Serbian election does not put Kosovo question to rest

Now that the dust has settled from the Serbian elections, let’s step back and take a look at what actually transpired on 11 May.

All eyes of the world were posted on the voting outcomes – because these elections had been called immediately after Kosovo’s independence move. Serbians on both sides of the issue – for and against – rallied for what turned out to be a very tense and emotive electoral campaign, culminating in death threats to leading candidates.

The decision to call snap elections (for a date that was originally scheduled only for local elections) came after a breakdown in the Serbian government, over an inability to decide how to handle relations with the EU.

Low turnout worried many international observers, who believed that only the most ultra-nationalist Serb voters would turn out for the election. The vote would determine, many felt, which direction Serbia would choose – the path of civil nationalism and democratic freedom, or the path of ultra-nationalist policies and jingoistic threats to its new neighbours.

Kosovo was understandably nervous about the outcome. Kosovar Serbs threatened to create their own parliament within the fledgling state, depending on the outcome of the Serbia vote.

After two days of counting, it emerged that the current president, Boris Tadic, the moderate European-leaning candidate, could proclaim a ‘clear victory’ for his party. However, the victory was anything but clear. Though Tadic’s moderate party took 39% of the vote, the largest nationalist party, which rejects Kosovo’s independence, took 29%. A smaller nationalist party, led by the Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, took only 11.3% of the vote.

While most of Europe rejoiced in this ‘outright’ victory, closer observers have noted that this election actually makes Serbia more unstable than it did before the election. Despite the electoral gains of the pro-Europe party and the electoral losses of the pro-nationalist party, the legislature is now deadlocked right down the middle. Relations with the EU are going to be even more tenuous than before.

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Is Nationalism the Cure-all?

I’ve always been a fervent nationalist. It always made the most sense to me, somewhat paradoxically living in the multicultural US and Canada, that the most effective division of society would be on nationalistic grounds. Of course I recognized that there would be problems – looking at some Israelis’ treatment of Ethiopian Jews, or the division in Italy between North Italians and Sicilians, I was aware that the question of nationality and how it would be defined would always be contentious. But overall, I thought it was the simplest means to splitting the world into governable bits.

I no doubt was heavily influenced by my own heritage in this way of thinking. Ethnically Norwegian, I have heard how time and time again the Norwegian nation was first subdued by the Danes, and then, in a sudden transfer of power that involved no Norwegian voices, taken over by the Swedes, who ruled Norway despite a hostile reception for 91 years.

It was due to these nationalist leanings that I applied to work for the Scottish National Party five years ago. Reading about the Scots’ “plight,” I honestly believed that Scotland, its heritage, and its language were on the brink of being lost, and only Scottish independence could adequately prevent this from happening.

Then, I actually went to work for them in Westminster. I was struck by their utter inability to look beyond the moment when independence might actually be granted, to decide how the country would be run. The party drew supporters and potential SNP representatives from all ends of the political spectrum, from left to right, their hatred of England the United Kingdom being the sole unifying point. I saw how empty their policies could be, and I began to seriously question whether nationalism really was a solid starting point for self-governance, as I had once believed, or if it just caused a whole lot of trouble in otherwise stable societies.

And then I moved to Montreal, where I was surrounded, day-in and day-out by sovereigntists and anti-sovereigntists, who could not let the issue of Quebec nationhood be forgotten for even a second. I TA’d a political science course entitled “Nations and States,” and found myself, rather surprisingly, on the other side of the argument, understanding for the first time that Woodrow Wilson’s grand philosophy probably laid the groundwork for the bloodiest conflicts that this century, and the last, have ever seen.

And so I approach the new Kosovar state with much scepticism. While no one could argue that their subjection to Serb rule was justifiable or should be continued, I am not convinced that a nationalist solution was the best solution. I’m sure Serbs in Mitrovica could tell you the same thing. But the verdict’s still out on the viability of this nation as an independent nation-state, so I guess we’ll all just have to wait and see.

Serb President receives death threats over Kosovo break

The President of Serbia, Boris Tedic, has received death threats a week before parliamentary elections are due to be held. The threats are believed to be in response to Kosovo’s declaring independence in February, and the lack of any military action to reclaim lost Serb territory.

The president urged Serbians to remain calm and rational, insisting that there be “no lynching atmosphere in Serbia.”

Serbia’s elections, scheduled for 11 May, were called shortly after Kosovo declared independence. The snap elections are now reflecting the bitter divisiveness halving the country, between those who were prepared to hold onto Kosovo at all costs and embrace Russia, against those who hope to join the European Union even if it means the loss of a critical portion of Serbian territory.

