Lavrov: Western draft resolution "unacceptable"

What is unacceptable? Is existents of Albanian people unacceptable? Is wish for a free democratic, multiethnic Kosovo unacceptable?

Russia has to become constructive in this issue and support the solution offered by the democratic world.

Russia’s ambassador to UN told Natasa Kandic in Pristina following:

"He said that Serbia should follow president Putin's advice and cleanse the society from those "puppets of foreign powers."

Freedom of expression is sacred.

think twice before you say "democratic western world"....Kosovo is not going anywhere!!! BELIEVE IT!!

diplomats are now playing diplomatic games that is press releases talking and talking and wasting the time. so as i said before MAY has turned to MAYDAY. now the tune is JUNE which will turn to JUNE KNOW WHEN, right folks? cool down

why for gods sake can those Albanians like question mark not understand, that Kosovo can be democratic, and multiethnic within Serbia?
who is arguing in a nationalist manner, actually?

let´s see what future brings.
but if the recent signals from the US can be taken as serious, then they ( the US ) step back more and more from a unlawful solution.
Albanians, you´ve been duped by the "one and only global superpower".
do you believe that?

i think that most of the commentator in this forum are blinded by their emotions and ill feelings embedded on their beliefs against each other. The solution to the problem can only be solved by those who are experiencing the problem. Serb's and Albanian's, however as demonstrated during a years long negotiation between two parties a compromise is far from reach. Therefore the mediator and negotiation option is over and the next option should be considered THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE.
Serbian PM proved once again that he is not willing to even consider his Albanian counterparts as human beings and refused consistently during the discussion to even lunch with them. This takes us back to Millosevice's era and same principles as ' you're not good to sit with me because you are ALBANIAN'

But leaving the negotiations aside together with the history and myths, why has this saga come to this day and age without being resolved? Because the very people who live on it have not been consulted at any time when there were unrests and wars, contrary to that the Albanians were suppressed and forced to live under one or another regime whose aim was to ether expel, assimilate or degrade and strip the Albanians of any human dignity.

This time around, if the international community is wise and learned from the mistakes they made previously they will consult the very people who live currently in Kosova and take their views into account when deciding on the status of Kosova. This can (but does not guarantee by any means) lead to a long term sustainable peace. Hence, i said previously that the INDEPENDENCE is neither imminent nor inevitable. Much deliberation will go on with the world's major powers who will try and exert their macho views and ideas to gain their lost grounds on the world political arena whilst in the back of the scene a golden opportunity has risen for 'carrots', but in the end the will of the Kosovan people will PREVAIL and Kosova will become independent.

For Russia:
A resolution providing independence for the province under international supervision is "unacceptable."

For USA/EU: No mention of Kosovo as a part of Serbia.

Here you have the compromise.

Two things are crystal clear for all (USA, EU, Russia, Serbia...) Serbia cannot rule Kosovo again (hostility, lack of resources, short sighted vision on how to deal with the Albanians, as revealed by Kostunica's plan, high and permanent instability in the region). And the actual situation is no longer sustainable (even Russia admitted it).

Make some maths and check what comes out.

All the rest of the fuss between Russia and the West has nothing to do with Kosovo or Serbia.

I believe the reason that he refused to have lunch with the Albanian delegation was that they PM and head of the delegation is a WAR CRIMINAL! So is another member, you know...The Snake...Hashim Thaci. Geez - I wonder if your guys would have sat down with Legija and Arkan? Serbs don't hate Albanians because they are Albanian, they hate the ones that want to take their lands by illegal means.

M - Ironically, the bombing campaign which legitimised the KLA in the first place was not democratically voted for. In Britain, for example, there was no vote even in parliament.
So much talk about democracy and accepting it as a given right, and yet the very powers who are supposedly 'spreading democracy around the world', offer their own citizens virtually no chance to speak out.
So why would the voice of a sizeable minority in one province of a sovereign nation be able to decide its status??

Unfortunately, the Albanians in Kosovo have been duped. The repeated lies of incoming independence have paralyzed them from productive activity. The perception is that all there problems will be solved with independence, when the fact is that Kosovo cannot be a sustainable independent country. The truth is, Kosovo will not be independent, and the faster the Albanians accept this, the better off everyone will be.

Ahtisaari minus staus - lets discuss the merits!!!

Sounds like what Wisner hinted at in February when he said a resolution that was obliged to 1244!!!

So could the UN be about to vote in the EUMIK to enforce minority rights on this Serbian province? Sounds like the EU might be finding a way through!!! Is it possible that we might obtain win-win with such a solution ??? Serbia retains it's sovreignity while there is susbstantial autonomy for the ethnic-Albanians.

