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The unilateral declaration of independence of Serbia’s southern province of Kosovo last Sunday once again underlined the double standards in modern-day politics. Having bombed Serbia nine years ago under the auspices of NATO, the world’s leading “democracies” then pushed to install a UN-administered rule in the breakaway province. The mandate of the new administrators was officially confirmed by a UN Security Council resolution that still recognised Kosovo as part of Serbia.
Fourteen months later, in 2000, the man whose régime NATO was trying to overthrow, accusing him of “ethnic cleansing of Kosovo Albanians”, lost an election that saw him cede power to Serbia’s democratic forces. In 2001, Slobodan Milosevic would end up in The Hague to stand trial for his alleged wrongdoings. Five years later, he would die in his prison cell, in the midst of a lengthy courtroom battle during which he often seemed to defeat his accusers. With Milosevic dead, Serbian troops long withdrawn from Kosovo, and its ethnic minority living in fear of reprisals, it would be fair to expect that the international community would try to restore the fundamental principles of civil society in the province, making it a safe and secure place for all residents of Kosovo regardless of their ethnic background.
None of this happened. Taking advantage of a long-standing political impasse between Belgrade and Pristina, foreign mediators kept pushing the two sides to clinch a deal they knew would never be reached. To solve a decades-long conflict, the two parties got three months, a laughable term by all standards, especially when compared with the similarly complex Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which seems to run interminably. During those three months of talks in late 2007, a myriad of different autonomy concepts, all under the common slogan of “More than autonomy, less than independence” offered by Serbia to Kosovo leaders was rejected each time by Pristina negotiators. They pursued full independence, something that their Western sponsors, led by the United States, had promised them on the heels of a NATO bombardment in 1999.
On Sunday, Kosovo declared its independence and it was recognised by Washington the next day. A host of other nations, including Albania, followed suit, but the sweeping recognition that Pristina was counting on is still missing. The decision divided the European Union as several of its member nations have potential flashpoints of inter-ethnic violence and separatism. Monday’s extraordinary session of the UN Security Council produced one of the most humiliating moments in the body’s 63-year history as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon awkwardly dodged the question regarding his attitude toward Pristina’s move, before saying it was an affair of each country to decide on its own. The weak posture of the UN chief further minimises the role of this organisation, which has seen its reputation of a just international arbiter shrink in the past decade in a world dominated by one global superpower. Encouraging Kosovo’s independence bid did not cost Washington much, its image of a global promoter of democracy was lovingly embraced by local separatists, while (in case the recognition of a self-styled state triggers another major Balkan crisis) it will be Serbia and Europe that will have to deal with the consequences.
In a wider context, this issue will serve as a litmus test: in order to promote Kosovo into a fully fledged member of international community, its US-led sponsors will need to bypass again the aforementioned UN resolution from 1999 that still considers it part of Serbia. To become a member of such bodies as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Council of Europe, the International Olympic Committee, and many others, Kosovo needs to become a UN member first. This time, it will take more than Ban Ki-moon’s awkward mumbling to mandate such membership. This will put to the test the supreme rule of international law, which in the past was a beloved mantra of Western promoters of peace and democracy.
Should the UN once again bow to pressure from Washington, it may be just the right time to consider scrapping it for good. After all, it is going to hurt less than watching hypocrisy triumph again.
PS: While burning KFOR checkpoints may not be the best of ways for Kosovo’s ethnic Serbian minority to express its anxiety and anger over recent events, global democratic leaders should think twice before voting to award a chair to Kosovo on New York’s East River. In the Basque country, Québec, Belgium, northern Cyprus, Georgia, and many other places across the globe, they have TV sets, too, and they are watching. Telling them Kosovo is different and unique won’t work. That is the price you pay for being a hypocrite, I guess.
21 February 2008
Bojan Soc
The Moscow Times
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