Divisions also exist between the current Prime Minister, Vojislav Kostunica, and the more Western-oriented president. The President had been in full support of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (see Note), and when the Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic signed it without demanding any recognition of Serbia’s claim over Kosovo, a political crisis ensued.

Kostunica, once supported by the West because of his democratic leanings and his defeat of Slobodan Milosevic in 2000, has turned increasingly nationalistic, and has remained a staunch opponent of Kosovar independence. It is under his direction that all Serbian ambassadors have been immediately recalled from nations extending diplomatic recognition to the breakaway state.

Note: The Stabilisation and Association Agreement is branch of EU foreign relations which deals specifically with the nations of the Western Balkans, and includes Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia. It is through this channel that EU leaders hope to encourage Balkan states to undergo solid democratisation and institutionalise democratic reforms. It is hoped that this is the first step towards EU accession for many of these states.

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UN Plans to Stay Longer in Kosovo

There appears to be a change in schedule in Pristina.

The United Nations peacekeeping force, otherwise referred to as the United Nations Mission in Kosovo or UNMIK, was scheduled to depart the newly independent nation on 15 June, when Kosovo’s independence, declared unilaterally in February, will be official.

At that point, the plans were to hand over all peacekeeping operations to the European Union, in the form of their EULEX (European Union Law and Justice Mission) team designed to encourage state-capacity building and democratisation. However, neither organization is forecasting a definitive transition on 15 June, according to BBC News.

While EU missions have already begun to enter the country, the UN is supposedly packing up. But new revelations from the UNMIK head, Joachim Roeker, said that “the mission will continue.”

This causes logistical issues for EULEX, which was due to inherit 400 UNMIK vehicles from the departing mission. It also breeds concern that the dual missions will only duplicate their programs and achieve no real progress.

There is talk of mounting tension between the West and Russia over the incoming EULEX force. The West’s presence in Russia’s “sphere of influence” sits uneasily with Russia, and Putin and Medvedev would much rather retain the UN presence in the region, if a peacekeeping force is necessary. But Western powers are eager to see EULEX assume its role in the Kosovar region.

“We want to see this as a gradual, orderly transition from the UNMIK role to the EU role unfold over the coming weeks,” said a senior State Department (U.S) official.

As the 15 June deadline approaches, concerns are mounting throughout the international community as to how Kosovo’s real break from Serbia will occur. Additional concern is expressed for the visible minority of Kosovar Serbs, who may resort to violence in northern Kosovo, in response to statements from the Serbian government that EULEX occupation is illegal.

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Could Kosovo lead to an independent Quebec?

The unilateral declaration of independence which was issued by Kosovo was, predictably, a messy scenario for other Balkan states and regions – but its impact has been felt much farther afield.

Canada has been shaken by this declaration taken in Pristina, fearful that the move to independence would re-ignite tensions between Quebec, the French-speaking province on the Atlantic coast, and Ottawa, the seat of Canadian government. Canada has been wrestling with this issue for years – from the confederation of the provinces into the modern day entity of Canada in 1867 to present day. Quebecois separatists – known as soverainistes – came to power in the 1970s, and held a referendum in 1995 to determine whether or not they would remain legally bound to Canada. Though the referendum was defeated (by a slim margin), the Canadian federal government feared a resurgent Parti Quebecois, and passed the Clarity Act in 1999, to further specify under what conditions Canada would allow a province to secede.

Stephen Harper, the Canadian Prime Minister, did not react immediately to the announcement of Kosovar independence. Debate swirled around the implications of recognising the newest nation-state in Europe. Some warned that recognition would immediately encourage Quebec to unilaterally secede from Canada, citing Kosovo as their inspiration and international precedent. Others said Kosovo and Quebec could not be more distinct.

Harper, along with his ministers, finally decided to recognise Kosovo. “We know that a significant number of countries…have already recognized Kosovo,” said Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier. “So what we did today, we joined the international community and recognized Kosovo as a new state.”

Maxime Beaupre, who currently works in the Privy Council of Canada, which formally advises the Prime Minister, said: “Essentially, Canada recognized that other states have recognized Kosovo. It doesn’t actually recognize Kosovo as a state.”

PM Harper was very quick to point out, however, that Kosovo is not Quebec. “The situation in Kosovo is very unique. It is a totally different situation than the democratic debate in Canada and in Quebec.”

