USA Afghan Debacle: Afghans adrift on US ′lily pad′ in Kosovo

Two weeks after the Taliban reclaimed Kabul in 2021, diplomats and US soldiers in Kosovo welcomed with open arms and newly built accommodations Afghans who had been evacuated because of their work with the United States and allied governments. Camp Liya, constructed alongside the US Army base Camp Bondsteel, would briefly be their home — a "lily pad," they were told — while Washington arranged their resettlement in the United States or a third country.

"We are honored to be able to help Afghan refugees who worked for NATO,” Kosovan Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on August 29, 2021, greeting the first arrivals at the airport. "They left their homes and their country in desperation. But we will do everything to make sure that they will be safe, secure here.”

John Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman at the time, said the agreement signed with Kosovo pledged the US to relocate Afghans that are housed in the camp "to the United States or a third country within 365 days.”

Read more at: Afghans adrift on US ′lily pad′ in Kosovo | Europe | News and current affairs from around the continent | DW | 28.08.2022

EU warns Serbia, Kosovo over Israel embassy move

The European Union warned Serbia and Kosovo on Monday that they could undermine their EU membership hopes by moving their Israeli embassies to Jerusalem, as U.S. President Donald Trump’s surprise announcement about the change left officials in Belgrade and Pristina scrambling to limit the political fallout.

In an unexpected move last week, Trump said that Serbia and Kosovo had agreed to normalize economic ties as part of U.S.-brokered talks that include Belgrade moving its embassy to Jerusalem, and mutual recognition between Israel and Kosovo.

It surprised the Europeans, who are leading complex talks between Serbia and its former territory of Kosovo on improving their long-strained relations, while Serbian officials appeared to be watering down their commitment to Trump, and Kosovo sought to allay concerns among Muslim countries.
The 27-nation EU’s long-held policy is that Jerusalem’s status should be worked out between Israel and the Palestinians as part of broader peace negotiations, and that Serbia — as a candidate to join the bloc — should respect that.

“There is no EU member state with an embassy in Jerusalem,” European Commission spokesman Peter Stano said. “Any diplomatic steps that could call into question the EU’s common position on Jerusalem are a matter of serious concern and regret.”

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EU warns Serbia, Kosovo over Israel embassy move | National | swoknews.com

EU and Russia vie for influence in volatile Balkans region - by Dusan Stojanovic

For years, Russia has worked to gain influence in Southeast Europe, using Serbia as a foothold to establish a friendly pocket on a hostile continent.

The European Union finally is pushing back. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is embarking on a seven-nation Balkans tour Sunday to promote the EU's new eastward expansion strategy.

Russia mainly wants to discourage the Western Balkan countries — Albania, Bosnia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Serbia — from joining NATO. But Moscow also is trying to deter them from joining the EU.

The EU sees the prospect of membership as an incentive for reform in the volatile Balkans region, which was torn apart by war in the 1990s. Its expansion strategy puts Serbia and Montenegro in position to join should the bloc open its doors to more members, tentatively by 2025.

Read more here: https://www.fresnobee.com/news/nation-world/world/article201944074.html#storylink=cpy

Read more: EU and Russia vie for influence in volatile Balkans region | The Fresno Bee

Balkans: The Balkanisation of Europe

As foreign policy experts list their problems for 2016, the Balkans never gets a mention. That’s strange, as the region is the microcosm of all the differing conflicts in Europe, and even further afield, Denis MacShane writes.

Denis MacShane is a former UK Minister of Europe in the Tony Blair government and works in Brussels and London advising on EU policy and politics. His latest book, Brexit : How Britain Will Leave Europe, was published in 2015 by IB Tauris.

The Balkans is Europe’s Zombie Zone, where the dead matter more than the living, where past feuds count for more than finding solutions based on compromise and where religion and churches still have political influence in a way unknown north of the Alps since the 1950s.

From the Aegean and Adriatic to the Alps, the region is full of unhappy nations with bad economics in competition with worse politics. Slovenia is busy putting up razor wire barriers on its borders with fellow EU member state Croatia.

