❖ Serbs Withdraw From All Political Institutions in Kosovo, Including Assembly, Government, Judiciary, Police and Administrative Staff
❖ Russia ally Serbia, which was betrayed by Russia in 1999, Sends Troops to Kosovo Border as NATO Could Face Another Conflict
A deputy commander of NATO’s peacekeeping mission in Kosovo says the alliance is “ready to act” and even prepared to increase troop numbers if trouble erupts amid a vehicle-licensing standoff between Kosovo and Serbia.
Brigadier General Luca Piperni told journalists at the Kosovo Force (KFOR) headquarters in the Kosovar capital, Pristina: “We are vigilant and ready to act…if we have an increase of tensions, but we can also draw on reserve forces…that we can call in at short notice.”
Serbia doesn’t recognize its former province Kosovo as an independent state, and 10 years of EU-mediated talks aimed at normalizing diplomatic and other mutual relations have so far failed.
Piperni called the current situation calm but tense and said he could not exclude the risk of fresh unrest or violence in heavily Serb northern Kosovo as the deadline looms.
The vehicle-registration issue and refusal to respect mutual ID documents have long posed practical problems in northern Kosovo in particular, where ethnic Serbs are in the majority.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced a compromise deal on August 27 over the distribution of exit and entrance documents in which Serbia agreed to abolish entry and exit documents for Kosovo ID holders and Kosovo agreed not to introduce them for Serbian ID holders.
He welcomed it as a “European solution” to a stubborn problem in the Balkans, where ethnically fueled wars killed more than 130,000 during and after the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
Last weekend, a text circulated online that some suggested was a “new framework” for the EU-mediated talks on normalization between Serbia and Kosovo.
On September 19, Vucic said he’d rejected an EU envoy’s effort to give him a document and suggested that his country faced problems whether or not it “accepted” Kosovo’s membership in the United Nations.
“If the situation deteriorates, we are ready to intervene, we are ready to be in the middle between the protesters and the security organizations,” Piperni said. “We have sufficient forces to deal with the situation…. With that amount of troops we can end any kind of increase of tensions.”
Kosovo’s government has set a date of October 31 for imposing “reciprocal” local-registration requirements on vehicles crossing the Kosovar-Serbian border similar to those already required by Serbian authorities.
Ethinic Serbs in Kosovo begin to raise Serbian flags in Northern Kosovo, also Serbs serving in the Kosovo Government have resigned including civil servants.
Middle Eastern Muslims seem to be baffled by the situation in Kosovo. Should they, as proud Muslims, sympathize with the predominantly Muslim Albanians? Or should they, as stalwart opponents of the United States and NATO, and in some cases long-time friends of Belgrade, sympathize with the Serbs? Indecision and contradiction lead to a curious mish-mash of reactions and an overall inability to respond in way that might materially affect the outcome of the crisis.
The one Middle Eastern country with a predominantly Muslim population offering heartfelt support for the NATO operation is Turkey, where concern has less to do with Islamic brotherhood than with five centuries of Ottoman imperial rule in Kosovo and the fact that some 60,000 Kosovars speak Turkish as their mother-tongue and the many family ties between the Kosovars and the citizens of Turkey. “I saw my relatives on television, walking through mud and in pain. I tracked them down and brought them home,” says Fahri Turkkan, head of the Kosovo Albanian Solidarity Group in Turkey. This sort of reaction has led to an outpouring of popular support for the NATO operations and to a nearly fever-pitch concern for the well-being of the refugees -15,000 of whom have found their way to Turkey, a larger number than to any other member state of NATO. Indeed, so many Turkish families have opened their homes to refugees that government-sponsored refugee camps have had hardly any takers.
In the rest of the region, Muslim opinion is much more negative. Emotions are muted among NATO’s rather few supporters. Yes, the Saudi authorities endorsed the bombing operations (“We must encourage the Americans and their allies in NATO to stay the course”) and even called for ground troops “to finish the job,” but they did so quietly, for this position goes against the feelings of most Saudis. More weakly yet, the government of Jordan condemned the Serb actions without endorsing NATO’s air campaign.
To the extent that Muslim Arabs back NATO’s actions, they do so to argue for parallels between the plight of Kosovars and Palestinians. Serb and Israeli actions are allegedly “no different”: an article with the provocative title “Netansevic”points to ethnic cleansing, deportation of citizens, and destruction of civilian records and property deeds. Advocates of this line sometimes take the next step: “the justifications given by NATO leaders for attacking the Serbs also apply to Israel” and the United States should “handle the Palestinian problem … with the same approach, determination, and willpower” as in the Balkans. One Egyptian newspaper columnist actually writes about his dream “of a day when NATO forces carry out punishing operations against Israel.”
