Radomirovic: The West tacitly approves attacks on Serbs in order to justify the recognition of Kosovo

Editor-in-chief of the “Pistaljka” (The Whistle) portal, Vladimir Radomirovic, warns that inaccurate information about what led to the March pogrom continues to appear in media in Pristina even after 22 years, recalling that a false news report was the “spark” that triggered mass violence against Serbs. He adds that responsibility also lies with the West, which tacitly approves attacks on the Serbian community in order to justify its decision to recognize Kosovo.

Radomirovic states that those most responsible for the violence that occurred in 2004 are those who took over responsibility for security in Kosovo under Resolution 1244 – KFOR and the UN mission.

“KFOR was supposed to ensure full security, primarily for Serbs and other citizens who were endangered by that violence. KFOR forces did not do that, nor did the United Nations mission seek accountability for those failures. We know that only after the violence escalated did American forces deploy, possibly preventing an even greater tragedy, but we also know that forces from some European countries, above all, calmly observed what was happening and even helped carry out the ethnic cleansing of Serbs from certain parts of Kosovo and Metohija. Therefore, the primary responsibility lies with the international forces that took on the mandate in 1999 and failed to fulfill what they were supposed to, and which today again, unfortunately, leave security to ethnic Albanian forces that continue what was started in 1999 – the expulsion of the Serbian population,” Radomirovic emphasized.

He warns that inaccurate information about what triggered the mass violence against Serbs continues to appear, even in media outlets which, he claims, were supported by Western countries through substantial donations and political backing.

“For example, ‘Koha Ditore’, which this March once again falsely claimed that Serbs chased Albanian children with dogs and that the children sought refuge in the Ibar River and drowned. So, after 22 years, that lie is being repeated, and thanks to those so-called liberal media it has persisted in the Albanian public. We must also recall the disgraceful reporting of RTK, which triggered, or contributed to, even greater violence, and that RTK was never held accountable for inciting crime, nor were any journalists or editors who published those false reports held responsible for the consequences of their incitement,” Radomirovic said.

The consequences of the March violence, he claims, instead of increasing and improving the security of Serbs in Kosovo, were quite the opposite.

“Western diplomacy and Western media – all of them worked together to claim that the violence was a consequence of the unresolved status of Kosovo and Metohija and that this status should be resolved as soon as possible, that is, that Kosovo Albanians should gain independence. So, instead of protecting Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, that violence, in which Serbs, Serbian religious sites, and property were targeted, was used to further increase pressure on Serbs and led to the unilateral declaration of Kosovo’s independence, an illegal attempt to secede part of the territory of the Republic of Serbia, and the situation we are living in today,” Radomirovic assessed.

Responsibility, he claims, again lies with Albanian politicians, Albanian-language media, and the international community.

“When we speak about the international community, we must understand that it is only one part of it – the Western one, which supported the so-called independence of Kosovo and which still seeks to justify that illegal decision to recognize that unilaterally declared independence by supporting every attack on Serbs, or by remaining silent about it, or even openly supporting it, as has been the case in recent years. Even in cases of attacks on Serbian children, we have seen that no condemnation came from the West, nor any demand for accountability, political or moral, when it comes to Albanians and the authorities in Pristina,” he concluded.