The Status of Kosovo

[Benoit Douville]

What do you think is the solution in the Serb Province of Kosovo. I see another possible War looming in the horizon in the Balkans since both the Serbs and the Kosovars doesn't war to really negociate that peace of land, both claims as their historic land.

[Jock]

...both claims as their historic land.

The trouble there though, is that Serbia has a sovereign land. Its much easier for one to claim when he something to back it up.

Independence for Kosovo!

Cheers,

[TPMM]

I'd also grant independence to Kosovo. Or to give the part where the Albanians live to Albania at least.

[panzerschreck1]

Kosovo in ancient times was called Dardania and was mainly inhabited by Illyrians/Dardanians,after that in Roman times it was Hellenized. later in Byzantine times it had mainly Hellenic/Byzantine features, in the middle ages it had a predominently Serbian populace, it stayed under Serbian control, and was infamous because of the victory the Serbs won over the Ottoman empire in a 1364 battle ,( i think it was)after that the Kosovo province was under Ottoman rule for several centuries, the populace remaind Serbian mostly, allthough many converted to Islam right up to the 1900's, when around 1913 the main populace became fully Islamized and after several immigrations from Albania it lost its Serb features and became more Albanian with a still strong Serbian minority the % of different populace i can't give right now , but beside Serbs and Albanians it had also Vlach and Hungarian occupants.

Here are some main points :

Albanians were present in a magnitude of lets say more than 3% of the population of Kosovo in 1200 (or earlier,but please do not mention the Illyrians, since this theory is not crowned with conclusive evidence and it is undisputed dogma only in Albania, just the "Arber" people) -1500 for example.

Yes, indeed, there were Albanians in Kosovo registered in those time, but very, very few, most of them belonging to mobile "katuni", some of them settled and that is natural for ethnicities which live in proximity.Names like: Gjon, Progon, et al were registered in local documentation, but in contrast to overwhelming majority of Serbian names

But the collonisation of Islamized Albanians in Kosovo ("Belonging to the Kos [Blackbird], ubitiquosly Slavic name (Kosovo Albanians are 98% percent Muslims, 2 percents Catholics in contrast to the fact that Republic of Albania has almost 40% of Christian Albanian population, because only Muslims were privileged by the Turks to settle the land) begins en masse in 17th century, which lead to the Great Migration of Serbs in 1689 and to the decreasing of their participation in local demographics to the present time.

"Dukagjini" designates another region, while "Dardania" is a name of the ancient region roughly simmilar with the borders of Kosovo and Metohija, but there is not a single evidence that it was in popular usage throughout the centuries among Albanians, only among intellectuals of the 19th century Revival of Albanans, and in very recent time as a popular name for Kosovo by local Albanians, realising that calling the province by its Slavic name (even if adapted as "Kosova") isn't "much of a help".

I won't talk about the fact that thousand of geographic names (rivers, strams, mountains, peaks, villages, towns, rivers sources etc.) in Kosovo used in authentic or adapted forms by local Albanians are Serbian.With the exception of Ferizaj, as Albanians call the town of Uroševac, withstanding the fact that the name of the town Đakovo may or may not have Albanian etymology and that some newly founded villages may have genuine Albanian names, again, the geographical names are 98% Serbian.

Churches, Monastiries, I won't elaborate further, you heard it all before. Show me an Albanian cathedral or other Albanian artifact in Kosovo (coins, tombs with inscription in Albanian, other inscriptions in stone) before the 17th century and you got a case.




.Orthodox and few others Albanians fled to Greece, even far to the south, escaping the Ottomans.Many, mostly Catholics fled to Italy.

The Muslims, however, were equlized with the Turks and as such made expansion to the East and North, reaching sporadically even Western Bulgaria.This collonization is well documented by the Turks, by the Orthodox Church, by the Catholic Church and also the fact that tribes and clans which are present in Kosovo and FYROM have their birthplace mostly in Northern Albania, which is attested by historic ethnography reconstructed by documents and their own tradition about their ancestral home.
________

So should a annexed land by the Albanians become independant because of an exploding birthrate due to Albanian expansionism steal a predominantly Serbian provence ;the answer is no!

If Kosovo falls in Albanian hands (read Kosovo independance) it will be a huge destabaliser for the entire region especially Macedonia and the fire will spread around the area.

