Kosovo independence risks further disintegration: Serbian minister
Peter O'Neil - Europe Correspondent , Canwest News Service Published: Wednesday, January 16, 2008 PARIS - Kosovo is widely expected to make a unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia, but this may not end the instability in the region. Further disintegration of the country could be triggered by Serbs in northern Kosovo who don't support independence sought by the breakaway province's Albanian majority, Serbia's foreign minister said this week. "Well, to be honest, we're on very thin ice here," Vuk Jeremic said in an interview published in the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel. Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic "Virtually all Serbs in Kosovo would not associate themselves with the province's independence. It just so happens that they are concentrated in the north," he said, referring to the region bordering the rest of Serbia. "This could open up a Pandora's box and lead to a division of Kosovo, which is something that Serbia does not want." While the U.S. government and many of its key European allies support Kosovo's independence, some analysts fear it could set a dangerous precedent. Canada has not yet taken a formal position on Kosovo independence. When Quebec came close to opting for sovereignty in the 1995 referendum, some advocates for non-francophone parts of Montreal and West Quebec argued that their communities had the right to break from a separate Quebec and remain within Canada. Aboriginal leaders in Quebec made similar arguments. Jeremic said the attitude of Serbs in Kosovo - who don't want to split from Serbia - underscores the danger of Kosovo's independence. "Serbia would like to maintain everything within the confines of international law; this is important to us. Aside from that, however, there is reality, and there are people who may see things differently." Jeremic said Serbia, which is backed by Russia in its bid to block Kosovo's independence, would use all diplomatic, political and economic tools in its arsenal to maintain Serbia's existing borders. "We would use all means at our disposal to oppose this, short of the use of military force, because no good can come of that. Over the past 16 years the people of the Balkans have often enough borne the brunt of physical violence. We will do what a country can do to defend its territorial integrity." Osvaldo Croci, a political scientist at Memorial University in St. John's, N.L., told Canwest News Service last month that the issue is "sensitive for Canada. "If Kosovo acquires independence on the basis of national determination why could not the Serb villages on the border choose to stay with Serbia?" he said. That would set an international precedent. "If Quebec separates, why could not the Eastern Townships and part of the Island of Montreal do the same from Quebec?" Thousands of North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops remain in Kosovo under a United Nations mandate passed in 1999 after allied bombing drove out Serbian forces who were repressing the ethnic Albanian majority. Last month, the UN Security Council failed to break the impasse over Kosovo 's future in its first meeting since four months of talks between Belgrade and Kosovo 's Albanian separatists ended in failure December 10 over the issue of sovereignty for the UN-ruled province. In his report, UN chief Ban Ki-moon warns that the status quo in Kosovo "is not likely to be sustainable." "Should the impasse continue, events on the ground could take a momentum of their own, putting at serious risk the achievements and legacy of the United Nations in Kosovo," the report states. Kosovo's Albanian separatist leaders are expected to declare unilateral independence early this year following the collapse of international attempts to reach a negotiated deal with Serbia. - with files from AFP http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=54ba2077-fb91-4d0d-bcb3-3b41d90fc307&k=32929