Check out the comments for a study in ethnic pathology. I hope you will note that at no point do I suggest collective Serb guilt for the atrocities committed in Kosovo. It was the government of Milosevic, and the Serb nationalists who were responsible. But most of the angry Serbs seem to assume that the Albanians collectively are guilty of everything done by any one of them. Bloodguilt is the technical term. Albanians are crooks, illegal immigrants, nun-rappers, and have no right to self-determination. In addition, of course, they are all Islamic terrorists, which is why they are not accused of being drunkards I suppose despite the gallons of raki they regularly down.

If the Serb nationalists had said similar things about blacks or Jews, in most countries, they would face prosecution for hate crime and in some for holocaust denial... sadly, in Belgrade they are elected to high office instead and complain that no one loves them.
It is time to stop pandering to Serbian nationalists and give them a reality check.

I afraid that the Serbs have been deceived and duped by their leaders once again. Russia will not go to the aid of the Serbs since it does not serve the needs of Russia.
The deliberations on the status of Kosovo have gone on for too long. It now time for the UN to announce what it has decided long before: Independence for Kosova.

People ask here what is the difference between Kosovo and other places that seek independence.

Well for one, no other country killed its civilians packed them into trucks and buried them all over compounds of the special ops troops (NOTE here, these are legal state sponsored and maintained training grounds, not some irregular army troops) to hide their corpses, also to add another fact no other country in the world expelled NAZI style, close to 1 million of its civilian population.

If Serbia had acted differently we would have not had this issue today. If there are issues with 2 million of your people you don't solve them by striping them of their autonomy, destroying their economy, firing all of them from jobs just because they belong to this or that nationality and most of all you don't try and kill all of them and list can go on ...

I know this may be hard for some of you to comprehend, because you think you should have had it your way, but don't blame the world for your own actions (particularly USA and UK). It is a sad, a very sad thing to see a nation that claims to be ready for talks and further negotiation but still not having the courage to look at all these people that it harmed and apologize for what was done on its name, on its behalf (this speaks a lot about a mentality portrayed here which is we hate Milosevic because he did not get the job done!!!), what a shame

“Russia has to become constructive in this issue and support the solution offered by the democratic world… Freedom of expression is sacred.” (Question Mark, Monday, 21 May, 2007, 16:12)

In other words, Russia having a say and expressing herself in world affairs alongside the Western Countries is somehow undemocratic? Besides, I’m pretty sure if you put the Kosovo issue to a vote in Russia, the Serbian position would have overwhelming support. Without fail, every single Russian I know here in the US supports Serbia, they all love Putin too. It may very well turn out they are playing the most constructive role in this whole debate if a lasting compromise such as partition is agreed upon by both sides. Partition has the best chance to avoid conflict in the future, and if it happens, Russia will be able to take the credit for bringing lasting peace and stability to the region. It would be a HUGE diplomatic success for Putin.

“The solution to the problem can only be solved by those who are experiencing the problem. Serb's and Albanian's, however as demonstrated during a years long negotiation between two parties a compromise is far from reach. Therefore the mediator and negotiation option is over and the next option should be considered THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE.” (M, Monday, 21 May, 2007, 18:25)

The reasons negotiations were not successful is the international community refused to open the table to all options, specifically partition. In addition, the Albanians of Kosovo were promised independence by the US government, they had absolutely no reason to want to engage in reasonable compromise, this is not their fault, but it is reality.

The problem with the Right to Self Determination is how you define “PEOPLE”. For example, Northern Ireland. The majority of Northern Ireland would like to stay a part of England, while the majority of the island of Ireland would like for it to be Irish. Since England made the determination what section of the island was given the right to express the WILL OF ITS PEOPLE they choose an area with a pro-English majority, up to 45% of the population could be opposed to it.

So the issue with Kosovo is how to divide it. Since its part of Serbia, to hard core nationalists, THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE refers to all people living in Serbia, those people you yourself defined as the ones “experiencing the problem.” Of course the nationalist Albanians would like to define it as the will of the people living in Kosovo.

Moderates such as myself advocate the endangered minority groups within Serbia as a whole be given a right to express their will.

All roads at this point seem to be pointing to partition. The International Community can not agree to simply grant Kosovo’s independence, that clearly is not going to change.

So either we have countries like the US “go it alone” and unilaterally recognize Kosovo, followed by a tit for tat recognition by Russia.

Or we discuss partition in a peaceful and reasonable manner. The simple fact is both communities have suffered repression when they have been in the minority, there is nothing to indicate that has changed in any way, as the riots of 2004 are a pretty clear indicator. Both of these traditionally repressed minorities deserve the right to live by THE WILL OF THEIR PEOPLE.

