Balkans: Albanian Gangsters Go To War With The UN

Albanian Gangsters Go To War With The UN

July 22, 2006: Some 2000 Bulgaria, Romania, and the US are conducting a military training exercise in Bulgaria, from July 19 through July 23.

July 21, 2006: UN police officials in Kosovo are apparently making some progress against organized crime. Senior UN officials have received death threats from the clan based crime organizations. Security for these officials has been increased, and the investigations continue. UN officials in Kosovo has cause for concern, because the Albanian gangs have been known to take on governments, and sometimes win, or at least come out with a draw.

July 20, 2006: A US military Cessna 337 crashed in Kosovo. Both pilots survived. The plane was on a "training mission" near the village of Mazgit.

July 18, 2006: Serbia said that secession by Kosovo from Serbia would be a terrible precedent for the rest of the world. The Serbian government argued that a Kosovo secession will "open the door" to secessionists and separatists everywhere. The Serb statement said that a Kosovo secession would accelerate instability "for all complex nations in the world." New high-level talks on Kosovo will resume later in the summer.

Moldova said that it is imperative that Russian troops still in the separatist statelet of Transdniester must leave Transdniester before "any final settlement." The "final settlement" is whether or not Transdniester will remain part of Moldova or become a separate state. Transdniester is predominantly ethnic Russian.

July 14, 2006: The International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in the Hague began the trial of seven Bosnian Serbs accused of participating in the 1995 massacre of Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica. Five of the men are charged with genocide.

July 12, 2006: The Supreme Council of Transdniester (which functions as the separatist government) voted to hold a referendum on secession from Moldova. The Supreme Council scheduled the vote for September 17. The referendum may also ask if the people of Transdniester want to "integrate" with Russian (ie, join Russia).