Με έναρξη πολεμικών επιχειρήσεων από τον UCC στο εσωτερικό της
Ελλάδας απειλεί ο πρόεδρος του κινήματος για τη "Μεγάλη Αλβανία",
Αλβανός Κότσο Ντανάϊ υποστηρίζοντας ότι "Η εμπόλεμη κατάσταση η οποία
δεν έχει αρθεί από την Ελλάδα για την Αλβανία, δεν δημιουργεί ζημιές
στην Αλβανία, αλλά, απειλεί να αποσταθεροποιήσει την ίδια την Ελλάδα.
Διατηρώντας αυτόν τον παράλογο νόμο με την Αλβανία, σε μια εποχή που η
Ελλάδα και η Αλβανία είναι μέλη του ΝΑΤΟ, η ελληνική πολιτική και
διπλωματία δίνει τη θέση της στην αποσταθεροποίηση. Ο καθένας
αντιλαμβάνεται ότι η εμπόλεμη κατάσταση που διατηρείται μεταξύ των δύο
χωρών, σημαίνει τη χρήση των μέσων του πολέμου".
Εμφάνιση αναρτήσεων με ετικέτα Κόσοβο. Εμφάνιση όλων των αναρτήσεων
Εμφάνιση αναρτήσεων με ετικέτα Κόσοβο. Εμφάνιση όλων των αναρτήσεων
Πέμπτη 6 Σεπτεμβρίου 2012
Τετάρτη 1 Φεβρουαρίου 2012
Kosovo Seeks Full Independence in 2012
Kosovo's parliament has adopted a resolution calling for the international community to permit full independence by the end of this year.Four years after seceding from Serbia, Kosovo’s parliament has adopted a resolution calling for an end to "internationally supervised" independence at the end of 2012, pledging to meet all obligations needed to reach this goal.
In vote the vote, 83 MPs voted for and 13 against a resolution tabled by Hashim Thaci's ruling Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, at an extraordinary session called on Tuesday.Prime Minister Thaci said adoption of the resolution marked the beginning of a new phase for Kosovo.
“Kosovo enters a new era,” he said, calling on the international community to set the benchmarks and priorities for the work needed to be done in implementing the remaining provisions of the Comprehensive Kosovo Status Settlement Proposal, known as the Ahtisaari Plan.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on February 17, 2008. Since then 86 states, including 22 EU member states and the US, have recognized it. But as part of the independence process, the country has remained under a form of international monitoring.
The group of 25 member states, known as the “Friends of Kosovo”, met last week Vienna, and announced that preparations for winding up these activities will start soon.
The International Steering Group, the body tasked with overseeing Kosovo's supervised independence, has endorsed a twin-track strategy for the beginning of the end of the process, asking for more guarantees from the Kosovo government in such fields as decentralization, community rights, cultural heritage and dealing with the past.
Pieter Feith, the International Civilian Representative in charge of implementation of the Ahtisaari plan, said adoption of the resolution by the Assembly set out the next steps needed to reach the objective. He welcomed signs of a political consensus on beginning constitutional amendments.
“If a national consensus is maintained throughout, this will send a powerful message about the sustainability of the reforms and their implementation, thus enhancing Kosovo’s international reputation and credibility as a modern European state,” he said.
The ISG has reiterated that the Ahtisaari Plan's core principles of strengthening transparent, legitimate local democracy, and respecting community rights and identities, provide the best model for the future of the troubled, Serb-run northern municipalities of Kosovo.
http://www.balkaninsight.com/
Δευτέρα 30 Ιανουαρίου 2012
Report identifies Hashim Thaci as 'big fish' in organised crime
Kosovo's prime minister accused of criminal connections in secret Nato documents leaked to the Guardian
Kosovo's prime minister, Hashim Thaçi, has been identified as one of the "biggest fish" in organised crime in his country, according to western military intelligence reports leaked to the Guardian.
The Nato documents, which are marked "Secret", indicate that the US and other western powers backing Kosovo's government have had extensive knowledge of its criminal connections for several years.
They also identify another senior ruling politician in Kosovo as having links to the Albanian mafia, stating that he exerts considerable control over Thaçi, a former guerrilla leader.
Marked "USA KFOR", they provide detailed information about organised criminal networks in Kosovo based on reports by western intelligence agencies and informants. The geographical spread of Kosovo's criminal gangs is set out, alongside details of alleged familial and business links.
The Council of Europe is tomorrow expected to formally demand an investigation into claims that Thaçi was the head of a "mafia-like" network responsible for smuggling weapons, drugs and human organs during and after the 1998-99 Kosovo war.
The organ trafficking allegations were contained in an official inquiry published last month by the human rights rapporteur Dick Marty.
His report accused Thaçi and several other senior figures who operated in the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) of links to organised crime, prompting a major diplomatic crisis when it was leaked to the Guardian last month.
The report also named Thaçi as having exerted "violent control" over the heroin trade, and appeared to confirm concerns that after the conflict with Serbia ended, his inner circle oversaw a gang that murdered Serb captives to sell their kidneys on the black market.