“And the actual situation is no longer sustainable (even Russia admitted it).” (genc, Monday, 21 May, 2007, 18:33)

The problem is Genc, that both the Russian and Serbian politicians know time is on their side here, every time the Albanians lose patience and engage in 2004 style riots they will lose credibility in the International Community. Simply put, the US and Kosovar Government are guilty for creating the immediate expectation of independence which is the root cause of the instability. Everyone needs to take a breath and think about what can be done in the current situation to make the lives of everyone on the ground better while we are still attempting to sort out this mess. Rushing into a solution to a problem in the Balkans is often enough how wars start.

Everyone must keep in mind what’s going on in the Middle East. Because the Middle East was divided more or less arbitrarily instead of being based on ethnicity, its extremely similar to the Balkan situation. Already the Middle East seems to be devolving into violent factions competing against each other. How can the UN perform a peace keeping role if the presence of their forces on the ground is used as justification for granting independence to repressed minorities? In addition, no country will ever come clean with its crimes against their minorities as it may be used to grant those minorities independence.

The albanians in Kosovo dropped the ball. If they had been respectful toward the Serbs there instead of attacking them, Kosovo would be independent by now. But they just had to persecute the Serbs, threaten the UN mission and ply their usual illegal trades. They did not even have the sense to bribe Russian mobsters. And they expect independence to be handed to them on a silver plate?

The crux of the new UN resolution is denial of Serbian sovereignty of Kosovo by means of omission.
Don't you all agree?

John wrote:...Serbs don't hate Albanians because they are Albanian,
So, why than Serbs killed even Albanian children’s and babies?
P.S. don't say that it didn't happened, at least just read something for Trial of Serb officials for Suva Reka case.

I've been working with Internationals for more than 6 years in Kosovo. I was surprised listening hateful comments of East Europe countries representatives about USA. Are they aware that their membership in EU is just due to the USA efforts, and that without USA, Eu would last as long as Russians could drive theirs vehicles until Atlantic coast?

Matthew said:

"Simply put, the US and Kosovar Government are guilty for creating the immediate expectation of independence which is the root cause of the instability."

Matthew, your comment is certainly interesting and worth reading. However the expecations of the Kosovo Albanians are not a result of promises from the US of the Kosovo Government but are instead the result of decades of Serbian repression on the people of Kosovo which many many years ago helped the Kosovo Albanians realise that to be free of Serbia (independent) was the only logical solution.

That is why we "tried" to fight back in 1998-99 against Milosevic.

The fate of Kosovo was sealed when the first bomb hit Prishtina in 1999. Everything after that is details.

A US-EU draft Resolution even without the word "independence" remins a chain reaction: if you accept it, those who drafted it will suggest the other one - with the word "independence", clearly stated.

“However the expecations of the Kosovo Albanians are not a result of promises from the US of the Kosovo Government but are instead the result of decades of Serbian repression” (Nick, Tuesday, 22 May, 2007, 11:48)

Nick, as I’ve said I do support areas of Kosovo being granted independence and I do understand your desire to do so (If I were a Kosovar Albanian I probably would have been fighting Milosevic’s thugs as well). However, you seem to have overlooked that I referred to “immediate” expectation, not merely expectation. It’s the immediate expectation that is threatening to devolve the situation into possible violence and the root cause of the instability and I blame the West for how they are handling it. All this talk about independence being right around the corner is dangerous. I personally think this is a very delicate situation and all angles need to be taken into consideration before a final decision is made. There should be no rush to do so and I think it would be far better if the international community made it clear that a proper decision might take a while. Otherwise you get all this pressure for a quick solution or there might be possible violence. This works against both our people, first off, obviously Serbs would be the victims, and secondly, if Albanians lose patience, it would hurt their chances of independence.

Trust me, I have spent considerable time trying to understand the Albanian point of view, and I have learned much from speaking to your people here. It is my hope that moderate elements of the Albanian population will do the same in regards to the Serbian position, as difficult as that may seem (Trust me, its hard for me as a Serb to support such concessions as well, but in the interest of peace, I firmly believe in what I am saying). I do firmly believe a compromise solution is possible and that such a solution would set a very positive precedent for how to resolve future conflicts in the world. If you can free your brothers in Kosovo by compromising a little on areas that are not really important to your people, it’s truly a win-win situation. The punishment for Milosevic’s actions must fit the crime.

A demographic update can help: Albania has passed the 4 million people mark, lets count Albanians in Kosova too..and we are talking about a young, dynamic and enterpreneuring folk, how can Serbia with only 6 million Serbs pension-age, a handful of minorities like in Sandzak and Vojvodina and landlocked be able to counter Albanians in long-term? Come on guys be realistic. You better try now to be friends with Albanians and Croats and Hungarians...maybe it will be too late tomorrow...

