Editorial 2 / Taking Kosovo Solution Seriously
|
|
|
|
Written by Aleksandar Jokic
|
|
Wednesday, 13 June 2007
|
 Suddenly, the urgency to settle Kosovo’s political status in the form of “supervised independence” is on the US imperial agenda. After years of neglect following the US-led NATO aggression against Yugoslavia in 1999 (the 78-day bombing operation was called “Merciful Angel”) and merely a year of “negotiations” between representatives of Serbian government and an Albanian delegation from Kosovo, it was announced that the time had come for an imposed “solution”. The part of this US-endorsed solution that the Albanian community in Kosovo (the real name of this Serbian province is Kosovo and Metohija) likes is “independence”. But what does the qualification “supervised” amount to? While former Finish President Martti Ahtisaari’s plan, developed on behalf of “international community,” offers Kosovo Albanians some cosmetic (though perhaps substantively insignificant) attributes of independence such as a distinct flag, seal and anthem, “key international stakeholders” in the form an “International Civilian Representative (ICR)” would be the true rulers, vested with the power to annul laws adopted by the local democratic institutions or dismiss democratically chosen officials who fail to tow the line. More importantly, the Ahtisaari plan would leave basic economic policies in the hands not of an “independent” Kosovo or its government, but to the “free market,” or its institutions such as the IMF, the World Bank and the EU Commission, in other words to the outsiders. Consequently, “supervised independence” amounts to an insulting “paternalism by arrogant foreigners” of the kind now perpetuated in Iraq and Afghanistan, having been perfected for eleven years in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
If one is to believe US officials, in their search for an adequate settlement in Kosovo they were guided by the interest in securing “regional stability”. Since it is hard to see how “supervised independence,” explicitly and unashamedly favoring one side, could deliver in this regard—as unlike in Bosnia and like in Iraq and Afghanistan the fake independence of Kosovo will likely trigger a violent backlash against foreign dominance by well armed Muslim fighters—let us consider what would be the result of an approach honestly concerned with stable peace in the region. The obvious and inexpensive solution is to partition Kosovo between Serbs and Albanians by the process in which Serbia would exercise expulsive secession. The Serbian part of Kosovo would then become a part of Serbia proper while the Albanian part would become independent. Albanians have made it abundantly clear that they want nothing short of full independence. If possible, this genuine desire ought to be satisfied at least to a degree. Some give and take would be necessary, however, but partition is the only natural way to go. What would it take to accomplish this? First, the myth that Serbs would not find this option palatable must be rejected. In fact many Serbs, including members of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU), and in particular the former President of Yugoslavia, the novelist Dobrica Cosic, have long advocated this sort of solution. Back in 1996 SANU President Despic in a newspaper interview recommended partition. What exactly it should amount to is another matter, but it is a feasible step for both Serbs and Albanians.
In fact, convincing Serbs that a specific partition is good will seem less of a problem than divorcing the Kosovo issue from the Republika Srpska issue. And this is where the key policy may lead to a happy return of foreign servicemen and women (including Americans) from both Kosovo and Bosnia. A carefully crafted package of financial incentives and policy of compensating the Serbs' loss of territory in Kosovo with empowering Republika Srpska to join Serbia would provide a long term security and stability solution for the puzzle that the Balkans have presented until recently. This proposal would have to be further fine tuned, such as offering a provision that the UN guarantees that the holly Orthodox sites which remain in Albanian dominated Kosovo would enjoy protection from destruction and access secured to all Serbian pilgrims.
The policy of partitioning Kosovo along with the unification of Republika Srpska with Serbia offers long term security and stability for the region. Also, it is no less natural an outcome than the unification of Germany, for example. Once NATO and EU troops pull out of Bosnia, Serbs in Republika Srpska will be safe from possible attack coming from the Muslim and Croatian Federation as the strength of the Serbian Army will function as a decisive deterrent. On the other hand the Muslim and Croatian side would have nothing to fear from a democratic government in Belgrade. Similarly, after partition of Kosovo KFOR can pull out without worry of a renewed full-scale war between Serbs and Albanians there. A small contingent of NATO troops (preferably Americans, because of their credibility) would have to maintain a long-term presence in Macedonia to prevent a conflict erupting in the western part of the country where Albanians have a majority similar to the Kosovo situation. Albanians there might be tempted to repeat a Kosovo style uprising. American troops in Macedonia would guard against this, further contributing to the long-term security of the Balkans. The cost would, however, be an insignificant fraction of the current costs of maintaining both the Bosnia and Kosovo missions.
