LOCAL PRESS

 

President Nikolic meets President Rouhani in Teheran (RTS)

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic met on Sunday with Hassan Rouhani, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Nikolic’s cabinet announced. In an open and friendly dialogue, the two presidents agreed that following the lifting of sanctions against Iran there are no more obstacles for developing cooperation between the two countries, the cabinet reported. Presidents Nikolic and Rouhani concluded that collaboration in the fields of energy and agriculture would be mutually beneficial for both Serbia and Iran, and President Rouhani especially pointed out that Iran is interested also in collaboration in the tourism sector.In a statement for Radio and Television of Serbia(RTS) Nikolic pointed out that he “sincerely thanked for Iran’s support of Serbia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, by not recognizing the independence of Kosovo, in spite of all the pressures.” Nikolic added that he was given firm assurances that this would remain so, “because Iran respects international participles and respects the borders within which Serbia was recognized by the United Nations”.

 

Vucic: No sanctions on Russia; no “Ukrainization” of region (Beta/RTS/Novosti)

Addressing a rally in Paracin, Serbian Progressive Party leader Aleksandar Vucic said that Serbia would not impose sanctions on Russia while he was prime minister, even if it meant being the only European country to not do so. He also said that “many” were asking for a weak government, in order to weaken Serbia’s position in preserving Kosovo and Metohija, supporting the Republika Srpska and attracting foreign investors. Vucic leader added that he was proud of

Serbia’s being an “anchor of stability”, but that “people in the region” did not want a respectable

Vucic said in Nis that it was important for stability of the entire region for problems in Macedonia to be resolved as soon as possible and pointed out that he hoped the ideas on the “Ukrainization” of this region would not pass, since nobody in the Balkans needed this. “We wish peace to our brotherly and friendly nation, full stability. We don’t want to interfere in internal relations, unlike some countries, we want them to resolve on their own their problems and wish them much success,” said Vucic.

 

Belgrade-Pristina talks in Brussels, on Tuesday (RTS)

On Tuesday, the Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric will head Belgrade’s delegation in Brussels within the resumption of the dialogue with Pristina at the expert level. Talks will include the topic of IDs issues by relocated police stations of the Republic of Serbs from the region in Kosovo and Metohija and the implementation of the Agreement on official visits, the Office for Kosovo and Metohija stated.

 

Office for Kosovo and Metohija: Serbian IDs issue to be resolved in Brussels (Tanjug)

The Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija should not be afraid over Pristina’s announcements that they will be denied the right to free movement with Serbian IDs, announced the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, which expects this problem to be resolved on Tuesday at a meeting in Brussels. The Office also announced that, on the occasion of the unilateral and unprovoked threat, it had alarmed all relevant circles in the international community. “Freedom of movement is the minimal condition for normalization of relations. We received assurances from the EU that they would not allow unilateral acts that are aimed at hindering the electoral process on 24 April, and we expect the problem to be resolved on Tuesday in Brussels,” reads the statement. Serbia is a constructive member of the international community and guarantor of stability in the region, but it will not allow anyone to limit the freedom of movement of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija or to threaten in any way the safety of our citizens, the Office for Kosovo and Metohija said.

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said that the Serbian government was working hard to resolve the issue and that it would be a topic of a meeting in Brussels on Monday or Tuesday.
According to RTS, residents carrying Serbian IDs are passing the crossings this morning.

Serbs block Jarinje crossing for one hour over ID cards (Tanjug/RTS)

Serbs from northern Kosovo blocked today the Jarinje crossing for one hour, making it clear that they will not give up on their Serbian ID cards. Although it has been announced that the Kosovo authorities will no longer consider Serbian IDs valid as of Monday, this has not happened yet.

Serbs have gathered to express their displeasure and blocked the Jarinje crossing, located on the major road between Leposavic and Raska, for one hour. Traffic was suspended during the blockade which passed off without any incident. Police officers at the crossing claimed they had not received any information concerning the change in the regime.

 

Djuric in Kosovo despite Pristina ban (Tanjug)

The Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric visited Kosovo and Metohija on Friday, despite Pristina’s authorities banning his entry to the province. Djuric told reporters in Leposavic that he was doing his job normally and that he had informed international representatives about his visit to Kosovo and Metohija. “It is in our interest, and we are creating conditions for our people to live here. We want cooperation, we want a normal life for all people in Kosovo and Metohija,” Djuric said.He handed packages of aid to farmers in Leposavic in northern Kosovo and stressed that the Serbian government was continuing to support agriculture development in the province.

