On the eve of the summit, Deputy Secretary General of NATO Rose Gottemoeller stressed that NATO supported the process of reform in Kosovo, including the creation of its own regular armed forces. That idea has strong support in Washington, although by establishing its own military, Kosovo would be in gross violation of the existing international agreements. UN Security Council Resolution 1244 states explicitly that no other military presence, with the exception of KFOR and the Serbian army, shall be permitted without the mandate of the UN Security Council. The Florence Agreement (Article IV of the 1996 Dayton Peace Accords) affirms that regional stability should be maintained with the assistance of the OSCE, not NATO. The creation of a Kosovo military would mean that a regular force was being established within the territory of Serbia, which is a party to the Florence agreement. 

NATO has already allowed Kosovo to set up a professional security force, which is to join the Partnership for Peace (PfP) program and then develop into a regular armed forces that is able to meet NATO standards. This idea is being floated at a time in which the concept of the creation of Greater Albania is gradually taking shape, which would include Kosovo, parts of Macedonia such as Tetovo, the Presevo Valley in Serbia, and parts of Montenegro such as Malesija.

The EU has also gone on the offensive. Croatia joined it in 2013. Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia are EU candidate states. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo are signatories to Stabilization and Association Agreements with the bloc. In 2016, Bosnia and Herzegovina formally submitted an EU membership application.

Efforts to reduce the region’s energy “dependence” on Russia are underway, as an element of the policy of “squeezing Moscow out.” The Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project is in the construction phase and will eventually stretch from the Caspian Sea to Albania and northward to other Western Balkan countries, as well as Italy. The next step is the building of a floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on Krk, a Croatian island, thus making the countries of the region pay much more for American sea-transported energy than Russia’s natural gas that is supplied by pipeline. The Krk project is to include Slovenia, Hungary, Bosnia, and Serbia.

The NATO-EU Statement on the Implementation of the Joint Declaration envisages close cooperation between the two groups, which will increase Western influence in the region. That’s what Russia opposes. It rejects the wisdom of an approach in which the region is viewed as a battlefield between the West and Russia (which is supposedly vying for influence), forcing the nations of the region to take sides. The truth is, they don’t have to. For instance, Serbia can derive significant benefits by promoting complementary relationships with the EU and the Russian-led EAEU.

The Atlantic Council’s report, titled “Balkans Forward: A New US Strategy for the Region,” which was released in late 2017, attracted a lot of attention. It calls on the West to double down on countering Russia’s influence in the region, including by means of a permanent American military presence in the Balkans that would "anchor the United States’ ability to influence developments." Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo, which was built on Serbian soil without consulting that country’s own government, is not enough. The Heritage Foundation echoes this view, offering guidelines to spur US diplomatic, economic, and military efforts to drive Russia out while bringing the US in. The think tanks from the National Committee on American Foreign Policy and the East-West Institute chimed in with their joint report, titled “Time for Action in the Western Balkans,” which was published in May.

The think tanks’ recommendations are followed by suggestions from governments. Here is the latest example. On Aug. 4, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama announced that NATO plans to build its first air base in the Western Balkans near the municipality of Kucove in south-central Albania. Construction is to start this year. The new facility will be used for air supply, logistic support, air patrolling, and training. The base will also be used by the Albanian air forces. The US Army’s Bondsteel base in Kosovo is used by KFOR but it lacks an airstrip for planes.

On Aug. 2, Kosovo's President Hashim Thaci said in an interview with VOA's Albanian Service, "Kosovo's border with Serbia needs to be redefined, or corrected." Whatever he meant, no mention was made of any need for Serbia’s consent or United Nations-approved procedures. Mr. Thaci feels free to make such statements because he senses the West’s support behind him.

Meanwhile, tensions in northern Kosovo are rising after the Aug. 4 deadline to establish Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo with limited autonomous powers was missed. The Kosovo provincial government has not kept its promises. Such a move is necessary in order meet the provisions of the EU-brokered 2013 Brussels Agreement, which is intended to normalize relations between Serbia and Kosovo.

The Kosovo Serbs say they would declare autonomy if Kosovo’s rulers’ fail to produce a draft statute of the Community of Serb Municipalities (ZSO). That agreement provides for the merger of the four Serb municipalities in the north (North Mitrovica, Zvecan, Zubin Potok and Leposavic), which are subject to Kosovo law. This urban district would have powers over economic development, education, healthcare, and town planning.

On Aug. 4, Kosovo PM Ramush Haradinaj warned Serbs in the northern section of the province that their potential "attempt to proclaim autonomy" would be met with a response, obviously meaning the use of force. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic vowed action to protect his compatriots residing in Kosovo. KFOR is in a state of combat readiness, because NATO has failed to prevent a conflict between Kosovo and Serbia.

KFOR entered Kosovo in 1999. The Albanian government of the Serbian province fully depends on the West. As recent events convincingly illustrate, after all these years, nothing has been done to solve the problems of the Serb minority or even to get closer to a solution. The ethnic divisions in Macedonia and Montenegro remain. Bosnia Herzegovina is still a divided country on the brink of armed conflict. The Western Balkans has not become a second Hong Kong or Singapore, even after some of the regional countries joined the EU. Neither the ethnic nor the religious divisions were successfully addressed after several Balkan nations joined NATO. If there is any outside security threat, it comes from the North Atlantic Alliance, which has proven its readiness to use force to reach its goals in the region. A NATO air force base in Albania will hardly make the life of ordinary people living in the Western Balkans better or more secure, but it will certainly bring the concept of Greater Albania closer to reality.

The MEK was founded in 1965 and it has the unusual distinction of taking action to overthrow both the former government of the Shah of Iran and the Islamic Republic of Iran by relying on terrorist actions. In the early 1970s, the MEK embarked on a program of assassinating Iranian officials and U.S. personnel in Iran. The Iranian Revolution of 1979 saw the MEK's program of bombings and shootings increase in intensity. The MEK is led by the husband-wife team of Massoud and Maryam Rajavi, who opponents and ex-members of the MEK describe as leaders of what has become known as the "Rajavi Cult." The Rajavis abhor criticism and have been known to silence former MEK members-turned-critics by having them constantly harassed or worse, assassinated.

The MEK’s most notable terrorist actions included:

• the attempted kidnapping in 1970 of the U.S. ambassador to Iran, Douglas MacArthur II, the nephew of the famed World War II general.

• the attempted assassination in 1972 of U.S. Air Force Brigadier General Harold Price with an improvised explosive device (IED).

• the assassination in 1973 of U.S. Army officer Louis Lee Hawkins in Tehran. That same year, the MEK assassinated U.S. Air Force officers Col. Paul Shaffer and Lt. Col. Jack Turner.

• the 1973 bombings of Pan-American World Airlines and Shell Oil offices in Tehran.

• the assassination in Tehran in 1976 of three American employees of Rockwell International — William Cottrell, Donald Smith, and Robert Krongard. U.S. President Gerald Ford said he hoped that “the murderers will be brought to justice.” Instead, they are treated as heroes and the future government of Iran by bi-partisan leaders in Washington.

• MEK threats to kill Presidents Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter during their respective May 1972 and December 1977 visits to Iran.

• the 1978 assassination of Texaco oil executive Paul Grimm in Ahwaz, Iran.

• assisting in the 1979 takeover by Iranian militants of the U.S. embassy in Tehran.

• the 1979 bombing in Tehran that killed the democratically-elected Iranian President, Mohammad Ali-Rajai, and Prime Minister, Mohammad Javad Bahonar.

During the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein permitted the MEK, also known as the “People’s Mojahedin,” to establish bases inside Iraq. Saddam armed the MEK and provided them with financial and logistical support to carry out terrorist attacks inside Iran. In 1988, the MEK, with Saddam’s assistance, launched a ground invasion of Iran.

In Operation Mersad, Iranian forces defeated the MEK, which had hoped to establish control over Iranian territory to establish a rival Iranian government. Had the MEK succeeded, the Middle East would have seen its first genuine terrorist state. Establishment of a terrorist state would have to wait until the Syrian civil war, when ISIL proclaimed an independent caliphate in occupied territory in Syria and Iraq.

After the United States ousted Saddam in the 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq, the MEK forces were confined to U.S.-protected compounds in Iraq, the most prominent being Camp Ashraf, the former U.S. military's Camp Liberty. The new Iraqi government demanded the MEK forces leave Iraq. Acceding to Iraqi demands, the United States re-located 3,000 MEK members to the Manez base in Albania, which the MEK calls “Ashraf 3.” The MEK, which reportedly receives support from Israel’s Mossad, is said to be involved in money laundering and sex trafficking through the intensive use of crypto-currencies like Bitcoin.

Not surprisingly, MEK forces joined with ISIL forces in battling against Syrian and Iraqi government forces. The MEK saw ISIL as a natural ally in fighting pro-Iranian governments in Baghdad and Damascus. It was well-known to Western intelligence agencies that the MEK and ISIL had established an alliance, but, nevertheless, the Barack Obama administration removed the MEK from the U.S. State Department’s terrorist list in 2012. From 1997 to 2012, the United States officially designated the MEK as a foreign terrorist organization.

