News
Speaker Evaluates Kosovo One Year After Independence
March 6, 2009 - 12:00amCorrection Appended
After centuries of occupation, war and genocide, the people of Kosovo, a small region within Serbia, declared its independence on Feb. 17, 2008. Yesterday, Florian Bieber gave a lecture entitled “How Independent Is Independent: Kosovo, Year One,” in which he outlined how the new nation has been handling its autonomy. Bieber, who has taught at universities throughout central Europe, including positions in Belgrade and Sarajevo, focused on the various social and economic woes facing Kosovo, including the disunity experienced by the many ethnic groups within the small region.
“Today, there is no such thing as ‘Kosovo’; there are many unique ‘Kosovos,’” Bieber said. “The Kosovars, the Serbs, the Roma, the Bosniaks and the Gora each have their own experience, their own feel of the new nation.”
Kosovo, which was part of Serbia until last year, has been a United Nations protectorate since 1999, after the end of a conflict between rebels in the region and Yugoslavia. During the conflict, the Yugoslavian army, under the leadership of President Slobodan Milosevic, engaged in genocidal activities against the Albanian Kosovar majority, resulting in NATO military action. Milosevic died while waiting to be tried by the International War Crimes Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
“If you are an ethnic Kosovar, you are in many ways without a country,” Bieber said. “You have a passport, but you can only travel to 35 countries. You have a cellular phone, but to call your neighbor you must pay international charges because your phone is from Slovenia. You are out of work and you are still divided based on the same ethnic lines. For you, life really hasn’t improved since independence.”
Serbia, which still has not recognized the independence of Kosovo, plays a major role in the politics of the region, with Serbs comprising the second largest ethnic group.
“In some parts of Kosovo, you can walk down the street and feel as though you are in southern Serbia,” Bieber said. “The schools are paid for by the Serbs, the architecture is Serbian, even the bank is a Serbian bank.”
World View: Expert Florian Bieber lectures on Kosovo’s independence.Currently, only 55 of the 192 members of the United Nations have recognized Kosovo as an independent nation. Many of the nations that have not yet recognized Kosovo are powerful leaders in the international community, including China, Russia and Israel.
“Places that do not recognize Kosovo are mostly doing so to prevent their own minority regions from breaking away,” Bieber said. “Russia, Spain and the Ukraine each fear that setting the precedent of national self-determination will allow their own rebel groups to break away. This, however, is not what the Kosovars or other advocates of independence hope to achieve.”
Overall, however, Bieber had a generally positive outlook for the future of the region. At the same time, however, he was somewhat hesitant to make predictions.
“In many ways, it is too early to tell. I would be far better able to address these issues if this speech were entitled ‘Kosovo Independence: Five Year Later.’”
Lecture attendees included a variety of people interested in the topic, ranging from professors to Ithaca residents.
“With all of the self-determination movements throughout the former Soviet Republics, democratic values are finally able to surface now that the East/West conflicts have died down,” local resident Roger Christian said. “The situation in Kosovo, like those in other regions, allows the people to work in their own interest.”
Others did not display the same degree of optimism toward the situation.
“I agree that it is far too early to tell, but I, as a historian, feel far more pessimistic about the situation. I fear that Kosovo, as a possible precedent, could push the Serbs in Bosnia to declare the independence of Republika Srpska,” said Prof. Holly Case, history, who specializes in the Balkans. “I hope that he is right and that the situation does not have a severe ripple effect of the sort that people fear.”
As Kosovo establishes a better footing on the international stage and develops internally as a nation, new opportunities for a peaceful resolution to a century-old conflict will surely develop.
The article incorrectly stated that Slobodon Milosevic was executed by the International War Crimes Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. In fact, he died while awaiting trial.
"After centuries of
"After centuries of occupation, war and genocide, the people of Kosovo, a small region within Serbia, declared its independence on Feb. 17, 2008."