All the best,__________

[Benoit Douville]

Tomislav Nicolic won the first round of Serbia's presidential election. He is an Ultra Nationalist and refused that Kosovo obtain their independence. The campaign was dominated by the issues of Kosovo. This could be critical in the coming weeks and months, when ethnic Albanians in Kosovo are expected to declare independence. The next round will be on February 3rd.

Regards

[pzrmeyer2]

We've already been duped by Islamic narco-terrorists before. Lets stop antagonizing Russia and other Christian nations. No to Independence.


(Note: Spoken as one who is 1/4 Albanian)

[Hans]

There are enough tinpot village sized countries around all ready. I vote "no" for independence, or amalgamation with Albania.

- Hans

[Benoit Douville]

I think that the territory ok Kosovo should be part of Serbia. The Serbian national ideology which emerged out of Kosovo's tribulations and Kosovo's suffering (wherein the 1389 St. Vitus Day Battle in Kosovo polje occupies the central place), are the pillars of that grand edifice that constitutes the Serbian national pantheon. When it is said that without Kosovo there can be no Serbia or Serbian nation, it's not only the revived 19th century national romanticism: that implies more than just the territory which is covered with telling monuments of its culture and civilization, more than just a feeling of hard won national and state independence: Kosovo and Metohia are considered the key to the identity of the Serbs. It is no wonder, then, that the many turning-points in Serbian history took place in the and around Kosovo and Metohia.

Regards

[Paddy Keating]

Tito managed to keep a lid on the situation quite successfully. I don't think what happened in 1999 will be forgotten or forgiven in a hurry. I was there a couple of times then and the unfortunate fact is that there has long been tension between the Serbs and the Kosovars because the latter tend to be better at lots of things. Put it this way: you could tell the difference between Serb and Kosovar farms a long way off. Same applied to villages. Of course, the Serbs tried to address this by smashing and burning everything Kosovar up and killing or driving out the owners. Not that the KLA have behaved like angels, of course. But then, the KLA (UÇK) were divided into three factions in 1999: political, foreign volunteer/military and criminal/paramilitary. Like many revolutionary armies in fact. Now it is political and criminal/paramilitary, rather like Irish movements. The solution? Like Israel-Palestine, there isn't an easy one. The best thing would be to find another Tito figure, install him, eliminate the leaders on both sides in Kosova and run it as it was run from the 1940s to the 1980s.

PK[/code]

[Benoit Douville]

It is official now, Kosovo declared their independence today. It is gona be interesting to see what happened in the next days and weeks. Of course Serbia refused to accept that.

Regards

[Kim Sung]

A new Balkan War?

[pzrmeyer2]

A new Balkan War?

I hope so. The Serbs should feel duty-bound to invade and reclaim this historic piece of their sovereign land.

Wonder if the Serb government should support separatist movements in the US, UK, and France. They have as much right to do so as those three have in meddling in internal Serbian affairs.

[Robert Rojas]

Greetings to both cousin Benoit Douville and the community as a whole. Well Benoit, in light of your introductory posting of Saturday - November 17, 2007 - 11:50am, old Uncle Bob will opt to cast a defacto vote of NO OPINION for this Verboten - Off Topic Content poll of yours. From where I stand (or sit for that matter), the whole sordid business of the Balkans is not a Canadian problem. It is not an American problem. It is a EUROPEAN PROBLEM and how the mavens of greater Europe go about addressing this latest passion play in its own backyard is ultimately its own concern. Ostensibly, if the European Union and the Russian Federation want to fight it out over the status of Kosovo then so be it. The is nothing in Europe that is worth the nuclear destruction of North America. It's just some sobering food for thought. Well, that's my initial two Yankee cents worth on this controversial thread of yours - for now anyway. As always, I would like to bid you an especially copacetic day up in your corner of the GREAT WHITE NORTH of Francophonic speaking Canada - QUEBEC LIBRE!

[John P. Moore]

Mr. Rojas - Maybe you also believe that Canada and the USA should withdraw their memberships in NATO? For nearly the past 100 years European problems seem to have a way of becoming North American problems and costing the governments here a lot of money. Kosovo independence makes sense to me. Please don't presume that I am your cousin.

[Hans]

Why a European problem? The problem is Serbias. Let them deal with it as they see fit and everyone else butt out.

- Hans