Over the past week I've received a fair amount of emails and calls requesting information and expressing concerns about our development team in Novi Sad and the recent events in Serbia.

It's a beautiful Sunday morning here in Prague and I'm compelled to answer some questions about what has recently transpired; and state clearly that this action by the United States is a huge mistake, which will cause trouble for administrations for years to come.

In understanding the current events in the Balkans, we have to understand what has happened over the last 18 years, and the breakup of the country formerly known as Yugoslavia.

Although much of Yugoslavia was under German control during World War II, Communist partisans, under the command of Josip Broz Tito, consistently attacked the occupation forces.

Throughout the war, the majority of the Christian Croats sided with the Germans and ruthlessly persecuted the Orthodox Serbs and Muslim Bosnians.

When the war ended, Tito, a Croat himself, wanted to bring the country together. He immediately eliminated those who had sided with the Germans and with an iron rule kept the peace between the three major groups which made up Yugoslavia: Croats, Serbs, and Bosnians.

When Tito passed away in 1980, many of the underlying rivalries between the three groups, which had been suppressed by Tito's leadership, began to boil to the surface.

In 1991, the northern region of Yugoslavia (Slovenia) declared its independence. This was the beginning of three wars for independence, which marred the Balkans from 1991 to 1995.

• War in Slovenia (1991)
• Croatian War of Independence (1991-1995)
• Bosnian War (1992-1995)

One thing to be understood is that during the three Yugoslavian Wars in the 1990s, there were atrocities on all sides -- Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian.

Unfortunately, much of the conflict was caused by the aggressive nature in which Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević attempted to hold Yugoslavia together, and his selfish efforts to maintain his own power.

In 1998 a fourth war broke out in the Kosovo region of southern Serbia when an ethnic Albanian paramilitary guerrilla organization, the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), sought independence from Serbia.

Please note that the KLA was listed by the US State Department as a terrorist organization up until February 1998, when it was removed from the list. As they say, one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist.

In 1999, this war was brought to an end after 78 days of NATO bombing which destroyed much of the Serbian infrastructure. During visits to Belgrade and Novi Sad, one can still see remains of destroyed bridges and bombed-out buildings.

In September 2000, some 15 months after the end of the Kosovo bombing campaign, Serbia's younger generation overthrew the Milošević regime and has since been working towards a Western-style government and European Union membership.

All the while, the remains of the Milošević power base have battled the pro-Western reformers in the government with nationalist rhetoric that speaks to older Serbs -- many of whom have lost much of the security once afforded to them by a socialist state.

If you want to understand a similar situation, see where Putin has gotten his power base over the past few years as he's re-established autocratic rule in Russia.

Unfortunately, as the younger people of Serbia have worked to support a pro-Western government, they have been thwarted in their attempts, incredibly enough, by outside forces more so than internal ones.

Instead of embracing the new reformist government, Western countries have demanded that the new Serbian leaders hand over war criminals from the 1990s, particularly targeting Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić.

Some believe the whereabouts of both men are known by high-level Serbian officials in the Nationalist Party and thus demand that they be turned over.

Unfortunately, if a reformist government even attempted to hand the war criminals over to The Hague, the move would be hugely unpopular with the Serbian public.

To many older Serbs, both Karadžić and Mladić are war heroes because they fought to save the Serbian people who lived in Croatia and Bosnia.

We have to weigh the assets and the liabilities in this particular situation and see that it's more important, at this point, to build and support the reformists' position in ruling the country.

In time, they will have a solid hold on power and be able to hand over these war criminals, without bringing down a pro-Western government.

Sometimes you have to let reality speak over ideology.

The reality is that the reformists need to continue to build power over the nationalists by securing the economy, giving people the simple necessities of life, and building a belief in the future.

Read this equation and understand another truth: A free middle class is the foundation of a free and representative government.

Using China's middle class as an example, I believe that over time the Chinese government will become more and more open, free, and representative of the people, as the middle class of the country continues to grow.

Will they become a Jeffersonian democracy? Most likely not, but they will be a partner in the future as their government grows less and less autocratic, and more representative of the people's wants and needs.

As stated above, the United States and the European Union continue to beat up on the current Serbian government for past actions of the Milošević regime.

This would be like the Allied powers continuing to beat up on the Germans after World War II. Instead of beating up on the Germans, we implemented the Marshall Plan in order to fund the rebuilding of a war-torn country.

We also need to understand and respect that the Marshall Plan was not established just so that we could be the "good guys," but as a counter-balance to the Soviet military that was controlling Eastern Europe.

If you want to win people over for your form of government, be it a democratic or socialist state, make sure people have food on the table and a roof over their heads first.

We have to understand; we defeated the Soviet Union by having a strong military -- which we did not use -- while also working to establish an economic climate that allowed middle classes to develop around the world.

Free governments are based on a strong middle class that is educated, has work, and a lifestyle that they will fight for.