The Council's of Europe's parliamentary assembly in Strasbourg will debate Marty's findings and vote on a resolution calling for criminal investigations. The vote is widely expected to be passed.
Kosovo functioned as a UN protectorate from the end of the Kosovo war until 2008, when it formally declared independence from Serbia.
Thaçi, who was re-elected prime minister last month, has been strongly backed by Nato powers. His government has dismissed the Marty report as part of a Serbian and Russian conspiracy to destabilise the fledgling state.
However, the latest leaked documents were produced by KFOR, the Nato-led peacekeeping force responsible for security in Kosovo. It was KFOR military forces that intervened in the Kosovo war in 1999, helping to put an end to a campaign of ethnic cleansing by Slobodan Milosevic's Serbian forces.
Nato said in a statement tonight that it had instigated an "internal investigation" into the leaked documents, which are intelligence assessments produced around 2004, shortly before tensions with ethnic Serbs fuelled riots in Kosovo.
In the documents, Thaçi is identified as one of a triumvirate of "biggest fish" in organised criminal circles. So too is Xhavit Haliti, a former head of logistics for the KLA who is now a close ally of the prime minister and a senior parliamentarian in his ruling PDK party. Haliti is expected to be among Kosovo's official delegation to Strasbourg tomorrow and has played a leading role in seeking to undermine the Marty report in public.
However, the Nato intelligence reports suggest that behind his role as a prominent politician, Haliti is also a senior organised criminal who carries a Czech 9mm pistol and holds considerable sway over the prime minister.
Describing him as "the power behind Hashim Thaçi", one report states that Haliti has strong ties with the Albanian mafia and Kosovo's secret service, known as KShiK. It suggests that Haliti "more or less ran" a fund for the Kosovo war in the late 1990s, profiting from the fund personally before the money dried up. "As a result, Haliti turned to organised crime on a grand scale," the reports state.
They state that he is "highly involved in prostitution, weapons and drugs smuggling" and used a hotel in the capital, Pristina, as an operational base. Haliti also serves as a political and financial adviser to the prime minister but, according to the documents, is arguably "the real boss" in the relationship. Haliti uses a fake passport to travel abroad because he is black-listed in several countries, including the US, one report states.
Haliti is linked to the alleged intimidation of political opponents in Kosovo and two suspected murders dating back to the late 1990s, when KLA infighting is said to have resulted in numerous killings.
One was a political adversary who was found "dead by the Kosovo border", apparently following a dispute with Haliti. A description of the other suspected murder – of a young journalist in Tirana, the Albanian capital – also contains a reference to the prime minister by name, but does not ascribe blame.
Citing US and Nato intelligence, the entry states Haliti is "linked" the grisly murder, going on to state: "Ali Uka, a reporter in Tirana, who supported the independence movement but criticised it in print. Uka was brutally disfigured with a bottle and screwdriver in 1997. His roommate at the time was Hashim Thaçi."
Haliti is also named in the report by Marty, which is understood to have drawn on Nato intelligence assessments along with reports from the FBI and MI5.
Marty's report includes Haliti among a list of close allies of Thaçi said to have ordered – and in some cases personally overseen – "assassinations, detentions, beatings and interrogations" during and immediately after the war.
Haliti was unavailable for comment. However, in an interview with the media outlet Balkan Insight last week he dismissed the Marty report as "political" and designed to "discredit the KLA". "I was not surprised by the report. I have followed this issue for years and the content of the report is political," he said.
But he accepted that the Council of Europe was likely to pass a resolution triggering investigations by the EU-backed justice mission in the country, known as EULEX.
"I think it's a competent investigating body," he said, "It's a European investigation body. I think that there is no possibility that EULEX investigation unit to be affected by Kosovo or Albanian politics."
Responding to the allegations in the NATO intelligence reports tonight, a Kosovo government spokesman said: "These are allegations that have circulated for over a decade, most recently recycled in the Dick Marty report. They are based on hearsay and intentional false Serbian intelligence.
"Nevertheless, the prime minister has called for an investigation by EULEX and has repeatedly pledged his full cooperation to law enforcement authorities on these scandalous and slanderous allegations.
"The government of Kosovo continues to support the strengthening of the rule of law in Kosovo, and we look forward to the cooperation of our international partners in ensuring that criminality has no place in Kosovo's development."
Kosovo's prime minister, Hashim Thaçi, has been identified as one of the "biggest fish" in organised crime in his country, according to western military intelligence reports leaked to the Guardian.
The Nato documents, which are marked "Secret", indicate that the US and other western powers backing Kosovo's government have had extensive knowledge of its criminal connections for several years.
They also identify another senior ruling politician in Kosovo as having links to the Albanian mafia, stating that he exerts considerable control over Thaçi, a former guerrilla leader.
Marked "USA KFOR", they provide detailed information about organised criminal networks in Kosovo based on reports by western intelligence agencies and informants. The geographical spread of Kosovo's criminal gangs is set out, alongside details of alleged familial and business links.