 

Djuric: We need as many Serbs as possible to go to polls (TV Pink/Tanjug)

The Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric said that Serbia was with its citizens in Kosovo and Metohija and they should not worry about anything and called on them to go out and vote in as massive numbers as possible and show Serb unity in the elections on 24 April. Speaking on a TV Pink talk show, Djuric said that officials in Pristina should be resolving burning issues instead of trying to harm the Serbs, stressing that Serbia would use all means available in the international arena, as well as all the other measures it could use, to protect the Kosovo Serbs. Djuric said that defending our state and national interests required a strong government in Belgrade, capable of seeking solutions for our people in Kosovo and Metohija at the highest levels in Europe. “For us to be strong and to maintain our unity in Kosovo and Metohija it is very important that as many Kosovo Serbs as possible take to the polls. I expect the people in Kosovo and Metohija to show our unity. No one is aware more than they are of how important it is that they have a strong government to represent their interests in the international community,” said Djuric. He said that the Serbs in Kosovo would be able to vote in exactly the same manner as in 2014, and the OSCE would be present at the polls to ensure election regularity and security.

 

Miscevic: Report from screening for Chapter 19 to be adopted this week (Tanjug)

The Head of Serbia’s team in accession negotiations with the EU Tanja Miscevic has stated that the EU member-states should adopt a report from the screening for Chapter 19, dealing with social policy and employment, before the end of the week. An action plan and an analytic database of all the research and requirements necessary for Chapter 19 negotiations are being worked on, Miscevic said while opening a round table titled “Conflict resolution: negotiations, strike and peaceful resolution of labor disputes” in Belgrade. “For the first time in the EU accession negotiating process, a country will, before opening chapters, be able to rely on an analytic database of all research conducted so far in each of the chapters and know all requirements to be able to prepare negotiating documents in the best way possible and where possible, ask for transitional periods. I am happy to see that besides the election campaign, investments, and talk on political issues for Chapters 23 and 24, we are talking here today about social dialogue and the workers’ role in it, and the role of trade unions and resolving labor disputes,” Miscevic said.

 

Terrorists from Kosovo committed crimes in nine countries (Danas)

Special investigation team of EULEX currently led an investigation on crimes of former KLA in nine countries, Danasdaily reported in their weekend issue. As the daily reported, crimes of Albanian terrorists in Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Greece, Turkey and Israel were being investigated. Special court, which should be formed by the end of the year, should deal with the KLA crimes. As it was said by diplomatic sources, persons arrested for organized crime that would be prepared to testify about the KLA crimes during the clashes in Kosovo were located in each of these countries.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

The first meeting of SDP and DF: Possibility of support to joint candidates? (Klix)

The first meeting of the negotiating teams of the Democratic Front and the Social Democratic Party (SDP), in the Headquarters of the Democratic Front was organized. The main topic of this meeting, which was held in a very open atmosphere, was to analyze the situation of the B&H left wing politics and evaluation of modalities of possible joint appearance in the upcoming local elections. As for the mayoral position, there is possibility of supporting a joint candidate in some municipalities. Modalities are different: a common support to the candidate from one of the two parties or joint support of an independent candidate, or candidates of the civil option who are not coming from these two parties. As previously announced, the two parties will get out independently with lists for municipal councils. The talks of the two parties will be continued by concretization of positions in which they achieve full compliance. Both SDP B&H and the Democratic Front, in its own dynamics, will invite some parties to this type of negotiation, mainly left-oriented, and they will also conduct consultations with non-governmental organizations and the academic community as well.

 

Referendum on the Day of RS (Srna/Fena)

Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik feels that a referendum on the RS Day should be held before June, even though some are of the opinion that it should be held after the elections. B&H Presidency member Mladen Ivanic said in Banja Luka that RS cannot be denied the right to hold a referendum on the Day of RS, but emphasized that it would be good to hold the referendum after the local elections, to rule out any manipulation. The RS President reiterated that a referendum in RS on the B&H Court and the Prosecutor’s Office is on the agenda and awaits consensus of all in RS, but that for now, that consensus does not exist.