This entire enterprise is likely to provoke fierce resistance only from one side: the ethnic Muslims in Bosnia. However, American diplomats should have no serious problem convincing them to go along, as Muslims have enjoyed American protection and favors from the beginning of Yugoslav crisis. While Croats were supported by Germany and Serbs supposedly by Russia, Muslims in Bosnia were the side the US chose to favor. Perhaps the honor of carrying out the implementation of this comprehensive and long-term security solution could fall on the son of the President who began the destructive US meddling in former Yugoslavia in the first place.
|
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
|
|
|
Last Updated ( Friday, 15 June 2007 )
|
|
|
Image de la semaine |
Non ce n'est pas une affiche de campagne en Turquie, mais bien celle du parti socialiste autrichien (SPÖ) pour les élections d'octobre prochain à Vienne. Après les affiches de campagne de Strache qui plaide pour le " pur sang viennois" c'est la course au populisme?
Wien-Wahl: Politiker sprechen türkisch: 200.000 Neoösterreicher Wähler haben Migrationshintergrund. Die Parteien buhlen um ihre Stimmen - gerne auch in einer Fremdsprache.( Kurier 25/08/2010)
section: Portofolio
|
|
NewropMag Blog Press Review |
|
mod_dbrss2 AJAX RSS Reader poweredbysimplepie
|
|
Cartoon of the week |
(click on the image to enlarge)
|
|
Focus |
|
La deuxième rencontre du cycle
“LA DEMOCRATIE EN DANGER”,
consacrée à la Justice en Europe
Le lundi 13 septembre
de 19h30 à 22h00
Salons de l’Aveyron
17 Rue de l'Aubrac
75012 Paris
 A l’heure où les discours et les mesures sécuritaires et judiciaires se durcissent dans nombreux pays européens, où l’on sait les atteintes aux droits les plus élémentaires et aux principes fondamentaux des simples citoyens, quels traitements sont réservés à ceux qui tiennent les pouvoirs politiques, financiers, économiques entre leurs mains? Une conférence-débat organisée dans le cadre du cycle La démocratie en danger par Les Amis de Beppe Grillo à Paris et le NewropMag.
Intervenants: les députés européens Luigi De Magistris, Sonia Alfano et Rosario Crocetta ; Harald Greib, vice-président de Newropeans en charge des affaires des institutions européennes ; Eric Alt, magistrat, membre de l’association MEDEL (magistrats européens pour la démocratie et les libertés) et de l’association Anticor, et Corinne Lepage, députée européenne et ex Ministre de l’environnement, engagée dans la lutte contre la corruption politique et financière.
Parmi les sujets de discussion:
- L'infiltration des organisations criminelles et le vide législatif relatif en Europe
- Les récentes dépénalisations des crimes financiers et économiques en Italie, en France et leur traitement au sein des institutions européennes
- Présomption d'innocence ou de culpabilité? L'exemple de la “loi bâillon” sur les écoutes téléphoniques qui viole les recommandations de l’OSCE concernant l’emploi de sources et de matériels nécessaires aux investigations journalistiques au service de la démocratie.
Contacts:
Micaela Bracciaferri, Coordinatrice “Les Amis de Beppe Grillo à Paris »
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Marianne Ranke-Cormier, Rédactrice en chef du NewropMag
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Entrée libre sur pré-inscription auprès de
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
|
|
|
|
Podcast: "La France en 2020" - France Inter "Le Téléphone sonne" |
|
|
|
Newsletter |
|
Keep yourself updated with our FREE newsletters now!
|
|
Le 22 juillet dernier, Franck Biancheri, Directeur des études de 
