Thomas Walkom
At one level, Ottawa’s decision to recognize Kosovo is a non-issue. Backed by the muscle of NATO, the ethnic Albanian majority that dominates the statelet is clearly in charge. In purely practical terms, therefore, it makes sense to deal with those running this particular piece of Balkan real estate. We may not approve of the way Kosovars achieved independence (this argument goes), but they are there and must be dealt with.
That is the practical viewpoint. And it would indeed make sense if Stephen Harper’s Conservatives - like, say, those of former prime minister Brian Mulroney - conducted their foreign affairs on a purely practical basis.
But they do not. This Prime Minister has insisted on injecting what he calls a moral element into foreign policy - which, in diplomatic terms, means he will deal only with governments he approves of.
Which is why Harper will not deal with Hamas, even though it is a legitimately elected government controlling the Gaza Strip.
However, injecting morality into politics carries risks. Ottawa’s formal recognition of Kosovo (backed by the Liberal opposition) means more than a simple acknowledgement of facts on the ground. It also means that Canada approves of the province’s unilateral declaration of independence - a declaration that offends not only the Serbian constitution but the United Nations.
And when gleeful Quebec separatists say this sets a precedent for their province to unilaterally secede, they are right. In international relations, precedents do matter - which is why Spain, Indonesia and China, all countries with their own separatist movements, have so far not recognized Kosovo.
Certainly, there is no simple answer to the Kosovo problem. NATO’s 1999 invasion, while designed to prevent what some feared might be a wholesale slaughter of Kosovar Albanians, succeeded only in replacing one form of oppression with another.
Before 1999, ethnic Albanians were the victims; after the invasion, ethnic Serbs took their place.
Yet it’s worth remembering that NATO received international approval for this invasion only by promising not to dismember Serbia. As Charles Simic writes in the latest New York Review of Books, that promise was revealed as hollow when the U.S. began building a giant military base in Kosovo. Albanian Kosovars, he writes, realized quickly that with Washington on side they would never have to accommodate either Serbia or the Serb minority in their own province.
And so they did not. Any resolution short of separation was forestalled. Last month’s unilateral declaration of independence became inevitable.
The loss of Kosovo has further demoralized Serbia, shaken its efforts to join Europe and invigorated xenophobes. It may be true that most Serbs have no interest in even visiting the country’s so-called Kosovo heartland. That does not mean that its loss is without cost. The cliché “Balkan powder keg” exists for a reason.
For Canada, recognition of Kosovo’s right to secede means two things. First, we are turning our backs on the UN and on very specific commitments that we and other NATO countries made not to dismember Serbia. Second, we are lending our imprimatur to any ethnically based province that decides to unilaterally break away from a larger state.
Harper says the Kosovo situation is unique. Bob Rae, the newly recycled Toronto Liberal MP calls this precedent argument so preposterous that it is “an insult to the intelligence.” Would that they were right. Unfortunately, they are not.
Thomas Walkom’s column appears Thursday and Sunday.
Kosovo searches the world for friends to back independence, The Times
David Charter in Pristina
Three neighbours of Serbia angered Belgrade yesterday by announcing that they would formally recognise Kosovo’s independence this week, helping to relieve nerves in Pristina at the slow pace of international support for the world’s newest country.
Support from Bulgaria, Croatia and Hungary will bring the total number of states recognising the breakaway Serbian province to 33, far fewer than many in Kosovo had hoped for by this stage, more than a month after declaring self-rule.
A target for half of the 192 members of the United Nations General Assembly to accept Kosovo by September has been dropped quietly and replaced with a drive for “quality rather than quantity” to show that the world’s most powerful democracies back the Balkan nation.
Kosovo’s main sponsors in Washington, Brussels and London are working behind the scenes to gather enough support to rebuff any attempt by Russia at the UN to reopen talks on the status of a territory that it regards as an integral part of its ally Serbia.
In an interview with The Times, Pieter Feith, the EU special representative to Kosovo, said: “If you look at this as a numbers game - for instance, 50 per cent of the members of the UN General Assembly by September, when it convenes - this could be seen as falling short of what we had hoped.