Bosnia-Herzegovina remains unable to work as a single state. Serbia still is infected by the cancer of Milosevic Serb supremacism, egged on by Vladimir Putin, who loves the idea of keeping the Balkans as a problem region that his rivals in Washington and Brussels cannot solve.

Albania has yet to escape the deep corruption and criminalities of its first post-Communist decade. While the younger, more progressive leadership of Edi Rama makes its mark with European and American counterparts, the old trades of smuggling cigarettes, people, arms and prostitutes die hard.

Kosovo remains a nation without full status, as Greece and Serbia place every obstacle in the path of the young Kosovan state from getting full diplomatic recognition at the UN, or even the Council of Europe, where the norms and values of the European Convention on Human Rights, and the court that enforces them, are more than ever needed.

The only bright news is that Macedonia may be willing to talk to Athens about the name dispute. The claim the Slav Macedonians are the same as the Hellenic heroes who defended Western civilization against Persian tyranny is of course absurd.

But there are plenty of countries around the world that call themselves the  “United States” but they are not America. No-one outside of Greece thinks for a moment that the Skopje republic calling itself Macedonia is any threat to the real Macedonia of Thessalonika, and northern Greece.

Read more: The Balkanisation of Europe | EurActiv

Kosovo Elections: As hard-line Serbs intimidate voters in Kosovo, local elections test EU-brokered deal

Hard-line Serbs in northern Kosovo intimidated would-be voters and were suspected of attacking a polling station during local elections Sunday. The actions underscored Kosovo’s strained relations with Serbia, even as both states seek closer ties to the European Union.

It was the first time voters in all of Kosovo were choosing local councilors and mayors since the country seceded from Serbia in 2008.

The participation in the election of minority Serbs in Kosovo was being watched carefully. The integration of Serbs into Kosovar political life is a key element of an EU-brokered deal between Serbia and Kosovo that seeks to settle their disputes and unlock EU funds.

The Serb hard-liners’ tactics, however, appeared to suppress voter turnout and raised concerns that Serbia had not fulfilled its pledge to stop fueling defiance among Serbs in Kosovo, especially in the north, where they dominate the population.

Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga warned Serb hard-liners not to undermine the central government in Pristina.

Read more: As hard-line Serbs intimidate voters in Kosovo, local elections test EU-brokered deal - The Washington Post

EU organizes Serbia, Kosovo meeting

The leaders of Serbia and Kosovo have met face-to-face under the auspices of the European Union's top diplomat, the first time a top-level encounter has taken place since Kosovo's contested independence declaration in 2008.

The encounter between new Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic and Kosovan Prime Minister Hashim Thaci marked a major step in a traditionally acrimonious relationship.

"We agreed to continue the dialogue for the normalisation of relations between the two sides and both committed to working together. We will meet again soon," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said after sitting in on the "good and constructive" meeting.

For more: EU organises Serbia, Kosovo meeting | News.com.au

Kosovo PM urges Serbs to integrate | Irish Examiner

Kosovo’s prime minister says integration is the only option he will accept for his country’s aggrieved Serb population.

Speaking after meetings with Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this week, Hashim Thaci rejected calls for greater autonomy for Serb communities in Kosovo’s north.

He also said that he would never consider a territorial swap with Serbia as a solution.

For more: Kosovo PM urges Serbs to integrate | Irish Examine

KOSOVO: Normal traffic flow restored in northern Kosovo

After a several hour blockade of roads leading to Zubin Potok (northern Kosovo), the normal traffic flow has been restored around 4 p.m., after KFOR allowed vehicles to pass.

KFOR blocked the road Zvecan- Zubin Potok and Kosovska Mitrovica-Ribarice in the villages of Zupce and Jagnjenica for several hours, after Serbs stopped the convoy of EULEX vehicles.

The blockades resulted in long columns of vehicles heading for Zubin Potok from the direction of Zvecan and Kosovska Mitrovica.