The Council of Europe is tomorrow expected to formally demand an investigation into claims that Thaçi was the head of a "mafia-like" network responsible for smuggling weapons, drugs and human organs during and after the 1998-99 Kosovo war.
The organ trafficking allegations were contained in an official inquiry published last month by the human rights rapporteur Dick Marty.
His report accused Thaçi and several other senior figures who operated in the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) of links to organised crime, prompting a major diplomatic crisis when it was leaked to the Guardian last month.
The report also named Thaçi as having exerted "violent control" over the heroin trade, and appeared to confirm concerns that after the conflict with Serbia ended, his inner circle oversaw a gang that murdered Serb captives to sell their kidneys on the black market.
The Council's of Europe's parliamentary assembly in Strasbourg will debate Marty's findings and vote on a resolution calling for criminal investigations. The vote is widely expected to be passed.
Kosovo functioned as a UN protectorate from the end of the Kosovo war until 2008, when it formally declared independence from Serbia.
Thaçi, who was re-elected prime minister last month, has been strongly backed by Nato powers. His government has dismissed the Marty report as part of a Serbian and Russian conspiracy to destabilise the fledgling state.
However, the latest leaked documents were produced by KFOR, the Nato-led peacekeeping force responsible for security in Kosovo. It was KFOR military forces that intervened in the Kosovo war in 1999, helping to put an end to a campaign of ethnic cleansing by Slobodan Milosevic's Serbian forces.
Nato said in a statement tonight that it had instigated an "internal investigation" into the leaked documents, which are intelligence assessments produced around 2004, shortly before tensions with ethnic Serbs fuelled riots in Kosovo.
In the documents, Thaçi is identified as one of a triumvirate of "biggest fish" in organised criminal circles. So too is Xhavit Haliti, a former head of logistics for the KLA who is now a close ally of the prime minister and a senior parliamentarian in his ruling PDK party. Haliti is expected to be among Kosovo's official delegation to Strasbourg tomorrow and has played a leading role in seeking to undermine the Marty report in public.
However, the Nato intelligence reports suggest that behind his role as a prominent politician, Haliti is also a senior organised criminal who carries a Czech 9mm pistol and holds considerable sway over the prime minister.
Describing him as "the power behind Hashim Thaçi", one report states that Haliti has strong ties with the Albanian mafia and Kosovo's secret service, known as KShiK. It suggests that Haliti "more or less ran" a fund for the Kosovo war in the late 1990s, profiting from the fund personally before the money dried up. "As a result, Haliti turned to organised crime on a grand scale," the reports state.
They state that he is "highly involved in prostitution, weapons and drugs smuggling" and used a hotel in the capital, Pristina, as an operational base. Haliti also serves as a political and financial adviser to the prime minister but, according to the documents, is arguably "the real boss" in the relationship. Haliti uses a fake passport to travel abroad because he is black-listed in several countries, including the US, one report states.
Haliti is linked to the alleged intimidation of political opponents in Kosovo and two suspected murders dating back to the late 1990s, when KLA infighting is said to have resulted in numerous killings.
One was a political adversary who was found "dead by the Kosovo border", apparently following a dispute with Haliti. A description of the other suspected murder – of a young journalist in Tirana, the Albanian capital – also contains a reference to the prime minister by name, but does not ascribe blame.
Citing US and Nato intelligence, the entry states Haliti is "linked" the grisly murder, going on to state: "Ali Uka, a reporter in Tirana, who supported the independence movement but criticised it in print. Uka was brutally disfigured with a bottle and screwdriver in 1997. His roommate at the time was Hashim Thaçi."
Haliti is also named in the report by Marty, which is understood to have drawn on Nato intelligence assessments along with reports from the FBI and MI5.
Marty's report includes Haliti among a list of close allies of Thaçi said to have ordered – and in some cases personally overseen – "assassinations, detentions, beatings and interrogations" during and immediately after the war.
Haliti was unavailable for comment. However, in an interview with the media outlet Balkan Insight last week he dismissed the Marty report as "political" and designed to "discredit the KLA". "I was not surprised by the report. I have followed this issue for years and the content of the report is political," he said.
But he accepted that the Council of Europe was likely to pass a resolution triggering investigations by the EU-backed justice mission in the country, known as EULEX.
"I think it's a competent investigating body," he said, "It's a European investigation body. I think that there is no possibility that EULEX investigation unit to be affected by Kosovo or Albanian politics."
Responding to the allegations in the NATO intelligence reports tonight, a Kosovo government spokesman said: "These are allegations that have circulated for over a decade, most recently recycled in the Dick Marty report. They are based on hearsay and intentional false Serbian intelligence.
"Nevertheless, the prime minister has called for an investigation by EULEX and has repeatedly pledged his full cooperation to law enforcement authorities on these scandalous and slanderous allegations.
"The government of Kosovo continues to support the strengthening of the rule of law in Kosovo, and we look forward to the cooperation of our international partners in ensuring that criminality has no place in Kosovo's development."
