ZIVKO JAKSIC,
Madam, - As usual, whenever anyone dares to criticise NATO's thuggery against Serbia, the stalwarts of Kosovo Ireland Solidarity are ready to jump to the defence of their favourite peace enforcers (October 21st). And yet, what is the legacy of NATO's intervention in the Balkans?
1. In Bosnia-Herzegovina, the two entities, Republic of Srpska and the Muslim/Croat Federation, are kept in a loose arrangement by the stick and carrot approach of the EU, and the presence of tens of thousands of occupying forces.
2. In Kosovo, the Council of Europe's Human Rights Commisioner, Alvaro Gil Robles, is demanding an urgent inquiry into crimes and human rights abuses committed against Serb and other non-Albanian populations since the arrival of NATO and UNMIK troops in the province. He notes that most of the 850,000 Albanians who left the province during th crisis have returned to their homes, while only a small percentage of Serbs, who fled after the arrival of NATO, have managed to do so.
3. In Macedonia, a government which certainly could not have been accused of ethnic cleaning and human rights abuses is faced with an armed insurrection by Albanian terrorists. The Western response is to demand the sending in of NATO troops, a new constitution and elections, which have now resulted in those same terrorists entering the government!
All in all, a litany of great "success"!
I find it interesting that, as far back as 1987, Milosevic's exploitation of resurgent Serbian ultra nationalism was "clear" to the members of Kosovo Ireland Solidarity (incidentally, the same people who formed the now defunct Ireland-Bosnia Solidarity).
I would suggest that in 1987, apart from Medjugorge and Porex (favourite Adriatic resort for Irish tourists), few Irish people would have known where Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and Macedonia even were, never mind being "clear" about the complexities of Yugoslav politics at that time. - Yours, etc.,
Serbian Information Bureau,
ZIVKO JAKSIC, Grange Road, Dublin 16.