 

RS opposition: Dodik ready for clashes among Serbs for the sake of staying in power (Nezavisne)

The RS President Milorad Dodik was even ready for clashes among Serbs for the sake of staying in power. Dodik’s statement that he would organize a counter rally on the day of the opposition’s demonstrations, to prove that the members of the opposition “are traitors, who are not welcome in RS”, is further proof that the regime in power in RS was established by a criminal hydra, reads the statement. The opposition alliance further said that “Dodik’s open calls for clashes are nothing but his own fear of being called to account by the judicial institutions and the loss of power”. The Alliance for Change also believes that Dodik is abusing the presidential post and that “instead of unity and all-Serbian harmony, he has sent a message that he is even ready for clashes among Serbs”. “We urge citizens not to fall for the sabre rattling rhetoric of Dodik, who is ready to sacrifice his own people for the sake of his own personal interests,” the Alliance underscored, adding that “there are no greater traitors than those who have robbed and brought Republika Srpska to bankruptcy”. The Alliance for Change announced that in mid-May it would organize civic protests over the difficult economic and social situation in the RS.

 

B&H Court - Nikola Maric sentenced to 20 years in prison (Fena)

Following the completion of the trial in the case v. Nikola Maric, the Panel of the Section I for War Crimes of the B&H Court handed down the verdict under which the accused Nikola Maric is found guilty of the criminal offense of Crimes against Humanity in violation of Article 172 as read with sub-paragraphs (a) – murder, (d) - forcible transfer of population, (e) (imprisonment or other severe deprivation of liberty), (f) (torture), (i) (enforced disappearance) and (k) (other inhumane acts), all in conjunction with Article 29 and 180(1) of the Criminal Code of B&H. The Court sentenced the Accused Nikola Maric to prison term of 20 years.

 

Durakovic: A political front for and against genocide has been opened now in Srebrenica (Patria)

The pro-Bosnian front’s candidate for mayor of Srebrenica Camil Durakovic told Patria that it would be devastating if during the October elections a Serbian candidate would become the head of the municipality. At the meeting of the representatives of SNSD, SDS, PDP, NDP, DNS, SP and SRS RS in Srebrenica have agreed to have a joint candidate. Sure, seems like it wouldn’t be a problem in terms of democracy that the parties come together and have a joint candidate, but Srebrenica is something else. Now a political front for and against genocide has been opened. Imagine a situation in which Hatidza Mehmedovic comes to the chief, and he tells her that her sons are not the victims of the genocide in Srebrenica, and that there the genocide never happened, said Durakovic. His message for all the people in Srebrenica who have returned to live in this city, as well as to the thousands all around the world who never came back is that they all have to vote, so Srebrenica doesn’t get lost.

 

Monument to fascism victims in Zagreb desecrated with fascist graffiti (Hina)

A monument to victims of fascism at Dotrscina forest in Zagreb was desecrated with fascist graffiti last night, the Documenta center for dealing with the past said on Sunday, calling on the government and the president to condemn the destruction of monuments to innocent victims of fascist terror. “The site of the biggest mass crime in Zagreb's history was desecrated with fascist graffiti,” Documenta said in a press release, adding that fascist insignia were scrawled on the central monument, including a swastika, the letter U for Ustasha and the Ustasha salute “For the homeland ready”. Documenta said this was the first time the memorial was desecrated since the 1990s. It called on the authorities to find the perpetrators and the government and the president to condemn the incident and publicly call for an end to the destruction of monuments to innocent victims of the Ustasha, Nazi and fascist terror. Between 1941-45, during the Nazi-styled Independent State of Croatia, the Ustasha killed thousands of people at Dotrscina, mainly Jews, Serbs, Roma and Croatian antifascists from the Zagreb area. The location is now a memorial park with five monuments to the victims.

 

DIK: Successful application of the electronic system of identification of voters (CDM)

In accordance with the legislation, State Election Committee (DIK) has fully contributed in the event of local parliamentary elections in Montenegrin municipality of Tivat. DIK thanked all of the citizens of Tivat who have used their democratic right to vote today. “This was the first time in Montenegrin election history that the system of the electronic identification has been used. DIK deems the implementation the system of the electronic identification successful in Tivat election. In preparation for the forthcoming parliamentary elections in fall, we can note a positive step forward for the use of this equipment,” they said in DIK. They announced that DIK will used data collected in these elections to further strengthen the program of education aimed towards election boards, in order to successfully implement election legislation. “In this regard, I appreciate the participation of civic sector in today’s election procedure. We hope for successful cooperation with everyone who takes part in the preparations for parliamentary elections. In accordance with law, DIK and Municipality Election Committee of Tivat will continue to the finalization of election process and will make a press announcement after the confirmation of election results,” they said in DIK.