Road to Strasbourg
It has taken more than two years for an inquiry into organ trafficking in Kosovo to reach the Palace of Europe, a grand building in Strasbourg that serves as the headquarters of the Council of Europe.
The formal inquiry into organ trafficking in Kosovo was prompted by revelations by the former chief war crimes prosecutor at The Hague, Carla Del Ponte, who said she had been prevented from properly investigating alleged atrocities committed by the Kosovo Liberation Army.
Her most shocking disclosure – unconfirmed reports the KLA killed captives for their organs – prompted the formal inquiry by human rights rapporteur Dick Marty.
His report, published last month, suggested there was evidence that KLA commanders smuggled captives across the border into Kosovo and harvested the organs of a "handful" of Serbs.
His findings, which will be subject to a parliamentary assembly vote tomorrow, went further, accusing Kosovo's prime minister and several other senior figures of involvement in organised crime over the last decade.
guardian.co.uk, Monday 24 January 2011 18.34 गमत
Οι παραπάνω αποκαλύψεις δεν αποτελούν έκπληξη παρά χρονική επιβεβαίωση της μεθόδευσης που επιτελείται στα Βαλκάνια και ιδιαίτερα στην Πρώην Γιουγκοσλαβία τα χρόνια μετά τη διάλυσή της. Οι σχέσεις του οργανωμένου εγκλήματος με την πολιτική και κάθε άλλη μορφή εξουσίας είναι άρρηκτες. Χαρακτηρίζονται δε από σύμπνοια όσον αφορά στην επίτευξη κοινού στόχου που έχει να κάνει κυρίως με την οικονομική και πολιτική ενδυνάμωση. Δεν γνωρίζει σύνορα ούτε εθνικιστικά εμπόδια. Πολλά περισσότερα δε, αναμένεται να αποκαλύπτονται μελλοντικά για τη σκοτεινή περίοδο των ένοπλων συγκρούσεων στα Βαλκάνια τη δεκαετία του 90 και την εμπλοκή ξένων παραγόντων.
The formal inquiry into organ trafficking in Kosovo was prompted by revelations by the former chief war crimes prosecutor at The Hague, Carla Del Ponte, who said she had been prevented from properly investigating alleged atrocities committed by the Kosovo Liberation Army.
Her most shocking disclosure – unconfirmed reports the KLA killed captives for their organs – prompted the formal inquiry by human rights rapporteur Dick Marty.
His report, published last month, suggested there was evidence that KLA commanders smuggled captives across the border into Kosovo and harvested the organs of a "handful" of Serbs.
His findings, which will be subject to a parliamentary assembly vote tomorrow, went further, accusing Kosovo's prime minister and several other senior figures of involvement in organised crime over the last decade.
guardian.co.uk, Monday 24 January 2011 18.34 गमत
Οι παραπάνω αποκαλύψεις δεν αποτελούν έκπληξη παρά χρονική επιβεβαίωση της μεθόδευσης που επιτελείται στα Βαλκάνια και ιδιαίτερα στην Πρώην Γιουγκοσλαβία τα χρόνια μετά τη διάλυσή της. Οι σχέσεις του οργανωμένου εγκλήματος με την πολιτική και κάθε άλλη μορφή εξουσίας είναι άρρηκτες. Χαρακτηρίζονται δε από σύμπνοια όσον αφορά στην επίτευξη κοινού στόχου που έχει να κάνει κυρίως με την οικονομική και πολιτική ενδυνάμωση. Δεν γνωρίζει σύνορα ούτε εθνικιστικά εμπόδια. Πολλά περισσότερα δε, αναμένεται να αποκαλύπτονται μελλοντικά για τη σκοτεινή περίοδο των ένοπλων συγκρούσεων στα Βαλκάνια τη δεκαετία του 90 και την εμπλοκή ξένων παραγόντων.
Κυριακή 29 Ιανουαρίου 2012
Η Αυτοδιάθεση του Κοσόβου
Λίγα χρόνια μετά την έκδοση του ψηφίσματος 1244 του Συμβουλίου Ασφαλείας του ΟΗΕ, την επέμβαση του ΝΑΤΟ και ιδιαίτερα μετά τη μονομερή ανακήρυξη της ανεξαρτησίας του Κοσόβου, εμφανίστηκε ένα κίνημα που προήγαγε τη λεγόμενη «αυτοδιάθεση» με την έννοια της επιλογής για το πόσο ο λαός του Κοσόβου έχει το δικαίωμα να ζήσει στη δική του χώρα.Δεν θα μπορούσε να έχει καλύτερο όνομα από αυτό της έννοιας που εξυπηρετεί. Και δεν θα μπορούσε να έχει καλύτερο καθοδηγητή από έναν νεαρό φοιτητή, τον Αλμπίν Κούρτι, ο οποίος και ξεκίνησε με γκράφιτι στους τοίχους της Πρίστινας και των άλλων πόλεων γράφοντας «Vetëvendosje» (Αυτοδιάθεση στα αλβανικά).