After ISIL forces were routed in Syria and Iraq, the United States pressured Albania to allow the Islamist terrorists to join their MEK allies in Albania. ISIL terrorists and their families have reportedly been housed in buildings in Tirana that were formerly occupied by MEK members prior to their transfer to the Manez base.  From their Albanian base, MEK operatives have easily entered Kosovo, the location of another major NATO military base at Camp Bondsteel, near Ferizaj in eastern Kosovo. MEK terrorists, allied with sympathizers in Albania and Kosovo, have targeted Shi’a and Sufi Islamic institutions. It is also believed by some Albanian journalists, who have been intimidated by the Albanian government and MEK, that Ashraf 3 and Camp Bondsteel are being used to train MEK and other Middle Eastern mercenaries for a war against Iran to effect a NATO-led regime change operation.

The Albanian and Kosovo governments enjoy top-level access to the Trump administration. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, himself a one-time terrorist leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army, are represented in Washington by Brian Ballard, a former Trump presidential campaign official who runs Ballard Partners, a lobbying firm based in Tallahassee, Florida.

Thanks to the political influence of the Rajavis, Rama, and Thaci, an unholy troika of the MEK, Albania, and Kosovo has blossomed under NATO’s nose in the Balkans. This troika’s tentacles extend throughout the Balkans and into Western Europe, particularly France, Italy, and Germany.

In June 2003, the Rajavi-operated MEK compound in the Paris suburb of Auvers-sur-Oise was raided by French police on the orders of anti-terrorist magistrate Jean-Louis Bruguière. Maryam Rajavi was arrested, along with over 100 other MEK members. Intense political pressure from Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Congress resulted in criminal charges, including those involving money laundering, being dropped by the French government.

The Office for the Protection of the German Constitution (DPA) has accused the MEK of not only money laundering but receiving charitable donations in return for "assisting" refugees. The Germans charges that the MEK’s charitable donations were spent on terrorist operations.

In 2004, a U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation report stated that the MEK financed its operations "through a complex international money laundering operation that uses accounts in Turkey, Germany, France, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates."

The MEK enjoys widespread support in the Trump White House, as well as in the U.S. Congress. One of the MEK's biggest boosters is Trump's National Security Adviser John Bolton. On April 1, 2017, Bolton addressed an MEK Nowruz (Persian New Year) conference in Albania and declared that the MEK would be celebrating taking power in Tehran before 2019. Bolton added, "I have believed for over a decade now that the declared policy of the United States should be regime change in Iran. And the sooner the better, for the sake of international peace and security." Over many years, Bolton has repeatedly spoken at MEK events in Paris and New York and has reportedly accepted a total of $180,000 in speaker’s fees from the organization. The MEK primarily receives financial backing from Saudi Arabia and Israel. Some of the funds are funneled to Western politicians as honoraria in return for their speeches at MEK events in venues like Paris, Tirana, and New York.

In addition to Bolton, a frequent recipient of MEK speakers’ honoraria is former New York Mayor and Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudolph Giuliani, a person who is so corrupt, the Italian mafia wanted to have him “eliminated.” Two former CIA directors, James Woolsey and Porter Goss, have spoken at MEK events, along with one former FBI director, Louis Freeh, Jr.

The MEK is represented in Washington by the law firm of Joseph diGenova and his wife, Victoria Toensing. DiGenova almost became Trump's personal attorney. However, diGenova took his name out of consideration due to conflicts of interest and Giuliani accepted the job.

In June 2017, the MEK and ISIL coordinated a terrorist attack on the Iranian parliament in Tehran and the mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The terrorists were armed with AK-47s, hand grenades, and explosive-laden suicide vests. At least 12 people were killed in the attacks. The Trump White House defended the MEK/ISIL attack in stating, "We underscore that states that sponsor terrorism risk falling victim to the evil they promote." Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called the White House statement "repugnant."

The Trump administration’s neocons, notably Bolton and Giuliani, are hell-bent on regime change in Iran. They are ramping up their terrorist army in the Balkans for such a future war.

It was subsequently published by Global Research when the site was launched in September 2001. 

What is of utmost significance is that US military operatives on contract the Pentagon were involved in providing support to separatist forces with links to al Qaeda. 

US Finances Ethnic Warfare in the Balkans

by Michel Chossudovsky

Antiwar.com, April 2001,

Global Research, September 2001

INTRODUCTION

While Washington supports the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, it is at the same time – behind the scenes – funneling money and military hardware to the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) now engaged in a border war with the Macedonian Security Forces. In a cruel irony, Washington is arming and advising both the KLA attackers and the Macedonian defenders under military and intelligence authorization acts approved by the US Congress. Military Professional Resources Inc. (MPRI), a mercenary outfit on contract to the Pentagon, is helping Macedonia – as part of a US military aid package – “to deter armed aggression and defend Macedonian territory.” But MPRI is also advising and equipping the KLA, which is responsible for the terrorist assaults. In this war, the American military-intelligence apparatus is pulling strings “on both sides of the fence.” What is the hidden agenda?

“[The] United States of America and the Kosovo Liberation Army stand for the same human values and principles … Fighting for the KLA is fighting for human rights and American values.”(Senator Joseph Lieberman, quoted in the Washington Post, 28 April 1999)

THE KLA IS TRANSFORMED

The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) – transformed in September 1999 into the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) under UN auspices – is behind the terrorist attacks in the Tetovo region of Macedonia as well as in Southern Serbia. In Macedonia, these assaults are waged by the KLA’s proxy: the Ushtira Clirimtare Komtare (UCK) or National Liberation Army (NLA). The terrorists operate from KLA bases inside Kosovo under KFOR protection.

Supported by the US, the KLA and its various proxies are well equipped. According to Carl Bildt (special UN coordinator for the Balkans), the Macedonian Security Forces “are no match” for the rebels: “the guerrillas are a competent military organization… They have a core of very experienced fighters. They are well fortified, evidently well prepared, and in all probability they control substantial parts of the hinterland.”

But where did they get the money? The Western media conveys the impression that the National Liberation Army (NLA) developed into a modern rebel force overnight, spontaneously “out of thin air” and that NATO leaders have no contacts with the KLA.

UN PEACE-KEEPING FINANCES TERRORISM

According to the (London) Sunday Times,

“American intelligence agents have admitted they helped to train the Kosovo Liberation Army before NATO’s bombing of Yugoslavia.” (1)

A review of US Congressional documents would suggest that CIA support was not discontinued after the war.2 Moreover, while the KLA maintains its links both to the CIA and criminal syndicates involved in the Balkans narcotics trade, the paramilitary organisation -renamed the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) has been elevated to UN status, implying the granting of legitimate sources of funding through UN as well as through bilateral channels.

Procurement of military supplies, training of the KLA and military advisers has been entrusted to Military Professional Resources Inc. (MPRI), a US based mercenary outfit linked to the Pentagon. The pattern is similar to that followed in Croatia and in the Bosnian Muslim-Croatian Federation where so-called “equip and train” programmes were put together by the Pentagon.

MPRI’s training concepts – which had already been tested in Croatia and Bosnia – are based on imparting “offensive tactics… as the best form of defence.”3 In the Kosovar context, this so-called “defensive doctrine” applied in terrorist assaults in Southern Serbia and Macedonia is intent upon transforming the KLA paramilitary into a modern military force which serves the Alliance’s strategic objectives. MPRI listed in 1999 “ninety-one highly experienced, former military professionals working in Bosnia & Herzegovina.”4 The number of military officers working on contract with the KLA has not been disclosed.

There is, however, a consistent thread: KLA Chief of Staff Agim Ceku (previously with the Croatian Armed Forces) has been involved in a long-term relationship with the MPRI. Ceku started working with MPRI in 1995 in the planning of “Operation Storm” in Croatia, which led to ethnic massacres and the expulsion of more than 200.000 Serbs from the Krajina region of Croatia. The fact that Ceku is “an alleged war criminal” – according to the files of the Hague Tribunal (a body reporting to the UN Secretary General) – does not, however, seem to bother anybody in the “international community.”5

Ceku holds a UN passport (Laissez-Passer) which provides him with diplomatic immunity within Kosovo. According to ICTY prosecutor Carla del Ponte, Ceku’s reputation and integrity, however, are unstained because the Hague tribunal’s “inquiries … relate to atrocities committed [by Ceku] in Krajina … between 1993 and 1995. Ceku’s record in Kosovo itself is not thought to be in question.” (6)

Behind to polite façade of international diplomacy, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has – on Washington’s instructions – knowingly and willfully approved the appointment of “an alleged war criminal” to participate in a UN peacekeeping operation. In other words, the UN system is “financing terrorism,” creating an ugly precedent in the history of a respected international body: “The United Nations is paying the salaries of many of the gangsters,” who are now involved in the terrorist assaults into Macedonia.7

RECYCLING NARCO-DOLLARS

US support to the KLA is only one among several sources of KLA financing. Various Islamic organisations have channeled money and military equipment to the KLA. Prior to the 1999 war,

