Kosovo as a Symbol of Anti-Postmodernism
A nation’s cultural space is marked by its spiritual fruits and not by the frontier posts. It is possible to maintain a cultural space devoid of territory (the Jews). It is also possible to lose that space under the auspices of an ostensibly functioning state—and nominally still a nation-state at that!—as is happening in today’s Western Europe. The Serbs are currently facing an ongoing reduction of their physical space to the point where the reliquiae reliquiarum of their demographically exhausted state will comprise only those lands on which nobody else can establish any kind of claim. They are also facing a simultaneous Western demand to accept and absorb postmodern cultural matrices in order to prove their fitness for the allegedly desirable political and economic integration into “Europe”—which is constantly used as misleading shorthand for the European Union.
The upholders of postmodernia see continued existence of a distinctly Serb cultural space, based on pre-modern assumptions and sensibility, as an unpardonable anachronism and a source of potential future contagion in those lands (Germany, Sweden, or Holland, for instance) where the grand Gleichschaltung has been completed. No defiant village that remembers old songs and myths, that remembers ancestors and celebrates old battles, is allowed to remain in the shadow of Euro-legions.
In the meantime, Europe of the old EU “core” is rapidly morphing into the cultural wasteland in which historical amnesia and esthetic relativism are promoted to the detriment of creativity: there is no French writer worth reading today, no Dutch painter worth sponsoring, no German composer worth hearing. If the process is so far advanced in those countries that used to define “the West” or “Europe,” the promoters of the Frankfurtian Long March rightly hope that Serbia, too, will relent and replace her obsolete and oh-so-dangerous mythical consciousness with a new, global one. They claim that only by discarding the burden of their mythologized history, and the illusion that they are in any way special—except, perhaps, in the magnitude of their crimes— can the Serbs become “normal” and cease to be a danger to their neighbors and to themselves. Only de-Serbianized can they embark on the road to “Euro-Atlantic integrations” and “start living like all other normal people.”
Blissfully unaware of the cultural tectonic shift that has taken place in “the West,” many Serbian political leaders, analysts and institutions in their contacts with the Western elite class keep invoking four sets of arguments in support of their position that Kosovo ought to remain part of Serbia:
1. Historical: Kosovo was the heartland of the Serbian medieval state;
2. Cultural: in Kosovo there are many priceless monuments of Serbian art and architecture that define Serbia’s contribution to the common European heritage;
3. Spiritual: Kosovo is “Serbia’s Jerusalem”;
4. Civilizational: Kosovo should not fall to the insurgent jihad.
The irony of the Serbian predicament is that they still imagine they are talking to the Westerners of another era, the era that had produced Nixon and Reagan, de Gaulle and Mitterand, Adenauer and Schmidt, Rebecca West and Alfred Sherman . . . and others of the generation born between, roughly, in the quarter-century before 1920, with whom such arguments could be reasonably expected to resonate.
The problem is that they are all dead, and have been replaced in the positions of political and cultural influence by the new, post-modern breed of Westerner. He is distinguished from his predecessor exactly by rejecting the value and importance of the historical, cultural, spiritual, and civilizational legacy of our common civilization.
These new ruling elites of Western Europe and North America have nurtured a number of fatal weaknesses in their own societies, including both the primary cause—which is the loss of Christian faith—and a number of secondary ones, including hostility to all forms of solidarity of the ethnically European and traditionally Christian communities based on their common ancestry and culture; the loss of a sense of place and history; rapid demographic decline, probably irreversible and unparalleled in history; rampant Third World immigration, especially from the Islamic world; imposition of “diversity,” “multiculturalism” and “sensitivity” that promotes alien cultures and lifestyles to the detriment of traditional European, Christian models; and last but by no means least, demonization and criminalization of any opposition to the above.
To the postmodern Western mindset, those who argue that they should be entitled to keep a land because they have a centuries-long historical bond to it, because their ancestors had built lovely Christian churches in it, because its heritage underpins their moral code and spirituality based on Christian martyrdom, and because they are defending themselves against an aggressive and resurgent Islam . . . anyone who makes those argument is unconsciously arguing—in the eyes of the new elite—in favor of having that territory taken away. The Serbs’ arguments—especially when presented eloquently and logically—only prove that Kosovo and Metohija must be detached from Serbia permanently as that is the only way to cure Serbia from such unhealthy, “un-European” atavisms. Whatever is said to support the historical, cultural, spiritual and civilizational right of Serbia to Kosovo is received among the Western elite class as yet further proof why Kosovo must be given to the Albanians, who, by virtue of being overwhelmingly Muslim (of the allegedly “moderate” variety) are perceived as perfectly natural allies of the Western elite class.