Πέτυχε να αγγίξει το νέο κόσμο, άνεργοι οι περισσότεροι που αναζητούσαν κάποια ανατρεπτική ιδεολογία να τους αναπτερώσει το ηθικό και να συνεχίζουν να τρέφουν ελπίδες για ένα μελλοντικό «ανεξάρτητο και αυτόνομο» Κόσοβο. Οι διαδηλώσεις και όποια άλλη εκδήλωση του κινήματος αποτελούσε τροφή για τα τοπικά ΜΜΕ και ενίσχυε τη φήμη και δύναμη επιρροής του.
Ο Κούρτι διακήρυττε ότι δεν υποστηρίζει μόνο τους Κοσοβάρους, για την ακρίβεια ασκούσε και ασκεί ακόμα ισχυρή κριτική στους πολιτικούς της κυβέρνησης της Πρίστινας, τόση όση και στην στάση της Σερβίας. Προωθούσε την ιδέα ενός Κοσόβου που θα έχει την προοπτική να απεξαρτηθεί από κάθε τι παλιό όπως η Σερβική κηδεμονία και ότι νέο όπως ήταν η διεθνής κοινότητα.
Ιδεολογικά ορθό και σίγουρα για το μέσο κοσσοβάρο θα ακούγεται μάλλον φιλόδοξα αληθινό. Αυτό βέβαια όσον αφορά στην αποκόλληση από την οικονομική και τεχνοκρατική βοήθεια που παρέχει ο διεθνής παράγοντας με την πλειάδα των ξένων αποστολών στην περιοχή.
Για το θέμα με τη Σερβία, η απόφαση του Διεθνούς Δικαστηρίου ήταν από ότι φαίνεται, μια ήττα για τη σερβική διπλωματία. Η Σερβία παίζει ακόμα τα τελευταία της χαρτιά με το διάλογο μεταξύ Βελιγραδίου και Πρίστινας να περιορίζεται σε τεχνικά θέματα επιφάνειας και όλοι περιμένουμε να δούμε πως θα μπορούσε να ρυθμιστεί το ζήτημα του βορείου Κοσόβου με τη σερβική πλειονότητα. Εκεί άλλωστε παρατηρούνται όλες σχεδόν οι εστίες εντάσεως τα τελευταία χρόνια. Εκεί θα τελειώσει και το διπλωματικό παιχνίδι.
Το κίνημα του Κουρτι ποτέ δε δέχτηκε να θεωρηθεί αυτό το κομμάτι γης σέρβικο και παρά το γεγονός ότι πήρε θεσμική μορφή όταν μεταμορφώθηκε σε κόμμα, δε δίστασε να προκαλεί επεισόδια κλείνοντας διαβάσεις προκειμένου να εμποδιστούν σέρβικα φορτηγά να εισέλθουν στο Κόσοβο. Αντίποινα θα μπορούσε να πει κανείς σε ότι οι σέρβοι εκδηλώνουν κατά καιρούς προσπαθώντας να δείξουν ποιος έχει τον έλεγχο στην περιοχή και κατά πόσο αδιάφορους τους αφήνουν οι αρχές επιβολής του νόμου των κοσοβάρων γειτόνων τους.
Η εξέλιξη αυτή με την πολικότητα που αναπτύσσεται, ένα εθνικιστικό - κατά χαρακτηρισμό - κόμμα που δρα με τέτοιες τακτικές από τη μια και τους σκληροπυρηνικούς σέρβους του βορείου Κοσόβου να ρίχνουν λάδι στη φωτιά σε κάθε ευκαιρία, από την άλλη, είναι το λιγότερο ανησυχητικό.
Το θέμα είναι ότι η περιοχή δεν έχει ησυχάσει ακόμα. Η εθνικιστική στάση του Κούρτι, με το κόμμα του να συμμετέχει στη Βουλή της Πριστινας με εκφάνσεις αλβανικού εξτρεμισμού και αλυτρωτισμού σε πολιτικό πλέον επίπεδο, είναι αποτέλεσμα κοινωνικοπολιτικών ζυμώσεων πολλών ετών.
Η μετάβαση από τους «ήρωες» μαχητές του UCK, του απελευθερωτικού στρατού του Κοσόβου, σε ένα πολιτικό σύστημα που τους μετέτρεψε σε πρωθυπουργούς και αρχηγούς κομμάτων, είχε τις παρενέργειες της. Σε όλα αυτά βέβαια υφίσταται η μητρική - όπως κάποιοι εθνικιστικοί κύκλοι θέλουν να εξελιχθεί – σχέση με την Αλβανία. Μια σχέση που περισσότερο συντηρεί αποσχιστικές τάσεις και ακραίες επεκτατικές αντιλήψεις στην ευρύτερη περιοχή των Βαλκανίων και ελάχιστα προάγει την καλή γειτονία.
