Byzantine Blog

Spain Requests Respect of Serbian Territorial Integrity

Spanish Foreign Minister Migel Anhel Moratinos stated that Spain believes the territorial integrity of Serbia regarding its Kosovo province must be respected and that everyone in the international community must adhere to principles of the Helsinki Charter on inalterability of borders in Europe.

He pointed that the international community cannot impose right to self-determination of Kosovo and Metohija as a region within Serbia as a sovereign state. Moratinos said that the independence of Serbian Kosovo province would present violation of principles the EU defined which relates to unacceptability of creating states on a purely ethnic basis. The EU resolutely supported these principles in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and their violation in the case of Kosovo province might lead to destabilization in the region, warned the Spanish Minister.

Confirming Minister Moratinos’ statement, Spanish State Secretary for European Affairs Alberto Navarro has reiterated the position of Spain that Madrid is opposing the independence of the Serbian province. “We believe that it would not be a positive step towards strengthening the stability and democratic forces in the region. In our view, the Helsinki principle of the integrity of internationally recognized borers is still in power,” said Navarro. He stated that independent Kosovo province would be in opposition to the EU principles, i.e. the establishing of multi-ethnic countries, adding that the experience of Spain is a good example for resolving the Kosovo issue.

Romania Against Granting Independence to Serbian Kosovo Province

BOR, Serbia, November 26 (Beta) -- The Romanian ambassador to Serbia says Kosovo’s independence would destabilize the region.

“Romania favors broad autonomy for Kosovo, agreed on though a direct dialogue of Priština and Belgrade. In case of an unprecedented decision to grant Kosovo independence, other separatist regions throughout Europe would see this as encouragement to continue with their demands,” ambassador Ion Macovei said today in Bor, where he attended a meeting of the Vlach Democratic Party of Serbia.

According to him, this position was recently relayed to NATO secretary-general Jaap de Hoop-Scheffer.

The ambassador also said Bucharest had no territorial claims over those parts of Serbia inhabited by majority Romanian and Vlach population.

“The Romanian minority in Serbia and the Serb minority in Romania must enjoy all the rights guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights, and continue to be loyal citizens of the states where they live,” ambassador Macovei said.

Few days earlier, Romanian President Traian Basescu confirmed Romania’s opposition to formation of another Albanian state on the Serbian territory, warning that such move would create a precedent affecting dozens of frozen conflicts around the world.

According to the APA Eastern bureau, President Basescu considers that the recognition of Kosovo’s independence can be precedent in the solution of other frozen conflicts. “If the reason for the recognition of Kosovo’s independence is that 84% of its population consists of Albanians, this precedent can be applied to Transdniestria and other conflict regions,” he said.

Romanian President said that the extent of autonomy, the preservation of culture and traditions of national minorities, not the establishment of new states, can be discussed in the process of solution of frozen conflicts.

Russian State Duma: Russia’s Principled Stand on Kosovo

Recently, Deputy Chairman of Committee on Energy, Transportation and Communications of Russian State Duma, Mr. Sergei N. Shishkarev felt compelled to respond to Washington Post iditorial, explaining that Russia’s opposition to Kosovo independence is a principled stand firmly rooted in the international law, and not a whim or a sentimental caprice as Washington Post would have you believe. Mr. Shishkarev wrote:

Right now the United States and Russia need to deepen their cooperation on such top-tier issues as North Korea, Iran and the Middle East. In this context, The Post’s suggested “in your face” approach to Russia’s role in finding an equitable and stable solution to the festering problem of Kosovo is both surprising and troubling [“Here Comes Kosovo,” editorial, Nov. 10].

It is ironic that The Post accuses the Putin administration of a policy based on threats and violence, when it is in fact precisely threats and violence that underlie the demand for Kosovo independence. (Or as it is euphemistically phrased in the editorial, “Putting off Kosovo’s independence would only enrage the province’s 2 million Albanians and trigger the Balkan meltdown that the West hopes to avoid.”) It is just that kind of violent rage that has driven from Kosovo two-thirds of the province’s pre-war Serbian population (and many people in other ethnic groups) and destroyed some 150 Orthodox Christian churches and monasteries. Rewarding such behavior with an imposed solution would only encourage more of the same and lead to a meltdown all parties hope to avoid.

