U.S. President Barack Obama has caused confusion after claiming yesterday that Kosovo held a UN-assisted referendum for self-determination misleading people over the true origins of the country. The U.S. President used the example to hit out against Russia's annexation of Crimea, but experts have noted that no such referendum took place, and implied that Obama's "incredible mistake" should elicit a retraction or correction from the White House. The error came in a speech delivered at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, and has been remarked upon to Breitbart London by regional experts from both the United Kingdom and indeed from Kosovo. One source said the faux-pas was "the very last thing Kosovo and Serbia need" as the two seek to strengthen relations. Obama said in his speech yesterday: "...Kosovo only left Serbia after a referendum was organised not outside the boundaries of international law, but in careful cooperation with the United Nations and with Kosovos neighbours. None of that even came close to happening in Crimea." But none of it came close to happening in Kosovo either, as Milos Subotic, the International Relations Officer of the University of Pristina, Kosovo told Breitbart London. "During his yesterday speech in Brussels, President Obama showed a lack of knowledge of the political situation in Kosovo. Kosovo never organised any kind of referendum, but the Assembly of Provisional Institutions of self-government of Kosovo made a unilateral declaration of independence on February 17th 2008. "The declaration of independence has been recognised by approximately one hundred states, however Serbia and many countries have also showed their opposition to declaration of independence, most notably China and Russia. What Kosovo did was not in line with United Nations and thats confirmed by the fact that Kosovo is not member of UN." Daniel Hamilton, a UK-based Balkans expert, told Breitbart London: "Its no secret that Balkan geopolitics is a complex and confusing game but one would hope the White House speechwriters would check their facts before presenting the President of the United States with bogus information. Obamas claim that Kosovo held a UN-sponsored referendum prior to declaring independence is simply untrue. No such referendum took place. Kosovos declaration of independence was a unilateral one issued following a vote of the territorys interim Parliament. Nearly six years since independence, Kosovo is still not a member of the United Nations. While relations between Belgrade and Pristina are improving every day and Serbia is on a firm path to EU membership, the Western Balkans remains a very tense place. The very last thing Kosovo and Serbia need is a poorly-briefed US President opining about matters he and his advisors clearly have no clear grasp of. Dr. James Ker-Lindsay, a Senior Research Fellow on the Politics of South East Europe at the London School of Economics took to Twitter to correct the U.S. President before telling Breitbart London: "I think one must assume that this was indeed an error. However, it really does seem to be an incredible mistake to have made. Surely there must have been someone at hand who would have known that there was no UN organised referendum in Kosovo. It really was not that long ago. "It will certainly play into the hands of those who believe that the United States is now trying to rewrite history to put a better gloss on its own actions. "It will be interesting to see if a retraction or correction is issued by the White House. http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-London/2014/03/27/Obama-wrong-on-Kosovo-in-speech-to-Europe "
Oh yeah Im sure its wrong given the fact that Obama has effed every single thing up since day one. He thought there was 57 states but Im sure his foreign policy is right on the money. It was a youtube video not him.
In order for me to feel any embarrassment over Barack Obama, I would have to concede that I ever had any high expectations for the man. As it is, my opinion of the man is exactly the same as it was when he was running for the office of the US President back in 2008. He was a dishonest, under-qualified politician back then, and he is STILL a dishonest, under-qualified politician today. I am not embarrassed by him, I am embarrassed by the large number of morons who voted him into office TWICE over lo these many years. When my fellow countrymen fall for a false and patently-absurd, manufactured product (and not a genuine leader or statesman), it is indeed an embarrassment. In the end, his days are numbered, in more ways than one.
Embarrassing indeed that this was posted by a Syrian, and it's true. Read the "similar threads" below this one. We really need to dump this CLOWN, and move on.
Syrian girl was this a goof on Obama's part, or was it deliberate propaganda in order to undermine Russia's actions and make our own illegal actions appear morally righteous... even though ours were based on a pretense of genocide something our government could never prove, and culminated in the bombing of Belgrade for seventy two days with the death of two thousand people?
Both the Bush Jr and Obama administrations seem to have been outstandingly bad at foreign policy. Both seemed to have ignored the history and the locals and imposed "an American" foreign policy to the detriment of foreign nations and their peoples. Moi No
Hussain Obama could have saved tens of thousands Syrian lifes if his UN action against Damascus was accepted ... But the butcher's ( Assad ) friends ranked veto. Don't blame USA or the west. Arabs should blame Allah and themselves for killing one each other.
It's not the first time the incompetent-in-chief made a stupid, hilariously ignorant comment. [video=youtube;EpGH02DtIws]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpGH02DtIws[/video] What's even more embarrassing is that he paused, which means he was trying to collect his thoughts and STILL made that error. Had it been George Bush, you're probably laughing.
Eh. That's an opinion. And frankly, I don't believe you (or anybody) can come up with enough tangible, credible evidence that would support such a statement. I'm not a huge Romney fan, but I voted for him in order to try and vote Obama OUT. And in my State anyway, Romney won by a significant margin. In light of my own statement that Obama is a dishonest, under-qualified politician; Do you honestly mean to say that Mr Romney is MORE dishonest, and even LESS qualified than Mr Obama? As far as dishonesty, I cannot recall any instances of Romney being caught in a lie. Perhaps you can provide one or two examples. Obama's record of patent lies, on the other hand, is staggering, you must admit that much. And re; qualified, I would have to say that Romney's successful record as a State Governor and businessman towers over Obama's record as a community organizer and a barely 'voting present' US Senator. Romney went into the 2012 campaign with a solid record as a leader. Obama went into the campaign with a consistent record of being a dishonest politician. In the end, Obama is admittedly an embarrassment to anybody who ever supported him and/or voted for him. I'll be very glad when he and his sponge-like wife are gone.
Obama is not a great president, after all. And yet he is better, then his alternatives for President post. America simply did not have the right man. The system prevents it. Now, Obama thinks that even Iraq war was better then Crimean annexation...He does not stand to democratic principles, perhaps, he does not have them anyway.