For more: Normal traffic flow restored in northern Kosovo :: EMG :: Business news from Serbia 2010

Kosovo Native Charged in Tampa Fla. bomb plot

AP reported that a Kosovo-born man was charged with plotting to attack Tampa-area nightclubs and a sheriff's office with bombs and an assault rifle to avenge wrongs done to Muslims, federal authorities said Monday. The area's Muslim community helped provide authorities with information, said Steve Ibison, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Tampa division.

According to a federal complaint, 25-year-old Sami Osmakac recorded an eight-minute video shortly before his arrest explaining why he wanted to bring terror to his "victims' hearts" in the Tampa Bay area. Osmakac is a naturalized American citizen born in Kosovo, then part of the former Yugoslavia in eastern Europe.

In the video, Osmakac is seen cross-legged on the floor with a pistol in his hand and an AK-47 behind him. Osmakac said in the video that Muslim blood was more valuable than that of people who do not believe in Islam, according to the complaint. He said he wanted "payback" for wrong that was done to Muslims, according to the complaint.

EU-Digest

Kosovo: Catholic bishop says high risk of radical Islam - by Cristiana Missori

Four years on from its independence, Kosovo is attempting to reaffirm its native traditions and is calling on the West for help to avoid being swallowed by the slow advance of radical Islam, which is taking advantage of tolerant traditions. The scenario is one of inter-religious dialogue that is progressing at its own slow pace, without making any fuss and seeking to keep its distance from politics, and of a moderate Islamic tradition at risk of Wahabite contagion. As Don Lush Gjergji, Vicar General of the Catholic Church in Kosovo, explained to ANSAmed, ''the issues that Kosovo has to tackle are mainly economic in nature. The true problem is the high level of unemployment affecting the population''.

Don Lush speaks about the religious tensions, but without highlighting them. ''Inter-religious dialogue is proceeding both with the Orthodox Church and with the Muslims''. As the bishop points out, just a couple of months ago he held a meeting ''with the Grand Muftì of Kosovo, Naim Ternava and the Orthodox Bishop of Raska and Prizren, Teodosije Sibalic''. Speaking of a duty to provide a good example and to extinguish any tensions between Orthodox Christians and Muslims, he said, ''it is up to the sister churches to show this Christian attitude, allowing others to be themselves. It is indeed impossible to exclude those who do not belong to our own community'', Don Lush said.

For more: Kosovo:Catholic bishop,high risk of radical Islam - General news - ANSAMed.it

EU does not want to import another Cyprus-like problem says Edita Tahiri

Europe's newest nation has hailed a decision by the EU not to grant candidate status to Serbia due to its non-constructive role in dialogue talks with Kosovo but to reward Pristina with advancement toward the 27-member bloc.

“The EU has made clear that they don't want to import another problem like Cyprus,” Kosovo Deputy PM Edita Tahiri said in an exclusive interview with Sunday's Zaman on Dec. 15. The EU accepted a divided Cyprus despite its refusal to approve a UN plan on reunification in 2004. Cyprus has been at the heart of many problems between Turkey and the EU. Claiming that Serbia is playing double standards for membership in the EU while urging Serbs in Kosovo not to honor their commitments, Tahiri, head of the Kosovo delegation in dialogue with Serbia, called on Belgrade to im-plement what they agreed upon.

She also welcomed Turkey’s role in the Balkans, dismissing claims that it is an outsider power. “Turkey, given its historic and cultural relations with the Balkans and given its economic potential, really can establish bilateral relations with each country in the Balkans,” Tahiri said. She invited more Turkish investment in the economy and in education in Kosovo

For more: Edita Tahiri: EU does not want to import another Cyprus-like problem

Germany warns Serbia: no EU entry without Kosovo deal

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle warned Serbia Thursday that it had no chance of joining the European Union unless it adopted a "cooperative" stance on Kosovo.

Westerwelle said after talks with Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic that the future of the Western Balkans lies in the EU but underlined that the bloc would not take on new members that have festering external disputes.

