Kosovo UDI a blow to international law - Chaplin

[Steve Hayes]

Kosovo independence a blow to international law - Moscow Patriarchate

Moscow, February 18, Interfax - Kosovan Albanians need to remember that you
cannot build a peaceful and successful life at somebody else's expense, the
Russian Orthodox Church said.

"Certainly, the Albanians who live in Kosovo like any other people, who at any
moment in history can wish for the life of peace and dignity. But you cannot
build such a life at the expense of others," deputy chief of the Moscow
Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations Archpriest Vsevolod
Chaplin said, commenting on the unilateral declaration of Kosovan
independence.

This event is a breach of the international law, "one of the most crucial
principles of which is the inviolability of territorial integrity of the
state," the priest said.

"This principle in the international legal system is not inferior to the idea
of human rights, and an attempt to otherwise interpret international law is
biased," Fr. Vsevolod said.

That the global community has failed to prevent this breach by ceding to
forceful and political pressure "is the most serious blow to the very
foundation of the legal system of international relations," he said.

Most non-Albanians have left Kosovo, and hundreds of churches, which are part
of world cultural heritage, have been destroyed and vandalized, and "this was
accompanied by outrageous nationalist propaganda," the priest said.

Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II spoke of these instances on many
occasions in public speeches and during meetings with high officials from
various countries, Fr. Vsevolod said.

Hopefully, the remaining Serbs and other non-Albanians will not have to leave
their homes and their spiritual and cultural legacy will not be disappear from
the surface of the globe, the Church official said.

"I would like to hope that the Serb Orthodox Church which has an old spiritual
center in this province will continue normal life in Kosovo, by developing its
mission and service," Fr. Vsevolod said.

However, "previous events leave little hope for this," he added.

Nevertheless, all countries of the world today must do everything they can to
make sure that people of various ethnicities can live a free and peaceful life
in Kosovo and have an opportunity to fulfill their hopes and expectations and
to choose for themselves a lifestyle both on a governmental level and on an
ethnic community level.

"When one party to a conflict feels injustice and is suffering, the conflict
cannot be deemed resolved, and this should be clear to all those who make
decisions in Kosovo itself and in countries which are trying to take
responsibility for the people who live there."

http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=4287

[Matthew Johnson]

Post by Steve Hayes
Kosovo independence a blow to international law - Moscow Patriarchate
Moscow, February 18, Interfax - Kosovan Albanians need to remember that you
cannot build a peaceful and successful life at somebody else's expense, the
Russian Orthodox Church said.
"Certainly, the Albanians who live in Kosovo like any other people, who at any
moment in history can wish for the life of peace and dignity. But you cannot
build such a life at the expense of others," deputy chief of the Moscow
Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations Archpriest Vsevolod
Chaplin said, commenting on the unilateral declaration of Kosovan
independence.

This is all very good, but even he seems to miss the real point: the entire
ancient sphere of influence of the Byzantine Empire, i.e. most of Eastern
Europe, Russia and yes, even Georgia and the Middle East see this as an attack
on Orthodox Christianity.

Now I realize that to many readers of the NG this will seem irrational. But here
is where I have to agree with the Russians -- that we think such things because
_our_ news coverage is biased.

What is more, that bias really does reflect religious differences, though it is
not entirely determined by it. For our news coverage, ever since the war in
Bosnia, has been biased to depict Western intervention as a Crusade to defend
human rights. And such a point of view was easily believed both in the US and
EU, but not at all in Eastern Europe. The point of view they found more
plausible is that we effectively became the Air Force of the KLA -- a terrorist
organization.

What has this got to do with religions differences? At least a little bit, since
it was the Roman Pope who first gave Western Christendom a hankering for
Crusades. But perhaps not much more than that.

[snip]

Post by Steve Hayes
Most non-Albanians have left Kosovo, and hundreds of churches, which are part
of world cultural heritage, have been destroyed and vandalized, and "this was
accompanied by outrageous nationalist propaganda," the priest said.

This tragedy has been severely under-reported in the Western Press. This
under-reporting also sounds suspiciously like bias.

Post by Steve Hayes
Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II spoke of these instances on many
occasions in public speeches and during meetings with high officials from
various countries, Fr. Vsevolod said.
Hopefully, the remaining Serbs and other non-Albanians will not have to leave
their homes and their spiritual and cultural legacy will not be disappear from
the surface of the globe, the Church official said.

I am afraid it is too late for this, it already has disappeared, thanks to the
misguided action and even [later] inaction of the West intervening so clumsily
in Kosovo.

