IN THE Balkans, the unresolved issue of Kosovo has dominated the region's modern political affairs and left a bitter taste in the mouth of everyone involved. Following the NATO intervention against Serbia in 1999, the United Nations has administered Kosovo. Intense political negotiations regarding Kosovo's status have failed to produce conclusive results, largely because of Serbian and Russian intransigence. The Contact Group, a number of influential nations currently working on the future of Kosovo, generally agree that Kosovo should become independent, but their beleaguered pursuit of that policy has led to little more than tentative affirmations and delaying games. The international community must step up its pressure, even at the cost of offending Serbian sensibilities, to bring a speedy resolution to what may be Europe's last major ethnic-related conflict.
A history lesson will not resolve modern geopolitical quandaries, but it does offer much-needed context in allowing us to understand that these issues have a story to tell -- that they are not just random or irrational sparks of anger and violence. Kosovo is a region populated mostly by ethnic Albanians, but it was captured by Serbia during the First Balkan War in the early 20th century. Western powers tacitly approved the takeover, setting the stage for Kosovo's eventual inclusion into Yugoslavia and for the recent struggles that plagued the Balkans at the very end of the last century.
For Serbia, Kosovo's symbolism burns bright as a result of the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, a major engagement between a Serbian and Ottoman army that ended in victory for the latter. The battle permitted Ottoman control of Kosovo for over five centuries, but it was mythologized in Serbian history as a quasi-religious and sacrificial event. As a result, Serbians have strong affinities to Kosovo despite the fact that they represent a very small percentage of the overall population. In the Balkans, factors like history and pride are important components to appreciating inter-state relationships, and Serbia's shielding stance on Kosovo epitomizes that importance.
The elections in Serbia a few days ago yielded more votes for the Radical Party (28 percent), committed to keeping Kosovo in the Serbian sphere of influence, than any other, but it did not receive enough support to dominate Parliament. According to CNN, Javier Solana, the foreign policy head of the European Union, stated that "the majority voted for forces that are democratic and pro-European," but victory for the Radical Party, however hollow, highlights the degree to which nationalism still pervades Balkan thinking.
The main stimulus for greater international pressure should be the political stabilization of the region. A December 2006 article in the Southeast European Times clarified that, "In 2005, UN envoy Kai Eide assessed that Kosovo's undefined status is a factor for regional instability," going on to mention the international response: "The review spurred the UN Security Council to endorse Eide's assessment and launch a status process." It is unclear what Kosovo will look like exactly in the end, and this uncertainty can be attributed to the timidity of the international community, timidity exemplified by the wise but unnecessarily pliant decision to halt talks on Kosovo's status until after the Serbian elections.
The Western members of the Contact Group -- the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Italy -- should realize that they are negotiating from a position of strength. It would be unreasonable to acquiesce to Serbian demands popularized by the slogan "more than autonomy, less than independence." No matter what happens here, inevitably, hearts will be broken. The Contact Group should take a tough stand and push for Kosovo's immediate independence, which is what the vast majority of Kosovo's population wants.
The politics behind the scenes are severely affecting a conclusive settlement. European Union members of the Contact Group do not want to offend Serbia so deeply Serbia begins to shun the rest of the continent, while Russia worries that independence for Kosovo may set a dangerous precedent for their own rebellious region, Chechnya. Nevertheless, the people of Kosovo deserve the same respect and recognition accorded to other Balkan peoples that have been granted nationhood. If the international community truly believes in self-determination, it should not shortchange Kosovo.
Erald Kolasi's column appears Fridays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at ekolasi@cavalierdaily.com.
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