Kosovo's independence could haunt us

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ST. CATHARINES STANDARD (CANADA)



EDITORIAL



Kosovo's independence could haunt us

Posted By Scott Taylor



Posted 44 mins ago



On the weekend of Feb. 16-17, the streets of Kosovo were flooded with

citizens celebrating a unilateral declaration of independence by ethnic

Albanian Prime Minister Hashim Thaci. This much-anticipated announcement

formally severed all official ties between the disputed province and the

rest of Serbia, thereby creating Europe's newest state.



The United States was the first to recognize Kosovo's independence, with

President George W. Bush sending his congratulations to Thaci from a stop in

Tanzania. The United Kingdom, Germany and France were quick to follow suit,

and with these big powers on board, the Albanian Kosovars popped the

champagne corks and throughout the capital city of Pristina throngs of

people waved a sea of red and black flags in celebration.



For people only paying casual attention to this long-simmering Balkan hot

spot, Thaci's declaration of independence may indeed be viewed as a joyous

occasion. In fact, most Canadians may be forgiven if they thought this whole

matter was resolved back in the summer of 1999.



After a 78-day bombing campaign, NATO had negotiated a ceasefire agreement

with the Serbian government. Under the terms of UN Resolution 1244, Serbian

security forces would withdraw from Kosovo, and under NATO military

supervision, the 800,000 Albanian Kosovar refugees who had fled the fighting

would be repatriated. The Albanian guerrillas - known as the Kosovo

Liberation Army (KLA) - were to be disarmed and demobilized by NATO troops,

who would also ensure the safety of Kosovo's 200,000 ethnic Serb civilians.



Resolution 1244 made it very clear that under the UN Charter, Kosovo would

remain the sovereign territory of Serbia. Over the past nine years, NATO has

failed to uphold its part of the bargain. The KLA was never disarmed; they

were simply formalized into the Kosovo Protection Corps. Serb civilians

suffered widespread violent reprisals from Albanian extremists resulting in

a mass exodus with fewer than 40,000 ethnic Serbs still residing in

protected enclaves. There was also no progress made towards a negotiated

settlement of Kosovo's status between Belgrade and Pristina authorities.



With Serbia unwilling to relinquish the sovereignty of this province - the

religious heartland of the Serbian people - there was no legal way to push

independence through the UN Security Council. That impasse is what led to

the Feb. 17 unilateral declaration, and the deep divide within the

international community over this clear violation of the rule of law and the

UN Charter. The Canadian Foreign Affairs Department understands that any

rapid recognition of a disputed province's declaration of independence from

another country could create a dangerous precedent, which might come back to

haunt us.



So while Canada looks at what diplomatic options are available, let's review

some of the background. Up until 1998, the U.S. State Department regarded

the KLA as a terrorist organization. The KLA's assassinations and bomb

attacks against government officials led to a heavy-handed Serbian military

crackdown. At this point the Americans changed horses and decried the Serb

reprisals rather than the terror provocations of the KLA. Under U.S.

pressure an ultimatum was issued by NATO to Serbia in February 1999, and the

KLA was suddenly legitimized as freedom fighters.



By March 24 of that year, when the deadline expired without Serbia's

compliance, NATO began bombing Kosovo and Serbia. Within days a trickle of

refugees became a flood as some 800,000 Albanians fled the renewed fighting

and the NATO bombing. Once this whole incident had ballooned into a

humanitarian crisis of epic proportion, NATO used the suffering of the

Albanians to further justify their intervention.



Putting recent history aside, the fact remains that Kosovo is simply not

viable as an independent country. It is a landlocked, mountainous province,

not quite twice the size of Prince Edward Island, with a population of two

million. The unemployment rate stands at 50 per cent; for those working the

average annual income ranges around $2,400 Cdn. a year. Prostitution and

illegal drugs form the major pillar of Kosovo's economy, with the other main

infusion coming from the annual foreign donations of approximately $600

million.



The red and black flag they wave is the Albanian flag, not Kosovar. And as a

result of the ongoing violent attacks against non-Albanians in the province,

this is now one of the most ethnically-cleansed territories in all of

Europe.



Prime Minister Thaci is a former ruthless KLA warlord who called himself

"Snake" and the commander of the Kosovo Protection Corps is Agim
Ceku, who

made a notorious name for himself as a war criminal in Croatia.



Given the rotten foundation upon which Kosovo intends to build its own

independent state, I think Canada would be well advised to uphold the UN

Charter in this instance, and to respect the rule of international law.



Scott Taylor reported from inside Serbia and Kosovo during the 1999 bombing

campaign and has made more than 20 subsequent visits to the region. He is a

member of the Osprey Writers Group.