Post by engers on Dec 12, 2007 9:14:48 GMT -5
Let Kosovo be Kosovo
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December 13, 2007
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WHO could forget the terrible atrocities that took place in Kosovo in the 1990s when 10,000 ethnic Albanians lost their lives at the hands of Serbian forces, and another 850,000 fled in fear. Since 1999, when NATO intervened to stop the slaughter, this small pocket of the Balkans has been administered by the UN, yet it remains a troubled province of Serbia. Having tasted freedom, Kosovo's Albanian majority is eager for full independence and it has the backing of most of the EU and the US, which support the not unreasonable UN position of supervised independence for Kosovo with rigorous provisions to protect the Serb minority. Serbia refuses to accede, arguing that Kosovo remains an integral part of its historical and cultural tradition. It is backed by a resurgent Russia, which is keen to reassert its influence in the region and which steadfastly refuses to accept a settlement not agreed to by both parties.
After extended and fruitless negotiations the situation reached an uncomfortable, and potentially inflammatory, impasse this week when the UN deadline for a deal between Serbia and the Kosovo Albanians passed without consensus. The result is that the province has been left to fester, an untenable situation in a region where the smallest spark can rekindle the flames of ethnic conflict. Continuing uncertainty about the status of the province can only keep the Kosovars on edge, so a resolution has to be found quickly. To this aim Kosovo has embarked on consultations with its backers to map out the next steps to a declaration of independence — a declaration that Russia, with its veto power, has vowed to oppose within the UN, and which Serbia says it will appeal at the International Court of Justice.
Such manoeuvres could be in vain. The international push for independence has gained too much momentum and the beginning of the endgame, in which Kosovo is accorded statehood, may well have begun. This would be the best outcome for a largely impoverished people in desperate need of economic salvation and who live in a fragile province where the scars of a recent and bloody conflict have yet to heal.
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[ftp]http://www.theage.com.au/news/editorial/let-kosovo-be-kosovo/2007/12/12/1197135553996.html[/ftp]
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
December 13, 2007
Advertisement
WHO could forget the terrible atrocities that took place in Kosovo in the 1990s when 10,000 ethnic Albanians lost their lives at the hands of Serbian forces, and another 850,000 fled in fear. Since 1999, when NATO intervened to stop the slaughter, this small pocket of the Balkans has been administered by the UN, yet it remains a troubled province of Serbia. Having tasted freedom, Kosovo's Albanian majority is eager for full independence and it has the backing of most of the EU and the US, which support the not unreasonable UN position of supervised independence for Kosovo with rigorous provisions to protect the Serb minority. Serbia refuses to accede, arguing that Kosovo remains an integral part of its historical and cultural tradition. It is backed by a resurgent Russia, which is keen to reassert its influence in the region and which steadfastly refuses to accept a settlement not agreed to by both parties.
After extended and fruitless negotiations the situation reached an uncomfortable, and potentially inflammatory, impasse this week when the UN deadline for a deal between Serbia and the Kosovo Albanians passed without consensus. The result is that the province has been left to fester, an untenable situation in a region where the smallest spark can rekindle the flames of ethnic conflict. Continuing uncertainty about the status of the province can only keep the Kosovars on edge, so a resolution has to be found quickly. To this aim Kosovo has embarked on consultations with its backers to map out the next steps to a declaration of independence — a declaration that Russia, with its veto power, has vowed to oppose within the UN, and which Serbia says it will appeal at the International Court of Justice.
Such manoeuvres could be in vain. The international push for independence has gained too much momentum and the beginning of the endgame, in which Kosovo is accorded statehood, may well have begun. This would be the best outcome for a largely impoverished people in desperate need of economic salvation and who live in a fragile province where the scars of a recent and bloody conflict have yet to heal.
____________________________________________________
[ftp]http://www.theage.com.au/news/editorial/let-kosovo-be-kosovo/2007/12/12/1197135553996.html[/ftp]
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