Matthew,

I do understand what you are getting at, you seem to believe that partition is the most resonable choice under the circumstances. Truth is the losing side in the Kosovo issue will almost certainly boycot the other side. I have given the issue some thought and the result seems too messy.

1. Serbs are demanding 34% of the territory which is unnaceptable to the K-Albanians.

2. Serbs are demanding the most mineral rich parts of Kosovo.

3. The K-Albanians will demand the Presevo Valley in case of partition.

4. The serbs in the southern enclaves will either a) have to leave; or b) accept to live in an independent Kosovo. They will however be protected and their monasteries unharmed. but we will not have mini-states in independent Kosovo.

5. Republica Srbska will use the opportunity and demand partition from Bosnia. they cant claim the same if Kosovo separates from Serbia with its current borders because Kosovo had its borders defined under the Yugoslav constitution and it was a federal entity while RS was created as a result of bloddy civil war and its borders never existed prior to that.

6. The international community on the other hand is concerned that partition would make a complicated issue even more complicated.

Nick,

Point 1 is probably the biggest sticking point. I do believe the Serbian inhabited areas are only 15% of Kosovo. However, I believe the Trepca mines and Presevo should be traded for a least one region that represents Serbian culture and heritage. Clearly the Trepca mines are more important for a functioning Kosovo then a functioning Serbia, we can live without them. At the very least, allow the Kosovar government to collect taxes on them for the next 100 years as part of a reparation program. I do believe reparations are in order to rebuild what Milosevic destroyed. Serbia needs to work towards undoing they damage we caused as much as possible and apologize for what happened.

I agree with you on point 4.

However as far as point 5 goes, if we really are worried about RS, then the “safest” way forward is not to grant Kosovo Independence at all. Both partition and Independence have the chance of motivating the separatist movement there. One of the reasons I support a regional solution for the problem. However, as far as Bosnia is concerned, keep in mind the majority of the population, both Serbs and Croats wanted to divide the country between them. If we are to respect democracy and the will of the people, its painfully obvious that Bosnia as it presently stand is not a viable state. Of course I would give Bosnia Sandzak in exchange for RS. However, coming to a peaceful and agreed upon solution for Kosovo is the best thing that could happen in the Balkans, there are many remaining issues in the Balkans and if compromise and negotiation win out as precedent for solving the region’s problems, then there will be nothing to fear in further peaceful talks on these outstanding issues.

So I stand by my previous suggestions. Give Presevo and Trepca to the Albanians in exchange for granting Vatican Level status to our Church there. I believe this is a solution that all sides can live with, though none will be 100% satisfied. We may have to accept the creation of at least one “mini-state” as much as I agree with you that it should be avoided if at all possible.

Either that or have the whole region join the EU immediately and remove the issues of borders altogether. Voting blocks could be reevaluated every decade as they are in the US Congress. This would have a long term benefit to the Albanians as your population is still growing at a much faster pace then anyone in the EU.

Like it or not, we must work together to solve the region’s problems. I personally do not think that your position and my position are all that far apart. We just need to hammer out the details in a fair and balanced manner.

Personally I believe that granting Kosovo independence as a whole only sets it up for future conflicts, much like the solution the International Community came to in Bosnia.

Furthermore Nick, while I know the International Community has been vocal against the idea of partition, I do believe that they are starting to consider it actually. Even James Lyon of the ICG responded to me that my vision for a peaceful partition would be acceptable to the international community despite the fact that the main thrust of his blog was that partition was a bad thing.
“I never said that partitioning Kosovo was morally wrong. In theory, if the Albanians and Serbs would agree among themselves to peacefully partition Kosovo, no one in the international community would object. But it would have to be a negotiated settlement with both sides agreeing willingly, and violence could not play a role. Should Belgrade and Pristina decide that partition is a desirable outcome, then they should sit down and discuss it.
What concerns me is the way Belgrade is going about doing it. I fear that it could lead to further violence, and that the Serbs in the enclaves will end up being the ones who suffer. If you can achieve a result without bloodshed, why chose a violent path?”
http://blog.b92.net/node/5156#comment
I truly believe that the Albanians could get a much better deal through partition then with merely Independence for Kosovo only. I also strongly feel that the Balkans needs to show the maturity to deal with their own issues. We must stop resolving our issues at the point of a gun. You guys have every right to be pissed off, I know that, but think about what it is that you really need. Personally, I’d like to have you onboard the partition train, even if what you’d ask for from a partition differs from what I’d ask for. I personally think it would be a very positive thing if we could establish what it is the Albanians would settle for.
I am very sure both our chances of joining the EU will increase dramatically if we were able to come to an agreement amongst ourselves.
It most certainly could be a big win-win for both sides if done properly.

