Cameron Hewitt, co-author of my Croatia & Slovenia guidebook, has shared a tour guide’s insight that may complement what you’ve heard on the news about Kosovo’s new independence. Here it is:
You might have heard that Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia. Is this good news or bad news? It’s too early to tell.
If their independence takes hold, Kosovo will become the seventh country to emerge from the break-up of Yugoslavia. About nine out of every ten people in Kosovo are ethnically Albanian (and generally Muslim). Fewer than one in ten is Serb (a Slavic cousin of the Croats, Slovenes, and Bosniaks, and generally Orthodox Christian).
Why do the Serbs care what happens to Kosovo, with its tiny Serb population? It’s partly because they fear for the safety of the Serbs living in Kosovo, but it’s mostly because many of the important historic, cultural, and religious sites of the Serb people are in Kosovo. To put it into context, a Serb once told me, “Kosovo is the Mecca and the Medina of the Serb people.”
For most of the 20th century, Kosovo was considered part of Serbia, the largest constituent unit of Yugoslavia. But because Kosovo is such a political hot potato, the communist dictator Tito set it up as a semi-independent “autonomous province” within Serbia. That compromise didn’t last long.
The Yugoslav wars of the 1990s actually started in Kosovo in the 1980s, when the Albanians there began to push for more independence from Serbia. Serb strongman Slobodan Miloševic went to Kosovo to support the Serb minority, and made provocative statements implying Serb aggression toward Kosovo. This started a chain reaction that led to Serbia’s annexation of Kosovo, Slovenia and Croatia declaring independence from Yugoslavia, and a decade of fighting in the region.
After the Balkan Wars and the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, it became a UN protectorate–still nominally part of Serbia, but for all practical purposes separate and self-governing (under the watchful eye of the UN).
The plan was always for Kosovo to eventually declare independence. But on Sunday, the provisional government unilaterally declared its independence without going through proper UN channels. (It had grown impatient that its UN bid for independence was being stalled by traditional Serb ally Russia.) So far, the Republic of Kosovo has been recognized by the US and most major European powers, but not officially endorsed by the UN. Key opponents include Russia, China, and Spain (which sees unsettling parallels between Kosovo and its own Basque region).
So, what now?
Pessimists fear that Kosovo’s declaration of independence will upset the delicate postwar balance of the Balkans; that militant Serbs will flock to Kosovo to fight to keep it as part of Serbia; and that it might even provoke the Serb half of Bosnia-Herzegovina to secede from the Bosniak/Croat half. Last summer a young Serb who lives in rural Bosnia-Herzegovina–well-educated, articulate, and Western-looking–told me, “Ninety percent of the people in this town have never been to Kosovo. But ninety percent of us will take up arms and fight to the death to defend it.” He acknowledged that he was one of those people. I shudder to think that he might be heading to Kosovo as we speak.
Optimists are holding their breath to see how the Serbs will fight Kosovo independence. The new Kosovo government has very carefully stated it will protect the rights of its minorities (read: Serbs), which is a good sign. (It was Croatia’s failure to respect its Serb population that partly sparked the war there.) And Serbia has said it will not take military action (but, then, much of the fighting of the 1990s was not “officially endorsed” by the government, either).
If Kosovo independence works, it will be the final chapter of a long and ugly Yugoslav succession, and everyone there can finally get on with their lives.
Stay tuned. And if you’re a religious person, now is the time to pray for peace in Kosovo.
im not very familiar with european history in regards to the balkans. Is this a religious fear on the part of the serbs? chirstian vs. muslim? or is this ethinic conflict? also, where did the muslims of eastern europe originally come from? was in the ottoman empire? which eastern european countries in the balkan have high numbers of muslims besides the kosovo region? Why do the ethinic albanians living in the serbia/ kosovo region not identify with or migrate back to albania? interesting blog. thanks!
