Serbs harassed and under constant threat in 'stable' Kosovo

FINANCIAL TIMES (UK), January 9 2007 02:00 LETTERS

 

Sir, Senator Joe Biden claims that the international community has brought stability to Kosovo ("Opponents of Kosovo must be stopped", January 3). He fails to mention that after Belgrade had been bombed into submission by Nato, the Kosovo Liberation Army expelled most of Kosovo's non-Albanians under the noses of occupying Nato troops.

 

This was accompanied by a concerted campaign to erase the province's Serbian heritage. Countless churches, many medieval, have been destroyed. The few remaining Serbs are under constant threat.

 

Mr Biden also fails to mention that the west then demanded that civilised standards of behaviour be achieved by the Kosovars before there was discussion of the province's status.

 

The Kosovars, having won outright, were expected to accept the return of the many expelled Serbs, Roma and other non-Albanians, and to stop harassing those Serbs who stayed behind. The subsequent decision to ditch "standards before status" rewards ethnic cleansing.

 

So much for Gen Wesley Clark's comment during Nato's bombing of Serbia that "there is no place in modern Europe for ethnically pure states. That's a 19th century idea and we are trying to transition into the 21st century".

 

Mr Biden is a more honest geopolitical poker player. In his eyes, multi-ethnicity is trumped by the need for Washington to be seen to be backing a Muslim people.

 

Yugo Kovach, Twickenham, Middx TW1 2AP, UK