To explore the self-hate and the related Islamophilia of the Western elite class there is no need to dwell on the hypocrisy and outright criminality of the Western policy in Kosovo, Bosnia, Chechnya, Cyprus, and other hotspots where Islam confronts traditionally Christian communities. Let us look instead at the manifestations of the Western elite class’s pathology in their own countries, or—to be more precise—in the countries over which they rule but to which they no longer feel any natural bond of kinship and obligation.
The present technological, cultural and financial strength of Europe is a façade that conceals an underlying moral and demographic weakness. Its dynamics have the potential to eventually destroy Europe before this century is over. The symptoms of the malaise go hand-in-hand with the expansion of the European Union, a transnational hyper-state that replicates, within Europe, the elite mindset prevalent in the United States.
Europe’s demographic self-annihilation is a phenomenon of world-historical proportions. The collective death wish, epitomized by the Pill, abortion, deviant sexuality, promiscuity, and euthanasia, means that Europe’s population has aged to such a degree that it will continue to shrink even in the unlikely event that birthrates rebound to replacement level. On current form, by the end of this century there will be no “Europeans” as members of ethnic groups that share the same language, culture, history, and ancestors, and inhabit lands associated with their names. The shrinking native populations, in the meantime, are being indoctrinated into believing—or else simply cajoled into accepting—that the demographic shift is actually a blessing that enriches their societies. Europe is losing the ability to define and defend itself, to the benefit of unassimilable multitudes filled with contempt for the host-society. One consequence is that active Jihadist networks now exist in every country west of the former Iron Curtain.
The capital of the European elite class is Brussels, the headquarters of the European Union, which has decreed that member countries of the European Union no longer make the law on their immigration policies. The notion of assimilation into the host society was no longer entertained even as a theoretical objective. To understand this malaise it is essential to understand “Brussels.” It is no longer just a city and the capital of a somewhat amorphous West European state without a real national identity, held together by opportunism and corruption. Belgium is the EU in microcosm, and “Brussels” has come to denote the EU as an institution, an outlook and a way of life.
A century ago Europe’s ruling classes shared social commonalities that could be observed in Monte Carlo, Carlsbad, or Paris, depending on the season. Their lingua franca was French. Englishmen, Russians, or Austrians shared the same outlook and sense of propriety, but they nevertheless remained rooted in their national traditions. Today’s “United Europe” is light years away from that a century ago. It does not create social and civilizational commonalities, except on the basis of wholesale denial of old inherited values and “traditional” culture. It creates cultural similarity that has morphed into dreary sameness of anti-discriminationism. In Brussels, decision-makers’ attitudes may differ according to age and bureaucratic rank, but not according to their inherited cultural traits. They read the same books, watch the same movies, eat the same food, think the same thoughts, and write similar memos. They are post-nationalists who subscribe to the view that the duty of the member states is to “facilitate the achievement of the Union’s tasks and refrain from any measure which could jeopardize the attainment of the Union’s objectives.” Their Union is founded on “the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities.” These values “are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity, and equality between women and men prevail.”
An ideological commitment to neoliberal globalization has turned multiculturalism and open-ended Muslim immigration into two inviolable Euro-dogmas. They are pursued independently of any electoral test. National elections do not mean much anyway in the EU, where unaccountable bureaucracies commandeer the most important decisions and policies that would not survive the test of popular opinion are simply instituted by administrative fiat. The Euro-elites trust that a deprived mass culture and mass indoctrination in state schools will neutralize any lingering sense of historical and cultural continuity. They will never admit that they played the Russian roulette and lost. The roll-call of European-born Jihadists only confirms the failure.
Both Europe’s multilateralists and Washingtonian neoconservatives share the same distaste for traditional, naturally evolving societies and cultures. Divisions between them refer not to the common goal of advancing a global revolutionary project but only to the ways and means of doing so. The end of the Cold War has cleared the way for the rise of a new global empire, and the realization that new possibilities were on offer to the revolutionaries who wanted to move beyond the Gramscian “long march.”