On June 5, 1989, we drove from Greece, through Serbia on our way to Northern Europe. A few weeks earlier there was a riot near Skopje, Yugoslavia and about 25 people were killed. I had listened to short-wave news broadcasts every day, and had heard of no problems until yesterday when we heard that one person was killed. We must drive through this part of the country (about the only road from Greece to northern Europe), but will make sure we don’t have to spend a night. As we drive through the provence of Kosovo, through the cities of Skopje and Pristina, we see more police and Army than we like to see. A couple of weeks from now, in mid June, there is to be a celebration of a war in 1389, 600 years ago, when the Ottoman Turks defeated the Serbs in the famous “Battle of Polje.” The funny thing is, as I understand it, the Serbs lost the battle, but are going to have a big celebration. I have done but little research, and have yet to find why the Serbs celebrate a defeat in battle. In 1989 they expected hundreds of thousands of Slavs to be here for the special weekend. The big problem is, this area is the homeland for the Albanian-Yugoslavian people. This is one part of Europe we wanted to visit again, as the people were wonderful, the scenery was beautiful and unexplainable. But that was 1989, the war was 1990 to 1997, and I’m sure it is different now. From what I understand, one of the potential problems with the separation by Kosovo in 2008, is that the location of the ground of the “Battle of Polje†would be under control of non-Serbs. That may well be a major part of the expected “problem.â€
Here’s a pretty good short article http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10701976
Kathy M, I don’t know who you are but I like you so very much. Your comments to this blog are always interesting and have added much to these discussions. Like so many others that read and respond here, you’re obviously educated, curious, and classy.
I’m curious how travel to and from Kosovo is being handled now. In particular, how is the system of visas and border control set up in a new country like this?
I’m curious how travel to and from Kosovo is being handled now. In particular, how is the system of visas and border control set up in a new country like this?
Thanks John in Jax that makes my day. I have always done alot of research but I think what really has opened my eyes are the courses I am taking toward a European Union Certificate. This semester we are covering EU-US Economic relations and International Psychology. Some of the books we are required to read especially Philip Thody’s Europe since 1945 really gave me some great insight into how the EU came to be and what has shaped world events. I could never understand why people maybe 10 or 20 years older than me hate France but after reading this book it is crystal clear how peoples ideas of France evolved. The France we know today is nothing like the France from the 40’s though the 60’s. Although the EU seems to work so seemlessly now it took decades of work and mistakes to get it where it is today and the how it got here is fascinating. We are so lucky today to have the internet to track news and communicate adn I wonder if we had it at the end of WWII if things would have evolved differently.Anyway thanks a complement is always welcomed.
Wow, Great having a bank of experts on board. To attempt an answer to David’s question, it’s my understanding that there will be a 120 day transition period from U.N. administration to a EU police and judicial team which will help Kosovo transition to carrying out its own police function, which I would imagine would include border control. Also note that there are already 17,000 NATO troops on the ground there to provide security. It’s potentially a powder keg. I think all eyes are watching Russia’s next move. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for cool heads to prevail and that things don’t get out of hand. Best regards to all.
Thanks KathyM and Thomas on all the background info – this blog is more informative than anything we get anywhere else – let’s hope for a peaceful transition.
Another great place for information is bbcnews.com They offer really great articles, background information and usually some short timelines or information with photographs as well to really help everyone understand. It’s the only news network I trust or read. (On a slightly less serious note I think it’s hilarious and rather odd that the “input word” for this comment is “manhandles”.)
This is a complicated issue. I don’t know what to think of it all. Peace always sounds good out of a war situation.
This is one of the most newsworthy and important events in recent European history. While Slovenian and Croatian independence was newsworthy as it signaled the breaking apart of the former Yugoslavia, it seemed logical and happened without conflict. Even when Montenegro became independent in 2006, there wasn’t much fanfare. However, this is so much more than that due to the global implications involving Kosovo’s independence. From the perspective of the US, France, UK, Italy, et al this was the next logical step for Kosovo to establish their independence. And for that, I applaud these countries. For Russia, Spain, China, Cyrpus and others I completely understand the fears that distinct cultural regions in their countries may follow. And this move by Kosovo sets a dangerous precedent and may prompt even more violence in places like the Basque region. However, I question whether they really care whether Kosovo and Serbia are independent as they are more concerned about the precedent being set more than they are any concerns with Kosovo’s independence itself. For me, I don’t understand Serbia’s affinity or connection with Kosovo beyond the fact that “it has always been a part of us.” So maybe someone could explain that. This is both historical, exciting, and scary. I applaud their independence yet sympathize with those who oppose this move. To think, a small region like Kosovo can have far reaching effects on the history of Europe as we know it.
JeremyB you are correct Russia is afraid this will spill over to Georgia
As is Spain! From their perspective, Kosovo just gave the Basques more ammunition as they may show even more resolve (and violence) for independence now!
I was wondering if Rick would address this issue. I am an elementary teacher. During the war years, we received many children from this area. In my classroom, I had kids from both sides of the conflict. It was fascinating to get their perspective and so terribly sad to hear about all they had lost. I pray that this has a peaceful conclusion.
