Bosnia and Kosovo: More Pomeranian grenadiers needed as peacekeepers?

[The Bread Guy]

It appears more than JUST the Pomeranians are getting edgy this weekend...

Nationalists rally in Belgrade against Kosovo independence, Associated Press, 16 Feb 08:  "Hundreds of Serb nationalists staged a noisy rally Saturday in downtown Belgrade to protest Western support for Kosovo's bid for independence.  Some 1,000 protesters waved the Serbian flag and chanted "Kosovo is the heart of Serbia" outside the embassy of Slovenia, which holds the rotating EU presidency.  A cordon of police ringed the embassy and a dozen vans filled with riot police were parked on side streets around the embassy and the capital's only mosque. No incidents were reported ...."

British troops ready to be deployed to Kosovo before independence, Kuwait News Agency, 16 Feb 08:  "British troops were ready to head to Kosovo after violence erupted there before the independence of the region which would be announced tomorrow (Sunday).  A spokesman for the Defense Ministry stated that about 600 soldiers from the First Welsh Battalion would head to Kosovo if violence did not cease, adding that the troops would join 15,000 NATO troops there which is under the leadership of Kosovo Force (KFOR).  He indicated that military officials saw that the number of current troops deployed in Kosovo did not meet with current situation, affirming that the UK was committed to the peace and security of the Balkan region.  The situation in Kosovo required NATO to be more flexible to meet challenges posed by the violence amid the announcement of independence, indicated the spokesman ...."

EU nations approve policing mission for Kosovo, Constant Brand, ASSOCIATED PRESS, 16 Feb 08:  "A day before Kosovo is expected to declare independence, European Union nations agreed Saturday to send a 1,800-strong mission to Kosovo to help the fledgling state build its police force and judiciary.  The mission will include 700 police officers, as well as judges, prosecutors and other legal experts, to help the ethnic Albanian leadership with security, legal and customs issues after Kosovo breaks away from Serbia ...."

US will work to prevent Kosovo backlash, JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press, 17 Feb 08:  "President Bush said Sunday that the U.S will work with its allies to try to prevent violent clashes after the anticipated declaration of independence by Kosovo.  Kosovo is expected to declare its independence from Serbia on Sunday, a move that has outraged Serbia and its ally Russia, which has warned it would set a dangerous precedent for separatist groups worldwide.  "The United States will continue to work with our allies to the very best we can to make sure there's no violence," Bush said in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, during his five-nation tour of Africa.  "We are heartened by the fact that the Kosovo government has clearly proclaimed its willingness and its desire to support Serbian rights in Kosovo," he said.... "

KFOR's Who's Who (as of 4 Feb 08) - "Placemat" With Who's Where (.pdf)

 

[MarkOttawa]

A guest-post at Daimnation!:

Kosovo(a?): Putting our government in a pickle
http://www.damianpenny.com/archived/010873.html

Mark
Ottawa

 

[geo]

Damned if you do, damned if you don't....
Mr Duceppe feels this is great & that we should recognize their right to seceed from the Serbian federation....
which translates to... it should be OK for Quebec to seceed and, should they ever do it, all the other countries around the world should say "that's OK" and rush to recognize the new independant state.  The fact that conditions in Kosovo are very different from what fellow Quebeckers have to live with seems to have been completely overlooked.

Mr Dion feels there is nothing wrong with recognizing Kossovo independance..... shouldn't he think before he speaks?

 

[Yrys]

Mr Duceppe feels this is great & that we should recognize their right to seceed from the Serbian federation

Yep, but he don't tell often that if Quebec ever get independent, he would not  recognize any part of Quebec
who would want to go back to Canada, as some aborigenals or West Islanders sotimes say they will want...

He never explain correctly why he has a double standard....

 

[geo]

Ahhh... that's why he wears a hairnet.

 

[MarkOttawa]

The Consequences of Kosovo
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/18/AR2008021801545.html

...
In fact, watching the crowds celebrate Saturday night in the streets of Pristina, I wondered there isn't a deeper lesson here for other would-be neighborhood bullies. Milosevic's stated goal was, after all, the greater glory of Serbia (he had other, unstated goals as well, such as the perpetuation of a communist-era power structure; but never mind). Spouting Serbian nationalism, he helped turned Serb minorities across Yugoslavia into mini-militias. They, in turn, inspired the creation of other mini-militias -- Croatian, Bosnian, Albanian and others -- which began fighting one another in a series of small, nasty wars.

