The Ahtisaari Proposal

If EU wants to see Europe without borders, then why does it support the creation of new ones within Serbia?
If the Ahtisari peace proposal is so good for minorities then why does it apply to Serbs living in Kosovo and Metohija, rather than to the Albanians living there, who are a minority in Serbia?
Finally, why all of these negotiations, when UN resolution 1244 already determined the final status of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia?

Thank you Mr. Ambassador for once again providing a clear and sobering picture of the ongoing problems in Serbia and the surrounding region. Of course after reading your article on the conditions of Kosovo Serbs and the situation the Contact Group finds itself in, we need to ask the perennial question, "What is to be done?"

It seems to me that in every scenario since the breakup of Yugoslavia, separatists have attempted to only see the future of their state through their eyes only and have never taken into account the wishes and fears of the minorities. Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia thought only of themselves, and Croats and Bosnians did likewise as well. Now we have a similar dilemma in Kosovo. Serbs see Kosovo as their ancestral homeland, which is being taken away by Albanian outsiders, and the initial reaction is "Oh crap, do whatever we can to marginalize them for our own sake." However, the Albanian are doing the same thing: "Oh crap, the Serbs are at it again, do whatever WE can for our own sake." "Our own sake" is constantly keeping communities apart.

You're right in that Serbs have no reason to believe the guarantees that have been laid out for them in Ahtisaari's plan, but at the same time Serbs who want to keep Kosovo within Serbian jurisdiction have made no clear proposals for Albanian (re)integration. Rather than using the region as a veritable tug-of-war between two seemingly intractable sides, Pristina needs to make serious, genuine, and legally-binding guarantees for Serbian security and cultural and political autonomy in an independent Kosovo. While such gestures may initially appear symbolic, diffusing nationalist differences and modeling an independent Kosovo on clearly multinational narratives (read as Kosovo being home to Serbs and Albanians), and showing how the two sides have coexisted before the age of nationalism (Serbs and Albanians fought alongside each other in the Battle of Kosovo along with Bosnians, Hungarians, Croats, and Wallachians), Serbs could feel more secure in a country not administered by Belgrade. In order to avoid the flight of Serbs out of Kosovo as was the case in Bosnia, the negotiations will, and should, offer generous rights to the Serb minority, and ameliorate the positions in Belgrade.

Kosovo can go one of two ways: it can become Serbia's Gaza, awash in ethnic and political tension, or it can become Serbia's Transylvania, a region culturally and historically important to Serbia, but one in which its minority is closely connected to its Mother country.

"Moreover, for internal political purposes, the goal will be to lock virtually all the parties into the process in a way which both insures that they will receive equal blame for Kosovo's loss and will place many in the uncomfortable position of having to either endorse hard-line, aggressive stands that they do not really support or appear as "traitors" to Serbia. "
This is a fine example of what I dislike in Mr. Mongomery's writtings. Serbia's stand to preserve unity of the republic (one of the former Yugoslavian republics) is described as "hard-line, aggressive stands".
Stand that former Yu-republics are indivisable are previously shared by scores of EU and US politicians (including Bill Clinton). Thank you Mr. Montgomery for explaining to us that all these people are agressive hard-liners.
Nobody in the West has ability to hear one thing. ALL that Serbs wanted is to be treated equally with the others.
I don't mind Mr. Mongomery saying it's hard-line, aggressive stand. As long as he admits that Tudjman, Izetbegovic, etc. were agressive hard-liners for their own demands for their republics unity.
Or what about Ceku? He recently said that Kosovo(a) cannot be divided. Althought, Kosovo was not one of the Yu-republics, it should be noted by Mr. Mongomery that he is also an agressive hard-liner.
Why is it that only Serbs are labeled as "agressive" and "hard-liners" when they want only what others did before them?

