Serbs Call Hague Tribunal an Anti-Serb Kangaroo Court (and It Sure Does Look That Way Sometimes): Kosovo Update, 25 November–1 December 2012

From Radio Free Europe, an image of a Serb nationalist protest of Ramush Haradinaj’s acquittal

Serb nationalists—and even Serbs that are not all that terribly nationalist—have long suspected that the United Nations judicial tribunal in the Hague, in the Netherlands, known as the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (I.C.T.Y.) is more or less rigged to prosecute Serbs and no one else in its pursuit of war-crimes convictions for the separatist wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo during the 1990s.  There was certainly plenty to support that view this week, as the I.C.T.Y. cleared three co-defendants, including Ramush Haradinaj, the former head of the Kosovo Liberation Army (K.L.A.) and Kosovo’s prime minister for three months in 2004-2005, of all war-crimes charges in a retrial.  The three were charged with torturing and killing Serb, Roma, and even ethnic-Albanian (“collaborator”) civilians in illegal detention camps during the Kosovo War.  Haradinaj was greeted as a hero by jubilant crowds and congratulated by Kosovo’s current prime minister, Hashim Thaçi, and said he planned to return to politics.  The governments of Russia and Serbia reacted vitriolically to the decision, which they—quite reasonably understandably—claim indicates an anti-Serbian bias in international courts’ decisions.

The ruling seemed especially egregious following, as it did, close on the heels of the November 16th overturning of war-crimes and crimes-against-humanity convictions of two Croat generals, Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markač, who had been convicted in 2011 of murdering Serb civilians during an invasion of the Serb-dominated and at that time de facto independent Republic of Serbian Krajina (now part of the Republic of Croatia) in 1995.  They were already serving decades-long prison terms, and Gotovina, when he was first arrested, had to be retrieved from the Canary Islands, where he was in hiding.  Even most Croats realize these two guys are as guilty as all get-out, though Croat nationalists still danced in the streets in a very unseemly fashion.

Croats celebrating the acquittal of two Croatian war criminals

The I.C.T.Y. has yet to demonstrate that they truly believe it is a crime to kill a Serb.

In other news from the former Yugoslavia ...

At Skopje Rally, Albanian, Kosovar Premiers Envision “Greater Albania” within E.U.  The prime minister of the Republic of Albania, Sali Berisha, and his counterpart from the partially recognized, ethnic-Albanian-dominated Republic of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi, spoke of a united “greater Albania” in Skopje, Macedonia, on November 25th for the centennial celebration of Albania’s independence from the Ottoman Empire on the eve of the First World War.  Berisha told a crowd of 10,000 chanting, “Greater Albania!” and waving Albanian flags, “Through the European Union, we are going to realize the project of our national unity.”  He and Thaçi also made references to Albanian minorities in Macedonia and in Serbia proper.  Refugees from the Kosovo War in 1998-99 helped swell the Albanian minority in Macedonia to a quarter of the population, and they enjoy a power-sharing agreement which guarantees them government representation, but there are strains between Albanians and Macedonia’s Slav majority.  Albanians declared a brief-lived Republic of Illyrida in western Macedonia in 1990.  Fears of a “greater Albania”—and designs on chunks of Serbia proper—are among the primary rationales of the Republic of Serbia’s opposition to the independence of Kosovo, which it still claims.

“Greater Albania!  Greater Albania!”

Kosovo War Vets Disrupt Highway Opening in Protest over Limaj Retrial.  Two days after the pan-Albanian celebrations in Skopje, Macedonia (see above article), the Republic of Albania’s prime minister, Sali Berisha, was forced to cancel plans to attend an opening ceremony in for a new highway between Tirana, the Albanian capital, and Pristina, the capital of the Republic of Kosovo, because of mass protests by hundreds of Kosovo War veterans.  The veterans, mostly from the Kosovo Liberation Army (K.L.A.), took control of the stage at the ceremonies, which were in Gjurgjica, Kosovo, and demanded the release of Fatmir Limaj, a former K.L.A. commander and deputy chairman of Kosovo’s current ruling party, who was charged anew last week (as reported in this blog) on charges of war crimes.  Kosovo’s prime minister, Hashim Thaçi, cancelled his planned attendance as well.  Thaçi’s retrial was welcomed, however, in the Republic of Serbia, where the government’s Office for Kosovo and Metohija released a statement November 26th, noting “that over 1,000 Serbs and other non-Albanians killed since 1999 to date are still waiting for justice to be served.”

Kosovo War veterans spoiled the party

Shooting, Explosion, Vandalism Mar Quiet in Disputed Kosovo Border Area.  An explosion was reported on November 27th at or near a border crossing between Serbia and Kosovo, alerting authorities on both sides, but its cause was yet to be determined.  There was also, around the same time, an as yet unexplained shooting in the north end of Kosovska Mitrovica, the de facto capital of the Serb-administered North Kosovo enclave within the partially recognized Republic of Kosovo.  Also on the 27th, stones were thrown at a house belonging to a Serb in the village of Suvi Do, in North Kosovo.