Ιωάννης Γιαννακόπουλος
Κυριακή 15 Ιανουαρίου 2012
Επεισόδια μεταξύ αστυνομίας και Αλβανών διαδηλωτών στη Σερβία
Συμπλοκές σημειώθηκαν σήμερα μεταξύ της σερβικής αστυνομίας και Αλβανών υποστηρικτών του κινήματος «αυτοδιάθεση», οι οποίοι απέκλεισαν τη διάβαση «Μέρνταρε» στα διοικητικά σύνορα Κοσόβου - Σερβίας.Σύμφωνα με εκτιμήσεις δημοσιογράφων που βρίσκονται στην περιοχή, στον αποκλεισμό των συνοριακών διαβάσεων συμμετέχουν 2000 - 3000 πολίτες του Κοσόβου. Οι διαδηλωτές δεν επιτρέπουν την είσοδο στο Κόσοβο φορτηγών οχημάτων που μεταφέρουν εμπορεύματα από τη Σερβία.
Ισχυρές αστυνομικές δυνάμεις έχουν αναπτυχθεί στην περιοχή, αποτρέποντας στους διαδηλωτές να προσεγγίσουν το μεθοριακό σταθμό. Πριν από λίγο, η αστυνομία έκανε χρήση δακρυγόνων για να αποτρέψει επίθεση με πέτρες από ομάδα διαδηλωτών. Κατά τη συμπλοκή τραυματίστηκε ελαφρά ένας αστυνομικός ενώ τραυματίες υπάρχουν και στις γραμμές των διαδηλωτών.
Σκοπός των κινητοποιήσεων είναι να αποτραπούν οι εμπορικές συναλλαγές μεταξύ του Κοσόβου και της Σερβίας.
Το κίνημα «αυτοδιάθεση», που εκπροσωπείται στη βουλή, επιδιώκει τη διακοπή των σχέσεων με τη Σερβία μέχρι να αναγνωρίσει το Βελιγράδι την ανεξαρτησία του Κοσόβου. Τάσσεται επίσης κατά της παρουσίας ξένων στρατιωτικών δυνάμεων στο Κόσοβ, ζητώντας παράλληλα να επιβληθεί με τη βία η κυριαρχία της Πρίστινας στο βόρειο Κόσοβο όπου ο σερβικός πληθυσμός αποτελεί πλειοψηφία
http://www.protothema.gr/world/article/?aid=171209
Πέμπτη 5 Ιανουαρίου 2012
2011 Review: the Balkans
04/01/2012
The handover of former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic to the UN tribunal in The Hague was one of the most important events in the Balkans in 2011, a year which was also marked by violent clashes in Kosovo's volatile north.
By Svetla Dimitrova for Southeast European Times -- 04/01/12
In 2011, the remaining two war crimes suspects sought by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) were finally captured and handed over to The Hague-based court.
Another major development was the conclusion of Croatia's EU membership talks in the end of June and the signing of the country's Accession Treaty with the 27-nation bloc on December 9th.
On December 26th, a key freedom of movement agreement between Kosovo and Serbia entered into force. The deal reached during EU-brokered talks allows the residents of each of the two countries to enter into and travel freely inside each other's territory for the first time since Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February 2008.
On the downside, simmering ethnic tensions continued to plague parts of the Balkans in 2011, with political leaders in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) failing to agree on the formation of a new state-level government for 14 months and an outburst of violence in Kosovo's north.
Mladic, Hadzic behind bars in The Hague
Serbia removed a major obstacle on its EU integration path in 2011, when it handed over former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic and wartime Croatian Serb political leader Goran Hadzic to the ICTY.
Mladic was arrested on May 26th and was transferred to The Hague five days later, after nearly 16 years on the run. The 69-year-old former commander of the Bosnian Serb forces faces two counts of genocide over the Srebrenica massacre of more than 7,500 Bosnian Muslim men and boys and the 43-month siege of Sarajevo. An amended indictment of December 16th 2011 charges Mladic also with five counts of crimes against humanity and four of violations of the laws and customs of war.
Owing to concerns about Mladic's health and "in the interest of fair and expeditious" trial, UN judges accepted the prosecutors' request in early December that the number of crimes in the indictment be reduced from 196 to 106.
The start of the trial against Mladic is tentatively scheduled for late March 2012.
Hadzic, 52, was extradited to The Hague on July 22nd, two days after his arrest. The former Croatian Serb political leader, who was captured after seven years on the run, faces a 14-count indictment charging him with war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the 1991-1995 conflict in Croatia.
The trial against Hadzic is scheduled to open on October 16th 2012.
Clashes in Kosovo
The situation in Kosovo's Serb-dominated north remained tense but generally calm following the flare-up of violence on July 25th when a Kosovo police officer was killed in a shootout with local Serbs. The incident occurred when the government sent special police to the region to take control of two border checkpoints, in a bid to enforce an embargo on Serbian imports following failed talks on a trade liberalisation deal with Belgrade.
There were several sporadic outbursts of violence since late October, when KFOR began dismantling roadblocks erected by ethnic Serbs to prevent the Kosovo authorities from asserting control in the region, where Serb-run parallel structures continue to operate. Two German peacekeepers were shot and wounded in an incident in late November, when Serb protestors opened fire at KFOR troops. Another 23 NATO soldiers were injured during the clash.