Even if the Serbs are robbed of Kosovo, Islam will not thank the West. There will be no synthesis, no civilizational cross-fertilization, between Europe and Islam. It’s kto-kogo. As things stand now the outcome appears almost fatally preordained. The tradition of a peasantry ruled by its “betters” has been turned on its head: in Europe most nations want to defend themselves—even the ultra-tolerant Dutch have seen the light after Theo van Gogh’s murder—but cannot do so because they are hamstrung by a ruling class composed of guilt-ridden self-haters and appeasers. Their hold on the political power, the media, and the academe is undemocratic, unnatural, obscene. If Europe is to survive they need to be unmasked for what they are: traitors to their nations and their culture. If Europe is to survive, they must be replaced by people ready and willing to subject the issues of immigration and identity to the test of democracy, unhindered by administrative or judicial fiat.
For those reasons too, Serbia must not give up Kosovo. By giving it up it would encourage the spirit that seeks the death of Europe and its surrender to the global totalitarianism of Muhammad’s successors. Not for the first time, in Kosovo the Serbs are fighting a fight that is not theirs alone.
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Michael Warning,
Former president of the United States of America Woodrow Wilson disagrees with you as well about Serbs, Serbia and Austria-Hungry.
When the Serbian Flag Flew Over the White House
Woodrow Wilson, President of the USA
On July 28, 1918, President Woodrow Wilson gave the following message to the American people. It was read in churches throughout the country and published in virtually all major newspapers. Serbian flag was raised over the White House and all public buildings in this nation's capital. The message read:
To the People of the United States:
On Sunday, 28th of this present month, will occur the fourth anniversary of the day when the gallant people of Serbia, rather than submit to the studied and ignoble exactions of a prearranged foe, were called upon by the war declaration of Austria-Hungry to defend their territory and their homes against an enemy bent on their destruction. Nobly did they respond. (On June 28th, 1914 Gavrilo Princip Bosnian Serb assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand during his visit to Sarajevo)
So valiantly and courageously did they oppose the forces of a country ten times greater in population and resources that it was only after they had thrice driven the Austrians back and Germany and Bulgaria had come to the aid of Austria that they were compelled to retreat over the Albania. While their territory has been devastated and their homes despoiled, the spirit of the Serbian people has not been broken. Though overwhelmed by superior forces, their love of freedom remains unabated. Brutal force has left unaffected their firm determination to sacrifice everything for liberty and independence.
It is fitting that the people of the United States, dedicated to the self-evident truth that is the right of the people of all nations, small as well as great, to live their own lives and choose their own Government, and remembering that the principles for which Serbia has so nobly fought and suffered are those for which the United States is fighting, should on the occasion of this anniversary manifest in an appropriate manner their war sympathy with this oppressed people who have so heroically resisted the aims of the Germanic nations to master the world. At the same time, we should not forget the kindred people of the Great Slavic race--the Poles, the Czechs and Jugo-Slavs, who, now dominated and oppressed by alien races yearn for independence and national unity.
This can be done in a manner no more appropriate than in our churches. I, therefore, appeal to the people of the United States of all faiths and creeds to assemble in their several places of worship on Sunday July 28, for the purpose of giving expression to their sympathy with this subjugated people and their oppressed and dominated kindred in other lands, and to invoke the blessings of Almighty God upon them and upon the cause to which they are pledged.
Woodrow Wilson, President,
The White House, July, 1918.
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Serbia will fall to the insurgent jihad and will be ruled under the heavy yoke of Sharia law. A just punishment for the Serbs who refused to be ruled by the just laws of the Austrian Emperor based on the Justinian codex. Do Serbs now want to be governed by the postmodernia laws of the UN and the EU? No, so you throw off that yoke as well. You Serbs do not see what is coming, how fitting.
To remind you Serbs who also reject the sweet yoke of the Papacy the following was written just shortly after the regicide of June 28Th 1914. This pertains to your rebellious nation who in your insolence refused the Just Laws of the Emperor and the Just Laws of the Pope.
AD BEATISSIMI APOSTOLORUM
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE BENEDICT XV
APPEALING FOR PEACE
November 1, 1914
The second cause of the general unrest we declare to be the absence of respect for the authority of those who exercise ruling powers…..The unrestrained striving after independence, together with over-weening pride, has little by little found its way everywhere….Hence come contempt for laws, insubordination of the masses, wanton criticism of orders issued, hence innumerable ways of undermining authority; hence, too, the terrible crimes of men who, claiming to be bound by no laws, do not hesitate to attack the property or the lives of their fellow men.
