open Democracy News Analysis - Serbia’s Kosovo claim: much ado about..., Eric Gordy - Comments

moler on "Serbia’s Kosovo claim: much ado about..."

moler — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 08:48:52 +0100

"The Serbian government will not accept any form of independence, and the Kosovo government will not settle for anything less." An ignorant reader would think we have 2 extreme positions, but in reality only Albanians are on an extreme side. The current Serbian government offers highest possible autonomy, higher than any ethnic minority in Europe can dream of. On the other side Albanians will not talk about anything other than independence, although that would go against international laws, it can't be confirmed in the UN Security Council and it will feed separatism movements accros the globe. Only "valid" argument Albanian separatists have are threats of use of violence and expulsion of remaining Serbs and possibly international forces. What you call an "escalating rhetoric" is a desperate wake up call to the international community to stop with an dangerous attempt to separate 15% of the territory of Serbia and create something that will destabilize Balkans for next 100 years. It is a call to the European Union not to push Serbia away from NATO and EU, as Serbia will not trade Kosovo for either NATO or EU. Moler, Canada

Besian on "Serbia’s Kosovo claim: much ado about..."

Besian — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 02:35:16 +0100

This article is absolutely correct.

ianniscarras on "Serbia’s Kosovo claim: much ado about..."

ianniscarras — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 11:37:15 +0100

Eric Gordy's article assumes that the main issue in the negotiations of the future status of Kosovo is whether Kosovo will become independent. I quote: "The outcome of the negotiations is more or less known in advance: the parties will posture for the media for a few months, fail to reach an agreement, and the international mediators will seek to impose a resolution. The only issue that really remains in the air is whether the final status of Kosovo will be called by the name "independence" or by some other label." Nothing could be further from the truth. What is at stake in the Kosovo negotiations is (1) the system of checks and balances that must be implemented if the future state of Kosovo is to provide security for all its citizens (2) the means and conditions that would allow Kosovo and other territories to become independent from sovereign states without undermining the architecture of post-Helsinki Europe and the United Nations. To touch very briefly on these issues it is worth pointing out regarding (1) that there is a clear difference between the treatment of the minority groups in the plan discussed for an independent Kosovo and the equivalent Annan plan for Cyprus. If the international community does not wish to creat valid reasons for a resurgence of Serbian extremism, should the approach to minorities in multi-communal states not be consistent? Regarding (2) I find it difficult not to worry what the consequences would be for such countries as Georgia and Ukraine if the precedent of unilateral declarations of independence by territories is accepted by Western countries. I personally am in favour of the creation of independent Kosovo whose sovereign rights are however tempered by treaty obligations with Serbia and the European Union. The European Union has sufficient room for manoeuvre with Serbia and Kosovo to achieve this if the proposed solution really is just for both commuities. If however independence were to occur in the way that Eric Gordy seems to envisage the consequences for the populations of Kosovo and also for the wider region would be dire indeed. Iannis Carras, Athens, Greece.

Serbia’s Kosovo claim: much ado about..., Eric Gordy

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 14:47:34 +0100

It seems like the Serbian government is escalating its rhetoric about the final status of Kosovo. But most of the noise is not being directed toward any of the parties to the negotiations. It is the sound of competing political parties talking to one another.

The Serbian government's rhetoric on Kosovo has been escalating over the past several weeks, and there have been a few pointed gestures. Foreign minister Vuk Jeremić demonstratively walked out on an after-dinner speech to be given by the former United Nations mediator Martti Ahtisaari. The government discussed formally notifying the UN Security Council that the United States advocacy of independence for Kosovo constituted a threat to the sovereignty of Serbia. The pejorative formulation that an independent Kosovo would be "the first Nato-state" began to be repeated in a number of public fora. There was a sustained exchange between officials from prime minister Vojislav Koštunica's Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) and President Boris Tadić's Democratic Party (DS) over whether Serbia ought to continue its efforts to join the Nato alliance, and at the party congress of the DSS, the party's platform was altered to oppose joining the alliance.

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