Concerned about the possible negative impact of such violence on his country's hopes for achieving formal EU candidate status at the Union's summit on December 9th, Serbian President Boris Tadic urged Kosovo Serbs to remove the barricades. They didn't.
Welcoming Tadic's statement of November 29th, NATO called for concrete follow-up actions.
"The use of violence against KFOR is unacceptable and we deplore it," the North Atlantic Council said in a statement on December 1st. "We urge all parties to exercise restraint and co-operate fully with all international actors on the ground to ensure freedom of movement without delay," it added, calling also on Belgrade and Pristina to continue their constructive participation in the EU-mediated talks between them.
During a visit to Pristina on December 19th, German Chancellor Angela Markel urged Belgrade to dissolve the parallel Serb structures in Kosovo's north.
Earlier in the month, Serbia and Kosovo adopted an Integrated Border Management agreement, aimed at resolving the border problems between the two countries. Other deals reached during the EU-brokered talks on technical issues between Belgrade and Pristina in the latter half of 2011 include the deal on free movement and another on mutual recognition of diplomas.
Organ trafficking investigation
In December 2010, Council of Europe (CoE) rapporteur Dick Marty submitted a report linking senior Kosovo officials, including Prime Minister Hashim Thaci and other former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), to organ trafficking in the late 1990s. EULEX launched a preliminary investigation into the allegations in late January and seven months later, it named former US ambassador-at-large for war crimes John Clint Williamson as head of the task force dealing with the case.
While the announcement was welcomed by some Serbian officials, Belgrade continued pushing for UN involvement in the investigation. Later in the year, a draft resolution prepared by Serbian and Russian diplomats was submitted to the Security Council, envisioning the appointment of a special representative of the UN secretary-general in charge of control of the EULEX task force.
Bilateral disputes
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled on December 5th that Greece breached a 1995 interim bilateral agreement with Macedonia by blocking its northern neighbour's NATO accession in April 2008 over the long-running name dispute between the two countries.
"The ruling is a step towards NATO and EU," Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki said after it was announced.
Later the same day, NATO issued a statement, saying the verdict "does not affect the decision taken by NATO Allies at the Bucharest summit in 2008".
"We agreed that an invitation will be extended to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia as soon as a mutually acceptable solution to the name issue has been reached," the statement of December 5th added.
Related Articles
Cedomir Jovanovic: dialogue with Kosovo must continue
03/10/2011
US official: Balkans' future is in Euro-Atlantic institutions
23/06/2011
Macedonia, other Balkan EU hopefuls eye starting date for talks
13/06/2011
Western Balkan countries, Turkey urged to address lingering human rights problems
25/01/2011
Balkan neighbours weigh in on Mladic arrest
27/05/2011
Another Balkan case before the ICJ -- on the application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide filed by Croatia back in 1999 against what was then the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia -- is still pending. The hearings are not expected to start before early 2013.
Bosnia and Herzegovina politicians reach agreement
The main political parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) reached an agreement December 28th on the formation of a new state-level government after 14 months of futile talks following the October 2010 general elections in the country.
"It is positive news that leaders have at long last, finally reached agreement on the Council of Ministers (CoM) and other important measures; I congratulate them," High Representative Valentin Inzko said in a statement on December 29th. "I encourage the political leaders to build on this positive development. Many important challenges will lie ahead of a new CoM in the months ahead -- challenges that must be overcome in order to move this country forward in a way that will benefit the citizens."
This content was commissioned for SETimes.com.
The handover of former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic to the UN tribunal in The Hague was one of the most important events in the Balkans in 2011, a year which was also marked by violent clashes in Kosovo's volatile north.
By Svetla Dimitrova for Southeast European Times -- 04/01/12
In 2011, the remaining two war crimes suspects sought by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) were finally captured and handed over to The Hague-based court.
Another major development was the conclusion of Croatia's EU membership talks in the end of June and the signing of the country's Accession Treaty with the 27-nation bloc on December 9th.
On December 26th, a key freedom of movement agreement between Kosovo and Serbia entered into force. The deal reached during EU-brokered talks allows the residents of each of the two countries to enter into and travel freely inside each other's territory for the first time since Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February 2008.
On the downside, simmering ethnic tensions continued to plague parts of the Balkans in 2011, with political leaders in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) failing to agree on the formation of a new state-level government for 14 months and an outburst of violence in Kosovo's north.
Mladic, Hadzic behind bars in The Hague
Serbia removed a major obstacle on its EU integration path in 2011, when it handed over former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic and wartime Croatian Serb political leader Goran Hadzic to the ICTY.
Mladic was arrested on May 26th and was transferred to The Hague five days later, after nearly 16 years on the run. The 69-year-old former commander of the Bosnian Serb forces faces two counts of genocide over the Srebrenica massacre of more than 7,500 Bosnian Muslim men and boys and the 43-month siege of Sarajevo. An amended indictment of December 16th 2011 charges Mladic also with five counts of crimes against humanity and four of violations of the laws and customs of war.