In presence of such perversity of thought and of action, subversive of the very constitution of human society, it would not be right for Us, to whom is divinely committed the teaching of the truth, to keep silence: and We remind the peoples of the earth of that doctrine, which no human opinions can change: "There is no power but from God: and those that are, are ordained of God" (Rom. xiii 1). Whatever power then is exercised amongst men, whether that of the King or that of an inferior authority, it has its origin from God. Hence St. Paul lays down the obligation of obeying the commands of those in authority, not in any kind of way, but religiously, that is conscientiously - unless their commands are against the laws of God: "Wherefore be not subject of necessity, not only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake" (Rom. xiii. 5). In harmony with the words of St. Paul are the words of the Prince of the Apostles himself: "Be ye subject of every human creature for God's sake: whether it be the King as excelling, or to governors as sent by him" (I Peter ii. 13-14). From which principle the Apostle of the Gentiles infers that he who contumaciously resists the legitimate exercise of human authority, resists God and is preparing for himself eternal punishment: "Therefore he that resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God, and they that resist, purchase to themselves damnation" (Rom. xiii. 2).
Mr. Warner: The fact that you are obsessively insane and rather offensive is neither here nor there; but the fact that you are tedious is unforgivable. Unless you learn to be informative, or interesting, or witty, we'll have no choice but to cut you out from this forum. ST
Michael Warning,
Serbia will fall to the insurgent jihad and will be ruled under the heavy yoke of Sharia law. A just punishment for the Serbs who refused to be ruled by the just laws of the Austrian Emperor based on the Justinian codex. Do Serbs now want to be governed by the postmodernia laws of the UN and the EU? No, so you throw off that yoke as well. You Serbs do not see what is coming, how fitting.
Obviously former president Woodrow Wilson of the US does not agree with you about the Serbs being ruled by the just laws of the Austrian Emperor based on the Justinian codex. Serbs will rule them selves, they will choose their leader, and they will choose a system, not outside forces, that is what you failed to understand.
But even if Serbia falls under some kind of outside rule, or insurgent jihad which would rule by heavy yoke of Sharia law, so will the rest of Europe. But I think that is just your wishful thinking, you are reaching, you are a Serbophobe. Your lack of understanding of Serbian history is preventing you from understanding that even if the above scenario plays out as you suggest, sooner or later Serbs will rise against those occupiers, just like they did in past, five hundred years occupation was not enough to destroy Serbian culture and religion. It did have a negative effect and that was seen in Bosnian civil war where Serbian Muslim converts fought against their Serbian Orthodox brothers on queue from their outside master, just like in WWI and WWII.
Once again what you failed to realize, even after it has been repeated to you over and over again, from past and present history of Serbia, is that Serbs will rule Serbia, it will be their choice and no one else’s choice, the future of Serbia is in Serbian hands and we can definitely dismiss your wishful thinking as nonsense and diversion of a great written article by Dr. Srdja Trifkovic.
Thanks Pappy you helped me very much with you posting of the Wilsonian letter:
The Serbs and the USA are fighting for the same ideal: One World Order. Rejecting the Office of the Holy Roman Emperor and rejecting the One True Faith: Roman Catholicism.
"It is fitting that the people of the United States, dedicated to the self-evident truth that is the right of the people of all nations, small as well as great, to live their own lives and choose their own Government, and remembering that the principles for which Serbia has so nobly fought and suffered are those for which the United States is fighting," Yes fighting against the Divinely Ordained Holy Roman Empire. Which now is in a 100 year abeyance because of the regicide of June 28th 1914.
And because of this folly of the last 100years of Wilsonian intrigues the world will no longer be governed by a Holy Roman Emperor. You will instead be made in a very few short months to bend your knee to the Cosmsocrator Hilary Clinton. The universal ruler. Just deserts.
All of this is true..
Sadly, it seems that one of the blogs that many of us thought was a mainstay of the counterjihad, namely Little Green Footballs, has gone over to the dark side.
Among other things, they are attacking and libeling everyone who is taking any effective action against the global jihad, particularly in Europe, and they are spreading the same old blood libels about the Serbs.