- I would like to see which sources have you been using when referring to the "genocide" in Kosovo. Alleged charges have never been proven and not even Kosovars back this claim, knowing that they aren't true. The claim served as an excuse to illegally bomb Yugoslavia for 78 days, and was later reverted, just as, f.e. the claim that Iraq possessed nuclear weapon which was later proven wrong. I suggest that the author actually reads through Kosovo's recent history before publishing such shocking and untrue arguments.
- "Occupation"? Again, please go through Kosovo's history, at least superficially. Kosovo has never been an independent state (nor it is at the moment, at least for 3/4 of the world). It was a Serbian province since the 7th century and remained under Serbian rule until the fall of the Serbian Empire in late 14th century. 5 centuries of Ottoman rule ensued, during which Serbs were ethnically cleansed, which is a historical fact (check Great Serb Migrations). Still, Albanians only achieved majority by the beginning of the 20th century, when the province was liberated from the Ottomans and returned to Serbia. During the course of a century, Serbs have fell from 45% to 7% in 1999, due to high natality rate among the Albanians and the low fertility among the Serbs. Simultaniously, Serbs were encouraged to leave the province while political refugees from Albania have been given Yugoslav passports. Check CIA factbook which supports these facts.
- This is a biased and shocking article which does not contain evidential support. Hopefully the last one of its kind.
Mike – you either have no
Mike – you either have no idea about the region in general and Kosovo in particular, or are extremely biased to a point which defeats the purposes of commenting in the first place. First of all there was genocide – 800,000 out of 2MM were forcefully deported from Kosovo during the ’99 war by Serbian military and police, over 10,000 killed (many women and children), 3,000 still missing, and over 200,000 homes burned to the ground. If this is not genocide like you claim, than what is it?! Besides, the International Tribunal for Yugoslavia just sentenced top 4 generals of Yugoslavia for crimes against humanity, genocide, mass murder and expulsion, and in its closing remarks said that “this proves that Serbian/Yugoslavian state engaged in systematic, planned, and carefully staged attempt to ethnically clean Kosovo of its majority Albanian population…[] directed by former Yugoslavian President – Slobodan Milosevic”. You can check the sentencing and the conclusion on the Court’s website.
Serbia pulled its troops only after it was forced out by NATO bombing which lasted 78 days, during which time, Serbian forces committed the aforementioned crimes. To claim that “even Kosovars do not recognize it as genocide” is as unscrupulous as it is completely false and shameful.
Second, the history in Kosovo and Albania starts long before the 7th century A.D. when Slavs migrated to the Balkans. Albanians had lived there during the Roman Empire (i.e. Illyrians) and had loosely structured kingdoms even before the 7th century A.D. Kosovo was handed over to Serbia by Ottoman Empire and reinforced at the London Conference in 1913 on the eve of WWI. Also, you claim the following: “Simultaniously, Serbs were encouraged to leave the province while political refugees from Albania have been given Yugoslav passports. Check CIA factbook which supports these facts.”
Here is the link to the CIA World Factbook website: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/kv.html , which does not support your claim, thus to reference a credible source which does not support your claim is an engagement in a low attempt to deceive the readers, and justify your false claims.
Third, the only country against Kosovo’s independence in the Security Council was Russia (even China was not completely against it). The UN Charter guarantees people the right to self-determination, and this was particularly relevant in the fact of the above-mentioned crimes against Kosovars by the Serbian state, which now claims it wants back. Human rights and liberties are self-evident and everyone has the right to live free of terror and abuse. Even in the most democratic countries, when a parent abuses his/her children, they are taken away since they are unfit to be a parent.
Fourth, if Russia is against Kosovo’s independence since it violates international law, then why did it recognize Abhakazia, and South Ossetia as independent countries? No one else besides Nicaragua has followed Russia. The fact of the matter is that Russia does not recognize Kosovo and is on Serbian side only because it wants to ferment trouble in the region and have the ability to increase its importance in a region that has been out of its influence for decades.
recognition
Why did Russia recognize Abzkhazia and South Ossetia? This occurred after the U.S. supported the independence of Kosovo!
