{"id":5838,"date":"2022-12-28T07:07:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-28T07:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/facts4eu.com\/?p=5838"},"modified":"2022-12-28T07:07:00","modified_gmt":"2022-12-28T07:07:00","slug":"major-blow-for-eu-as-2-wannabe-member-countries-go-head-to-head-on-war-footing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/facts4eu.com\/?p=5838","title":{"rendered":"Major blow for EU as 2 wannabe member countries go head-to-head on war footing"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Worst Christmas present for EU\u2019s enlargement plans – and Brexit means UK dodges another bullet<\/h2>\n

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Montage \u00a9 Facts4EU.Org 2022<\/p>\n

Serbia goes to Defcon 1 against neighbouring Kosovo \u2013 EU powerless<\/h3>\n

The EU\u2019s plans for enlargement into the Balkans were dealt a major blow on Boxing Day (26 Dec 2022) when the Defence Minister of EU candidate country Serbia put the country on what amounts to a war footing with neighbouring Kosovo \u2013 another aspiring EU member.<\/p>\n

It was announced from Belgrade that Serbian armed forces had been put on “the highest level of alert\u201d<\/b>, as the army\u2019s Chief of Staff visited troops on the border.<\/p>\n

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\u201cSerbia’s president… ordered the Serbian army to be on the highest level of combat readiness, that is to the level of the use of armed force.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

–\tSerbian Defence Minister Milos Vucevic, Belgrade, 26 Dec 2022<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Serbia is an official candidate country going through the EU\u2019s accession process whilst Kosovo has applied to join and currently has \u2018Potential Candidate\u2019 status, and is also going through the process.<\/p>\n

This must be the worst possible Boxing Day present for EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.<\/b><\/p>\n

The UK contributed billions to EU\u2019s fund for \u2018Pre-Accession Assistance\u2019<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n

Despite five EU member countries refusing even to accept Kosovo\u2019s existence \u2013 and in a stunning display of EU \u2018solidarity\u2019 – the EU Commission has been spending member states\u2019 money on Kosovo via its \u2018Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance\u2019 (IPA). For 2014 – 2020, IPA II funding allocated for Kosovo amounted to \u20ac573.1 million \u2013 over \u00a30.5bn<\/b>. <\/p>\n

In the same period the EU\u2019s funding for its attempts to bring all six Western Balkans countries into the EU amounted to \u20ac18.5bn (c. \u00a316bn GBP). The UK coughed up around \u00a32bn (GBP) of this.<\/b><\/p>\n

Serbian Ministry of Interior says entire country is now in state of full combat readiness<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n

It is not only Serbia\u2019s military which is on a war footing. The entire country has been put on \u201cfull combat readiness\u201d<\/b><\/i>. Yesterday (27 Dec 2022) in Belgrade, Serbian Minister of the Interior Bratislav Gasic made a statement.<\/p>\n

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\u201c\u2026At the order of President of the Republic of Serbia and Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces Aleksandar Vucic, he requested that all units of the Ministry of the Interior be raised at the level of full combat readiness.<\/b>\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cIn line with the order of President Vucic, I requested that all units of the Ministry of the Interior, Gendarmerie, Special Anti-Terrorist Units and the Police Brigade raise their condition to that of full combat readiness, which should be placed under the command of the Chief of the General Staff\u2026\u201d\n\t\t<\/p>\n

–\tBratislav Gasic, Serbian Minister of the Interior, Belgrade, 27 Dec 2022<\/p>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n

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EU chaos: Five of the EU27 don\u2019t even recognise Kosovo (the UK does)<\/h3>\n
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The EU\u2019s troubles over Kosovo started when it declared independence. Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia was passed on 17 February 2008 by a vote of members of its parliament. The then United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown recognised the new country the following day.\n <\/p>\n

