Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey: ALBANIAN EXTREMISTS EVEN IRRITATE NATO

It seems that there is finally a general consensus of opinion involving all the Balkans players that the Albanian extremists have to be stopped. The recent developments in Macedonia are a sign that if one gives the Albanian extremists a hand, they want to take not only the arm but also both legs. One must differentiate between Albanian extremists and normal Albanians. Albania itself has condemned these Macedonian extremists, proclaiming it does not know where they come from. We can inform them that the UCK operating in Macedonia is the same UCK which was operating in Kosovo. It changed its name from Kosovo Liberation Army to National Liberation Army, but in Albanian the initials are the same (UCK). NATO has declared itself against these extremists and has pledged to aid the Macedonian authorities. Lord Robertson, Secretary-general of NATO, declared during an official visit to Greece, that “the stability of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia will not be threatened by a small number of extremists who prefer the bullet to the ballot box”. The initials FYROM work magic in Greece… Lord Robertson stated that NATO had spread its troops along the border between Kosovo and Macedonia to cut off the rebels’ supply lines. He pledged NATO’s support to Macedonia, stating categorically that NATO will not allow a civil war to take place. The Macedonian population is not so convinced. NATO says one thing and does another. NATO is capable of bombing Embassies and then stating that it had the wrong maps. NATO is capable of leaving vast swathes of land toxic and radioactive and then simply denies everything. NATO is an organisation which interferes in subjects outside its control. NATO is an organisation which performs the dirty deeds that its political masters have not the courage to own up to. As 2,000 people flee from Tetovo, Skopje’s population also prepares to move, should the conflict move further south. The small dimension of Macedonia’s armed forces are proof of the pacific nature of this people. That they should be the victims of savage attacks by criminals (who want to control the borders because it is there that trafficking of drugs, arms and women can be more easily controlled) is quite unacceptable. We should not forget that the prettier female Albanian refugees supposedly running from the Serbs during the Kosovo conflict had to hide their faces from the UCK so as not to be sold into prostitution rings. NATO makes noises and rattles its sabre but its recent behaviour has discredited it so much that nobody with any common sense believes a word NATO says any more. The noble military organisation which Churchill was so proud of has degenerated into a lying, cowardly, mafia-befriending clique of misfits, war criminals and bloodthirsty, fascist tyrants, totally out of touch with today’s world and wholly incompetent to perform the tasks they so arrogantly undertake upon themselves. NATO will run at the first shot. NATO will not defend the Macedonians. If NATO cannot bomb from ever-increasing heights, it cannot function. It is the first military alliance in history that is actually scared of losing soldiers. As ridiculous as this may seem, it is a fact, the more so because NATO troops used on foreign missions are all voluntary and are highly paid professionals (mercenaries). The Serbs had the Albanians firmly under control. NATO intervened, thinking mistakenly that to do nothing was worse than doing something (after chastising itself for not having acted earlier in Bosnia). Although advice was provided at the highest level not to enter the Balkans conflict, NATO went ahead stubbornly and arrogantly. The Serbs were forced out of Kosovo (NATO can be thankful that the Yugoslav army chose to leave to avoid a bloodbath) and the floodgates were opened to the Albanians. For those who have never met an Albanian, the concept of the “eagle people” (Shqiperi) living in the “land of the eagles” (Shqiperije) is romantic. The Albanians have managed to survive and keep their unique culture intact because they are mountain people. Despite their long coastline, fish is not a staple of the Albanian diet. Their spirit is turned towards the mountains and it is here that the national psyche exists (if indeed one can use the word “national” for this people). The Albanians are a collection of tribes, their language was pieced together recently fro«m a group of unwritten rules. Mountain people have a unique sense of survival. They are the same all over the world. They are capable of the best human values to help their kin and the worst practices imaginable when they feel their culture is under threat. This phenomenon will always happen when isolated communities are given massive exposure to the world around them. In an initial reflex action, the first trend is to control the new situation. In this context, it means the Albanians destabilising the local authorities in the areas to which NATO so unwisely let them into, so that their local clansmen can control the situation and impose the Kanun, the centuries-old Albanian code of conduct. If NATO had left the Serbs to control the situation, which they had under control, none of this instability would have taken place. Quite how to convince former neighbours to live again in peace after atrocities have been committed is beyond Western European cultural values. One requests them to leave the arena they were never invited to enter and invites Moscow to use its influence to put an arm around fellow Slavs while at the same time opening dialogue with the Albanians, who, we have to admit, need to be taught how to behave in this day and age. Maybe Moscow can explain this to them, because NATO certainly can’t.

TIMOTHY BANCROFT-HINCHEY PRAVDA.RU LISBON