Post by Novi Pazar on Aug 12, 2008 21:14:35 GMT -5
“New Kosovo international law” returns as boomerang in Ossetia
The “new international law” created by the West in the Kosovo case is now turning against its authors and their interests, the Vienna daily “Presse” said in a comment on the conflict in Georgia.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Tuesday, August 12, 2008
"After the NATO intervention in 1999 ... there was talk about the right of humanitarian intervention, of the obligation to protect. Voices which were warning had remained in minority. Only a few years later came the time for sobering up, and since a few months ago it turned into plain worrying. The Kosovo case has become a nightmare. The new international law which the West wanted to create with this case has now turned against its authors and their interests", the daily said.
"With the unilateral declaration of Kosovo's independence on February 17, the West has started loosing reigns ... Some 43 governments, out of which 20 are EU members, have recognized Kosovo without a precedent which could serve for orientation. Now Serbia is planning a chess move - during the General Assembly of the UN, opening on September 16, it wants to find a majority to put this question in front of the International Court of Justice", "Presse" added.
"This would be a very difficult case of the international court. It would have to balance between the right to self-determination and non-intervention, all this with the background of bloody conflicts in the past", it added.
The "Presse" says that Russia is now playing the Kosovo card in Georgia: "The rules applied to Kosovo must now be applied to the citizens of South Ossetia", the daily concluded.
With the independence of Kosovo, the international community has created a precedent which is now being reflected on Georgia, Austria's daily "Oberoesterreichische Nachrichten" said.
"The West likes to see itself in the role of a peacekeeper. In Georgia's case, Western politicians also competed by making nice peacemaking appeals," the daily criticizes, adding that the West was the one who had made the situation in Georgia worse by sending ambiguous messages.
NATO's prerequisite for Georgia's accession in its membership was to finally resolve the conflicts in its territory. No wonder the Georgian president felt it was his obligation to reclaim South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the daily underscored.
"The international community has created a precedent with Kosovo's independence. Why shouldn't the citizens of South Ossetia and Abkhazia demand their right to secession?" the daily asked.
With an eye on the Georgian crisis and Kosovo, Romanian President Traian Basescu Monday said 'collective' minority rights may not be put above a country's integrity and pointed to Kosovo as a negative example.
'In Kosovo, so-called collective rights were put ahead of a country's integrity,' Basescu said. 'Now see what is happening in southern Caucasus.'
'The development is ... that territorial integrity is stepped over in the name of protecting minority rights,' Basescu said. 'You cannot have that.'
Former United Nationsrapporteur for human rights in the former Yugoslavia Jiri Dienstbier has said that the West has no way to exert pressure on Russia and to stop the conflict in Georgia because Moscow has a strong trump card - the fact that the west is insisting on the recognition of Kosovo.
"The proclamation of the independence of Kosovo merely reinforces South Ossetia and Abkhazia in their intentions not to remain within Georgia", he said.
Meanwhile, the Slovenian daily « Dnevnik » commented that the war in Georgia might slow down the process of recognition of Kosovo.
"After the latest events in Georgia, countries which are hesitating on whether to recognize Kosovo might use them as an excuse to delay the decision", the daily said, quoting Western diplomats in Pristina.
The “new international law” created by the West in the Kosovo case is now turning against its authors and their interests, the Vienna daily “Presse” said in a comment on the conflict in Georgia.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Tuesday, August 12, 2008
"After the NATO intervention in 1999 ... there was talk about the right of humanitarian intervention, of the obligation to protect. Voices which were warning had remained in minority. Only a few years later came the time for sobering up, and since a few months ago it turned into plain worrying. The Kosovo case has become a nightmare. The new international law which the West wanted to create with this case has now turned against its authors and their interests", the daily said.
"With the unilateral declaration of Kosovo's independence on February 17, the West has started loosing reigns ... Some 43 governments, out of which 20 are EU members, have recognized Kosovo without a precedent which could serve for orientation. Now Serbia is planning a chess move - during the General Assembly of the UN, opening on September 16, it wants to find a majority to put this question in front of the International Court of Justice", "Presse" added.
"This would be a very difficult case of the international court. It would have to balance between the right to self-determination and non-intervention, all this with the background of bloody conflicts in the past", it added.
The "Presse" says that Russia is now playing the Kosovo card in Georgia: "The rules applied to Kosovo must now be applied to the citizens of South Ossetia", the daily concluded.
With the independence of Kosovo, the international community has created a precedent which is now being reflected on Georgia, Austria's daily "Oberoesterreichische Nachrichten" said.
"The West likes to see itself in the role of a peacekeeper. In Georgia's case, Western politicians also competed by making nice peacemaking appeals," the daily criticizes, adding that the West was the one who had made the situation in Georgia worse by sending ambiguous messages.
NATO's prerequisite for Georgia's accession in its membership was to finally resolve the conflicts in its territory. No wonder the Georgian president felt it was his obligation to reclaim South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the daily underscored.
"The international community has created a precedent with Kosovo's independence. Why shouldn't the citizens of South Ossetia and Abkhazia demand their right to secession?" the daily asked.
With an eye on the Georgian crisis and Kosovo, Romanian President Traian Basescu Monday said 'collective' minority rights may not be put above a country's integrity and pointed to Kosovo as a negative example.
'In Kosovo, so-called collective rights were put ahead of a country's integrity,' Basescu said. 'Now see what is happening in southern Caucasus.'
'The development is ... that territorial integrity is stepped over in the name of protecting minority rights,' Basescu said. 'You cannot have that.'
Former United Nationsrapporteur for human rights in the former Yugoslavia Jiri Dienstbier has said that the West has no way to exert pressure on Russia and to stop the conflict in Georgia because Moscow has a strong trump card - the fact that the west is insisting on the recognition of Kosovo.
"The proclamation of the independence of Kosovo merely reinforces South Ossetia and Abkhazia in their intentions not to remain within Georgia", he said.
Meanwhile, the Slovenian daily « Dnevnik » commented that the war in Georgia might slow down the process of recognition of Kosovo.
"After the latest events in Georgia, countries which are hesitating on whether to recognize Kosovo might use them as an excuse to delay the decision", the daily said, quoting Western diplomats in Pristina.