Three major things the Serbs did to themselves have brought them to present day circumstances.Firstly,the fact that many adopted the Islamic religion in order to improve their economic/political/social standing under their Ottoman overlords.Secondly,entering into an ill advised union with the Western leaning Slovenes and Croats.Although it is ironic that it was Slovenian intellectuals under Austro-Hungarian rule who were calling for the creation of a South Slav homeland.Thirdly and probably the BIGGEST mistake is allowing themselves to be brainwashed into adopting a Godless pseudo Communist ideology of Brotherhood and Unity which brought about the birth of these so called provinces and republics leaving millions of Serbs outside of Serbia proper.As long as Yugoslavia was a strong central state Serbs felt secure regardless of which area they were residing in.But once the country started unraveling too many Serbs paniced and could not see themselves living under Croat or Bosnian sovereignty and certainly not under an Albanian one. Serbia would have been a homogenous political entity after the Balkan Wars and would have gained more land by being on the winning side in WW1 and WW2 if it only existed as the Kingdom or Republic of Serbia from the end of the Balkan Wars to the present day.Notice how neither the Greeks nor the Bulgarians allowed for the creation of any kind of separate Macedonian political entity on land they acquired during the Balkan Wars nor for the creation of any political entity within their borders based on Islamic identity.The Serbs seem to have never been able to look at the future as a chessmaster would with the ability to anticipate potential developments and adjust his strategy accordingly.However,in the 21st centruy it is a European homeland with an economic common market that is the best guarantor of prosperity for ALL the peoples of the Balkans and I hope that no matter what political issues transpire that violence will NEVER be employed by any side ever again to try and settle differences.Violence does not bring constructive solutions but only misery and destruction.More Americans are interersted in the life and death of Anna Nicole Smith than in the Kosovo issue but I urge our Ambassador to argue for the implementation of principled solutions in this Balkan quagmire.If Kosovo gets unilateral recognition from the US without UN authorization then it is only fair that Republika Srpska gets our recognition also.Do not make us Americans seem like hypocrites.Did you notice Al Gore at the Grammy Awards last night and the fact that the Dixie Chics were the STARS of the show.We Americans understand the political message do we not Mr.Ambassador?God Bless the United States of America.We are the greatest country under the sun so let's act like it.

If EU wants to see Europe without borders, then why does it support the creation of new ones within Serbia?

Brilliant Vlad. Hit the nail on the head right away.

To move toward the EU Serbia would have to consent to its own distruction and that is ridiculous. The EU would not exists if every member had to give up part of its territory.

To quote Amb. Mongomery

"the Serbs do not appreciate sufficiently how their failure to adopt an "EU" approach to Kosovo sets them significantly apart in mindset from the European Union"

Where within the EU does it state that a nation must secede 15% of it's territory for it to assume a "EU mindset"???

If this was meant as a stick (5 final points threaten as such) to get Serbia to refute it's principled stance then I guess the stance is having the desired effect and finally the message is getting through - NO Kosovo & Metohija will not be handed over!!!

Clearly now that the cat is out of the bag until the plan includes like Wisner said the

"the Security Council will consider the wishes of the majority in Kosovo AND ACCEPT the obligation to respect the sovereignty of Serbia stipulated by UN Resolution 1244"

Only at that point will the carrot & Stick be effective.

There will be much to discuss and I am certain that the Serbian negotiation team will wish to ensure this obligation is inserted as Wisner has mentioned. Without it I guess the US will have a very messy issue on it's hands.

In one point Mr. Montgomery is right: Serbs don't want to live as a minority. They will have to learn and accept it! Everybody else has learned and accepted it in the region: Albanians, Bosnians, Croats, Macedonians, Hungarians, Romanians etc etc.

Genc - but every ethnic group was a minortiy in Yugoslavia up to 1991. Obviously it has been difficult for the Kosovo Serbs to go from a majority group in their own area to a minority one in an international protectorate that didn't live up to its name. Not sure your list of ethnic groups that are able to live as a minority would stand up to much scrutiny.

Davies,
At a larger extent every ethnic group on this planet is a minority. I'm referring to former Yugo after 1991. The Serbs opposed it by the logic of the stronger everywhere.

