16.01.2008
Pyotr ISKENDEROV They Want To Tear Serbs Away From Russia On January 20, 2008 the first round of presidential elections in Serbia will take place. The principal contenders for the post of head of state are Boris Tadic, the current president and Tomislav Nikolic, a candidate of the opposition Serbian Radical Party. The latest opinion polls give reasons to believe that both would meet in the second round after Nikolic wins the first round. The pre-election struggle is going on, focusing on key issues that the entire Serbian society is concerned with. They include improvement of the economic situation, solving social problems, combating organised crime, solving the Kosovo problem, and of course, the nation’s foreign policy priorities. But listening to all the Western politicians, diplomats and political analysts could give one the impression that the chief forces in the campaign are the Universal Good and Evil. Nikolic is portrayed as an ultra-nationalist, Europe’s enemy and the proponent of a new war for “the Great Serbia” even though he reiterates his flat rejection of solving problems the Balkans face in a military way. However, it would be a lesser danger if the United States and the EU interfered in the pre-election situation in Serbia only by brainwashing the electorate. A greater danger is the Kosovo problem, a problem of supreme importance for the destinies of the world, which has now become a hostage of the pathological Western hatred of Serbian patriots and the Radical Party that regularly wins elections, that is, it enjoys a tangible support of Serbia’s citizens. The status of Kosovo has become a token money for Western political technologies and top-level statesmen that follow their advice. It is also significant that the current development of the situation of the settlement of the Kosovo problem is very similar to last year’s events. Then UN General Secretary’s special envoy to Kosovo Marti Ahtisaari followed secret instructions from Washington and Brussels, taking a pause in his participation in the process of defining the ultimate decision on the status of the province shortly before of the January 2007 parliamentary elections. But not later than in early February 2007 Mr.Ahtisaari publicised his plan of giving Kosovo a supervised independence without Belgrade’s consent. To do that on the eve of the elections was dangerous given the risk of fuelling protest sentiment in Serbia that could bring the same Radicals to power. The current outline of forces in Serbia is unchanged, and Washington together with Brussels rupture using the techniques of 12 months ago, replaying it in a more odiose form. A fat bone has been thrown to the stupid Serbian electors. Exactly between the first (January 20) and the second (February 3) rounds of voting, on January 28, 2008 the EU leadership is going to table to Belgrade the Agreement on stabilisation and Association at the level of heads of Foreign Ministries. This document is usually the first step towards integration of any single country into the European Union. However, as such it is no guarantee that country a membership. There is nothing to prevent the EU later to freeze the integration process on account of a thousand or so reasons, starting from Belgrade’s unwillingness to put under arrest former leaders of Bosnian Serbs Radovan Karajic and Ratko Mladic all the way up to financial problems the EU itself is facing. It is surprising but the EU intention to sign an agreement with Serbia on January 28, 2008 was disclosed only in the early 2008, which is an unprecedented celerity of the usually slow-moving Brussels officials! But there is nothing impossible when the notorious political expediency, given that the signing of the Agreement with the EU should become an ace of trumps for president Tadic on the eve of the polling. Instead, this time in secrecy, the EU would demand that Belgrade agree with its loss of Kosovo. And when the dust has settled, it could forgive all about Serbia’s EU membership, because the Agreement on Stablisation and Association is not a guarantee of a EU membership. In the end, Serbs would be without Kosovo, without the EU, but with a president chosen for them in Brussels. Why does the West take Tomislav Nikolic as a persona non grata? First and foremost, because he does not conceal his intention to develop comprehensive relations with Russia. ”The situation is such that the destinies of our country, its sovereignty and territorial integrity depend on Russia. Under the present-day conditions when they are taking away Kosovo from us, Serbia cannot preserve itself as a sovereign state unless supported by Russia.” (Newspaper “Vremya Novoststei”, May 14,2007) - and everyone who realise even incompletely the current situation around Kosovo could subscribe to these worlds of Nikolic. He suggests different options of deepening mutual cooperation with Russian business participating in Serbian privatisation projects. A short while ago the candidate of the SRP stated his intention to have Serbia involved in the process of establishing a union state of Russia and Belarus, and even deployment of a Russian military base in his country. He also mentioned the American military base in his country, Bondsteel in Kosovo. Should Russia also deploy its military base in Serbia, both superpowers would strengthen their cooperation, ensuring Serbia’s security, Nikolic quite logically concluded. However it was more than enough for the West to hear a Russian solider in the Balkans mentioned to accelerate its campaign against the SRP. The gist of the problem is the plans of Serbian radicals are a threat to Western economic and political plans in the strategically important geopolitical region the Balkans are part of. People in Washington and Brussels have long remade the region’s map using their own curve gauges. Their map has no place for either Russia or its principal ally, Serbia on the current fickle international political arena. http://en.kosovo.fondsk.ru/article.php?id=1156 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
