January 22-28, 2006. Issue Number
661
Page 2 -
Opinion
Key to Kosovo Serb
survival
By Misa Djurkovic
For the Kosovo Serbs living since 1999 in enclaves
heavily guarded by NATO troops, subject to murders, kidnappings and restricted
freedom of movement, negotiations on decentralization of Kosovo in the first
round of talks on the future status of the province beginning on 25th January in
Vienna is an essential key to survival.
Indeed, when in the summer of 1999 Serbian forces
retreated from the province and Albanian extremists waged a large-scale campaign
of ethnic violence and intimidation, the Serb community managed to survive only
in several enclaves in which it organized strongholds despite great suffering.
Since then, the key factor for the survival of
Serbs in Kosovo has been the preservation of their own institutions, like health care,
education and administrative offices issuing documents or performing civil
marriage ceremonies.
It is thus not difficult to understand why all
these institutions have become a special target of Albanian separatist militants
in the past six years.
Despite the 2001 agreement between the UN mission
in Kosovo and Belgrade, which recognized the legality of all those institutions,
Albanian leaders and some parts of the international community are still
referring to them as parallel, thus attempting to denote them as illegal,
lawless and an obstacle to the development of a multiethnic
Kosovo.
The reality is quite the contrary. It is
exactly in the territories nominally proclaimed multiethnic that the arrival
of Albanian institutions has led to the dismantling of the Serb institutions and
the permanent dislodging of the Serb population. The Serb population is indeed
unwilling to accept that their children must begin to learn in Albanian language
or that they should be taught that the Serbs are occupiers in Kosovo. At the
same time, Serbs neither trust the quality of Albanian hospital services, nor do
they trust the competence of Albanian doctors.
In a situation in which the majority of the Serb
population in Kosovo has no freedom of movement, these institutions are their
only source of security.
The international community in Kosovo has realized
that if it wants to preserve at least a part of the Serb population in Kosovo,
it must allow them to autonomously lead their own institutions, with the help of
the Serbian government. This has led to a tolerance of de facto autonomy for the
Serbian communities in Kosovo, despite a staunch opposition from the ethnic
Albanians.
While Belgrades call for decentralization, as a
model for survival of the Serbs in Kosovo, remained largely unaswered for years,
the terrible anti-Serb violence of March 2004 served as a final wake-up call to
the international community.
Decentralization came to be seen as a barrier
against all those in the Albanian community seeking an ethnically clean
Kosovo.
The Belgrade government plan of April 2004 had
clear and well-defined ideas about decentralization, which included creating the
possibility for the return of some 220,000 Serbs expelled by Albanian extremists
from Kosovo since 1999.
The response of the UN Mission in Kosovo was to
propose a plan which, a year and a half later, proved to be a failure: it
offered too little to the Serbs, while the Albanians did not care to implement
it.
Today, as the negotiations on the talks on the
future status of Kosovo begin, it is key to understand that decentralization is
a crucial matter for the Serbs and all other non-Albanian
communities.
No matter where the border will be after the
negotiations, if Serbs are to stay in Kosovo, they should be able to enjoy all
essential freedoms and rights, which can only be guaranteed by a substantial
decentralization process.
What should decentralization
involve?
1. This project should officialize and legalize
the type of autonomy which already de facto exists in those small communities
where Serbs represent a majority of population. Per definition, it should
formalize the already existing relationship with Belgrade. Every year, Serbia
contributes 50 million euros to the viability of this project, for its
administrative functioning and the solving of social problems of the territory.
At the same time, it is crucial to find a mechanism for establishing a
relationship with Pristina while performing all those
activities.
2. It is important to gradually transmit some of
the competency to the level of Serbian communities, especially in the domain of
the judiciary and security. It is key to find a solution which would precisely
define the division of authority between municipalities and ministries in
Pristina.
3. Finally, if the international community and the
Albanian leaders really want the Serbs to return to their homes, it is crucial
to facilitate the establishment of new Serb municipalities, especially in those
isolated enclaves which have the worst living conditions for the Serb
population. Unfortunatelly, nowadays, Serbs can go back to Kosovo and integrate
only in those communities in which the Serb population represents a majority and
where it appears most possible to start building trust with Albanian neighbours.
As a result, no matter the final outcome of status
talks, decentralization remains a key priority for the Serb community and a
precondition for the development of a multiethnic Kosovo. Without
decentralization it will be impossible to attract back Serbs who have been
chased from their homes and provide safe and dignified life for Serbs still
living in Kosovo.
Misa Djurkovic, former advisor to Prime minister
Vojislav Kostunica, is a Researcher
at the Institute of European Studies (Belgrade) and an Associate of the
Institute 4S (Brussels).