More Scorpions arrested for role in Kosovo killings

Four Serbians have been charged over the infamous Pudojevo massacre in 1999, in which 18 women and children were killed in northeastern Kosovo. Zeljko Djukich, Dragan Medich, Dragan Borojevich and Miodrag Solaja have been charged with war crimes for killing the ethnic Albanians during the Serbian invasion of the region.

The four are said to be members of the Scorpions, a paramilitary group founded in 1991, and functioned as a unit within the Serbian interior ministry, known as the Special Anti Terrorist Unit. Trained to slaughter non-Serb populations during the series of Balkan Wars that raged in Croatia and Bosnia in the 1990s, the Scorpions have been pinpointed in other massacres as well, most notably Srebenica in 1995. Milosevic, while on trial for war crimes at The Hague, asserted that the Scorpions were a vigilante group with no connections to the Serbian state – assertions that were disproved by war crimes prosecutors who produced damning evidence showing Milosevic’s complicity in the group’s activities.

Four Scorpions were found guilty of murdering civilians during the 1995 Srebenica massacre earlier this month. Convicted by a Serbian war crimes court, the four were sentenced for their part in the crime. The driver received five years of prison only, while those who ordered the executions, Slobodan and Branislav Medic (the Medic Cousins), received 20 years each. One received 13 years, after pleading guilty. The case caused an uproar in Serbia in 2005, after video of the massacre was broadcast on television after first being shown at the international tribunal at the Hague during Milosevic’s trial.

Serbs are still unsure of how to address the issue of the Scorpions. While some see their actions as despicable even in war, others justify the brutal raids and pillaging committed by the paramilitary group as a necessary evil during wartime.

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Kosovo Independence Stirs Other Eastern European Enclaves

Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence, issued in February, caused alarm among several analysts of Eastern Europe, who warned that Kosovo’s quick action would encourage other restive provinces to follow suit. Most vulnerable to a possible succession is Georgia, positioned in the Caucasus, where borders mean little and breakaway regions proliferated the isthmus.

Georgia currently has achieved some level of calm and stability, after years of warfare with three autonomous and semi-autonomous regions: Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Ajaria. While South Ossetians and Ajarians have come more or less to terms with Georgian sovereignty, Abkhazia remains a fierce outpost of the mountainous country, refusing to accede to Georgian rule ever since the crumbling of the Soviet Union led to an independent Georgia. Although Abkhazia declared independence in 1994, following two years of outright warfare with the Georgian government in Tblisi, no country has ever officially recognised it. It is now the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia, while rule over the region is torn between two sovereigntist groups.

What makes this arrangement most unstable is the involvement of Russia in Abkhaz affairs. Contrary to its position on Kosovo, Russia has wholeheartedly embraced Abkhaz independence, going as far as to send troops on the Georgian border to defeat its anti-Russian president, Mikhail Saakashvili. Putin has militarily and economically supported the renegade republics of Georgia throughout his presidential career, in an effort to cripple Saakashvili’s control over his country and silence his criticism of Russian policy. Moreover, Putin has granted all Abkhazians Russian citizenship. Putin also periodically flies Russian planes over Georgian airspace, a provocative move designed to irritate his southern neighbour.

Abkhazia is not the only eastern region which has been galvanised by Kosovo’s brash move towards independence. Transdniestr, a sliver of an area within the borders of post-Soviet Moldova, is another place which has stubbornly resisted consolidation with neighbouring states.

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War crimes tribunal decisions further strain Balkan region

Carla Del Ponte, the former chief prosecutor for war crimes for the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia, has sent shock waves through Kosovo, as she claims the Kosovo Liberation Army harvested organs from its prisoners while they were still alive, to trade across the border in 1999.

The former prosecutor described these events in her soon-to-be released memoir, “The Hunt: Me and War Criminals.” Del Ponte, who led investigations against Slobodan Milosevic, Ratko Mladic, and Radovan Karadzic, served as the chief prosecutor for the ICTY for 8 years. Del Ponte described visiting a house in Albania, just across the Kosovo border, where KLA agents removed the kidneys from Serbs, Albanians, and others while they were still alive. Further organs would be harvested and sold after the victims were killed.

Kosovo has responded defiantly. “Del Ponte’s accusations are aimed at blackening the image of former Kosovo Liberation fighters,” said Hajredin Kuci. Del Ponte’s colleagues are unsure of what to make of the allegations, because no mention of them was ever found in any of the cases she pursued at The Hague.

