RESEARCH PAPER - KOSOVO AND METOHIA (6)

Kosovo and Metohija:

Serbia’s troublesome province^*

Dušan T. Bataković

Institute for Balkan Studies Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts Belgrade

Abstract: Kosovo and Metohija, the heartland of medieval Serbia, of her culture, politics and economy (1204–1455), experienced continuous waves of spiraling violence, forced migration and colonization under centuries-long Ottoman rule (1455–1912). A region which symbolizes the national and cultural identity of the Serbian nation as a whole now has an Albanian majority population, who consider it an ancient Albanian land, claiming continuity with ancient Illyrians. Kosovo was reincorporated into Serbia (1912) and Yugoslavia (1918) as a region lacking tradition of inter-ethnic and inter-religious tolerance and cooperation. The two rivalling Kosovo nations, Albanians and Serbs, remained distant, maintaining limited inter-ethnic communication throughout the twentieth century. The mounting national and ideological conflicts, reinforced by the communist ideology, made coexistence almost impossible, even after the 1999 NATO bombing campaign and establishment of KFOR-secured UN administration. Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence in February 2008 is a dangerous attempt to establish a second Albanian state extended into the heartland of Serbia, a failed state cleansed of both Serbs and other major non-Albanian communities.

Keywords: Serbia, Kosovo, ethnic strife, nationalism and communism, Kosovo crisis, NATO bombing, war against Yugoslavia, international protectorate

A failed state based on discrimination 

Deficient in legitimacy and parliamentary approval from any of Kosovo’s significant non-Albanian communities (including 140,000 remaining and 200,000 displaced Serbs who are a constitutive nation, not a minority, in Kosovo as elsewhere in Serbia), the decision of Kosovo’s mono-ethnic provisional parliament does not represent the will of a multi ethnic society; rather, it is an entirely Albanian project meant to satisfy Western demands in word but not in deed, while in reality being founded on brutal and irrevocable ethnic discrimination and continuous orchestrated violence against the other national and ethnic communities, as repeatedly confirmed by the international Kosovo Ombudsman, various reports to the UN and relevant international human rights groups.

The Kosovo Albanians’ unilateral proclamation of independence of 17 February, celebrated not only in Kosovo but in all Albanian-inhabited areas of the Balkans as well, was immediately declared void by the Serbian Parliament in Belgrade. After the USA and most European states recognized the independence of Kosovo, Serbia has reaffirmed her commitment to reject any kind of fait accompli as unacceptable. Unilateral independence of Kosovo, as seen by Serbia, is an obvious violation of both international law and basic human rights, disregarding the UN Charter, the Final Helsinki Act, the Constitution of Serbia and UN SC Resolution 1244, the latter, according to international law, being the only valid legal document defining the status of Kosovo after June 1999. Furthermore, Serbian officials have expressed readiness to remain fully committed to a compromise negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations, a process currently supported by two-thirds of the world’s sovereign states, including China, Russia India, Brazil, Indonesia, Argentina, South Africa, Mexico, Spain, Romania, Slovakia, Greece, Cyprus, Morocco, Egypt, Algeria etc.

The celebration of Kosovo’s independence on 17 February 2008, as reported by the Serbian media, was marked by the attack of three Albanians extremists on an 83-year-old Serb women in the Gnjilane area in eastern Kosovo.⁸⁴ Since then the Serbs in their enclaves all over Kosovo, including students, doctors and policeman (suspended for recognizing UNMIK as the only legal authority) have been protesting on a daily basis against the illegal and imposed independence, considered as a further extension of Albania into the historic heartland of Serbia. The independence of Kosovo was proclaimed and embraced solely by the Kosovo Albanians against the will of other nations and ethnic groups in the province, lacking legal authorization of both the United Nations and Serbia. The repeated statements of Serbian officials that since its unilaterally proclaimed independence Kosovo has remained a failed state, based on discrimination and denial of both human and property rights, have been duly confirmed by numerous independent monitoring groups.⁸⁵