What is unacceptable? Is existents of Albanian people unacceptable? Is wish for a free democratic, multiethnic Kosovo unacceptable?

Russia has to become constructive in this issue and support the solution offered by the democratic world.

Russia’s ambassador to UN told Natasa Kandic in Pristina following:

"He said that Serbia should follow president Putin's advice and cleanse the society from those "puppets of foreign powers."

Freedom of expression is sacred.

think twice before you say "democratic western world"....Kosovo is not going anywhere!!! BELIEVE IT!!

diplomats are now playing diplomatic games that is press releases talking and talking and wasting the time. so as i said before MAY has turned to MAYDAY. now the tune is JUNE which will turn to JUNE KNOW WHEN, right folks? cool down

why for gods sake can those Albanians like question mark not understand, that Kosovo can be democratic, and multiethnic within Serbia?
who is arguing in a nationalist manner, actually?

let´s see what future brings.
but if the recent signals from the US can be taken as serious, then they ( the US ) step back more and more from a unlawful solution.
Albanians, you´ve been duped by the "one and only global superpower".
do you believe that?

i think that most of the commentator in this forum are blinded by their emotions and ill feelings embedded on their beliefs against each other. The solution to the problem can only be solved by those who are experiencing the problem. Serb's and Albanian's, however as demonstrated during a years long negotiation between two parties a compromise is far from reach. Therefore the mediator and negotiation option is over and the next option should be considered THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE.
Serbian PM proved once again that he is not willing to even consider his Albanian counterparts as human beings and refused consistently during the discussion to even lunch with them. This takes us back to Millosevice's era and same principles as ' you're not good to sit with me because you are ALBANIAN'

But leaving the negotiations aside together with the history and myths, why has this saga come to this day and age without being resolved? Because the very people who live on it have not been consulted at any time when there were unrests and wars, contrary to that the Albanians were suppressed and forced to live under one or another regime whose aim was to ether expel, assimilate or degrade and strip the Albanians of any human dignity.

This time around, if the international community is wise and learned from the mistakes they made previously they will consult the very people who live currently in Kosova and take their views into account when deciding on the status of Kosova. This can (but does not guarantee by any means) lead to a long term sustainable peace. Hence, i said previously that the INDEPENDENCE is neither imminent nor inevitable. Much deliberation will go on with the world's major powers who will try and exert their macho views and ideas to gain their lost grounds on the world political arena whilst in the back of the scene a golden opportunity has risen for 'carrots', but in the end the will of the Kosovan people will PREVAIL and Kosova will become independent.

For Russia:
A resolution providing independence for the province under international supervision is "unacceptable."

For USA/EU: No mention of Kosovo as a part of Serbia.

Here you have the compromise.

Two things are crystal clear for all (USA, EU, Russia, Serbia...) Serbia cannot rule Kosovo again (hostility, lack of resources, short sighted vision on how to deal with the Albanians, as revealed by Kostunica's plan, high and permanent instability in the region). And the actual situation is no longer sustainable (even Russia admitted it).

Make some maths and check what comes out.

All the rest of the fuss between Russia and the West has nothing to do with Kosovo or Serbia.

I believe the reason that he refused to have lunch with the Albanian delegation was that they PM and head of the delegation is a WAR CRIMINAL! So is another member, you know...The Snake...Hashim Thaci. Geez - I wonder if your guys would have sat down with Legija and Arkan? Serbs don't hate Albanians because they are Albanian, they hate the ones that want to take their lands by illegal means.

M - Ironically, the bombing campaign which legitimised the KLA in the first place was not democratically voted for. In Britain, for example, there was no vote even in parliament.
So much talk about democracy and accepting it as a given right, and yet the very powers who are supposedly 'spreading democracy around the world', offer their own citizens virtually no chance to speak out.
So why would the voice of a sizeable minority in one province of a sovereign nation be able to decide its status??

Unfortunately, the Albanians in Kosovo have been duped. The repeated lies of incoming independence have paralyzed them from productive activity. The perception is that all there problems will be solved with independence, when the fact is that Kosovo cannot be a sustainable independent country. The truth is, Kosovo will not be independent, and the faster the Albanians accept this, the better off everyone will be.

Ahtisaari minus staus - lets discuss the merits!!!

Sounds like what Wisner hinted at in February when he said a resolution that was obliged to 1244!!!

So could the UN be about to vote in the EUMIK to enforce minority rights on this Serbian province? Sounds like the EU might be finding a way through!!! Is it possible that we might obtain win-win with such a solution ??? Serbia retains it's sovreignity while there is susbstantial autonomy for the ethnic-Albanians.

