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The status of Kosovo |
International Herald Tribune
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
| 'Waiting
on Kosovo' (editorial, March 3) is critical of the failure of the
United Nations to define Kosovo's status, but it is also critical
when the chief of the UN mission in Kosovo, Soren Jessen-Petersen,
calls for a clear timetable on status.
Moreover, he is not
calling for an "independence timetable," as you put it, but for
negotiations on status that would be contingent on tangible progress
on standards, particularly in regard to minority rights.
Far
from rewarding "bad faith," a decision not to partition Kosovo would
prompt all communities to work toward a common destiny; partition
would reopen healing wounds and sacrifice the 60 percent of Kosovo
Serbs who do not live in the north.
Your editorial does not
recognize the Albanian leadership's improvements in security and
other positive initiatives, but recalls that "Albanians went on an
anti-Serb rampage." Albanian riots a year ago, or Serb atrocities of
1999, cannot be the foundation for a multiethnic
Kosovo.
Kosovo deserves a fair chance to prove that it can
move forward.
Hua Jiang, Pristina, Kosovo The writer is
director of public information, United Nations Mission in
Kosovo
'Waiting on Kosovo' says that "work should
begin immediately on a settlement" for Kosovo, but it does not say
what that settlement would look like in international law. The truth
is that the world has been avoiding this thorny problem for six
years.
You say the solution should include "a semiautonomous
zone for the Serbs," but do not define what that zone would be
semiautonomous from. As you categorically reject independence for
the province, it would seem that Kosovo Albanians would just live in
the international limbo of United Nations administration
indefinitely - with no access to foreign lending and investment, and
thus very high unemployment.
The riots a year ago against
Serbs and members of other minority groups were, of course,
indefensible. But recognizing that social unrest has underlying
causes and charting a path to a final settlement to begin dealing
with those causes does not "reward bad faith."
Independence
may well be the best way to get a functioning state that produces
real benefits for people, including Kosovo's Serbs. When people have
responsibility, they tend to behave more responsibly.
Wesley
Clark, Little Rock, Arkansas The writer was the supreme allied
commander of NATO during the 1999 Kosovo
campaign.
Your editorial did not account for the
complexity of the issues regarding Kosovo. Kosovars will not accept
delay in determining their final status, and Kosovo can never again
be a part of Serbia. The unrest of March 2004 was instigated by a
very small number of people - Albanian and Serbian - who were
interested in fomenting chaos and ensuring that Kosovo never attains
independence.
There is 70 percent unemployment in Kosovo, the
poorest region in Europe. Kosovo's major export is its young,
unemployed and disillusioned people.
Serbia has used every
means to try to prevent the United Nations from fulfilling its
mandate to develop Kosovo's economy and in supporting Kosovar
Serbian resistance to participation in the Kosovo government. With
international support, Kosovo can become a successful model of
interethnic cooperation in the Balkans.
The UN envoy's
proposals should be supported by the international community - and
by The International Herald Tribune.
John Johnson, New
York
It's up to China
If China wants peaceful
reunification with Taiwan, why doesn't it introduce reforms? ("China
sees Taiwan in 'positive' light, but independence stance is
unyielding," March 7.)
If China were a free country, the idea
of rigid separation would no longer interest the Taiwanese, and they
would probably vote to reunite. What possible reason could they have
to do so now?
Tom Minchin, Melbourne
Where's
that CD?
Axl Rose needs to get over himself ("Success, excess
and a music industry phantom," March 5). There are many great
contemporary artists who work diligently to deliver music to their
fans on a regular basis. A sound work ethic and inspired product are
not mutually exclusive, as his apologists would have us believe.
But ultimately the blame must lie with the record companies.
If the $13 million that was wasted on Rose's non-effort was spent
finding and breaking in new bands, both they and the listening
public would be much better off.
Marie Calleux,
Paris
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