http://thechronicleherald.ca/Opinion/1037470.html
Canada should steer clear of Kosovo
By SCOTT TAYLOR On Target
Mon. Feb 11 - 5:41 AM
AS DEFENCE Minister Peter MacKay attempts to browbeat, badger or coerce a NATO
partner into reinforcing the mission in southern Afghanistan, most European
countries are keeping their eyes on a possible security crisis much closer to
home.
It is widely expected that Kosovo will unilaterally declare its independence
from Serbia within the next six weeks, and if history repeats itself, this will
trigger yet another round of Balkan bloodletting. In anticipation of an
escalation in ethnic violence in the disputed province, reinforcements have
been sent into Kosovo to bolster the international security force that has been
in place there for the past eight years.
In the spring of 1999, Canada committed 10 per cent of the NATO bombers that
pounded Serbia for 78 days. It was NATOs intention to counter a large-scale
Serbian military offensive against Albanian separatist guerrillas in order to
prevent further suffering among the civilian population. Despite the aerial
bombardments widespread destruction of utilities and infrastructure across the
country, the NATO air campaign failed to either dislodge or diminish the
Serbian military forces in Kosovo. Although an allied ground offensive was
threatened and a massive troop buildup had taken place in neighbouring
Macedonia, NATO was forced to enter a negotiated settlement with the Serbs.
Under the terms of UN Resolution 1244, Kosovo was to remain the sovereign
territory of Serbia. As an interim security measure, NATO troops were to enter
Kosovo to supervise the withdrawal of Serbian security forces, oversee the
disarmament of the Kosovo Liberation Army and protect the Serbian minority from
revenge attacks at the hands of the returning 800,000 ethnic Albanians who had
fled the fighting.
Once the Albanian fighters had been disarmed and a secure environment was
restored, Serbian border police were to return to Kosovo along with some Serb
security forces to protect Orthodox Christian religious sites from Albanian
vandals.
The problem was that NATO never intended to implement UN Resolution 1244. While
the Serbs kept their promise to withdraw peacefully, it soon became apparent
that the allied commanders had only signed the agreement to avoid a costly
ground war.
The Kosovo Liberation Army was never disbanded it was renamed the Kosovo
Protection Corps and within a matter of weeks, had organized bloody separatist
insurgencies among the ethnic Albanian minorities in both southern Serbia and
northern Macedonia.
Despite the presence of almost 50,000 NATO troops including 800 Canadians
in the aftermath of the ceasefire, Albanian extremists forced nearly 200,000
Serbs to flee Kosovo. The 40,000 brave Serbs who chose to stay in their homes
have spent the past nine years living in protected enclaves, subjected to
perpetual fear and the occasional full-scale attack by Albanian nationalists.
Admittedly, the damage caused during the 18-month civil war was extensive.
However, the European Union has poured in billions of Euros towards
reconstruction since 1999. Despite the huge infusion of foreign aid, Kosovo
still has an unemployment rate of close to 50 per cent; its illegal black
market of drugs and prostitution outweighs legal commerce; regular garbage
collection remains a pipe dream; and voluntary civilian payment for public
utilities remains unachievable.
For Albanian Kosovars, such facts are not seen as impediments to their
independence; rather, they are considered excuses used by the international
community to deny them full autonomy.
For those who had carried on the pretence of a peacefully negotiated
reconciliation of Serbia and Kosovo under a form of sovereignty association,
the sands of time ran out last December. After negotiations broke down between
the two parties, and the attempt to steer Kosovos independence through the UN
bogged down with the threat of a Russian veto at the Security Council, the only
recourse left to the Albanians is a unilateral declaration.
This is expected to occur on a Sunday sometime in February or March. Immediate
and official recognition of Kosovos independence from countries such as the
U.S., Britain, and Germany is expected to make this a fait accompli before the
UN Security Council could be reconvened on the following Monday morning. To
play out this charade to the full, the UN mission in Kosovo has just been
renamed a European Union mission. As they are no longer technically working for
the UN, the personnel overseeing the illegal creation of an independent state
in violation of the UN Charter can now do so with a supposedly clear
conscience.
Canada has played a shameful role in this fiasco to date participating in an
unsanctioned illegal bombing campaign in 1999, failing to hold our NATO
partners accountable to the terms of UN Resolution 1244 and withdrawing our
peacekeepers long before a stable environment could be achieved.
Rather than bowing to American pressure to recognize Kosovos impending
independence, Canada should opt out and instead uphold the UN Charter and abide
by international rules of law. After all, such a unilateral declaration of
independence based on the ethnic majority of a province could set a precedent
that we might soon regret.
Besides, the launching of an independent SS Kosovo is one boat so clearly
destined for disaster we would be wise to steer well clear.
Scott Taylor reported from inside Serbia and Kosovo during the 1999 bombing
campaign and has made more than 20 subsequent visits to the region. Scott
Taylor is editor-in-chief of Espirit de Corps magazine. (
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