Mujehadeen mercenaries recruited in a number of countries fought against Serb Security forces alongside the KLA in Kosovo. According to the ‘Sunday Times,’ the recent assaults by the KLA’s proxy in the Tetovo region of Macedonia have been “encouraged by mercenaries from Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia.”9

Amply documented, the Balkans drug trade is used to finance ethnic warfare with the complicity of the US and NATO. The pattern of covert support – through the recycling of narco-dollars – has been an integral part of CIA covert operations since the Soviet-Afghan war. According to documents of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), “members of the notorious Albanian mafia have links to a drug smuggling cartel” based in Kosovo’s capital, Pristina. This cartel is allegedly manned by ethnic Albanians who are members of the Kosovo National Front (KNF) whose armed wing is the KLA. The DEA documents apparently show it is one of the “most powerful heroin smuggling organisations in the world” with its profits being diverted to the KLA to buy weapons.10

In the words of former DEA agent and author Michael Levine:

“Ten years ago we were arming and equipping the worst elements of the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan – drug traffickers, arms smugglers, anti-American terrorists…Now we’re doing the same thing with the KLA, which is tied in with every known middle and far eastern drug cartel. Interpol, Europol, and nearly every European intelligence and counter-narcotics agency has files open on drug syndicates that lead right to the KLA, and right to Albanian gangs in this country.”11

While US aid – combined with drug money – is channeled to the KLA, Washington and Brussels perfunctorily condemn the NLA-Tetovo instigated terrorist assaults while casually denying the links of the attackers to the KLA. In the words of former NATO Secretary General Javier Solana: “‘it would be a mistake to negotiate,… the terrorists have to be isolated. All of us have to condemn and isolate them. Nothing can be achieved through violence” …

NATO has pledged to ”starve” the rebels by cutting supply lines from neighboring Kosovo.”12 While condemning the terrorists, NATO – through the UN – has also been “raising the urgent need for restraint by the Macedonian forces.”13

This double talk is of course a form of political camouflage: you say that you are against the terrorists and then support them via the KLA with guns, ammo and military advisers paid by the US public purse.

FINANCING BOTH SIDES

But there is something else even more terrifying which has not been revealed to public opinion. The guerilla war in the Tetovo region of Macedonia is being financed and therefore controlled by Washington “on both sides” of the border. While Washington pumps money into the KLA, the FYR of Macedonia – which has been an obedient client state – is also the recipient of US military aid and training. Macedonia is a member of NATO’s Partnership for Peace (PfP) and aspires to acquire full NATO membership.

The same group of US military advisers on contract with the KLA is also “helping” the Macedonian Armed Forces. The MPRI – while assisting the KLA in its terrorist assaults – is also present behind enemy lines in Macedonia under a so-called “Stability and Deterrence Program.” The later is intent upon “assisting the Macedonian Armed Forces… to deter armed aggression and, should deterrence fail, defend Macedonian territory….”14 What is happening is that the US mercenary company with a mandate “to defend the border” is also advising the KLA on how best “to attack the border.”

Is this not crystal clear: The military-intelligence ploy is to finance both sides of the conflict, provide military aid to one side and finance the other side. And then “make them fight.” It’s a sinister military-intelligence game, an “insider operation” with US military advisers on both sides from the same mercenary outfit (the MPRI). Macedonia’s “Stability and Deterrence Program” is in fact largely supported by US foreign military sales (FMS), namely MPRI is in charge of delivering (i.e. dumping) to the Macedonian Armed Forces obsolete weapons and hardware which the US Department of Defense wants to get rid of.

Moreover, with its various sources of financing (drugs, Islamic organisations, US military aid, contributions from the US-Albanian community), the KLA and its Macedonian proxy the Ushtira Clirimtare Komtare have the upper edge. The money channeled from various sources including the drug trade far exceeds the meager FMS allocations granted in the form of surplus military equipment to the Macedonian Ministry of Defence.15

The friendly and cordial meetings held in Skopje (July 2000) between General Henry H. Shelton, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff and his Macedonian counterpart, General Jovan Andrevski, constitute an obvious smoke screen. While America’s top brass pays lip service to its PfP partner and ally, the KLA – with the support of the Albanian American community – is actively recruiting US citizens to fight as volunteers against the Macedonian Security Forces.16 Bear in mind that this pattern of “financing both sides” is not limited to the Balkans: since the end of the Cold War, Washington has been involved in channeling covert financing and triggering civil conflicts in different parts of the World including Central Africa, the Caucasus and Central Asia. By financing both sides of the conflict, the US controls the outcome of the war.

MPRI OVERSEES THE SHOW

While recruiting a wide range of military and intelligence expertise from its data bank of former military personnel, MPRI is controlled by a handful of former generals and ex-CIA officers. MPRI General (retired) Rich Griffitts – responsible for MPRI’s program in Macedonia – is talking to the Macedonian Chief of Staff. He also talks to KLA Commander Agim Ceku – with whom he has established a longstanding relationship since Operation Storm in Croatia in 1995. Ceku is part of the MPRI’s “old boys network”; in collaboration with MPRI, he was one of the main architects of “Operation Storm.” In this capacity, he also acted as Commander of the Artillery division, which ruthlessly shelled Krajina Serb civilians!17

Whether MPRI personnel stationed in Kosovo is in direct contact or communication with their colleagues in Macedonia is not the issue: all MPRI military staff in the field report back to Rich Griffitt, Crosbie Saint and Carl Vuono (President of MPRI) at the company’s headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. Crosbie Saint – in charge of the company’s “International Group” – coordinates MPRI’s various operations in Kosovo and Macedonia as well as in Croatia and Bosnia. In turn, Saint – who is a former director of military intelligence – is in permanent contact with the Pentagon, KFOR and the CIA.18

HIDDEN AGENDA

So what kind of war is this? Both sides in the Macedonia border war are controlled by the US. American military personnel from the same private mercenary company are stationed on “both sides of the fence” assisting their local counterparts to fight a war on Washington’s behest.

If this war is allowed to continue, it will inevitably lead to the escalation of ethnic hatred, civilian casualties and refugees. This in turn will result in political destabilization and social unrest in both Macedonia and Yugoslavia, thereby providing a pretext to Washington and NATO to directly intervene under the disguise of “peace-keeping” and “confidence building.” The hidden agenda also consists in the mobilization of ethnic Albanians in Macedonia to support or become part of the KLA’S structure.

In other words, Washington is “financing ethnic warfare” as a means to achieving broad geopolitical, strategic and economic objectives using the KLA as proxy force. Meanwhile, the ‘international community” – warning of an impending “humanitarian disaster” – has sent in an army of observers and human rights experts, with a mandate to protect the political and social rights of ethnic Albanians. This brokered “reconciliation” – imposed by NATO under UN auspices – is based on the premise that ethnic Albanians in Macedonia are an oppressed social minority. It not only fosters socio-ethnic divisions within Macedonia; it also provides legitimacy to the KLA sponsored “freedom fighters” as well as international media sympathy. It tends to discredit the Macedonian Security Forces, thereby weakening their ability to fight the KLA.

While Washington continues to support the terrorists behind the scenes, the military alliance presents itself as an impartial mediator. In turn, NATO’s informal mouthpiece, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), is placing the blame on the Skopje government, calling upon:

The dispatching of Bulgarian troops into Macedonia (under NATO’s “Partnership for Peace” Program) to fight the rebels could (if implemented) contribute to triggering a much broader conflagration in the region. Similarly, ethnic clashes – also engineered by Washington – have been triggered in Montenegro, which has a sizeable Albanian ethnic minority. And in Montenegro, the MUP, Montenegro’s highly partisan police force is being assisted by the Croatian Armed Forces, which in turn are being trained by the MPRI under the so-called Croatian Armed Forces Readiness and Training System (CARTS). Similarly, demanding “autonomy” for ethnic Hungarians in the North of Vojvodina is part of NATO’s ploy with large numbers of NATO troops stationed on the Hungarian side of the border. More generally, the various military aid packages provided to Croatia, Bosnia and the KLA are ultimately directed against Serbia.20

Despite the compliance of the Belgrade and Skopje governments to Washington’s demands, US foreign policy purports to eventually dismantle political institutions and get rid of political parties which resist US-NATO domination. Their objective is to eventually break up what remains of Yugoslavia into what UN Balkans envoy Carl Bildt has called a “patchwork of protectorates” on the “Kosovo-Bosnia model under UN “peace-keeping,” namely under military occupation.21

A Dayton-style agreement is the chosen framework for displacing and destroying existing State institutions including a fragile yet functioning parliamentary system. With regard to Macedonia, the OSCE has appointed Ambassador Robert Frowick to work with the Skopje government. His terms of reference are clear. In 1996, Frowick was put in charge of implementing “democracy” in Bosnia-Hercegovina under the Dayton agreement: the Bosnian “Constitution” – previously drafted by American lawyers at the US Air Force base in Dayton, Ohio – was appended to the 1995 US brokered “General Framework Agreement.”22

DISARMING THE NEW WORLD ORDER

The terrorist assaults in Macedonia and Southern Serbia are serving Washington’s strategic goals in blatant violation of international law. NATO is increasingly discredited in the eyes of World public opinion. The lies and falsehoods are surfacing and the people of Yugoslavia are determined to preserve their sovereignty in the face of American aggression.