Whats your problem people you just dont know what are you thinking and talking, Luciano is 2007 and is right for people to choose what they want and more than 2 milion albanian want their independence, and you are going on and on like you know the history well but you forgat to talk about whats happened in 25 years, and finally in 1998 when Millosheviq`s regime killed more than 10 thousand people and a lot of thinks i dont wanna talk about it because i thinks you know, and i said in an articlle before and i m saying again wake up you people is better for you and for all people who live in ballkan if you apologize what your own goverment did for more than 20 years and you should blame your self because you destroyed up Yougosllavia, and dont blame others for your own fault, and dont worry for Kosova to much because Kosova de Facto isindependent since june 1999 and fast will be de Juro, i think is time for you to wake up from your deep depresion,mythology, egoism, to apologize, relax and start a new life.

I am not a Serb nor did I partake in the killing of ANYBODY in the Balkans.I believe in INDIVIDUAL responsibility and ANY person regardless of ethnicity should be held accountable if he committed a crime against a fellow human being.I am merely arguing for a principled universal legal stand on the part of the US.There is no case which is unique.As an economist with extensive legal training EVERY case has the potential to set a precedent in our common law system of justice or international law for that matter.By the way, only Louisiana adheres to the Napoleonic Code in its legal proceedings but the other 49 US states are based on British Common Law with precedent cases going back centuries in time in some instances.I sympathize with the will of people to be free but do not put much credence in flags and symbols.An intellectual mind does not need these to justify its existence on this planet we all share.Everybody listen to John Lennon's message in his song titled"Imagine".If the Albanians in Serbia get to secede so do the Russians in TransDniester and so do the Serbs and Croats in Bosnia and so do the Turks in Cyprus just to name a few in Europe.I understand the Albanian emotional argument but emotions have no place in legal machinations.De facto does NOT equal de jure so it remains to be seen by what means this is to develop.But as a pacifist with Buddhist tendencies I implore all sides to work together and focus on what your common interests are as opposed to emphasizing differences.ANY idiot can destroy but it takes a builder to BUILD.

To one of the previous comments:
It is you, Kosovar, who should wake up if you want to join the EU. EU erases borders, and you want to create new ones. EU promotes peaceful coexistence and you want to separate from your country, Serbia, even using violent means. EU protects human rights while non-Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija live in ghetoes, surrounded by barbed wire, "protected" by NATO soldiers. EU creates a European identity, while you keep insisting on your own!? Why don't you accept these European values? Why are you any different from other Albanians living in Serbia outside of Kosovo and Metohija?

I found this article most striking for what it did NOT mention:

- it did not mention that the Serbs in Kosovo have more reasons to consider leaving than a stuborn resistance to live as a minority. (like a lack of opportunities to make money as it is even dangerous to work on their land)

- it did not discuss the option to change Kosovo's borders. In my opinion that would be the most decent thing to do.

- it did not discuss the resistance among Kosovo's Albanians against any form of Serb autonomy. As soon as there is some proposal the Albanian press will hightlight Albanians who fiercely protest because they don't want to live in a municipality ruled by a Serb majority.

I found the comments about Sarajewo very dangerous. This is the old rascist stereotype of the irrational Serb who sacrifices his own and others wellbeing for the case of pride.

There are more reasons to leave than being driven out at gunpoint. In fact even at that time there were dangerous signs like the firing of the Serbs from the Federation army. And since then Serbs and Croats have continued leaving Sarajevo. Maybe the departure of the Croats is enough evidence that there is more than just pride that drives people out. Given those circumstances the idea that Bosnia would be closer to a reunion is the Serbs had stayed looks ridiculous. It would at most have delayed their departure.

And then there is the case of Kosovo. Mr. Montgomery seems to have forgotten that in the first Kosovo parliament after the 1999 war the Serbs actually tried to play a constructive role. They might have continued to do that if their parlementarians had not been consistently ignored and ridiculed - while there presence was used as an excuse to say that there was no problem.

It is my impression that mr. Montgomery is preparing to wash his hands in innocence when he gives the nod to policies that will cleanse the remaining Serbs from Kosovo.