 

DPS won absolute power in Tivat (CDM)

DPS won 44, 7% and 3.373 votes which grants it 17 mandates and makes it the absolute winner of local elections in Tivat. CDT’s data based on 100% of processed inputs show that the Social-Democrats one the most mandates after DPS, four. After them, there is Socialist People’s Party, Croatian Citizen, Social Democratic Party and Tivat Initiative who won two, Bokeski Forum, Democratic Serbian Party and Arsenal for Tivat won one mandate. Serbian Radical Party SRS and Montenegrin Democratic Union CDU did not win any mandates. Four years ago, the results gave DPS 12 mandates, SDP five, HGI and SNP four. NOVA won three mandates then, DSS two, Liberal Citizens’ Alternative and PzP one mandate. Based on 100% processed data from election spots, CDT published following results: There were a total of 7.682 votes, making the voter turnout 69, 3%. Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) won 44, 7% of the voter body, with 3.373 votes cast for them. This result grants them 17 mandates. Social-Democrats (SD) won 10, 4%, 787 votes and 4 mandates. Democratic Serbian Party (DSS) won 4, 8%, 365 votes and 1 mandate. Socialist People’s Party (SNP) won 6, 2%, 471 votes and 2 mandates. Croatian Citizens Initiative (HGI) won 5,2%, 394 votes and 2 mandates. Socialist Democratic Party (SDP) won 7, 5%, 563 votes and 2 mandates. Tivat Action won 7, 2%, 544 votes and 2 mandates. Bokeski Forum won 4, 3%, 327 votes and 1 mandate. Arsenal for Tivat won 4, 2%, 320 votes and 1 mandate. Liberal Party won 1%, 76 votes and 0 mandates. Serbian Radical Party (SRS) won 1, 8%, 139 votes and 0 mandates. Montenegrin Democratic President of Municipality Election Committee OIK Jovanka Lalicic stated that 7.684 (69, 36%) voters used their right to vote. Voter turnout has increased in comparison with local elections in 2012. Then, only 58, 02% citizens voted. There were also some irregularities, but nothing that would compromise the legitimacy of the elections.

 

Hahn urges parties to negotiate (Telegraf.mk)

Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn has urged all parties to come back to the negotiating table and stay committed to Macedonia's Euro Atlantic perspective. “If they are not working together, if they are not focused to have fair elections, the new government will not be internationally accepted, not to say recognized,” said Hahn during his speaking engagement at the Washington based Brookings Institution on Friday. Asked about the situation in Macedonia, the Commissioner voiced his disappointment from latest developments. “I am really disappointed about recent developments. We have invested a lot in having this June/July agreement from last year to bring the country back on the Euro Atlantic path. Most of the deadlines have not been met when they should have been met. Finally it was done. The fact is that now the elections on the 5 June are under a difficult situation. Honestly, I don’t know how it will look like after the elections. I can only urge all the parties and also the civil society, but especially the political parties, to come back to the negotiating table and to stay committed to the Euro Atlantic perspective of the country,” said Hahn. According to him, everyone should understand what is at stake. “I hope we can pass this message. Members of the European Parliament and myself will make another effort to bring them together, to facilitate something. I can't promise anything. But this is also a part of something where gradually people in the region and some other parts understand that democracy means to strike a deal, a compromise, and not to have this winner loser attitude. Otherwise, you will never be successful. People in the region deserve a better future and this is achievable only if there is a clear European perspective. This includes a European or democratic understanding of the rule of law. This is an answer to the comprehensive pardoning of people by the president,” underlined Hahn.