Kosovars are also celebrating the acquittal of Ramush Haradinaj, the former Kosovar PM and military leader who was charged with war crimes at The Hague. Haradinaj, after studying law at Pristina Univesity, then led a guerrilla battalion in the Dukagjini operative zone in 1998 and 1999. He was tried on charges of “participation of a joint criminal enterprise” in attempting to control the Dukagjini province through the murder of Serbs, Kosovar Roma (Gypsies), and Kosovar Albanians who were suspected of aiding Serbs.

The Serbian Prime Minister, Vojislav Kostunica, denounced the finding, declaring that “Serbia shall not accept justification of Haradinaj’s crimes against innocent Serbs.” Other analysts are concerned that the acquittal will encourage Serbs to vote for extremist Serbian national parties, which would make it harder for Serbian fugitives to be delivered to the war crimes tribunal.

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From Russia Today:

Documentary from award-winning journalist Svetlana Vukmirovic, on organ harvesting by KLA fighters

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Kosovo Drafts Constitution

The UN is set to pull out of Kosovo on 15 June, as stipulated in the new Kosovar Constitution, a draft version of which was signed on Monday, 7 April. The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo, otherwise known as UNMIK, entered Kosovo in 1999 after extensive fighting between Serbs and Kosovars threatened to destabilise the Balkan region. UNMIK was responsible for overseeing the police, promoting and protecting human rights, and providing the administration for interim self-government. As stipulated in the new Kosovar Constitution, the EU will take over UNMIK’s operations.

UNMIK’s tenure in the troubled region was not without controversy. At times it was impossible to protect the human rights of all Kosovars and Serbs living in Kosovo. Spies and militiamen from Serbia still operate in the region, and Kosovo became a thriving marketplace for trafficked women from other post-Soviet states. Corruption within the UNMIK structure was endemic, further contributing to the distrust of Kosovars.

UNMIK will be replaced by the European Union Rule of Law in Kosovo (EULEX), as envisioned by Marti Ahtisaari, the former Finnish prime minister who tried to engineer a peace settlement between Kosovo and Serbia, which included a stipulation on Kosovar independence. EULEX will attempt to retain law and order in the nation, while preparing it for a possible accession to the EU in years to come. EULEX will be carried out jointly with the UN, as it stems from UN Resolution 1244 – stipulating the boundaries of any international presence in the breakaway province.

The Kosovar Constitution establishes the area as an “independent, sovereign” republic with equal rights for all. The official state languages will be Albanian and Serbian, while Turkish, Bosnian, and Roma are all recognised as official on the municipal level.

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Establishing Law and Order After Conflict: For Kosovo, see pp. 27 -61

Hello, Kosovo

On 17 February 2008, the Serbian-controlled territory of Kosovo formally declared its independence from Serbia in the Kosovar Assembly. Previously, Kosovo had been administered as an Autonomous Province by the United Nations, who stepped in after the disastrous 1999 Kosovo War, which saw Serbs and Kosovars kill nearly 10,000 people.

Serbia immediately closed its borders and refused to accept Kosovar independence, claiming Kosovo as a vital part of the Serbian homeland and vowing never to allow the breakaway province its freedom. Subsequently, the Serbian government soon collapsed, as tensions over how to address the Kosovar crisis left the cabinet in a deadlock.

The quick secession of Kosovo met a varied international response. The US quickly recognized the new nation-state, as President Bush hailed its “embrace of multi-ethnicity“ and trusted it would bring good governance. European states also quickly recognised an independent Kosovo, while critics worried it would further alienate Serbia and drive it into Russia’s sphere of influence.

As expected, Russia stood by its ally, Serbia, and refused to acknowledge Kosovo as an independent country, saying that Kosovo had “opened a Pandora’s box” by unilaterally declaring independence. Russia is concerned that this act will encourage other separatists in the area – Abkhazians in Georgia, Dagestanis in southern Russia, and Chechens – to follow Kosovo’s lead.

Serbia is now concerned over a significant Serbian population in the northern town of Mitrovica, which has been the location of a few riots and violent protests since the 17 February declaration. At one point, the Serbs of Mitrovica even invaded the new Kosovo Court (formerly a court of Serbia) and demanded a return to Serbian control. Events like these have raised concerns of Kosovo’s ability to protect all its citizens, not just the ethnic Albanians who comprise 90% of the Kosovar population.

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Kosovo Declares Independence

Russian Reaction

Russia & EU Disagree on the Future of Kosovo