos Stojanovic from Gnjilane have been arrested on the regional road from Gnjilane to Bujanovac for wearing t-shirts saying Kosovo is Serbia, stated official of the Kosovo Ministry Milorad Todorovic. He told the Serbian news agency Beta that two youths were arrested and brought before the municipal prosecutor in Gnjilane. The Islamic judge decided that the brothers, who are Christian, must either pay 250 Euros each or to spend 60 days in jail. Serbianna http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2025819/posts#comment Wed, 4 Jun 2008 14:01:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2024504/posts One dead, 8 injured during Macedonia voting 1 June 2008 | 11:04 -> 15:33 | Source: Beta SKOPJE -- An ethnic Albanian is dead after a shootout with police at a polling station in Macedonia, it has been confirmed. The man, identified as Naser Aivazi, 40, opened fire at police officers this morning in the village of Aracinovo near Skopje, Macedonia's MUP says. Naivazi is said to have been a Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) supporter. At least five others were injured during the incident, none of them police officers, spokesman Ivo Kotevski told a news conference in the Macedonian... B92 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2024504/posts#comment Sun, 1 Jun 2008 20:38:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2024123/posts Britain is now more dangerous than the Balkans, it was revealed yesterday. You are more likely to be assaulted, robbed and burgled in Britain than in the region of southeast Europe once synonymous with war and gangsters, according to a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Your car is at least ten times more likely to be stolen in Britain than in Albania, Croatia or the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Western Europe suffers from double the amount of burglary, over four times as much assault, and 15 times as much robbery as the Balkans, the... dailymail.co.uk http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2024123/posts#comment Sat, 31 May 2008 19:53:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2023110/posts BELGRADE, Serbia - The Balkans, a hotbed of crime and violence during the Yugoslav wars and the chaotic transition from communism, has become one of the safest areas in Europe to live, according to a U.N. report released Thursday. ADVERTISEMENT The report concluded that nine Balkan countries — including Bosnia and Croatia, which saw vicious ethnic bloodletting in the 1990s — now boast lower levels of homicide, robbery and rape than Western Europe. "Surprising as it may be, the Balkan region is one of the safest in Europe," the report said. "The Balkans is departing from an era when demagogues,... AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2023110/posts#comment Thu, 29 May 2008 18:43:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2022988/posts BELGRADE, Serbia - A United Nations report released Thursday says the Balkans, a region once known as a hotbed of crime and violence, has become one of the safest zones in Europe. "The vicious circle of political instability leading to crime, and vice versa, that plagued the Balkans in the 1990s has been broken," said Antonio Maria Costa, head of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, which compiled the report. However, Costa warned in the report's summary that the region remains vulnerable because of enduring connections between business, politics and organized crime. The region includes 10 countries: Albania,... AP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2022988/posts#comment Thu, 29 May 2008 15:37:49 GMT