Posted on 01/27/2006 8:50:29 AM PST by montyspython
Key to Kosovo Serb survival
By Misa Djurkovic
For the Kosovo Serbs living since 1999 in enclaves heavily guarded by NATO troops, subject to murders, kidnappings and restricted freedom of movement, negotiations on decentralization of Kosovo in the first round of talks on the future status of the province beginning on 25th January in Vienna is an essential key to survival.
Indeed, when in the summer of 1999 Serbian forces retreated from the province and Albanian extremists waged a large-scale campaign of ethnic violence and intimidation, the Serb community managed to survive only in several enclaves in which it organized strongholds despite great suffering.
Image Too Graphic to Show
16-year-old Kosovo Serb, Dimitrije Popovic died when Albanian gunmen fired from a car into a group of young Serbs at a hamburger kiosk at 2 a.m. Saturday, June 5, 2004.
Since then, the key factor for the survival of Serbs in Kosovo has been the preservation of their own institutions, like health care, education and administrative offices issuing documents or performing civil marriage ceremonies.
It is thus not difficult to understand why all these institutions have become a special target of Albanian separatist militants in the past six years.
Despite the 2001 agreement between the UN mission in Kosovo and Belgrade, which recognized the legality of all those institutions, Albanian leaders and some parts of the international community are still referring to them as ’parallel’, thus attempting to denote them as illegal, lawless and an obstacle to the development of a multiethnic Kosovo.
The reality is quite the contrary. It is exactly in the territories nominally proclaimed „multiethnic“ that the arrival of Albanian institutions has led to the dismantling of the Serb institutions and the permanent dislodging of the Serb population. The Serb population is indeed unwilling to accept that their children must begin to learn in Albanian language or that they should be taught that the Serbs are „occupiers“ in Kosovo. At the same time, Serbs neither trust the quality of Albanian hospital services, nor do they trust the competence of Albanian doctors.
In a situation in which the majority of the Serb population in Kosovo has no freedom of movement, these institutions are their only source of security.
The international community in Kosovo has realized that if it wants to preserve at least a part of the Serb population in Kosovo, it must allow them to autonomously lead their own institutions, with the help of the Serbian government. This has led to a tolerance of de facto autonomy for the Serbian communities in Kosovo, despite a staunch opposition from the ethnic Albanians.
While Belgrade’s call for decentralization, as a model for survival of the Serbs in Kosovo, remained largely unaswered for years, the terrible anti-Serb violence of March 2004 served as a final wake-up call to the international community. Decentralization came to be seen as a barrier against all those in the Albanian community seeking an ethnically clean Kosovo.
The Belgrade government plan of April 2004 had clear and well-defined ideas about decentralization, which included creating the possibility for the return of some 220,000 Serbs expelled by Albanian extremists from Kosovo since 1999.
The response of the UN Mission in Kosovo was to propose a plan which, a year and a half later, proved to be a failure: it offered too little to the Serbs, while the Albanians did not care to implement it.
Today, as the negotiations on the talks on the future status of Kosovo begin, it is key to understand that decentralization is a crucial matter for the Serbs and all other non-Albanian communities.
No matter where the border will be after the negotiations, if Serbs are to stay in Kosovo, they should be able to enjoy all essential freedoms and rights, which can only be guaranteed by a substantial decentralization process.
What should decentralization involve?
1. This project should officialize and legalize the type of autonomy which already de facto exists in those small communities where Serbs represent a majority of population. Per definition, it should formalize the already existing relationship with Belgrade. Every year, Serbia contributes 50 million euros to the viability of this project, for its administrative functioning and the solving of social problems of the territory. At the same time, it is crucial to find a mechanism for establishing a relationship with Pristina while performing all those activities.
2. It is important to gradually transmit some of the competency to the level of Serbian communities, especially in the domain of the judiciary and security. It is key to find a solution which would precisely define the division of authority between municipalities and ministries in Pristina.
3. Finally, if the international community and the Albanian leaders really want the Serbs to return to their homes, it is crucial to facilitate the establishment of new Serb municipalities, especially in those isolated enclaves which have the worst living conditions for the Serb population. Unfortunatelly, nowadays, Serbs can go back to Kosovo and integrate only in those communities in which the Serb population represents a majority and where it appears most possible to start building trust with Albanian neighbours.
As a result, no matter the final outcome of status talks, decentralization remains a key priority for the Serb community and a precondition for the development of a multiethnic Kosovo. Without decentralization it will be impossible to attract back Serbs who have been chased from their homes and provide safe and dignified life for Serbs still living in Kosovo.
"I agree the Independence issue is a position the US would not like to take sides on. Relations between NATO and the Serbs has improved a great deal."
******Yes the relations has improved. However, the U.S. has a strong lobbying group for the Independence of Kosovo.
In the meantime.....
Military to join peacekeeping missions | 12:43 January 18 | B92
BELGRADE -- Wednesday – The Serbia-Montenegro Executive Council has decided to offer the services of the Serbia-Montenegro military’s professional soldiers in peacekeeping operations around the world.
The Serbia-Montenegro soldiers will be participating in a United Nations-led peacekeeping mission in Sudan and will also be helping out international security forces in Afghanistan.
The Federal Parliament has also delivered a proposal for immediate consideration to have Serbia-Montenegro soldiers participate in other UN operations in Liberia, the Ivory Coast and Congo, and both Serbian and Montenegrin Parliaments have expressed support for the proposal.
Military analysts Zoran Dragisic and Aleksandar Radic are not surprised by the decision, since Belgrade is expected to take care of all of its international obligations related to the security systems.
Dragisic said that all UN member countries, as well as Serbia-Montenegro, have the obligation to participate in peacekeeping operations, and that Serbia-Montenegro’s professional soldiers can bring a lot of experience and know-how to help ease the conflicts in these areas of the world.
Radic said that preparations have already begun for sending the soldiers to their assigned destinations.
“Several actions have fallen through thus far, some because of the disinterest of the political elite, others because of money problems. Now we are talking about two realistic missions that require a smaller contingent of militarz personnel, which is a good opportunity to begin our cooperation with the rest of the world. The only problem is that we must wait until the procedure is completed and the mission is accepted, so that we can apply to international missions for funds that will help finance our objectives.” Radic said.
To lobby for independent Kosovo and hope to defeat the influx and support of Al Queda. Thus taking the risk of the Serbs defeating the Albanian movement to Independence of Southern Serbia and the FRYROM military in Western Macedonia. Albania and Kosovo would surely aline themselves in some sort of an alliance.......like S&M for starters.......
They are looking for the greater Albania. Holbrooke was right about his assessment in 1998.....before he and the Democratic was bought off by the Albania Mafia....in 2000+
I really can't even imagine, given the complexity of the repucussions, Russia and China's reaction.....It could also cause a backlash of Saudi's against the Royal Family for supporting the Americans...Al Qaeda may very well launch attacks world wide with sleeper cells as well.....
here we go.....
Another aspect is the economical impact on Europe. France, Germany Russia all have a lot of money invested in many of the middle eastern countries such as Iran. This is why France and Germany did not want to get involved in the Iraq war. Money and political survival is a strong motivator it seems...
One of those threads of indulgence in delusions. As someone once said, you can't go home again, and unscramble the eggs.
Friend of Islamic terrorists everywhere.
In the first Iraq war, true story. We dropped a daisy cutter on Iraq lines., the British Troops that saw it...."My God, the Blokes have done it"...meaning they thought it was an atomic explosion......
I agree with you completely.......
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.