You can fairly accuse me here of oversimplifying this chronology, but I think it is nevertheless correct to say that the result of this activity -- discrimination, ethnic cleansing, warfare -- was a complete disaster for Serbia. The Serbian economy went down the tubes; the Serb dominance of ex-Yugoslavia evaporated; Belgrade, the Serb capital, was bombed. Now Serbia looks set to be dismembered as well: Some European countries and the United States have recognized Kosovo's independence, something that wouldn't have happened two decades ago. Milosevic the super-nationalist -- the would-be leader of a revived, powerful, successful Serbia -- damaged no country nearly so much as he damaged Serbia itself.

Keep that lesson in mind over the next few months as others in Europe -- and possibly elsewhere -- attempt to use the Kosovo example as a precedent. After all, if the Albanians can be independent from Serbia, the Abkhazians and South Ossetians would like to be independent from Georgia, the Basques and the Catalonians don't see why they shouldn't be independent from Spain, and who knows what could happen in Cyprus.

In some of these cases, there are other, larger neighbors that might be interested in facilitating the split, just as Serbia was keen to encourage ethnic Serbs in Bosnia or Croatia. Most notably, and most notoriously, the Russians have made ominous noises and dropped dark hints about those Georgian separatist groups, and one can certainly see their logic. What a perfect way to take revenge on those difficult, NATO-loving Georgians: Encourage Georgia's ethnic minorities to launch civil war. Besides, the timing could hardly be better. In the waning days of the Bush administration, is Abkhazia anybody's central concern? During the most interesting U.S. presidential campaign in decades, is anyone going to spare a thought for South Ossetia?

Except that if Abkhazia and South Ossetia were to secede, and civil war in Georgia were to follow, the Russians would then have a failed state on their borders. And, as we know from Yugoslavia, the Middle East and Africa, ethnic and religious civil wars have a nasty way of spreading to their neighbors. Chaos in Georgia might be in the short-term interest of a small group of Putinites, desperate to raise the specter of warfare, annoy the West, and cling to power (much like Milosevic, once upon a time), but it is most definitely not in the long-term interest of Russia.

Russia's policy toward these would-be separatists over the next few weeks will therefore reveal a great deal about the mentality of Russia's ruling clan. If the denizens of the Kremlin have a shred of concern about their compatriots' future well-being, they'll shut up and try to calm everyone down. If not -- well, I hope they remember that the risks of the law of unintended consequences apply to them, too.

Mark
Ottawa

 

[Mike Baker]

BREAKING NEWS: Serb protesters attack U.S. embassy


(CNN) -- Angry demonstrators protesting Kosovo's independence from Serbia attacked the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade on Thursday, throwing rocks, breaking windows and setting fires.

Serbian TV showed someone trying to set fire to the U.S. flag at the embassy, which was closed and unstaffed when the masked protesters attacked.

Riot police fired tear gas at the rioters and lines of armored vehicles were on the streets.

U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said; "We are in contact with the Serbian government to ensure that they devote the appropriate assets to fulfill their international obligations to help protect diplomatic facilities in this case."

Kosovo declared independence last Sunday and the United States was among the first countries to offer official recognition of its split from Serbia.

Bratislaw Grubacic, chief editor of VIP magazine in Belgrade, said police reported 32 people injured, including 14 police officers.

Teresa Gould, a translator for Belgrade TV, said the Croatian Embassy next door also was attacked. Police quickly rounded up the demonstrators, witnesses said.

The violence was part of a much bigger, peaceful demonstration where up to 150,000 people chanted 'Kosovo is Serbia," and vowed to never accept the province's independence.

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, who earlier addressed the peaceful rally, said "Kosovo is Serbia's first name." He called the declaration of independence last Sunday illegal and said will do all he can to get it annulled.

State railroads provided free transport to protesters, and schools across the country were closed Thursday for the "Kosovo is Ours" rally in the Serb capital, The Associated Press reported.  Watch the Serb protests »

Tensions also erupted at the Kosovo border checkpoint in Merdare -- about 50 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of Kosovo's capital Pristina -- as several hundred Serbian army reservists clashed with NATO-led peacekeepers and police, AP said.

