The Kosovo declaration of independence on February 17th 2008 was a long time coming. The mission of the now disbanded KLA (Kosova Liberation Army) had finally been completed. It was the most successful guerilla organization in modern history, as Tim Judah (author of the Serbs: History, Myth & the Destruction of Yugoslavia) put it so eloquently. The Albanians of Kosovo are forever free from oppression. The declaration of independence was swiftly recognized by the great democratic powers of our time: the United States of America; the UK; France; Germany, etc. And where does the main opposition to independence lie? The radical ultra-nationalist Serbian entities, afraid to let go of a province of which most have never even step foot on, whose fate was known from the day Slobodan Milosevic stripped the region of its autonomy, in a move to reestablish authoritative Serb rule, corresponding to the 600th anniversary of the battle of Kosovo on 28th June, 1389; and Russia, a regime where the election of president Medvedev has shown us a move further away from democracy, and closer to a time when the Kremlin residency had its fiercest strangle-hold on its population.

The problem we face today is that most Serbs view Slobodan (or rather Serbia’s Radical Ultra-Nationalist Party) and his posse as heroes in Serbia’s David versus Goliath battle with the greatest military power in the history of the World. Upon gaining control Milosevic polarized Yugoslavia by making ethnicity a political entity which could not be ignored, injecting xenophobic philosophy throughout a multi-ethnic nation.

Upon the declaration of independence, Serbs in Northern Kosovo destroyed two border crossings, while a mass of protestors rallying in Belgrade torched the US embassy, a full 45 minutes before any riot police or fire engines showed up. Russia also protested the move as illegal under international law, and that this is violating Serbia’s sovereignty, although neglecting to mention that ethnic cleansing is also considered illegal under international law, and reason enough to lose your sovereignty.

The US and NATO intervention in 1999 came as a great relief to all Albanians living in Yugoslavia. The western powers helped stop ethnic cleansing which to this day has been denied to ever occur by a great majority of Serbs (although one must also consider that the media was heavily censored in Yugoslavia throughout Milosevic’s tyranny. 
   
The Serb argument goes something like this: “If Albanians want their rights, they should go to Albania. Here Serbs will rule!” The problem with this statement is that it is fundamentally racist, and inhumane. The Serbs argue that Kosovo is the soul of Serbia, as it is the place of the infamous battle of 1389, where the Serbs lost a battle to fend the expansion of the Ottoman Empire. Twenty years after Milosevic gave his infamous speech, Serbia is a smaller and more isolated state than it has ever been in history.

But why did the US decide to intervene in Kosovo? To stop ethnic cleansing is a good argument, but what about stopping ethnic cleansing in Darfur, or the massacre of the Palestinian civilians? The argument goes that the EU and NATO intervened because it was in Europe’s backyard, and they could not let what happened in Bosnia happen again. So why not intervene in Darfur? Is it only a racist reason? Perhaps if the two-million-plus refugees that have fled Darfur flooded Europe, there would be humanitarian intervention.

The Russians claim Serbia to be an important ally and a firm believer of international law, which is their motivation for helping in their struggle. The favor was generously returned recently to the Russians when awarded the control of entire oil industry with a 60% discounted price of its actual value, giving Russia more power and leverage in Serbian politics.

The Serbs and the Russians argue that Kosovo’s declaration is illegal under international law, because UN resolution 1244/99 ensures Serbian sovereignty and that Kosovo will remain a part of Serbia. The resolution also states the requirement of turning in war criminals such as Slobodan Milosevic and Ratko Mladić to The Hague; the latter is still free protected by the Red-Star hooligans in Belgrade. Unless Mladić is turned in to the Hague, Serbia will have not fulfilled it’s duties, rendering it void in their legal arguments against Kosovo’s declaration of independence and ensuring a continued collective guilt for all Serbs for the war crimes conducted and committed by Mladić.

Slobodan Milosevic had a vision, to turn Yugoslavia into a purely Serbian state, establish Serbian leadership, Serbian politicians, Serbian Army, etc. The root of the anomaly of the human error lies in two fundamental problems with the ultra-nationalist Serbian, which is racism and greed, a problem still faced by over 49% of Serbs today. It is not that the Serbs are the only ultra-greedy, ultra-racist ethnic group in the Balkans; it’s just that a Serbian Ultra-Nationalist was in charge of Yugoslavia all throughout the 90’s. The genocides and ethnic cleansing could have just as easily happened had Yugoslavia have had its headquarters in Ljubljana; Skopje; Sarajevo; Zagreb; or even Prishtina. I’m sure there are Albanians who would love to have exterminated all the Serbs, and Croats who could have done the same to the Serbs, and Greeks to the Albanians, and Turks to the Greeks, and Armenians to the Turks.. See, it’s not that everyone is racist, but that in every country and ethnicity there will always be bad apples. If the World really wishes to progress a step closer to peace, we must do our individual part to abandon all racism and greed in the World.

By Azdren Coma

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