Guerra NATO...e la vignetta

Se la guerra oggi si fa come una *operazione chirurgica*, allora come in
tutti gli ospedali che si rispettano, prima si fanno bene e
accuratamente tutti gli esami clinici sul paziente. 

Siccome il chirurgo (in questa nostra bella guerra quotidiana, non ci ha
pensato) facciamo noi umili spettatori, qualche esame....almeno di
coscienza.

Riporto quindi un breve ceno storico su Kossovo e allego anche una
vignetta...pasquale.

Traduzione della vignetta:
Ai tempi della crocifissione di Christo. Dice il caporale romano (leggi
della NATO):
- Avete finito di crocificarlo ? Bene, adesso iniziate a soccorrerlo con
gli aiuti umanitari.
E l'altro soldato:
- Portate l'aceto....

Saluti a tutti
Alexis


BASIC HISTORICAL FACTS ABOUT KOSOVO AND METOHIJA

            There are two autonomous provinces within the Republic of
Serbia. Vojvodina is in the
            north, and Kosovo-Metohija in the south. They were formed in
view of the specific
            national, historical, cultural and other characteristics of
the region. 
Kosovo-Metohija covers 10.887 square kilometers. This region was
inhabited already in
            the neolithic period. It is Illyrian tribes that lived there
when Roman legions conquered
            the region at the beginning of the new era. With the Roman
Empire's break-up into the
            western part and the eastern part known as Byzantium,
Kosovo-Metohija was included in
            the Byzantine state. At that time the Kosovo plain was
inhabited by already romanised
            native population which spoke Latin and Greek. At the
beginning of the 7th century the
            Slavs came to these regions and slowly merged with the
existing remnants of the
            romanised population. Stefan Nemanja, the ruler of the first
Serbian state, defeated the
            Byzantine army in 1170. From that time to the arrival of the
Turks in these regions (15th
            century), Kosovo and Metohija was an integral part of the
Serbian state. Kosovo area
            became the political and cultural center of the Serbian
kingdom in the 14th century when
            the most important monasteries, churches and medieval
castles were built in this area.
            According to the preserved monastery charters almost all
population in the area of
            today's province was Slav and only few villages are
mentioned as Albanian or Vlach. At
            that time the Albanian ethnic tribes mostly inhabited the
highlands of today's north
            Albania while some of them lived with the Serbs in the
vallies and accepted their
            language, names and ethnic identity sharing the same
Orthodox Christian faith. In the
            mid 15th century, Kosovo came under the Ottoman Turkish rule
and remained under the
            Turkish occupation until 1912 and the times of the Balkan
wars. In the meanwhile the
            demographic situation in Kosovo and Metohija gradually
changed and once a majority of
            Serbian population was slowly replaced by the ethnic
Albanian majority which massively
            converted to Islam and settled in the area of Kosovo and
Metohija. Especially in the 17th
            century a large number of Serbs had to leave Kosovo after
the series of unsuccesful
            Austrian-Serb attempt to liberate Southern Serbia from the
Turkish rule. Hundreds of
            families led by their Patriarch left Kosovo and found their
refuge in Southern Hungary.
            The consequent Turkish retaliation practically purged some
areas of Southern Serbia
            from the Christian Serb population. On the other side a
considerable number of Albanian
            clans from the nothern part of today's Albania gradually
settled in the Kosovo and
            Metohija plain repopulating the almost empty province. 

            In 1912-1913 Serbian army liberated Kosovo and Metohija
which became the part of the
            Serbian Kingdom. After the WWI the region became part of the
Kingdom of Serbs,
            Croats and Slovenes, and later of the kingdom of Yugoslavia.
Between the two wars the
            royal government tried to bring additional Serb population
to Kosovo which faced great
            opposition from the Albanian side. During World War II, with
the break-up of Yugoslavia,
            Kosovo-Metohija partly fell under German command, and partly
under the rule of
            Albania, which sided with Germany and Italy. During the
World War II thousands of Serbs
            were persecuted from Kosovo and Metohija and many of them
were killed by the
            Albanian Balli Combetar units. After World War II, certain
decisions by the communist
            authorities banned the return of the expelled population to
these regions.

            With the creation of Socialist Yugoslavia, the Constitution
of Serbia provided for the
            formation of two provinces in which national minorities
enjoy all the civil rights and
            freedoms. Kosovo-Metohija is extremely rich in economic
resources. Over the past five
            decades, more was invested in its development than in other
parts of Yugoslavia. During
            the period of the Albanian autonomy the large number of
Serbs left Kosovo and Metohija
            partly under the pressure, partly in search of better
economic conditions. From 1990 the
            autonomy of Kosovo within Serbia was seriously reduced in
order to prevent the planned
            secession of Kosovo from Serbia.

            The name of Kosovo and Metohija is of Slav, Serbian origin.
Kosovo is not a geographic,
            but a political and administrative notion. It got its name,
which is mentioned for the first
            time in the 12th century, after the blackbird, or "kos" in
the Serbian language and it
            means "The field of Blackbirds:. Metohija is the biggest
ravine in Yugoslavia. It is
            separated from Kosovo by a number of small mountains. It was
named after the word
            "metoh", meaning monastery estate, since, in the Middle
Ages, it mostly belonged to the
            Pec patriarchate, one of the dozens of Serb medieval
monasteries in these regions.
            Almost 98% of all geographic names in Kosovo and Metohija
are of Slav origin which
            shows even more the centuries long Serbian presence in this
region. The Albanian forms
            of geographic names such as: (Serb) Kosovo- (Alb) Kosova,
Srbica - Skenderaj,
            Vucitrn-Vushtri, Pristina - Prishtine, Pec - Peja, Djakovica
- Djakova etc. are all of recent
            origin or at least from the Turkish period and were never
mentioned as such in any of the
            Middle Age or earlier document. As a matter of fact there is
not a single one cultural and
            historical monument on the territory of Kosovo and Metohija
until Ottoman times which
            bears any clear sign of Albanian identity, while on the
other side the whole province
            swarms with thousands of Slav and Serbian cultural
monuments, detailed medieval
            charters and documents as well as exclusively Slavonic
inscriptions from the Byzantine
            period onwards. Of course all this does not mean that Kosovo
and Metohija belong to
            Serbs only but shows that this area cannot be alienated from
the Serbian state without the
            will of its people because it is the cradle of its culture
and statehood.

            Without Kosovo and Metohija the Serbian people will be a
people without history,
            without identity, lost in the wastelands of time.

            R.Y.