Protests in Kosovo

Serbian officials are apparantly encouraging protests in Kosovo which have resulted in the death of a UN officer.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F9A7A16C-CA85-42B4-98B1-D6ADFFAF5113.htm

The exact role of Belgrade in the riots is confused as far as I can see, they claimed the temporary takeover of the railway a while ago.

Someone was complaining a while ago about the media bias agianst Serbia. I've been trying to find a Serbian medium to get their view. Does anyone know of a link?

when the explosion occured in albania the other day, serbs posters on youtube we're saying, that's what albanias deserve fuckers.

905 wrote:

Serbian officials are apparantly encouraging protests in Kosovo which have resulted in the death of a UN officer.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F9A7A16C-CA85-42B4-98B1-D6ADFFAF5113.htm

The exact role of Belgrade in the riots is confused as far as I can see, they claimed the temporary takeover of the railway a while ago.

Someone was complaining a while ago about the media bias agianst Serbia. I've been trying to find a Serbian medium to get their view. Does anyone know of a link?

Any good?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Serbian_media

We were always told that the EU was there so that there would be no more European wars. So how come bits of Europe on which the major fault lines occur aren't in it?

cactus flower wrote:

We were always told that the EU was there so that there would be no more European wars. So how come bits of Europe on which the major fault lines occur aren't in it?

The major fault line was Germany/France once upon a time. They'd been fighting over territory since they were developed as nations. It's no small achievement of the Union to reverse over a century of disputes.

Of course, the Balkans don't really count as Europe right now.

Perhaps they should. The Balkans are to european war what Hong Kong is to flu.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/europe/jan-june99/balkans_3-26a.html

cactus flower wrote:

Perhaps they should. The Balkans are to european war what Hong Kong is to flu.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/europe/jan-june99/balkans_3-26a.html

And pigs should have wings. At the end of the day the Balkans are not regarded as classically Europe. They did once, and there's nothing to say they won't again.

It is true that the Balkans are a threat to 'European' security, just look at WW1. But getting involved in the Balkans brings us into conflict with Russia, who regard it as their stomping ground and potentially the radical Islamic world (that's a bit of a stretch though).

Samuel P. Huntington wrote a controversial book once in which he argued that the EU and European civilisation in general would be better off not expanding into non-'Western' territory such as the Orthodox (i.e. Russian) Balkans or the Islamic areas, such as Albania and Turkey. For the most part he was dismissed by serious geo-political thinkers, but he was right when he remarked that he only Orthodox country in the EU (Greece) causes more than their fair share of grief.

In a further blow to Serbian interests in Kosovo, three of Serbia's neighbours have rcognised Kosovo. Two of the countries, Bulgaria and Hungary, are in the EU and Coatia is in negotiations to join.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7304488.stm

Not entirely unexpected, but still a blow to the Serbs.

What's Albania's position on this? I believe they are interested in getting their hands on a piece of Kosovo..

Auditor #9 wrote:

What's Albania's position on this? I believe they are interested in getting their hands on a piece of Kosovo..

Good question. I doubt they'd only want a piece of it, they're o more entitled to a piece than they are to the whole lot. But very few Kosovars want to unite with Albania:

Quote :

A poll in Kosovo in 2005 found that whereas more than 90% backed independence, fewer than 10% wanted union with Albania. This points to a conclusion that Albanian nationalists hate: younger Albanians in Kosovo have developed a Kosovar identity of their own.…

http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8558447

Is it from Russia that any threat could come ? Why do they back up Serbia like that? In the bbc page you are quoting they are saying that not only the UN but NATO troops are also in there. Do you think it's dangerously on a brink of some kind or is it just huffing and puffing by some radical Serbians ?

It's very doubtful that Russia and the West would come to blows over this. It's far more likely that Russia will use the Balkans as a sort of proxy conflict zone, which in fairness is what the West doeas too.

Like Europe, Russia will claim that they have a right to interfere in the area. Just as Croatia or Kosovo might look to the West for support, Serbia looks to Russia. As fellow Orthodox slavs they stick together.

Personally I don't think the area will flare up much more. Kosovo's been de facto autonomous for a while now. Russia and the West will have bigger fish to fry. I think that is that Serbia might try something when they think our back's turned. So it's when attention shifts elsewhere the danger lies. That's just my opinion.