However, Serbia has continued to pursue her position by launching new initiatives. It was in October 2008 that Belgrade eventually obtained the backing of the United Nations Security Council for a Serbian-drafted resolution asking for an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice at Hague concerning the legality of the independence of Kosovo.⁸⁶ Only six countries objected — among them the USA, Albania and four micro states in the Pacific, whilst some other important European states ab-stained.⁸⁷ Furthermore, prior to the deployment of the special EU mission in Kosovo (EULEX) in December 2008, Serbia had reached an agreement with the United Nations on a Six-point plan, intended to ensure the sheer survival of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija and protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia. The plan was in line with UNSC Resolution 1244, and was intended to guarantee that EULEX would remain status-neutral, operating solely under the authority of the United Nations. Thus, the Ahtisaari Plan, which the Kosovo Albanians, encouraged by the recognition of Kosovo by fifty-three states, considered as their main legal pillar, was not destined to be implemented. In contrast to the Belgrade Six-point plan, the Kosovo Albanians of Priština proposed their own four-point version as a substitute, whereby EULEX would be deployed according to the mandate of Kosovo’s declaration of independence, the Ahtisaari Plan and the Constitution of Kosovo.

The position of the Kosovo Serbs, however, has continued to deteriorate on the ground, especially in the enclaves south of the Ibar River, surrounded by Albanian settlements and pressured by Kosovo Albanian officials, police and paramilitaries. A year after Kosovo’s independence was proclaimed, the Union of Serbian Municipalities in Kosovo, at its session held on 17 February 2009 in Zvečan in northern Kosovo, adopted a declaration which once more firmly rejected the Albanian-proclaimed independence of Kosovo: “Under the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia and in compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 1244, the United Nations Charter, Helsinki Final Act and other binding legal acts, the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija is part of a single and inseparable territory of the sovereign state of Serbia.“⁸⁸

---

^* An earlier version of this paper was presented at the University of Ottawa, Canada, on 6 March 2008. 

⁸⁴ B92, Belgrade, 17 February 2008.

⁸⁵ See, e.g., I. Bancroft, “The flight of Kosovo’s minorities. The EU insists that Kosovo is a tolerant and multi-ethnic society. So why are its minorities leaving?”, The Guardian, 5 June 2009: “The report of Minority Rights Group International (MRG) maintains that members of minority communities are beginning to leave Kosovo over a year after its unilateral declaration of independence, due to persistent exclusion and discrimination 

... The report, Filling the Vacuum: Ensuring Protection and Legal Remedies for Minorities in Kosovo, concludes that Kosovo ’lacks effective international protection for minorities, which is worsening the situation for smaller minorities and forcing some to leave the country for good’. These minorities include not only Kosovo’s Serbs, but also Ashkali, Bosniaks, Croats, Egyptians, Gorani, Roma and Turks, who together make up around five percent of the population of Kosovo according to local estimates ... a 2006 report, Minority Rights in Kosovo under International Rule, describing the situation of minorities as the worst in Europe and ‘little short of disastrous’; the international community having allowed ‘a segregated society to develop and become entrenched’. Despite these and other warnings from human rights organisations, the international community has continued to not only ignore the difficulties faced by minority communities in Kosovo, but to regularly proclaim success with respect to minority rights protection.” See also Rapport 2008 sur le Kosovo-Metochie du Collectif Citoyen pour la Paix au Kosovo-Metochie au Parlement Europeen, avec le Groupe Independence et Democrate, Bruxelles, Groupe Independence et Democrate 2008, 115 p. 

⁸⁶ T. Barber, “A partial UN victory for Serbia. The consequences of recognition of Kosovo will be with the Balkans, and the EU, for many years to come”, Financial Times, 22 October 2008. 

⁸⁷ The four micro-states are Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru and Palau. 

⁸⁸ Kosovo Compromise Staff, 18 February 2009 (www.KosovoCompromise.com). 

