Ltr in response to "Kosovo cannot wait." Financial Times

Ltr in response to "Kosovo cannot wait." Financial Times

letters.editor@ft.com

 

The Financial Times

 

Letter to the Editor(s)

 

13 November 2006

 

Regarding "Kosovo cannot wait," of 13 November, it never ceases to amaze me how generous other people are with other people's sovereign property, considering today that there are more practicing Muslims in Britain than there are practicing Anglicans, where British banks no longer give piggy banks as gifts for fear of offending the Muslim community, or where Muslims have openly declared, "We will replace the Bible with the Koran!" and where signs were carried in front of British Parliament saying, "Islam.  Our religion today; your religion tomorrow!

 

It may not be too long before Britain will have the same problem as there exists in Kosovo between Muslims and Christians and where today Kosovo is a region dominated by Muslim war criminals engaged in sex slavery, prostitution, murder, kidnapping and drugs. 

 

I wonder how generous the advice from The Financial Times will be when (not "if") the Muslim population outnumbers Britain's Christian citizens upon their demand for either autonomy or independence.

 

Be careful what you wish for.  You just may get it!

 

Stella L. Jatras

USA

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The following is from today’s Financial Times.

Kosovo cannot wait              http://www.ft.com/cms/s/3ba4939a-72bb-11db-a5f5-0000779e2340.html

Published: November 13 2006 02:00 | Last updated: November 13 2006 02:00

The international deadline set for the settlement of the Kosovo question - the last big territorial issue left by the collapse of Yugoslavia - is starting to slide. On Friday, Martti Ahtisaari, the United Nations' Kosovo talks envoy, postponed the announcement of his settlement proposals until 2007, abandoning plans to act before the year-end.

While a few weeks' delay is tolerable, any longer postponement could undermine hopes of a peaceful settlement and of a brighter future for one of Europe's most troubled regions.

Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanians want independence for a province that has been UN-ruled since 1999, when Nato troops forced out Slobodan Milosevic, former Serb leader. But Kosovo remains legally a part of Serbia - and Serbs insist it must remain so.

Mr Ahtisaari is expected to propose conditional independence in which Kosovo wins limited de facto sovereignty minus the full trappings of statehood. But even this will be too much for most Serbs. So he has delayed his announcement until after Serbian elections on January 21 - for fear that his plans would fuel extremist support.

Moderate Serb leaders are playing for time. Their tactics are not utterly hopeless. Russia, Belgrade's old ally, is pursuing more assertive foreign policies in every quarter - Kosovo is no exception. Moscow has signalled it sees the Ahtisaari plan as only a draft. With the US favouring early independence, the real bargaining is yet to come.

There are risks in imposing an early settlement. Belgrade could stir up Kosovo's Serbs, break transport links and - just possibly - provoke violence. But it must see that only the Serb-majority zone in northern Kosovo could possibly benefit. Serb communities in the south would face total isolation, or worse.

However, the dangers of international inaction are greater. Delay poisons Kosovo by preventing ethnic Albanians taking responsibility for their future and hampers economic development, as few companies will invest in a stateless zone. And, worst of all, it risks provoking renewed violence from frustrated ethnic Albanians.

An early settlement would give maximum political benefit to moderate ethnic Albanian leaders, creating the best environment for them to deal in future with Kosovo's Serbs and with Belgrade.

The likely settlement would also, rightly, impose tough conditions on Kosovo, including the presence of foreign troops and of a European Union supervisory mission. Local Serbs would have a lot of autonomy under decentralisation plans. Kosovo would be forbidden from merging with next-door Albania or the ethnic Albanian region of Macedonia. There must be no talk of Greater Albania.

Belgrade must be wooed with pledges of more solid EU ties. The Union faces huge challenges in the region. It must show it is still ready to shoulder the burden. The former Yugoslavia is too close to home to ignore.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006

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