[Also, for those who are wondering, yes, this blog is tied in with a forthcoming book, a sort of encyclopedic atlas to be published by Auslander and Fox under the title Let’s Split! A Complete Guide to Separatist Movements, Independence Struggles, Breakaway Republics, Rebel Provinces, Pseudostates, Puppet States, Tribal Fiefdoms, Micronations, and Do-It-Yourself Countries, from Chiapas to Chechnya and Tibet to Texas.  Look for it in spring 2013.  I will be keeping readers posted of further publication news.]

Fatmir Limaj to Face War-Crimes Charges (Again); Fiji Recognizes Kosovo; Vojvodina Leader Arrested: Kosovo & Serbia Update, 18-24 November 2012

Fatmir Limaj will now have to face war-crimes charges.

Kosovo Politician Arrested on Corruption Now to Face Retrial on War Crimes.  The supreme court of the partially recognized Republic of Kosovo ordered on November 20th that a former cabinet minister who was arrested last week by NATO police on corruption charges be retried on charges of war crimes, including the murder and torture of Serbian prisoners during the war for independence from Serbia.  The minister, Fatmir Limaj, Kosovo’s former minister of transport and communications and currently a parliamentarian and the deputy chairman of the republic’s ruling Democratic Party of Kosovo (P.D.K.), was a member of the Kosovo Liberation Army (K.L.A.) during the 1998-99 Kosovo War.  Limaj was originally tried in May on the same charges but was acquitted after the former prison guard, Agim Zogaj, who was chief witness against him was found hanging dead from a tree in a park in Germany.  His written testimony was deemed inadmissible, but this week’s ruling reverses that and brings Limaj back to court.  Three other former K.L.A. rebels will be retried with Limaj.

Fiji Becomes 95th Country to Grant Kosovo Diplomatic Recognition.  The Republic of Fiji has become the 95th country to grant diplomatic recognition to the Republic of Kosovo, according to a November 20th announcement by the office of Kosovo’s prime minister, Hashim Thaçi.  This follows closely on the heels of recognition by Timor-Leste (reported on last week in this blog), Burundi, and Papua New Guinea (as reported earlier in this blog).  Now Kosovo is only three short of 98, which would make it recognized by a majority of the world’s 193 generally-recognized sovereign states.  The Republic of Serbia still claims Kosovo as its territory.

Grenade Explodes at Kosovar Administrator’s Home in Serb-Ruled North Kosovo.  Another grenade blast rocked the Serbian-administered sliver of the Republic of Kosovo called North Kosovo on November 19th, according to police.  The grenade went off in the town of Zvečan (spelled Zveçan in Albanian), the residence of Dušan Milisavljević, deputy chief of the Republic of Kosovo’s administrative office for the town.  Zvečan is a Serb-dominated town which is administered through the Republic of Serbia, though officially it is under Kosovar sovereignty.  Police were investigating.  The following day, incidents of stone-throwing between Serb and ethnic-Albanian construction workers in Kosovsko Mitrovica, North Kosovo’s de facto capital, led to gunfire, but no injuries were reported.  At issue in that incident was the controversy over construction of new homes for ethnic Albanians in North Kosovo.  Eight Serb police in North Kosovo were suspended in the wake of that incident.

Serbia’s Ex–Deputy Premier, a Vojvodina Nationalist, Nabbed on Corruption Charges.  A former deputy prime minister and nationalist politician who represents the Republic of Serbia’s ethnic Hungarians was arrested on November 20th on corruption charges.  The politician, József Kasza (that’s is Hungarian name; Serbs call him Jožef Kasa), used to head the Union of Vojvodina Hungarians and was part of the democratic reforms that swept the Serbian nationalist war criminal Slobodan Milošević out of power in 2000.  The province of Vojvodina is home to Serbia’s Hungarians and was part of the Hungarian-aligned Banat Republic after the First World War and, under the name Danube Banovina, an expanded Axis-aligned Hungary during the Second World War.  Kasza is accused of intentionally issuing bad loans while managing a state-run bank.  Critics point out that the Serbian government’s aggressive anti-corruption campaigns, which are part of its attempts to qualify for membership in the European Union (E.U.) seem to focus exclusively on opposition parties.

József Kasza

[Also, for those who are wondering, yes, this blog is tied in with a forthcoming book, a sort of encyclopedic atlas to be published by Auslander and Fox under the title Let’s Split! A Complete Guide to Separatist Movements, Independence Struggles, Breakaway Republics, Rebel Provinces, Pseudostates, Puppet States, Tribal Fiefdoms, Micronations, and Do-It-Yourself Countries, from Chiapas to Chechnya and Tibet to Texas.  Look for it in spring 2013.  I will be keeping readers posted of further publication news.]

