READER LETTER | Serbia-Kosovo conflict rears its ugly head again

People attend a protest"Serbia against violence" in reaction to recent mass shootings that have shaken the country, in Belgrade, Serbia, May 8, 2023.The suppression of the ethnic Albanians by the ultra-nationalist Slobodan Milosevic led to the Nato bombing of the then Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

I had a long meeting with him and his foreign minister when presenting my credentials to him as SA ambassador under Nelson Mandela. He left no room for doubt as to his ultra nationalist credentials. I told him that president Mandela was critical of the Nato bombing of the then Yugoslavia, but also very critical of his process of ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.

It hit him right between the eyes. Sadly the tensions are currently flaring up again between the Albanians and Serbs around a Serb-dominated region in Kosovo. The complicating factor is that today you have ultra-nationalist leaders in both Serbia and Kosovo. A further complicating factor is that Russia and China, and a few EU countries, are supportive of the Serbian position. That can be largely attributed to Russia's own international disputes about Ukraine and Chinas international disputes about Hong Kong and Taiwan. They do not want to compromise their own positions.Register or sign in now.

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