Arab critics of NATO are far more numerous and much more voluble. Many of them simply and emphatically reject the notion that the Americans and their friends are using force on behalf of Muslims. Hizbullah issued a statement declaring that the fighting in the Balkans “does not aim at protecting Albanian Muslims [but is] designed to preserve American interests, and the strongest proof of this is the ongoing killing of Albanians in Kosovo by the Serbs.” In other words, Hizbullah completely ignored NATO’s proclaimed intention of helping the Kosovars and instead dwelt exclusively on the unfortunate consequences of its actions.
Many others adopted this line and drew conclusions furthering their usual viewpoint. A Syrian newspaper rejected “the story line that the aim of this Third World War, mounted unilaterally by the Atlantic Alliance, is to afford protection for the Muslims of Kosovo,” arguing instead that it has the more far-reaching goal of putting “a definitive end to the nuclear and military capabilities of Russia after it has been subjugated economically.” This alarmist statement points to the renewed Syrian need to pander to Russia.
In addition to “strongly condemning this tyrannical aggression,” the Iraqi analysis dismissed purported U.S. and European concern with the Albanians of Kosovo, calling this nothing more than “disguises concealing other objectives,” which it claims are to weaken Yugoslavia and “encircle Russia.” It went on to predict that if “the United States targeted Belgrade this time, so the Cruise missiles will echo in Moscow itself and in other capitals” and ended with a rousing call to arms: “O states of the East, be united!”
The Iranians were likewise little impressed by NATO’s attempts to safeguard the Kosovars and return them to their homes; they reversed this goal and interpreted the aerial bombing campaign as a way to tamp down the Islamic threat to Europe. “The NATO airstrikes,” explained Iran’s supreme leader, “contrary to Western propaganda, have not only failed to bring tranquility to Muslims but have worsened their situation… The process will continue until Muslims are driven out [of Europe], Islam is wiped out and the Islamic community is destroyed.”
This motley collection of official responses points to two main conclusions. First, the Middle East often lives politically in a world of its own making, one that often leads to strange and even false conclusions. Second, on the question of Kosovo, anti-Americanism trumps Muslim solidarity.
💭 Tell Me Who Your Friends Are And I Will Tell You Who You Are!
☆ Roman Catholics and Muslims were Allies since the First Crusade. (No wonder ‘The Second Vatican Council‘)
The conquest of the Byzantine metropolis Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in May 1453. When Ottoman Sultan Mehmet conquered Constantinople in 1453, his first destination was Haghia Sophia, the towering seat of Orthodox Christianity. In front of what was then the largest church in the world, he knelt, sprinkled soil on his turban as a sign of humility and recited the Muslim prayer of faith, turning the church into a mosque: “There is no Allah-god but Allah-god, and Mohammed is his prophet.”. The new Antichrist Sultan Erdogan did the same to Hagia Sophia two years ago.
When the Orthodox Church broke away from Rome over the issue of papal authority in 1054, Constantinople became the undisputed political and religious center of the Greek-speaking world.
The city was sacked in 1204 by Western Catholic crusaders, cementing the split between Catholic west and Orthodox east.
In 2004, the late Pope John Paul expressed “disgust and pain” for the sacking of the city by the Fourth Crusade.
☆ Protestantism and ☪ Islam were allies during the early-16th century when the Ottoman Empire, expanding in the Balkans, Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia. The Turks and Protestants imported the Galla-Oromo tribe from Madagascar to the Horn of Africa to use them in their Jihad on Orthodox Christians of Ethiopia. Aḥmad Grāñ and The 16th Century Jihad In Ethiopia is repeated today in the exact same manner.
Ethiopia: The ‘revenge Jihad’ was sought and pre-planned a 126 years ago – after the defeat of Italian Romans at the battle of Adwa, Tigray, Ethiopia on March 1, 1896 .
Almost two years ago, with the meticulous knowledge of the C.I.A and State department, Anti-christian Jihadist nations and organizations strategically displaced millions of Orthodox Christians from Western Tigray – so that they could be gathered together in such a concentration camp like here in Shire. Now they are attempting to massacre them. All pre-planned by The UN + USA + Europe + UAE + Israel + Egypt + Oromos + Amharas + TPLF — and God forbid, could be finished within short time like Hitler’s Auschwitz and Dachau concentration and extermination camps.
