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Serbs Struggle to Understand Western Support for Kosovo Independence
Center for Peace in the Balkans ^ | Mar 5, 2008 | Ljiljana Smajlovic

Posted on 03/05/2008 4:08:54 PM PST by Bokababe

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Comment #81 Removed by Moderator

To: prometheus1982

No because history says so, awaiting claims from you that Serbian Orthodox monasteries are really converted Albanian Roman Catholic Churches.


82 posted on 03/07/2008 11:22:02 AM PST by montyspython (Love that chicken from Popeye's)
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To: prometheus1982

Now I know you that know sh*t. Congratulations.


83 posted on 03/07/2008 11:23:21 AM PST by montyspython (Love that chicken from Popeye's)
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To: Diocletian

How old are you Dio?

Did you ever live in the US?

If you are under 50 years old and the answer to the second question is “No”, then you don’t know what you are talking about.


84 posted on 03/07/2008 11:28:34 AM PST by Bokababe ( http://www.savekosovo.org)
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To: prometheus1982
I have no personal stake in this one and don't even know any Serbs. Nonetheless when the **** got redy to hit the fan a second time in 1999 I made a maximal effort to figure out what was what and what turned up was diametrically opposite to all the propaganda. Serbs turn out to be the closest thing there is to normal, decent, middle class working people in the Balkans. There were about 25 ethnic groups in the Yugoslav confederation and only three of those i.e. croats, albunnies, and bosnians ever had any sort of a serious problem dealing with Serbs and those were the three groups most eager to side with Hitler in WW-II. In 99 there were people from a number of the surrounding countries all saying the same thing on usenet groups, i.e. "What the hell are you idiot yanks doing, Serbs are not the problem here, the problem is the albunnies."

Albanians are universally hated. Their normal MO is to ensconce themselves in some little corner of the other guy's country, do their super-breeding thing (avg 12 kids per family) for 20 or 25 years, and then try to break the little corner of the other country off into their "Greater Albania"

They were basically pissed at Milosevic because the guy was systematically outlawing every aspect of their culture, drug dealing, poisoning wells, murder, arson, traffic in women and underage girls, traffic in stolen vehicles etc. etc. etc.

85 posted on 03/07/2008 11:43:45 AM PST by jeddavis
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Comment #86 Removed by Moderator

To: eleni121

Follow the money.


87 posted on 03/07/2008 12:25:54 PM PST by rightwingcrazy
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To: Bokababe
Considering that I have family all over the USA I am more than qualified to speak about the matter.

Considering that all it takes is a quick glance at ellisrecords.org, the matter is settled.

88 posted on 03/07/2008 12:49:42 PM PST by Diocletian
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To: jeddavis
There were about 25 ethnic groups in the Yugoslav confederation and only three of those i.e. croats, albunnies, and bosnians ever had any sort of a serious problem dealing with Serbs and those were the three groups most eager to side with Hitler in WW-II.

Actually, the Magyars had issues with the Serbs, as did the Germans, and the Macedonians, and the Bulgars.

As for siding with the Germans in WW2, that should tell you what life was like under the Serbs for these people to have sided with the Germans against them.

89 posted on 03/07/2008 12:52:07 PM PST by Diocletian
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To: Diocletian
"Considering that all it takes is a quick glance at ellisrecords.org, the matter is settled."

Take a good look, Dio. The Ellis Island Records only go until 1924 and the vast majority of people came through there much earlier.

In 1924, Yugoslavia was only a few years old. Previous to 1918, virtually immigrants who came from today's Croatia, Bosnia and even the Bay of Kotor, were listed as having come from "Austria", "Hungary" or anything that the US official could make out of what the immigrant (who didn't speak English) was saying, because they were all citizens of the Austro-Hungarian Empire back then.

If you actually "did a quick search" as you suggested, you'd know that you can't just search by country, you have to search by an individual name.

And yes, my Croat cousin who grew up in Zadar, told me that most Dalmatians, even those over there, didn't solidify their identities as "Croatians" until the bombing of Dubrovnik in the 1990's -- then they all became "Croats" all the way.

But, we really need to post more things about Croatia, so that the discussion will be topical to the post. Instead, we have a post about Serbia and Kosovo, and here you off on the Croatian history tangent again.

90 posted on 03/07/2008 1:18:11 PM PST by Bokababe ( http://www.savekosovo.org)
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To: Diocletian
"As for siding with the Germans in WW2, that should tell you what life was like under the Serbs for these people to have sided with the Germans against them."

I'm really glad you cleared that up, then go back to goose stepping.