Check out the comments for a study in ethnic pathology. I hope you will note that at no point do I suggest collective Serb guilt for the atrocities committed in Kosovo. It was the government of Milosevic, and the Serb nationalists who were responsible. But most of the angry Serbs seem to assume that the Albanians collectively are guilty of everything done by any one of them. Bloodguilt is the technical term. Albanians are crooks, illegal immigrants, nun-rappers, and have no right to self-determination. In addition, of course, they are all Islamic terrorists, which is why they are not accused of being drunkards I suppose despite the gallons of raki they regularly down.

If the Serb nationalists had said similar things about blacks or Jews, in most countries, they would face prosecution for hate crime and in some for holocaust denial... sadly, in Belgrade they are elected to high office instead and complain that no one loves them.
It is time to stop pandering to Serbian nationalists and give them a reality check.

I afraid that the Serbs have been deceived and duped by their leaders once again. Russia will not go to the aid of the Serbs since it does not serve the needs of Russia.
The deliberations on the status of Kosovo have gone on for too long. It now time for the UN to announce what it has decided long before: Independence for Kosova.

People ask here what is the difference between Kosovo and other places that seek independence.

Well for one, no other country killed its civilians packed them into trucks and buried them all over compounds of the special ops troops (NOTE here, these are legal state sponsored and maintained training grounds, not some irregular army troops) to hide their corpses, also to add another fact no other country in the world expelled NAZI style, close to 1 million of its civilian population.

If Serbia had acted differently we would have not had this issue today. If there are issues with 2 million of your people you don't solve them by striping them of their autonomy, destroying their economy, firing all of them from jobs just because they belong to this or that nationality and most of all you don't try and kill all of them and list can go on ...

I know this may be hard for some of you to comprehend, because you think you should have had it your way, but don't blame the world for your own actions (particularly USA and UK). It is a sad, a very sad thing to see a nation that claims to be ready for talks and further negotiation but still not having the courage to look at all these people that it harmed and apologize for what was done on its name, on its behalf (this speaks a lot about a mentality portrayed here which is we hate Milosevic because he did not get the job done!!!), what a shame

“Russia has to become constructive in this issue and support the solution offered by the democratic world… Freedom of expression is sacred.” (Question Mark, Monday, 21 May, 2007, 16:12)

In other words, Russia having a say and expressing herself in world affairs alongside the Western Countries is somehow undemocratic? Besides, I’m pretty sure if you put the Kosovo issue to a vote in Russia, the Serbian position would have overwhelming support. Without fail, every single Russian I know here in the US supports Serbia, they all love Putin too. It may very well turn out they are playing the most constructive role in this whole debate if a lasting compromise such as partition is agreed upon by both sides. Partition has the best chance to avoid conflict in the future, and if it happens, Russia will be able to take the credit for bringing lasting peace and stability to the region. It would be a HUGE diplomatic success for Putin.

“The solution to the problem can only be solved by those who are experiencing the problem. Serb's and Albanian's, however as demonstrated during a years long negotiation between two parties a compromise is far from reach. Therefore the mediator and negotiation option is over and the next option should be considered THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE.” (M, Monday, 21 May, 2007, 18:25)

The reasons negotiations were not successful is the international community refused to open the table to all options, specifically partition. In addition, the Albanians of Kosovo were promised independence by the US government, they had absolutely no reason to want to engage in reasonable compromise, this is not their fault, but it is reality.

The problem with the Right to Self Determination is how you define “PEOPLE”. For example, Northern Ireland. The majority of Northern Ireland would like to stay a part of England, while the majority of the island of Ireland would like for it to be Irish. Since England made the determination what section of the island was given the right to express the WILL OF ITS PEOPLE they choose an area with a pro-English majority, up to 45% of the population could be opposed to it.

So the issue with Kosovo is how to divide it. Since its part of Serbia, to hard core nationalists, THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE refers to all people living in Serbia, those people you yourself defined as the ones “experiencing the problem.” Of course the nationalist Albanians would like to define it as the will of the people living in Kosovo.

Moderates such as myself advocate the endangered minority groups within Serbia as a whole be given a right to express their will.

All roads at this point seem to be pointing to partition. The International Community can not agree to simply grant Kosovo’s independence, that clearly is not going to change.

So either we have countries like the US “go it alone” and unilaterally recognize Kosovo, followed by a tit for tat recognition by Russia.

Or we discuss partition in a peaceful and reasonable manner. The simple fact is both communities have suffered repression when they have been in the minority, there is nothing to indicate that has changed in any way, as the riots of 2004 are a pretty clear indicator. Both of these traditionally repressed minorities deserve the right to live by THE WILL OF THEIR PEOPLE.

