Vienna Security Round Table „Security Policy Challenges for Europe in 2023“
Last week was the twenty-fourth anniversary of the beginning of the NATO bombing of Serbia. The reason for the beginning of the NATO aggression was the alleged violation of the human rights of the Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija, the southern province of Serbia, by the Serbian regime. Some even went so far as to call it genocide. In fact, it was all fabricated by the US officials led by Bill Clinton, Madeleine Albright, Wesley Clark and so on, who used false accusations and the mainstream media to create an alibi for the NATO aggression.
There is an excellent German documentary film: It began with a lie, in which the truth is accurately portrayed. The aim of the NATO intervention was to establish the largest American military base in Europe, on the territory of Serbia, called Bondsteel, and not to protect the human rights of Albanians.
Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija have rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, which include the right to use language, culture and traditions, the right to participate in all state institutions, public and political life, the right to Albanian-language schools, Albanian-language media, and so on. The former Yugoslavia and Serbia have had a problem with Albanian terrorism for decades, and this was the trigger for the confrontation between the Albanian terrorists of the Kosovo Liberation Army and the Serbian security structures. But the Western media portrayed it as a confrontation between Serbian security forces and Albanian civilians, which is far from the truth.
Let us now turn to the question of the rights of Russian citizens in Ukraine. As you know, Ukraine has banned the use of the Russian language, Russian-language media, and opposition parties. In 2014, after a coup in Kyiv, the Ukrainian regime launched a war against its own citizens in the eastern part of the country. However, the US did not call it a violation of human rights, but a violation of democracy. I think the policy of double standards is obvious here. A very different approach, which speaks of the misuse of the issue of democracy, the violation of human rights, for the achievement of military and economic goals. You can hear the Western media talking about democracy in Kosovo. More than 250 thousand exiled Serbs cannot return to their homes and exercise their basic human rights but are refugees in their own country. Every day, violence is perpetrated against the Serbs who remain in Kosovo.
The UN Security Council Resolution 1244 is the only valid international document on the basis of which the Kosovo question can be solved. But the USA persistently tries to implement its own project of independence of Kosovo, ignoring and violating the international law.
Currently, the Franco-German plan for solving the Kosovo issue, which is actually Ischinger’s plan for the independence of Kosovo from 2007, has been presented to Serbia. This plan is inspired by the recognition of two Germanies after the Second World War. Serbia is being asked to recognize the so-called independence of Kosovo, to give up its territory and to release the USA from responsibility for the bombing of Serbia.
In fact, this is a forcible redefinition of borders in which the United States would achieve its own interests by controlling the conflict. If we completely abolish international law and accept the authority of force, in this case the United States of America, to redraw borders in Europe according to its own needs, we will find ourselves in a very dangerous situation.
An independent Kosovo can be established anywhere in Europe because there are so many potential conflicts that can be used for this purpose. Especially after the great migrations from Africa and the Middle East to Europe. It is clear that Europe is now burdened with many other problems, but in this sense the case of Kosovo should not be ignored. It has indeed opened Pandora’s box.
The solution is to return to the framework of international law and international institutions, where a dialogue should take place.
Speaking about the Ukrainian crisis, we have seen that the agreements reached in Minsk were not honored, which was finally admitted by the former German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
European officials have stated that they have no intention of honoring the peace agreements that have been reached, but that they have only served to arm Ukraine for the war that was being prepared.
I think that the idea of waging a war with Russia, even if it is a hybrid war waged through Ukraine, is a very dangerous idea for the whole of Europe.
For this reason, I think that the supply of weapons to Ukraine should be stopped immediately, and the war should be shifted to the diplomatic path, but with full respect for international law and the intention to implement the agreements reached.
Of course, it is difficult to ignore the geopolitical view of the current situation, where Europe is losing its importance as an international factor in the current processes and is being used by the United States of America. If Europe does not resist this, I fear that it will enter a long-term period of decline.