There is good reason to be optimistic about the western Balkans these
days. By popular referendum, Montenegro just regained its
independence from Serbia and is determined to accelerate its
accession to Europe. We believe that Kosovo will follow suit towards
the end of the year. With the birth of two new democratic states that
look forward to Europe, this is a hopeful epilogue for the tragic
decade that marked the dissolution of Yugoslavia.
We understand the pride that Montenegrins feel. After patiently
waiting for years to express their national aspirations through
democratic means, they restored their statehood. We wish we had been
granted the same chance. Kosovars held their democratic and peaceful
referendum on independence in 1992, with 87% of eligible voters
participating and 99% voting in favour of a sovereign state. It was
our democratic revolution against the last bastion of socialism in
Europe, a legitimate exercise of self-determination against the
Serbian state that, by revoking Kosovo's autonomy, was acting outside
its own constitution and laws. Belgrade rejected that outcome.
We resisted Serbia's occupation, peacefully at first but ultimately
by force of arms. Our volunteers in the Kosova Liberation Army (KLA)
had little more than courage and a shared will to be free, until
Nato's intervention.
Towards Nato member states we feel deep gratitude; for our fighters
we feel pride. We will never forget them. Nor we will forget the
thousands of civilians that were killed just because they were
Albanians. There was no single Srebrenica in our war, only hundreds
of small massacres that devastated the lives of entire communities.
Like other nations that have fought and won their survival and
independence, we treasure our past. But our national pride means only
that we love our language, our culture and our land. We do not want
to impose anything on others.
We have a chance now, for the first time since the collapse of the
Ottoman Empire and the age of the modern European nation states, to
channel our collective aspirations into the creation of an
independent state; we are ready to do so without prejudice against
anyone.
As prime minister, I am using my office as a pulpit to advocate the
respect and protection of minorities. I regularly meet citizens who
feel marginalised and threatened in order to reassure them. We know
how it feels to mourn loved ones killed because of who they were, or
to return to a burnt home, or to see no future for our children. We
do not want others to suffer as we have suffered. We want to make
sure that incidents like the riots of March 2004 against minority
communities do not happen again.
But as we engage in negotiations with Serbia to discuss shared
concerns, unfortunately we face stubborn obstruction. Serbia's
current leadership is actively opposing the dialogue the government
of Kosovo has developed with Serbs who live in Kosovo. It has driven
a wedge between local Serb residents and their political leadership.
The first, a largely poor, farming constituency, is left without
representation because the latter refuses to recognise Kosovo's
institution and to participate in the assembly and the government,
where it is allotted reserved seats by the constitutional framework.
Belgrade has asked Serbs not to accept payments from Kosovo's budget,
trying to neutralise all our honest efforts to integrate minorities.
For our part, we are being very constructive. We are ready to make
local government more efficient and bring it closer to citizens
through a substantive decentralisation, to protect and restore
Kosovo's cultural heritage and to solve once and for all the painful
issue of missing people on both sides. But these cannot be unilateral
efforts. We cannot achieve good results if we find only deaf ears to
all our openings.
Belgrade is not trying to improve the wellbeing and safety of Serbs
in Kosovo; it is holding them hostage to prove to the entire world
that Kosovo is not ready to be an inclusive society, and thus should
not be a state. This shows instead that Serbia is not an honest
partner in the negotiation on Kosovo's status, and that it should not
be rewarded for this uncompromising attitude.
What Serbia needs instead is a stronger international encouragement
to recognise its new neighbouring democracies and accept the new
reality of the western Balkans. For the people of Montenegro, it was
easy to sever their ties from Serbia. May it be as easy for the
people of Kosovo.
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3 comments:
Nice job! Including the idea of writing itself.
Actions speak louder than words though.
And Im afraid to say I dont get it - this explanation of national pride.
The fact that Im not too proud or too obsessed with history allowed me to see through the lies Serbian politicians were repeating. I think the Balkans has seen far too much pride and (different versions of) history.
Ceku thinks that pride and treasuring the past is a good thing? Thats something nationalists in Serbia would agree with as well.
If I was Ceku I would spend more time talking about improving living standards and the current negative economic effect that Kosovos unclear status has because those are the types of arguments the West likes to hear.
But he says the right thing on minorities though, thats plain to see.
Dont be hard on me for not taking him at his word, he is a politician and we know how many politicians tell the truth. But if he does produce results I will state it clearly.
Kristian you are a good guy. Some people who post here dont give the impression that they are human beings at all.
I agree with you - so bloody what if Mg or Kosovo gets independence. Take a deep breath and puff oneself up with pride to much that there is a danger one will explode when one finally realises it doesnt really mean anything. Putting up borders a reason for pride? When each and every one of us truly knows there is no difference between each of us and that each border is as artificial as supposed differences between us.
Proud of creating artificial differences between human beings???
On the other side Im ready and prepared to accept what is likely to happen in Kosovo, the rest of Serbia is also, even if people arent happy about it. Lets say something like a third of the Serbian population will never accept the situation but then those people arent known for realistic views.
But and this is a big but, this is about PEOPLE. Until there are concrete actions that will enable minorities (who have it most difficult at the moment in Kosovo) to live in peace, to have freedom of movement, to have basic rights, I can not and will not urge other Serbs to accept the likely outcome and I cannot support that likely outcome - and that outcome is yes conditional independence.
Perhaps it isnt possible to achieve those standards. And because it allegedly isnt possible I am now an obstructionist.
Am I an obstructionist or a supporter of human rights?
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