5308 Kosovo's "Self Determination"



Self Determination 2007/02/13


BELGRADE/PRISTINA/TIRANA/BERLIN (Own report) - Serbia should relinquish its southern province of Kosovo and place itself under the patronage of its former enemies. That is the gist of the offer which the German presidency made to the Belgrade government last Monday. As a reward for the renunciation of Kosovo, negotiations would be opened with the EU for an association agreement. The territorial self-amputation, which Berlin expects in the name of the EU, would break the Serbian constitution and create a dangerous precedent of forced secession of territories by appeals to "self determination" from violent minorities. Organisations connected with German foreign policy have pushed these sorts of theories for years, aiming at the dismemberment of neighbouring countries. The offer by the German presidency followed demonstrations by violent Kosovo separatists which claimed two lives last week end. The disorders were promoted by a terrorist organisation which demands an end to the need for Kosovo to achieve standards in human rights and already has a branch office in Germany. Its ringleaders were among the co-conspirators of the former German foreign minister Klaus Kinkel in the preparations for the Yugoslav/Kosovo war of 1999. They cooperated with the underground Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) which was supported and sustained by Germany. Those ringleaders form the government in Pristina today. The ensuing violence is a consequence of the change of power enforced by Germany which gave suspected war criminals and crooks the decisive influence in Kosovo.

As announced following an EU foreign ministers' conference which took place last Monday under German chairmanship, the former aggressors are offering Belgrade a resumption of talks on a so-called treaty of association. It is a condition that the Serbian government should fulfil all demands of the UN tribunal in the Hague and extradite former high ranking officers of its armed forces to the victors. Additionally Serbia should accede to the plan for Kosovo's secession, drafted by the former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari on behalf of the UN and break its own constitution by renouncing claim to its southern province of Kosovo. To avoid the appearance of a complete capitulation by Belgrade, the planned secession is called "partial independence" although the founding of Kosovo as a state is decked out with all the insignia and trappings of a sovereign state. The "association agreement", which requires further discussions with Belgrade, will bind Serbia irrevocably to the EU and distance Belgrade from its former ally, Russia, which continues to refuse its agreement to Kosovo's secession.[1]

Occasion and Cause

The offer by the EU foreign ministers had already been made public in the run-up to the conference and provoked Kosovan terrorists who stirred up a storm of protest against the cosmetic restrictions on their anticipated "self determination". They want to establish their new EU state without controls from Brussels and to keep open the possibility of further frontier encroachments against bordering states, including Greece. Coordinated demonstrations, which took place on the eve of the foreign ministers conference and claimed two lives, were designed to make an impression. The protests were planned by an organisation called " Vetevendosje" (Self determination) which has campaigned for several years for the union of Kosovo with Albania and for the annexation of parts of Macedonia, Montenegro and Greece. The Kosovo uprisings of March 2004 (in which 18 people were killed and numerous Orthodox churches and monasteries were destroyed) served as a model for the recent disturbances - with some success. According to critics, the planning of that episode was advised beforehand to German secret service and military authorities. The riots were not prevented by the occupying troops and this provided Berlin's foreign policy with the occasion to press for early secession of the south Serbian province.[2]

Introduced Everywhere

Experts evaluate the Vetevendosje organisation as terrorist. It demands the immediate ending of the negotiations on secession and the unconditional founding of the state of Kosovo. A long term observer [3] reports that its main slogans are "Smite the Serbs" and "Freedom, no Standards". "Standards" in this case mean, amongst other things demanded by the UN, the protection of minorities from murderous pogroms. Vetevendosje works within circles of the veterans of unification "Balli Kombetar", an earlier terror organisation of Greater Albanian nationalism which collaborated with Nazi Germany in the early Forties. The leader of Vetevendosje, Albin Kurti, has good contacts in Germany which he uses to secure his influential position in the Kosovo secession movement. During the preparations for the war in Yugoslavia, as a representative of the underground Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK), he was introduced everywhere "in the whole western world as a charismatic student leader" - so reports a government adviser of the time.[4] Among Kurti's contacts is the former foreign minister, Klaus Kinkel.

Advances

Kurti's German contacts could flourish in the orbit of the long term support which the German intelligence community offered to the Kosovo Liberation Army. As a result "advances in the Albanian area" had already begun by the end of the Eighties. According to the intelligence expert Erich Schmdt-Eenboom, the then German foreign minister Hans Dietrich Genscher initiated these contacts.[5] The aim was to use the break up of the Warsaw Pact states to establish a presence quickly on the borders of Yugoslavia. Alongside weapon supplies, Tirana received espionage equipment from 1991 - just at the time that the Albanian secret service started to build up the newly founded Kosovo Liberation Army. Some of the German supplies were later found in Kosovo. According to press reports, the German Secret Service (BND Bundesnachrichtendienst) went over to arming the Kosovo Liberation Army directly in 1996, just as it was starting its first large campaign with bomb attacks on five Serbian refugee camps. The secret service connections continue openly to this day. A year ago the Belgrade press reported that both the BND and German Inland Secret Service had begun training espionage and state protection organisations.[6]

The Whole Spectrum

The close political connections with Berlin which are enjoyed by the ruling clans in Pristina are built on the secret service contacts established in the pre-war and wartime periods. Former KLA pupils of German foreign policy have provided two of the four previous "prime ministers" of Kosovo. Agim Ceku, who was KLA Chief of Staff responsible for ground operations within the framework of the NATO attack, has led the Kosovo government since last year. He stands accused of serious war crimes and, as a result of Western pressure, has been twice released from investigative custody without coming before a court. Ramush Haradinaj, Ceku's predecessor but one in office, converted the KLA into the paramilitary "Kosovo Protection Corps" after the war. Two years ago the BND reported on Haradinaj using its intimate knowledge of Kosovo " The clan structure in the Decani area around Ramush Haradinaj is concerned with the whole spectrum of criminal, political and military activities which considerably affect the security conditions in all Kosovo. The group has about 100 members and is active in drug and weapon smuggling and in illegal trade in goods subject to customs duties. Additionally it controls organs of local government."[7]

Despised

The prospect of building a state on such a power basis at Berlin's insistence provoked the former Kosovo Ombudsman, Marek Antoni Nowicki, to sharp criticism. Nowicki reported last year "Kosovo society is dominated by a fine-meshed network of great Albanian families, which rule the area as clans. In this part of the world, cooperation with the police and justice departments is never valued and is, in fact, despised".[8] He reported after a thorough-going analysis of the security and justice systems, as well as corruption, organised crime and discrimination against minorities that the human rights situation in the protectorate "remains continually below minimum international standards".[9] As the final procedures for the splitting off of Kosovo became evident, Nowicki was removed from his post. His successor has not been known to make any critical remarks.



[2] see also Konsequenz des Krieges and Model
[3], [4] Albin Kurti: Mit wohlbekannten Methoden auf dem Weg nach Groß-Albanien; www.eurasischesmagazin.de 30.07.2006
[5] Europäische und amerikanische Interessen auf dem Balkan; Telepolis 29.08.2001
[7] Rechtsstaat? Lieber nicht!; Die Weltwoche 43/2005
[8] Kosovo und Kosova. Gedanken eines ehemaligen Balkan-Korrespondenten; Neues Deutschland 22.03.2006
[9] Marek Antoni Nowicki: Kosovo pro memoria; www.kosovo.net/news/archive/2006/February_24/1.html