If EU wants to see Europe without borders, then why does it support the creation of new ones within Serbia?
If the Ahtisari peace proposal is so good for minorities then why does it apply to Serbs living in Kosovo and Metohija, rather than to the Albanians living there, who are a minority in Serbia?
Finally, why all of these negotiations, when UN resolution 1244 already determined the final status of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia?

Thank you Mr. Ambassador for once again providing a clear and sobering picture of the ongoing problems in Serbia and the surrounding region. Of course after reading your article on the conditions of Kosovo Serbs and the situation the Contact Group finds itself in, we need to ask the perennial question, "What is to be done?"

It seems to me that in every scenario since the breakup of Yugoslavia, separatists have attempted to only see the future of their state through their eyes only and have never taken into account the wishes and fears of the minorities. Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia thought only of themselves, and Croats and Bosnians did likewise as well. Now we have a similar dilemma in Kosovo. Serbs see Kosovo as their ancestral homeland, which is being taken away by Albanian outsiders, and the initial reaction is "Oh crap, do whatever we can to marginalize them for our own sake." However, the Albanian are doing the same thing: "Oh crap, the Serbs are at it again, do whatever WE can for our own sake." "Our own sake" is constantly keeping communities apart.

You're right in that Serbs have no reason to believe the guarantees that have been laid out for them in Ahtisaari's plan, but at the same time Serbs who want to keep Kosovo within Serbian jurisdiction have made no clear proposals for Albanian (re)integration. Rather than using the region as a veritable tug-of-war between two seemingly intractable sides, Pristina needs to make serious, genuine, and legally-binding guarantees for Serbian security and cultural and political autonomy in an independent Kosovo. While such gestures may initially appear symbolic, diffusing nationalist differences and modeling an independent Kosovo on clearly multinational narratives (read as Kosovo being home to Serbs and Albanians), and showing how the two sides have coexisted before the age of nationalism (Serbs and Albanians fought alongside each other in the Battle of Kosovo along with Bosnians, Hungarians, Croats, and Wallachians), Serbs could feel more secure in a country not administered by Belgrade. In order to avoid the flight of Serbs out of Kosovo as was the case in Bosnia, the negotiations will, and should, offer generous rights to the Serb minority, and ameliorate the positions in Belgrade.

Kosovo can go one of two ways: it can become Serbia's Gaza, awash in ethnic and political tension, or it can become Serbia's Transylvania, a region culturally and historically important to Serbia, but one in which its minority is closely connected to its Mother country.

"Moreover, for internal political purposes, the goal will be to lock virtually all the parties into the process in a way which both insures that they will receive equal blame for Kosovo's loss and will place many in the uncomfortable position of having to either endorse hard-line, aggressive stands that they do not really support or appear as "traitors" to Serbia. "
This is a fine example of what I dislike in Mr. Mongomery's writtings. Serbia's stand to preserve unity of the republic (one of the former Yugoslavian republics) is described as "hard-line, aggressive stands".
Stand that former Yu-republics are indivisable are previously shared by scores of EU and US politicians (including Bill Clinton). Thank you Mr. Montgomery for explaining to us that all these people are agressive hard-liners.
Nobody in the West has ability to hear one thing. ALL that Serbs wanted is to be treated equally with the others.
I don't mind Mr. Mongomery saying it's hard-line, aggressive stand. As long as he admits that Tudjman, Izetbegovic, etc. were agressive hard-liners for their own demands for their republics unity.
Or what about Ceku? He recently said that Kosovo(a) cannot be divided. Althought, Kosovo was not one of the Yu-republics, it should be noted by Mr. Mongomery that he is also an agressive hard-liner.
Why is it that only Serbs are labeled as "agressive" and "hard-liners" when they want only what others did before them?

