A Strasbourg, les nationalistes invitent le Kosovo dans la campagne

Le Kosovo a fait irruption dans la campagne municipale à Strasbourg. Deux manifestations se sont affrontées, sans casse, mais dans une ambiance tendue, place Gutenberg, au centre-ville, samedi 23 février. D’un côté, des militants des mouvement Jeune Alsace et solidarité alsacienne, autour de Robert Spieler, tête de la liste aux municipales du mouvement régionaliste d’extrême droite Alsace d’abord, et quelques nationalistes serbes – en tout une centaine de personnes. Ils protestaient contre l’indépendance “autoproclamée” de ce petit Etat balkanique, à leurs yeux “province historique de la Serbie”.

De l’autre, quelque 80 contre-manifestants, dont des adhérents de la LCR, des Verts, du PS, du PCF et du MoDem, venaient dénoncer le “racisme” et le “fascisme” des pro-Serbes. Robert Spieler, sous des drapeaux alsaciens (rouge et blanc) et l’aigle à deux têtes de la Serbie, a prononcé un plaidoyer contre “l’américanisation” et “l’islamisation” de l’Europe. Un militant pro-Serbe a lancé des œufs sur les contre-manifestants et a été interpellé par la police.

Kosovo independence: Nothing to celebrate at all

 

english.pravda.ru

Kosovo marks the first anniversary of its independence February 17, although there are no reasons for celebrations. The decision of the West to recognize the separation of the region from Serbia resulted in ethnic cleansings and damaged the reputation of international right norms. It is not ruled out that the Kosovo precedent will become an inspiration for other countries that dream on their freedom too.

 

Nobel Peace Prize winner Martti Ahtisaari unveiled his Kosovo plan at the end of 2006. The document said that the region would have to be provided with supervised independence. In other words, Serbia would lose control over Kosovo, whereas EU, OSCE and UN officials would supervise the Albanian leaders of the region. Russia and many other countries strongly opposed the plan claiming that it was a gross violation of international laws.

The “elections”, boycotted by the Serbian population, took place in the region in the autumn of 2007. Hashim Thaci, the notorious commander of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army, became the prime minister. Serbia accuses him of indiscriminate slaughter of many Serbians. The former prosecutor of The Hague Tribunal, Carla del Ponte wrote in her book “The Hunt” that Thaci was involved in the illegal trade of human organs taken from kidnapped Serbs and sold to international traffickers.

Visa-free travel between Russia and Serbia agreed

Russia Today

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Serbian counterpart Vuk Jeremic have signed a bilateral agreement for visa-free travel for the citizens of their respective countries.

This agreement, which was signed in Moscow on Friday, will give Russians and Serbs the right to travel to each others’ countries without the need of a visa for up to 30 days. The agreement will take several months to come into force.

Presently, three Balkan countries, Croatia, Montenegro and Macedonia, have visa-free regimes with Russia. The foreign ministers of Russia and Serbia promised to expedite the necessary procedures for the agreement to be ratified as soon as possible.

Since last March, Serbia has granted visa-free travel to Russians entering their territory.

A protocol to the agreement on free trade between Russia and Serbia was signed on Friday, and it is expected to provide a boost to trade relations.