Kosovo independence: Nothing to celebrate at all

 

english.pravda.ru

Kosovo marks the first anniversary of its independence February 17, although there are no reasons for celebrations. The decision of the West to recognize the separation of the region from Serbia resulted in ethnic cleansings and damaged the reputation of international right norms. It is not ruled out that the Kosovo precedent will become an inspiration for other countries that dream on their freedom too.

 

Nobel Peace Prize winner Martti Ahtisaari unveiled his Kosovo plan at the end of 2006. The document said that the region would have to be provided with supervised independence. In other words, Serbia would lose control over Kosovo, whereas EU, OSCE and UN officials would supervise the Albanian leaders of the region. Russia and many other countries strongly opposed the plan claiming that it was a gross violation of international laws.

The “elections”, boycotted by the Serbian population, took place in the region in the autumn of 2007. Hashim Thaci, the notorious commander of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army, became the prime minister. Serbia accuses him of indiscriminate slaughter of many Serbians. The former prosecutor of The Hague Tribunal, Carla del Ponte wrote in her book “The Hunt” that Thaci was involved in the illegal trade of human organs taken from kidnapped Serbs and sold to international traffickers.

Thaci initiated a parliamentary meeting on February 17, 2008, which unanimously approved the declaration of Kosovo’s independence. The United States, Great Britain, Germany, France and Italy recognized Kosovo’s independence during the next several days. The independence of Kosovo has so far been recognized by 54 of 192 UN member countries.

According to UN principles, the nations having no federal status have the right for self-determination. “Kosovo Albanians have their national state. It is called Albania,” former prime minister of Serbia Vojislav Kostunica once said.

Scotland in Great Britain, The Basque Country and Catalonia in Spain, the Kurds in Turkey and Quebec in Canada have a lot more rights for their own independence. Thus, the recognition of Kosovo’s independence by many Western countries may result in the global parade of sovereignties.