Alex Christoforou
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
The Duran’s Alex Christoforou and Editor-in-Chief Alexander Mercouris discuss the scheduled White House meeting between Serbian leaders and leaders from the breakaway province of Kosovo.
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Serbia-Kosovo summit, Soros and color revolutions by The Duran
The Duran Quick Take: Episode 574. The Duran’s Alex Christoforou and Editor-in-Chief Alexander Mercouris discuss the scheduled White House meeting between Serbian leaders and leaders from the breakaway province of Kosovo. *** The Patriot Beacon #1 Tactical Flashlight on the Market Link: https://www.patrioticlegacy.com/product/patriot-flashlight/ Coupon code: Duran20
Hosting the leaders of Serbia and its breakaway province of Kosovo at the White House on the eve of a major anniversary in Serbian (and world) history raises questions about what President Donald Trump may be up to in the Balkans.
While no longer the acting Director of National Intelligence or ambassador to Germany – as of two weeks ago – Richard Grenell is technically still Trump’s special envoy for Serbia-Kosovo talks. It was in this capacity that he announced the meeting, scheduled for June 27.
Belgrade has agreed to temporarily halt its campaign to have countries that recognized Kosovo withdraw that recognition, while Pristina has likewise stopped seeking membership in international organizations. The discussions will focus on economic growth, Grenell said on Monday.
https://twitter.com/RichardGrenell/status/1272566747183280129
Kosovo is the province of Serbia that was occupied by NATO “peacekeepers” in June 1999, following a 78-day war waged by the alliance on behalf of ethnic Albanian rebels. Instead of protecting Serbian sovereignty over the province, as outlined in UN Security Council 1244 that authorized the armistice, NATO proceeded to build an Albanian provisional government, which declared independence in February 2008. It has been recognized by the US and most of its allies – about half the world’s governments – but not Russia, China or Serbia itself.
Getting Belgrade to recognize the land grab as legitimate has been the endgame of every US administration since – whether it was Bill Clinton, George W. Bush or Barack Obama in the White House. Yet every Serbian government “midwifed” into office by US diplomats and consultants since the 2000 color revolution has balked at that final step, including – so far – the “progressive” President Aleksandar Vucic.
There are two eyebrow-raising things about Grenell’s initiative. The immediately obvious one is its timing, on the eve of June 28. That is the anniversary of the 1389 battle between Serbian princes and the Ottoman Turks in Kosovo Field. Serbian oral history memorialized the event as a combination of martyrdom and tyrannicide. This motivated a young Bosnian Serb student named Gavrilo Princip to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary on that date in 1914. Vienna seized upon that as a pretext to invade Serbia, starting the chain of events that escalated into WWI.
The other oddity is that while Vucic has welcomed the talks, the Albanians have been divided. Hashim Thaci, militant leader turned “president” of Kosovo, said earlier this month he was hopeful about the initiative. Albin Kurti, a hardliner championing union with Albania who was prime minister between January and March, has accused Grenell of having the “identical stance” with Serbia, rather than being an impartial mediator.
Kurti has reportedly argued that Grenell is trying to “rush” a deal between Belgrade and Pristina to get Trump a foreign policy victory ahead of the 2020 election. He also accused Trump’s envoy of orchestrating the no-confidence vote that ousted him back in March. A man named Avdullah Hoti was confirmed as the new PM on June 3, over Kurti’s objections, and will be headed to Washington.
Kosovo Albanians may have reasons to be apprehensive. The economic focus of Grenell’s proposal sounds very much like Trump’s approach to the Israeli-Palestinian “deal of the century,” which the Palestinians overwhelmingly rejected. The current US president is known for bucking long-standing foreign policy consensus. He is not personally invested with either side in the conflict and may even be prejudiced against the Albanians somewhat, given their obsession with erecting statues to Bill and Hillary Clinton, Madeleine Albright, and other prominent Democrats.
Admittedly, there is a statue of President Bush in Albania as well, and former Senator Bob Dole (R-Kansas) has been a champion of Kosovo Albanians for decades – and still is. The Bush and Dole factions of the GOP are by and large opposed to Trump, however.
Over in Belgrade, Vucic has been repeatedly accused by his nationalist critics that he intends to “sell out” Kosovo the first chance he gets, and his defeatist rhetoric has not helped him counter that. Western-funded liberals, not surprisingly, lament that he hasn’t done it yet, and want him replaced with someone who will.
A general election has been called for June 21, less than a week before the White House meeting and just days before Vucic is scheduled to attend the Victory Day parade in Moscow. Vucic’s party is expected to sweep the polls, giving him legitimacy for pretty much anything – even rewriting the constitution to give up Kosovo, maybe.
That said, given that none of Trump’s ambitious foreign policy initiatives have yet born any fruit – from North Korea to Venezuela and anything in between – and that the prospects for his re-election appear fatally undermined by a series of recent events at home, perhaps neither Vucic nor Thaci nor Kurti ought to expect much.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
And the boomerang came back………..