Charles Johnson posts a lot of terrorism news stories on LGF, but that seems to have been nothing more than a ploy to gain page views for ads, and to get would-be activists to waste their time and energy on a site that is going nowhere. As soon as anybody attempts to get people to take effective action (such as enforcing existing laws) - even if they discuss it on another forum - they are banned from LGF. This has a chilling effect across the board.
Whatever good that site may have done initially by making people aware of terrorist activities is far outweighed by the harm that LGF has done recently. They must be, and are being, discredited with such finality that no follower of theirs will ever again be able to harm our cause.
Franz Graf Conrad von Hötzendorf, if I recall, was particularly interested in making a name for himself in the war against Serbia.
His motive? To impress a married woman he fancied himself to be in love with.
The wages of sin is death...
Michael Warning shows exactly the type of anti-Serb, pro-Roman Catholic bigotry that has plagued Europe for nearly a thousand years.
I claim that it is the Catholics, not the Orthodox, who alone decided to separate themselves from the Orthodox Church, and that the "Holy Roman Empire" was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire, but merely a temporary political configuration of the Western barbarian elite. And barbarians they still are, making common cause with the savage jihadists!
Austria-Hungary was hopelessly corrupt. It taxed its subjects brutally. Early on, it brought in the Serbs to defend itself against the Turks, then ill-used them inexcusably. During the First World War, Austria-Hungary attempted to exterminate the entire Serbian people.
Only one good thing that can be said about Austria-Hungary: it was not the Ottoman Empire.
Only one good thing that can be said about the Ottoman Empire: it no longer exists.
I am not ashamed of being a Serb nationalist, nor should anyone ever be!
1. I claim that the Serbian people has a right to exist.
2. I claim that those of us who are of Serbian ancestry have the right to be known and identified as Serbs (or as Serbian-Americans, Serbian-Canadians, Serbian-Australians, as the case may be), without anyone else thinking that this gives them the right to attack us.
3. I claim that Orthodox Christian Serbs have the right to continue practicing our religion, wherever in the world we may happen to be.
4. I claim that we as Serbs have the same right to defend ourselves against attack that anyone else has - and that this includes the right to cooperate among ourselves for mutual protection.
I further claim that anyone who disagrees with me in this regard is nothing more than a bigot, and can expect the harshest and most thorough takedown imaginable.
Heeeere we go... the downward spiral....
So we may assume Mr. Warning regards the Distributivist and pro-Serb G.K. Chesterton as a heretic against Divinely-Ordained Imperialism?
If I were cynical, I might wonder if Mr. Warning is less concerned with being a loyal Catholic and more concerned -- much like Michael Novak -- with nursing his fixation on a particular, this-worldly political arrangement. Woo-boy, time to immanentize that eschaton.
"....the Divinely Ordained Holy Roman Empire..."
But -- girls, young man. What about girls?
Really, you should get out more.
"Unless you learn to be informative, or interesting, or witty...."
How about by proxy?
WHO CAN NAME THE FAMOUS MOVIE CHARACTER WHOSE MELODRAMATIC (AND, IN CERTAIN CONTEXTS, POMPOUS) MODE-OF-EXPRESSION MR. WARNING HAS ADOPTED AS HIS OWN?
- [rasp, rasp] I've been waiting for you, Srd-Ja. We meet again, at last. The circle is now complete. When I left you, I was but the learner; now *I* am the master... of papal encyclicals. [rasp, rasp]
- [rasp, rasp] No, Pappy... *I* am your father. [rasp, rasp]
- [rasp, rasp] There is no escape, Serbs. Don't make me destroy you (in accordance with the just laws of the Austrian Emperor based on the Justinian codex).... [rasp, rasp]
- [rasp, rasp] Join me, Slavs, and we will rule the Balkans together -- as father and sons. [rasp, rasp] I'm a believer in big families, you see. [rasp, rasp]
- [rasp, rasp] The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant compared to the power of the Divinely-Ordained Holy Roman Empire. [rasp, rasp]
- [rasp, rasp] I find your insolent-refusal-of-the-Just-Laws-of-the-Emperor-and-the-Just-Laws-of-the-Pope... disturbing.
[rasp, rasp]
(Man, I feel lightheaded. I wonder how much oxygen is actually making it through this thing?)
[rasp, rasp]
Dr. Trifkovic, you are one of the finest writers – congratulation on this excellent analysis!
To Serbs, Kosovo has been a symbol of many things: statehood, bravery, spirituality, unity, struggle and survival.
