(Voci particolarmente preoccupate sulla posizione occidentale riguardo al Kosovo arrivano dalla Repubblica Ceca, dove non è venuta meno la memoria di cosa successe in seguito al riconoscimento internazionale della "autodeterminazione" dei Sudeti (Patto di Monaco, 1938). Inoltre, militari cechi e slovacchi della KFOR hanno assistito molto da vicino, in questi anni, alle violenze compiute contro la parte non-schipetara della popolazione autoctona del Kosovo come anche contro gli schipetari democratici... a cura di IS)
Historical parallels: Czechoslovakia 1938, Serbia 2008
1) Serbia to "become the first country in Europe to have been humiliated by a land grab since the Munich agreement” ?
November 23, 2007
2) Czech Parliament may reject an independent Kosovo
January 8, 2008
3) Former Czech Foreign Minister Jirí Dienstbier: "In Kosovo itself, no one calls himself a Kosovan.
Rather, they identify themselves as Albanians, Serbs, Turks or Roma"
January 8, 2008
4) September 1938: last-minute appeals for moderation as Hitler builds up forces on the Czech border
5) FLASHBACK:
Kosovo: Czech First-Hand Account Of Ethnic Terror
The Prague Post - March 25, 2004
Vedi anche, see also:
Historical parallels show EU’s Kosovo policy is insane
By: Jiří Hanák, Czech Business Weekly 07. 01. 2008
Most of the following documents have been collected by Rick Rozoff
and spread via http://groups.yahoo.com/group/yugoslaviainfo/
=== 1 ===
West ‘pressing to dismember Serbia’
BELGRADE The Serbian Prime Minister has said that powerful Western nations have asked his country to give up the province of Kosovo voluntarily and to be an accomplice to the creation of a new Albanian state.
Vojislav Kostunica said: “We must now decide whether Serbia will succumb to this violence and become the first country in Europe to have been humiliated by a land grab since the Munich agreement.” That led in 1938 to Hitler’s dismemberment of Czechoslovakia. Officials from Serbia and Kosovo are to hold talks about the future status of the province over three days in Baden, Austria, next week, after talks on Tuesday failed.
Belgrade insists that Kosovo, which has been under UN administration since 1999, is part of its territory and history. It is willing to grant its southern province wide autonomy, but not the independence demanded by the ethnic Albanian majority. (AFP)
West ‘pressing to dismember Serbia’ - Times Online
November 23, 2007
=== 2 ===
Radio Prague - January 8, 2008
Czech Parliament may reject an independent Kosovo
The Serbian province of Kosovo is expected to declare
independence from Serbia early this year.
The Czech foreign policy on this hot issue has been
following the moderate attitude of the European Union
calling for an agreement between the Serbian
government and Kosovo’s Albanian majority.
But the lower house of the Czech Parliament might push
for a change in the Czech stance. An opposition MP
wants a resolution passed denouncing a unilateral
declaration of independence for Kosovo.
After the UN Security Council failed in December to
reach a compromise on the issue of the status of the
Serbian province of Kosovo, the European Union assumed
a leading role in implementing a solution.
....
An opposition MP Kateøina Koneèná, of the Communist
Party, wants to change this. She says she will motion
a resolution in the Chamber of Deputies denouncing any
unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo’s
Albanians.
“Kosovo as such has always belonged to Serbia. If this
is not respected, we are really worried that – apart
from damaging Serbia – a wave of similar actions in
other European countries might break out. This is very
dangerous at a time when Europe wants to share a
common foreign policy and take common measures in its
foreign policy.”
The Social Democrats, the stronger of the two
opposition parties in the Czech parliament’s lower
house, share a similar view citing international
guarantees given to Serbia by the EU and NATO over
territorial integrity. Social Democrat Jan Hamáèek is
the head of the Chamber of Deputies’ Foreign Affair
Committee.
“We have issued a statement calling for further
negotiations on the matter. The statement does not
support any unilateral declaration of independence.
The Czech Social Democrats are against it.”
In their effort to change the official Czech position
on Kosovo, the opposition might find unexpected allies
in the MPs of the strongest party of the house, the
coalition Civic Democrats. Jan Vidím is one of them.
“I am personally very sceptical with regard to a
unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo
Albanians. If the Chamber of Deputies gets to vote on
a resolution rejecting this declaration, I might well
support it.”
Communist MP Kateøina Koneèná wants to put the vote on
the agenda of Parliament’s extraordinary session on
January 15, before a European Union envoy visits
Kosovo at the end of the month.
If passed, the opposition hopes the motion would
change the Czech policy on an independent Kosovo. But
Martin Povejšil, of the Foreign Ministry, says under
the Czech constitution, it will still be up to the
government to decide.
