2022.03.14 不要姑息独裁者

shiyi18

By Invitation | Russia and Ukraine
The president of Kosovo warns against the appeasement of autocrats
Vjosa Osmani cautions that Serbia will learn from Russia’s aggression

Mar 14th 2022

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The appeasement of autocrats today only emboldens them tomorrow. Concessions to tyrants are never temporary, and they certainly never bring lasting peace.

The European continent is in crisis because Vladimir Putin has chipped away at Ukraine’s sovereignty to the extent that today he denies its territorial integrity and its right to exist. Russia’s president pursues a dangerous imperialist policy that permits one country to choose the fate of another simply because it has the military might.

This war is Mr Putin’s way of testing the democratic world and it is an attempt to break our democratic spirit. Instead the war has brought the democratic world together in a way not witnessed for decades. The way we all continue to respond—countries big and small—will not only define the future of Ukraine, but the future of Europe and the world. Any response is not only about the people of Ukraine, it is also about the kind of world we want to live in, and the collective message we send to autocrats everywhere.


Watching the harrowing images of indiscriminate and inhumane attacks on innocent Ukrainian civilians, and the brave resilience of those fighting for their lives and defending their statehood, has been a difficult reminder of a dark past for the people of Kosovo.

For us, these images are all too familiar and real. We don’t just stand with Ukraine, we stand with our nato allies and those who want to see democratic values flourish around the world, because this represents so much more than just one country or one people’s struggle in the face of tyranny.

Kosovo knows all too well the consequences of concessions made at the expense of an innocent people. The early appeasement of Slobodan Milosevic resulted in numerous bloody wars in the former Yugoslavia pursued by a genocidal regime, all in the name of fascist desires to create a “Greater Serbia”. The violence led to hundreds of thousands of deaths, the rape of tens of thousands of women and the displacement of millions.

All this happened before the eyes of the world. Thankfully, NATO and the world came to our rescue in 1999 by putting an end to the genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against the people of Kosovo. But today we are witnessing, once more, a flagrant violation of international law, barbaric and brutal aggression against Ukraine and its innocent people, and the potential for a much bigger war in Europe, and beyond.

While the eyes of the world are rightly focused on Ukraine, here in the heart of Europe, we have another significant threat rumbling beneath the surface. Mr Putin has his claws deeply and firmly entrenched in our region through the influence he exerts over his proxy, Serbia, which has been intensifying efforts to destabilise Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro.


Russia’s relationship with the Western Balkans’ most bellicose and problematic leaders, namely Serbia’s Aleksandar Vucic and the Bosnian Serbs’ leader Milorad Dodik, is no secret. The level of military and political support that Russia provides to Serbia, in particular, is significant and should raise alarm bells from Ankara to London, and Berlin to Washington.

In 2012, before Mr Vucic came to power, Serbia conducted two military activities with its eastern ally. Following almost a decade of his leadership, the number of these types of activities has grown exponentially. The partnership between the two countries is so crucial to both sides, and the purchase and donations of heavy weaponry so considerable, that Moscow has opened a defence office in Belgrade and a “humanitarian” centre in Niš that has significant question marks over its claimed mission. It’s no wonder that the US Department of Defence has stated that Serbia provides the “most permissive environment” for Russian influence in our region.

Serbia’s outright rejection of sanctions against Russia is, therefore, no surprise and reveals where its loyalties truly lie. Now is the time to speak clearly on where we stand: Kosovo and its partners around the world side with Ukraine, while Serbia has chosen to side with Mr Putin.

Over the past few years, despite talking a good game on European values, Serbia has increased its political, military and economic co-operation with Russia to levels not witnessed before, even under Milosevic’s regime. Serbia’s shift towards autocracy has been gradual and, crucially, deliberate. For too long left unchallenged or even acknowledged, today Serbia poses a significant threat to stability in Europe. That is now evident in all international indices on democracy, media and freedoms. Serbia’s falling ratings are testament to its increasingly autocratic inclination.

Serbia's unwarranted actions over vehicles’ registration plates last year showed as much. Contrary to agreements signed in Brussels, for almost a decade Serbia demanded that Kosovan registration plates be removed upon crossing into Serbia and then replaced with temporary ones. So in October Kosovo, an equal party in an eu-facilitated dialogue on the matter, decided to reciprocate. The government in Belgrade was quick to put tanks and Russian MiG fighter jets on our border, where the Russian Ambassador swiftly turned up to give his blessing should Serbian forces enter Kosovo.

Similarly, when the entirety of our region took part in a nato military exercise last year—“Defender-Europe 21”—that involved partners across Europe, Serbia was the only country not to take part and instead simultaneously to conduct a military exercise with Russia in its territory.

In the face of these developments the continued appeasement of Mr Vucic by some remains a serious concern and a danger to peace.

Developments in Ukraine are a reminder that we must never be indifferent in the face of autocracy or when our values and allies are being threatened. This is not about “us” and “them”, this is a reminder to all of us yet again that a threat to democracy in one territory is a threat to us all.

In our part of the world, peace and stability have been achieved through great sacrifice, including the loss of many innocent lives. We must do everything to maintain it, and this means speaking the truth when faced with daily aggression from our neighbour Serbia.■
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Vjosa Osmani is the president of Kosovo.



