ALBANIAN DAILY URGES PEOPLE OF KOSOVO TO BACK SELF-DETERMINATION LEADER BBC Monitoring International Reports - July 5, 2007 Thursday
Text of report by Albanian newspaper Ballkan on 5 July [Commentary by Bujar Shurdhi: "Peaceful Policy in Kosova Failed" p9] Every politician in Kosova [Kosovo] realizes that the path to independence pursued during the nineties was very wrong both in direction and orientation and, furthermore, it lacked any institutional platform for independence. Albanian patriots like Ukshin Hoti and now Albin Kurti have said time and time again that the policies pursued by the Kosova leaders are pacifist policies. In light of the situation in Kosova and its geographic position - it is surrounded almost on all sides by Albanian land and people - pacifism is the greatest and most extreme anti-patriotism that the Albanian nation has ever known. Around 1994, it was announced that the Kosova Assembly had convened, but, in reality, not a single deputy was present. It was also said that the work on the creation of the institutions was under way, but they were nowhere to be seen in 1999 because they did not exist. Individuals would appear before the media and proclaim themselves to be presidents or prime ministers, but it was clear that all these machinations had only one goal - the collection of the 3 per cent tax in order to use it to build private businesses. This 3 per cent tax was paid by the Kosova youth and families, who worked hard for that money in a very difficult social and economic situation in Kosova. To this day, these politicians continue shamelessly to appear before the media and to tell fairy stories. Now, it is widely known that no nation in the entire world history has ever won its freedom by peaceful means. Nevertheless, the Prishtina [Pristina] authorities propagated with zeal the peaceful way and defended it before thepeople, supporting it solely with photos that they were taking with US and European politicians. They even advertisedthese photos on calendars in order to deceive ordinary people. When the situation got out of control in 1999, these politicians disappeared from the face of the earth, even though the duty of the institutions in such situations is very clear. Meanwhile, their children spent nights in disco clubs in Prishtina and across Europe. Seeing this difficult situation, the youth of Kosova got organized and created first UCK [Kosovo Liberation Army] groups for self-defence. But, everybody knows that an army needs military structures. For this reason, regardless of the readiness of these groups, they never managed to create a proper army. There were a number concrete attempts by people with military training to create an army of Kosova, same as Croatia, Bosnia, and Slovenia had done, such as for example the work done by Ahmet Krasniqi. But, it was God's will for it never tohappen because Ahmet Krasniqi was killed in the centre of Tirana after being taken for somebody else. Everything that has happened in Kosova is a consequence of these pacifist policies, which have become opium for theordinary people. At the same time, the policies pursued by the Tirana authorities were even more amateurish than those pursued by Prishtina, who went as far as to say that Belgrade is the capital of Kosova and the Kosova Albanians, the UCK is aterrorist organization, and that their leaders are Serbian stooges. The consequences of these failed and anti-patriotic policies are felt to this day, as all meetings organized by the international community under the guidance of Europe or the United States end without any result or with absurd agreements. Meanwhile, the politicians in Prishtina still consider shaking hands with EU or UN commissioners a triumph. The official Tirana invites foreign dignitaries without any official agenda and the result of such visits is just as it would be if they had been invited to a wedding party. But now, after over 10 years have passed, the youth of Kosova are ready to take the fate in their own hands and claim the legitimate right for independence in all our territories. If the situation deteriorates and another war becomes inevitable in Kosova, for the first time in history will we be able to get rid of all Serbian stooges currently on Kosova's political scene. On the other hand, the Tirana authorities will be left like fish out of the water because they will not have allies of the same kind in Kosova. The people of Kosova must know that no roundtable or summit can bring freedom to Kosova. For this reason, they should support with all their energies the pioneer of the Self-Determination Movement, Albin Kurti. Source: Ballkan, Tirana, in Albanian 5 Jul 07
