Posted on 09/03/2006 4:05:55 PM PDT by kronos77
As the United Nations tackles crises around the world from North Korea to the Middle East, it cannot ignore the Balkan region -- specifically the challenges facing Serbia. Seven years have passed since the U.N. took control of the Serbian province of Kosovo, and it will soon be time to make a permanent decision concerning its indeterminate status.
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The U.N. must not force a decision on Serbia that is unacceptable to its people and democratically elected representatives. A final decision must be a workable compromise and mutually acceptable to Serbia, ethnic Albanian leaders in Kosovo and the minority Serbian population. If this is not the case, the status quo will continue, or worse, the region will regress to the ethnic cleansing of Serbian Christians in Kosovo. We may also see the rise of Serbian nationalists, whose only platform will be to use Kosovo as a rallying cry at the ballot box.
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We must respect Serbia's territorial integrity as well as the cultural and historical links Kosovo has with Serbia. More importantly, we must recognize the ramifications of Kosovar independence. Anywhere in the world an ethnic or religious majority is turned into a minority, they can face violence and intimidation by a new majority seeking independence. By forcing Serbia to accept Kosovar independence, the U.N. may establish a precedent that can endanger important allies around the world. Radical independence movements that exploit religious minorities and employ terrorism to achieve political goals will be emboldened. These anti-Democratic, fundamentalist religious forces must be curtailed, not rewarded.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Good op-ed
Dan Burton of Indiana and Joe Wilson of South Carolina are Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives' International Relations Committee.
I'm in Dan's district.
Was Kosovo a pre-WWI independent country?
No.
Nope. Newer was.
Territory of todays Kosovo was established by communist usurpators in Yugoslavia in 1946, by that time was integral part of Serbia from 1912 when was liberated from Muslim Turkish occupation that lasted from 1389 when Turkes invaded Serbia. Kosovo was just part, an authonomy established by communists.
Thanks for clearing that up! I read it twice thinking JOE WILSON wrote this???
basicaly, Kosovo was integral part of serbia, purely Serbs Christian peace of territory, untill Muslim occupator cama and communists after them setteled Muslim illegal immingrants from Albania in period of 1946-1990, and in 1999-sofar when USA and NATO let additional 300,000 Muslim illegal immigrants in Kosovo...
That being the case, I don't see any justification for a new nation of Kosovo.
We have renegade provinces in this country. We call them names like "California."
Was Kosovo province part of Serbia before the Turks invaded?
I ask this because in my mind Serbia has been forcefully relieved of part of its territory by outsiders in deference to islam. If "albanians" are not Serbs, and Kosovo is rightfully part of Serbia, where do these albanians in Kosovo belong?
On Mars......
Some were moved there as part of Tito's attempts to limit Serbian influence in Yugoslavia. Since the 1980's, many are illegal immigrants who fled the economic collapse in Albania (do you remember their pension fund collapsing?).
Kosovo became a province after WWII when the Communists took over in Yugoslavia (and thus Serbia). Their policies, aimed at weakening Serbia politically, altered the demographics in favour of the Muslim Albanians who were allowed to settle in Serbia/Kosovo.
Slavs came do those areas and Kosovo in 700-800 AD, some say even earlier. There are Albanians on Kosovo and no one is advocationg them to be ethnicaly cleamsed. Serbia have border with Albania, independant Albanian country that Serbia liberated from Turkes in 1912. This Albania-Serbia border is actualy leaning on kosovo, thus gaving Albanians enterance on kosovo territory.
So, Albanians HAVE their idependent Country, it is called Albania. But they want more...
Situation simillar to Mexico-Texas Texas is part of USA and itself bordering with mexico. Mexicans are invadink Texas as illegal immigrants and within 30 years, the will be absolute majority in texas (and rest of SW) Difference between Texas and Kosovo is that Texas was independand, and now is state within USA, and Kosovo was just integral part of Serbia, never independant.
Albanians are not even "Slavs" and even as a part of Yugoslavia were never anything other than "an ethnic minority from across the border" in Yugoslavia. They are close to the equivalent of Mexicans in California, in every way other than the fact that Mexicans once ruled California and Albanians never ruled Kosovo.
And I disagreed with the conduct our government and military along with NATO when they bombed Belgrade for over 70 days hitting hospitals, schools, bridges, churches........shall I go on?
But I do appreciate your view about the the independence of Kosovo
Any good book on the Byzantine Empire and its history will likely contain some mention of Kosovo and the Serbs there.
The western part of what is today considered solely Kosovo, was actually a separately named land called Metohija. It was land given by the Serbian rulers to the church.
This map from Wikipedia shows you Metohija (tan colored). In communist times, Kosovo Metohija, became officially just Kosovo, so that today's Kosovo is rather a greater Kosovo because it incorporates Metohija.
http://www.rastko.org.yu/kosovo/istorija/sanu/Kosovo.htmlA great number of noble castles existed all over Kosovo with rich aristocratic life going on inside their walls. They were also meeting places of Serbian nobility and centers where important political and other decisions have been taken and places attended by foreign envoys and outstanding guests from noble foreign ruling families. Here are some of famous medieval castles: Svrcin, Pauni, Nerodimlja, Stimlje and many others. In Svrcin, for example, the famous Serbian Emperor Dusan was first crowned king in 1331, and Pauni, famous for its beauty, were favored place of king Milutin. In Pauni in 1342 Serbian Emperor Dusan had received Jovan VI Kantakuzin, one of the pretenders to the Byzantine throne at that time. Nerodimlja, with the fortress of Petric over the castle, was favorite residence of Stevan Decanski.It is in the Stimlje castle that king Uros issued his charges. In Ribnik, near Prizren, were the castles of Serbian Emperors Dusan and Uros.
The Serbian elite and minor nobility has built in these regions hundreds of smaller chapels and several dozens of monumental Christian monasteries. Some of them have been preserved to date, such as Patriarchy of Pec (since 1346 site of the Serbian Patriarch), Decani, Gracanica, Bogorodica Ljeviska, Banjska, Sveti Arhandjeli near Prizren and others. Serbian churches and monasteries had been for centuries owners of great complexes of fertile land. Metohia, the name originated from the Greek word metoh means church land. Highly developed economic life was an integral part of a high level of civilization attained in medieval Serbia. Prizren, for example, was a famous economic and commercial center, with developed silk production, fine crafts, and numerous settlements where the merchants from Kotor and Dubrovnik had their houses, and in 14 century, Prizren was the site of the consul from Dubrovnik for the whole Serbian State. And many other commercial centers such as Pristina, Pec, Hoca, Vucitrn, testify of the strength of highly developed economic life in these regions. Famous mining center were Trepca, Novo Brdo and Janjevo, out of which in the 15 century Novo Brdo had become one of the most important mining centers of the Balkans. Silver and gold were exported to the big European centers in great quantities. The Serbian society of the Middle Ages was in all respects identical to European social, economic and cultural developments of that time, much more integrated in Europe then it may seem when analyzed from the later perspective.
The Turks had deleterious effect on Serbs, Serb society, and culture (and other Balkans peoples occupied by them) and they went backwards, became impoverished, fell behind western Europe, and were cut off of the Renaissance - a Renaissance which I believe was inspired by writings, icons, and other objects back by the Crusaders from the lands of the Byzantine Empire which was being destroyed.
thanks all.
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