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Surroi: A MAP for Kosovo (Koha)

By   /  18/09/2019  /  Comments Off on Surroi: A MAP for Kosovo (Koha)

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Publicist Veton Surroi writes in an opinion piece that “for Kosovo the unfinished conflict with Serbia is in itself an obstacle to finalising Kosovo’s statehood”. The unfinished conflict, according to Surroi, is at the same time means for Russia to obstruct the consolidation of liberal democracies in Europe, symbolised with membership in NATO and the European Union. “Through the attempted coup in Montenegro (including the plan to assassinate their leader Djukanovic), Russia tried to stop this country from joining NATO. Russia then tried to do the same thing by troubling the scene in North Macedonia. In Kosovo and in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Russia also showed successfully how it can obstruct the democratic consolidation. Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina are kept as unfinished conflicts – the first in relation with Serbia, the latter in relation with the Serbian Republic within that state – and thus unable to move toward democratic consolidation. From the Russian standpoint, Kosovo is on the same map with Ukraine, Georgia, the Baltic republics and every other country where it can strike against the consolidation of the West. On this map, Serbia is supposed to play the role of obstructing the consolidation. Kosovo’s response so far has been personalised with Hashim Thaci – a combination of ignorance, corruption and seeking immunity from penal prosecution. Over the last ten years, the independent Kosovo has opened its doors, through its foreign policy, to attacks against its territorial integrity and constitutional order, as far as saying publicly saying that the declaration of independence and the recognition of its legality by the International Court of Justice are negotiable”. Surroi suggests that “the new government of Kosovo – if it will be a government of change – should set NATO membership as its strategic priority”. He adds that this would be a natural and specific request being that as a country liberated by NATO, Kosovo has a historical need to become part of the Alliance of its liberators in order to contribute to peace in Europe and beyond. “NATO membership should end all dilemmas surrounding Kosovo, both in terms of its state identity and its democratic order. For NATO member states, at this point, this would be a powerful message that Russia’s policy of obstructing the consolidation of NATO is unsuccessful”. Surroi further suggests that the new government should set concrete steps for NATO membership and that it should declare this objective in parallel with another objective, that of normalisation and concluding the conflict with Serbia. “There is a NATO instrument that can merge Kosovo’s two objectives for normalisation. It is called MAP, short for the Membership Action Plan, which is a package of preparatory obligations that an aspiring country takes over and presents as annual reports to NATO until full completion. The first point of MAP notes ‘the readiness to resolve international, ethnic or territorial conflicts through peaceful means”. The new government, by requesting MAP from NATO, would at the same time inform about the conclusion of the conflict with Serbia; both processes can be complementary”.  Surroi predicts that the moment the new government makes the request for the Membership Action Plan, “there will be many deniers and critics”. “Some could rightfully ask how is it possible that NATO, an organisation that includes four member states that don’t recognise Kosovo’s independence, to even agree to discussing the matter. There are responses to this too. What is important is to make the first, conceptual, step”.

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