KOSOVO: Ground Realities Make Talks Insignificant

By Apostolis Fotiadis Reprint | | Print |

Apostolis Fotiadis

PRISTINA, Dec 6 2007 (IPS) - The Troika mediating between Serbia and its breakaway southern province Kosovo has had to acknowledge that its 120-day mediation period has really led nowhere.

The Troika comprising the EU, the U.S. and Russia has been seeking a resolution on the status of Kosovo, the southern province of Serbia dominated by a population of two million Albanians.

The Albanian majority in Kosovo, a United Nations protectorate since the end of the 1998-99 war, wants full independence from Serbia, which is offering only broad autonomy.

Harsh rhetorical exchanges have brought new tensions, despite the presence of 16,000 North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) troops.

“The international Community has constantly acted as though consideration of Kosovo’s status would arrive like a panacea,” Blerton Ajeti from the anti-corruption non-governmental organisation COHU told IPS. “When the new international mission arrives they should not just replace the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIC), but make an attempt to establish real rule of law.”

Despite the massive developmental aid sent to the region over the last seven years, Kosovo remains the poorest area in the region. Unemployment is increasing, there is little foreign direct investment, growth according to the World Bank is between 0 and 2 percent, while 40,000 youngsters reach adulthood every year, joining a big mass of the unemployed.

Hashim Thaci, the former Kosovo Liberation Army commander who led the Democratic Party of Kosovo to victory in the Nov. 17 election had promised during his campaign that independence for Kosovo was only weeks away. But the international community has asked for more patience.

Political sources in Pristina told IPS that Thaci is facing serious opposition within his party to a governmental alliance with the runner up Democratic League of Kosovo led by Agim Ceku. International leaders say an alliance between the two would secure more legitimacy for any initiative on the status of Kosovo.

The European Union has meanwhile announced the preparation of a new plan, which would gain more time for a solution.

“While we are waiting from the international community to lead us to independence, they are actually bringing us on the verge of a new Balkans bloodshed,” Albin Kurti, a leader from the group Vetevendosje (V), which translates as ‘Self determination’, told IPS.

‘V’ has increased its popularity enormously over the last two years on the strength of rapidly growing public frustration against UNMIC and its involvement in local politics.

“When the internationals talk about stability, they mean stagnation, continuously depriving Kosovo of any possibility of progress,” Kurti said. “The majority in Kosovo face unemployment, political frustration, neglect of our collective will and innumerable violations of rights.”

Media does not present this reality, he said. “There you can only watch the local elites and stars of international diplomacy. UNMIC fights whoever dares to open these issues. For this reason it has created around 4,000 NGOs who have occupied the space in which civil society could grow. They expect us to feel represented by them and by the political structures they have created and which they control.”