Kosovo is the single greatest American ally in the Western Balkans.
It is a grave mistake that the White House just nominated ambassadors to Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina while leaving Kosovo's post vacant.
https://t.co/YAj7Vy64pj
Lt. Gen. Eric Wendt, nominee for 🇺🇸 US Ambassador to 🇦🇱 Albania:
The Albanian Special Forces troopers exemplify the warrior spirit of the Albanian Hero Skanderbeg.
The Albanian people are a proud, hard-working and hospitable people.
Kosovo's Uta Ibrahimi and Petrit Kllokoqi have reached the summit of Mount Everest. 🇽🇰🇦🇱
This is Uta Ibrahimi's second ascent of the world's highest peak.
FULL ENDORSEMENT
OF FINANCIAL FREEZE
BY USA 🇺🇸 AND EU 🇪🇺
FOR ALL NON-RECOGNIZERS
OF THE REPUBLIC OF KOSOVO 🇽🇰
Recognition of Kosovo is not optional.
It is a test of loyalty
to the Free World,
to NATO,
to Europe,
and to justice.
Greece
Slovakia
Romania
Spain
Cyprus
must recognize Kosovo NOW.
NO RECOGNITION = NO MONEY
Freeze EU funds.
Freeze military aid.
Freeze strategic privileges.
No more rewarding obstruction.
Kosovo is independent.
Kosovo is democratic.
Kosovo is European.
Kosovo is NATO’s ally.
Recognize Kosovo now.
Gunther Fehlinger-Jahn
Economist & Podcaster & author PaxEuropeana series of books on European future
Chairman of Austrian Committee for NATO Enlargement for Ukraine, Austria, Kosovo, Bosnia and EU
@GunterFehlinger
https://t.co/gEt3XndLU5
I can’t believe I almost missed this.
Skanderbeg, the Albanian noblemen who fought off the Ottoman Empire for 25 years, was born today in 1405.
He is one of my favorite leaders from the Medieval period.
UN treaty body CERD confirms systematic discrimination against Albanians in the Presheva Valley:
• Suspension of permanent addresses, blocking renewal of IDs and passports and restricting political, civil rights
• Widespread hate speech and negative stereotyping in the media
Peer-reviewed DNA study:
"We detect continuity of West Balkan Late Bronze and Iron Age ancestry in Early Medieval Albania, to a greater degree than in neighbouring Balkan regions.
We find that present-day Albanians predominantly descend from this remnant palaeo-Balkan group..."
27 years ago, on 2 and 3 May 1999, Serbian police and paramilitary forces, commanded by Vlastimir Ðorďević, forcibly stopped a column of Kosovo Albanian refugees (who were fleeing from war) near the town of Vushtrri and murdered between 100 & 120 Albanian civilians.
#neverforget
Do you remember this photo? Armed Serbian soldiers, standing proud, facing unarmed Albanian civilians forced to kneel.
The man circled in the image is Srdjan Lazovic, a reservist of the Yugoslav Army.
He was sentenced by the Basic Court in Pristina to 12 years and 6 months in prison for war crimes against civilians in the village of Panorc, in the municipality of Malisheva, during the 1998–1999 war.
According to the indictment, in cooperation with Serbian police and military forces, on September 3–5, 1999, he was involved in:
🔹the unlawful arrest of around 500 Albanian civilians
🔹separating men from women and children
🔹physical and psychological torture of the detained men
🔹holding them for more than 30 hours without food or water
🔹the mass expulsion of Albanians and destruction of property
A video recording presented as evidence shows him alongside other Serbian forces, pointing automatic weapons at Albanian civilians kneeling with their hands behind their heads.
Although he pleaded not guilty and denied involvement, the court found him guilty of these crimes.
Justice may be delayed, but it should never be forgotten.
#SerbiaIsAGenocidalState
Kosovo is not a question of geography.
It is a question of freedom. 🇽🇰🇪🇺
126 countries already recognize Kosovo — the Free World stands united.
Those who oppose Kosovo stand with authoritarianism, with Moscow-style politics, with the past.
This is the real divide:
👉 Freedom vs. Tyranny
Europe must be clear.
The West must be united.
Recognize Kosovo. Fully. Everywhere. Now.
👉 Where do YOU belong?
#Kosovo #RecognizeKosovo #FreeWorld #EU #NATO #Balkans #Democracy #FehlingerDoctrine
🇺🇸🇽🇰
Grateful to our American friends, @RepKeithSelf, @RitchieTorres & @RepMikeLawler, for tirelessly backing the Republic of Kosovo, including their recently introduced resolution, in which they called on the United States Congress to support Kosovo’s integration in @NATO
🇷🇸 blocked funds towards Albanians 🇦🇱 in the Presheva Valley, sent by 🇽🇰. This directly affects 3,650 students, 94 orphans, 957 farmers, over 756 students, 139 NGOs and thousands of citizens who depend on these programs.
This is not what a democracy looks like.