To this day, five EU member countries still refuse even to accept Kosovo\u2019s existence:<\/b> Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain. Bizarrely, however, the EU recognises Kosovo with \u2018Potential Candidate\u2019 status for membership.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u00a9 Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2022 – click to enlarge<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Kosovo is a divided country \u2013 and British troops are helping to keep the peace<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n

Most Kosovans are in fact ethnic Albanians. In the north of the country, however, is a disputed territory which mostly contains ethnic Serbs. It is principally thanks to the presence of NATO and its \u2018Kosovo Force\u2019 (KFOR) that the peace has been kept thus far. British troops serve as part of KFOR, so this does have relevance to the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n

The latest dispute between Kosovo and Serbia relates to Kosovo\u2019s arrest of an ethnic Serbian policeman, as well as to the Kosovan government\u2019s recent decree that all car number plates should be Kosovan, not Serbian.<\/p>\n

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Observations<\/h3>\n

Kosovo and Serbia have been in an almost constant state of conflict since Kosovo first declared its independence 14 years ago. That said, the rhetoric has certainly been dialled up a notch in recent days.<\/p>\n

In amongst all of this, the EU is attempting to bring all six of the Western Balkans countries into its empire. The news on Boxing Day that Serbia was going to \u2018Defcon 1\u2019 must have been the worst-ever Christmas present for EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.<\/p>\n

As we showed above, the EU is heavily invested \u2013 financially and politically \u2013 in the accession of these countries into full membership. As an EU member country, the British taxpayer was contributing billions towards the EU\u2019s expansionist dreams. <\/p>\n

One of the many benefits of Brexit is that the British taxpayer is no longer on the hook for the EU\u2019s largesse as it continues trying to expand its sclerotic empire.<\/b><\/p>\n

It’s Christmas time….<\/p>\n

Members of the Brexit Facts4EU.Org team worked on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day. Reports like the one above take far longer to research, write and produce than many people realise. If they were easy, readers would see other organisations also producing these daily.<\/p>\n

However, there\u2019s little point in the Facts4EU.Org team working long hours, seven days-a-week, if we lack the resources to promote them effectively \u2013 to the public, to MPs, and to the media. This is where you come in, dear reader.<\/b><\/p>\n

Facts4EU.Org needs you today <\/p>\n

We are a ‘not for profit’ team (we make a loss) and any payment goes towards the actual work<\/b>, not plush London offices, lunch or taxi expenses, or other luxuries of some organisations. <\/p>\n

We badly need more of our thousands of readers to become members, to support this work. Could this be you, today?<\/a> It’s quick and easy, we give you a choice of two highly secure payment providers, and we do NOT ask you for further support if you pay once. We just hope you keep supporting us. Your membership stays anonymous unless you tell us otherwise.<\/p>\n

Please don’t assume that other people will keep us going<\/b> – we don’t receive enough to survive and we need your help today. Could you help us?<\/a> We rely 100% on public contributions from readers like you. <\/p>\n

If you believe in a fully-free, independent, and sovereign United Kingdom, please join now by clicking on one of the links below or you can use our Support page here<\/a>. You will receive a personal, friendly \u2018thank you\u2019 from a member of our team within 24 hours. Thank you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

[ Sources: Serbian Foreign Ministry | Serbian Interior Ministry | Kosovan government | EU Commission | NATO ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.\n<\/p>\n

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Wed 28 Dec 2022<\/p>\n

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Worst Christmas present for EU\u2019s enlargement plans – and Brexit means UK dodges another bullet Montage \u00a9 Facts4EU.Org 2022 Serbia goes to Defcon 1 against neighbouring Kosovo \u2013 EU powerless The EU\u2019s plans for enlargement into the Balkans were dealt a major blow on Boxing Day (26 Dec 2022) when the Defence Minister of EU […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/facts4eu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/facts4eu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/facts4eu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facts4eu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facts4eu.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/facts4eu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5838\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/facts4eu.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facts4eu.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facts4eu.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}