US foreign policy directed against so-called “rogue states” lacks credibility both in the US and internationally. Around the World, citizens are looking to Yugoslavia and the courage of its people who have resisted the imposition of the New World Order. The lies concerning the war against Yugoslavia have been uncovered and revealed to millions of people.

NOTES

1. Tom Walker and Aiden Laverty, ‘CIA Aided Kosovo Guerrilla Army’, Sunday Times, 12 March 2000).
2. See “Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000.” HR 1555, Section 308 “Report on Kosova Liberation Army.”
3. See Tammy Arbucki, “Building a Bosnian Army,” Jane’s International Defence Review, August 1997.
4. See Military Professional Resources, Inc, “Personnel Needs,” MPRI web page.
5. See Michel Chossudovsky, “United Nations Appoints Alleged War Criminal,” Emperors Clothes, March 2000.
6. See Tom Walker, “Kosovo Defense Chief Accused of War Crimes,”Sunday Times, London, 10 October 1999.
7. Quoted in John Sweeney and Jen Holsoe, “Kosovo Disaster Response Service Stands Accused of Murder and Torture,” The Observer, London, 12 March 2000.
8. Michel Chossudovsky, “Kosovo Freedom Fighters Financed by Organized Crime,” Covert Action Quarterly, Fall 1999, also published by Emperors Clothes.
9. Tom Walker, “NATO Troops caught in a Balkan Ulster,” Sunday Times, London, 18 March 2001.
10. According to DEA documents reviewed and quoted in R. Chandran, “US-backed KLA linked to Heroin Network.“
11. Quoted in the New American Magazine, May 24, 1999)
12. Quoted in the New York Times, 20 March 2001)
13. United Nations Interim Administration Mission In Kosovo (UNMIK), Press Release, 29 March 2001.
14. See MPRI.
15. US military aid under the FMS program for Macedonia was $4 million in FY 2000, 7.9 million was appropriated for 2001. More recently, the US announced a $13.5 million military aid package, See Government of Macedonia, Ministry of Defence, Communique, 21 March 2001; Congressional Budget Justification for Foreign Operations, Fiscal Year 2001, Released by the Office of the Secretary of State, Resources, Plans and Policy, U.S. Department of State, March 15, 2000.
16. New York Times, 19 March 2001.
17. See Michel Chossudovsky, “NATO has Installed a Reign of Terror in Kosovo,” July 1999.
18. See MPRI.
19. Statement by OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Severin on former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Kosovo, 23 March 2001.
20. See Michel Chossudovsky, “The War Against Yugoslavia Is Not Over,” June 2000.
21. See Carl Bildt’s statement. Bildt was formerly the High Representative in Bosnia following the adoption of the Dayton Agreement in 1995).

22. For a discussion see Michel Chossudovsky, “Dismantling Yugoslavia, Recolonizing Bosnia,” Covert Action Quarterly,Spring 1996, also published by Emperors Clothes. Also, see text of the Bosnian Constitution.

Prof Michel Chossudovsky, globalresearch.ca

The bloody disintegration of Yugoslavia orchestrated by global centres of power opened up new possibilities to the ideologists and practitioners of a ‘Greater Albania’. A key role in realising the plan now passed to military and political structures, first and foremost the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and its ‘affiliates’ in neighbouring Balkan regions. 

The issue of establishing Albanian armed units in Kosovo numbering 40,000 people was first raised in Germany in 1992 with the active participation of the Albanian authorities. Among others, the Albanian defence minister at that time, Safet Zhulali, and his Kosovo colleague Heizer Heizerai took part in the talks held between 1992 and 1993 (1). Then the issue was ‘frozen’ for two years due to the defeat of underground Albanian paramilitary organisations in Kosovo. In 1996, however, evidence came to light that the Albanian government had started financing underground armed groups «centred in one of the European countries» through its embassy in Belgrade (2). The first armed KLA operations were noted at the end of 1997. Then in 1998, the International Crisis Group recorded the presence of KLA paramilitary training camps in the north and northeast of Albania operating under the control of the special services of NATO member countries.

The KLA initially set itself two key goals: to gain independence for Kosovo (including through the use of terrorist methods) and to transform the area into a military and political centre for the ‘gathering’ of Albanian lands in accordance with the provisions of the 1878-1881 League of Prizren (the League of Prizren was a national organisation of Albania established on 10 June 1878 as part of the Albanian National Awakening. It was founded in the city of Prizren to oppose the implementation of decisions of the Berlin Congress, according to which certain border areas of the then Ottoman Empire were transferred to Montenegro and Greece). To this end, a branched structure of military and political organisations of Albanians who closely coordinated their armed actions and attracted funds from the Albanian diaspora around the world as well as from international institutions, including those with a Euro-Atlantic focus, was established around the cusp of the 1990s-2000s.

In this regard, the biography of Ali Ahmeti, the current head of the Democratic Union for Integration (of Macedonian Albanians) is typical. He became active in the Albanian separatist movement immediately after graduating from the University of Pristina in 1983. In 1986, Ahmeti was elected as a member of the Main Council of the National Movement for the Liberation of Kosovo, in which he was responsible for cooperating with European countries. In 1988, he became one of the movement’s few leaders and became the head of its military sector in 1993. In 1996, Ali Ahmeti was one of the main founders of the Kosovo Liberation Army, and when violent fighting broke out in the region between Albanian units and the Yugoslav army and Serbian police, he was already a member of the high command of the KLA.

It was in 1998 that Western circles finally decided in favour of ethnic Albanian extremists as their main military and political allies in the Balkan region. Thus, the statement made several months before by the then US envoy to the Balkans, Robert Gelbard, that the KLA was a «terrorist organisation» was actually disavowed. As Jerry Seper, a leading US expert in international terrorism and drug trafficking, pointed out in May 1999, Albanian separatists «were terrorists in 1998 and now, because of politics, they’re freedom fighters», despite the fact that the KLA «financed much of its war effort with profits from the sale of heroin» (3).

After the NATO bombing campaign of Yugoslavia in 1999 and the deployment of international contingents to Kosovo, Ali Ahmeti was transferred to the Macedonian theatre of fighting for a ‘Greater Albania’, where he became one of the leaders of the anti-government uprising of Albanians in Macedonia, supported by relevant Kosovo institutions. In 2001, Ali Ahmeti was elected Commander-in-Chief of the National Liberation Army of Macedonian Albanians. In June 2001, Ali Ahmeti was temporarily included on a US blacklist of people associated with terrorist activities and was denied entry into Switzerland and a number of other European countries. This did not prevent him from signing the Ohrid Peace Agreement, which was developed and championed by NATO and the European Union, in the name of Macedonian Albanians, however. (The Ohrid Agreement is a document signed by the Macedonian government and Albanian political representatives on 13 August 2001 under pressure from the international community).

At present, the leaders of the Macedonian Albanians, referring to the spirit and letter of this document and accusing the authorities in Skopje of non-compliance, are already calling for the country’s authorities to agree to turn the state into a Macedonian-Albanian confederation called the «Republic of Macedonia-Illirida», failing which they are threatening to achieve it through force.

An armed uprising of Albanians similar to the one in Macedonia broke out in 2000-2001 in the south Serbian municipalities of Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac and were suppressed by Yugoslav army and police forces. However, a scenario involving the gradual Albanianisation of the region is currently being successfully implemented there and is allowing Albanians to establish control over local government institutions. According to Serbian experts in national and regional security, «the actions of Albanian extremists in Kosovo, Macedonia, South Serbia and Montenegro are being coordinated from a single centre». In particular, the former head of the Coordination Centre for Kosovo and Metohija under the Serbian government, Nenad Popovic, says that «the actions of Albanian extremists and terrorists in different areas of the Balkans are well organised and coordinated» (4).

Two key sources make up the financial basis for realising the ‘Greater Albania’ idea. First are the ‘voluntary-compulsory’ contributions from the Albanian diaspora. According to the International Crisis Group, «the large Kosovo Albanian diaspora communities living in the United States, Germany and Switzerland have played – and will continue to play – a key role in the current and future economic, social and political development of Kosovo, as well as dictating military events on the ground. They could easily open up new fronts if they wish to keep up the pressure on the numerous unresolved Albanian-related issues» (5).

The second important source of income for realising the ‘Greater Albania’ idea is money from drug trafficking and other cross-border criminal activities controlled by Albanians. The money made by Albanian groups through controlling the drug flows from the Near and Middle East and Southwest Asia (primarily from Afghanistan) to Europe is estimated to be at least $30-50 million a year.

As well as the military and political developments and the multi-billion dollar financial support, the ‘Greater Albania’ idea also relies on relevant historical and ethnographic theories. The latter aim to prove the autochthony of Albanians in the Balkans as direct descendants of the ancient Illyrians (as opposed to the ‘newly-arrived’ Slavs) and substantiate the autonomy of the ‘Greater Albanian’ state by means of historiography so that it will be «proven with respect to antiquity and to all subsequent periods» (6). Using the vivid words of Serbian academic Spasoje Djakovic, the Albanian irredentist «has incorporated a historical past, an ancestry and an ‘authentic’ culture into continuous ideological and political propaganda with deafening force and enormous persistence» (7).

