Main focus of Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Limited independence for Kosovo?

Serbia's incumbent president Vojislav Kostunica has announced that he will not receive UN Special Envoy for Kosovo Martti Ahtisaari on Friday in Belgrade. Ahtisaari intends to present his plan for a "supervised autonomy" of the Serb province of Kosovo on that day. What are the chances of limited independence for Kosovo?

Hufvudstadsbladet - Finland

The proposal made by Martti Ahtisaari, UN Special Envoy for Kosovo, to accord the Serb province of Kosovo limited independence, foresees special guarantees for the Serb minority and EU monitoring of the situation. According to Yrsa Grüne, Kosovo is hardly closer to a solution now than after the breakdown of negotiations in 1999 and the ensuing NATO air strikes: "The EU can't ignore the UN Security Council. Russia is preventing the council from moving ahead, at least for the moment. Any revision of the borders of nation states, even with UN approval, could set a precedent for other regions trying to gain independence. Moreover, if individual states start recognising Kosovo's independence before the Security Council has reached a decision, the UN's authority will be undermined." (30/01/2007)

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Frankfurter Rundschau - Germany

According to Wolfgang Benedek, a specialist in international law from Graz, an independent Kosovo would not "set a dangerous precedent." Talking to Norbert Mappes-Niediek about the "restricted independence" model for Kosovo he comments: "This is not a typical case of separatism. This is about the unfinished process of the splitting up of Yugoslavia. If Kosovo had had only a slightly different status within Yugoslavia, it would have been recognised as an independent state from the very beginning. We should be asking the opposite question: would a Kosovo under Serb rule be a feasible alternative?... International law used to have provisional solutions, such as protectorates. Many developments are taking place that have not yet been settled from a legal point of view. We should be asking ourselves: who could prevent limited independence if the principle actors have already decided in its favour?" (29/01/2007)

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The Economist - United Kingdom

The weekly considers what might happen once Martti Ahtisaari, former Finnish president charged by the UN with finding a solution for the problem of Kosovo presents his proposals to the Serbs and Kosovars on February 2nd. "Kosovo's Albanian-dominated parliament could declare independence anyway ... Unlike in Croatia and Slovenia, legal authority in Kosovo lies with the UN and its administration there. Kosovo is expecting a large EU-led mission to replace this and guide it on its Ahtisaari-defined path - but how could this happen if Russia vetoes a resolution to end the existing UN mission ? 'There is no plan B,' says one diplomat. In the meantime, Fatmir Sejdiu, Kosovo's president, says that delay will only create 'tensions' and 'challenges'. He means violence. If that happens, the 17,000-strong NATO-led peacekeeping force might come under attack and the UN would almost certainly be ejected from the Serbian-dominated north." (25/01/2007)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » South East Europe, » Serbia

El Diario Vasco - Spain

Before finding a peaceful solution for the status of Kosovo, the Spanish historian Daniel Reboredo considers that it is first necessary to denounce the violent deviation of both parties. "The responsibilities of Serbian politicians are obvious and punishment is necessary, but it is no use gratuitously humiliating, ruining and maiming a population whose responsibility is debatable while the Kosovar war criminals of the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) are respected, rewarded and admired by their government whilst tolerated in the west. The Serbian election results demonstrate a rejection of the badly behaved West that, according to them, spreads resent rather than concord. And this is true despite the Democratic Party negotiating with the four other reformist parties to rapidly form a government that meets the demand of the EU, which desires a pro-European and democratic government." (29/01/2007)

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