Vucic said he asked Russia to protect the Orthodox Church in the Balkans
https://tass.com/world/1169165
BELGRADE, June 18. /TASS/. President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic asked Russia to protect the Orthodox Church on the Balkans, Vucic said during his joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Belgrade. “I asked Russia to protect the Orthodox Church, considering everything that is happening in Montenegro and the entire region,” Vucic said. The congregation of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) conduct mass protests in Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Republika Srpska against oppression of the SOC in Montenegro, where, on December 27, 2019, the parliament passed the controversial Freedom of Religion Law. The law was… Read more »
Serbian leader says any decision on Kosovo will need Russian approval
https://tass.com/world/1169145
BELGRADE, June 18. /TASS/. Any final solution to the Kosovo issue will need Russia’s approval, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Belgrade on Thursday. “Any final solution to the Kosovo issue will need Russia’s approval at the level of the United Nations Security Council and as a partner who has always supported Serbia,” Vucic said. The Serbian leader said he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in three or four days. “We will discuss the assessments and views on international events and how Serbia could defend its… Read more »
As any Serb would testify, Vučić is a pathological liar and well and truly in the neoliberal elite’s pocket. You have to be on the ground, as I am, to truly see though his web of lies. Alas, not even the great Oracle of London managed to see him for what he is: a traitor, and a corrupt tyrant who has brought his people to the brink of disaster.
Unfortunately, verily true. (With American blessing, a despicable gang that has gained the power in our tormented Serbia…… President Vučić an arch-traitor, his prime minister Brnabić a screaming homosexual (b.t.w., just like her colleague, that Trump’s disgrace Grenell), Ivica Dačić another traitor…………….)
During the recent Covid crisis, Vucic quietly surrendered to NATO and the Albanian thugs the lake of Gazivode. No reporting whatsoever in the main stream media. That was his obligation determined in semi-clandestine Brussels Agreement from 2016., totally illegitimate by any acceptable legal standards.
For those unaware of the CIA/Soros/Israeli 2003 color revolution in Georgia that transformed it into a vassal state of the empire, watch this short video.
Alex & Alex…I listened to this great analysis but some important details are missing: 1. Putin CANCELLED Vucic”s trip to Moscow. That means HE DUMPED HIM. Ad to this the very provocative, condescending recent proposals addressed to Vucic by Evgeny Primakov Jr. (the grandson). Putin is fed up with this golden globalist Balkan boy. Patriarch of SOC Ireaneus spoke today to Lavrov and asked for support. That has been put aside in most of the media outlets. It is sad when a churc leader ought to conduct the duties of a president and prime minister. 3. Vicic”s politics is not… Read more »
Precisely. Vučić is a traitor to the Serbian people. He is a neoliberal globalist, through-and-through, who simply uses Russia and China in order to fool the overwhelmingly patriotically-minded Serbian electorate. Make no mistake: there is no ‘balancing’ in his politics. His internal Andy external policies alike, are firmly aligned with the interests of his neoliberal masters.
Please do a piece on Montenegro, that is very interesting.
So, a meeting between a Western-backed Serbian traitor, and a Albanian terrorist who (quite literally) butchered Serbian civilians (and trafficked their organs), mediated by the US – which supported Albanian terrorists? What could possibly go wrong? I am sorry to say, Alexander, but your assessment of Vučić is well and truly off the mark. The man is a fraud. His ‘balancing’ act is sham, which involves a whole lot of theatrics with the Russians and the Chinese, aimed at fooling the overwhelmingly patriotically-minded Serbian public, while on the other hand, the policies of his regime remain completely in line with… Read more »
As someone who follows these events closely, I would be richer than Jeff Bezos if I had a dollar for every time I have heard or read that Vucic was going to hand over Kosovo. Its an old tale. As far as being a tyrant is concerned well these are just accusations leveled at him by the western-funded opposition, who while in office did absolutely nothing except borrow substantial amounts to boost wages then left the mess to Vucic et al to sort out by reducing salaries and pensions. It was Vucic that attracted an enormous amount of investment to… Read more »
Welllll…this was cute…Stj, how do you pay your monthly bills?
Great video. Two points: 1. Serbia is the cross-roads for oil pipelines and the Belt and Road and Trump wants to block them. 2. China is an important ally of Serbia now.
Serbs must remember who their friends aren’t.
https://todayrevolution.com/
A few years ago I worked with an organisation that gave work experience to people in difficulty, helping them to find paying jobs. One of them, a Serb with relatives in the UK, was vehement in her denunciation of NATO and the West for what it had done. ‘We all got on together before they came and ruined Yugoslavia’, she used to say. You could say the same for Ireland where Protestants and Catholics lived side by side in peace before they were stirred up to fight each other, although their history is somewhat different. I lived in Glasgow… Read more »
There are two significant political differences between Ireland and Yugoslavia: Since its inception after the WW1, Ireland was a democratic country with two opposing Christian fractions. On the other hand, Yugoslavia was, after its inception in 1919., a full-time dictatorship. Before the WW2, the dictatorship was imposed by King Aleksandar I and in 1945 it was imposed by a communist mass murderer J.B. Tito. Also, there were three dominant religious groups in Yugoslavia, which made the things even more complicated. It was a prolonged shotgun wedding and marriage, ingeniously sealed during the Paris Peace Conference.
You’re mistaken in relation to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia; it started out as a democracy, but the inter-ethnic and inter-religious differences proved too difficult to manage, and the king was forced to suspend the constitution in order to save the country. How effective that was is apparent from the genocide Croats perpetrated against the Serbs (as well as the Jews and the Roma). A far more logical approach would have been a timely dissolution of the country. An even more logical policy would have been not to create that monstrosity at all.