UN + America & Europe allow their proxies; the Islamo-Protestant Perpetrators (Fascist Oromo Regimes of Ethiopia and Eritrea) to commit crimes against Ancient Orthodox Christians of Ethiopia.
💭 In 1999 the US + Europe (NATO) did the same thing directly against Orthodox Christian Serbia to help Albanian and Turkish Muslims – ‘to avenge’ the death of 45 Albanian Muslim terrorists.
💭 Senator Joe Biden, in 1999, bragged “I suggested bombing of Belgrade. I suggested that American pilots go there and destroy all bridges on the Drina”.
The 78 days of air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombs kept falling even on Serbia’s Easter – called Pascha – which is the holiest day of the Orthodox Christian year. NATO bombed innocent Serbians with Depleted Uranium because they killed 45 Albanian terrorists?! Mind boggling!
In this archived clip, for example, Joe Biden said in a fiery speech, “I will continue with every fiber in my being to keep America involved with troops that can shoot and kill….”
“I believe it is absolutely essential for American troops to be on the ground with loaded rifles and drawn bayonets.”
Ethiopia topped the table with four gold medals, three silver and two bronze. United States finished second with three golds, seven silver and nine bronze, with third spot going to Belgium with two gold medals.
Ethiopia topped the table with four gold medals, three silver and two bronze. United States finished second with three golds, seven silver and nine bronze, with third spot going to Belgium with two gold medals.
💭 Women’s 800m Ajee Wilson Gold and Freweyni Hailu Silver || ፍሬወይኒ ኃይሉ የወርቅ ሜዳሊያ ወሰደች
Ethiopia’s Freweyni Hailu was second with her season’s best 2:00.54 second
Barega, Tefera and Wilson bag gold medals on Day 3 of the world Indoor championships Inbox
The final day had three middle distance finals, the women’s 800 meters, the men’s 3000 meters, and the men’s 1,500 meters. This column was written by Justin Lagat on day 3 of the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.
The morning session of Day 3 of the world indoor championships in Belgrade belonged to the Ethiopians as they finished 1-2 in the men’s 3000m placing their nation at the top of the medal table after a third gold medal. The two protagonists who have always been chasing each other down to finish in the top two positions in a number of the world indoor tour events leading up to the world indoor championships showed that they have all along been in their own class.
The race that had appeared to be a battle between the Ethiopians and the Kenyans mid-way as runners from the two nations occupied the first four places quickly turned into a familiar scene of a single file where Selemon Barega takes the lead and Lamecha Girma follows in hot pursuit.
Barega held off Girma to win the race in 7:41.38 against 7:41.63. Marc Scott of Great Britain finished strongly overtaking the two Kenyans and taking the bronze medal in 7:42.02.
During the afternoon session, Samuel Tefera added another fourth gold medal for Ethiopia in the men’s 1500m event. During the race, Kenya’s Abel Kipsang had taken to the lead for the first part of the race before moving a little to the outside lane and letting Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway overtake on the inside to continue the lead.
With less than two laps to go, Tefera placed himself on the heels of Ingebrigtsen and the pace quickened a little bit as the latter seemed to be aiming to shake off the competition before the final bend.
Tefera stuck behind Ingebrigtsen and then moved to overtake at the last bend before he sprinted to win the race in a new championship record of 3:32.77. Ingebrigtsen was second in 3:33.02 as Abel Kipsang came strongly to finish third in 3:33.36.
💭 Gudaf Tsegay’s compatriots Axumawit Embaye and Hirut Meshesha bring home 🥈 and 🥉 to deliver the first ever medal sweep in any event at the 18th World Athletics Indoor Championships held from 18 to 20 March 2022 in Belgrade, Serbia.
👉 Axumite Ethiopia Completed Historic 1500m World Championship Sweep.
Yesterday, another Axumite, Lemlem won 🥇 Gold in the women’s 3,000m. 😲
Posted by addisethiopia / አዲስ ኢትዮጵያ on January 8, 2022
💭 Novak Djokovic’s father has launched a passionate defence of his son and has likened the tennis superstar’s treatment at the hands of the Australian authorities to the crucifixion of Jesus.
The 34-year-old Djokovic was granted a medical exemption from Covid-19 vaccination requirements to compete in the year’s first grand slam but after a public outcry he was detained by officials at the border on Thursday.
