Cyprus Mail - Cyprus | Thursday, January 3, 2008
Raju G.C. Thomas against Kosovo independence
In a Project Syndicate article, Raju G.C. Thomas, emeritus professor at Marquette University and a former US Fulbright professor at the University of Belgrade, opposes Kosovo Independence. "Serbia's claim to Kosovo is, to Serbs, far stronger than Russia's claim to Chechnya, China's to Xinjiang, India's to Kashmir (a claim still disputed by Pakistan), and the Philippines' to the island of Mindanao. All of these are provinces with Muslim majority populations that are part of non-Muslim majority states. But Russia, China, and India are big states and will not tolerate any detachment of their territories. So there is no serious international effort to force them to do so. The Philippines has effectively lost control of Mindanao, just as Serbia has lost control of Kosovo, yet no one has recognised Mindanao's unilateral declaration of independence. So why should Kosovo's declaration be accepted? ... To allow Kosovo's independence would demonstrate that violent secessionism works."
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