Serbs Reassert Claim to Kosovo

With the 2 million ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo not even invited to participate in the vote, Serbians approved a charter constitution reasserting their claim to the break-away province. 53% of 6.6 million Serbians cast votes, 96% in favor of the draft charter. Massive voter fraud was alleged in the final hours of the two day vote. Official results are expected today.



Looks like things may be heating up in Kosovo again on the eve of a long, cold winter for the ethnic Albanian majority.

Serbian nationalism and their claim to the region as their "heartland" will undoubtedly test NATO peacekeeping efforts in the wake of this vote.

To me is like somebody in purpoise is allowing this to happen. Serbian government is changed since the time of Milosevic, even though their mentality in the relation with Kosovo remained the same. But no metter how strong is their feeling about loosing a land that was never theirs, the peacekeepers presence has been always clear. Is there to guaranty the pace and the indipendence of Kosovo.
Creating a new zone of tension in Balkan can't be nothing else then diverting the attention from somewhere else. Balkans unfortunately has always been a place to experiment and to use it as a pawn. I've been there and I have friends. Poor people, have been suffering for over 91 years and when they were hopping for some freedom and indipendance someone is messing again with Ex Jugoslavia

That is the impression I have as well. Aren't most of the ethnic Albanians Muslims, as well?

It seems that while the rest of the world is preoccupied with Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran , and N. Korea, the Serbian government is starting to make a new move on Kosovo.

How many here know that the US government called the KLA ( A murdering fascist reactionary movement at best) a terrorist group not very many years before deciding to forgive their crimes and use the disaster , if that's what you want to call deliberately messing with a bear and losing, they invited on themselves as a excuse to go meddle in the region? I think they just wanted to eradicate ( or attempt) a good eastern European example of how to organize society so that money actually stays in public hands.

Stellar

Stellar,

Please clarify your remarks for me in regard to the KLA. Were they Serbs? What was a good example of keeping the money flow in the hands of the public? Please point me in the right direction on those remarks.

I don't care how was considered KLA by american government. KLA was just a liberation army and not at all a terrorrist organisation. Is the same KLA who received weaponry from the States and few of the KLA's members were trained in CIA camps. So please enough with the BS.

As for Kosovo is true that almost 92 % of the population is muslim but the religion there is due to the 500 years occupation by Otoman Empire. Is not the same myslimanism you see in Arabic countries. Before the occupation they were all catholics.

[edit on 31-10-2006 by Telos]

I don't have any problem with the majority in Kosovo being Muslim. I'm just trying to sort out who the KLA is and what they have to do with the situation there now.

I hope that Serbia gets back Kosovo. I don't like the idea of a muslim majority there and I see no great value in this infiltration into the backdoor or europe.

Originally posted by denythestatusquo
I hope that Serbia gets back Kosovo. I don't like the idea of a muslim majority there and I see no great value in this infiltration into the backdoor or europe.

denythestatusquo I understand your point about muslim majority but Serbia cannot get back something that was never hers. Besides you have Bosnia which has a biger majority of muslims and sometimes pretty much fondamentalists as we see in Arabia. I've been in Kosovo, I have friends there, I speak the same language coz I'm from Albania (part of which Kosovo was once) and the religion is no important. For them being muslim was simply a mean to oppose the serbian regime.
In Albania almost 50 % are muslims (by descendance) but nobody gives a # about the religion. So trust me man, when you hear about Kosovo's people being muslims don't draw parallels with arabic countries. There are no comparisons.

Originally posted by Icarus Rising
Stellar,

Please clarify your remarks for me in regard to the KLA.

It might seem too short to give a good idea of what is going on but it's actually pretty accurate as far as my knowledge goes. The KLA is a fascist group that kills fellow Albanians in far greater numbers ( for wanting to work with a Yugoslav/Serbian government) than the Serbs did and if they actually came into power i am relative certain things would have gotten worse, not better depending on how much aid the west would choose to send.

Were they Serbs?

Supposedly Albanians but i am sure there are exceptions.

What was a good example of keeping the money flow in the hands of the public? Please point me in the right direction on those remarks.

Yugoslavia had ( and Serbia still had till very recently) free health car , free education, guaranteed right to a job , one month paid vacation and industry mostly in public hands. In fact things were going so well in Yugoslavia in the late 80's that the US senate actually passed a bill in 1990 that made clear their aim of breaking up that country as it not longer served as a 'bastion' against 'communism' and thus had no redeeming features and were undermining global capitalist interest by providing a alternative model to 'exploitation till they starve'.

Although rigorously socialist in developing its industrial base, Yugoslavia allowed a certain amount of capitalist incursions, in the spirit of pluralism. This openness to western investment, however, sowed the seeds of the federation's demise. Meanwhile, Yugoslavia enjoyed stability and peace. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the growth of Yugoslavia's gross domestic product averaged 6.1%. There was 91% literacy and an average life expectancy of 72 years. The state provided housing, health care, education, and child care. Citizens lived well on a per capita income of $3,000 a year (in 1980 dollars), with one month paid vacation, plus a year's maternity leave, if needed. Respect for workers was a central concern of government and society.

en.wikipedia.org...

I am surprised it lasted as long as it did but when the USSR indicated absence of interest in maintaining the current geopolitical system the US and allies promptly moved in and helped stir up old hatreds that the people were doing well at moving past.

This is no isolated incident btw.

Stellar


[edit on 1-11-2006 by StellarX]