 

Nikola Gruevski welcomes the decision of the State Election Commission for 5 June elections (MIA)

VMRO-­DPMNE President Nikola Gruevski welcomed the decision of the State Electoral Commission, which announced that it is ready to prepare the elections for 5 June. In a TV interview on Saturday, Gruevski said that this decision is the beginning of the end of the “political agony caused by the opposition SDSM party”. “It’s good news that the State Election Commission mustered the courage to say the truth, to say what we all knew to be the case – that there are conditions to hold fair, free and democratic elections”, Gruevski said. SDSM continues to announce that they will not to take part in the elections, and the opposition party is holding daily protest rallies in the capital Skopje. Gruevski said that it was opposition party SDSM leader Zoran Zaev who asked for these elections, following the crisis sparked by his publication of wiretapped materials. “After destabilizing the country, Zoran Zaev called for elections. We agreed, and in discussions with him and the representatives of the international community, we set them for 24 April. But, as time progressed, Zaev was realizing that he does not have the popular support he hoped to have. He believed that those fabricated materials will fool a majority of the people into supporting him. As time went by, the public realized that they are being drawn into a larger game, one in which Zoran Zaev is merely an instrument who wants to achieve his own, personal goals, but is also being used in a game with much greater stakes”, Nikola Gruevski said. Nikola Gruevski, who withdrew as Prime Minister to allow the political agreement to move forward toward elections, said that after their first postponement, a firm agreement was reached to hold the vote on 5 June. “But the SDSM and their smaller satellite parties still want to avoid the vote. For all this time we’ve seen that Zaev does not have the capacity to admit defeat. Like in sports, you need to be able to extend a hand to the opponent, admit that you’ve done your best, but the other side won the popular support and now it’s time to move forward. But Zoran Zaev says he will take part in the elections only when he is certain he will win. That is not normal. That is undermining the state. We also could have ran away from the elections in 2004, when polls showed that our Presidential candidate Kedev will lose. I could’ve found a million reasons to run away from that vote. But still, we were honest, we entered into those elections with all our might, we tried to even out the score, and it was a very costly move for me. It caused factions in VMRO-­DPMNE, a split with former party leader Ljubco Georgievski, who asked for a boycott of the elections, demanding that we cause those elections to fail. But I’ve never taken an approach that can cause a crisis in my country. Our boycott would have caused a crisis then, with failed elections repeated anew every two months. But, I’m not a person who wants to create a crisis in the country. Zoran Zaev, on the contrary, is someone who wants to see a crisis exclusively for his own personal gains”, Nikola Gruevski said. Speaking about the pardons given by the President Gjorge Ivanov to leading officials from both major parties, Nikola Gruevski repeated his position that the VMRO-­DPMNE can’t accept to be lumped together “with ordinary criminals like Zoran Zaev, a pathological liar who is prepared to sell his country down the river, to abandon the national interests, a spineless person working only for his own gain”. Gruevski and other VMRO-DPMNE officials requested that the President Ivanov withdraws their pardons, as did former President and the SDSM leader Branko Crvenkovski. VMRO-DPMNE also initiated that all major parties ask the President Gjorge Ivanov to do the same together. In the interview, Nikola Gruevski added that the political crisis must not be allowed to affect the growth of the economy. “Since independence, for years we only saw people being laid off, factories being closed and wages going down. Now, in the past seven or eight years, we’ve seen massive numbers of new jobs being created, new factories, new investors, we see hope in the future, and one man is doing all he can, with all his might, to ruin it and to please the ones he is working for”, Nikola Gruevski said.

 

Kosovo and Macedonia mark official entry into force of agreement for travelling with ID cards (MIA)

Macedonia and Kosovo on Sunday marked the official entry into force of the intergovernmental agreement of their governments to the conditions of travel of the citizens of both countries with ID cards. Recognition of the agreement will be at the border crossing Blace, which will be attended by Deputy Interior Minister Agim Nuhiu, the additional deputy minister Mitko Cavkov and the Deputy Interior Minister of Kosovo Valdet Hoxha. Such agreement Macedonia also has with Serbia and Montenegro.

 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

 

Kosovo – going nowhere fast (TransConflict, by Gerard M. Gallucci, 18 April 2016)

Kosovo is not, by itself, a sustainable economic or political entity. Waiting for Serbia to recognize Kosovo as independent (in order to enter the EU) would still leave Kosovo by itself. Even then the international factors would have to remain in place for the conceivable future. But unless they are ready to do so forever, there needs to be some strategy for an eventual exit. Possibilities include partition or association.