Term “kosovozation” should be used to describe destruction of a sovereign country by force , humanitarian bombing, as well as islamisation of historically Christian lands.
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“Independence of Kosovo-Metohija utterly unacceptable for Serbia”
“Belgrade/Brussels, Dec 10, 2007 – Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vuk Jeremic said today in Brussels that negotiations on the future status of Kosovo-Metohija should be continued, and stressed that the province's independence, coordinated or otherwise, is utterly unacceptable for Serbia”
“Serbia would not recognise unilateral independence of Kosovo and would declare it illegal and illegitimate act, as well as possible decisions of some states that would follow, the Minister said.”
“The fact that you are obsessively insane…..”. ST
Please don’t send me here:
Specialised Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital in Kovin
Miss 1389 you wrote:
“Among other things, they are attacking and libeling everyone who is taking any effective action against the global jihad, particularly in Europe, and they are spreading the same old blood libels about the Serbs.”
How many Serbs troops are fighting “against the global jihad” in Iraq right now?
I know these nations sent troops to Iraq:
South Korea 3,200;
Italy 2,900;
Poland 1,500.
But I do not know how many Serbs were sent. Do you?
Re: # 74 Michael Warning
8 million Serbs in Serbia (including Kosovo-Metohija) and some two million Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina have fought global jihad for over six centuries and the current one (supported and abated by the USA in Bosnia and Kosovo-Metohija in particular) for over fifteen years.
Tom Lantos (D-Ca.) –“Let me just raise a few items, Mr. Secretary. The first one: just a reminder to the predominantly Muslim-led governments in this world that here is yet another example that the United States leads the way for the creation of a predominantly Muslim country in the very heart of Europe. This should be noted by both responsible leaders of Islamic governments, such as Indonesia, and also for jihadists of all color and hue. The United States’ principles are universal, and in this instance, the United States stands foursquare for the creation of an overwhelmingly Muslim country in the very heart of Europe."
"If they are fierce it is because no courage short of sheer fanaticism could have kept the frontiers of Christendom against such locust-clouds of foes, while we were electing our first Parliaments and building our first cathedrals...
But the Serbian has an issue with the Austrian which is the more sinister for being spiritual.
For the Serb the Austrian is a Christian--like Judas Iscariot. He is a Christian who has stabbed him in the back while he was still fighting with his face to the infidel.
And his just anger is full of the fury of five centuries, and dark with the trappings of that day of mourning when the blood of his saints and heroes was given on the field of blackbirds in vain."
Unilateral Declaration of Independence to be Annulled by the UN
Beta news agency reports that Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko, Russia’s representative in the Contact Group Troika, said on Dec. 10 that any decision by the Kosovo Albanian separatists to proclaim the province’s independence unilaterally, bypassing the U.N. Security Council, would be illegal.
A unilateral proclamation of independence would violate Resolution 1244 of the U.N. Security Council. If this should happen, Russia will demand the revoking of such a decision, its annulment, Botsan-Kharchenko told the Russian RIA Novosti.
On few previous occasions when Kosovo Albanian separatists have declared independence of the Serbian province of Kosovo-Metohija, the United Nation’s officials have annulled the declarations — there is no reason why they would not do the same this time around, since such a move is as illegal and unlawful today as it was a year or three years ago.
Troika’s Report Suggests Continuation of Negotiations
The Russian representative said a discussion on the status of Kosovo was in progress, including an informal one, though the matter would be considered by the Security Council on Dec. 19.
The debates will rely on the troika’s report. The report contains much information which speaks to the benefit of continuing the negotiating process. We will work toward having it continue, Botsan-Kharchenko said.
According to the Associated Press, the report submitted by the trio of EU, US and Russian negotiators to the UN Secretary General on December 7, said that Serbian authorities offered a high degree of autonomy for the Albanian minority in Serbia’s southern province of Kosovo-Metohija, while insisting that the province remains part of Serbia. The ethnic Albanian separatists from the province refused to budge on their demand for full independence, the report said.
Moscow Remains Firm
AP also cited Russian United Nations Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who said it was regrettable Kosovo Albanian separatists failed to show flexibility, but added that “we believe that certainly the talks revealed that a solution is possible.”
Yesterday Russian Foreign Ministry representative Botsan-Kharchenko said that Russia was aware that its Western partners did not wish the talks to continue, but that Moscow had a principled position it intends to defend.