91 posted on 03/07/2008 1:21:47 PM PST by montyspython (Love that chicken from Popeye's)
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To: Bokababe
So then why do the census records of Royal Yugoslavia show the same rate of Croatians in Dalmatia that the census of 1981, 1991, and 2001 show?

Funnnily enough, the numbers for those declaring themselves "Dalmatians" is less than 0.5%.

If you actually "did a quick search" as you suggested, you'd know that you can't just search by country, you have to search by an individual name.

Exactly, and it shows them to list themselves as Croatian, unless they were listed as Austrian.

92 posted on 03/07/2008 1:26:28 PM PST by Diocletian
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To: Diocletian

The Macedonians had issues with Serbia and the Serbs?? Wow, that’s news to me! What were those issues Diocletian, I would really appreciate some more information on this “issue”.


93 posted on 03/07/2008 1:27:41 PM PST by Jane_N (Truth, like beauty....is in the eyes of the beholder! Kosovo is Serbia!)
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To: Jane_N
Quite simple: The Serbs considered Macedonia "Southern Serbia" and didn't recognize the Macedonian nation and outlawed the use of the Macedonian language.

This chauvinism resulted in the assassination of the Serbian king by a Macedonian revolutionary.

94 posted on 03/07/2008 1:31:24 PM PST by Diocletian
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To: Diocletian

What century was that Diocletian? Some Serbs may have considered Macedonia a part of Serbia (just as Greece considers Macedonia a part of Greece and Bulgaria consider it a part Bulgaria) but my in-laws are Macedonian and they have never had any trouble from Serbs for speaking the Macedonian language. Outlawed? The only place where there has been “problems” for using the Macedonian language is in Greece. I’m sorry but I think you should stick to your info about Croatia and leave Macedonia out of this issue. As for Macedonians today, they have absolutely no problem with Serbs. Their concerns are the Albanians!


95 posted on 03/07/2008 2:00:22 PM PST by Jane_N (Truth, like beauty....is in the eyes of the beholder! Kosovo is Serbia!)
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To: Jane_N

The first half of the 20th century. I’m sorry if you were ignorant of this fact.


96 posted on 03/07/2008 2:02:04 PM PST by Diocletian
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To: Diocletian

“The first half of the 20th century. I’m sorry if you were ignorant of this fact.”

Gee, than I should be happy that my in laws are still alive and weren’t persecuted for speaking Macedonian during the first half of the 20th century! Or maybe they were just “ignorant” of the “law against speaking Macedonian” when they were young and should be grateful no one caught them speaking their language. /s


97 posted on 03/07/2008 2:15:31 PM PST by Jane_N (Truth, like beauty....is in the eyes of the beholder! Kosovo is Serbia!)
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To: Diocletian

But as Bokababe said in post 90, the issue is Kosovo here and not Macedonia, so maybe we should stick to the issue of the thread!


98 posted on 03/07/2008 2:19:20 PM PST by Jane_N (Truth, like beauty....is in the eyes of the beholder! Kosovo is Serbia!)
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To: Jane_N

It wasn’t for speaking the language, but rather for publishing in that language.


99 posted on 03/07/2008 2:20:21 PM PST by Diocletian
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To: GAB-1955
Well, what are those administrative divisions in Kosovo?

They're called municipalities (opshtinas). Bosnia has cantons. You might've meant Bosnia, not Kosovo.

A “Kosovar” is a resident of Kosovo. Most of them are ethnic Albanians, yes. But it's a useful concept if you reject the concept that every ethnic Albanian must be in Albania.

Nope. Again, they can be Albanian-Serbians (just like, say, Irish-Americans, Dutch-Americans...) or, simply, Albanians ("Shiptar",borrowed from the Albanian "Shqipetar", is the name used to refer to those Albanians living in Serbia, so as to differentiate them from those living in Albania).

"Kosovars" thus don't exist as a people or a nation. (Much like "Bosnians" -- you're either Croat, Serb or a mix of the two exhibiting the tendency to use Turcisms in your speech). You can be any of the minorities (well, not any more -- they've all been ethnically cleansed from the Albanian-dominated parts of Kosovo), but that does not make you a "Kosovar." If you meant "Kosovar" as a term describing one's geographic background -- like "Bostonian," "New Yorker," etc -- then you're the rare exception. In the real world, the term is loaded.

I'm sorry you don't like my point of view, but calling me stupid or imply I'm ignorant of the history. I've been watching this area since 1992, sadly.

I apologize if it seemed like it was my intention to insult you. It's not that I don't like your point of view -- it's just plain not based on facts.

100 posted on 03/07/2008 6:02:57 PM PST by Banat (DEO + REGI + PATRIAE | Basileia Romaion)
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