Gazeta Express re-runs an interview that Kai Sauer, the Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations and former assistant to Kosovo Status Envoy, Martti Ahtisaari, gave to Deutsche Welle.
What has happened with the Ahtisaari Plan for Kosovo?
I think that plan was made not only for Kosovo but for the whole region. You may very well be familiar with the Erdut plan for Croatia, the Ohrid plan for Macedonia and certainly the Dayton plan. All these plans had some flaws. They were very difficult to implement. I think the Ahtisaari plan was the best, compared to other plans in the region. The irony is that it was not accepted by the United Nations Security Council, because of one of the member states. The Ahtisaari plan was drafted carefully not only by Ahtisaari, but by several international institutions, including the Council of Europe, the Venice Commission on the constitutional aspects of the plan, the OSCE and UN on aspects related to minority rights and human rights, and so on. This was a comprehensive and politically-balanced plan, and it was supported by all members of the Security Council, except one. It is in human nature that sometimes it takes 10 to 20 years to accept something that was initially deemed unacceptable. One tries different roads, loses time and energy, fails, and then resorts to the initial idea. Some aspects of the Ahtisaari plan can be used in the future too.
Border adjustments or exchange of territories were not part of the Ahtisaari plan. Why is this now talked about in the Balkans?
It is true that borders have become part of the discussion. They were never part of the Ahtisaari plan and no one wanted border changes then. Discussions on border changes include sensitivities and certain risks. Neither the international community nor representatives of European institutions have raised these as possible ideas. I think we need to be very careful if we take these into ideas into consideration. What is clear is that we need to work together, the European Union, the United States of America and other stakeholders, to conclude the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia. Both countries want to become members of the European Union, but this is not going to happen without resolving this bilateral issue.
Washington and Brussels are not making public statements. Have Brussels and Washington abandoned the previous policy of no border changes?
I cannot answer this question. You need to ask the EU and Washington. What I have seen is that Western Balkans is back in our agendas. It’s not the way it’s supposed to be, but we should not shy away from our responsibilities, especially from the concerns of the countries involved. So when autumn comes and people come back from leave, discussions will continue and answers will probably be given.
Are you still involved with the Western Balkans? Is there a plan for the Western Balkans?
I follow developments in the region. I think that for several different reasons, international focus is shifting back to the Western Balkans. Many actors are involved. You must have surely noticed that many studies and articles have been published. I would take note of a study by EastWest Institute which gives several recommendations to the U.S. administration.
Yes, I was there when the study was presented. But no one mentioned border changes there.
Yes. Many authors and academics, who have carefully studied the situation, have expressed their reservations and want to be careful when talking about border changes. According to the studies, this is not a popular alternative.
Do the United Nations have a plan for Kosovo?
The UN has limited influence. The United Nations execute decisions, they are not decision-makers. Decisions are made by the member states and the UN executes them. The UN stands behind Resolution 1244 adopted in 1999. Being a taxpayer to the UN, my question is if the UN has properly used resources to implement this resolution and to maintain peacekeeping operations. For several years now, we no longer need a peacekeeping operation in Kosovo. The UN peacekeeping operation is not the model to solve Kosovo’s problems. European institutions must be able to take over this situation.
