| Serbia Wants Both Europe and Kosova |
| Publikuar më 11 tetor, 2009 në orën 21:07 ( ) |
Prof. Dr. Mehdi Hyseni | English | |
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By Prof.Dr. Mehdi Hyseni
The strategic goal of the European Union is to Europeanize Western Balkans countries such as Croatia , Serbia , Montenegro , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Albania , Macedonia and Kosovo. However, the EU's long term integrative strategy depends on acceleration of the development and democratization of Balkans countries. In this context, there is a big problem for the EU, how to incorporate Serbia as a full member like the other Balkans countries in the future because officially, Belgrade still doesn't agree with the new democratic philosophical concepts and standards of the European Union.
There are several very serious obstacles and reasons why Serbia cannot join the European Union (EU) as a full member like 27 other European countries. Officials in Belgrade try to disregard and minimize those when speaking to Europe and the international community.
Although Serbia signed the Stabilization and Association Agreement with EU ( April 29, 2008 ) as a first step (condition) to be taken in consideration of its candidacy for forthcoming EU membership, there are two main factors that could be affected negatively in fulfillment of its very important dream.
According to EU standards and criteria of its enlargement with new members, at first, Serbia must clarify interstate relations with its former colony, Kosovo, which on 17 February, 2008 became a new independent state unilaterally recognized by the United States and European Union, except four EU members Spain , Slovakia , Rumania and Cyprus .
If Serbia is not yet ready to recognize Kosovo as an independent state, obviously its candidacy to join the EU will only be a big question-mark, postponed for another time.
If Serbia doesn't meet this principal condition recognizing Kosovo as an independent state like the other 60 countries of the international community, realistically it should not be on any list of priorities for economic, commercial, or political support of the EU since it was the main instigator of the recent Bosnian, Croatian and Kosovo wars (1990-1999), and it could yet cause considerable problems and conflicts in the Balkans in the twenty-first century.
First of all, this is our fear and doubt, based on official statements by Serbia 's top political leaders, such as Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic with his continually unbalanced declarations, shelling interior and exterior public opinion, saying no to further European integration if we are forced to choose between joining the EU and fighting to preserve sovereignty over Kosovo. These are Serbia 's top foreign policy priorities, no Kosovo, no EU." [1]
According to Vuk Jeremic's statement, Serbian authorities are willing to join EU, but only on the condition that the EU is ready to accept their policy that Kosovo is brought back under the colonial sovereignty of Serbia (1912-1999). But for EU this absurd and irrational political and diplomatic request is not acceptable because with the United States , they recognized Kosovo's independence on February 17, 2008 .
In favor of the EU's view, the former United Nations special emissary for Kosovo, Marti Ahtisaari (ex-Finish president), said: "States that had conflicts in the Balkans will not be able to join the European Union without normalizing their relations. In this case, Serbia cannot join the EU without recognizing Kosovo." [2]
Beside recognition of the Kosovo Republic, another condition for Serbia to become a new integrated and equal partner to the European Union, Belgrade must arrest and extradite general Ratko Mladic to the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia in the Hague, because he is indicted for war crimes in Srebrenica (1995) where over "8,000 Muslim men and boys under the protection of Dutch UN peacekeepers were murdered."
The EU's message is quite clear and intelligible, if Serbia really wants to turn a new page in its history, towards democratization and peaceful politics, as a first serious step needs to take toward normalization of interstate relations with its neighbor countries with which it was at war during the last decade of the twentieth century (1990-1999).
Why is Serbia still a problem for Balkans?
Serbia is a problem because on the one hand, Serbs want to join the EU democratically and peacefully, and on the other hand they want to keep Slobodan Milosevic's ambitious political national strategy of Great Serbia.