Owing to concerns about Mladic's health and "in the interest of fair and expeditious" trial, UN judges accepted the prosecutors' request in early December that the number of crimes in the indictment be reduced from 196 to 106.
The start of the trial against Mladic is tentatively scheduled for late March 2012.
Hadzic, 52, was extradited to The Hague on July 22nd, two days after his arrest. The former Croatian Serb political leader, who was captured after seven years on the run, faces a 14-count indictment charging him with war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the 1991-1995 conflict in Croatia.
The trial against Hadzic is scheduled to open on October 16th 2012.
Clashes in Kosovo
The situation in Kosovo's Serb-dominated north remained tense but generally calm following the flare-up of violence on July 25th when a Kosovo police officer was killed in a shootout with local Serbs. The incident occurred when the government sent special police to the region to take control of two border checkpoints, in a bid to enforce an embargo on Serbian imports following failed talks on a trade liberalisation deal with Belgrade.
There were several sporadic outbursts of violence since late October, when KFOR began dismantling roadblocks erected by ethnic Serbs to prevent the Kosovo authorities from asserting control in the region, where Serb-run parallel structures continue to operate. Two German peacekeepers were shot and wounded in an incident in late November, when Serb protestors opened fire at KFOR troops. Another 23 NATO soldiers were injured during the clash.
Concerned about the possible negative impact of such violence on his country's hopes for achieving formal EU candidate status at the Union's summit on December 9th, Serbian President Boris Tadic urged Kosovo Serbs to remove the barricades. They didn't.
Welcoming Tadic's statement of November 29th, NATO called for concrete follow-up actions.
"The use of violence against KFOR is unacceptable and we deplore it," the North Atlantic Council said in a statement on December 1st. "We urge all parties to exercise restraint and co-operate fully with all international actors on the ground to ensure freedom of movement without delay," it added, calling also on Belgrade and Pristina to continue their constructive participation in the EU-mediated talks between them.
During a visit to Pristina on December 19th, German Chancellor Angela Markel urged Belgrade to dissolve the parallel Serb structures in Kosovo's north.
Earlier in the month, Serbia and Kosovo adopted an Integrated Border Management agreement, aimed at resolving the border problems between the two countries. Other deals reached during the EU-brokered talks on technical issues between Belgrade and Pristina in the latter half of 2011 include the deal on free movement and another on mutual recognition of diplomas.
Organ trafficking investigation
In December 2010, Council of Europe (CoE) rapporteur Dick Marty submitted a report linking senior Kosovo officials, including Prime Minister Hashim Thaci and other former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), to organ trafficking in the late 1990s. EULEX launched a preliminary investigation into the allegations in late January and seven months later, it named former US ambassador-at-large for war crimes John Clint Williamson as head of the task force dealing with the case.
While the announcement was welcomed by some Serbian officials, Belgrade continued pushing for UN involvement in the investigation. Later in the year, a draft resolution prepared by Serbian and Russian diplomats was submitted to the Security Council, envisioning the appointment of a special representative of the UN secretary-general in charge of control of the EULEX task force.
Bilateral disputes
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled on December 5th that Greece breached a 1995 interim bilateral agreement with Macedonia by blocking its northern neighbour's NATO accession in April 2008 over the long-running name dispute between the two countries.
"The ruling is a step towards NATO and EU," Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki said after it was announced.
Later the same day, NATO issued a statement, saying the verdict "does not affect the decision taken by NATO Allies at the Bucharest summit in 2008".
"We agreed that an invitation will be extended to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia as soon as a mutually acceptable solution to the name issue has been reached," the statement of December 5th added.
Related Articles
Cedomir Jovanovic: dialogue with Kosovo must continue
03/10/2011
US official: Balkans' future is in Euro-Atlantic institutions
23/06/2011
Macedonia, other Balkan EU hopefuls eye starting date for talks
13/06/2011
Western Balkan countries, Turkey urged to address lingering human rights problems
25/01/2011
Balkan neighbours weigh in on Mladic arrest
27/05/2011
Another Balkan case before the ICJ -- on the application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide filed by Croatia back in 1999 against what was then the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia -- is still pending. The hearings are not expected to start before early 2013.
Bosnia and Herzegovina politicians reach agreement
The main political parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) reached an agreement December 28th on the formation of a new state-level government after 14 months of futile talks following the October 2010 general elections in the country.
"It is positive news that leaders have at long last, finally reached agreement on the Council of Ministers (CoM) and other important measures; I congratulate them," High Representative Valentin Inzko said in a statement on December 29th. "I encourage the political leaders to build on this positive development. Many important challenges will lie ahead of a new CoM in the months ahead -- challenges that must be overcome in order to move this country forward in a way that will benefit the citizens."
This content was commissioned for SETimes.com.
Εγγραφή σε:
Αναρτήσεις (Atom)