[snip]

[Steve Hayes]

Post by Matthew Johnson

Post by Steve Hayes
Kosovo independence a blow to international law - Moscow Patriarchate
Moscow, February 18, Interfax - Kosovan Albanians need to remember that you
cannot build a peaceful and successful life at somebody else's expense, the
Russian Orthodox Church said.
"Certainly, the Albanians who live in Kosovo like any other people, who at any
moment in history can wish for the life of peace and dignity. But you cannot
build such a life at the expense of others," deputy chief of the Moscow
Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations Archpriest Vsevolod
Chaplin said, commenting on the unilateral declaration of Kosovan
independence.

This is all very good, but even he seems to miss the real point: the entire
ancient sphere of influence of the Byzantine Empire, i.e. most of Eastern
Europe, Russia and yes, even Georgia and the Middle East see this as an attack
on Orthodox Christianity.

I think he gets the exact point.

Too many people have treated power struggles in the Blakans over the last 20
years, and in the breakup of Yugoslavia in particular, as a zero-sum game, in
which one party can win only at the expense of someone else. It was the Church
that tried, for a time to promote a wider vision -- see my article
Nationalism, violence and reconciliation at:

http://www.geocities.com/missionalia/natrec.htm

But especially since the Nato aggression of 1999 the Church has tended to draw
in and be mainly concerned about salvaging something from the wreckage.

Post by Matthew Johnson
Now I realize that to many readers of the NG this will seem irrational. But here
is where I have to agree with the Russians -- that we think such things because
_our_ news coverage is biased.
What is more, that bias really does reflect religious differences, though it is
not entirely determined by it. For our news coverage, ever since the war in
Bosnia, has been biased to depict Western intervention as a Crusade to defend
human rights. And such a point of view was easily believed both in the US and
EU, but not at all in Eastern Europe. The point of view they found more
plausible is that we effectively became the Air Force of the KLA -- a terrorist
organization.

That is very true, and is partly due to Croatia and Slovenia hiring PR firms
to control the Western media spin.

Post by Matthew Johnson
What has this got to do with religions differences? At least a little bit, since
it was the Roman Pope who first gave Western Christendom a hankering for
Crusades. But perhaps not much more than that.

And the Bavarian Catholic Church which specifically promoted the dismemberment
of Yugoslavia, initially through the German media, but from there it spread
throughout the West, though I think even the Germans were a bit taken aback at
how fat the USA took it.

Post by Matthew Johnson

Post by Steve Hayes
Most non-Albanians have left Kosovo, and hundreds of churches, which are part
of world cultural heritage, have been destroyed and vandalized, and "this was
accompanied by outrageous nationalist propaganda," the priest said.

This tragedy has been severely under-reported in the Western Press. This
under-reporting also sounds suspiciously like bias.

It is interesting that the Western media repoted extensively on the
destruction of Buddhist statues in Afghanistan by the Taliban, but similar
acts by the UCK (Kosovo Liberation Army) against religious and cultural sites
in Kosovo were hardly ever reported -- perhaps because so many of them took
place under the noses of Nato.

But in recognising the Kosovo UDI George Bush is now the "surrender monkey" in
the "War on Terror", because the UCK has shown conclusively that terrorism
pays.

[Matthew Johnson]

Post by Steve Hayes

Post by Matthew Johnson

Post by Steve Hayes
Kosovo independence a blow to international law - Moscow Patriarchate
Moscow, February 18, Interfax - Kosovan Albanians need to remember
that you cannot build a peaceful and successful life at somebody
else's expense, the Russian Orthodox Church said.
"Certainly, the Albanians who live in Kosovo like any other people,
who at any moment in history can wish for the life of peace and
dignity. But you cannot build such a life at the expense of
others," deputy chief of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for
External Church Relations Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin said,
commenting on the unilateral declaration of Kosovan independence.

This is all very good, but even he seems to miss the real point: the
entire ancient sphere of influence of the Byzantine Empire,
i.e. most of Eastern Europe, Russia and yes, even Georgia and the
Middle East see this as an attack on Orthodox Christianity.

I think he gets the exact point.

So you say, but then the point _you_ make -- both in this post and in
your article -- is completey different. Did you really fail to notice
it is not only different but even _orthogonal_ to mine?

Post by Steve Hayes
Too many people have treated power struggles in the Blakans over the
last 20 years, and in the breakup of Yugoslavia in particular, as a
zero-sum game,

You said this in the article too. And this _is_ true. But it is
getting farther and farther away from the topics that belong in this
NG, since the reason they see zero-sum games everywhere has much less
to do with religion or religious differences; it has more to do with
sociology (and in particular its game-theoretical aspects).