I spent nearly 8 months in Kosovo in 2001 as a member of the NATO peacekeeping force. Here are some observations: 1) The Serb/Albanian conflict has vitually nothing to do with religion (despite what some Serbs claim). It really is a struggle over influence of the province’s/nation’s meager resources. Kosovar Albanians are probably by far the most secular (and pro-American) group in the Muslim world. 2) Border controls will probably remain much the same as it has for the past 9 years- NATO controls most of the major routes in and out of the country. Anyone can techincally enter the country, but there are only a few checkpoints that have decent roads. If anyone REALLY wanted to visit, you probably would have to fly into Skopje and hire a local car or guide. I don’t believe the “airport” in Pristina is open to commercial traffic yet, and there are no rail links to the country. Unless things have really changed in the past 7 years (which I doubt…), I would only recommend independent travel to Kosovo for the most daring of all tourists. 3) As to why the ethnic Albanians don’t “migrate” back to Albania… well, almost all of them were born in Kosovo, and have lived there for generations. They have no more connection to Albania than most Americans or Canadians do to the UK. Albanians have probably been the majority of the population since at least the late Ottoman period. The present demographic imbalance in the region has more to do with the higher birth rate amongst Albanians and Serbian emmigration than to Albanian immigration.
KathyM, I have never heard of a European Union Certificate. What would be the reason to get one? Job related? And how do you go about getting one? Online? I love anything to do with European history. Thanks in advance for the info!
I only can think of six countries that have come out of the former Yugoslavia: Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and now Kosovo. Rick mentioned that there are seven. Which one am I missing?
Macedonia is the seventh. KathyM and Tom, thank you so much for all your insight! Rick, this blog is terrific, thank you.
Here’s a link to a map which shows how Yugoslavia has been carved up. It was one of yesterday’s European headlines which can be accessed from Rick’s home page. How Yugoslavia vanished from maps http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7251376.stm
I am attending the one at Kennesaw State University in Georgia. It is a combination of online courses, courses on campus and study abroad. You can do a combination of these. It is through a University and 18 credits. If you Google European Union Studies Certificate you can probably find a university in your area that sponsors this as it is “accredited” program and everyone basically follows a similar format with similar courses. Last semester I too International Contemporary Politics this semester a course is EU-US economic and cultural relations and International Psychological Principals both on line. Over the summer I will be doing one on campus -Twentieth Century Europe and maybe World War II. I am not sure what I am going to utilize it for when I am done but maybe use it to segway into International Law…or possibly work for an IGO or NGO (if I am not too old;) If you want more information give me your email and I will send information to you by email. From this course this semester I have learned an enormous amount of why the EU is like it is today, how hard it was to get where they are and how fragile a state it really is in. What I also found fascinating was the history of France and its involvement in the EU and the why of why we have hated the French for so long and why the EU bank is in Germany and why the UK took so long to join the EU and won’t sign on for the Euro.
KathyM, thanks for the information. I am interested in that as well although I am not sure what I would do with it. I am actually reading a book right now for fun – A Short History of Reformation and Ranniassance Europe. So this type of information and that certification really interests me. I will check to see if there are any places around here that offer that.
I love the idea of learning for learning’s sake. As a high school teacher I teach students about careers and the value of earning good grades on their future. I am also of the opinion that there is a lot we should know that isn’t just to help us get a job but to be a good citizen of the world. In my first career, I worked as a housekeeping manager in Atlanta and we had many, many refugees from Bosnia who came to work for us. These men and women were escaping what I am sure was great turmoil. They had to take much lower positions in life and had to work much harder than they did at home just to survive. I remember one man who had been a high-skilled furniture maker and spent what should have been his retirement carting laundry. He eyes were so sad. Now I think I get why. In reading this blog, have been connecting that time to this and wonder how those ladies and gentlemen are doing. Peace, I hope. My posting word was merrier :)
I’m Serbian, and I see how difficult is to understand what Kosovo means to Serbia, since the majority of population is Albanian. Well, Serbia believes that Kosovo is a heart of Serbia.The history, manastires, churches in Kosovo,are of great importance to Serbian people, that in past had fought wars over that land.Yugoslavia had split, and Serbia remained the only country against such split. Kosovo, has always been a Serbia, never a country in Yugoslavia, that is for Serbia is hard to accept the fact that it’s gone. Anyways, the war is not solution.It cannot bring Kosovo back to Serbia, and it’d be a catostrophy with all the consequences that would remain. I think that Serbia is aware of that, it has to be.I aloso see EU’s point of view, the most practical way to keep peace, which is the most important. I am not great source for Serbian history and ideology, I’m just a student that is doing A levels. Also, as very young I faced NATO bombatdement, and became awared of war, that made me inetested in countries conflicts, the causes and it’s consequences.I believe that the war is can just increase conflicts and bring devastations, nothing more that that!