One more thing, you cite the CIA as a credible source? A covert group, designed to infiltrate, sabotage and create propaganda campaigns. I am sure, you will cite the Colombian covert groups DAS, as a credible source for human rights. Ridiculous.
Mike, How do you suppose
Mike,
How do you suppose more than 15,000 Albanian civilians, ranging from a few months old to late 90's, were killed? How do you supposed thousands of bodies ended up in mass-graves in the vicinity of Belgrade? Whether you like to admit or not, Serbia committed a genocide in Kosovo throughout the 1990's - that is a fact that the rest of the world knows, with exception of a few terrorist-like regimes like North Korea and Sudan. Every people have the right so self-determination, ESPECIALLY if their mere existence is threatened under the occupying forces. Please read some history before commenting here to realize how senseless are your comments and beliefs.
ridiculous
Clearly, there is no mention that the Kosovo Liberation Army was a terrorist group, led by "the Snake" Thaci, and whose group was aided by the mujahideen. Janes Intelligence Review reported that Bin Laden helped train the mujahideen in Bosnia, before they began working with the KLA.
Interesintgly, since the attack of 911, it would have been interesting to note, that the world and the U.S. would have supporte dthe Milosevic government; clearly, the Muslims in these regions have been financed by the Wahhabi sect of Muslims, which are the ultrafundamentalists of Saudi-Arabia--responsible for the growing extremism and anti-western views.
Mike do not talk in the name
Mike do not talk in the name of Kosovars regarding genocide.Kosovo hasn't sued Serbia yet over the war,but on February 26,2009 the ICJ found guilty of war crimes the top five senior commanders and released Milutinovic who was considered by the court as Milosevic's puppet.The denial is deep in the Serbian genome. Do you really believe that 10 thousand albanians killed themselves?And 800 thousand left because of Nato bombardment? Nato bombed more in Serbia itself than in Kosovo and still there werent 10 thousand serbs killed,or million of Serb refugees leaving for Hungary or Romania or Bulgaria.Why not? Do the bombs make a distinctions between serbs and albanians?
So for a Serb the History of Kosovo starts in the 7th century?The slavic invasion of the balkans.Why don't you tell people here that before the 7th century there wasn't even a Kosovo,you serbs brought it with you when you left the Ural mountains. Do you even ask why Kosovo has never been an independent state? Because like today, Serbs are still afraid to let Kosovars decide about their fate. Because they know the answer since their invasion in the 7th century. Do a search on the date 20 June 1878 in Serbian History.And take a look at the map of the serbian state.Who returned Kosovo to Serbia after the Ottoman empire fell? Where the people of kosovo asked if they wanted to be part of Serbia? Read the testimony of the french historian Yves Tomic in Sesejl's trial in Hague: from 1941 to 1948,only 15,000 Albanians from Albania had moved to Kosovo(political refugees that you call) As for the international law and 1244 there is no mention of Serbian sovreignity in that resolution.If you find it,post it here.
"Places that do not
"Places that do not recognize Kosovo are mostly doing so to prevent their own minority regions from breaking away"
- false. Countries that do not recognize Kosovo, which is 3/4 of the entire world, are not doing so because that is ILLEGAL. Kosovo does not have the right for self-determination, as it was just a province, not a republic, within Serbia. Serbia had nothing against Montenegro breaking away only a few years ago- because it was a full-pledged republic which had such a right according to international law. Kosovo's attempt for independence is a precedent in international law, which the majority of the countries in the world, but also some EU and NATO members, are not willing to violate.