Djokovic is now in a quarantine hotel in Melbourne after his lawyers secured an agreement for him to stay in the country for a court hearing on Monday in which he hopes to overturn the federal government ban on his entry.
💭 World No. 1 Tennis Player Orthodox Christian Djokovic Told to Leave Australia on Christmas Day
Posted by addisethiopia / አዲስ ኢትዮጵያ on January 6, 2022
💭 Orthodox Christians celebrated Orthodox Christmas Eve in front of the St Sava Church + Church of the Holy Emperor Constantine and Empress Helena
Christmas is celebrated on January 7 in Serbia, according to the Julian calendar. Orthodox Christmas is also celebrated by Russia, Georgia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Egypt and Ethiopia.
During the Christmas Eve in Serbia, many of the believers were gathered at their Orthodox temples to celebrate the most joyous Christian holiday that follows – Christmas.
Christmas Eve is the religious holiday celebrated by the Orthodox Christians on January the 6th. The holiday announces Christmas – the day of Jesus birth. The name of the holiday comes after a Christmas tree (“Badnjak” on Serbian) that is cut and burned on that day. Christmas Eve is full of rituals and symbolism, and they are all connected to the celebration of family and hearth cult.
Badnjak firing symbolize light and warmth, it is a central element of the symbolism of the birth of the New Year, and the sparks that scatter in the direction of the sky symbolize the hope that the next year will be the fertile. Depending on the part of Serbia, different Christmas trees were selected. In eastern Serbia it is a cer, and in western parts are the oak or beech.
“Cesnica”, the Christmas bread, is usually flat, round bread, fat and yeast free. It is prepared early on the Christmas day, with few drops of holy water and with a coin inside, which symbolize the happiness and plentifulness in the year that follows. Cesnica is never cut, it have to be divided with hands during the family dinner. The luckiest among present ones get a piece of bread with a coin in it. There is a belief that the next year will be especially rich for him.
Posted by addisethiopia / አዲስ ኢትዮጵያ on January 6, 2022
💭 No coincidence! Controversial and more and more autocratic Australia is sending its indigenous (aboriginal) people into COVID internment and concentration camps – and now it is turning against ancient Orthodox Christians of the world.
Nine-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic may not be able to defend his 2021 title after his visa to enter Australia was canceled following an outcry over his controversial “medical exemption” from the country’s coronavirus vaccination rules.
Djokovic, the men’s tennis world no.1, hasn’t publicly revealed his vaccination status — but in a news conference on Thursday, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he “didn’t have a valid medical exemption” to the vaccination requirement for all arrivals.
“Entry with a visa requires double vaccination or a medical exemption,” Morrison said. “I am advised that such an exemption was not in place, and as a result, he is subject to the same rules as everyone else.”
“There are many visas granted, if you have a visa and you’re double vaccinated you’re very welcome to come here,” he added. “But if you’re not double vaccinated and you’re not an Australian resident or citizen, well, you can’t come.”
The 34-year-old traveled to Melbourne after tournament organizers, in conjunction with the Victoria Department of Health, said he had been granted a medical exemption to play but he was blocked at the border and told he had not met the required entry rules.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said Thursday it was up to Djokovic whether he wanted to appeal the decision — “but if a visa is canceled, somebody will have to leave the country.”
Djokovic’s legal team sought an urgent injunction against the Australian Border Forces’ decision to revoke his visa. The country’s Federal Court has adjourned the decision until Monday on whether he will be allowed to remain in Australia or be deported, according to Reuters and public broadcaster ABC.
Djokovic will be staying in Australia overnight as the injunction goes through the courts, ABC reported.
On Thursday, supporters of Djokovic gathered outside the Park Hotel in Melbourne, where he was allegedly transferred after being detained at the airport, according to CNN affiliates Seven Network and Nine News. The hotel was formerly used as a Covid-19 quarantine hotel for returned travelers, but is now operating as a detention facility housing asylum seekers and refugees.
Djokovic has previously voiced opposition to compulsory Covid-19 vaccines, saying he was personally “opposed to vaccination” during a Facebook live chat. He contracted the virus in June 2020, but since then there have been no reports of him being re-infected.
The controversy comes as Australia faces a growing outbreak, having reported a record high number of daily new cases for several days in a row.
Tournament organizers earlier said the Serb, who is trying to break the record for most men’s grand slam singles titles, had received a medical exemption to play in the prestigious tennis tournament.
The exemption was met with controversy as Djokovic traveled to Melbourne on Wednesday.
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