“Parliament will not be able to change the
constitution in this respect. Legally, the government
will still have the authority to decide on a possible
recognition or non-recognition of Kosovo’s
independence. Any parliamentary stance on that issue
will of course have its political impact but it will
not limit the constitutionally-given powers of the
cabinet.”
=== 3 ===
Pravo (Czech Republic) - January 8, 2008
No such thing as a Kosovan
Former Czech Foreign Minister Jirí Dienstbier, who for
many years served as special rapporteur for the UN
High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Balkans,
understands Serbia's hesitation to accept an
independent Kosovo:
"International mediators have never seriously sought
compromise; rather, they have only tried to pressure
Serbia to accept Kosovo's independence.
"Russia was the only one that always saw this as the
worst option for stabilizing the Balkans.
"Attempts to support recognition of an independent
Kosovo lead to bizarre notions.
"The term 'Kosovan' sounds multi-ethnic. But in Kosovo
itself, no one calls himself a Kosovan.
"Rather, they identify themselves as Albanians, Serbs,
Turks or Roma."
=== 4 ===
Radio Prague - January 10, 2008
September 1938: last-minute appeals for moderation as
Hitler builds up forces on the Czech border
By David Vaughan
This week we continue our look into the dramatic
events in Czechoslovakia just before World War Two. By
the summer of 1938, Hitler’s Germany was demanding
nothing less than the immediate annexation of the
entire Sudetenland – all parts of Bohemia and Moravia
with a German speaking majority.
The Sudeten German Party had made big gains among
German speakers in local elections earlier that year,
and the Nazi rhetoric of their leaders was
unambiguous.
The radio archives include a recording of one
prominent Sudeten German politician, Wilhelm
Sebekowsky, talking at a huge political rally in
Dresden on 19th September 1938, a few days after his
party had been banned in Czechoslovakia for leading an
attempted coup in the Sudetenland:
“Victory will be ours,” he screamed, as the crowd as
the crowd responded with deafening and prolonged
cheers, “because the vision of Adolf Hitler must
triumph!”
Two weeks later, victory was indeed theirs, as Britain
and France agreed in Munich to allow Hitler to march
into the Sudetenland.
Yet there were also Sudeten Germans who remained
vehemently opposed to Hitler.
The leader of the Sudeten German Social Democrats,
Wenzel Jaksch, gave a moving talk on Radio Prague’s
English shortwave broadcasts 16th September 1938, just
days before the fateful Munich conference.
“Czechs and Germans cannot annihilate each other. Each
nationality has its failings and its virtues. Somehow
or other a formula for an honest and peaceful
cooperation of the nationalities has eventually to be
found, not only in our country, but in the whole of
Europe.
"Let us join all forces to avoid that our home
borderland will become a cause of conflict or a
battlefield.
"Let us create a higher standard of cooperation of the
two nationalities who dwell upon a soil assigned to
them by destiny and which are called to be the bridge
linking the German and Slav peoples.”
Radio Prague also broadcast an address by the
anti-Nazi Sudeten German priest, Emmanuel Joseph
Reichenberger, appealing in vain to his fellow Sudeten
Germans not to let themselves be seduced by the
fanatical rhetoric of their leaders.
“We are standing on the edge of a precipice. An
unbounded campaign of hate has claimed its first
victims.
"I speak as a German who truly loves his people and
home and wishes to protect them from destruction. We
must not bear the burden of the hatred and curses of
the rest of the world.
"I speak as a human being and a Christian, who sees
God’s image in every human soul, who believes in
worthier ways of settling human and inter-state
differences than war and annihilation. Sudeten German
men and women: think of your responsibility towards
your family before God, your home and our people.
Pray, work, sacrifice for peace. God wishes it.”
A sober message there from the Sudeten German priest
and democrat, Emmanuel Joseph Reichenberger, who not
long afterwards was forced into exile as Hitler took
over the Sudetenland.
=== 5 ===
From: Rick Rozoff
Subject: [yugoslaviainfo] Kosovo: Czech First-Hand Account Of Ethnic Terror
Date: March 27, 2004 2:58:34 PM GMT+01:00
The Prague Post - March 25, 2004
KFOR troops struggle to prevent further clashes between ethnic Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo.
By Eva Munk
-"They smashed everything inside, including our
communications center, made a big pile in front and
set it on fire. Then they turned their attention to
the adjacent Serb cemetery. They knocked over
tombstones, dug up the coffins and scattered the bones
in them."
-"In Serbian enclaves, Kosovo Albanians are destroying
property, burning houses, chasing people away and even
lynching them. The Serbs are trying to defend
themselves and we are trying to keep them apart."
-Mobs of ethnic Albanians attacked Serb enclaves and
KFOR units, leaving 24 dead and about 850 more
wounded, 22 of them seriously.
Mobs razed hundreds of Serb houses and 17 Orthodox
churches and monasteries.