Neda, === Please if you know or can find out, would you please confirm, or correct, my information that the Serbs lost the “Battle of Polje” in 1389. And if so, could you tell why they celebrate a lost battle? When I was there, for one day 20 years ago, it was obvious the Serbs considered themselves the owners of Kosovo, in spite of all the Albanians. Will the Mexicans cause the same problems in the Southwest USA, as the years go on? Woopie, almost, my verify word is “nook” but they left off the next two letters.
Perhaps I’ll let Neda answer the question of the meaning of the battle to Serbs, but I can tell you the result. The Serbs and their coalition technically lost the battle, although they managed to kill the Ottoman sultan Murat (the modern equivalent of this event would be if Bush died in the invasion of Iraq). This forced the Turks to temporarily withdraw back to their own territory. Shortly thereafter, the Serb kingdom became a vassal-state of the Ottoman Empire, but the Turks finally annexed Serbia completely after an insurrection in the mid 15th century.
The NATO/American war against Serbia was illegal and immoral and it is a little frustrating to see the neutral to slightly-in-favor-of-Kosovo-independence views expressed by Rick and some of the posters. The precedent of attacking and dis-membering a country – without UN approval – was given a huge boost by this ugly incident. Bush used this incident to give him a pass (with the UN) with regards to attacking Iraq. If you believe that the US had to get approval from the UN to Iraq, then it had to get approval from the UN to attack Serbia too.
I saw enough mass graves and ruined Albanian villages in Kosovo to remove any doubts in my mind on the necessity of the NATO air campaign.
Tom, I agree with you.
KathyM, Thank you for the info on EU studies. I will check out the college that you mentioned and also the Google website. Anyone have any comments or thoughts on what happened to the US embassy in Belgrade yesterday? I hope this is not the start of another long conflict in that region.
I, also, was wondering why the Montenegron split with Serbia was uneventful. Any thoughts?
This Kosovo mess is just beginning again it seems. Today the US was warning Serbia that it had “better” protect our embassy and people over there. Not looking too good at the moment.
Christopher Hitchens has an interesting take on the situation (which I sort of agree with…) on Slate.com today: http://www.slate.com/id/2184997 Probably the best English language survery of Kosovo’s history (mentioned by Hitchens) is Noel Malcolm’s A Short History of Kosovo, for those who really want to learn more.
Contrary to popular belief, most of the world opposed NATO/American intervention in Kosovo. The USA, Germany, France, and the UK are not “the worldâ€, but part of it. To say otherwise is Western hubris & arrogance. Either you get UN approval for military interventions for humanitarian reasons or you don’t. If you don’t, then you get Iraq and you can’t complain – as so many do now. Furthermore, anytime NATO goads the USA into bombing/attacking another country, then NATO needs to suffer the negative blowback – not just the USA. Whose embassy is being attacked in Belgrade now? Other NATO countries?
Frank R, I completely disagree with you. Have you been to this region? Did you see the destruction that was caused in this war? Did you see the blatant ethnic cleansing by Milosevic? Have you seen the results of an ongiong war where Croat and Serb neighbors were killing each other? I have seen some of that and am glad NATO stepped in. Please, I would love to hear your justification for EVER getting involved in another country if we can’t do it when ethnic cleaning is involved? Unlike Iraq (which I am not really all that happy with but that is an entirely different discussion), the US has no vested interested in Serbia or Kosovo so stepping in and helping was of no profit to us. Also, there was plenty of support for this from other countries (unlike Iraq). I guess no one should have stepped into WWII and confronted Hitler either huh? Invading other countries and killing groups of people as he desires should have been the problems of those involved to work through right? PLEASE!!!! And by the way, what other NATO embassies are being attacked? Try Turkey, Belgium, and Canada to name a few! Croatia and Bosnia have also been attacked!
By the way, glad you think the NATO attack on Serbia was immoral. If that’s immoral yet blatant ethnic cleansing is not, I sure am glad I don’t have your values!