Three major things the Serbs did to themselves have brought them to present day circumstances.Firstly,the fact that many adopted the Islamic religion in order to improve their economic/political/social standing under their Ottoman overlords.Secondly,entering into an ill advised union with the Western leaning Slovenes and Croats.Although it is ironic that it was Slovenian intellectuals under Austro-Hungarian rule who were calling for the creation of a South Slav homeland.Thirdly and probably the BIGGEST mistake is allowing themselves to be brainwashed into adopting a Godless pseudo Communist ideology of Brotherhood and Unity which brought about the birth of these so called provinces and republics leaving millions of Serbs outside of Serbia proper.As long as Yugoslavia was a strong central state Serbs felt secure regardless of which area they were residing in.But once the country started unraveling too many Serbs paniced and could not see themselves living under Croat or Bosnian sovereignty and certainly not under an Albanian one. Serbia would have been a homogenous political entity after the Balkan Wars and would have gained more land by being on the winning side in WW1 and WW2 if it only existed as the Kingdom or Republic of Serbia from the end of the Balkan Wars to the present day.Notice how neither the Greeks nor the Bulgarians allowed for the creation of any kind of separate Macedonian political entity on land they acquired during the Balkan Wars nor for the creation of any political entity within their borders based on Islamic identity.The Serbs seem to have never been able to look at the future as a chessmaster would with the ability to anticipate potential developments and adjust his strategy accordingly.However,in the 21st centruy it is a European homeland with an economic common market that is the best guarantor of prosperity for ALL the peoples of the Balkans and I hope that no matter what political issues transpire that violence will NEVER be employed by any side ever again to try and settle differences.Violence does not bring constructive solutions but only misery and destruction.More Americans are interersted in the life and death of Anna Nicole Smith than in the Kosovo issue but I urge our Ambassador to argue for the implementation of principled solutions in this Balkan quagmire.If Kosovo gets unilateral recognition from the US without UN authorization then it is only fair that Republika Srpska gets our recognition also.Do not make us Americans seem like hypocrites.Did you notice Al Gore at the Grammy Awards last night and the fact that the Dixie Chics were the STARS of the show.We Americans understand the political message do we not Mr.Ambassador?God Bless the United States of America.We are the greatest country under the sun so let's act like it.

If EU wants to see Europe without borders, then why does it support the creation of new ones within Serbia?

Brilliant Vlad. Hit the nail on the head right away.

To move toward the EU Serbia would have to consent to its own distruction and that is ridiculous. The EU would not exists if every member had to give up part of its territory.

To quote Amb. Mongomery

"the Serbs do not appreciate sufficiently how their failure to adopt an "EU" approach to Kosovo sets them significantly apart in mindset from the European Union"

Where within the EU does it state that a nation must secede 15% of it's territory for it to assume a "EU mindset"???

If this was meant as a stick (5 final points threaten as such) to get Serbia to refute it's principled stance then I guess the stance is having the desired effect and finally the message is getting through - NO Kosovo & Metohija will not be handed over!!!

Clearly now that the cat is out of the bag until the plan includes like Wisner said the

"the Security Council will consider the wishes of the majority in Kosovo AND ACCEPT the obligation to respect the sovereignty of Serbia stipulated by UN Resolution 1244"

Only at that point will the carrot & Stick be effective.

There will be much to discuss and I am certain that the Serbian negotiation team will wish to ensure this obligation is inserted as Wisner has mentioned. Without it I guess the US will have a very messy issue on it's hands.

In one point Mr. Montgomery is right: Serbs don't want to live as a minority. They will have to learn and accept it! Everybody else has learned and accepted it in the region: Albanians, Bosnians, Croats, Macedonians, Hungarians, Romanians etc etc.

Genc - but every ethnic group was a minortiy in Yugoslavia up to 1991. Obviously it has been difficult for the Kosovo Serbs to go from a majority group in their own area to a minority one in an international protectorate that didn't live up to its name. Not sure your list of ethnic groups that are able to live as a minority would stand up to much scrutiny.

Davies,
At a larger extent every ethnic group on this planet is a minority. I'm referring to former Yugo after 1991. The Serbs opposed it by the logic of the stronger everywhere.

