UN and EU can’t stand by over Serbia and Kosovo

SERBIA has threatened military action against Kosovo because its parliament approved the creation of a new army.

This move has been described by the US as historic and supports Kosovo’s ‘sovereign right’ to maintain forces.

Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic, who visited his troops near the Kosovo border, denounced the US for its support of a Kosovan army and praised allies Russia and China for their opposition

During his life, President Tito was able to keep the lid on the tensions ruling Yugoslavia with an iron fist, thereby controlling ethnic grievances. When he died in 1980, the ensuing break-up of old Yugoslavia formed the crucible in which the tragedy of Kosovo developed.

Of the six republics formed, only Slovenia is a member of the EU, leaving an ethnic mix of Croats, Muslims, Serbs and other ethnicities who were not separated by neat borders.

When Dinamo Zagreb played Red Star Belgrade in 1990, 1,500 Serbs and Croats engaged in a pitched battle. The presidents of Croatia and Slovenia stood by as they knew they stood to gain from the likely war which became infamous for its atrocities. The worst horrors were however inflicted on the Muslims through killings, rape, beatings and destruction of property. This was all part of the effort to ethnically cleanse some areas of Muslims. The Muslim women and children were moved to death camps. By the end of the war, the number of deaths had risen to 100,000, of which 60pc were Muslims.

The single greatest atrocity was inflicted on the Muslim enclave of Srebrenica, where fleeing Muslims went. The town was placed under UN protection as a safe area protected by 400 Dutch UN forces. The town was attacked by the Serbian army. The city was taken and the women were separated from the men and boys, of whom 8,000 were massacred in the woods. All this happened with the UN and the EU as spectators. The Americans joined the war, prompted by US reaction to the slaughter. Will the UN and the EU be spectators once more should hostilities break out between Serbia and Kosovo? Hugh Duffy

Cleggan, Co Galway