Even the Albanian experts themselves have to recognise the fact that right up to the start of the 20th century, the Albanian ethnos was lacking a number of key characteristics traditionally inherent in a single nationality. Among other things, the first government of ‘independent’ Albania established in Vlorë in 1912 had to prepare its declaration of independence in Turkish and write its directives using the Turkish alphabet, since there was not a single member of Ismail Qemali’s cabinet who knew the Albanian Latin alphabet that had been developed just a few years before.

In fact, there is historical and philological evidence that suggests the ancestors of Albanians lived much further east of present-day Albania and Kosovo. In particular, the similarity of the early Albanian and Thracian languages suggests that the ancestral home of Albanians, who engaged in distant-pasture cattle breeding, should be regarded as the Carpathians, from where they crossed the Danube together with the Slavs and moved through Macedonia to the west of the Balkan Peninsula. This theory is a good explanation of the lexical similarity of the Albanian and Romanian languages, as well as the fact that the first mention of Albanians in written sources is not until the 11th century as inhabitants of ‘Arbanon’ in present-day central Albania.

The violent expulsion of other nations and their Islamisation actively carried out during the Ottoman yoke between the 14th and 19th centuries is also another important factor in the formation and wide-spread distribution of the Albanian ethnos across the Balkans. According to Serbian sources, between the 18th and 19th centuries alone, a total of nearly half a million Serbs were resettled in the Kingdom of Serbia from Kosovo and Metohija. The peak of the migrations took place in the periods following the Serbian uprisings of 1804-1813 and the Serbo-Turkish wars of 1876-1878.

The remaining Serbs were subjected to forced Islamisation, as a result of which a significant amount of Kosovo Albanians are of Serbian origin, according to Serbian academic Jovan Cvijić. The same has been said by Russian academics and diplomats, including the consul in Vlorë and delegate to the International Commission of Control in Albania, Aleksandr Petrjaev. He stressed that the Albanians in Kosovo and Macedonia «should, in the vast majority of cases, be regarded as Turkicised and Albanianised Slavs» (8).

An attempt to create a Balkan state within its widest possible ethnic borders was undertaken at the European level at the end of the 1870s. This refers to the Preliminary Treaty of San Stefano, signed in 1878 by Russia and the Ottoman Empire that determined the territorial and state structure of Bulgaria. The idea was not realised at that time because of the anti-Russian position of the other great powers and concerns within the Russian government itself regarding the emergence of a «regional heavyweight» and the subsequent chain reaction among the other Balkan nations. The ‘Greater Albania’ model of the 21st century, however, looks much more dangerous and, more importantly, much more realistic than the hypothetical ‘Greater Albania’ of the late 19th century. The fact that the Albanian nationalists have a single military and political centre and command and staff structures that have established close ties with the higher echelons of the US, NATO and the European Union, as well as considerable financial resources, means that the prospect of an Albanian state with a population of around 10 million appearing on the map of the Balkans can be regarded as completely realistic.

According to a poll by the Gallup Balkan Monitor, at least 75 per cent of respondents in Kosovo and 70 per cent in Albania support the idea of a ‘Greater Albania’, although in 2006 just 2.5 per cent of Kosovo Albanians considered unification with Albania the best way of solving Kosovo’s problems (1).

International institutions and influential global powers are ignoring the threat posed by the intensification of the Albanian factor in the Balkans and in Europe as a whole. They are trying to present the actions of Kosovo separatists, the anti-government uprising of Macedonian Albanians, the extremism of Albanians in south Serbia’s Presevo Valley and the underground activities of Albanian nationalists in Montenegro and Greece as isolated events caused by specific social and economic or cultural and ethnic reasons.

The Albanian elite prefer not to use the terms ‘Greater Albania’ and ‘Pan-Albanianism’, using instead the term «Albanian national question», interpreted as «the movement for the liberation of the Albanian lands from foreign occupation and their unification into one single national state» (2). According to prominent Albanian intellectual Fatos Lubonja, «the Albanians’ dream of being united one day has been a part of their collective consciousness» without becoming a political programme because «Albanians have always been very weak» (3).

On maps of ‘Greater Albania’ widely circulated in Albania, Kosovo and other Balkan regions, this entity, with Skopje in present-day Macedonia as its capital, is labelled as ‘Ethnic Albania’. It includes within its borders Albania itself, Kosovo, the south Serbian municipalities of Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac with mixed Serbian-Albanian populations, significant parts of Macedonia and Montenegro, including its capital Podgorica, and the Greek region of Epirus.

The idea of forming a ‘Greater Albania’ was first developed by delegates of the Albanian League, which gathered in the Kosovo town of Prizren in 1878. They adopted a programme that contained items such as «fighting to the last drop of blood against any annexation of Albanian territories» and «the unification of all territories populated by Albanians into a single province» (4). One of the ideologists of the Albanian movement, Pashko Vasa Shkodrani (a Catholic who served as the governor of Lebanon in the Ottoman Empire), stated back in the 19th century that «the religion of Albanians is Albanianism».

At a meeting of the League of Prizren in July 1879, the then leader of the Albanian national movement’s radical wing, Abdyl Frashëri, published a manifesto on the formation of a provisional government of autonomous Albania, the territory of which was to include Albania, Kosovo, the Macedonian regions of Debar and Skopje, and the Greek city of Ioannina. «Let us all be Albanians and create Albania», Abdyl Frashëri stated (5).

The suppression of the Prizren League by the Ottoman authorities in 1881 moved the fight for a ‘Greater Albania’ into the mainstream of cultural and ethnic propaganda for a time, but at the turn of the 20th century, the Albanian movement received a fresh impetus. Its leaders regarded all the vilayets of the Ottoman Empire inhabited by Albanians as its base. In June 1911 in Podgorica, members of a local Albanian committee prepared a memorandum called ‘The Red Book’, which provided for the establishment of an autonomous Albania within the Balkans made up of every region inhabited by Albanians. At that time, one of Albania’s leaders, Ismail Qemali, openly called for Albanians to drive out «Christian Slavs» using rifles. Later, when he was head of the provisional Albanian government proclaimed in 1912, he demanded that the great powers cleanse «Albanian land» of Slavs and Greeks. (6)

Russian diplomatic representatives in the Balkans confirmed the growing influence of the Albanian factor and warned of the threat it posed. As the Russian consul in Vlorë, Alexander Petryaev, reported in 1912, «the Albanian people, who have never before played a political role, are acquiring such force under Turkish rule that they are leaving their region, expanding their borders, and taking up a different national character with a glorious historical past» (7).

The Albanian Declaration of Independence, prepared together with representatives from a number of great powers, was passed on 28 November 1912 at an Albanian national assembly in Vlorë. Beforehand, Ismail Qemali visited Vienna, where he discussed his plans with the leaders of Austro-Hungary and specified the borders of Albania, which included, along with Albania itself, the Macedonian cities of Bitola and Skopje, the Greek city of Ioannina, and the Kosovo cities of Pristina and Prizren. The Conference of Ambassadors of the great powers that opened in December 1912 in London did not recognise the Albanian Declaration of Independence and decided to hand over many of the territories being claimed by the leaders of the Albanian movement to neighbouring Balkan countries. In return, however, activists of the ‘Greater Albanian’ movement obtained grounds for demanding that «the will of all Albanians» be realised. Leaving the London conference in anger after its participants refused to unite Kosovo with Albania, one of the leaders of the Albanian national movement, Isa Boletini, promised: «When the spring comes, we will manure the plains of Kosovo with the bones of Serbs, for we Albanians have suffered too much to forget».

At the end of the First World War, the great powers as a whole kept the principles of Albania’s division among its Balkan neighbours unchanged, allowing Albanian nationalists to maintain ever since that «nearly half» of those whose identities could be defined as «Albanian» remain outside the Albanian state.

The idea of a ‘Greater Albania’ experienced a renaissance during the Second World War when, in 1939, Germany and Italy united Italian-occupied Albania with the vast territory of its neighbouring Balkan states. In May 1941, the ruling Albanian Fascist Party triumphantly announced that nearly all Balkan lands inhabited by Albanians were now united with Albania (9). The only partial exception was the Greek region of Epirus (‘Chameria’ in Albanian toponymy). There, the Italian occupying authorities appointed an Albanian High Commissioner, Xhemil Dino, but the region itself remained under the control of the Italian military command based in Athens. This situation continued right up until these territories were liberated first from Italian and then German occupation. As part of the post-war settlement, the anti-Hitler coalition decided to restore Albania to its former borders, which largely corresponded to the decisions of the 1912-1913 Conference of Ambassadors of the great powers in London.

After the end of the Second World War, ideas regarding a ‘Greater Albania’ were pushed to the background for a while, including in the priorities of Albania, which at that time was keen on the idea of creating a Balkan federation.