Cartoon by Petar Pismestrovic (Austria)
Thanks Pappy for posting the above.
Is Serbia preparing for war with Kosovo? The next step is to take Kosovo with force of arms. Russia is on the side of Serbia.
SUTANOVAC: ARMY READY TO REACT IN KEEPING WITH STATE DECISIONS
BELGRADE, Dec 3 (Tanjug) - Defence Minister Dragan Sutanovac said on Monday that the Serbian Army was ready to react in keeping with the decisions of authorised state bodies, as defined by the Constitution and corresponding laws. Asked whether the Defence Ministry had prepared an action plan in keeping with the Serbian government decision ahead of the resolution of Kosovo status, Sutanovac told reporters that the "Ministry was operating in keeping with the action plan under all conditions." Sutanovac told the press that in all countries, the ministries of defence were prepared to react even in the worst of situations.
Question: Today is the 10th and there are fears that Kosovo may unilaterally declare its independence. What will Russia’s reaction be? In case our partners recognize this independence, how will our relations be developing with them?
Foreign Minister Lavrov: If our partners unilaterally recognize the independence of the province, they will most grossly violate international law. We have said so, and this position remains valid. But I also wish to stress that a unilateral declaration of Kosovo independence and its illegal recognition, of course, will not be left without consequences, because a chain reaction will follow, both in the Balkans and in other regions. And those nurturing such plans ought to be fully aware of their responsibility for these consequences.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice:
"But the fact of the matter is Kosovo and Serbia are never going to be one again, and that's the reality," Rice was quoted as saying in USA Today.
"And if you don't deal with that reality, you're only going to sow the seeds of considerable discontent and considerable instability," Rice said.
Why do Serbs think that Washington will come to their aid?
HONOR KILLING IN TORONTO
This is what awaits Kosvo if American administration gets its way in “solving” Kosovo status. Albanian terrorists and Islamic extremists will behave the same way towards remaining Christian Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija:
http://comments.breitbart.com/071211175557p3d3kaah/#comment-11228 Father killed daughter for not wearing hijab, her friends say ( in Toronto!)
Dear Chronicles readers,
search Kosovo and the Westphalian Order
by Amb. James Bissett
Read Response Nr. 20 by Ljubinko Jovicic.
I left Kosovo several days before NATO attacs. The non existent ethnic cleansing as casus belli was a criminal fake.
All political consstructs and coseguences of an illegal war are illegal.
Ljubinko Jovicic
PRESS CONFERENCE ON YouTube
"KOSOVO, A PREVENTABLE DISASTER"
Held on December 5, 2007
Charles Lynch Room, Parliament Hill, Ottawa
Ambassador James Bissett, Chairman of The Lord Byron Foundation, former head of Canada ’s Immigration Service, and former Canadian Ambassador to Yugoslavia
H.E. Dr. Dusan Batakovic, Serbia’s Ambassador in Canada
Dusan Prorokovic, MP; Deputy Minister for Kosovo and Metohija, Government of Serbia
Dr. Serge Trifkovic, Executive Director of The Lord Byron Foundation and foreign affairs editor of Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=gMrM-P_ZjHQ&feature=PlayList&p=12F2C6F7C0D51DAC&index=2
"In Brussels, decision-makers’ attitudes may differ according to age and bureaucratic rank, but not according to their inherited cultural traits. They read the same books, watch the same movies, eat the same food, think the same thoughts, and write similar memos. They are post-nationalists who subscribe to the view that the duty of the member states is to “facilitate the achievement of the Union’s tasks and refrain from any measure which could jeopardize the attainment of the Union’s objectives.”
Appropriately enough for Belgium, there is a starkly surrealist aspect to this: the Walloons and the Flemish rarely inter-marry. I can't recall the exact figure (from a BBC radio programme), but it was reckoned that 95% of the population had married within their own ethic group. Surprised me.
-Jovica
Dr. Trifkovic; an extremely well-written document. So much so, it struck me as much a narrative on eloquent and effective use of the English language as it did about the decay of Europe's culture in the modern world. And I mean that as a compliment. Whew! I agree mostly with your broad assertions, although I don't know that "there is no French writer worth reading today, no Dutch painter worth sponsoring, no German composer worth hearing," as this is a matter of relative perspective, I suppose, and can be argued.
