Newly pseudo-independent Kosova, it seems, is serving as a sort of political Rorschach test, with commentators' views on its drive for self-determination shaped more by their views on other issues. Days after left-wing Israeli dissident Uri Avnery noted Israeli reluctance to recognize Kosova lest it give some ideas to the Palestinians (and, worse yet, Israeli Arabs), comes a voice from the neocon end of the spectrum—finding that Kosovars and Israelis are natural allies. Michael Totten writes in a March 20 piece for Commentary (also online at his website):

With a boycott of the March 9 election called by parties barred from participation because of their presumed links to the armed separatist group ETA, abstentionism in Spain's Basque Country was at 35%—ten points higher than the national average. Elections in the three provinces that make up the semi-autonomous Basque region (Álava, Biscay and Guipúzcoa), the Socialist Party for the first time won power, ousting the long-ruling Basque Nationalist Party (PNV)—a "moderate" party which was not among those barred. The March 7 slaying of Isaias Carrasco, a former Socialist town councilor in Mondragón (known in Basque as Arrasate) was widely attributed to ETA.

The idiot left has lost no time in blasting Kosova's declaration of independence. The latest spew from New York's International Action Center screams "US Hands Off Serbia!" and cheers the Belgrade protests (where wanted war criminal Ratko Mladic was hailed as a hero) and the attack on the US embassy there. Predictably, the statement barely mentions the Albanians—and then only to note that almost a quarter of them have been forced to leave Kosova to seek work abroad. The uninitiated reading this propaganda would have no idea that the Albanians constitute over 90% of Kosova's population, and that they overwhelmingly—practically unanimously, it seems—support independence. Fortunately, there have been a few principled voices on the left who have had more honest things to say about Kosova...

Kosovo's Independence Reverberates Across Eurasia

by Rene Wadlow, Toward Freedom

The self-proclamation of independence by Kosovo may be the last act in the division of former Yugoslavia, or it may be one step in a new chain of territorial adjustments. There are calls in Republika Srpska, the Serb unit of the Bosnia-Herzegovina federation, for its integration into Serbia. There have also been discussions among Serbs of the partition of Kosovo with the area north of the Ibar River joining Serbia.

Czech Republic Intransigent on Honoring the Forgotten Holocaust

by Gwendolyn Albert, WW4 Report

PRAGUE — As has been amply documented over the 15 years of its existence, the Czech Republic has a poor record when it comes to protecting the rights of members of the Roma minority. Unfortunately, this does not apply only to present-day victims of rights abuses, but even to the memory of Roma who perished on Czech territory during the Nazi occupation.

Reading between the lines in the Kosova coverage can sure be depressing, especially for those of us who have been following the conflict there over the past 20 years. While 20 years ago, Albanian protesters were throwing rocks at Serbian police, today Serb protesters are throwing rocks at Albanian police. Ah, progress. Meanwhile, for all the passions in play over Kosova's supposed "independence"—whether Albanian pride or Serb rage—the new government still does not seem to have any real control over its territory. When Serbia's minister for Kosovo, Slobodan Samardzic, made his controversial visit to the territory, it was the UN administrator Joachim Ruecker who took responsibility for the decision to "allow" him in. In other words, the "international community" is obviously still running the show. And angry Serbs are throwing rocks and Albanian cops retaliating with tear gas over a mere fiction. From AP, Feb. 25:

Kosova's Parliament approved a declaration of independence Feb. 17. All 120 MPs were called for the extraordinary session, but only 109 were present—all the Serb MPs boycotting. Those present—all Albanian—voted unanimously for the declaration. The session was also attended by representatives of the US and EU. When the declaration was read by Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi, Kosova's capital Pristina erupted with fireworks and celebratory gunfire. Celebrations centered around a new monument to independence unveiled earlier in the day. Ethnic Albanians also staged loud celebrations in the Macedonian capital, Skopje, and at the EU and NATO headquarters in Brussels. But in the Serb-majority Kosovar town of Mitrovica, two hand grenades were thrown at a UN building and the new EU mission (the latter failing to explode).

Police arrested 24 in Spain's Basque region Feb. 14 in a strike called by the outlawed Batasuna party to protest the banning of other parties supposedly linked to the armed group ETA. Strikers, mostly teachers and academics, held banners reading: "No to the violence of persecution, no to the banning of ideas." Some chained themselves together and attempted to block traffic by placing cement-filled oil drums on the road leading into the northern city of Bilbao. Another two hung themselves by harnesses from a bridge over a commuter line, stopping trains from running. (AlJazeera, Feb. 14)