"Opening Pandora's Box in Kosovo"

"Opening Pandora's Box in Kosovo"

“My general impression from what I saw and heard is that no one, primarily in Washington, understands just how deeply ingrained the issue of Kosovo is in the minds of the Serbs,” Primakov wrote

He said that “some Western politicians may have hoped that President Tadic would put EU membership above Serbia's territorial integrity,” which did not happen as” both Kostunica and Tadic categorically rejected independence for Kosovo.”

Primakov gave detailes of his talks to Tadić and Koštunica who introduced him to the details of Belgrade’s stance over Kosovo, as he cited three main points in the position of the Serbian leadership

“First, a fundamental solution to the Kosovo problem should be based on the preservation of the province's de jure status as part of Serbia with maximum independence [autonomy] rights,” Primakov writes adding that “the second point meant that Serbia was not turning its back on the West.”

Primakov said that “According to Koštunica, the country's course toward integration into the EU is still on.

However, this course should not impede relations with Russia, as “according to Tadić, Serbia has three foreign policy priorities: rapprochement with the European Union, the United States, and Russia,” Primakov added.

He particularly stressed the third point, according to which “the Serbian leadership is striving to continue negotiations with the Kosovo Albanians, harmonize positions and achieve a compromise formula that would be acceptable to both sides.”

He went on to elaborate on his impressions from the  meetings with Serbia's top officials saying that “not all negotiating avenues have been exhausted yet.”

“I have often heard the question: Why act in such haste in dealing with this complex, long-standing problem? Unsurprisingly, many see "PR moves by the U.S. administration" behind this haste,” Primakov argued and explained:

“After leaving office, President Bush will go down in history not just with an "Iraq stigma" but also with victory in the Balkans, meaning that the air strikes on Belgrade eight years ago were not in vain,” Primakov wrote.

he commented on Richard Holbrooke's statement, predicting that delay in resolving the Kosovo issue would lead to more bloodshed.

"Should, God forbid, the scenario be played out, many questions are bound to arise: NATO forces and police have been deployed in Kosovo for the past eight years, therefore this entire international operation, initiated by the United States, has failed to establish stability in the province?" Primakov wondered.

He added that "if anti-Serb violence was possible even in the presence of international forces, what would be in store for the Serbian minority should Kosovo gain independence?"

At the end of his op-ed Primakov drew attention “to yet another problem,” saying that “once Kosovo is granted independence, the Bosnian state, created with so much difficulty, could start coming apart at the seams.”

“It cannot be ruled out that centrifugal trends will reemerge and start picking up pace. Bosnian Serbs could start gravitating toward Serbia, while a similar trend among Bosnian Croats with respect to Croatia could result in their secession from the Croatian-Muslim federation in Bosnia,” the former Russian prime minister concluded.