Jeremy I am with you and I am confused by Franks reference to “NATO/American intervention”-America is part of NATO so it is a NATO intervention and no one is goading the US into anything. Each country in NATO contibutes a certain amount of military except for France who pulled it’s military out of NATO in 1966. The UN and NATO are two completely different oraganizations with completely different mission statements and organziation. NATO did not have the backing of the United Nations Security Council because the war was opposed by permanent members, China and, in particular Russia, who had threatened to veto any resolution authorising force. The United Nations Charter does not allow military interventions in other sovereign countries with few exceptions which in general need to be decided upon by the United Nations Security Council. The issue was brought before the UN Security Council by Russia, in a draft resolution which – inter alia – would affirm “that such unilateral use of force constitutes a flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter”. China, Namibia and Russia voted for the resolution, the other members against, thus it failed to pass.That said the war was controversial as all wars are and you hav to eventually come down on one side or another. Most of the world did not oppose the war anti-war protests were generally from the libertarian right, the far-left and Serbian emigrés, with many other left-wingers supporting the campaign on humanitarian grounds. Most of the critisism was not on the legitimacy of the war but rather the way it was conduted.
Yes, the USA is part of NATO. But NATO does not have total control over the US military. For example, the USA invaded Iraq without NATO approval. Furthermore, NATO has no control over US forces in the Pacific. The USA dominates NATO militarily but not politically, where European countries have something like 23 or 24 votes compared to the USA’s 1. And yes, they did goad the USA. They wanted military intervention – yet they were apparently politically and militarily incapable of doing so themselves – so they quietly pressed the USA to do so as to not lose face. The USA has maybe half (at best) of NATO’s population, yet it did the military and political heavy lifting with respect to the attack on Serbia and was given nearly 100% of the blame when the Chinese embassy was bombed in Belgrade. I didn’t see or hear about European citizens in Beijing being greeted with hostility and bitterness after this incident the way American citizens were. Your comment about France is misleading, as you well know France has one foot in NATO and one foot out. Furthermore, France did engage with NATO in the attack on Serbia. One of the official languages of NATO is French. So, KathyM, does the UN have the right to authorize intervention in another country? Yes or no? You weren’t really clear. The fact of the matter is, you know the UN does and we bypassed them because we were going to get a “No†answer with respect to attacking Serbia and we didn’t like that – which is exactly what happened with respect to Iraq. As for your list of opponents to the war, you seem to mention small slivers of European and American public opinion – as if these are somehow representative of the world’s opposition. China, Russia and India all opposed the war against Serbia. Those countries represent nearly half the world’s population right there – and that’s just a partial list.
Frank clearly you are passionate about this issue so I am at a loss as to how to answer you where this will not ratchet up to a level not meant for this type of board. NATO/SHAPE and the UN are apples and oranges where one was formed for a collective security against the states of the Warsaw Pact and the fundamental role of NATO is to safeguard the freedom and security of its member countries by political and military means while playing an increasingly important role in crisis management and peacekeeping, the other was formed to prevent further world wars and to give a forum for discussion. As a hegemon and right now the only superpower we are the face of power to the world and we get the worst blow back from it. I still believe that most of the world, minus the communist factors of China and Russia, believed that the intervention was warranted however there was exception to the way the war was conducted. And yes the two official language of NATO are english and french just as french is the language of the EU so what is your point? French is spoken in all parts of the world not just France. We have a better military than all of Europe put together so yes we do the heavy lifting that’s just one of the responsibilities of being a superpower just like during WWII. While the Vichy government was handing France over to Hitler we were doing the heavy lifting in Europe so until we are no longer capable of protecting our allies then I think we have a duty to do what we can to keep the world safe as defined through international standards.
