No carte blanche for autonomy campaigners

The Kosovo ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) does not give carte blanche for other autonomy movements in the world, writes the daily Tages-Anzeiger: "The report is surprising in its clarity but not unexpected. Unlike Serbia the UN judges are not closing their eyes to reality in Kosovo. They remember that the founding of the state took place only after tough negotiations under UN mediation. The Kosovo Albanians' move was by no means unilateral. And it was the result of brutal Serb repression policy in the 1990s which led to Nato intervention. The judges therefore consider the case of Kosovo unique. This is why the ICJ has not commented on the question of whether the Albanians have the right to secession. It wants to prevent other autonomy movements from using Kosovo as a model. … Belgrade should take this defeat as an opportunity to forget its stance towards Kosovo. This would also be in the interest of the Serb minority [in Kosovo]."

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