From 1991 on in the Balkans

[teddytennisfan]

sputniknews.com
Republika Srpska - ‘The Pyramid of Western Politics is Tumbling Down’
Sputnik
Europe
19:01 28.09.2016(updated 19:10 28.09.2016) Get short URL

A Bosnia and Herzegovina court and the European Union have declared the vote illegal, media reported.

Republika Srpska does not agree to celebrate March 1 as the national day of Bosnia and Herzegovina; for on that day in 1992 the Bosnian parliament proclaimed the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina without consulting the Bosnian Serbs, who refused to break away from Federal Yugoslavia.

As a result, Republika Srpska proposed a different date for its own national holiday, January 9, which is the anniversary of Bosnian Serbs declaring independence in 1992.

In November 2015 Bosnia’s Constitutional Court revoked this decision as unconstitutional, so it was decided to put the matter to a referendum, which was also banned.

Meanwhile, politicians in and outside the country are divided on this issue.

Russia supports the Bosnian Serbs’ right to express their opinion on such an important issue. Meeting with Bosnian Serb President Milorad Dodik in Moscow ahead of Sunday’s plebiscite, President Vladimir Putin said that people have a right to voice their opinion and wished Republika Srpska every success in the upcoming referendum.

Meanwhile, Bakir Izetbegovic, the Bosnian Muslim member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, lashed out at the referendum and at Republica Srpska’s president Milorad Dodik. He warned that the latter would someday share the fate of Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi and Slobodan Milosevic.

Other Possible Referendums

When asked about other referendums the Republika Srpska could organize in the future, Dodik did not rule out one on the republic’s breakaway from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The authorities in Sarajevo fear that Republika Srpska may vote against Bosnia’s bid to join NATO.

“If the people of Republika Srpska, which NATO bombed [in 1999] say they want a referendum I have nothing against it, but in any case we are going to ask the people,” Dodik said.

In an interview with Sputnik, Milos Solaja, a university professor in Banja Luka, said that “In Bosnia and Herzegovina we see the pyramid of Western politics tumbling down, that’s why the collective West was against this referendum.”

“They know that this referendum has an advisory nature, but they have been stung to see that their policy is not working.”

He added that from now on every decision taken by Sarajevo or international institutions will have to keep in mind the interests of Republika Srpska.

“We need to sit down together without any direct foreign participation and decide exactly what kind of system we want to have here,” Professor Solaja said.

 

[Billie]

We watched the parade and the celebrations of Monday via Yutube. I don't know why they are complaining, they didn't want to live together in YU, they celebrate the day when they separated from YU (which Bosnian Serbs didn't want to). It just doesn't make sense. It's best to separate these entities and allow people to live normally once and for all, without all these tensions. Their economy is very poor and they don't have much of land and other resources, but they should have thought about that before 1992.

 

[Billie]

Ok, I am starting to get the picture. It is kind of what I expected, there was war -- with all that it brings -- and one side were picked to play the bad guy role. The former ambassador says on this video, and in other you posted too "atrocities were committed by both sides". One way to read this is that this war was "worst" (if that is possible) than a "normal" war. By the way, would you call it civil war? Because it, or they, have elements of different kinds of war (civil, independence, border...)




So you are saying things are ugly elsewhere up to today? How this is an effect of the whole propaganda that convinced the rest of the world?

I would call it a civil war as the parties there all lived on these territories for centuries. Although Croats and Muslims had the support of the West and some Middle East countries and Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia had the support of Serbia. But it wasn't a fair fight, really. Serbia was under the sanctions, Russia was in ruins, so it was a perfect time to stir up trouble and dismantle a country that never caused anybody much problems. I am sorry but just it's existence or the existence of a nation is not a good reason to start a fire.

Then I don't know what to call the bombing of Serbia and that whole mess with Kosovo, honestly I still can't believe the West disregarded international laws and used NATO (because they couldn't go through UN) to bomb a sovereign country, which didn't attack any NATO country, but tried to fight terrorism in part of their country (KLA). So why did they allow Kosovo to secede from Serbia and proclaim it's independence and they won't allow the same in B&H with Republika Srpska? Kosovo Albanians made up 15% of population in Serbia, yet 40% of Serbs in B&H is nothing?