I've read through this entire thread and I can't tell if this is more a debate of European history, a political forum whereby we've soundly covered most of the likely war criminals dating back several centuries or a platform to discuss the current situation in Serbia. All of which are fine, in my opinion, but I find myself out of breath, mid-thread and the lobs/jabs only get more intense with no real debate on a solution to this crisis - and it is a crisis and not just in the Balkans or even Europe.
Clearly, this is a space of good thinkers, of educated people who have well formed opinions and who passionately believe in theirs. What I am missing however, is the 'why' and the 'how' And on the popular side, I mostly agree with Dr. Trifkovic's literary pictoral of the general state of things.
'Why' the dilution of culture throughout Europe - and the world? Why the Serbs are "facing an ongoing reduction of their physical space." Why the "Western demand to accept and absorb postmodern cultural matrices in order to prove their fitness for the allegedly desirable political and economic integration into “Europe”." Why "the dwindling native populations?" And so on...
It is clear that virtually every culture on earth today is changing - becoming 'watered-down,' flattening, disappearing borders, the acceptance of a single international language (English), multi-ethnic states are the norm - not the exception, etc.. And its everywhere from the US to the jungles of South America and Malaysia, to Iceland to New Zealand and everywhere in-between. Why? Energy. And energy translates to economics.
There arent so many religious conflicts anymore, unless you consider and include their economic impact on a given dispute. All disputes today are economic; driven by an evaporating supply of light sweet crude - and soon the chase will include water. The race for a constant energy supply is on; both today and for its reliable access over the next century, hence the US military swell abroad and near oil sanctuaries.
The world is flattening at an incredible speed (largely because of access to energy/fuel). This accelerates the dilution of culture as we're more able to interact/interbreed than ever before and this trend will continue. As our world has shrunk so considerably with our ability to move freely around the world, we have enterted the sphere of the almighty world-economy. Lets face the fact these globalization trade-offs are irreversible and all of the things that we've debated in this thread - and elsewhere - will continue on a similar path. Humans won't cahnge so our path in macro terms is easy enough to predict. But we live our lives in largely micro terms. I can tell you there will be war ahead, but I don't want it in my home or within proximity. I can tell you we'll deplete our natural petroleum supply, but I can't tell you who will be the first to run out.
I believe that the formation of Europe's union was a matter of necessity. It was either 'unite' or die. There is ano argument to be had on this matter as far as I am concerned and from an economic perspective, its working. Still the point made of Europe's dwindling population is real and is a real problem. With combined birth rate and immigration not supporting an aging population, who will pay for these pensioners? The socialist governments will be bankrupt within 30 years and is the reason the yin and yang of western and eastern Europe may prove the almighty savior. If I can live down the street more cost-effectively and its safe, then why not move? Especially if its now so easy to get there. There is a tectonic shift happening in Europe and it will be interesting to see how it plays out. Serbia is its newest fault that is showing economic activity.
We (the US) have invaded Kosovo for reasons of self-interest (oil/military) and told them they can have this Serbian land (for a price, to be sure). We have broken the law in doing so and made ourselves the world leader of hypocrisy and saddened good people (Serbs) who bought into our pitch of all things good. A significant black-eye and not a single attempt at a good reason to argue our position, not that one existed in the first place (atricle 1244). And we call this freedom? Kosovo will be free as long as the Kosovars submit the US rule. And for that, I also feel badly.
'How' do we move forward from here? We can recount history all we want. Do we wish to repeat it? In the case of Serbia - I think not (violence). I don't want it for the Serbian people nor do I believe they do - theres been enough killing in their history. All of the wars and strife of days past are part of every tribe's history - and they shape us as much as our successes.
I live in Europe and have spent some time in Serbia over the past 6 months and have come to see these people in a much different light than they're pitched by many western media sources. They are warm, friendly, hospitable, tolerant people. And, they're an emerging European economy. A state coming of age where prosperity is at its fledgling state. The good people of Serbia are soon to realize a quality of life they've never before enjoyed. They'll soon be free to travel the world like the rest of us.
A return to violence is a return to isolationism. I don't believe that is the way forward for a people so long enduring a suppressive history. The light is at the end of the tunnel and its either real freedom and prosperity like they've never before known or its that damn freight train.
I like these people and I like what they stand for, in principle. How do we help them stay the current course of free-market reform and (genuine) democratization. Beginning tomorrow, what do the Serbian people do when they get out of bed and send their children off to school?