Madam, - In 1938, part of the sovereign state of Czechoslovakia was illegally handed over to Nazi Germany by Britain and France, so that Europe would enjoy "peace in our time". History has recorded the result of that action. Today, the New World Order has illegally torn a province of an internationally recognised sovereign state of the Republic of Serbia, in the name of "justice for Kosovo Albanians", and "the future stability of the Balkans".
The possibility of history repeating itself is very real. Although apparently calm, the authorities of Macedonia and Montenegro wait in trepidation for their Albanian minorities to demand the right to join this new state. Following the fighting in Macedonia a few years ago, Albanian separatists there are still fully armed and are awaiting their moment. Furthermore, Serbs in north Kosovo will not accept this new state, nor will they comply with any of its laws. Are they to be ethnically cleansed?
In the meantime, one should consider what this "independence" really means for Kosovo. It is sovereign in name only. The real power stays in the hands of the international forces and administration, which remain responsible for the policing of Kosovo borders, and most of the important decisions regarding internal and foreign policies.
The rules which govern the acceptance of any new country to the UN - ie, the unanimous vote of the permanent members of the Security Council - mean that it will not be accepted in the foreseeable future. Similarly, membership of OECD, the Partnership for Peace, and the European Union require the unanimous agreement of all present members - another pipe-dream.
In other words, the state of Kosovo is a stillborn, illegitimate child of the New World Order, which will only serve as a destabilising force in the Balkans. But then, for the US, such a scenario is precisely what it wants. An unstable Europe only serves to further the economic and political interests of the US. - Yours, etc,
ZIVKO JAKSIC, Hermitage Lawn, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16.