UN OCCUPIED KOSOVO--15,000 Serbs protested in-front of the American embassy today, calling for Russia to use her veto power in the Security Council to block a measure that would further divide and dismantle Serbia, severing the Kovoso province from that entity. It's just a new step in the dismantling of Yugoslavia's coherent remnants. This is all the Bosnian wars were really about to the West.
Luckily, Russia seems to be responding, and is a traditional cultural and diplomatic ally of Serbia (a remnant of "Pan-Slavism"). Partitioning Kosovo will only cause more problems to an already bad situation, and is likely to stimulate another crisis in the region. Unlike the American public, Serbs know that these plans originate in Washington, with assistance from NATO charter members. The timing of the Hague decision is interesting.
Serbs and Albanians are holding final talks in Vienna on the plan by former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari. He wants to send the blueprint to the U.N. Security Council in late March. But veto holder Russia repeated its skepticism on Tuesday. "Frankly, we are worried at the absence of any desire to meet the legitimate concerns of Belgrade," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said of the plan at a news conference in Moscow. "The contents of the plan lead one to think that the authors ...took as a starting point the inevitability of Kosovo's independence regardless of Belgrade's views." (AP, 02.27.2007)
It hasn't been a consideration at any point, has it? The Balkans have been coveted by the West for hundreds-of-years, just like Russia. Both regions understand this fact of international geopolitics, while it's a curiously exotic notion in the developed world. Yet, this is about national determination, and underscores the failure of humanism and internationalism within Western diplomatic circles.
Point-blank: they don't hold the aforementioned values in any real esteem, it is just rhetoric. All NATO and the UN have done is foster division, and dividing-up the region is the overarching-goal. But the threat in the Balkans is real, and separatism could mean a repeat of the 20th century in the region--something that could easily spread into conflagration:
In the Spanish city of Seville, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov repeated a long-standing Kremlin warning that independence for Kosovo would set a precedent that could ignite separatist conflicts elsewhere."That is of course true of the post-Soviet area, but not only there -- it is true also of areas across Europe," Ivanov said on the sidelines of a meeting of NATO defense ministers."The whole thing can lead to a chain reaction, or, in other words, we have to be careful that we do not open a Pandora's box." (AP, 02.09.2007)
Once these little entities are isolated--as they were in South America--they're easier to conquer. That is the goal. The rest is window-dressing. But it's a strong possibility that it could fly completely out-of-control just as it did beginning roughly 100-years-ago. This is how power plays with our lives. The partitioning is a deadly-gamble in a region best left alone. So long as Muslims and the West covet the Balkans, the longer it will remain the powder-keg of Europe.
Full-text of Ahtisaari's Plan: http://www.balkanupdate.com/Ahtisari%27s%20status%20proposal%20for%20Kosovo.pdf
Reuters: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070227/pl_nm/serbia_kosovo_rally1_dc
"Russia urges time out in Kosovo status process": http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070209/wl_nm/kosovo_russia_dc_2
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