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Argument: Serbia illegally annexed Kosovo

Issue Report: Kosovo independence

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  • Eqerem Mete. “Bush Right on Kosovo Independence”. The Conservative Voice.com. June 21, 2007 – “Kosovo as we know it today was part of the Kosovo Vilayet, which was carved up as a result of the Balkan wars of 1912-1913 between the neighboring countries. The boundaries of the Kosovo Vilayet had been shifting as the Ottoman Empire lost territory to neighboring states under the Treaty of Berlin following the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. The Kosovo Vilayet had Skopje (today’s capital city of the Republic of Macedonia) as its capital. Serbia grabbed Kosovo from the Ottomans and annexed the province militarily without the consent of its Albanian majority population during the Balkan Wars.
Serbia’s illegal annexation of Kosovo is an argument that Kosovo’s independence does not contravene international law. It would only put an end to a flagrant injustice against the Albanians with the connivance and tacit agreement of the European Powers. Serbs’ arguments are made up to cover up this century-old injustice.
The Serbs, who settled the region by 630 AD, having been invited by the Byzantine emperor Heraclius to suppress the local restive populations, use history as an argument to prove their case. If history is taken into account, we would say that Greece should claim Istanbul, Bulgaria and Hungary should claim Belgrade, Germany should claim a right over Sudetenland, Sweden over Finland and Norway, Mexico over Florida and California, whereas Albania should claim the Illyrian territories which are now called Serbia, Iraq should claim a right over Kuwait and so on and so forth. Returning Kosovo to Serbia would be the same as restoring Roman provinces to Italy and Ottoman provinces to Turkey. As an occupying power, Serbia’s claim to Kosovo would also be tantamount to giving their former colonies back to Great Britain, Spain, France, the Netherlands and Portugal.”
  • Esat Stavileci. “The truth about Kosovo: Arguments and fact for in support its independence”. Kosova.com. March 30th, 2007 – “imperialistic ambitions with “historic rights” could not be defended by England, France, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, which, as it is known “with centuries held many nations under their occupation. Therefore “with the destruction of colonial empires over 120 new states were created”. Serbia was “under the occupation of Ottoman Empire for over five centuries (1389-1878). Spain “had conquered all Latin America in the beginning of XVI century. Neither do “Russians ever mention their historic rights over Ukraine”. Historic arguments speak very clearly that “Serbs were placed in Kosovo with their expansion under the rule of Nemanjics’”. As a result of occupations during the Ottoman Empire, many ethnic minorities, such as Serbs, Turks and Roma, were placed in the ethnic Albanian territories. The Serbian minority was greatly expanded with the violent colonization that occurred between two world wars; nevertheless their percentage never exceeded 10% of the overall population. On the basis of these facts the conclusion is very clear: it was in deed the Serbian aggression, occupation and annexation of Kosovo that violated the international law and not otherwise, namely that Kosovo independence would violate international law.”