 

[teddytennisfan]

sputniknews.com
'Kosovo is Serbian,' New Train from Belgrade to North Kosovo Announces
Sputnik
Politics
22:35 14.01.2017(updated 05:47 15.01.2017) Get short URL

The train is emblazoned with the phrase "Kosovo is Serbian" in 21 languages, including Albanian, and is decorated inside with images of Serbian-built monasteries and churches. Hostesses on the train wear uniforms in the colors of the Serbian flag.

© AFP 2016/ ARMEND NIMANI

"This is like a mobile exhibition presenting our cultural heritage!" Marko Djuric, head of the Serbian government's office for Kosovo, said of the rolling statement, ABC News reported. He also warned that any attempt to block the train from entering Kosovo would be a violation of freedom of movement.

And anyway, "I don't see why something that is part of world heritage would present a provocation for anyone," Djuric asserted.

Djuric's deputy and the director of the Serbian national railway company were to take part in the 10-hour journey northward.

Kosovo, now mostly Muslim and Albanian-speaking, declared independence in 2008, nearly a decade after the end of a brief and bloody war with the forces of then-Serbia and Montenegro, and is recognized as such by the US and much of the EU.

Serbia, however, does not recognize the independence of its former province.

The January 14 promotional tour was the first train ride from Belgrade to Mitrovica since the end of the war, Deutsche Welle reports.

Kosovo State Minister Edita Tahiri called the train "illegal" January 13 and accused Serbia of undermining regional stability.

"This is a provocation against Kosovo, which shows that Serbia has openly come out with aggressive politics threatening Kosovo's territorial integrity and sovereignty and its national security," she said. She asked the EU to get involved in the matter.

Belgrade announced that it was considering setting up a regular train service to Kosovska Mitrovic, a Serbian dominated area in the mostly-Muslim young nation. A temporary service will be launched later this month and will run through much of February; a decision on whether to make the service permanent will be made later.

 

[teddytennisfan]

 

[mrzz]

I would call it a civil war as the parties there all lived on these territories for centuries. Although Croats and Muslims had the support of the West and some Middle East countries and Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia had the support of Serbia. But it wasn't a fair fight, really. Serbia was under the sanctions, Russia was in ruins, so it was a perfect time to stir up trouble and dismantle a country that never caused anybody much problems. I am sorry but just it's existence or the existence of a nation is not a good reason to start a fire.

Then I don't know what to call the bombing of Serbia and that whole mess with Kosovo, honestly I still can't believe the West disregarded international laws and used NATO (because they couldn't go through UN) to bomb a sovereign country, which didn't attack any NATO country, but tried to fight terrorism in part of their country (KLA). So why did they allow Kosovo to secede from Serbia and proclaim it's independence and they won't allow the same in B&H with Republika Srpska? Kosovo Albanians made up 15% of population in Serbia, yet 40% of Serbs in B&H is nothing?

Part of the reason why I am extremely skeptical about peace in the near future, both inside states and between them, is that the information war is so huge that there is no room for dialog, as people start from completely different premises. The story I get in my corner of the world is so different from the one you tell that it is obvious to me that all ended up in war. Anyway, people on both sided always believe so easily in bad guy/good guy stories, that I cannot help but feel that most conflicts will end up in the worst possible way. Each side gets so sold out in their own narratives that dialog becomes nearly impossible. Even here us posters sometimes reproduce this pattern.

About your last question, unfortunately the world spins like this: the ones on the weak side of the political struggle are treated exactly like nothing, be it a nation, a class, an ethnic group or any group you name... The most common political speech we see today begins by labeling your adversary and then using the label as a good enough reason to disregard completely his opinions. What people expect is the end result of this?

 

[britbox]

Part of the reason why I am extremely skeptical about peace in the near future, both inside states and between them, is that the information war is so huge that there is no room for dialog, as people start from completely different premises. The story I get in my corner of the world is so different from the one you tell that it is obvious to me that all ended up in war. Anyway, people on both sided always believe so easily in bad guy/good guy stories, that I cannot help but feel that most conflicts will end up in the worst possible way. Each side gets so sold out in their own narratives that dialog becomes nearly impossible. Even here us posters sometimes reproduce this pattern.

About your last question, unfortunately the world spins like this: the ones on the weak side of the political struggle are treated exactly like nothing, be it a nation, a class, an ethnic group or any group you name... The most common political speech we see today begins by labeling your adversary and then using the label as a good enough reason to disregard completely his opinions. What people expect is the end result of this?

The Art of Propaganda buddy!

 

[mrzz]

Yeah, I know. Let me at least grumble about it...