Tensions are growing in Kosovo

Pristina

Special report

The new Kosovo has none of the faculties a state should have. Its currency is the euro, its security is assured by NATO troops from the KFOR mission and the elected authorities will be tightly controlled by international delegations. In reality the only thing that has actually changed are the forms of international governance, except for one difference however : Pristinian authorities will have no control at all over nearly a quarter of the territory because the Serbian zones have begun on the road to secession.

This “independent” Kosovo will also struggle to find its place in the international arena. At the end of March only 35 states had officially recognised it. Still a long way from the “one hundred recognitions” the prime minister Hashim Thaçi was expecting. The position is far from unanimous in the EU too, some states categorically refuse to recognise it : this is the case for Romania, Greece, Cyprus, Spain and Slovakia. As it stands, Kosovo is unable to join the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) which requires the unanimous agreement of its members. Whether it will be able to join the United Nations is also highly uncertain. The majority of African and Asian states refuse to recognise it, for the most part because they perceive its independence as an American decision that goes against the UN charter. Even the Arab Muslim countries are reticent.

On April 7th, Kosovo’s leaders agreed on the new constitution which will be adopted from 15th June, without having been put to the vote by Parliament or by the population. The text uses all provisions from the plan drawn up by the United Nations Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari and so gives important guarantees to the minority groups. Albanian and Serb will be the two official languages and Turkish, Bosnian, and Romanian will also become official languages in some communes. The Parliament have also removed several too openly nationalist articles included in previous years. As a result some communes whose names had been changed will revert to their original Serbian title. These measures are likely to anger nationalist elements, without doing enough to win the confidence of Serbs and other minority groups.

The Vetêvendosje (self-determination) movement lead by the charismatic Albin Kurti who likens the United Nations protection force to a “colonial” occupation has already launched hostilities against the European delegation. All the traffic lights in Pristina show the words “No to Eulex” when they are red. When they change to green, another message appears, “self-determination.”. “The population still perceive the international presence as an assurance of freedom”, explains one local journalist. “Under these conditions, Albin Kurti’s message remains a minority one but – he has time on his side”.

If the Albanian population are still celebrating, they may not be for very much longer : the economic situation is unlikely to improve despite the billions promised by the EU. Kosovo has nearly 60% unemployment, and with 60% of the population under 25 years old it represents an enormous social bomb that’s far from being disarmed. Serbia continues to claim rights over many companies. Where this is concerned, independence changes nothing because a change in a territory’s political status has no effect on ownership rights. A long legal battle will begin surrounding Kosovo’s main source of wealth ; its very under-exploited mineral resources. In reality, the mine shafts have been abandoned for nearly twenty years and it would be very costly to re-open them. Lignite is the only easily exploitable mineral as it’s strip-mined.

In other respects, it won’t be long before the radical elements react to the secession of the Serbian zones. On this everybody is anxiously waiting to see what strategy Ramush Haradinaj will take. The former commander of the UCK (Kosovo Liberation Army) and former prime minister was acquitted by the International Criminal Tribunal at the Hague on 3rd April and returned on the 5th a hero to Kosovo. The trial was unable to prove anything because all the witnesses had been either eliminated or declined to appear before the tribunal. Ramush Haradinaj could try overbidding in the patriotic stakes and therefore outdo his rival, also former commander of the UCK and actual prime minister Hashim Thaçi.

“They wanted to buy Albanian silence”, analyses an international civil servant in Pristina choosing to remain anonymous. He adds “They have satisfied their symbolic demands, but the aim is, of course, that Kosovo should have no practical sovereignty. All the problems have just been delayed and today’s mess ensures that the future will be devastating.”