Ned Costello

Former soldier interested in military matters, history and international affairs.

[Ned Costello @RfnCostello]

@masaccio60 @nickfshort @wtbattlefields I always ask people what would they think if a Ukrainian killed Putin on a visit to an occupied part of Ukraine? I’m sure no one in the West would call him a terrorist.

[Ned Costello @RfnCostello]

@Andric1961 As in it’s a non-story designed to keep the wounds of war open and for them to fester? In Bosnia ‘rumour’ very quickly becomes fact and the more ridiculous the more likely it is to be believed.

[Ned Costello @RfnCostello]

@DonbassSrpski It wasn’t just the Bosnian Serbs who had to withdraw their weapons. The ARBiH were also required to put their heavy weapons under UN control (which of course was never fully done) and the B Serbs were permitted to do likewise in ten locations (which they did).

[Ned Costello @RfnCostello]

@admirim @JasminMuj Maybe they respect international laws and agreements concerning sovereignty and territorial integrity. They signed the Thessaloniki Declaration in 2003 that also reaffirmed the borders of the Balkan states. So now they are wrong? Maybe everyone else needs to look at themselves.

[Ned Costello @RfnCostello]

@Petrit I think you’ll find NATO backed down on its demands that made it acceptable to Serbia. Two key points were that KFOR would be a UN mandated (not NATO) mission limited to the province and that Kosovo would remain part of Serbia. Just to make it clear as your post is misleading.

[Ned Costello @RfnCostello]

@USEmbPristina Amazing that the all those people were waiting for NATO troops when they arrived. Yet NATO spokesmen and the media reported they had been ethnically cleansed by Yugoslav forces. Another fabrication and distortion of the truth. All orchestrated by the KLA to great effect.

[Ned Costello @RfnCostello]

@admirim I am afraid I would disagree. It was not noble nor just. Kosovo Albanians used terror then force to bring about an American-led intervention that was in no way justified and as a result has set a dangerous precedent. From Iraq to Ukraine - might is now right and laws matter not.

[Ned Costello @RfnCostello]

@EUSR_Dialogue @DragisaMijacic @eucopresident In diplomacy language is important. A visit to Serbia and Kosovo suggests two separate countries. Is this now the EU’s official position and that the Thessaloniki Declaration of 2003 on respecting the territorial integrity of Balkan states no longer applies?

[Ned Costello @RfnCostello]

@RepRitchie Is this recognition of the fact that the U.S. is starting to recognise that if it wants to respect the International Rules Based Order it has to respect Serbia’s internationally recognised borders that include Kosovo. So an ambassador to Serbia effectively incorporates it all.

[Ned Costello @RfnCostello]

@eucopresident @sharenao @albulenahaxhiu_ @albinkurti Does the EU now recognise Kosovo as an independent state? I was under the impression that the EU respects international law and continues to abide by the Thessaloniki Declaration 2003 on respecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of states - ie Kosovo within Serbia….

[Ned Costello @RfnCostello]

@Andric1961 This whole story is nonsense - but like much of the reporting during the war it was published/broadcast without any evidence and relied on people simply believing it. The truth did not matter. A lack of evidence simply adds fuel to the conspiracy theories. Shocking really.

[Ned Costello @RfnCostello]

@markoah @milazdjordjevic Sadly Bosnia thought ‘it’ could too. Tragic really.

[Ned Costello @RfnCostello]

@markoah @milazdjordjevic I don’t think any of them were open to reasonable negotiation. Support comes in many forms and as we see with Ukraine we encourage but then do very little afterwards. They should have been told that recognition was not an option unless it was negotiated, not immediately declared.

[Ned Costello @RfnCostello]

@markoah @milazdjordjevic It is hypocritical, but they did it before the Helsinki Accords were signed in 1975. The accords guaranteed the borders of European states etc. There was no attempt by the breakaway republics to negotiate a peaceful dissolution, knowing that they would be supported from outside.

[Ned Costello @RfnCostello]

@markoah @milazdjordjevic As James Baker stated Croatia Declaration of Independence and its use of force to gain it were not in accordance with the Helsinki Accords. There was no attempt for a negotiated settlement. Ethnic Serbs simply wanted to remain part of Yugoslavia that should have been granted.

[Ned Costello @RfnCostello]

@ResearchTeam What is frustrating is that no mention is made of the fact that it was the ARBiH who launched the attack out of Bihac and that it was a B.Serb counterattack. As soon as the ARBiH attacked, it lost the protection as a Safe Area and Article 60 of the Geneva Convention.

[Ned Costello @RfnCostello]

@patel_javed @UKinCroatia The Partizan forces that operated from Vis were not just Croatian. The majority of Partizans were ethnic Serbs and only later in the war did the number of Croats increase, once they realised the Nazis were losing. Better to have written ‘Yugoslav’. An important distinction.

[Ned Costello @RfnCostello]

@Kosovo_Update If Serbia joins the EU then Kosovo joins automatically given Serbia’s internationally recognised borders. Why don’t Kosovars understand this? Those who encouraged them to declare independence knew that by doing so they could not be able to join the EU.

[Ned Costello @RfnCostello]

@admirim And NATO said….?

[Ned Costello @RfnCostello]

@ResearchTeam One only has to read Gen Rose’s book to see who actually fired at the mortar. His threat to Isetbegovic to tell the world that they were responsible was the only reason he sent his delegation to attend the airport negotiations to agree a ceasefire. He wanted air strikes.