The idea of a Balkan federation was, in principle, shared by the leaders of the three main states concerned – Albania, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. One scenario envisaged the supranational union of Albania not just with Yugoslavia (and therefore Kosovo) and Bulgaria, but also Romania and even Greece (despite the complexity of Albanian-Greek relations). This large-scale project was primarily supported by Bulgaria’s communist leader, Georgi Dimitrov. In contrast, Yugoslavian leader Josip Broz Tito was in favour of creating the South Slavic Union (the Union of South Slavic People’s Republics) as the second phase of the unification. The first phase was to be the unification of Albania with Yugoslavia. Belgrade was convinced – and in this was met with understanding from Tirana – that an Albanian-Yugoslav union would not only become the core of the Balkan federation, but would also be the best possible solution to the Kosovo problem by including Kosovo «in an Albanian Federal unit».9.

According to the memoirs of Milovan Djilas, an ally of Tito, Belgrade and Tirana were already, in the last few months of the Second World War, «more or less of the viewpoint that Albania should unite with Yugoslavia», which would resolve the Albanian question in Yugoslavia since «it would make it possible to unite a considerable and compact Albanian minority with Albania as a separate republic in the Yugoslavian-Albanian federation» (10). Commenting on a conversation with Enver Hoxha following his visit to Belgrade, the Soviet envoy to Albania, D.S. Chuvakhin, noted in his diary on 3 July 1946 that the Yugoslavian leader, according to Hoxha, «believes it necessary to make every effort to join the population of Kosovo and Metohija with the population of Albania» (11).

The 1948 Soviet-Yugoslav conflict buried the idea of a Balkan federation, but did not affect the development of the ‘Greater Albania’ idea. In the subsequent period of Hoxha’s rule, ‘Greater Albanian’ sentiment was actively disseminated among the population of Kosovo through publishing and propaganda activities, including through Pristina University. Participants of the National Conference of Ethnographic Sciences that took place in Tirana in 1976 pointedly noted that «nearly five million Albanians» continue to remain outside of Albania itself (12). And in 1981, when the situation in Kosovo intensified as a result of anti-government demonstrations by local Albanians, Albania’s leaders developed plans for Albanian army units to be brought into the region.

The police responded without hesitation. By the time that operation was over the militants had been routed and neutralized. But opposition protests continued, tents sprang up in the city square, and the protesters’ demands expanded to eventually include a call for regime change and new elections. 

Politicians and experts are well versed in such crises, and thus a diagnosis was quickly handed down from Moscow: another «color revolution» or a Macedonian-style Maidan was in progress. Russian politicians spoke out quickly and decisively: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that not only was Russia concerned about the situation in Macedonia, he also outlined Moscow’s position on the causes behind the opposition outcry in Macedonia and the potential course of events, as well as the danger of further moves by Albanians in the Balkans, activity that is now being directed by Albania herself. Mr. Lavrov’s concerns stemmed from the fact that Tirana has mentioned pursuing its Greater Albania project. The prime minister of Albania, Edi Rama, has stated that an eventual merger between Albania and Kosovo is inevitable, regardless of whether or not that unification takes place within the context of the EU.

The Russian foreign minister is confident that the crisis in Macedonia is being orchestrated by outside forces. «Events in Macedonia are being blatantly controlled from the outside», claimed Sergei Lavrov. Indeed, the US Embassy, the CIA , and NGOs are actively assisting the protesters. American diplomats are advising the prime minister to agree to early elections and are present during all the negotiations. The street opposition truly is acting out the script to a «color revolution», as has been tried in Serbia, Georgia, Ukraine, and many other countries. However, it should be emphasized that there are significant anomalies in the Macedonian version of Maidan. 

First of all. A strong and experienced party (the political base of both the president and prime minister) is currently in power, with the complicated name of VMRO – DPMNE, 4 which commands solid support from the Macedonian public. The country’s leaders had no trouble bringing 90,000 of their loyalists into the streets. And the police are being careful to neither allow themselves to be provoked nor to cede anything to the protesters. Therefore it can be assumed that the confrontation on the streets «in accordance with the usual scenario» could drag on ineffectively for still quite a while. 

The second difference is very significant – the so-called «Albanian factor.» They serve as the spokesmen for the heavy-handed foreign element in the conflict and are easy to mobilize in the event of further unrest in the streets and squares of the Macedonian capital of Skopje. If the Albanians give a «thumbs up» to their joining the protesters, that would mean that they would take up arms and begin writing their own script for regime change in Macedonia. Provocations and armed clashes with the police would begin immediately, and thus casualties should be expected on both sides. That is the most likely scenario. I will explain why. 

Albanians would never support the popular protests in Macedonia unless they wanted to exploit the demonstrations for their own ends. Their goal is to unify all the lands surrounding Albania that have a majority Albanian population. Of course the project to build a Greater Albania has been in progress for more than one hundred thirty years. And early in the 21st century it seems those dreams coalesced into an explicit action plan. First the Kosovo Albanians fought to secede from Serbia, then the Albanians in Macedonia and southern Serbia joined them in 2001. Soon the Kosovo Albanians of that province declared their independence in 2008, with Washington’s support. After the talks between Belgrade and Priština (2011-2013), Kosovo became virtually independent, needing only one additional step – the acquiescence of Serbia – to achieve legal, recognized sovereignty. Then even the UN Security Council would not be able to challenge the will of Belgrade. But Belgrade is vacillating. And the patience of the Kosovo Albanians is at an end. And not only they, but also the Albanians in Macedonia, Montenegro, and Greece are left waiting. After all, the plan could not be more clear. Once Kosovo is granted a seat at the United Nations, Albanians in Macedonia, southern Serbia, Montenegro, and northern Greece will take up arms and fight to secede from Macedonia with Kosovo’s support. 

The West supports these plans, as they are extremely eager to weaken the Serbs and other Orthodox faithful in the Balkans, isolating them from Moscow. The United States also needs to locate its military bases here in order to control the region. Europe silently consents, naively believing that everything will proceed peacefully. But if the plan to create a Greater Albania gets off the ground, Europe will find a very dysfunctional, explosive hotbed of perpetual tensions, hatred, crime, and lawlessness right on its own doorstep. And the semi-independent Kosovo is clear testament to this.

But because the pace of Kosovo’s path to full independence has slackened, impatient Albanians are beginning to crop up in Serbia and in Europe. First, a process has begun that cannot be explained either in the Balkans or in Europe: Albanian families by the thousands are leaving home, quitting Kosovo, Montenegro, and Macedonia, headed for Albania and Europe, thanks to the open border. Officials in these countries are puzzled and dismiss it as a reaction to widespread unemployment in the Balkans. But it seems to us that this march of the Albanians must either be a reminder to Europe to take another look at the issue of Kosovo’s independence or else the buildup for a massive war. 

In Preševo, Medveđa, and Bujanovac (in southern Serbia), preparations are in full swing for those areas to secede from Serbia. In Montenegro, ethnic Albanians make up only 5.5% of the population, but even there a restless drift is unmistakable. Nor can Greece escape problems with Albanians: Albania has filed claims against Greece over some border districts. Second, Albanians are demonstrating right there in Macedonia that they can begin to resolve their question militarily. Radical forces from Kosovo are demanding that Tirana and Priština intervene in the events in Macedonia and «stop that dictator Nikola Gruevski», the prime minister of Macedonia, because the police in Macedonia have attacked Albanians. They promise that seven million Albanians «will move into Macedonia with their bare hands, and soon that state will exist no more».

Which scenario is most likely in Macedonia? European and UN politicians will likely express concern about the status of democracy in Macedonia, condemn the actions of the Macedonian police in Kumanovo, and demand an «impartial» international investigation of «violations of citizens’ rights» (with no mention of terrorism). As long as the police are afraid to act, Albanian militants will fabricate a series of provocations and acts of terrorism in the country, accusing the government and the president of responsibility for the casualties. The Albanians in Tetovo, Kumanovo, and Skopje will form armed units and gain control of the territory. By threatening to block Macedonia’s entry into the EU, the European Union will urge Gruevski to make peace with the rebels and refrain from military action.

If the Albanians once again call up the National Liberation Army as they did in 2001 (but which has since gone underground), war in the country cannot be avoided. Militants from Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State will rush in to support their Muslim brothers. And they will dictate the terms to the Macedonians. Those who encouraged the Albanians in Kosovo and forced an expansion of their rights in Macedonia in 2001 will be reconciled. At the negotiating table the government will be forced to grant significant concessions to the Albanians, who will raise the issue of independence for part of the country. This will satisfy their yearnings for a Greater Albania, as well as the American goals to fully control the Balkans and establish docile and obedient puppet states there. And most important – Washington hopes that Russia’s influence in that region will finally come to an end.

(1) The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization – Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity is a nationalist party that favors a course toward Euro-Atlantic integration.