I am going to the Holy Land, Israel & Jordan in May. What will the temp be & what should I wear so as not to look too much like a tourist. (I am a 62 year old female). Thanks for your help. Susie Strong, Montgomery, Alabama
R in Florida can I please refer you to an article way back in 1999 in the New York Times regarding oil and the balkans- if you read it the way I read it we were trying to cut off oil TO the balkans they are not major exporters ….. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F04E5DE1331F936A15756C0A96F958260… Rusia has an enormous amount of oil and they are presently building a pipeline between them and China which will cut into Europes ability to sell and export oil as profitably as they could if Russia was not doing this
French would never be an official language of NATO if France were not a member of NATO. Furthermore, potential NATO secretary-general candidates would never be disqualified for not being able to speak French well enough if France were not a member of NATO. In a prior post you were vague as to whether France was a member or not of NATO. The Clinton Administration worked diligently behind the scenes to round up the necessary votes to get UN approval prior to the bombing. If it did have the votes beforehand, it would have sought (and received) UN approval. The fact of the matter is that it did not have the votes beforehand, so it simply bypassed the UN (exactly as Bush did with regards to Iraq) because the UN wasn’t going to vote the way they wanted. Within NATO, and on European soil, are the Europeans coequal with regards to the USA or not? They seem to think they are, so they need to bear the same costs the USA does when they decide that another European country needs to be dismembered. This custom of the European countries working behind the scenes to get the USA to take military action on their behalf may have been OK in the 1950’s but it is completely outdated and unacceptable in the 21st century. Furthermore, I don’t care for my country spending $800 billion a year (and more than all of the other countries in the world put together, as Rick Steves likes to say) to be the world’s hegemon, just so other countries can spend their own money own larger welfare states, lower taxes, clean energy, and foreign aid. The fact of the matter is there are a lot of countries out there that can be doing a lot more to contribute their own security – and the world’s – but they will never do so when they can just offload their security responsibilities to the USA.
In 1966, France pulled its troops out of the NATO military command, though it remained a NATO member. Before France withdrew its troops, NATO’s central office had been in Paris. In 1967, the organization moved its headquarters to Brussels, Belgium.
We had 2 boys (Croatian and Bosnian)living with us during the Balkan war in 1991. Both spoke of good relations with their Serbian friends. I question Cameron Hewitt’s interpretation of the Croats’ responsibility due to not protecting the Serb minority in Croatia. This, of course, was Milosevich’s excuse for invading Croatia. Serbia was the aggressor in what I’ve always believed to be a “land/coast” grab. (And as others have pointed out–not a religious conflict like a lot of people would think.) One of our boys noted that Hitler, in all his madness, knew not to bomb the National treasures–parks, centuries-old churches, etc., but this is exactly what the Serbs targeted first–hardly a way to protect Serb residents.
Rik, thanks for the informative message on Kosovo (although I’m reading it a bit late, since I’ve only just discovered your blog). I really appreciate the political component to your blog and the way that your religious feelings contribute positively to, but do not dominate your blog, guidebooks, etc. This comment was inspired by your eloquent closing sentence, “[I]f you’re a religious person, now is the time to pray for peace in Kosovo.” I’m not a religious person, but I’m inspired to pray for peace there anyway or think hopefully about peace in the region or something like that. Many thanks and please keep up the inspirational work.
How does it matter that you didn’t meet a single Greek who likes our president? With all the vilification by the documented and irrefutable radical Liberal media outlets circumventing ANYTHING done by a Conservative, what would you expect? How many people like Clinton in the former Yugoslavia? Kosovo’s independence is no more the last chapter in Balkan conflict, than a Palestinian state will be the last chapter in Middle East conflict. Puh-leease! Thank God that the USA (regardless of which political party is driving) has the intestinal fortitude to step in (eventually) and (imperfectly) try and protect the innocents from relentless carnage, abuse, and devastation! “How can so many be so blind?!” “War is not the best way of settling differences; it is the only way of preventing their being settled for you.” – GK Chesterton (1874 – 1936)
kosovo is serbia and thats it you will never understand. the only possible why for someone to understand thats not serian is to walk in serbians shoes.
Hi, first of all, I apologize for my writing limted skills. I just wanted to refresh a little bit this topic. Before two days we albanians celebrated the first anniversary of the new born state Kosova. Aditionally, 54 states recognized the Kosova’s independence, and if we summury the first year we can conclude that it was very distensible year. according to having war in that region, Kosva. I think it’s just a barren idea. For instace there was not even a minor problem for almost a year now I am actually starting to think that serbian community are agree with the new reality that it’s been created in Kosova. In additoin, economically it is really unconsistent but we all know it’s like a baby and it will have growing pains. Even though in this global econimic situation there where almost no people that lost their jobs. To conclude, Kosova now slowly but surely is becoming very functional state.
refering to tom’s post feb 19 2008. I would like to thank you very much Tom for beeing one of the pacekeeprs in Kosova. Things over there has chaged a lot the Interantional Airport of Prishtina has been functional since 2002. there are flights that comes from all over the world in the summer time is one flight that even goes from New York straigh ti International airport of prishtina.
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