- According to the Constitution of Serbia, Helsinki Final Act and the UN resolution 1244 Serbian territorial integrity is fixed and unchangeable. The declaration of independence violated these norms and has produced another frozen conflict in Europe. Kosovo will NEVER enter UN nor other major international bodies without the consent of Serbia. Serbia has vowed never to recognize such independence on its own territory.
Thanks for pointing out
Thanks for pointing out those facts Mike Pat.
IMO the journalist is just recycling the common accepted version forged to justify the Nato move.
This move (making kosovo a Nato state c.f. Camp Bondsteel) is to be viewed in a more global perspective:
US are playing chess against Russia, other moves are Radar/missiles in CZ and Poland, US bases in central asia, Georgia (cf August 2008 war..).
Also the term "Kosovar" is miss used, one should say Kosovo Albanians, Kosovo Serbs.
On the other hand if the clame of genocide can be discussed, the JNA (YU army) for sure committed war crimes, but the Albanian guerilla also did: what is a real scandal there is that the KLA (Albanian guerilla) continued to commit war crimes AFTER the so called "Liberation" by Nato forces, and that HALF OF THE SERBIAN CIVILIANLS WHERE EXPELLED FROM THEIR HOME LAND after Nato troops entered the province in june 1999. The ones remaining (less than 150 000) live under very harsh condiditions and are subject to constant harassment, low intensity ethnic cleansing, committed by some albanians.
Dozens of centuries old christian churches were attacked and destroy as they are symbol of serbian history, and many christian cemeteries were profaned.
Only a very few of the KLA crimes were trialed simply because they are now the leaders of the so called independant state (cf. biography of H.Thaci).
I hope once journalist will do more research and really improve the way they do their job, not only by recycling common accepted half-facts. There is a lot of real investigation to do on this subject and I encourage all serious journalist to make more researches.
Really?
Mike, are you trying to say that Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia were not full-fledged republics? I am not sure how well does your memory serve you but Serbia did have a problem with them seceding from the Serbian-run federation. The problem that Serbia had resulted with more than 300,000 deaths and millions displaced during the early 1990's. Please check your facts before you comment. This is not a propaganda medium - please don't insult our intelligence.
Cheers
Yeah, really...
John26, please check your facts. The total number of deaths in the Yugoslav wars (on all sides) is about 120,000. And Serbia didn't have problems with the secessions as such but the way in which they happened, specially the violation of minority rights in the new states. The Yugoslav constitution stated that secession should happen in mutual agreement but the secessionists didn't negotiate at all. Nothing illustrates the need for those negotiations better than the case of Croatia: Croatia has now about 400,000 Serbs less than before the war and many of them lived in areas were there was never war.
I couldn't agree more on the
I couldn't agree more on the comments above.
Especially with the misuse of the term KOSOVARS.
There are no KOSOVARS. There are just Albanians, Serbs, Romas, Montenigrans, Gorans etc. who live in province of Kosovo.
But, I just want to stress another thing.
It seems very clear to me that US is anxious to pull off its soldiers from Kosovo.
So, recent visit of Thachi and Seidiu to USA was organized due to the fact that US, realizing that Albanians are the only threat to the peace in the Balkans, wants to twist their arm to accept the fact that North of Kosovo will remain in Serbia.
Again, that development emerging because US needs Serbian signature on the so-called independence of Kosovo, so that they could leave Balkans and move their troops to Iraq and Afganistan.
The real risk may be Kurdistan
I expect that when the ICJ approves the independence of Kosovo the first effect will be seen in Iraq, where the Kurds will see it as an argument for their independence. The way Saddam suppressed Kurdish separatism was much more cruel than anything that happened in Kosovo. The Kurds in Turkey (30,000 dead, hundreds of villages destroyed and as a consequence millions of Kurds living as internal exiles near the big cities) might also have a good case.
Further on there would be no limit to the number of "precedent" cases. Nationalists revolutionaries anywhere would have one more reason to provoke violent government retaliations and foreign governments would have one more tool to destablize a neighbour with minorities.