KOSOVO: On the Borders of a Crisis

By Vesna Peric Zimonjic Reprint | | Print |

Vesna Peric Zimonjic

BELGRADE, Mar 15 2008 (IPS) - ‘Welcome to the Republic of Kosovo reads a signpost unveiled last week by Kosovan Prime Minister Hashim Thaci at the Merdare crossing between the breakaway territory and Serbia.

“The plaque symbolises the border of the newest state of Kosovo, which divides the past from the future, isolation from the opening of a perspective for integration,” Thaci said.

“Recognition of this border by our neighbour Serbia will be significant for recognition of their European future,” he added, standing next to the signpost in English, Serbian and Albanian.

But the 100,000 Serbs who live mostly in the north, refuse to become part of the new political reality. In this they are backed by Belgrade.

The province was under United Nations (UN) jurisdiction since 1999. The newly formed European Union (EU) mission EUROLEX is supposed to take over within 120 days of the proclamation of independence Feb. 18.

“The Serbian government has tried in all possible ways to provoke violence in Kosovo and introduce a partition, with the north becoming the Serbian part,” says head of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia Sonja Biserko.

These plans were never revealed to the public, “but we can identify them on a daily basis, through incidents and provocations,” she said. “The Serbian government is crossing the red line. The international community will not tolerate this.”

Hundreds of Serbs stormed the UN-run court in the northern town Mitrovica on Friday, demanding the “return of Serbian judicial system” in this part of Kosovo. Many have quit the multi-ethnic Kosovo Police Force. Days after the declaration of independence, Serbs torched the border crossing at Jarinje in protest against the customs and police services introduced there by Kosovo authorities.

Earlier this week Serbian Railways re-opened a stretch of the line from northern Kosovo to central Serbia despite warnings by the UN administration that this would be illegal. Head of the influential Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo, Archbishop Artemije, called for boycott of international missions in Kosovo, particularly the incoming EULEX, which he dubbed an “occupation force”.

Serbia plans to hold parliamentary and local elections among Serbs in Kosovo May 11, at the same time as the election being held in Serbia proper.

“What we see is the creation of parallel institutions,” Dusan Janjic from the Forum for Interethnic Relations told IPS. “Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo have a history of ‘parallel lives’, and dominance went to the nation that grabbed power.”

Janjic was referring to the completely separate lives of Serbs and ethnic Albanians in Kosovo in the 1990s, when Belgrade under Slobodan Milosevic introduced direct rule in the province. Serbs then held all power, and ethnic Albanians took to parallel institutions such as setting up schools in their language at private homes. Basic healthcare was provided by physicians laid off by Serbian authorities. Elections were held for a clandestine ‘parliament’ and ‘president’.

“In the short term, what we see is a big test whether the parallel life (inspired by Belgrade now) will be institutionalised and will finally fail, with a backlash in Kosovo Serbs’ face,” Janjic said. “This is a repetition of the devastating philosophy that cost Serbs so much.”

He was referring to Milosevic’s support to the Serb rebellion against the independence of Croatia in 1991-95. Croatian Serbs carved a ‘state’ of Krajina in the predominantly Serb populated area of Croatia, with their own ‘president’, ‘parliament’ and separate judicial and education systems in tune with Serbia’s.

The self-proclaimed ‘Republic of Serb Krajina’ ceased to exist after the Croatian army offensive in August 1995. More than 200,000 Serbs fled the region and came to Serbia proper. Small numbers have returned since.

“The same people who created those plans in the 1990s created the latest action plans for Kosovo,” Janjic said.

In the meantime, Belgrade has denounced the statements by EULEX head Pieter Feith that “there will be no cantons or autonomy for northern Kosovo.”

The calls by the UN mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) to Serbia to respect UN resolution 1244 and stop interfering with local Serbs in Kosovo also fell on deaf ears. “The resolution is still in force, and all parties, including Serbia, should respect it,” UNMIK spokesman Alexander Ivanko said in Pristina this week.

Belgrade offered no response.