Sunday, October 23, 2005

Kosovo sets out on road to independence - The Independent

By Tim Judah
Published: 24 October 2005
The United Nations Security Council convenes at 10am today. By lunchtime, it is expected to have made a momentous decision, that could lead to the birth of a new state in Europe.

The 15-member council is to recommend that talks on the future status of Kosovo, a territory contested between Serbs and the majority ethnic Albanians, begin as soon as possible.

Meeting in Rome last Thursday, diplomats from the main Western countries that deal with the former Yugoslavia, plus Russia agreed on what will happen today so as to make sure that there are no late hitches.

Ever since the end of the Kosovo war in 1999 the territory has been under the jurisdiction of the UN, although legally it remains a part of Serbia. The process, which will begin today, is expected to end Serbia's sovereignty over Kosovo.

The council will be addressed by Kai Eide, the Norwegian diplomat who drew up the report on Kosovo. Within days of the meeting, Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary General is set to appoint Martti Ahtisaari, the former Finnish president to lead talks.

After a period of shuttle diplomacy he is expected to draw up a draft plan for the future of the territory that will propose what is known as "conditional independence". It means that Kosovo will no longer be part of Serbia but its independence will, for a transitional period, be curtailed, rather like that of Bosnia where policy is shaped by a high level representative of the international community.

While Serbia will resist the ending of its sovereignty over Kosovo, diplomats say that Russia, on whom the Serbian leadership was hoping for support, has already betrayed it.

In 1999, Nato mounted a 78-day bombing campaign against what was then still known as Yugoslavia. The bombing came after talks failed to produce a settlement between Serbs and separatist Albanian guerrillas.

Ever since, Kosovo has been run by the UN although progressively power has been transferred to its own elected authorities. Some 100,000 Serbs remain in Kosovo out of a total population of 2 million, more than 90 per cent of whom are ethnic Albanians who have consistently shown that they want independence.

Most of those Serbs who remain, live in enclaves some of which have to be protected by Nato-led peacekeepers. In March 2004, ethnic Albanian rioting left 19 dead and some 4,000 Serbs and Roma were ethnically cleansed. In his report, Mr Eide described inter-ethnic relations as "grim".

Serbia will fight a fierce rearguard action to retain sovereignty, if little else, over Kosovo.

Indeed, according to Dusan Batakovic, advisor on Kosovo to Serbian president Boris Tadic: "People think Serbia has given up Kosovo but it is not the case - to the contrary in fact."

Serbia says the Albanians can have virtually anything they want except full independence. Albanians say that everything is negotiable except independence. Indeed a movement is now gathering pace in Kosovo to oppose the coming talks.

It is led by Albin Kurti, a 30-year old former political prisoner who is organising supporters to be ready to take to the streets. He says he is against talks because they aim at compromise and there can be no compromise on the question of independence.

Diplomatic sources believe the talks will last up to nine months, after which the main Western powers will then act to impose "conditional independence" on Kosovo. The Albanians will probably accept that, plus a high level of autonomy for Serbian areas. Serb leaders however, resigned as they may be to the reality of the situation, say they will never formally accept the loss of Kosovo, which they regard as the cradle of their civilisation.

In principle, Kosovo Albanians will be led into talks by Ibrahim Rugova, their president and the best-known symbol of Kosovo.

However Mr Rugova is ill with lung cancer. If he dies or is incapacitated, it is expected to weaken the Albanian negotiating position.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Two quotes:

1.Birth of a new nation in Europe. Cheers to that.


2. Russia betrayed Serbs. Cheers to that too.

Anonymous said...

This is very emotional. Denying the birth of a new nation is like routing for an infanticide.

Anonymous said...

Serbs don't give a sh*t about Kosova. Batako-viq's strategy is to make it look like Kosova means a lot to Serbia so that they get the maximum in return for letting it go.

Anonymous said...

Uh-uh, oh no. They ain't goin anywhere without payin' their watchumacallit... oh yeah, war reparations.

120,000 houses burnt... that's a lot of dough ese.

Anonymous said...

