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In the
International Herald Tribune
Response
to Hashim Thaci's
article on Kosovo's independence
By
Aleksandar
Mitic
and Jan
Oberg,
TFF
This is our response to Hashim
Thaci's article, My
People Deserve Their
Independence, in the
International Herald Tribune, November 25, 2005. The
IHT
printed our response on
December 4, 2005 - but in a much shortened version. Here
is our letter in full.
Lund & Brussels, December 1,
2005
Hashim Thaci, leading
Kosovo-Albanian politician, argues (International
Herald Tribune, Nov 25, 2005)
that "my people" - presumably referring here to the
Albanians - deserve their independence. It's one of many
pro-independence articles appearing now when talks are to
start about the future status of this UN-administered
part of Serbia and Montenegro.
Independence is one option and it
would be a good solution if a) the arguments for it were
more truthful and b) it would not risk further
instability and perhaps renewed violence.
Thaci's main argument is that his
Albanian people have suffered so much that they deserve
independence. But while Milosevic' policies were indeed
ruthless and indefensible, Thaci's historical account
lacks the vital elements of Albanian nationalism and
separatism. His argument of a "just cause" for
independence cannot fly if only because of the suffering
that the Serbs and other non-Albanians in Kosovo have
faced in the last six years.
Another argument is that minorities
will be protected in his independent Kosova. But in the
1960s, about 25% of Kosovo's inhabitants were Serbs, now
there are a few percent left. About 200.000 found it best
to leave after the UN, NATO, the EU and the OSCE arrived
in the wake of the bombings in 1999. Thaci was a leading
politician at the time too. It was the largest ethnic
cleansing, proportionately, in the former Yugoslav wars.
In contrast, Serbia has remained de jure and de facto
multi-ethnic.
So the "old nationalism" that he
accuses Belgrade of today is not exactly eradicated in
today's Kosovo. The Albanian side is more rigid in its
demands for full independence - they don't want to
negotiate about it - than is Belgrade in its attitude to
various other options. The idea of war and bombings to
form new states endangers international law. Creating new
19th century-like states and borders in the 21st
century's borderless Europe appears rather anachronistic.
And if Kosovo, why not Taiwan, Tibet, Chechenya, Tamil
Eelam, Kashmir? The world has about 200 states and 5,000
ethnic groups. Should we have 4,800 new
states?
He mentions Serbian war criminals,
but there are indicted Kosovo-Albanian war criminals too,
such as former KLA leader and prime minister Ramush
Haradinaj, presently on leave from the Tribunal in the
Hague.
Also, the story of why Kosovo's
autonomy was taken away is more complex than Mr. Thaci's
let the readers know. It had to do with the overall
constitutional breakdown and the independence moves by
Croatia and Slovenia.
Finally, Mr. Thaci's wants Kosovo
to join the EU, be protected by NATO and be
demilitarised. The latter is news to most of us and
sounds as if it had been written by a media advisory
firm. Has the Kosovo-Albanian pride in their military
victory - with a little help from NATO - and the wish to
get a big army in the independent Kosova suddenly
vanished? Will Kosovo finally be de-militarised - which
it never was - and can we be sure that the mixture of
Albanian politics, clan-ism and mafia economy (and 50-70
per cent unemployment) will work just fine the day they
take over and shall share the power over a completely
independent Kosovo? And will all the Romas and Serbs be
invited back to real peace and equal
opportunities?
If so, independence would certainly
be both possible and desirable. It's up to the
international community to judge whether Mr. Thaci's rosy
picture of the past and the future has anything to do
with Realpolitik.
Jan
Oberg &
Aleksandar
Mitic
The Transnational Foundation, TFF,
Sweden and Brussels, December 1, 2005
See also our Kosovo:
Many options but independence
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TFF & the author 2005
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