MEETING THE BURDEN OF STATEHOOD: IS KOSOVO READY?
Authors: R. Copley Gregory 
Published: November 2021

There is ample evidence that Kosovo has no legitimacy in the normal sense of a sovereign state, and that, if it was to be recognized as such, it would further erode the credibility of the international system. Kosovo does not meet any historical standards for sovereignty. For Kosovo to be recognized as a legitimate sovereign state, the international community must violate the sovereignty of another recognized state, the Republic of Serbia. One should also take to consideration that Kosovo is already a territory run as a criminal enterprise, with links into jihadist movements. Already Kosovo is becoming like Afghanistan under the Taliban. And like the Taliban destruction of the ancient Buddhas of Bamiyan, the Albanian Islamist process of destruction of the Christian Churches will be complete if Kosovo is granted independence. The chaos of changing borders— such as we are seeing today in the Balkans, and elsewhere — is fertile ground for criminality. Europe is a major target for the global jihadist movements, and not only those under the al-Qaida label, but also those fi nanced and logistically made viable by the Iranian Government. Western fears have been strengthened by intelligence derived by European countries on the existence of a strong Islamist network in Kosovo and Bosnia. The “al-Qaida” phenomenon owes its success to the fi nancial links with what we are calling the Albanian mafi a, just as the Albanian criminals owe their success to the logistics and networks of al-Qaida. As far as Islamists are concerned, their goal is consolidation of their control over parts of the Balkans, specifi cally the so-called “Green transversal” belt which links the Adriatic Coast through Albania, FYR of Macedonia, the Serbian Kosovo and Metohija region, the southern Serbia/northern Montenegro Rashka (Sanjak) region, through the Gorazde Corridor into Bosnia, not only as a terrorist corridor but also to facilitate a clear highway for narco-traffi cking and weapons shipments. Signifi cantly, the Serbian Government within the union of Serbia & Montenegro, had, until the recent Serbian elections, attempted to ignore the growing incitement to a new outbreak of violence and unrest on the part of the Muslim community of southern Serbia (Rashka) and Kosovo because it did not wish to be seen to be drawing attention to the growing Muslim agitation. Finally, Kosovo Liberation Army still, and is able to access much of its narcotic product, because of its close interrelationship with jihadist movements worldwide and foreign state sponsors. There is no ground for optimism in the future. The wars to break up Yugoslavia are still unfi nalized. And in many of the new wars we will see savagery abound as groups “re-discover” old identities, and seek to capitalize on the permissive climate of change and chaos. However, it not just Balkans that is endangered. Deeply placed sources within the Islamist community in Kosovo have identifi ed the source and type of the explosives used in the jihadist terrorist bombings in London on July 7, 2005, and the Madrid commuter railway bombings of March 11, 2004.