Austrian newspaper: West facing Serbia, price forced to pay neighbours

The Austrian newspaper “Der Standard” sharply criticises the West's approach to Serbia and the dishonest pressure on Kosovo to undermine its Constitution. People in the Balkans are feeling deceived and betrayed by the West, fear and frustration are ruling. Serbia's hegemonist intervention influences the Democrats (even in Serbia) to weaken, the rule of law and civil rights to be hit and radical nationalism to become dominant ideology again.

For the liberal daily from Vienna, much talks that after the attack by the Serb gang in northern Kosovo, politics and secret services circles remain in Belgrade. For Vuchchiqi the failure of the operation is a heavy slap, because so the dirty work of his friends in Kosovo surfaces, on the other hand, Vuciqi after the recent events are found in defansive in the so-called dialogue with Kosovo. After the West attack, it cannot argue that it is well to sacrifice the integrity of the state of Kosovo in favour of geopolitical interests, as has happened in recent months.

“Der Standard” stresses that the current American administration, particularly the Balkan chargeman Gabriel Escobar and US Ambassador to Belgrade Christopher Hill, have become together with EU emissar Miroslav Lajcak and unilaterally are putting pressure on Kosovo to establish an association of Serb municipalities in northern Kosovo according to Belgrade's ideas. Such association could bury the sovereignty of the state of Kosovo, which the constitution guarantees.

The paper criticises that in the face of the Russian fight against Ukraine, the West has only one goal: to keep Serbia under control and thus Serbia is allowed in its hegemonist style to be mixed in other countries. Clearly, the smaller states such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Kosovo must pay the price for Vuciqi not to entirely embrace Russian President Vadicmir Putin.

In the Balkans people are feeling deceived and betrayed by the West, fear and frustration reigns. Serbia's hegemonist intervention influences the Democrats (even in Serbia) to weaken, the rule of law and civil rights to be hit and radical nationalism to become dominant ideology again. <x) Despite the attack against Kosovo police, EU sanctions have not yet been imposed against Serbia, because Hungary supports its friend Vuciq. The Austrian newspaper doubts that the West will change the course against terrible Serbian propaganda, ranging from Serbian newspapers using racist languages against Albanians to Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, who has been lying that the recordings presented by the Kosovo government were seen snow, therefore, did not mean authentic footage. It seems that the Kremlin is involved in all of this, writes “Der Standard”. As in the case of the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army, the Serbian attack on Kosovo's integrity was warned. Over the summer, X-rays appeared in Serbia with this content: “When the army will return to Kosovo”, war crimes are publicly cloned, and Vuciciqi tried to discredit Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, calling it the terrorist “bottom line” and claimed Kurti is aiming to expel Serbs from Kosovo. This, according to the Austrian newspaper, reminds you of the rhetoric of the 1990s, when Vuciq, among other things, was propaganda minister under Slobodan Milosevic. That world population in Serbia was convinced that a genocide was being prepared against it, in fact, Serbian racists committed genocide against Bosniaks. This propaganda is likely intended to short-line “to record” future decisions. Vuciki has repeatedly been threatened to send Serbian security forces to Kosovo.

According to “Der Standard” stresses that a thesis is that with the secret operation in northern Kosovo, Vuciq wanted to spur conflict in northern Kosovo to create a cause for intervention by the Serbian Army “for the protection of the Serbian people” in northern Kosovo and thus achieve the partition of Kosovo. Despite the costly lobe over “exchange of” of territories during the Trump administration, Vuciq failed to achieve this goal with negotiations, so he is likely now trying other paths.

Many people in the Balkans fear that the West is not ready to end the ongoing provocations of groups as Serb paramilitaries in Kosovo. Many have lost their lives and their future in the 1990s, when the West closed its eyes and despite beautiful speeches tolerated ethnic cleansings and the destruction of states like Bosnia and Herzegovina, points out “Der Standard” concluding with this conclusion: “We can think it was learned from this story. But apparently towards the Balkans, it's viewed as a semi-columlistic ignorant approach, half arrogant, as if it wasn't a part of Europe”. /Time.net