“If you look at quality, I think we are well on track. You have all the G7 countries, and even before Canada and Japan recognised [this week] we had 65 per cent of the world’s GDP. In qualitative terms you have the most significant economic democracies of the world.”
There is disquiet at the reluctance of big nations such as India and Brazil to recognise Kosovo, as well as disappointment with Spain, the largest of the eight EU members not to sign up. Madrid is understood to be concerned at giving any encouragement to its separatist movement in the Basque region while Greece and Cyprus are similarly reluctant to send a signal over Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus.
Mr Feith, an experienced Dutch diplomat, who regards steering Kosovo towards the EU as his main role, is aiming for membership of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to give the country extra credibility. “It is important to get Kosovo to become a member of the international financial institutions to help kickstart the economy,” he said. “We are looking forward to a donors’ conference organised by the European Commission in June and around that same time . . . significant progress in Kosovo’s application to the World Bank.”
Mr Feith’s other role is to help to oversee the transition of support with policing and the judiciary from the UN to the EU. He pledged to extend the EU’s mission into the Serb stronghold of northern Mitrovica, the city hit by rioting on Monday that left a Ukrainian UN police officer dead.
Mr Feith believes that Serbs can be won round by allowing funding from Belgrade for health and education to continue. “There is a provision for continuing privileged linkages between Serbian communities and Belgrade with resources flowing in as long as this is transparent and in the view of the Government in Pristina,” he said.
Vuk Jeremic, the Serbian Foreign Minister, has predicted that international recognitions for Kosovo will peak at 40 and suggested that some could be persuaded to change their mind. “Every country that decides to recognise the illegally declared state of Kosovo breaches international law . . . and cannot count on good relations with Serbia,” he said yesterday on a visit to Greece, a traditional ally.
Nearly half of Macedonians against recognition of Kosovo, MakFax
As many as 45 percent of the Macedonian citizens are against recognition of Kosovo’s independence, while 35 percent are in favour, showed the results of the poll conducted by the Skopje-based Research and Policies Creation Center.
The survey carried out in early March showed that as many as 95 percent of the Albanians living in Macedonia support recognition of Kosovo as an independent state, while 60 percent of the Macedonia are opposing such a move.
Asked if marking of the border should precede the eventual recogntion of independence, 55 percent of those polled answered that the border demarcation is a priority.
The respondents have divided stances on how would eventual recognition reflect on the security situation in Macedonia. About 28 percent said that the security would improve, 25 percent answered it would get worse and 25 percent believe it would remain unchaged.
Czechs petitioners call on cabinet not to recognise new Kosovo, CeskeNoviny.cz
Prague- Czech opponents of independent Kosovo handed a petition against the recognition of unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo, signed by 1300 people, to Chamber of Deputies chairman Miloslav Vlcek (senior opposition Social Democrats, CSSD) today.
The organisers believe that the deputies should call on the government and the Foreign Ministry not to recognise Kosovo’s independence.
The signatures were collected by members of the petition committee at demonstrations that they regularly staged in Prague in past weeks.
“We will continue with demonstrations and collecting signatures,” committee member Milan Jasa told CTK today.
He said that Vlcek supported the petition organisers.
“He promised to present the matter to deputies at the current session, probably on Thursday,” Jasa said.
The opponents of the new Kosovo believe that the recognition of its independence would be a dangerous legal precedent.
They intend to stage a demonstration outside the government office.
Former Czech foreign minister Jan Kavan (CSSD) said that the recognition of independence of Kosovo would be an example for separatists in other countries, for instance, in Russia’s Chechnya or Spain’s Basque Province and Catalonia.
“It is absolutely necessary to make it clear for our government that the will of the majority of Czechs is to express solidarity with Serbia and not to recognise the unilateral declaration of Kosovo’s independence,” Kavan said recently at a demonstration.
Unlike Germany, France or Britain, the Czech Republic has not yet officially recognised Kosovo’s independence from Serbia declared on February 17 and has adopted a “wait-and-see” approach.
Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek (senior ruling Civic Democrats, ODS) said his government would recognise Kosovo when it guaranteed, among other things, the law and order and the protection of minorities on its territory.
Czech President Vaclav Klaus recently warned against the recognition of independent Kosovo. He expressed fear that the recognition of the unilateral cession from Serbia could serve as a precedent abroad.
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