Photographs showed demonstrators, many of them wearing their reservist uniform, hurling rocks and setting tires alight to create a wall of smoke before they charged past the checkpoint shouting "Kosovo is ours! Kosovo is Serbia.

U.N. police said the demonstrators had come by bus from the Serbian town of Kursumlija and were largely army veterans who had fought with the Serbian side in Kosovo's 1998-1999 war, AP reported.

Following the clashes, the demonstrators dismantled and returned to the Serbian side of the checkpoint, according to AP.

Meanwhile several hundred Bosnian Serbs rallied in the Bosnian city of Banja Luka and in the Sarajevo suburb of Lukavica, AP said.

Students in Lukavica were seen waving Serbian flags and singing Serbian patriotic songs while police in Banja Luka were stopping demonstrators from marching on the U.S. consulate there.

The breakaway region has been recognized by the U.S. and several EU nations including the UK, France and Germany but the government in Belgrade maintains that Kosovo is a part of Serbia.

Amid simmering tensions in northern Kosovo, home to most of the region's Serb minority, there were fears that Thursday's rally could spill over into violence, as was seen at the Merdare border crossing, following attacks by Serb nationalists on western targets in Belgrade including the U.S. embassy earlier this week.

The U.S. Embassy in Belgrade advised American citizens to stay away from the gathering, warning that "businesses and organizations with U.S. affiliations may serve as focal points for these demonstrations."

"We wish to remind American citizens that even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and possibly escalate into violence. American citizens are therefore urged to avoid the areas of demonstrations, and to exercise caution if within the vicinity of any protests," a statement said.

On Thursday, Italy became the latest European nation to recognize Kosovo's sovereignty, AP reported.

"The recognition of Kosovo's independence does not take away anything from our closeness to Serbia," Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi told reporters.

Russia and China continue to oppose Kosovo's declaration of independence while Spain has expressed concern that recognition will give momentum to secessionist movements in other countries, such as the Basques in northern Spain.

 

[geo]

Hmmm... The balkans are heating up...... Where's the Archduke when you need one ???

 

[tomahawk6]

I have to say that the US should not have recognized Kosovo its a huge mistake and has the strong possibility of Serbia taking Kosovo by force thereby putting NATO troops there in a tough spot. Should the Serbs take the military option I dont see NATO trying to stop them.  The US/NATO doesnt need this flashpoint now.

 

[geo]

Ayup!
Regardless of what happens, a lot of people are about to get their shorts tied up in knots over the things happening over there.
The match has been lit & the powder keg is in place... anyone want to prophesize what happens next ?

 

[geo]

Is that with or without the torched US Embassy in Serbia?
Also - remember, the Russians are backing the Serbs... I think that things are as messy as they appear to be.

 

[fraserdw]

The one thing that no one is mentioning here is that this is all contrary to the UN Mandate in Kosovo.  The US and UK have decided to ignore the UN and support a mission that is not backed by the majority of the UN (boy, this sounds very much like.......like........Iraq).  Therefore the UN mission will be pulling out leaving the 20 members of the next coalition of the willing to break their promises and extract themselves a few years down the road when things get to tough.  Lets hope Canada is not there at the that time!

 

[tomahawk6]

UN Security Council Resolution 1244 has governed Kosovars since its inception, 8 years ago. It was up to the UN to figure out how to go forward. During that time nothing happened. The Albanian majority took it upon themselves to resolve the impass by declaring independence. Everyone knew the Albanian Kosovars were gioing to take this step. Kosovo as an entity isnt viable it needs to be part of either Serbia or Albania not some limbo.Its unfortunate that the Bush administration decided to rush recognition without thinking through the consequences. Russia is going to side with the Serbs and this puts the Kremlin and Washington on a collision course that is avoidable. The only question is what will be the cost war in Kosovo or Russian interference in the ME or helping Iran further its nuclear weapons program. The latter certainly cant be good for Russia's long term interests. Putin will make Washington pay a price and its one that we could have avoided simply by not recognizing Kosovar independence.