^* Source: www.kosovocompromise.com (31 December 2008)

Appendix 

The chronology of Kosovo-related events in 2008^* 

January 

• Deep division in the EU and the UNSC on the issue of Kosovo’s possible secession 

• Russia warns of a Kosovo precedent for South Ossetia and Abkhazia 

• Presidential elections in Serbia. Victory of Boris Tadić 

February 

• EU foreign ministers agree on Joint Action to send the EULEX mission 

• The ethnic Albanian leadership in Priština proclaims Kosovo’s unilateral secession from Serbia 

• The decision of the ethnic Albanians declared void by Serbia 

• Serbs worldwide protest against Kosovo’s independence; violent riots in Belgrade leave one dead, dozens injured; clashes also in Republika Srpska, the Serbian entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina 

• Kosovo Serbs protest, burning down newly-established customs posts between Kosovo and central Serbia; quit Kosovo police; more than 20 injured in clashes 

• Condemnation of the move in non-Western countries worldwide, as well as by various political parties and intellectuals in Western countries 

• The US leads recognition wave; coalition of “friends of independent Kosovo” form International Steering Group 

• Kosovo’s secession inspires “independence daze” as separatist movements worldwide call it a clear precedent 

March 

• Belgrade rejects deployment of EU mission without UN backing 

• Serbian government falls over disagreement on future EU policy on Kosovo 

• Riots in Kosovska Mitrovica leave one Ukrainian policeman dead and 150 people injured 

April 

• Former ICTY prosecutor Carla del Ponte reveals in her book La Caccia details of a hidden 1999 case of several hundred Serb prisoners abducted by the KLA, victims of trade organs trade in Albania • India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Brazil, Argentina and other regional powers world-wide underline strong opposition to Kosovo’s secession 

May 

• Macedonian government falls after the Albanian coalition partner quits 

• NATO announces plans to train “Kosovo Security Force”; harsh opposition from Serbia, Russia June • Elections in Serbia, including local elections in Kosovo 

• Formation of a Kosovo Serb assembly • Kosovo constitution, based on the Ahtisaari Plan, enters into force 

July 

• New Serbian pro-European government vows to pursue the same policy on Kosovo 

• Donors’ Conference in Brussels: 1.2 billion pledged for Kosovo 

• Recognition of Kosovo slows down dramatically; US President George W. Bush urges the world to continue recognizing Kosovo 

August 

• Georgian invasion of South Ossetia leads to Russian military intervention 

• South Ossetia and Abkhazia seek independence based on the Kosovo precedent 

• Moscow recognizes independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia 

September 

• Serbia’s diplomatic initiative underway to secure enough votes on its ICJ initiative; the US, France and the UK express dissatisfaction 

October 

• The UN General Assembly votes in favor of sending Serbia’s initiative to determine the legality of Kosovo’s secession to the International Court of Justice; only the US, Albania and four micro-states in the Pacific oppose the initiative 

• Macedonia and Montenegro recognize Kosovo under pressure, a day after the UN General Assembly’s positive decision on Serbia-proposed plan for ICJ; Serbia expels their ambassadors in response 

• 34 injured in protests against Kosovo recognition in Montenegro 

• Talks intensify between Belgrade and the UN (Six-point plan), as well as be-tween Belgrade and the EU on reconfiguration of the UNMIK mission which would allow for the deployment of EULEX 

• Five Serbs injured in a clash with Albanians in Kosovska Mitrovica 

• FIFA, UEFA, FIBA and other sports organizations reject Kosovo’s membership candidacy November 

• The UN Security Council unanimously backs a presidential statement putting EULEX under the UN umbrella and supports the Six-point plan agreed between Belgrade and New York 

• Priština rejects the UN-proposed Six-point plan 

• Explosive device goes off in front of the EU office in Priština: three members of the German intelligence service (BND) arrested over the affair released fol-lowing a row between Berlin and Kosovo Albanian authorities 

December 

• EULEX begins its mandate under the UN umbrella 

• Martti Ahtisaari is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 

• Kosovo Albanians name the central street in Priština after US President George W. Bush 

• Serbian police arrests ten former Albanian KLA members for 1999 war crimes 

• Tensions in Kosovska Mitrovica following the stabbing of a 16-year-old Serb boy 

• By the end of 2008, Kosovo’s secession from Serbia recognized by 53 out of 192 members of the UN 

UDC 94(497.115)”12/20” 

323.173:341.218](497.115)”2008”