Kosovo’s Feb. 17 declaration of independence places the Russian government in an awkward position. Neither Moscow’s nor Belgrade’s pre-declaration threats prevented Pristina’s parliament from voting 109-0 in favor of severing ties with Serbia. Actually implementing the threatened retaliatory measures, however, could easily backfire and seriously damage Russian interests. Most NATO governments likewise decided to back Kosovo’s independence despite Russian warnings that Moscow might respond by promoting the independence of other separatist regions in Europe. For months, Western governments have argued that, given the deep divisions separating the parties involved in the Kosovo status negotiations, delaying action would not improve the [...]
PRISTINA, Kosovo — Kosovo, the separatist province of Serbia, is making nervous preparations for adeclaration of independence on Sunday: “Independence is ready,” says a government poster. Sunday is thought the most likely delcaration day because it is followed by a national holiday in the United States to mark President’s Day. This timing could stop Russia, which opposes independence, from immediately calling an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council in New York, which it would have to do within an unofficial three-hour time limit. Such immediate high-level opposition could easily fuel disorder and violence, with the Albanian majority eager to [...]
Michael Martens, reporting from Pristina in Tuesday’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, writes the following on the International Civilian Office (ICO) with which the EU is hoping to replace the current U.N. Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK): It will be the task of the office to oversee the implementation of the Ahtisaari Plan for Kosovo independence, even if Western diplomats are attempting to minimize the significance of the ICO: the time of the international protectorate is supposed to be past and, according to the official interpretation in Brussels, the Kosovars are supposed to govern alone. In fact, however, the head of the ICO [...]