“And the actual situation is no longer sustainable (even Russia admitted it).” (genc, Monday, 21 May, 2007, 18:33)

The problem is Genc, that both the Russian and Serbian politicians know time is on their side here, every time the Albanians lose patience and engage in 2004 style riots they will lose credibility in the International Community. Simply put, the US and Kosovar Government are guilty for creating the immediate expectation of independence which is the root cause of the instability. Everyone needs to take a breath and think about what can be done in the current situation to make the lives of everyone on the ground better while we are still attempting to sort out this mess. Rushing into a solution to a problem in the Balkans is often enough how wars start.

Everyone must keep in mind what’s going on in the Middle East. Because the Middle East was divided more or less arbitrarily instead of being based on ethnicity, its extremely similar to the Balkan situation. Already the Middle East seems to be devolving into violent factions competing against each other. How can the UN perform a peace keeping role if the presence of their forces on the ground is used as justification for granting independence to repressed minorities? In addition, no country will ever come clean with its crimes against their minorities as it may be used to grant those minorities independence.

The albanians in Kosovo dropped the ball. If they had been respectful toward the Serbs there instead of attacking them, Kosovo would be independent by now. But they just had to persecute the Serbs, threaten the UN mission and ply their usual illegal trades. They did not even have the sense to bribe Russian mobsters. And they expect independence to be handed to them on a silver plate?

The crux of the new UN resolution is denial of Serbian sovereignty of Kosovo by means of omission.
Don't you all agree?

John wrote:...Serbs don't hate Albanians because they are Albanian,
So, why than Serbs killed even Albanian children’s and babies?
P.S. don't say that it didn't happened, at least just read something for Trial of Serb officials for Suva Reka case.

I've been working with Internationals for more than 6 years in Kosovo. I was surprised listening hateful comments of East Europe countries representatives about USA. Are they aware that their membership in EU is just due to the USA efforts, and that without USA, Eu would last as long as Russians could drive theirs vehicles until Atlantic coast?

Matthew said:

"Simply put, the US and Kosovar Government are guilty for creating the immediate expectation of independence which is the root cause of the instability."

Matthew, your comment is certainly interesting and worth reading. However the expecations of the Kosovo Albanians are not a result of promises from the US of the Kosovo Government but are instead the result of decades of Serbian repression on the people of Kosovo which many many years ago helped the Kosovo Albanians realise that to be free of Serbia (independent) was the only logical solution.

That is why we "tried" to fight back in 1998-99 against Milosevic.

The fate of Kosovo was sealed when the first bomb hit Prishtina in 1999. Everything after that is details.

A US-EU draft Resolution even without the word "independence" remins a chain reaction: if you accept it, those who drafted it will suggest the other one - with the word "independence", clearly stated.

“However the expecations of the Kosovo Albanians are not a result of promises from the US of the Kosovo Government but are instead the result of decades of Serbian repression” (Nick, Tuesday, 22 May, 2007, 11:48)

Nick, as I’ve said I do support areas of Kosovo being granted independence and I do understand your desire to do so (If I were a Kosovar Albanian I probably would have been fighting Milosevic’s thugs as well). However, you seem to have overlooked that I referred to “immediate” expectation, not merely expectation. It’s the immediate expectation that is threatening to devolve the situation into possible violence and the root cause of the instability and I blame the West for how they are handling it. All this talk about independence being right around the corner is dangerous. I personally think this is a very delicate situation and all angles need to be taken into consideration before a final decision is made. There should be no rush to do so and I think it would be far better if the international community made it clear that a proper decision might take a while. Otherwise you get all this pressure for a quick solution or there might be possible violence. This works against both our people, first off, obviously Serbs would be the victims, and secondly, if Albanians lose patience, it would hurt their chances of independence.

Trust me, I have spent considerable time trying to understand the Albanian point of view, and I have learned much from speaking to your people here. It is my hope that moderate elements of the Albanian population will do the same in regards to the Serbian position, as difficult as that may seem (Trust me, its hard for me as a Serb to support such concessions as well, but in the interest of peace, I firmly believe in what I am saying). I do firmly believe a compromise solution is possible and that such a solution would set a very positive precedent for how to resolve future conflicts in the world. If you can free your brothers in Kosovo by compromising a little on areas that are not really important to your people, it’s truly a win-win situation. The punishment for Milosevic’s actions must fit the crime.

A demographic update can help: Albania has passed the 4 million people mark, lets count Albanians in Kosova too..and we are talking about a young, dynamic and enterpreneuring folk, how can Serbia with only 6 million Serbs pension-age, a handful of minorities like in Sandzak and Vojvodina and landlocked be able to counter Albanians in long-term? Come on guys be realistic. You better try now to be friends with Albanians and Croats and Hungarians...maybe it will be too late tomorrow...

