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18.02.08
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The Inchoate Nation
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By Boris Kamchev
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Serbians are staging protests in Belgrade against Kosovo’s independence, while tens of thousands of Albanians fly the banner of their nascent nation alongside American flags in Pristina and other Kosovo cities.
Many attempts have been made to resolve one of the most entrenched diplomatic puzzles of the last several years. During prolonged negotiations with Serbs, Albanians striving for independence held their breath until the day when their dreams of independence would become a reality. That day has finally arrived, with support from the United States and major European Union countries. On Sunday, the Kosovar parliament in the capital Pristina unanimously voted for independence from Belgrade. Europe had its newest state or, as the Economist put it, “so say some.”
A dozen European states that face their own potential territory secessions, such as Romania, Spain and Cyprus, fear that Kosovo’s independence would initiate a “domino effect.” They are wary of the recognition of a new state in the Balkans. Others, such as France, Great Britain, Germany and Italy announced that they will recognize Kosovo in the next couple of days – according to their diplomats, “the process has already started.”
Serbia, backed by its long-time ally Russia, refuses to accept the proclamation’s legitimacy. According to the United Nations resolution 1244, Serbia still considers Kosovo a nominal part of its territory. In the midst of diplomatic turmoil, some Moscow diplomats want to ensure that states with unilaterally declared independence would be refused entry to the United Nations, as well as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Russia’s objections to independence for Kosovo rest not only on its traditional friendship with Serbia. Moscow fears that Kosovo will establish a precedent applicable to former Soviet Union territories, especially those in the North Caucasus, where Russia has waged two wars against Chechen separatists.
In his last official press conference as Russian president, Vladimir Putin denounced Europe’s “double standards,” sending a message that he is strongly against Kosovo’s independence as it would create a strong precedent for the secession of Turkish controlled Northern Cyprus and certain territories of the former Soviet Union.
In retaliation, Putin has also recently intimated that Moscow may recognize the independence of Abkhazia, a separatist enclave in the Republic of Georgia, if the United States establishes diplomatic relations with Kosovo.
Some political analysts believe that Kosovo is a unique case on the international arena, as there are fundamental legal and political differences between the breakaway Serbian province and any other separatist territories and movements in the world.
Kosovo’s claims to independence are based on an international agreement made in 1999, following NATO’s intervention to stop the expulsions of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo by Serbian military forces of Slobodan Milosevic’s nationalistic government.
After the conflict, the UN Security Council adopted resolution 1244 placing Kosovo under the jurisdiction of the United Nations. This resolution requires a plebiscite to determine the province’s future political status in accordance with the will of its people.
Several years ago, the people of Kosovo conducted a referendum overwhelmingly endorsing independence. Albanians make up more than 90 percent of Kosovo’s 2 million people. The remaining 10 percent are Serbs and other minorities such as Bosnians and Romanians. The heavy Albanian population led to a lopsided decision for independence.
Today an estimated 100,000 Serbs live in Kosovo, while data from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees shows that some 200,000 Serbs and other minorities have fled the province since 1999.
About half of the Serbs left in Kosovo live in four cities bordering Serbia north of the river Ibar. The remainder live in scattered enclaves throughout the UN-administered territory. Serbs in these enclaves have little freedom of movement and are under the protection of NATO-led peacekeepers. Some of them might flee following Kosovo’s declared independence, despite assurances of their safety from top ethnic Albanian politicians, including Prime Minister Hashim Thaci.
Historically, Kosovo’s legal claim to independence is also backed by the 1974 Constitution of the Socialistic Federative Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY), which established Kosovo as an autonomous province enjoying the same rights as the other six former Yugoslavian republics.
Resolution 1244 also affirmed the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the successor of SFRY. In 2006, Montenegro voted to secede from the state, ultimately transforming Yugoslavia into a union of two republics named Serbia and Montenegro.
A second round of negotiations between Pristina and Belgrade failed in 2007, under duress of the Marti Ahtisaari plan for Kosovo’s monitored independence in 2006. The declaration leaves Serbia as the only successor state of the former Federation to take measures to undermine the establishment of the new country, which the majority of Serbs and their supporters consider a second Albanian state in Europe.
Many speculate that this declaration of independence will lead to the creation of a Great Albania, since neighboring countries also have significant Albanian minorities. The Republic of Macedonia, where Albanians make up almost 25 percent of the population, would be most sensitive to the negative consequences of this process.
On the international level, Serbia hopes to hold emergency meetings with the UN Security Council, although Russia remains skeptical of the effectiveness of such measures. “The most important thing for Russia is that the countries that chose to recognize Kosovo’s independence remain in the minority,” Konstantin Kosachev, the Chairman of the State Duma International Committee, told Serbian media.
He also said that these countries should understand that this recognition will negatively influence their relations with Russia. He said Brazil, India and China would never recognize Kosovo’s independence. “Ethnically motivated secession from internationally recognized states is not acceptable under international law. Serbia is not going to accept and tolerate this,” Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic told the newspaper Blic.
The government in Belgrade convened an assembly in Mitrovica, a city in Serbian-controlled northern Kosovo, and plans to form Serbian institutions to run Serb-dominated areas with parallel structures. Meanwhile, government ministers and members of the Serbian Parliament visited Kosovo in order to express solidarity with the Serbs and the non-Albanian population in the area.
The Serbian government has also adopted a resolution to annul the proclaimed Kosovo independence and dismiss its “provisional” bodies. The resolution states that Kosovo Serbs and “others who deem themselves citizens of Serbia have every right to reject illegal acts regarding unilateral independence.”
Speaking at a press conference the day before Kosovo’s proclamation, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said: “This decision is of historical importance. I’m calling Kosovo Serbs to remain in their homes, because every state would do the same if it were faced with an illegal taking away of a part of its territory.” Kostunica, considered a moderate nationalist Serbian leader, emphasized that “this is happening for the first time in the world, and represents the most flagrant violation of international law.”
Just minutes after the Kosovan parliament voted, he condemned the declaration of independence calling it an “action of a puppet state.”
The Serbian government sent a text of its decision to the EU missions abroad and to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. The Serbian government has said it plans to downgrade diplomatic relations with countries that recognize Kosovo statehood. The pro-western Serbian president Boris Tadic has vowed never to give up the fight for Kosovo. But, as he was sworn into office for a second term on Friday, Tadic also reaffirmed he would battle for his country to join the EU, despite most of the EU members’ willingness to recognize Kosovo rapidly.
The European Union stepped forward to deploy a mission to monitor the province’s independence, replacing the UN administration within the next 120 days. The foreign ministers of EU nations have already given formal approval for the mission.
Moscow and Belgrade have said that any change in international presence in Kosovo needs to be verified by the UN Security Council. The Serbian government declared the EU’s decision to send in its police “null and void.” |
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