UN broke in Kosovo
Not even Nordic governments care

by Jan Oberg

Isn't it amazing that the new moralists who profess to protect human rights, democracy and peace and who spent unlimited funds on warfare now don't even bother to provide the UN with the minimum funds to bring peace to Kosovo? The UN urgently needs US$ 102 million. That equals what Sweden spent on sending 860 soldiers to Kosovo. Read what the United Nations Foundation 'UN Wire' reported on February 3, 2000 - about a year after the Rambouillet 'peace' process began. It is yet another proof of the inter-cynical community's mode of operation.

UNMIK Out Of Money, Kouchner Says
The United Nations has no money to pay its civil servants in Kosovo, UN administrator Bernard Kouchner said today. Speaking to reporters at the Japan Press Club in Tokyo, Kouchner said the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) is "facing an emergency, period. We have to pay the civil servants." Some workers, Kouchner added, have not been paid for months, and "there is 0.00 deutsche mark in the budget 2000 of Kosovo"...Kouchner said the UN needs $102 million for its operation. "It is the first time in the history of United Nations peacekeeping operations that we have to deal with a budget, with the payment of the civil servants and organise an administration," Kouchner said. "It is why it is so important to get not only promises, but cash. For the infrastructure projects, we can wait a little bit longer but not for the payment of the civil servants. We must pay them." Last week, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright criticised the international community for failing to live up to its financial commitment to Kosovo. "Unfortunately, a serious crisis of funding has arisen," she said. The United States, Albright added, would contribute an additional $10 million and 100 police officers for the operation." And:

US Criticises Europe For Lack Of Effort
The UN's greatest need in Kosovo, according to police Commissioner Sven Frederiksen, is for special police trained in riot control and protection of UN buildings and officials (Jerome Rivet, Agence France-Presse, 3 Feb). "If the countries that signed up ... want a success, they will have to come up with some people," he said. "We need international police and we need them desperately." Several US senators took issue with what they perceive as a lack of European support for UN operations in the Balkans. In an Armed Services Committee hearing, committee Chair John Warner, a Virginia Republican, said, "the United Nations and other international organizations charged with the responsibility of rebuilding the civilian structures in Bosnia and Kosovo are simply not doing their job." Senator Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, added, "I am mystified why our own NATO allies have not provided more police for service in their own backyard." The European Union, he added, has not provided any of the $35 million it promised for reconstruction efforts (Reuters/Central Europe Online, 3 Feb). "On my scorecard, the European nations and the European Union are flunking the test," he said. NATO General Wesley Clark reiterated the need for support for police efforts in Kosovo. "We desperately, urgently need nations to provide additional civil police to assist this important mission," he told the committee (Sands/Pisik, Washington Times, 3 Feb). (Source: http://www.unfoundation.org/unwire/unwire.cfm)

Obscene as it is, there seems to be a tacit agreement that post-war Serbia and Kosovo are off the public agenda. Here is a selection of issues we are not supposed to have a well-informed public debate about:

* that the international missions ignore or violate central provisions of UN Security Council resolution 1244 on the basis of which they are in Kosovo/a;

* that we can't help the Albanians imprisoned in Serbia because the West officially will have nothing to do with authorities in Belgrade;

* that NATO leaders stand accused of war crimes at the Hague Tribunal while citizens of NATO countries hardly know about it;

* that according to international humanitarian organisations there are between 900.000 and 1.000.000 refugees in Serbia/Montenegro - from Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo, i.e. more than the Albanians who fled to Albania and Macedonia and who were promised a safe return;

* that the largest ethnic cleansing in the Balkans has happened under the very eyes of 45.000 NATO troops, and thousands UN civilians and police, OSCE and NGOs;

* that CIA and other dark organisations have obtained millions of dollars to overthrow the Belgrade government (e.g. Operation Matrix) - and were on the ground all the time;

* that the West maintains sanctions and isolation of Serbia and thus victimises not only the refugees but the 9 million citizens in multi-ethnic Serbia and Montenegro;

* that media, with few exceptions, have stopped asking questions about all this;

* that the EU brings oil only to cities run by opposition parties and thereby violates the finest principle of humanitarianism: that human suffering/needs should be the only criteria;

* that you never heard about financial "crisis" when NATO bombed and brought 45.000 heavily armed soldiers on the ground;

* that criminality, mafia operations, corruption and prostitution has skyrocketed in Kosovo after the arrival of the international community;

* that there is a full war going on behind the scenes about who should be the scapegoat for this the most bogus policy in the post-Cold War era.

Kosovo is now the Big Unmentionable. We know 'Realpolitik' is not about ethics. But we are making a mockery of democracy if a handful of leaders get away with all this without being made accountable for the consequences of their deeds.

Is there ONE government in Europe that dares speak up against US dominance and refuses to be be taught lessons, as above, by American leaders who caused 90% of the destruction? Is there ONE European government leader with enough civil courage to tell us that something went wrong - and remains wrong?

The big ones who ran the show won't. But non-NATO Sweden and Finland or NATO-Norway and Denmark could: the good news is that independent countries can have independent views; that's what international democracy is all about. The bad news is that this is ignored.

The Nordic countries have traditions of open debate; they used to support the UN, stand firmly on principles of international law and prefer dialogue to guns. They used to care about justice and aid to those most in need. Imagine that Sweden had not contributed to the military congestion in Kosovo: it could then have saved the whole UN mission now!

The silence about the docility and complicity of smaller governments in the Balkan tragedy is ominous - and their conscience won't be cleared by raising their voices about WWII Holocaust or about Jörg Haider.

Source: The Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research

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