Recently, Kosovo has marked another anniversary of its independence from Serbia (in February 2008), and chosen a new president. The government in Pristina can boast that it has been recognized by over 100 countries. Yet it is also true that Kosovo has been under the supervision of the European Union since the UN turned over its mandate for rule of law in late 2008. The UN itself remains in Kosovo with a key role in maintaining the international presence under UNSCR 1244 in the Serb-majority north. NATO also remains, under the UNSCR 1244 mandate, with a force of a few thousand under command of a major general. Two members of the UN Security Council – Russia and China – are among the countries still not recognizing Kosovo as are EU members Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Spain. The new president was chosen by the Kosovo parliament through clouds of tear gas thrown by members opposed to the continued international involvement in Kosovo affairs. Once again, it was the United States that decided who that president would be: Hashim Thaci, the empty suit long preferred by Washington over more representative Kosovo Albanian leaders such as Ramush Haradinaj.

Kosovo has not changed much since the EU took on “the pivotal role in realising the European agenda in Kosovo with the aim to promote Kosovo’s approximation to the European Union” and “in the reconstruction and development of Kosovo.” Under the EU, and according to the CIA, “Kosovo’s economy … is still highly dependent on the international community and the diaspora for financial and technical assistance. Remittances from the diaspora … are estimated to account for about 15% of GDP and international donor assistance accounts for approximately 10% of GDP.” Also, while there has been some growth, “Kosovo’s citizens are the poorest in Europe … [with] an unemployment rate of 31%, and a youth unemployment rate near 60%.” This “encourages emigration and fuels a significant informal, unreported economy…. [where] most of Kosovo’s population lives in rural towns outside of the capital [and where] inefficient, near-subsistence farming is common.” The CIA also judges that “high levels of corruption, little contract enforcement, and unreliable electricity supply have discouraged potential investors.” Kosovo continues to use the Euro and has apparently generated not just migrants to the rest of Europe but also jihadists to the Middle-East. Meanwhile, the EU’s rule of law mission – EULEX – has been accused of negligence in pursuing cases of corruption and impunity and of internal corruption.

The EU’s most “effective” recent action was to remove from play the Kosovo Serb leader most willing and able to work within Kosovo institutions for the benefit of his community, Oliver Ivanovic.

In all, Kosovo is going nowhere fast. The Germans and Americans have lost patience with the Kosovo Albanians. In secret, they might admit that perhaps “independence” was a mistake. The EU would love to wash its hands of Kosovo as the US has essentially done (except for keeping the Albanians from sinking into civil war). EULEX itself is up for mandate renewal this year but there is really no choice. Given everything else the EU is facing at the time, it cannot afford to abandon Kosovo to becoming a black hole in the Balkans. So, what to do?

The choices facing the EU and US are few. Kosovo cannot be left on its own. It is not, by itself, a sustainable economic or political entity. Waiting for Serbia to recognize Kosovo as independent (in order to enter the EU) would still leave Kosovo by itself. Even then the international factors would have to remain in place for the conceivable future. But unless they are ready to do so forever, there needs to be some strategy for an eventual exit. Possibilities include partition or association. Partition, in which Serbia retains the area north of the Ibar, would make Kosovo a more exclusively ethnic Albanian entity. Provision could be made for voluntary resettlement for those Serbs south of the Ibar and Albanians north of the river wishing to adjust to the new situation. The resulting Kosovo might be then allowed to enter an association with Albania or to merge with it. A Greater Albania might be more stable than a lone Kosovo. Or, Serbia and Kosovo might form an association of sovereign entities as together they entered the EU. Serbs in Kosovo could retain links to Serbia and Albanians in Serbia the same with Kosovo. The economies of both would function as one (with the Euro) and traffic, travel and business would face no internal barriers.

To move in either of these directions would require bold decisions by all parties and the US would have to play a major role without hiding behind the EU, NATO and UN. (Bizarrely, the US is so out of the game now that its diplomats in Pristina still cannot travel into the north without heavy security.) Whatever the eventual objectives, it remains the case that leaving Kosovo as a barely-contained mess is simply untenable.

Gerard M. Gallucci is a retired US diplomat and UN peacekeeper. He worked as part of US efforts to resolve the conflicts in Angola, South Africa and Sudan and as Director for Inter-American Affairs at the National Security Council. He served as UN Regional Representative in Mitrovica, Kosovo from July 2005 until October 2008 and as Chief of Staff for the UN mission in East Timor from November 2008 until June 2010. He has a PhD in political science, taught at the University of Pittsburgh, University of Arkansas, George Washington University and Drake University and now works as an independent consultant.

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of TransConflict

 

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Media summaries are produced for the internal use of the United Nations Office in Belgrade, UNMIK and UNHQ.  The contents do not represent anything other than a selection of articles likely to be of interest to a United Nations readership.