Rising tension between Serbia and Albania over Kosovo exposes further cracks in the current world order
31 May 2023 - 20:11
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U.S. KFOR soldiers stand guard in front of the municipality office, while ethnic Serbs gather to protest, in the town of Leposavic, Kosovo, May 29, 2023. REUTERS/VALDRIN XHEMAJ
The suppression of ethnic Albanians by the ultranationalist Slobodan Milosevic led to the Nato bombing of then Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
I had a long meeting with him and his foreign minister when presenting my credentials to him as SA ambassador during the Nelson Mandela administration. He left no room for doubt as to his ultranationalist credentials.
I told him that Mandela was critical of the Nato bombing of the former Yugoslavia, but was also critical of his ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. It hit him right between the eyes.
Sadly, tensions are flaring again between the Albanians and Serbs over a Serb-dominated region in Kosovo. The complicating factor today is that both countries have ultranationalist leaders.
A further complication is that Russia and China, and a few EU countries, are supportive of the Serbian position. That can be largely attributed to Russia’s conflict with Ukraine, and China’s international disputes over Hong Kong and Taiwan. They do not want to compromise their own positions.
What goes around, comes around.
Dawie Jacobs Sterrewag
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
LETTER: A clash of ultranationalists
Rising tension between Serbia and Albania over Kosovo exposes further cracks in the current world order
The suppression of ethnic Albanians by the ultranationalist Slobodan Milosevic led to the Nato bombing of then Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
I had a long meeting with him and his foreign minister when presenting my credentials to him as SA ambassador during the Nelson Mandela administration. He left no room for doubt as to his ultranationalist credentials.
I told him that Mandela was critical of the Nato bombing of the former Yugoslavia, but was also critical of his ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. It hit him right between the eyes.
Sadly, tensions are flaring again between the Albanians and Serbs over a Serb-dominated region in Kosovo. The complicating factor today is that both countries have ultranationalist leaders.
A further complication is that Russia and China, and a few EU countries, are supportive of the Serbian position. That can be largely attributed to Russia’s conflict with Ukraine, and China’s international disputes over Hong Kong and Taiwan. They do not want to compromise their own positions.
What goes around, comes around.
Dawie Jacobs
Sterrewag
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
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