Autocratic governments seek to destroy any semblance of a middle class because it's easier to control an uneducated lower class using the fear of fighting an exterior evil.

Example: Hitler's climb to power in the 1930s, during which he fought against the German middle class, and spread fear of evil Bolsheviks among the lower classes.

Continuing to hold the new Serbian government accountable for the old regime's criminal acts is simply pushing Serbia back into the Russian sphere of influence and welcoming autocratic rule.

With this understood, I'll briefly discuss the history of Kosovo and why the recent declaration of independence will cause the world problems down the line.

To most Serbs, Kosovo is the birthplace of the Serbian nation, much like Jamestown or Plymouth Rock are to Americans.

Kosovo is in the southwestern corner of Serbia, bordering Albania. For a better understanding of a remote issue, I'll use San Diego County as an example since it's also on a southwestern border -- in this case with Mexico.

Please note that Kosovo (4,203 square miles) is slightly smaller then San Diego County (4,526 square miles).

Even though Kosovo was the least-developed area of the former Yugoslavia, the standard of living, economic prospects, and level of freedom were far greater than under the totalitarian Hoxha regime in Albania.

Sound familiar? Because of economic problems, many Mexicans come north to the United States to seek better opportunities.

Now imagine that so many Mexicans migrate to San Diego County that they then become the majority. Similar to Kosovo, the area of San Diego was once controlled by Mexico years ago, so the Mexicans who migrate there may think, "heck, this really is a part of Mexico."

Then the majority starts calling for independence and begins its own armed-liberation movement, the Mexican Liberation Army, which attacks police stations and government offices. Now imagine that China and Russia initially declare the MLA a terrorist organization then reclassify them freedom fighters.

If a small, armed organization started up in San Diego County and was attacking American citizens, what do you think the US government would do? Yes, we would send in the army.

Now, unfortunately, when the Serbian army went into Kosovo in 1998, and pushed the Albanians out, they again committed war crimes which made Europe and the United States stand up to them and thus led to the 1999 bombing campaign.

After the bombing campaign, most ethnic Serbs left Kosovo because KLA forces continued to threaten them and Serbian forces no longer protected them -- even as UN forces patrolled the region.

The current Albanian leader of Kosovo is actually one of the former heads of the KLA. He's a man with a lot of blood on his hands. But then again, is he a terrorist (pre-February 1998) or is he a freedom fighter (post-February 1998)?

Now, please know that I don't have the answers to these very difficult questions, but I do know this: The US and European blessing of Kosovo independence will make all other terrorist/freedom-fighter organizations think that they can claim independence.

You may have noticed that Spain didn't recognize Kosovo's independence because they continually have issues with the Basque region's fight for independence.

How the heck does George W. Bush think the Kurds of Iraq, Turkey, and Iran will view this breakaway by a region of a sovereign nation?

If the Albanian majority in Kosovo can declare independence in a small region of Serbia, why can't the Kurds declare a new nation of Kurdistan where they are the majority?

This action by the United States and Europe has opened up Pandora's box, which we may never get a lid on again.

I'm not saying that I'm against the rights of people who make up a majority. But visualize for a moment; if a group of people were to migrate to a country and then one morning, because they are now the majority, the group changes all the flags to their native country.

That would be like the Muslims who have moved to London declaring pieces of the city independent territories.

I thought we were fighting in Iraq to support a free government that represented -- fairly and equally -- all the people of the country.

Didn't we place more American soldiers in peril's way in order to give time for the Shias, Sunnis and Kurds to come together? Are we not sending a mixed message here?

During the left-wing, right-wing, and centrist weekly news roundups I was amazed to hear all three pundits, representing a wide range of the political spectrum, all claim that this was a huge mistake on the current administration's part.

The general consensus was that President Bush and Secretary Rice have made a huge mistake in return for the short-term gain of a few pictures of ethnic Albanians waving American flags.

As for our team, all is well in Novi Sad, which is 100 miles north of Belgrade.

They are all deeply disappointed that the world continues to hold them -- the new, young generation -- responsible for the actions and transgressions of the autocratic, nationalist regime before them.

Unfortunately, the actions of the US and the EU have only strengthened the positions of the radicals in the Serbian government, which was recently dissolved by Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica.
Elections are set for May 11th and one can only hope that the reformists are able to survive and prevail.

In these next elections the nationalists will undoubtedly use the Kosovo card against any and all parties interested in moving Serbia closer to EU membership.

I invite you all to visit our new PLANet Systems Group Family page to see the next generation of Serbia's leaders.

They are busting their backsides to make a better life for themselves, their families and their country.

I can only ask those who have read this article to please understand and respect what hell they have gone through to get this far.

I also ask that you be supportive of US and EU funding to continue the support of a free and open government and economy within Serbia and other developing nations that are attempting to overcome years of war and internal conflict.