The Albanian factor greatly influences the events. It may lead to involvement of other forces and even neighboring states. Albanian radicals started the «orange revolution style» protests in Kumanovo and other places. Once started it will not end up with the resignation of the government headed by Nikola Gruevski. The interests of Albanian radicals and Zoran Zaev, the political leader of the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM), coincide temporarily and only at tactical level, there are no strategic common goals. Normally Macedonian Albanians have one of their parties in a ruling coalition, either the Democratic Union for Integration led by Ali Ahmeti or the Democratic Party of Albanians headed by Menduh Thaçi (the both leaders closely tied to Kosovo radicals). One of the parties remains in opposition to maintain the system of checks and balances. Albanians can always take part in the movement to make the government resign, if need be. Their goals do not include economic progress of the country or foreign policy objectives but rather the defending the interests of Albanian diaspora. 

The protests by Albanian activists had been preceded by the statement made by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, «Albania and Kosovo may unite in a classic manner, if the European Union (EU) does not open the road to Kosovo’s European integration,» he said in a television debate on Klan TV in Kosovo, which was also attended by Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Hashim Thaci. According to Mr. Rama the unification of Kosovo and Albania had two alternatives and both were up to the EU. 

«The first alternative is unification within the EU but if the Union continues closing its doors to Kosovo’s integration, the two counties may be forced to unite in a classic manner», the Prime Minister remarked. The Pristina’s Foreign Ministry has already launched «a note of protest» to Skopje over crackdown on terrorist groups in Kumanovo. Ben Blushi, an Albania MP, visited the place to say that «Macedonia has a serious problem with democracy. I’m sorry to say but it’s not a democratic country».

The Albanian news agency AND wrote on its home page that Zoran Zaev is facing a hard choice. Ali Ahmeti keeps silent. 

The Albanian factor and economic difficulties to hinder European integration are not the only problems faced by Macedonia. There is another reason widely discussed in Turkey. Turkish Habertürk writes that the events in Macedonia are part of a big game played to hinder the implementation of Turkish Stream. According to the newspaper, Macedonia has become important to the US as it could become the only way for Russia’s proposed Turkish Stream pipeline to reach Central Europe. The US wants to organize an orange revolution in Macedonia to prevent Turkish Stream going through its territory. 

Yeni Şafak agrees with this opinion. It writes that Turkish Stream creates new opportunities for Turkey. If implemented, the project will turn the country into the key element of regional energy system. That’s one of the things the United States wants to prevent along with the rise of Russia. It puts into doubt the loyalty of Ankara, its traditional partner. [1]

Richard Morningstar, the Founding Director of the Atlantic Council's New Global Energy Center and former US ambassador to Azerbaijan told noted Turkey and Azerbaijan have strong relations, and Turkey would not allow the Turkish Stream pipeline project to compete with TANAP. «I`ll be surprised if Turkey, implementing the Turkish Stream, will reduce the chances of the TANAP project,» Mr. Morningstar said. So he doubts the viability of the project. The signal is clear. His goal is to make Turkey abandon plans for energy cooperation with Russia. A coup in Macedonia (to be a transit country according to Turkish Stream plans), or even total destabilization of the situation there, would be timely if Turkey were adamant protecting its national interests. 

The United States and its allies in Brussels are accustomed to play with marked cards, it would be logical to expect the further exacerbation of the situation on the way of Turkish Stream. The destabilization plans may include Serbia, especially in the southern municipalities of municipalities of Presevo, Medvejda, and Bujanovac. The conspiracy will be carried out under the good old slogans calling for «democracy». 

I remember the Gorbachev times – a blow-out reception in the Soviet embassy. One of German Communist Party leaders had a drop too much and failed to make it to his car. He fell on the lawn to have a rest. It happened right in front of media men that surrounded the embassy. Everyone was sure that the gutter press will be happy to describe it the next day. But no, not a line. Neither press, nor TV channels ever said a word. Germans did not want to say anything negative about the Soviet Union led by Gorby, so media outlets executed the «Links um!» (Left Turn!) command. It’s also true that German media did not comment on the large article published by Pravda which told about Americans recruiting Soviet diplomats in Bonn. Everyone kept the mouth shut, even the left wing outlets. In this case they executed the command «Rechts um!» (Right Turn!). The discipline they displayed could not go unnoticed. It really impressed.

When someone tells me about the freedom enjoyed by German press it makes me either laugh or cry depending on the extent of interlocutor’s enthusiasm. I needed this long preamble to discuss the publication that has appeared on the website of Deutsche Welle. The piece is devoted to the situation in Kosovo. 

Germany was one of the founders of the ugly creature made of blood and mud called «Independent Kosovo». German officials always spoke favorably of «democratization process» allegedly taking place inside this spooky thing. 

Now Deutsche Welle, the Germany’s international broadcaster controlled by the government offers a publication to lambaste Kosovo. The first thing that comes to mind is that the German officials responsible for media have all gone insane and decided to bring to naught the results of diplomatic efforts applied by Germany in the Balkans for so many years. What Angela Merkel called «the flower of democracy» is now called «a bloody and dangerous golliwog». I recommend you to read this publication if you haven’t done it yet. It offers an unusual vision of things that is far from the traditionally tolerant attitude of German officials towards Kosovars. 

Frankly, as a political analyst I was inclined to write about the failure of Berlin to see that the bugbear could not exist being a thing doomed to failure from the start. It makes me surmise that they have launched the process of preparing public opinion to turn away from it. Actually, it’s hard to say if Berlin believes that Kosovo is a viable project. German police reports that the fat is already in the fire. The Kosovo mafia is on the way to become a real problem. With the economy of the «Republic of Kosovo» in doldrums the flow of Kosovars into Germany becomes a real disaster. Along with refugees the flow brings in dregs of society representing the region’s criminal world. 

Germany banned Kosovo refugees from entering the country but did it too late. It resembles an emotional appeal of frivolous lady asking a gynaecologist for help. «There is someone moving inside. It is so unexpected. Could you, please, do something about it?» The only thing the doctor could do is to call police together with a midwife. The ban won’t help. Kosovars have already settled down and got citizenship of other member states of the European Union. Germany is famous for its high quality public healthcare. The Kosovo mafia is sure it can do good business cutting people in parts to sell as human organs. If the officials close to the Chancellor don’t even smoke marijuana (something stronger would be better) the Kosovo mafia is ready to come and make things right. For instance, the Kosovo Mafiosi feel great in the United Kingdom under the protection of the British crown. But there is a difference between the two. Since a long time ago Her Majesty, the Queen, stopped to care about who controls the criminal world of the kingdom or is involved in the racket of businessmen. 

The German powers that be are still under the illusion that they live in a democratic society. They are unable to understand that corruption, brigandage and fraud are the pillars of their world. Like Russian «young reformers of the 1990s» German officials should be sent to the United States and undergo a training period so that they would see with their own eyes the sad reality of life. In Germany the Kosovo Mafia act like pioneers of the Americanization process to ultimately make Germans real members of Anglo-Saxon gang (excuse me – I wanted to say Anglo-Saxon society). 

Hardly can Germany offer any help to the pregnant lady with someone moving in her body. 

Mam, you had to use contraceptives while making love surrounded by the beautiful views you enjoyed so much. 

The strategy of the Obama/George Soros interventionists is to bury the Macedonian government of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski with unfounded charges that it engaged in massive wiretapping of some 20,000 Macedonians, including leaders of the opposition. The source of the transcripts of intercepted communications of Macedonian citizens allegedly came from the former chief of the Macedonian intelligence service, Zoran Verushevsky, who may have had assistance in collecting the wiretaps from his friends in British, German, and U.S. intelligence. The intercepts have been used by Social Democratic opposition leader Zoran Zaev, a favorite of the Soros network and the U.S., to hammer Gruevski for allegedly eavesdropping on the opposition. Somehow, Zaev gained possession of copies of the intercepts, which he then used to attack the government.

Although 20,000 targeted individuals seems like an excessive amount of intercepted communications and not within the capability of Macedonian intelligence, such a task is certainly within the grasp of the National Security Agency (NSA) and its FIVE EYES alliance. A well-publicized report from Germany that the German «Bundesnachrictendienst» (Federal Intelligence Service) agreed to eavesdrop on 800,000 European citizens on behalf of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) indicates that 20,000 Macedonians being targeted by the NSA and BND, with the recordings of voice communications possibly being provided to Zaev and his associates in Skopje, was well-within the capability of the American and German eavesdroppers. The NSA sent the BND a large number of «selectors,» that is, email addresses, Internet Protocol (IPO) addresses, mobile phone numbers, and various other identifying data, on hundreds of thousands of European politicians, business leaders, engineers, and others. NSA systems, including PRISM, PRINTAURA, and UPSTREAM, are used to «select» particular communications of interest to NSA and allied signals intelligence analysts.

The collection of phone calls and emails of Macedonians based on NSA «selectors» could have easily amassed 20,000 intercepts by the BND in Pullach, Germany and NSA in Fort Meade, Maryland. If NSA intercepts were provided in sanitized format to Zaev and his loyalists, it would represent a new tactic by the U.S. Intelligence Community: the provision of metadata to blackmail sitting elected governments.