应邀参加｜俄罗斯和乌克兰
科索沃总统警告说不要姑息独裁者
维奥萨-奥斯曼尼告诫说，塞尔维亚将从俄罗斯的侵略中吸取教训

2022年3月14日



今天对专制者的绥靖只会让他们明天更加胆大妄为。对暴君的让步从来不是暂时的，当然也不会带来持久的和平。

欧洲大陆正处于危机之中，因为弗拉基米尔-普京削弱了乌克兰的主权，以至于今天他否认了乌克兰的领土完整和生存权。俄罗斯总统奉行危险的帝国主义政策，允许一个国家选择另一个国家的命运，只因为它有军事力量。

这场战争是普京先生测试民主世界的方式，它试图打破我们的民主精神。相反，这场战争使民主世界以一种几十年来未曾见过的方式团结起来。我们所有人--大大小小的国家--继续回应的方式，不仅将决定乌克兰的未来，而且将决定欧洲和世界的未来。任何反应不仅关系到乌克兰人民，也关系到我们希望生活在什么样的世界，以及我们向世界各地的专制者发出的集体信息。


看着那些对无辜的乌克兰平民进行不分青红皂白和非人道攻击的令人痛心的画面，以及那些为生命而战和捍卫国家地位的人的英勇顽强，让科索沃人民艰难地想起了黑暗的过去。

对我们来说，这些画面是非常熟悉和真实的。我们不仅与乌克兰站在一起，我们还与我们的北约盟友和那些希望看到民主价值观在世界各地蓬勃发展的人站在一起，因为这代表的不仅仅是一个国家或一个民族在暴政面前的斗争。

科索沃非常清楚以牺牲无辜人民为代价的让步所带来的后果。早期对斯洛博丹-米洛舍维奇的绥靖导致前南斯拉夫发生了许多血腥的战争，这些战争都是由一个种族灭绝的政权推行的，都是以法西斯主义的欲望为名，建立一个 "大塞尔维亚"。暴力导致数十万人死亡，数万名妇女被强奸，数百万人流离失所。

这一切都发生在世界的眼前。值得庆幸的是，北约和世界在1999年拯救了我们，结束了对科索沃人民犯下的种族灭绝、战争罪和反人类罪。但今天，我们再次目睹了对国际法的公然违反，对乌克兰及其无辜人民的野蛮和残暴的侵略，以及在欧洲和其他地区发生更大战争的可能性。

当世界的目光正确地集中在乌克兰时，在欧洲的中心地带，我们有另一个重大的威胁在表面之下隆隆作响。普京先生通过对他的代理人塞尔维亚施加的影响，在我们这个地区深深地扎下了爪子，塞尔维亚一直在加强努力，破坏科索沃、波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那以及黑山的稳定。


俄罗斯与西巴尔干地区最好战和最有问题的领导人，即塞尔维亚的亚历山大-武契奇和波斯尼亚塞族领导人米洛拉德-多迪克的关系已经不是秘密。尤其是俄罗斯向塞尔维亚提供的军事和政治支持的水平是很高的，应该引起从安卡拉到伦敦、从柏林到华盛顿的警觉。

2012年，在武契奇先生上台之前，塞尔维亚与其东部的盟友进行了两次军事活动。经过他近十年的领导，这类活动的数量成倍增长。两国之间的伙伴关系对双方都非常重要，重型武器的购买和捐赠也非常可观，以至于莫斯科在贝尔格莱德开设了一个防务办公室，并在尼什设立了一个 "人道主义 "中心，该中心声称的任务存在重大问题。难怪美国国防部表示，塞尔维亚为俄罗斯在我们地区的影响提供了 "最放任的环境"。

因此，塞尔维亚断然拒绝对俄罗斯的制裁并不令人惊讶，这也揭示了其真正的忠诚所在。现在是明确说明我们立场的时候了。科索沃及其在世界各地的伙伴站在乌克兰一边，而塞尔维亚则选择站在普京先生一边。

在过去的几年里，尽管塞尔维亚在欧洲价值观上说得头头是道，但它与俄罗斯的政治、军事和经济合作却增加到了前所未有的水平，即使是在米洛舍维奇的政权下。塞尔维亚向专制主义的转变是渐进的，关键是故意的。长期以来，塞尔维亚没有受到质疑，甚至没有得到承认，今天，它对欧洲的稳定构成了重大威胁。这一点现在在所有关于民主、媒体和自由的国际指数中都很明显。塞尔维亚的评级下降，证明了其日益专制的倾向。

塞尔维亚去年在车辆登记牌上的无理行动也表明了这一点。与在布鲁塞尔签署的协议相反，近十年来，塞尔维亚要求科索沃的车牌在进入塞尔维亚时被摘除，然后用临时车牌替换。因此，在10月，科索沃作为欧盟推动的关于该问题的对话中的一个平等方，决定做出回应。贝尔格莱德政府迅速将坦克和俄罗斯米格战斗机部署在我们的边界，如果塞尔维亚军队进入科索沃，俄罗斯大使会迅速赶到那里表示祝福。

同样，当我们整个地区去年参加北约的军事演习--"保卫者-欧洲21"--涉及整个欧洲的合作伙伴时，塞尔维亚是唯一没有参加的国家，而是同时与俄罗斯在其境内进行军事演习。

面对这些事态发展，一些人对武契奇先生的持续安抚仍然是一个严重的问题，也是对和平的一种威胁。

乌克兰的事态发展提醒我们，面对专制制度或当我们的价值观和盟友受到威胁时，我们决不能无动于衷。这不是 "我们 "和 "他们 "的问题，这再次提醒我们所有人，在一个地区对民主的威胁就是对我们所有人的威胁。

在我们这个地区，和平与稳定是通过巨大的牺牲，包括许多无辜生命的丧失而实现的。我们必须尽一切努力来维护它，这意味着在面对来自我们邻国塞尔维亚的日常侵略时，要说出真相。
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Vjosa Osmani是科索沃总统。