Last chance for Kosovo

GUARDIAN (UK), February 13, 2007 4:30 PM COMMENT IS FREE by Clive Baldwin

 

Seven years ago I joined the throng of international administrators sent out to put Kosovo to rights. America, the UN and Europe were united in pouring money and people into the province. Kosovo became the greatest experiment of international rule in modern times - a UN protectorate.

 

Since then, this small part of south-eastern Europe has been largely forgotten. But the "internationals" still rule. Last Friday, a UN team presented the latest proposals for the final status of Kosovo.

 

So as Kosovo comes back into the spotlight do we find a province that has been well-governed and is ready for peace? Not exactly. International rule was set up to protect minorities. But we began our rule by allowing mass ethnic cleansing, of Serbs, Albanians and Roma, and this has still not been reversed (indeed it happened again in 2004).

 

Kosovo has become the most divided society in Europe, with ever more rigid lines separating communities. Thousands of Serbs, Albanians, Roma and others are still displaced, unable to return home. The rule of law remains a dream rather than a reality. So creating a viable future for Kosovo requires learning from the mistakes that we made at the start of our rule. If Kosovo is to have a future, there are four fundamental questions that we failed to address in 1999 that must be addressed now. Unfortunately it appears the UN plan will do little to right some of the major mistakes we made.

 

First, there must be a definite final status for Kosovo. It has been the uncertainty that has led to the fear and to the unaccountable government of recent years. The UN is, in effect, recommending independence in all but name. However, actually using the word still seems, it appears, to be a step too far. Kosovo faces years in yet another limbo that benefits no one. Second, there must be government as we understand it - one that is fully accountable to its people. All people, and all communities, must be able to participate in and affect these decisions, in particular a new constitution.

 

The new proposals do appear to guarantee minority participation in elections. But two issues are deeply worrying. The first is the continuation of an international supremo, based on the premise that the internationals know best and need not be accountable. This Civilian Representative will be able to override laws and dismiss elected officials, but without any apparent legal or political accountability to the people of Kosovo. Not exactly the best way to build democracy.

 

Second is the plan to rush through a constitution in four months - once again, it appears, for the convenience of the international rulers. The drafting of a constitution should include all parts of society, in particular the most marginalised people in Kosovo, the smaller, forgotten minorities. These minorities are always forgotten- they were largely excluded from the UN discussions on the future of Kosovo, where only Serbs and Albanians officially participated, and will be excluded again if the Constitution is rushed in this manner.

 

Third, there must be rule of law. One of our greatest failures in the chaotic early days was to fully understand this. We eagerly drafted new laws for everything, which remain on the books, but have never been implemented. One example is in the crucial area of ending discrimination. A law lauded as one of the best in Europe was passed in 2004, but has not been implemented at all. Neither has there been a rule of law that gives day-to-day security. The last eight years have seen large-scale impunity for the major crimes against minorities. Not once have the organisers behind the ongoing attacks on minorities ever been fully investigated and prosecuted. But the UN plan, while requiring new laws, says little about how to actually implement them.

 

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, this year represents the best - and perhaps last - chance to break definitely with the segregation that has been forced on Kosovo since 1999. This is a segregation with its roots in the acceptance by the international community of the ethnic cleansing in 1999.

 

Thousands of Serbs, Albanians, Roma and others remain displaced, unable to return home. But the segregation is also due to the international community seeing Kosovo only through the lens of Albanians and Serbs, ignoring all other communities such as the Turks and Roma.

 

The UN plan does make some welcome requirements in the basic principles for the future of Kosovo, one to be based on equality of all people and all communities. But some of the other proposals contradict this. Serbs are to be given a special status above other minorities, with control of education and even health and policing, while nothing is said about implementing the already existing laws to end discrimination. Such separation will mean segregation and make the functioning of a normal society where everyone can access health, policing and education on an equal basis, very difficult.

 

As Kosovo has faded from our attention we have not noticed that the continuing segregation and displacement there is a major failure of international policy. If we cannot succeed in restoring a multi-ethnic Kosovo, where Europe and America are united, and so many resources have been expended, where can we?

 

This year offers the last real chance to change course. The final decisions on the UN plan now rest with Europe and America's leaders. It will be one of the final acts in office for both Blair and Chirac, the last survivors of those who took NATO to war in 1999.

 

Unfortunately it seems that the easy option of creating fudges based on ethnic division, doing very little to address the underlying causes of conflict while blaming "locals" for the problems, may be the last gift of Europe and America's leaders to the Balkans.