 

[fraserdw]

I think this is the true legacy of peace-making with peace-keepers.  In effect we use UN troops to take territory away from a nation without any "Marshall Plan" for after the war.  After a decade of occupation the UN, US and Europa were happy with a solution, any solution.  We have not then and not since addressed the root causes of the fears at the base of these societies.  They are all dirt poor post communist states where deceit was a way of life and no one has grown up with any real values or resepct for anything of any importance so they stick to tribalism as if it was a religion.  The real solution would be to divide the the whole of the former Yugo into about 250 states each with a Europa security force to protect it from it's neighbours and then to transfer 7 million European jobs there so they something do besides burn each other out.  The upside is that the European armaments industry now has a new client!!!!

 

[MarkOttawa]

Is the unraveling beginning?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080317/ts_afp/serbiakosovoununrest

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA (AFP) - UN police were forced to withdraw Monday from the Serb-populated part of this flashpoint Kosovo town after coming under attack as they stormed a court occupied by Serbs opposed to independence.

More than 100 people, including 63 international security force members, were hurt amid gunfire and a suspected grenade blast after they moved in to regain control of the UN-run tribunal in the northern town of Kosovska Mitrovica, police officials said...

"The police are pulling out of northern Mitrovica," said an official from the Kosovo police mission of the United Nations [supposed to be replaced by EU police; I wonder if they'll arrive as scheduled - MC],
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/20/kosovo.serbia1
who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity.

But Kosovo's NATO-led KFOR peacekeepers have remained in the tense town.
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL1741937520080317

The French army chief of staff said in Paris that 20 French soldiers serving with KFOR were among the wounded, eight of them seriously, but none of them were in critical condition.

"NATO condemns, in the strongest terms, violence that we have seen today. NATO will respond firmly to ensure a safe and secure environment," NATO spokesman James Appathurai said in Brussels.
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSL2773388720080227

The use of weapons makes the violence the worst to have flared in Kosovo since its ethnic Albanian-dominated parliament unilaterally declared independence from Serbia on February 17...

Northern Kosovo has a 40,000-strong Serb population who are divided from the mainly ethnic Albanian south by the Ibar River, which passes through Mitrovica.

The clashes came on the four-year anniversary of the March 2004 anti-Serb riots by ethnic Albanians in which 19 people were killed and dozens of medieval Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries were destroyed or damaged.

Kosovo's independence has been recognised by many Western countries but Serbia and Kosovo Serbs -- backed by Russia -- have vehemently rejected the move as illegal.

Serbian President Boris Tadic warned UN and NATO forces against any "excessive reaction" that could spark a further "escalation."

Outgoing Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica condemned the "use of force" and said Serbia had "begun consultations with Russia over necessary mutual reaction in order to halt all violence against the Serbs. [emphasis added]"..

Mark
Ottawa

 

[The Bread Guy]

And Canada throws its hat into the recognition ring....

Canada Joins International Recognition of Kosovo
DFAIT news release No. 59, 18 Mar 08

The Honourable Maxime Bernier, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced Canada’s decision to recognize Kosovo. Minister Bernier issued the following statement:

“We note that a significant number of countries, including our G7 partners and many of Canada’s close allies, have already recognized Kosovo.

“Kosovo is a unique case, as illustrated by its recent history characterized by war and ethnic cleansing, the role subsequently played by the United Nations and NATO in administering the territory and providing for its security, and the ongoing role that international organizations such as the European Union will play in assisting Kosovo with its transition to full independence.

“As the declaration issued by Kosovo's parliament also makes clear, the unique circumstances which have led to Kosovo's independence mean it does not constitute any kind of precedent. Statements made by other countries recognizing Kosovo's independence have echoed this point.

“We welcome the commitment made by Kosovo to ensure the protection of the rights of Serbian and other minorities, including their right to safety. Canada also welcomes Kosovo’s commitment to ensure the protection of religious and cultural heritage sites. Canada attaches great importance to the full implementation of these and other commitments, undertaken by Kosovo’s leaders in line with the recommendations of UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari.

“The development of Kosovo into a democratic, multi-ethnic state that fully respects human rights is essential for peace, political stability and economic progress in the Balkans.

“In this context, Canada acknowledges this new international reality.”

- 30 -

 

[MarkOttawa]

The development of Kosovo into a democratic, multi-ethnic state that fully respects human rights is essential for peace, political stability and economic progress in the Balkans...

Good luck.