Kosovo Recognized by Timor-Leste, K.L.A. War-Crimes Arrests, an E.U. Ultimatum, and Hashim Thaçi’s Underground Sex Slaves: Kosovo Update, 11-17 November 2012

European Parliament Says Serbia Cannot Join without Recognizing Kosovo.  The European Parliament’s rapporteur for Kosovo, Ulrike Lunacek, said this week that the Republic of Serbia will not be allowed to join the European Union (E.U.) unless it grants diplomatic recognition to the Republic of Kosovo, the de facto independent state which most E.U. member states recognize but which Serbia still regards as part of its territory.  She did not express the ultimatum as a punishment for Serbia, saying, “The E.U. will not allow another Cyprus in the E.U.  The E.U. will not accept any country without defined borders.”  Lunacek, who represents Austria in the E.P. for the Green Party, also ruled out any partition of Kosovo.

Timor-Leste Becomes 94th Nation to Recognize Kosovo.  The partially recognized Republic of Kosovo received notice this week from one of the world’s youngest United Nations (U.N.) member states, the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, that it will be extending diplomatic recognition to Kosovo.  Timor-Leste (also known as East Timor), which became independent in 2002 after a U.N.-sponsored plebiscite end military occupation by Indonesia, is, at my count, the 94th nation, out of about 193 recognized sovereign states, to recognize Kosovo, following Papua New Guinea and the Republic of Burundi in October (as reported last month in this blog, at which point I also discussed some discrepancies over how to count Kosovo’s diplomatic partners).

Timor-Leste, a.k.a. East Timor, is Kosovo’s newest diplomatic partner.

E.U. Arrests 3 Former Kosovo Rebels on War-Crimes Charges.  Three former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (K.L.A.), two of them currently serving in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Kosovo Security Force (K.S.F.), were arrested this week by European Union (E.U.) police on war-crimes charges.  Reports indicate that the murder of two ethnic-Albanian supporters of the moderate politician Ibrahim Rugova in 1999.  The arrests were made by the E.U. Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (Eulex).

E.U. Lays Corruption Charges against 7 Kosovars, Including Former Transport Minister.  The European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (Eulex) announced November 16th it had charged the Republic of Kosovo’s former minister of transport and communications and six other Kosovar Albanians with corruption.  The former minister, Fatmir Limaj, is the second-in-command in the Democratic Party (P.D.K.), Kosovo’s ruling party.  Charges against the seven include “manipulating tender procedures, giving and receiving bribes, and obstructing evidence.”

Fatmir Limaj

Slav Media Run Lurid Tales of Kosovo Prime Minister’s Underground Harem.  The organ-harvesting allegations (a hospital in the Netherlands was tapped by Interpol this week to investigate accusations of organ-trafficking by Kosovo rebels in the 1990s) don’t seem to be enough.  Several newspapers in the Balkans this week are running reports on interviews with a woman from Ukraine identified only as “N.M.” who describes escaping from what she calls an underground “hell hole” in which the prime minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi, operates a “harem” with 52 sex slaves.  “None of the girls were from Kosovo,” N.M. said; “there were few from the Balkans, about ten from Russia, one from Cameroon, two Chinese women, etc.”  Many of the men who visit the harem for “orgies” “are foreign diplomats,” she said, “including officers from Eulex and KFOR.  The girls are not allowed to say, ‘No.’  One of the girls called Dolores from Colombia protested the conditions during our lunch time in the cafeteria.  She was shot dead by Thaci’s bodyguards.”  N.M. says she escaped with the assistance of a bodyguard from Chechnya, whom she had to bribe with sexual favors.  That’s all pretty good, but the lack of any reference to the ceremonial drinking of the blood of Serbian babies represents a disappointing decline in the literary quality of Serbian propaganda.

2 Serbs Ambushed in Kosovo; Grenade Attack on Serb Apartment Building.  Two Serbs were ambushed in their car in a village in western Kosovo’s Istok municipality on November 10th by an unknown gunman in a balaclava.  One of the two men, Momir Pantić, a former local police chief, was wounded in the arm and face.  Pantić owns land on Osojane, a Serb enclave in Istok, which is outside the Serb-governed North Kosovo territory along the republic’s border with the Republic of Serbia.  He said he had been followed all that day by unknown persons.  The mayor of Kosovoska Mitrovica, North Kosovo’s de facto capital, called Pantić an internally displaced person and said that the ambush was evidence that Serbs are not safe in Kosovo.  In the evening of the next day, November 11th, a hand grenade went off in front of a Serb-populated apartment building in Kosovska Mitrovica, which caused damage to the building and nearby vehicles but no injuries.

[Also, for those who are wondering, yes, this blog is tied in with a forthcoming book, a sort of encyclopedic atlas to be published by Auslander and Fox under the title Let’s Split! A Complete Guide to Separatist Movements, Independence Struggles, Breakaway Republics, Rebel Provinces, Pseudostates, Puppet States, Tribal Fiefdoms, Micronations, and Do-It-Yourself Countries, from Chiapas to Chechnya and Tibet to Texas.  Look for it in spring 2013.  I will be keeping readers posted of further publication news.]