Whats your problem people you just dont know what are you thinking and talking, Luciano is 2007 and is right for people to choose what they want and more than 2 milion albanian want their independence, and you are going on and on like you know the history well but you forgat to talk about whats happened in 25 years, and finally in 1998 when Millosheviq`s regime killed more than 10 thousand people and a lot of thinks i dont wanna talk about it because i thinks you know, and i said in an articlle before and i m saying again wake up you people is better for you and for all people who live in ballkan if you apologize what your own goverment did for more than 20 years and you should blame your self because you destroyed up Yougosllavia, and dont blame others for your own fault, and dont worry for Kosova to much because Kosova de Facto isindependent since june 1999 and fast will be de Juro, i think is time for you to wake up from your deep depresion,mythology, egoism, to apologize, relax and start a new life.

I am not a Serb nor did I partake in the killing of ANYBODY in the Balkans.I believe in INDIVIDUAL responsibility and ANY person regardless of ethnicity should be held accountable if he committed a crime against a fellow human being.I am merely arguing for a principled universal legal stand on the part of the US.There is no case which is unique.As an economist with extensive legal training EVERY case has the potential to set a precedent in our common law system of justice or international law for that matter.By the way, only Louisiana adheres to the Napoleonic Code in its legal proceedings but the other 49 US states are based on British Common Law with precedent cases going back centuries in time in some instances.I sympathize with the will of people to be free but do not put much credence in flags and symbols.An intellectual mind does not need these to justify its existence on this planet we all share.Everybody listen to John Lennon's message in his song titled"Imagine".If the Albanians in Serbia get to secede so do the Russians in TransDniester and so do the Serbs and Croats in Bosnia and so do the Turks in Cyprus just to name a few in Europe.I understand the Albanian emotional argument but emotions have no place in legal machinations.De facto does NOT equal de jure so it remains to be seen by what means this is to develop.But as a pacifist with Buddhist tendencies I implore all sides to work together and focus on what your common interests are as opposed to emphasizing differences.ANY idiot can destroy but it takes a builder to BUILD.

To one of the previous comments:
It is you, Kosovar, who should wake up if you want to join the EU. EU erases borders, and you want to create new ones. EU promotes peaceful coexistence and you want to separate from your country, Serbia, even using violent means. EU protects human rights while non-Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija live in ghetoes, surrounded by barbed wire, "protected" by NATO soldiers. EU creates a European identity, while you keep insisting on your own!? Why don't you accept these European values? Why are you any different from other Albanians living in Serbia outside of Kosovo and Metohija?

I found this article most striking for what it did NOT mention:

- it did not mention that the Serbs in Kosovo have more reasons to consider leaving than a stuborn resistance to live as a minority. (like a lack of opportunities to make money as it is even dangerous to work on their land)

- it did not discuss the option to change Kosovo's borders. In my opinion that would be the most decent thing to do.

- it did not discuss the resistance among Kosovo's Albanians against any form of Serb autonomy. As soon as there is some proposal the Albanian press will hightlight Albanians who fiercely protest because they don't want to live in a municipality ruled by a Serb majority.

I found the comments about Sarajewo very dangerous. This is the old rascist stereotype of the irrational Serb who sacrifices his own and others wellbeing for the case of pride.

There are more reasons to leave than being driven out at gunpoint. In fact even at that time there were dangerous signs like the firing of the Serbs from the Federation army. And since then Serbs and Croats have continued leaving Sarajevo. Maybe the departure of the Croats is enough evidence that there is more than just pride that drives people out. Given those circumstances the idea that Bosnia would be closer to a reunion is the Serbs had stayed looks ridiculous. It would at most have delayed their departure.

And then there is the case of Kosovo. Mr. Montgomery seems to have forgotten that in the first Kosovo parliament after the 1999 war the Serbs actually tried to play a constructive role. They might have continued to do that if their parlementarians had not been consistently ignored and ridiculed - while there presence was used as an excuse to say that there was no problem.

It is my impression that mr. Montgomery is preparing to wash his hands in innocence when he gives the nod to policies that will cleanse the remaining Serbs from Kosovo.