"In our view, one can only be a member of the European Union if one aims for cooperation and is prepared to resolve neighbourly difficulties cooperatively," he told reporters when asked about Serbia's position on Kosovo.

For more: Germany warns Serbia: no EU entry without Kosovo deal < German news | Expatica Germany

Time Magazine: Entertainment - Kosovo to Cannes: Arta Dobroshi's Journey to The Silence of Lorna - by Stephanie Kirchner

For the complete report from TIME Magazine click on this link

Entertainment - Kosovo to Cannes: Arta Dobroshi's Journey to The Silence of Lorna - by Stephanie Kirchner

"Welcome to Pristina, have a nice day," the border policeman greets Arta Dobroshi as she arrives at the airport of Kosovo's capital. What would seem like a simple polite gesture to most, still strikes the Kosovo Albanian actress as odd. She had grown up in Pristina during the country's fight for independence in the '90s, when Serbian Security Forces carried out a campaign of repression and violence against Kosovo's ethnic Albanians. And while the violence is over, the memories are still painfully fresh. "Not long ago, I used to live in constant fear of the police," she says. "You would be scared that they'd see your passport and you'd get beaten. "

That's one reason why Dobroshi is so convincing in the role of Lorna, a young Albanian woman who dreams of opening a snack bar in Belgium with her boyfriend and agrees to a sinister plan: she is to marries Claudy, a junkie, for citizenship, kill him, then marry a Russian gangster who will pay richly for a Belgian passport. But the scheme falls apart when Lorna starts to fall for Claudy. The Silence of Lorna, which opens in the U.S. in July, is as much a love story as it is a thriller, and — being a Dardenne film — it has a good dose of social criticism, too.

Irish Times: Kosovo rejects deal on deployment of EU mission - by Daniel McLaughlin

For the complete report from The Irish Times click on this link

Kosovo rejects deal on deployment of EU mission - by Daniel McLaughlin

A 2000 strong EU mission to oversee policing and justice in Kosovo could suffer further delays after leaders of the newly independent state rejected a deal on the mission's deployment that had been agreed by Brussels, Serbia and United Nations officials. The EU had hoped to deploy the mission soon after Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders declared independence from Serbia in February, but it has been blocked by opposition from Belgrade, by Serbia's main ally, Russia, and by the ethnic Serbs who dominate much of northern Kosovo.

Serbs see the EU mission as a symbol of Kosovo's sovereignty - which they vow never to accept - and instead want policing and justice powers to remain with the UN mission that has run Kosovo since 1999, when Nato bombing ended a brutal Serb crackdown on separatist rebels.

Cafe Babel: Could the Bucharest NATO Summit Give Birth to an EU Army? - by Gulfstreamblues

For the complete report from CafeBabel click on this link

Could the Bucharest NATO Summit Give Birth to an EU Army? - by Gulfstreamblues

When it comes to great expectations, few summits could be said to be generating as much anticipation recently as the NATO summit in Bucharest this week. Besides hammering out a plan to rescue the military fiasco in Afghanistan, it is set to enlarge and restructure the alliance in a way that will fundamentally change it. All indications seem to suggest that Sarkozy will push this issue hard at the NATO summit, and that the meeting could end with not only new members and a redefined mission in Afghanistan but also with a specific NATO and US blessing for an EU army, starting with the EU policing project in Kosovo. Ironically, the most important thing to come out of this meeting may be the birth of an entirely different organization that could one day replace.

CTV.ca: More countries expected to recognize Kosovo

For the complete report from CTV.ca click on this link

More countries expected to recognize Kosovo

Serbia's ambassador to Canada is preparing to hand over a diplomatic protest note over this country's recognition of Kosovo just as three neighbours of Serbia are to officially recognize the state. Later today, Bulgaria, Hungary and Croatia are expected to become the first neighbouring countries to recognize Kosovo, an ethnic Albanian-dominated former province of Serbia. Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia last month, but Canada didn't issue a statement of recognition until Tuesday.

