Mr. Ceku's Disorderly House

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Mr. Ceku's Disorderly House

November 21, 2007; Page A17



The recent column by Agim Ceku ("Kosovo Wants Independence," Nov. 15)
presents the critic with what military planners would call a target-rich
environment. Virtually every assertion about Kosovo's prospects as an
independent state screams out for rebuttal.



For the sake of brevity, let us focus on just one: Mr. Ceku's suggestion that
Kosovo, under his U.N.-supervised administration, has "put our structures
in place and our house in order." This month's report by the European Commission
tells a very different story:



"Due to a lack of clear political will to fight corruption, and to
insufficient legislative and implementing measures, corruption is still
widespread," the report said. "Civil servants are still vulnerable to
political interference, corrupt practices and nepotism" and "Kosovo's
public administration remains weak and inefficient," the report added.



Furthermore, "the composition of the government anti-corruption council
does not sufficiently guarantee its impartiality," and "little
progress can be reported in the area of organized crime and combating of
trafficking in human beings."



War crime trials are being "hampered by the unwillingness of the local
population to testify" and "there is still no specific legislation on
witness protection in place," according to the report. "Civil society
organizations remain weak" and "awareness of women's rights in
society is low."



If this is the "house" Mr. Ceku claims "is in order" in
advance of what he hopes will be conferral of independence, one shudders to
think what disorder would look like. To be sure, Mr. Ceku makes use of the
usual dodge that Kosovo's progress is limited by the absence of "clarity
on our future status," namely independence. But Taiwan, by contrast, has
gone without such clarity for over half a century and is nothing like the
disaster over which Mr. Ceku presides.



Instead of falling for his fairy tales about Kosovo's fitness for sovereignty
the international community needs to open its eyes to the reality of this
corrupt, criminal, and nonviable entity. Granting independence to Kosovo, which
would mean handing de jure power to those responsible for this state of
affairs, can only turn a disaster into a catastrophe.



James George Jatras

Director

American Council for Kosovo

Washington

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