-[K]osovar leaders say the only way to resolve the
underlying causes of the conflict is to give the
province independence. But European leaders agree that
such a move could again destabilize the Balkans -- not
to mention what such a move would mean for Kosovo's
Serb and Romany minorities.
"Of course they would kill us or drive us out," said
Romany journalist Jackie Buzoli.
Captain Jindrich Plescher had never seen anything like
it.
"We were defending a Serb Orthodox church in the town
of Podujevo against a mob of 500 Albanians, but there
were too many for us," he recalled. "When they broke
through the wall [around the church], we got orders to
retreat.
"They smashed everything inside, including our
communications center, made a big pile in front and
set it on fire. Then they turned their attention to
the adjacent Serb cemetery. They knocked over
tombstones, dug up the coffins and scattered the bones
in them."
For the first time March 21, the professionally
optimistic voice of Plescher, press spokesman for the
Czech-Slovak KFOR battalion in Kosovo, sounded tired.
"Sorry, we've been on our feet since last week," he
said. "Our boys have been rounding up Serb families,
pulling them out of cellars and out of burning houses
-- saving their lives."
Czech and Slovak soldiers have been supporting KFOR's
Brigade center -- a multinational unit consisting of
Finnish, Swedish and Irish troops, located around the
administrative center of Pristina -- since mobs of
ethnic Albanians went on a rampage against Kosovo's
Serb minority March 17.
"The Serbs are very happy to see Czech and Slovak
troops. They see us as keepers of the peace," Plescher
said.
For most of the week, they helped defend Serb enclaves
in the towns of Lipljan, Plemetina, Babin Most,
Caglavica and Gracanica. By March 21 they had
consolidated around the village of Obiliç, a Serb
enclave northwest of Pristina, and were evacuating the
remaining Serb inhabitants to military headquarters in
the city. The Serb homes in the village were ransacked
and burned, said unit commander Josef Kopecky.
Albanian rage
In times of peace, the 500-strong Fourth Czech-Slovak
KFOR battalion keeps the peace in an area of 1,000
square kilometers (386 square miles) in the northeast
corner of the province, including 104 kilometers (65
miles) of borderland and a long stretch of the
Belgrade-Pristina highway. The area was expanded by
179 square kilometers March 22 to include more
ethnically mixed villages.
Now their mission is simply to protect Serbs from
enraged mobs of ethnic Albanians.
"The residents have gone to war with each other using
whatever they can -- iron bars, rifles, handguns and
even grenades," Kopecky said March 19. "In Serbian
enclaves, Kosovo Albanians are destroying property,
burning houses, chasing people away and even lynching
them. The Serbs are trying to defend themselves and we
are trying to keep them apart."
No Czech or Slovak soldiers have been hurt, except for
one Slovak who was hit on the head with a rock,
Plescher said. "He was up on his feet again the next
day. Please, please tell everyone back home that all
our boys are alive and well."
The Czech government had planned to withdraw 100
troops from Kosovo by May 1. But the performance of
the Czech soldiers in quelling the riots has made the
government change its mind about downsizing the force
in the province, Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla
told reporters.
The rampage broke out March 17 after two Albanian boys
were drowned in the Ibar river, reportedly chased
there by Serbs. That event triggered the worst
violence the province has seen since 1999. Mobs of
ethnic Albanians attacked Serb enclaves and KFOR
units, leaving 24 dead and about 850 more wounded, 22
of them seriously.
Mobs razed hundreds of Serb houses and 17 Orthodox
churches and monasteries.
Ironically, the riots started days after UN
Undersecretary General for Peacekeeping Jean-Marie
Guehenno praised evident progress in Kosovo and urged
displaced persons to return to their homes.
That hardly seems likely now.
Instead, NATO plans to augment its 17,000-strong
presence in the province with 2,000 more troops. UN
officials and the commander of NATO forces in Southern
Europe, Admiral Gregory Johnson, are now saying the
riots appear to have been well-planned and organized.
In Serbia, the violence triggered anti-Albanian
protests, and several mosques were burned.
Serbian Foreign Minister Goran Silvanovic said the
riots prove that KFOR and UN forces have no real
authority in the province and are incapable of
protecting Kosovo's minorities.
Independence demand
For their part, Kosovar leaders say the only way to
resolve the underlying causes of the conflict is to
give the province independence. But European leaders
agree that such a move could again destabilize the
Balkans -- not to mention what such a move would mean
for Kosovo's Serb and Romany minorities.
"Of course they would kill us or drive us out," said
Romany journalist Jackie Buzoli.
So far, according to Romany activist and Kosovo
correspondent Paul Polansky, the Albanians' rage has
bypassed the Roma, who are merely being urged not to
help the Serbs.
Eva Munk can be reached at news@...