""Serbia says the Albanians can have virtually anything they want except full independence. Albanians say that everything is negotiable except independence. Indeed a movement is now gathering pace in Kosovo to oppose the coming talks""
THIS IS FUNNY WE HAVE TO ASK THE SERBS WHAT WE WANT?? WELL LETS ASK THEN THE CROATS, SLOVENIANS , BOSSNIAN, MACEDONIANS... I DID NOT NOT SAY (F.Y.R.O.M).. MONET NEGROS. HUNGARINSS IN VOYVODINA, SNAJAKLY AND SEE WHAT THEY WANT DO YOU REALLY WANT THE ANSEWR WELL FILL IN THE BLANKS F... Y.. """"Albanians can have virtually anything they want except full independence.""" HUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.....ON THE SECOND THOUGHT. IF WE DECIDE TO STAY IN SERBIA WICH IS (TOTALLY WRONG) WE ALBAINISN WOULD BE 39% OF THE POPULATIN AND GROWING HA HA ...LOVE IT.... HOW COULD THEY HANDEL US....... MAYBE THEY NEED A GOOD TURKISH COFFEE TO WAKE THEM UP.......HA HA I HEARD THEY LOVE TURKISH STYLE IN BELGRADE..HA HA HA NO VAZOLINE....THAN HERE GOES MY RECOMONDATION.... SINCE THEY SYA ALBANIANS CAN HAVE VIRTUALLY ANTHING WRIGHT??? AND ALWAYS WITH INTERNATIONAL MONITERS HA HA THAN..
I WOULD WANT THAT AGIM CEKU ,BECOMES SERBINA DEFENSE MINISTER... RAMUSH HAARAJDINAJ BECOMES FORIENG MINISTER,OH I ALMOST FORGOT....SILLY... HASHIM THAQI BECOMES INTERIOR MINISTER....... AND RUGOVA BECOME A PRESIDENT OF CONFEDERATE OF SERBIA....... NOW HOW DOES THAT SOUND?? PLEASE RESPOND TO MY EMAIL KNIGOFILIRIA@JEBESERBE.CUM

Anonymous said...

Dude Big letters make you look comivincing ya your really cool ok first of all Kosovo is serbian territory it has been for a very long time second of all we dont ask all thoes other countries because guess what their not loosing a part of their mterritory how would you like it if i set up a tent in your back yard and then a month later i made the tent bigger and each month bigger and bigger eventually i would have the whole back yard would u like that? JUST AWNSER YES OR NO. Anyway dosent matter excetpt for thats exactly what your doing to serbia.

Anonymous said...

Kosova has been stolen from Albania only from 1913 to 1999 and even during this time it hasn't always been a part of Jugoslavia, not Serbia. Kosova was an autonomous region of Jugoslavia, not Serbia from 1913-1999 with interruptions. Other than that it has always been Albanians.

Since you're talking about tents, the analogy is completley different. There was on tent in the balkans. Then some people without tents from the Urals come and take part of our tent, the part which there weren't many people sleeping. They through violence move these people to other parts of the tents and use that area for themselves. But as these tentless people are sheltered in the tent they see that there are better areas in the tent. What can they do to get them since they are really populated. Well they send a couple of colons to study the areas. Then the colons like it and the tentless people decide it is time to take those areas. They expulse and anihilate any tent aboriginal and use the areas for themselves. To suffocate any tent aboriginal they bring more colons, more and more. As time goes through these tentless people forgot that when they left the caves they had no tent. They forget they stole even the tent area they're majority. Not only that but now these tentless people claim the area were they installed their colons, where they slaughtere the tent aboriginals has always been their. From a tentless people, now they claim the tent has always been theirs.
Serb you had not tent when you left your caves in the Urals. Go back there and claim all the tents you want. Even the caves you left if you want.
Serbs

Anonymous said...

kosovo was NEVER a part of Albania dumb ass, u are lying scum and only the Albanioacs belive their own lies. i cant wiat for kosovo to leave, serbia will finally win its battle with its own cancer, adios muslim filth! u can now kill each other in peace! zbogom govnari!

Anonymous said...

A Serb will always be a dickhead. A$$hole even under the Turks for more than 500 years Kosva was an Albanian Villayet. Who lived in Kosova before you a$$hole immigrated from the caves of the URALS. The DARDANIANS did, guess who they are.

As for lies here's what a famous Serb has to say about his own people.

Dobrica Cosic, who spent one year as president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1992:

"Lying is a form of our patriotism and is evidence of our innate intelligence. We lie in a creative, imaginative and inventive way."



Keep thinking this way and you'll see NATO bombs in the center of Belgrade again. Brainwashed dickhead.

Anonymous said...

Can I just please say something, lets keep Croats out of the game please!
Jebali smo Srbima majku, nemojte da mi moramo ponovo voditi ratove jer nece biti fino! Albanci eto vam Kosovo (zasluzeno) ali dalje od Hrvatske i Hrvata!

Sve je dobro dok se Hrvatski Duh ponovo ne probudi: nediraj medvjeda dok spava!

Kosovo treba da ide Albancima, Crna Gora Crnogorcima, Vojvodina Hrvatima, Sandzak Bosni, a Beogradski Pasaluk Bugarskoj!
Srbe na Vrbe !
Gazi sve Cetnike, sve su to pickice...