Matthew,

I do understand what you are getting at, you seem to believe that partition is the most resonable choice under the circumstances. Truth is the losing side in the Kosovo issue will almost certainly boycot the other side. I have given the issue some thought and the result seems too messy.

1. Serbs are demanding 34% of the territory which is unnaceptable to the K-Albanians.

2. Serbs are demanding the most mineral rich parts of Kosovo.

3. The K-Albanians will demand the Presevo Valley in case of partition.

4. The serbs in the southern enclaves will either a) have to leave; or b) accept to live in an independent Kosovo. They will however be protected and their monasteries unharmed. but we will not have mini-states in independent Kosovo.

5. Republica Srbska will use the opportunity and demand partition from Bosnia. they cant claim the same if Kosovo separates from Serbia with its current borders because Kosovo had its borders defined under the Yugoslav constitution and it was a federal entity while RS was created as a result of bloddy civil war and its borders never existed prior to that.

6. The international community on the other hand is concerned that partition would make a complicated issue even more complicated.

Nick,

Point 1 is probably the biggest sticking point. I do believe the Serbian inhabited areas are only 15% of Kosovo. However, I believe the Trepca mines and Presevo should be traded for a least one region that represents Serbian culture and heritage. Clearly the Trepca mines are more important for a functioning Kosovo then a functioning Serbia, we can live without them. At the very least, allow the Kosovar government to collect taxes on them for the next 100 years as part of a reparation program. I do believe reparations are in order to rebuild what Milosevic destroyed. Serbia needs to work towards undoing they damage we caused as much as possible and apologize for what happened.

I agree with you on point 4.

However as far as point 5 goes, if we really are worried about RS, then the “safest” way forward is not to grant Kosovo Independence at all. Both partition and Independence have the chance of motivating the separatist movement there. One of the reasons I support a regional solution for the problem. However, as far as Bosnia is concerned, keep in mind the majority of the population, both Serbs and Croats wanted to divide the country between them. If we are to respect democracy and the will of the people, its painfully obvious that Bosnia as it presently stand is not a viable state. Of course I would give Bosnia Sandzak in exchange for RS. However, coming to a peaceful and agreed upon solution for Kosovo is the best thing that could happen in the Balkans, there are many remaining issues in the Balkans and if compromise and negotiation win out as precedent for solving the region’s problems, then there will be nothing to fear in further peaceful talks on these outstanding issues.

So I stand by my previous suggestions. Give Presevo and Trepca to the Albanians in exchange for granting Vatican Level status to our Church there. I believe this is a solution that all sides can live with, though none will be 100% satisfied. We may have to accept the creation of at least one “mini-state” as much as I agree with you that it should be avoided if at all possible.

Either that or have the whole region join the EU immediately and remove the issues of borders altogether. Voting blocks could be reevaluated every decade as they are in the US Congress. This would have a long term benefit to the Albanians as your population is still growing at a much faster pace then anyone in the EU.

Like it or not, we must work together to solve the region’s problems. I personally do not think that your position and my position are all that far apart. We just need to hammer out the details in a fair and balanced manner.

Personally I believe that granting Kosovo independence as a whole only sets it up for future conflicts, much like the solution the International Community came to in Bosnia.

Furthermore Nick, while I know the International Community has been vocal against the idea of partition, I do believe that they are starting to consider it actually. Even James Lyon of the ICG responded to me that my vision for a peaceful partition would be acceptable to the international community despite the fact that the main thrust of his blog was that partition was a bad thing.
“I never said that partitioning Kosovo was morally wrong. In theory, if the Albanians and Serbs would agree among themselves to peacefully partition Kosovo, no one in the international community would object. But it would have to be a negotiated settlement with both sides agreeing willingly, and violence could not play a role. Should Belgrade and Pristina decide that partition is a desirable outcome, then they should sit down and discuss it.
What concerns me is the way Belgrade is going about doing it. I fear that it could lead to further violence, and that the Serbs in the enclaves will end up being the ones who suffer. If you can achieve a result without bloodshed, why chose a violent path?”
http://blog.b92.net/node/5156#comment
I truly believe that the Albanians could get a much better deal through partition then with merely Independence for Kosovo only. I also strongly feel that the Balkans needs to show the maturity to deal with their own issues. We must stop resolving our issues at the point of a gun. You guys have every right to be pissed off, I know that, but think about what it is that you really need. Personally, I’d like to have you onboard the partition train, even if what you’d ask for from a partition differs from what I’d ask for. I personally think it would be a very positive thing if we could establish what it is the Albanians would settle for.
I am very sure both our chances of joining the EU will increase dramatically if we were able to come to an agreement amongst ourselves.
It most certainly could be a big win-win for both sides if done properly.