The U.S. and Soros Balkans destabilization strategy has also seen the rise of Albanian nationalist irredentism along the fragile Kosovo-Albanian border with a recent attack on a Macedonian police border post at Gošince by 40 armed men wearing the insignia of the outlawed Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). That action came at the same time that Kosovo's Foreign Minister, Hashim Thaci, the former leader of the KLA, defied threats by Serbian authorities to arrest him on a 1997 conviction on terrorism if he visited Belgrade to attend a George Soros-funded NGO conference sponsored by «NGO Youth Education Committee». The April 24 conference, designed to counter growing Serbian-Macedonian cooperation in the face of Western pressure, was, unsurprisingly, titled «European integration of the Western Balkans – together we can do better». The foreign ministers of Serbia, Macedonia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina, in addition to Thaci, were invited to attend the conference. An arrest of the Kosovo foreign minister, which the invitation to Belgrade was meant to trigger, could have set the stage for another NATO/EU confrontation with Serbia, a critical partner in not only the Turkish Stream pipeline but the Chinese-funded Balkans railway part of the Silk Road project that will link the Greek port of Piraeus to Budapest through Macedonia and Serbia. The «NGO Youth Education Committee,» in withdrawing Thaci’s invitation, cited «pressure and threats» from the Serbian government as the reason. The group mentioned nothing about Thaci’s terrorism conviction.

The attack by the restored KLA on the Macedonian border post, where Macedonian police officers were briefly held hostage before the Albanian raiders returned to Kosovo, could not have been possible without the knowledge of Kosovo's military protector, NATO, which operates its largest military base in Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo. In 2001, when KLA forces, allied with Macedonian Albanian nationalists, fought Macedonian forces in the town of Aračinovo, Macedonia, forces of the U.S. private military firm, Military Professional Resources, Inc. (MPRI) were involved with both sides. The Ochrid Agreements saw Macedonia grant generous autonomy rights to its Albanian population in an effort to keep the violence that wracked Kosovo and Bosnia from spilling over into generally peaceful Macedonia. The attempt by the Soros network to foment violence within the Albanian community is a clear attempt to pry away the Albanian party, the Democratic Union (DUI) led by Ali Ahmeti, from the six year-old VMRO-DPMNE-led coalition government led by Gruevski.

The U.S. ambassador to Macedonia, Jess Baily, has made waves in Skopje by publicly supporting the putsch being called for by former Social Democratic prime minister and president Branko Crvenkovski, a native of Sarajevo, Bosnia who has been at the forefront of calling on Macedonian youth and college students to hit the streets of Skopje to stage a color revolution against the democratically-elected government of Gruevski. If all this sounds familiar, it should. It was U.S. ambassador to Kiev Geoffrey Pyatt who, working with his boss, State Department European Affairs Assistant Secretary Victoria Nuland, who conspired with Ukrainian opposition leaders in late 2013 and early 2014 to organize the Euromaidan protest that eventually saw the democratically-elected Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovych, toppled from power and the subsequent outbreak of the Ukrainian civil war.

By stoking opposition desires for a similar color revolution in Macedonia, Baily is playing with fire by also fomenting problems by using Albanian nationalists. Such a combination would start a violent civil war that would rival that between Kiev and the Russian population of eastern Ukraine. Macedonian and Serbian Slavs pitted against Albanians in Macedonia, Kosovo, and Serbia's Sanjak region and Presovo Valley would not only bring another violent war to the Balkan Peninsula but would also spell the end of the Turkish Stream pipeline through the Balkans and the Chinese-financed rail link from Greece to Budapest. The Balkans would remain a NATO frontline war zone under the total domination of the United States and European Union. Two Albanian political leaders, Prime Minister Edi Rama and former Prime Minister Sali Berisha have spoken out in favor of a «Greater Albania», consisting of Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and parts of Greece. The message for the Balkans is clear: if it continues to entertain the Turkish Stream pipeline plans and the Chinese rail project, the Albanians will rise up and resort to civil war to protect NATO's and the EU's domination over the peninsula. The Albanians, it should be noted, were the most loyal people of the Balkans in providing support for Adolf Hitler's Third Reich.

After Verushevksy was arrested for being the source of the communications intercepts and Zaev was caught with his passport in hand while he was attempting to flee Macedonia, the Soros-financed color revolution teams switched strategies to foment problems with the country's large Albanian minority, representing a third of the population. Today, Macedonia teeters on the brink of renewed ethic violence, with Nuland and her gang of neo-conservative warmongers waiting anxiously for the beginning of a new Balkans body count.

Serbia, in the words of Fogh Rasmussen, «is a key player in the West Balkan region». And now Brussels has set up another hurdle which Serbia will have to jump on the long road to joining the European Union: membership in NATO as the «best strategic perspective». Therefore we must forget about the NATO bombing of Serbia: «A lot has changed since 1999», says Fogh Rasmussen…

For NATO the results of the 1999 aggression and the extralegal expropriation of part of Serbia's territory (Kosovo and Metohija) are validated by the Brussels Agreement. And the Serbian army, notes the alliance's Secretary General, could still be useful – if it «makes use of NATO's vast experience in transforming armed forces». The thought behind these words can be seen without difficulty: the rearmament of the Serbian army according to NATO standards must exclude armaments cooperation (and not only that) between Serbia and Russia.

In speaking of Serbia's future, the NATO Secretary General clearly indicated that European integration can only be Euro-Atlantic integration. There are no other options. «The fact is,» says Fogh Rasmussen, «that the eligibility criteria for joining the EU are the same as those for cooperation through the Partnership for Peace. Consequently, the EU and NATO complement one another» (emphasis mine. – A.F.) (1). At the same time Rasmussen warned that the alliance will not tolerate deviation from the Brussels agreement: «…the implementation of the agreement is vitally important… we will be prepared to react in the case of any attempt to 'torpedo' its progress» (2). U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Philip Reeker made things even clearer: «Those who impede the implementation of the agreement on the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia are in essence impeding the policy of the U.S.» (3).

At the same time as the conclusion of negotiations between Belgrade and Priština, as a result of which the institutions and state property of the Republic of Serbia on the territory of Kosovo are being transferred to the regime of Hashim Thaçi, not long ago the new U.S. embassy complex (which cost 140 million dollars to build) was opened in the most prestigious area of Belgrade, Dedinje. Behind the unusual facade of the new 14,000 sq. m. complex lies one of the largest citadels of American intelligence in the Balkans.

An entire era in the history of the Balkans has ended. Its result is, on the one hand, the creation of a huge mass of unemployed young Kosovo Albanians – a reservoir for extremist organizations – and on the other hand, a Serbia which has been artificially driven to the brink of extinction. According to the estimates of specialists, Serbia is entering a period of rapid population decline; out of the current population of 7.5 million people, in ten years only 6 million will remain, 2/3 of which will live in large cities such as Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš and a few others. The majority of villages, if the current economic policy is maintained, will become desolate; there will be even fewer young people and more elderly people, and the healthcare and social security systems will fall into decay. The most recent amendments to the budget mean a decrease in the standard of living for 2.2 million people. (4)

Ahead is a new stage in the development of the Balkans. One of its most important characteristics will be the completion of the military and strategic unification of the region and the creation of an uninterrupted NATO zone of responsibility in the Balkans as a form of «soft» colonialism. The recruitment of Serbia as a member of the alliance will turn it into a foothold for NATO's further advancement into Eurasia…

The signing of an agreement on July 3, 2013 on military cooperation between Kosovo and Albania (which has been a NATO member since 2009) and on the presence of the armed forces of one side on the territory of the other takes on special significance. The agreement defines the procedure for deployment and stationing of troops, as well as the status of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Albania and the Kosovo Security Force (KSF). The main provision is that which defines the right of Albanian (NATO) army units to be stationed on the territory of Kosovo. If Albania and Kosovo were to join forces, an army numbering up to 20,000 could be created, and Priština will receive not only Albanian assistance in training its military personnel, but sea access as well. One must also keep in mind that the land border between Albania and Kosovo is practically nonexistent, as is the border between Kosovo and Macedonia. Albanian Defense Minister Arben Imami emphasizes that the agreement between the two countries was possible thanks to the fact that both are NATO-oriented (5). Thus the «Greater Albania project» in the Balkans is acquiring real military substance, and Serbia is being offered the role of a «silent observer and participant in the creation of Greater Albania» (6).

Recently the situation with regard to safety has abruptly grown worse. On July 7, 2013 a group of armed Albanians, planning to illegally clear a forest, crossed the border between Kosovo and Serbia and opened fire on Serbian gendarmes. Shots were fired over the course of half an hour from various types of firearms, including automatic weapons.

The question of when the south of central Serbia (the municipalities of Preševo, Bujanovac and Medveđa) will join the «Greater Albanian Union» (it is believed that it will be created in some form by 2016) could be decided in the near future. Immediately after the creation of a Temporary Parliament of the Autonomous Territory of Kosovo and Metohija on July 4, 2013 there followed a statement from the chairman of the municipality of Bujanovac, Jonuz Musliju, who on behalf of the Albanians of the three municipalities in the south of central Serbia demanded the formation of an Albanian parliament of the Preševo valley and urged political leaders and societal forces to consolidate their efforts to achieve this goal.