Hashim Tha
Kosovo ready to support US fight against IS
by Hashim Thaçi
Fifteen years ago, leading democratic states of the world intervened against the Serbian forces of the dictator Slobodan Milosevic to stop him in his attempts to eradicate Kosovo Albanians and other minorities from their ancestral homeland. In the short campaign of terror between 1998 and 1999, and also during the years of political oppression that preceded the war, Serbia murdered more than 12,000 people. Twenty thousand women were raped, while more than 1 million people were ethnically cleansed from their homes. In March 1999, Nato, led by US and European allies, intervened militarily and ended the war, which meant the people of Kosovo finally tasted their long-deserved freedom.
I have followed with interest mentions of Kosovo in the international media in recent years. From intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan, to Libya and Syria, the case of Kosovo has been invoked either to defend or attack the present international order. Some of these voices depict Kosovo as a failed project of “neoliberal interventionism”. Usually, both the far right and the far left of the global political landscape attempt to use snippets of news from Kosovo to prove their political points. The most recent attacks against my country come from those who claim Kosovo is becoming a safe haven for Islamist radicalism and an exporter of foreign fighters to Iraq and Syria.
These claims are far from the truth. The government of the Republic of Kosovo is taking decisive action to stop the flow of young people, often coming from marginalised communities, to the war zones of Iraq and Syria. We have passed a bill that bans fighting in foreign wars. In two separate police actions, we have arrested 45 suspected militants as well as individual imams who sponsor, advocate or support the hardliners.
Kosovo is a country where the majority of the population declare themselves to be Muslim. But Kosovars wholly reject the religious dogma proposed by radical strains of political Islam, and we shall not allow it to endanger our path towards eventual Nato and EU membership. We will crush any cells that believe, wrongfully, that they can find cover in Kosovo.
Kosovo is also one of the most pro-American nations on earth. Driving from Pristina airport to my office in the centre of the capital, you must pass through Bill Clinton Boulevard, George Bush Avenue and Bob Dole Street. After the late Congressman Tom Lantos visited Kosovo before the fall of the Berlin Wall, he spoke on the floor of the House, describing Kosovo as one of the most “pro-American and pro-democracy” regions of the world.
President Obama has presented a strategy to fight IS, and we stand fully behind it. We have limited military resources but great conviction that US and global allies including the UK must succeed, for the sake of the future of our children.
The US and its allies can count on all of Kosovo’s support in facing this global threat. We will play an active role in stopping any indoctrinated individuals from the backstreets of Kosovo’s cities from joining IS and we will destroy recruitment networks. Reforms in the economy and education as part of our European integration strategy will provide better opportunities for marginalised strata of society that have lost out in these times of transition.
As noted in several reports by the UN secretary general, my government has also engaged actively in global interfaith dialogue, offering our experience of reconciliation and postwar nation-building as a platform for debating ways to reduce religious tensions in troubled parts of the world. Thus, when invoking Kosovo as a reference, both politicians and analysts can be certain that my country has become a success story. In our darkest hour evil did not prevail, because good people did something to stop it. America’s present war against IS echoes this human need to stop evil at its roots. The people of Kosovo stand strongly behind this.
THE GUARDIAN
Kosovo ready to support US fight against IS
by Hashim Thaçi
Fifteen years ago, leading democratic states of the world intervened against the Serbian forces of the dictator Slobodan Milosevic to stop him in his attempts to eradicate Kosovo Albanians and other minorities from their ancestral homeland. In the short campaign of terror between 1998 and 1999, and also during the years of political oppression that preceded the war, Serbia murdered more than 12,000 people. Twenty thousand women were raped, while more than 1 million people were ethnically cleansed from their homes. In March 1999, Nato, led by US and European allies, intervened militarily and ended the war, which meant the people of Kosovo finally tasted their long-deserved freedom.
I have followed with interest mentions of Kosovo in the international media in recent years. From intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan, to Libya and Syria, the case of Kosovo has been invoked either to defend or attack the present international order. Some of these voices depict Kosovo as a failed project of “neoliberal interventionism”. Usually, both the far right and the far left of the global political landscape attempt to use snippets of news from Kosovo to prove their political points. The most recent attacks against my country come from those who claim Kosovo is becoming a safe haven for Islamist radicalism and an exporter of foreign fighters to Iraq and Syria.
These claims are far from the truth. The government of the Republic of Kosovo is taking decisive action to stop the flow of young people, often coming from marginalised communities, to the war zones of Iraq and Syria. We have passed a bill that bans fighting in foreign wars. In two separate police actions, we have arrested 45 suspected militants as well as individual imams who sponsor, advocate or support the hardliners.
Kosovo is a country where the majority of the population declare themselves to be Muslim. But Kosovars wholly reject the religious dogma proposed by radical strains of political Islam, and we shall not allow it to endanger our path towards eventual Nato and EU membership. We will crush any cells that believe, wrongfully, that they can find cover in Kosovo.
Kosovo is also one of the most pro-American nations on earth. Driving from Pristina airport to my office in the centre of the capital, you must pass through Bill Clinton Boulevard, George Bush Avenue and Bob Dole Street. After the late Congressman Tom Lantos visited Kosovo before the fall of the Berlin Wall, he spoke on the floor of the House, describing Kosovo as one of the most “pro-American and pro-democracy” regions of the world.
President Obama has presented a strategy to fight IS, and we stand fully behind it. We have limited military resources but great conviction that US and global allies including the UK must succeed, for the sake of the future of our children.
The US and its allies can count on all of Kosovo’s support in facing this global threat. We will play an active role in stopping any indoctrinated individuals from the backstreets of Kosovo’s cities from joining IS and we will destroy recruitment networks. Reforms in the economy and education as part of our European integration strategy will provide better opportunities for marginalised strata of society that have lost out in these times of transition.
As noted in several reports by the UN secretary general, my government has also engaged actively in global interfaith dialogue, offering our experience of reconciliation and postwar nation-building as a platform for debating ways to reduce religious tensions in troubled parts of the world. Thus, when invoking Kosovo as a reference, both politicians and analysts can be certain that my country has become a success story. In our darkest hour evil did not prevail, because good people did something to stop it. America’s present war against IS echoes this human need to stop evil at its roots. The people of Kosovo stand strongly behind this.
THE GUARDIAN
