Kosovo- Declares itself independent from Serbia.

Well the week’s worst kept secret happened this afternoon as Kosovo declared itself independent from Serbia. I have followed this story very closely as I spent the end of 1999 and the start of 200 in Pristina, the capital- as part of the NATO Peace keeping force.
We arrived only a few weeks after the NATO led invasion and it seemed to be a very quick transition from Serb rule to a UN/NATO led state. It seemed that the UN/NATO and the aid agencies had learnt many lessons from earlier conflicts in the Balkans and that a peaceful turnover of power to the Albanian majority could take place.
It has surprised me that it has taken 8 years to get in this position but in the main, i believe an independent Kosovo is the best solution.
But reading through the national and international press, some of the worries that I have are hardly mentioned. Much is made of Serbia and Russia not being happy and that Serbia may man some sort of blockade from the North and East (in reality this will make no great difference to Kosovo- they will just trade with Macedonia, Greece and Bulgaria and it will be Serb's who lose out on income). there is also talk of Russia recognising breakaway regions in Georgia and Rumania.
The press also mention that the remaining Serb's will not be happy- that may seem obvious, but in 2000, many of those Serbs who stayed behind- especially in the capital Pristina- were very anti the Serb nationalist Government in Belgrade. Many of those have since left and a majority of those Serbs that are left are very poor or very old, the only real area of Serb influence is in the north in the city of Mitrovica, a city where my former regiment, the Royal Green Jackets were involved policing large Albanian protest at the start of 2000.
My worry is that many of the Albanian leaders will look to increase their own territory- not so much a Greater Albania- as they have little interest in joining Albania but it is the parts of Macedonia that are inhabited by a mainly Albania population and the area where my main worry is the parts of Serbia to the direct east of Kosovo, there is a large Albanian population and right from the start of the withdrawal of the Serb Army in 1999 the Kosovo Liberation army have made raids on that part of Serbia. Many of these attacks seemed to come from the American sector where there seemed very little will of the American commanders to stop the KLA- very unlike the North east where the British put a large amount of

resources into stopping the KLA and keeping the border area under control.
If you look at the map on the BBC News site here, and tick the box above the map to show the percentage of Albanians outside Kosovo and Albania you will see where there may be future trouble spots.
I do believe in independence for Kosovo but NATO must continue to keep a strong presence not only to help protect the Serb minority but also to stop those in the KLA (and possibly CIA!) from using this historic step today as a springboard for future land grabs from Serbia and Macedonia.

Myself in Pristina in 2000.

From Belgrade to Super Tuesday- elections that both can effect us.

As a bit of a political and election spotter, I take an interest in news on any election from a Parish Council seat in Suffolk to the big American "Super Tuesday" that takes place this week.




The US election always makes big news over here but probably even more so this year with the democrats likelyto elect either their first woman or first black American candiadte for the Presidential election. It would be nice if actualy some of our broadsheet papers put as much effort into promoting UK elections as they are the race for the White House- the Independent this week giving away a free US election guide and a large glossy map.




Of course the US election is important to us here- they are electing a person who will become the most powerful man in the world and some of his first decisions will effect our own foreign policy. A democrat win will almost certainly see a dramatic change in US policy in Iraq and possibly Afganistan. As an ex soldier , this interests me as I am sure a sudden US pullout from either theatre will mean that Godon Brown would have to follow suit- more so in Iraq.




But it is not just the US election that will effect us, recent German elections have been used by commentators in the UK to look for similarites and pointers towards our own future elections. But it is an election slightly further east than Germany that may cause more headaches for those who direct our foriegn policy. Today we see voting in Serbia in their presedntial elections, and the success of Serb nationalist politicians will see them more closely link themselves to Russia and will have a major effect on possible indepenence for Kosova. It could lead for more troops to be sent to the Balkans. Overstretch is a big concern for the Armed Forces at present and they are only able to pursue successful campaigns in Iraq and Afganistan due to troop reductions in Kosova and Bosnia. A hightening of tensions in the Balkans will need Gordon Beown to make sure that it is our European allies who take the brunt of an increase in troop numbers. Those NATO counties who have failed to send troops to support the mission to bring stability to Afganistan should be lent on to make sure they are at the fore of any troop increase in the Balkans.




So the election results from Belgrade today have as much interest to me as the "Super Tuesday" results will have later in the week.

New Jerusalem (inspired by AFC Wimbledon !)

Many politicians with an interest in football will often go on about how football can build bridges- help bring peace- bring communities together and so on. I must admit to being one of those at times. It has been fantastic how the supporters movement in the UK has got it's act together and with the help of a Labour Government through Supporters Direct has began to get the fans voice heard. The success of AFC Wimbledon, FC United (formed by Man Utd supporters not happy with the selling of their club to the American Glazer family) and clubs like York City who who are run now by the supporters are just a few examples here in this country.

Internationally in recent years the image of England supporters has improved, we are no longer seen as a mob of right wing skinheads- this thanks to the work of the Football Supporters Federation and the "Fans Embassies". It is not all good as we still have an element who are just looking for trouble when going abroad.

But football and sport can also divide nations- George Orwell, was one who thought it pushed nations apart rather than built bridges, he was very scathing of football in an essay he wrote about the visit of the Soviet team Dynamo to the UK in 1946. More recently we have seen the "newer" nations like Serbia have a supporter following who just use the support of their national team as a means to push their nationalistic idea's- not only in football we have also seen it in tennis- often it is by migrants in those counties where Serbia are playing rather than those who have travelled from Serbia.

It is not all bad and the Iraq Football team winning the Asia Cup can be looked on as good news story even though a number of Iraqi's were killed whilst celebrating in Baghdad.

Where we have seen football used as a tool of peace and reconciliation is in Israel- after being inspired by AFC Wimbledon and the English supporters movement, a number of fans who were fed up with their club-Hapoel Jerusalem and how it was run tried to buy out the rich owners, they never succeeded so instead have taken over a forth tier Hapoel club and have renamed them Hapoel Katamon (Katamon was the name of Hapoel jerusalem's old ground).

The main club in Jerusalem is Beitar, and they are known as a right wing club, Hapoel means "The Worker" and originally all clubs with the title Hapoel in it were founded by the Labour Party or the trade unions. All are now in private hands. Hapoel will pick Arab-Israeli players as well as Jews and also will sign Muslims from outside Israel. They have recently run a coaching course for 100 children- 50 Israelis- half Arabs, half Jews and 50 Palestinian players. They were coached by coaches from European teams including Fulham.Hopefully Hapoel Katamon will be a football club who help bring communities together.

It is a shame then that a visit to the UK by an Under Palestine team was stopped as they thought a number of the Palestine players may decide to stay here. they did not stop the International Scout jamboree that was held in Chelmsford this Summer and a number of Scouts from all over the world are still here long after the campfire was put out.