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EU Strategy: Divide, Divide more & Conquer |
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Sunday, 06 April 2008 |
 Germany slowly, quietly takes over things in own hands, again. Germany has been the driving force behind the dismemberment of
Yugoslavia. In late 1991 and early 1992, Germany and the Vatican
opposed the U.S., the UN and the European Economic Community and
formally recognized the Yugoslavian breakaway states of Slovenia and
Croatia. In 2003, Germany contributed more troops to nato’s Bosnian
peacekeeping force than any other nation.
After Yugoslavia lost Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and Bosnia, Germany was still unsatisfied. It was intricately involved in the 1999 nato bombings that gave Kosovo de facto independence. After Kosovo’s declaration of independence on February 17 this year, Germany was one of the first states to recognize Kosovo. Now most of Europe is following Germany’s lead.
“Why encourage separatism with the goal of creating a unified Europe?” Russia's Lavrov said after the secession. Many people thought what Lavrov thought, yet no one said anything.
Germany wants to get the former Yugoslav republics inside the EU. Berlin, however, could have brought Serbia into the Union without recognizing Kosovo’s independence. In fact, recognizing Kosovo’s independence has only made Serbia’s integration process much harder, because many Serbs now fear the EU as a fascist entity trying to act against their interests. Recognizing Kosovo has only driven Serbia toward Russia.
But this is exactly what happened during World War ii. Yugoslavia was divided over whether or not to support the Nazi regime. When the government, under heavy pressure, signed a pact with Hitler’s Germany, the people staged a coup, overthrew the government and set up an anti-fascist state. Hitler then invaded and conquered Yugoslavia. But he did not stop there. Germany ripped the nation into pieces, formed northern Yugoslavia into the Nazi-puppet state of Croatia, annexed Kosovo to Albania, and imposed a German military command over Serbia. In short, he conquered Yugoslavia and divided it into so many pieces that he ensured it would no longer pose a threat to his regime. Hitler's fears of trouble in Yugoslavia were well founded. The Yugoslav partizans dealt heavy blows to the German Army. In fact, Yugoslavia was the only country (besides Russia) to defeat Germany without outside help. Germans don't forget defeats.
The similarities to what European leaders are doing today—though far more subtly—are eerie. The EU is avoiding annexing Yugoslavia as one big chunk, preferring instead to once again rip it apart bit by bit and then swallow the chunks one by one. This way, when all the former Yugoslav states are finally part of the EU, none of them will have the power to cause undue trouble for Brussels—or Berlin.
German fascism is again conquering the Balkans. To some extent, Russia knows it. That explains why the Russians are so intent on supporting Serbia. If they can annex Serbian zones of former Yugoslav republics back to Serbia, they can make a run at forestalling Europe’s rise to power.
Sectarian violence will increase in Serbia, Bosnia and Kosovo as Russia and Europe compete for influence. But at the end of the day, Europe is already too entrenched in the former Yugoslav republics to lose out. Russia’s effort may pay off in other ways, but the European Union will remain the conqueror of the Balkans. History does repeat itself, who said that?
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