The Russian government properly insists that the future of Kosovo can only be decided through negotiation and adopted in a manner consistent with the U.N. Charter and the Helsinki Final Act.

This is not a cynical ploy, as The Post supposes, but the principled position of a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council.

American voters sent their government a strong message regarding the consequences of actions undertaken in violation of norms of international behavior. I trust that message was not limited to Iraq.

Ceku’s Visit to Moscow Unofficial, Based on Consultations with Belgrade

WASHINGTON, DC, November 27 (American Council for Kosovo) -- Regarding the forthcoming unofficial visit to Moscow of so-called “Prime Minister” of the Serbian province of Kosovo, Agim Ceku, the American Council for Kosovo submits for the consideration of the Russian government and people, and of international opinion generally, the following:

Ceku’s visit to Moscow is not an official one, as confirmed by the Russian Ambassador in Belgrade, nor is his visit on the initiative of Russian authorities. To the contrary, his visit was agreed to by Moscow only after repeated requests from Ceku himself and, according to press reports, following consultation with Belgrade.

Bolstering Serbia’s Territorial Integrity

Accordingly, Ceku’s visit to Moscow should not be taken as a sign of a shift of Russia’s position in favor of Kosovo Albanian demands for the illegal and forcible detachment of Kosovo from Serbia. To the contrary, as stated by State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachyov, the Russian decision finally to agree to Ceku’s request is aimed at “bolstering Serbia’s territorial integrity and preventing [an imposed] decision on Kosovo’s status.”

The fact that Russian authorities are even willing to meet at all with a person of Ceku’s odious record is a testament to the extent to which Moscow is determined to consult with all sides of the Kosovo conflict in an effort to reach a just settlement. Ceku, formerly military commander of the so-called “Kosovo Liberation Army” (KLA), is a terrorist and a war criminal, no better than the late Shamil Basayev and Khattab in Chechnya.

War Criminal Agim Ceku

According to the 2002 Serbian indictment for genocide and other grievous offenses, Ceku bears command responsibility for the murders by KLA terrorists of 669 Serbs and 18 members of other ethnic groups, 518 counts of inflicting serious bodily harm (including torture) and wounding, and 584 counts of abduction, many of the victims of which are presumed dead.

Ceku was named military commander of the KLA in May 1999. The following month, after the end of hostilities between Serbia and NATO forces, KLA terrorists under Ceku’s command intensified their attacks on civilian Christian Serbs, driving two-thirds of them from the province, as well as against Roma (Gypsies), Croats, Jews, Ashkalis, Gorani, and other non-Muslim or non-Albanians in Kosovo. Over 150 Orthodox Christian churches and monasteries have been demolished or desecrated. Prior to his affiliation with the terrorist KLA, Ceku was responsible for numerous atrocities in other parts of the former Yugoslavia. (Further background about Ceku’s record and his unfitness to claim leadership of an independent state is available from the American Council for Kosovo, specifically the Council’s statement of June 19, 2006).

Albanian Failure to Secure Russian Support

Ceku’s visit to Moscow comes as Kosovo Albanians and their supporters have launched a desperate diplomatic and public relations blitz in an effort to regain lost momentum in light of the postponement of any decision on Kosovo’s final status, once said to be “inevitable” by the end of 2006. Despite claims that independence will be announced soon after Serbia’s January 2007 elections, there is no credible expectation that an illegal solution to the Kosovo problem, imposed under threat of terrorist violence from Ceku and his associates, will be any more viable than it is now.

The American Council for Kosovo appeals to the Russian government and people to ensure that Ceku’s Moscow visit is used as an opportunity for a firm and conclusive restatement of Russia’s principled position: that no solution may be imposed on Serbia without Serbia’s agreement or in violation of the United Nations Charter. The unmistakable reality is that Kosovo independence is off the table.

The prospective failure of Ceku to secure Russian support for his cause should be seen as an opportunity for the international community to shift decisively to an effort to find a real and lasting solution for Kosovo within a democratic, European state: Serbia. Such a “European solution” for Kosovo, in accordance with the U.N. Charter and the Helsinki Final Act, would address the legitimate needs of all of Kosovo’s residents regardless of ethnicity or religion, and would be the product of genuine negotiations -- which have yet to begin. It’s now time for responsible representatives of Kosovo’s Albanian community to step forward to work with Belgrade for such a solution.