BBC NEWS: Kosovo riots 'were orchestrated'

For the complete report from the BBC NEWS click on this link

Kosovo riots 'were orchestrated'

A senior UN official in Kosovo has strongly criticized Serbia for failing to prevent the trouble which led to the death of a Ukrainian policeman. Ihor Kinal, 25, was fatally wounded on Monday by shrapnel from a hand grenade. Deputy head of mission Larry Rossin told reporters that some of the comments from Serbia's Kosovo minister in Mitrovica were "objectionable".

YahooNews: RUSSIA'S SUPPORT OF SERBIA IS MORE ABOUT OIL THAN KOSOVO - by Georgie Anne Geyer

For the complete report from YahooNews click on this link

RUSSIA'S SUPPORT OF SERBIA IS MORE ABOUT OIL THAN KOSOVO - - by Georgie Anne Geyer

"Since the end of the Balkans wars in the 1990s, the European attitude toward Serbia has been that this renegade of Europe would eventually, inevitably, join the European Union (E.U.)

After Kosovo declared independence, Medvedev, already chosen as interim president by Putin, traveled to Kosovo's to Belgrade to sign -- what? -- amazing deals with Serbia on a gas pipeline and almost certainly on buying into the rundown Serb oil refinery in Pancevo. Medvedev's pipeline deal for Moscow clears the way for the construction of the planned 550-mile South Stream pipeline through Serbia en route to Western Europe. Costs are reported to be in the area of $1.5 billion. In addition -- and substantively expanding the energy ambitions of Russia toward Europe -- the president presumptive said that the deal to buy Serbia's state oil refinery, NIS, would be signed soon. Russia has offered $600 million for the refinery, with an additional $730 million to modernize the company.

The purport of all of this? To see that the genie of radical nationalism, released so tragically 20 years ago in Serbia, is threatening to pop up again in the Balkans. An angry Russia is attempting to use its energy wealth to move once again into Europe. And the West had better look out."

New World Order 101: Long road from Kosovo to Kurdistan- Kosovo will have the Largest US military base since World War II - by Pepe Escobar

For the complete report from the New World Order 101 click on this link

Long road from Kosovo to Kurdistan- Kosovo will have the Largest US military base since World War II - by Pepe Escobar

The ongoing saga revolves around two crucial, interrelated facts on the ground: Pipelineistan and the empire of 737 (and counting) US military bases in 130 countries operated by 350,000-plus Americans. In short: it revolves around the trans-Balkan AMBO pipeline and Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo, the the largest US base built in Europe in a generation. It also lays bare continuity from the Bill Clinton to the George W Bush administrations - the US dictating the rules of the game as if in a one-party state. Yugoslavia and Iraq also "taught" the world two lessons. From Clinton's humanitarian imperialism to Bush's "war on terror", it's all a matter of exclusive Washington prerogative. Blowback, of course, as Putin has warned, will be inevitable.

Washington and the three European Union heavyweights (France, Germany and Britain) have applauded Kosovo's independence. But this core of the self-described "international community" is caught in silent scream mode when confronted with the possibility of independence for Flanders in Belgium, northern Cyprus, the Serbian Republic of Bosnia, the Basque country in Spain, Gibraltar - not to mention Indian Kashmir (the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, JKLF, is already making some rumblings), Tibet, Taiwan, Abkahzia and South Ossetia (both in Georgia and both Russia-friendly), Palestine and Kurdistan. Northern Kosovo itself - totally Serbian-populated - and western Macedonia also don't qualify to become independent. So why Kosovo? Enter the AMBO pipeline and Camp Bondsteel.

Press TV: Medvedev-US threatens Europe stability

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Medvedev-US threatens Europe stability

"The US is putting Europe in a very difficult position by supporting Kosovo, it is far away and is not facing any risks, but Europe could go ablaze", First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Wednesday in a campaign speech in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod. Medvedev who is likely to become Russia's next president also said that Kosovo's independence has "jeopardized security and stability of the whole region.'' Russia backs its ally Serbia in opposing Kosovo's independence and has warned Western states that recognizing Kosovo could set off a chain reaction of separatist unrest throughout Europe.