Serbian hard liner nationalist and famous writer, known by Serbs as "the father of the Serbian Nation," Dobrica Cosic According to Cosic, "the US and modern-day European philosophy on multi-ethnic states and societies in the Balkans, notably in the areas of Bosnia and Kosovo, in fact represents a manifestation of violence and a new form of colonization".[3]
Dobrica Cosic's stereotypical political call was understood and interpreted realistically and objectively by human right and freedoms combatant in Belgrade 's Helsinki Center , Dr. Sonja Biserko. Dr Biserko wrote: " Serbia still hopes that in the midst of the global chaos it shall realize its intentions relating to re-composing of the Balkans. Cosic still maintains that the Balkans cannot be Europeanized until it is defined in ethnic and state terms." [4]
This is the main problem why Serbia , one day is ready to become a democratic EU member, and the next day, to keep, and openly manifest it's nationalist regressive ideas about Europeanization and democratization of Balkans countries.
There is no doubt that this explains Serbian president Boris Tadic's statement " Serbia will never recognize Kosovo's independence." [5] But this is in collision with another of Tadic's official statements, when he affirmed that " Serbia has four pillars of its strategic foreign policy considered as the main long term priorities - the EU, Russia , America , and China ." [6]
These dusky and ambiguous attitudes and behaviors of the top Serbian authorities are sufficient to doubt that Serbia morally and formally is not ready yet to join the EU as a democratic state according to EU standards and criteria for its enlargement with new members such as Serbia and Western Balkans countries in the future.
In this case, we cannot blame Kosovo in any way, but Serbia , because still is a problem and a peril for neighbor countries maintaining peace and stability in the Balkans.
In favor of our assessment is the testimony of Vice President for Post-Conflict Peace and Stability Operations Daniel Serwer before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (March 2008), who said " Serbia , not Kosovo, is the problem in the Balkans."
"The Serbian government is trying to turn back the clock. Parliament, where no Kosovar has sat since Milosevic deprived the province of autonomy almost 20 years ago, announced it had annulled the independence declaration and declared deployment of an EU mission to maintain rule of law unacceptable. The Supreme Court failed to act when the Serbian government struck Kosovars from the voter rolls to ensure approval of a new constitution prohibiting recognition of Kosovo's independence, but it quickly denounced the independence declaration as illegal." [7]
According to Daniel Serwer, before, and since Kosovo has gotten its independence (February17, 2008) "The situation in northern Kosovo is particularly dangerous. If NATO and the EU allow continued Serbian control there-as the UN and NATO have for nine years-there will be division along ethnic lines, with consequences for Bosnia and Macedonia . Pristina cannot assert sovereignty in the north without creating big problems; the EU and NATO need to do it on Pristina's behalf, blocking Belgrade 's partition plans." [8]
Because Serbia is not ready to recognize Kosovo as an independent state, it realistically and practically has no material and concrete arguments to convince the EU, NATO, USA etc., that it has distanced itself from Slobodan Milosevic's politics which means he is still alive and dealing in the official Serbian institutions such as government, parliament, legislature, courts, attorneys, police, politics, diplomacy and propaganda.
To avoid that very dangerous Serbian politics, the European Union and the United States should send a clear message, to press officiasl in Belgrade to abandon such harmful, toxic and antidemocratic political ideas as Greater Serbia territorial aspirations toward independent Kosovo and the other neighbor countries in region.
It is time for Washington and Brussels to move quickly to welcome as members those countries that are doing the right thing, in the hope that it will encourage Serbia to come along, too.
[1] "No Kosovo, no EU Serbia tell Brussels ". See: www.balkaninsight.com, 11 December 2008 .
[2] www.worldbuketin. Net, September 10, 2009 .
[3] Sonja Biserko, Extoring a more realistic tack in www.helsinki.org.yu/ Helsinki Charter No. 129-130, Mrch-April 2009.
[4] Ibid.
[5] www.euronews.net/2008/01/07/.
[6] www.politica.com, 08/30/2009 .
[7] http://www.usip.org/resources/kosovo/problem-serbia//
[8] Ibid.
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