God save international law from Serbia's 'protection'
Here is why nobody trusts Serbia anymore when it says that it wants to defend international law through Kosovo.
First argument is that Serbia is the
only country to have come out of Yugoslavia, which has still not fulfilled the condition of full cooperation with The Hague Tribunal. Although Serbia was the direct
creator of the wars, and with this of c
rimes and genocide, it has still not delivered
General Ratko Mladic. While the same Serbia s
wears on international law on Kosovo.
irgendwie alles Widerspruch oder?
The second argument is that Serbia is the
only state in post-WWII Europe to have been charged guilty of not preventing genocide. This decision was given on the accusation by Bosnia-Herzegovina at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Moreover, this decision is obliging for UN-members countries because it was a verdict and not a consultative opinion.
After the verdict, Serb President Boris Tadic initiated a resolution at the Serb
Parliament through which Serbia would apologize for Srebrenica, where more than 8,000 Muslim boys and men were slaughtered. This resolution not only did not pass, but Tadic today is in coalition with Milosevic’s subordinates. So a Serbia that did not respect the court verdict on Srebrenica is now suddenly interested about the “consultative opinion” of this court on Kosovo independence.
The third
argument is that Serbia has never fully accepted the authority of UN Mission in Kosovo. It has continued to support and pay parallel Serb institutions in Kosovo against the request of the UN administration, which requested their dismantling.
soviel zu "Serbo-Demokraten" die auf "1244" pochen
The other argument is that
Serbia considers itself a leader of regional cooperation and says that it contributes to regional stability. But it has thrown out Montenegrin and Macedonian ambassadors to Serbia, does not recognize Kosovo and fights Kosovo participation in regional initiatives. The same Serbia requires visa-free travel in Europe for its citizens and at the same time says it will never allow Kosovars to travel with documents issued by Kosovo authorities through its territory.
Serbia boasts that it has not put an economic blockade on Kosovo, but you only need to visit any supermarket in Kosovo and see the shelves full of Serb products to understand that the blockade would have been on itself, not Kosovo.
As far as violence not being used is concerned,
you need to remember the burning of foreign embassies in Belgrade and armed attacks by “empty-handed” Serbs in northern Kosovo.
So in all these cases Serbia speaks and acts differently.
Now from Serbia is required:
To drop with urgency objections against the installation of EU missions in the whole territory of Kosovo. To arrest with urgency General Ratko Mladic and deliver him to Hague, along with the documents which Hague requires to establish the facts for crimes. To punish some of the attackers of the foreign embassies in Belgrade and of the Kosovo customs posts at the border with Serbia. To stop the threatening rhetoric towards its neighbors. To stop the opposition towards the participation of Kosovo in regional initiatives. All these requests are told to Serbia’s leaders in private.
Every used rhetoric could be understood through the internal Serb politics. But it is ironic when Serb Defense Minister and Milosevic subordinate Ivica Dacic talks about international law.
What else to say other than God save international law from Serbia’s 'protection'.
also betet ihr Serben dafür und nicht zu vergessen die Drei Finger hoch zu halten
Maybe this generation of politicians in Serbia really wants to accomplish through political and diplomatic means that which Milosevic could not accomplish through war.
However, the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo left crimes behind which justice still has to deal with; otherwise, the politics would have forgotten them.
This piece is a shortened version of the one published in Albanian in Kosovo's daily Koha Ditore on 13 Ocotober. Augustin Palokaj is Brussels correspondent for the newspaper.
God save international law from Serbia's 'protection'
