SOURCE: http://www.solidnet.org
From: New Worker Online, Thursday, February 08, 2007
http://www.newworker.org
mailto:party @...
==================================================
New Worker Lead & Editorial - 9/2/2007
***********************
Editorials - 9/2/2007 & 2/2/2007
The same old rope for Kosovo
KOSOVO returned to the international arena last week with the
publication of the draft proposals of Martti Ahtisaari, the UN
Special Envoy for Kosovo, for a region which is still technically
part of Serbia, even though it has been occupied by Nato troops since
1999. But there was nothing new in the Ahtisaari plan, which
envisages an autonomous Kosovan administration that could join
international organisations with its own national anthem and flag and
a proper constitution but not full independence.
While this is presented as a sop to Serbian claims to the province
and the remaining Serb minority in Kosovo, the real reason is that
Franco-German imperialism is quite happy with the existing
arrangements which have reduced Kosovo and Bosnia to European Union
protectorates.
The break-up of the old Yugoslav federation was planned by Franco-
German imperialism and put into action with the support of Anglo-
American imperialism and it was all done in the name of a bogus self-
determination that upheld the rights of all the recognised
communities in Yugoslavia with the exception of the Serbs.
Nationalist parties in Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and Bosnia were
all encouraged to leave the federation while substantial Serb
minorities were denied the right to secede or unite with Serbia. This
inevitably led to the bloody conflicts in Bosnia and Kosovo, and the
imperialist war against the rump Yugoslav state in 1999 that did not
solve the national questions in the former socialist state or bring
peace, prosperity and stability to the Balkans.
The current plan includes international and UN guarantees for the
remaining Serbs in Kosovo, some 10 per cent of the population but
these are just empty words. The Palestinian Arabs were told the same
thing in 1948 when the UN partitioned Palestine and look what
happened to them.
Franco-German imperialism is, of course, not the slightest bit
concerned about the rights of small nations except when it suits
them. The imperialists claim to have given the Kosovan Albanians
freedom but the only ones to have benefited from the end of direct
Serbian rule are those who were lucky enough to claim asylum in
Britain and the rest of the European Union when the conflict began.
Kosovo is one of the poorest regions in Europe and half the two
million odd people of the province are unemployed.
The economy is kept afloat through international and imperialist
"aid" and the remittances of Kosovan workers abroad, which alone
accounts for over 13 per cent of the province's GDP. The Euro is the
official currency of Kosovo and there's certainly a role for the
province in the EU, but only as a source of cheap labour. Franco-
German imperialism is certainly not prepared to treat the local
nationalist leaders as equals and in any case they've still got there
eye on the bigger prize, which is Serbia itself.
The Ahtisaari plan may easily come to nothing as Russia has
threatened to veto it at the UN Security Council if it is not backed
by the Kosovan Serbs and the Serbian government - and the Serb
leaders have all expressed their opposition to the draft which gives
them nothing more than the little they've already got.
The only solution to the problems of former Yugoslavia is a
comprehensive and just settlement that covers all the former
republics of the Yugoslav federation including Serbia and Montenegro.
All foreign troops must be withdrawn from the Balkans to allow all
the states in the region to resolve their problems without
interference and all the refugees must be given the right to return
to their homes including the tens of thousands of Serbs driven out of
Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo.
New Communist Party of Britain
Http://www.newworker.org
Write to:
P.O.Box 73
London SW11 2PQ
Telephone 0207 223 4050 or 0207 223 4052
*End*
SOURCE: http://www.solidnet.org/
From: New Worker Online, Thursday, February 08, 2007
http://www.newworker.org
mailto:party @...
==================================================
New Worker Lead & Editorial - 9/2/2007
***********************
Editorials - 9/2/2007 & 2/2/2007
The same old rope for Kosovo
KOSOVO returned to the international arena last week with the
publication of the draft proposals of Martti Ahtisaari, the UN
Special Envoy for Kosovo, for a region which is still technically
part of Serbia, even though it has been occupied by Nato troops since
1999. But there was nothing new in the Ahtisaari plan, which
envisages an autonomous Kosovan administration that could join
international organisations with its own national anthem and flag and
a proper constitution but not full independence.
While this is presented as a sop to Serbian claims to the province
and the remaining Serb minority in Kosovo, the real reason is that
Franco-German imperialism is quite happy with the existing
arrangements which have reduced Kosovo and Bosnia to European Union
protectorates.
The break-up of the old Yugoslav federation was planned by Franco-
German imperialism and put into action with the support of Anglo-
American imperialism and it was all done in the name of a bogus self-
determination that upheld the rights of all the recognised
communities in Yugoslavia with the exception of the Serbs.
Nationalist parties in Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and Bosnia were
all encouraged to leave the federation while substantial Serb
minorities were denied the right to secede or unite with Serbia. This
inevitably led to the bloody conflicts in Bosnia and Kosovo, and the
imperialist war against the rump Yugoslav state in 1999 that did not
solve the national questions in the former socialist state or bring
peace, prosperity and stability to the Balkans.
The current plan includes international and UN guarantees for the
remaining Serbs in Kosovo, some 10 per cent of the population but
these are just empty words. The Palestinian Arabs were told the same
thing in 1948 when the UN partitioned Palestine and look what
happened to them.
Franco-German imperialism is, of course, not the slightest bit
concerned about the rights of small nations except when it suits
them. The imperialists claim to have given the Kosovan Albanians
freedom but the only ones to have benefited from the end of direct
Serbian rule are those who were lucky enough to claim asylum in
Britain and the rest of the European Union when the conflict began.
Kosovo is one of the poorest regions in Europe and half the two
million odd people of the province are unemployed.
The economy is kept afloat through international and imperialist
"aid" and the remittances of Kosovan workers abroad, which alone
accounts for over 13 per cent of the province's GDP. The Euro is the
official currency of Kosovo and there's certainly a role for the
province in the EU, but only as a source of cheap labour. Franco-
German imperialism is certainly not prepared to treat the local
nationalist leaders as equals and in any case they've still got there
eye on the bigger prize, which is Serbia itself.
The Ahtisaari plan may easily come to nothing as Russia has
threatened to veto it at the UN Security Council if it is not backed
by the Kosovan Serbs and the Serbian government - and the Serb
leaders have all expressed their opposition to the draft which gives
them nothing more than the little they've already got.
The only solution to the problems of former Yugoslavia is a
comprehensive and just settlement that covers all the former
republics of the Yugoslav federation including Serbia and Montenegro.
All foreign troops must be withdrawn from the Balkans to allow all
the states in the region to resolve their problems without
interference and all the refugees must be given the right to return
to their homes including the tens of thousands of Serbs driven out of
Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo.
New Communist Party of Britain
Http://www.newworker.org
Write to:
P.O.Box 73
London SW11 2PQ
Telephone 0207 223 4050 or 0207 223 4052
*End*
SOURCE: http://www.solidnet.org/