Kosovo - Tug-of-war over the province endures

Spotlight: Kosovo - Tug-of-war over the province endures

By Neil MacDonald

Published: October 5 2007 18:46 | Last updated: October 5 2007 18:46

Another
round of negotiations is to be held on Sunday on the future status of
Kosovo – the second direct meeting between Serbian and separatist
Kosovar leaders mediated by European Union, US and Russian envoys.

Expectations
appear lower than ever that the two sides can find a compromise over
the mostly ethnic Albanian breakaway province, severed from Serbia
after 78 days of Nato air bombardment in 1999 and governed since then
by a United Nations interim mission.

This
partly vindicates Belgrade’s diplomatic strategy: keep the EU divided
and count on Russia to block any pro-independence resolutions at the
United Nations Security Council.

But it has also left Serbia in
suspended animation, unable to move forward with confidence on measures
to integrate with the EU. Other sticking points include the capture of
fugitive war crimes suspects.

Although EU diplomats have mostly
avoided describing Kosovo’s independence as a trade-off for being
accepted into the bloc, most people in Serbia see it that way.

So
the courting of Russia by Voijislav Kostunica, the nationalist-leaning
prime minister, has raised fears among Serbs about the direction their
country is taking. Most of them see integration with the EU as their
best bet to revive a promising economy that has yet to recover from the
break-up of Yugoslavia and wars of the 1990s.

However,
brinkmanship with Brussels means the risk – however slight – of turning
away from the western world for the long term. Talk of “isolation”
stirs memories of hyperinflation, electricity shortages and
international economic sanctions.

Kosovo was the heartland of the
medieval Serb domain until population shifts left ethnic Albanians with
the upper hand. Would defending it be worth sacrificing EU integration?
Most Serbs say no although their ambivalence is evident, too.

According
to a poll taken early last month by an independent monitoring
organisation, 41 per cent of citizens in Serbia, excluding Kosovo, say
that keeping the province is more important than entering the EU. Yet
this attitude of resistance is down from 47 per cent in June, says the
Belgrade-based Centre for Free Elections and Democracy.

The same polls show a majority – 65 per cent last month – favouring EU membership. Only 26 per cent would join Nato.

Petar
Markovic, a car park attendant in central Belgrade, says Kosovo’s fate
would be “whatever the west decides”. The 1999 aerial assaults were
“unjustified, but Serbia is now weak”, and the loss of 15 per cent of
its territory has to be lived with. “Diplomacy is not working. They
could sit for five years and nothing would change.”

Only a few
citizens – 10 per cent, down from 12 per cent in June – say they would
support “some kind of military action” to thwart unilateral secession
moves, while 22 per cent would be ready for “financial consequences”.

“Serbia
should keep Kosovo whatever the price. It belongs to us and we should
fight for it,” a vendor selling red peppers at the city’s largest
open-air market says – over the objections of his wife. The two say
they came from Leskovac, one of the cities in southern Serbia with
numerous displaced Kosovo Serbs.

Most Belgraders never visited Kosovo, even before the war.

Milorad
Markus, a coin collector perusing the antique stalls, says politicians
were using the lost province to manipulate voters. “For the past 10 or
15 years, politicians have only been buying time in order to stay in
power.”

But for many citizens, choosing between Kosovo and the EU
is painful. “I honestly don’t know,” says Ana Jovanovic, a textile
vendor. “This is our territory, our history, our motherland.”

The
manager of Kosovski Cevap, a Kosovo Serb-owned downtown meat grill, was
more optimistic that the government’s plodding legalistic strategy
could win out in the end.

“Serbia needs to avoid isolation and also keep Kosovo,” Goran Jovanovic says.

“We
should do everything in our power to prevent its being taken away –
though we shouldn’t enter armed conflict. We should use all
opportunities in the UN and existing international law framework.”

Others
would rather be decisive. Petar Lukic, manager of a currency exchange
shop, says of the economically burdensome province: “We shouldn’t keep
it. Ninety per cent ethnic Albanians – that’s too much. As far as I’m
concerned, they can take it tomorrow. I’m for the EU.”

Rajko
Radosavlijevic, a market vendor from the Roma ethnic minority, agrees.
“We’ve solved Kosovo already. Now the EU should send us some money.”

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ee25766a-735a-11dc-abf0-0000779fd2ac.html

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