Post by Steve Hayes
in which one party can win only at the expense of someone else. It
was the Church that tried, for a time to promote a wider vision --

I did see it, yes, you are right, they did try, but the wind was taken
out of their sails quite completely by the annexation of Kosovo.

Post by Steve Hayes
http://www.geocities.com/missionalia/natrec.htm
But especially since the Nato aggression of 1999 the Church has
tended to draw in and be mainly concerned about salvaging something
from the wreckage.

And this was an entirely reasonable reaction. When the wreckage is
that bad, it is right to spend all your energy on trying to recover
something from it.

Surely it should be clear that the loss of Kosovo with all its ancient
centers of pilgrimage and monasticism was a far harder blow for the
Church than for the State. Especially since they had just seen a good
start in the revival of interest in monasticism among the young --
precisely in Kosovo. The Decani monastery you mention had mostly monks
younger than me.

Post by Steve Hayes

Post by Matthew Johnson
Now I realize that to many readers of the NG this will seem
irrational. But here is where I have to agree with the Russians --
that we think such things because _our_ news coverage is biased.
What is more, that bias really does reflect religious differences,
though it is not entirely determined by it. For our news coverage,
ever since the war in Bosnia, has been biased to depict Western
intervention as a Crusade to defend human rights. And such a point
of view was easily believed both in the US and EU, but not at all in
Eastern Europe. The point of view they found more plausible is that
we effectively became the Air Force of the KLA -- a terrorist
organization.

That is very true, and is partly due to Croatia and Slovenia hiring
PR firms to control the Western media spin.

While Serbia stuck with relying on their old Communist methods of
government sponsored propaganda -- far less effective than the
propaganda of a modern, Western PR firm.

Post by Steve Hayes

Post by Matthew Johnson
What has this got to do with religions differences? At least a
little bit, since it was the Roman Pope who first gave Western
Christendom a hankering for Crusades. But perhaps not much more than
that.

And the Bavarian Catholic Church which specifically promoted the
dismemberment of Yugoslavia, initially through the German media, but
from there it spread throughout the West, though I think even the
Germans were a bit taken aback at how fat the USA took it.

Hey, wait a minute. Isn't the current Roman Pope from Bavaria? Yes, he
was Archbishop of Munich, which is in Bavaria.

But this finally comes back to my point: the reason it took so fast in
the US is because it was such an easy job to paint this as a Crusade
to protect people from massive human-rights abuse. Of course, this is
exactly why Milosevic's intransigence was itself such a disaster.

Post by Steve Hayes

Post by Matthew Johnson

Post by Steve Hayes
Most non-Albanians have left Kosovo, and hundreds of churches,
which are part of world cultural heritage, have been destroyed and
vandalized, and "this was accompanied by outrageous nationalist
propaganda," the priest said.

This tragedy has been severely under-reported in the Western Press. This
under-reporting also sounds suspiciously like bias.

It is interesting that the Western media repoted extensively on the
destruction of Buddhist statues in Afghanistan by the Taliban, but
similar acts by the UCK (Kosovo Liberation Army) against religious
and cultural sites in Kosovo were hardly ever reported -- perhaps
because so many of them took place under the noses of Nato.

Yes, that sounds even more like religious bias, with a slight tinge of
embarassment. I am sure they were genuinely embarassed at how easy it
was the KLA terrorists to destroy even UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Post by Steve Hayes
But in recognising the Kosovo UDI

Formerly know as KLA or UCK (for the Albanian-language acronym).

Post by Steve Hayes
George Bush is now the "surrender monkey" in the "War on Terror",
because the UCK has shown conclusively that terrorism pays.

I am glad that you can see this. Many supporters of the US and EU
policy claim that they simply do not see it at all. But this is
exactly what amazes the Orthodox East, since they see the
double-standard so _very_ clearly.

Of course, then there are others, who play the "two wrong make a
right" game; they claim that the Serbs deserve all these awful things
for violating the human rights of Kosovars. But it should be pretty
obvious that such an attitude is unacceptable for a Christian.
--
-----------------------------
Subducat se sibi ut haereat Deo
Quidquid boni habet tribuat illi a quo factus est
(Sanctus Aurelius Augustinus, Ser. 96)

---

[I accepted the posting originally because I think the involvement of
Orthodox leaders is relevant to this group. As Matthew says, broader
discussions of the situation fall outside this group.
--clh]