Why Albania is So Great, Part 5

I believe that this video will speak for itself.

Long live Albania, Kosovo, and the United States!





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Another Albanian Triumph: Kosovan Stability

Kosovo became independent a year ago to much fanfare. Its independence has been used by autocracies like Russia to justify the rape of independent Georgia. However, this poor Muslim nation has defied some expectations and is a strong, vibrant, pro-American democracy.

"It is peaceful here," says Nebojsa Popovic, one of the few Serbs left on the Kosovo police force. Popovic commands a station in Gracanica, the centre of a Serb enclave 5km from Pristina, where Serb and Albanian traders and taxi drivers chat openly in the street. A soldier still stands guard at the town's Orthodox monastery, but this might change in the next 12 months, according to Lt. Gen. Giuseppe Gay, head of KFOR, the international military presence.
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Serbian products brought into Kosovo through the North -- without import taxes levied -- are worth as much as €500 million, roughly a quarter of Kosovo's GDP, according to Avni Zogiani, head of the Pristina-based anti-corruption campaign, COHU. "Serbia loses out through the re-importation of tax-free goods back into Serbia, but it gains much more because they have Kosovo as a market and can sell goods without paying government duty."

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Kosovo Launches Military

The newest independent state in the world, Kosovo, has officially launched a security force. This force, the Kosovo Security Force, will be responsible for security in the small nation.

The new security force is made up of 2,500 civilians and paramilitaries, along with about 800 reservists.

The commander of the Kosovo Security Force (FSK) is General Sylejman Selimi. He says the creation of the force represents the beginning of a new phase in Kosovo.
Kosovo's Prime Minister Hashim Thaci stresses that the FSK is being trained by NATO and that it includes members of all ethnic groups in Kosovo -- mainly ethnic Albanians and Serbs.

"I will be a multiethnic force in the service of the country and all of its citizens," Thaci said. "It will have the full support of the international community and it will work in accordance with Kosovo's constitution and NATO standards."
The FSK replaces the Kosovo Protection Corps. That fledgling security force also was a multiethnic force. But it comprised mostly former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army, the separatist guerrilla group that had fought against Serbia for independence during the 1990s.

Don't be surprised if Kosovo decides to send troops to Afghanistan or Iraq. Albania has sent to both of those countries, even doubling its troops in Iraq as other nations were pulling out. We would like to give our support to Kosovo and Albania, the most pro-American nations in Europe.

Another Albanian Triumph: Religious Freedom

Anyone who has been reading this blog has known that we take a very pro-Albanian slant. None of our writers (to my knowledge) are Albanian, but we take pride in the insightful and pro-American policies and attitudes of Albania and Kosovo.

So I was fortunate enough to stumble upon an article by Michael Totten, who is linked on our blogroll. He writes about his experiences in the newly-independent nations of Kosovo. This nation is Muslim, but along with Albania, Georgia, and Kurdistan, is fervently pro-American.

Totten writes about the very small portion of this Muslim nation that is fundamentalist and the majority of the people who are secular:
Wahhabis are encountering resistance from Kosovo’s religious community as well as from its atheists and agnostics. “We are working very hard to stop these kinds of movements,” says Hamiti. “These kinds of movements are dangerous for all nations, for the faiths, for all religions. The traditional Islam that has been cultivated in these areas is the best guarantee for the future. If we allow foreigners to come here and to push us to war with their ideas, then the situation will be out of our control."

And to make it better, Kosovars are incredibly pro-American:

In 2004, a Gallup survey measured popular opinion of U.S. foreign policy around the world. Only ten countries rated American foreign policy favorably, and among those, Kosovo scored highest, registering 88 percent approval. When one ethnic Albanian I met happened to make the uncontroversial statement that Kosovo was a European country, another broke in. “We aren’t European,” she corrected. “We’re American."

And this article has perhaps the best interchange I've read in a while:

“Americans are our best friends in the world,” a waiter said to me at one of Pristina’s finest restaurants. “The U.K. is second.”

“Thank you,” I said. “We appreciate that. Some people don’t like us.”

“Bad people,” he said.

I strongly suggest that you check out this article. It might just make your day.