Mark
Ottawa

 

[Reccesoldier]

Good luck.

Mark
Ottawa

Yeah cause they've done such a bang up job of that so far...

 

[MarkOttawa]

Military law imposed on divided Kosovo town after Serb rioting
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/europe/military-law-imposed-on-divided-kosovo-town-after-serb-rioting-797805.html

Nato has put the northern Kosovo town of Mitrovica under de facto military law after rioting by Serbs hostile to the newly independent state left one UN policeman dead and forced the withdrawal of UN staff.

The violence, which erupted on Monday at the UN courthouse in the divided town, was the worst since Kosovo's Albanian majority declared independence from Serbia last month. Nato officials said that protesters had "crossed a red line", using Molotov cocktails and grenades. A 25-year-old Ukrainian policeman died after being caught in by a grenade blast, becoming the first UN policeman to die in Kosovo since the UN took control in 1999.

In Mitrovica, the main bridge over the river that separates the town's Serb north from the Albanian south, was closed. French, Belgian and Spanish peacekeepers from the Nato-led force in armoured personnel carriers secured potential flashpoints and a column of US troops arrived to provide back-up [emphasis added--hmm]. Meanwhile, all Kosovo Serb police officers were ordered to suspend normal duties...

Why is Jack Layton not decrying this oppressive action by NATO? Surely the UN should be put in charge?
http://www.ndp.ca/page/6134

Mark
Ottawa

 

[MarkOttawa]

Serb PM doing Jack Layton's job for him:
http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008/03/23/europe/OUKWD-UK-SERBIA-KOSOVO.php

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica on Sunday accused NATO peacekeepers and United Nations police of using "snipers and banned ammunition" to quell a Serb riot against Kosovo's independence.

"It was the international forces," he told the daily Vecernje Novosti in an interview, referring to a riot in the Kosovo Serb stronghold of Mitrovica last Monday in which a Ukrainian U.N. policeman was killed and a Serb badly wounded in the head.

"Obviously, the situation in Kosovo is very difficult and there are reasonable and unreasonable people. The battle is on for the whole of Kosovo," Kostunica said.

When the powers which back independence for the majority Albanian province realised that Serbia would never recognise it, "they displayed force," Kostunica said "brutal force, snipers and banned ammunition"...

Kostunica is now a caretaker premier. His coalition collapsed this month over his hard-line policy of rejecting closer European Union ties until the EU reverses its recognition of Kosovo.

He said this would be the key issue in the early general election now scheduled for May 11, with rival Democrats led by pro-Western president Boris Tadic advocating a less confrontational approach.

Serbia would not submit to blackmail, Kostunica said.

He was "seriously worried" by pro-EU Serbs who he said would give Serbia a "government ready to push aside the defence of its integrity and say: Let's join Europe and then fight for Kosovo"...

Meanwhile some seeming logic here:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUKFIL241533._CH_.242020080322

Serbia has proposed a plan for the "functional division of Serbs and Kosovo Albanians" in Kosovo, Minister for Kosovo Slobodan Samardzic was quoted on Saturday as saying.

He said the plan referred to all of Kosovo and was part of the government's action plan to reject Kosovo's independence, declared with Western support on Feb. 17.

Diplomats said it amounted to a plan for partition which the West rejects.

Samardzic said Serbia respected a U.N. resolution on Kosovo which turned the province over to U.N. administration and NATO protection in 1999, and the mission that has run it ever since, known as UNMIK.

"We accept resolution 1244
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/ACOS-64D26H?OpenDocument
and the authority of the UNMIK police, judiciary and customs office. But after the unilateral declaration of independence, only Serbs, with the help of Serbia, can perform those duties," he told the daily Politika.

Samardzic confirmed he submitted the proposal to UNMIK deputy chief Larry Rossin a week ago.

He said that if Serbia did not take over those institutions, then "Kosovo Albanians will, with the tacit approval of UNMIK, within a couple of months gain control of all institutions".

He said Serbia had not given up on 1244, but it had been undermined by the unilateral declaration of independence.

The current situation was "a challenge to UNMIK to be creative and not withdraw with the job not done".

"If they want peace and stability, they must reach a lasting agreement with the Serbs, and not try to put out fire every other day through violence," Samardzic said...

Mark
Ottawa