There is an uneasy calm between Kosovo and Serbia these days—a forced cool-down period during which NATO forces retain command of the border crossing where there was a deadly flare-up last month.
Whether or not the sides can reach an agreement by the Sept. 15 deadline, which doesn’t look likely, the customs dispute that sparked the clash is just one tiny element of the deep-seated sovereignty feud between the two nations.
The recent skirmish started on July 25, when Kosovo sent troops to take control of the two main border crossings into Serbia—Jarinje and Brnjak—which Serbs had controlled since 1999. Pristina deployed its paramilitary to stop Serbian imports from entering into Kosovo—a tit-for-tat measure since Belgrade has forbidden imports from Kosovo since 2008, when Kosovo declared independence.
One ethnic Albanian Kosovo police officer was shot dead by Serbian nationalists inside the largely Serbian sector of Kosovo.
An interim deal was reached on Aug. 4: the border would remain closed to Serbian commercial goods, and Kosovo would not send customs officers to the two crossings, all road blockades would come down, and in the meantime, KFOR will have full control over the crossings and the secondary roads coming from Serbia.
But even KFOR is not seen as a neutral arbitrator and the mood is largely pessimistic that there can be any positive outcome at all from future dialogues between Serbia and Kosovo.
“The crisis was started by Kosovo Albanians and then KFOR made it worse by taking their side and pressing the Serbs in the north to accept this and give up their blockades,” said Gerard Gallucci, former United Nations regional representative in Mitrovica, a town in north Kosovo, populated by Serbs.
Gallucci added that although all the Serbs’ barricades came down, KFOR continued acting on behalf of the Kosovo government, which is out of their mandate.
“I think this is illegal; they are not there to take sides under the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244, but they are nevertheless doing this to pressure the Serbians to obey the laws of the north,” he said.
Resolution 1244, adopted in 1999, authorized the NATO peacekeeping force and established the Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). There are currently 6,000 KFOR troops on the ground in Kosovo.
Mr. Sanaja, an Albanian Kosovar who lives in Peja, said that most people are skeptical about resolving the conflict.
“We are skeptical that there will be any positive outcome, because it’s been like this for 10 years.“
Deep History
Kosovo has a population of 1.8 million, of which 88 percent are ethnic Albanians. The 7 percent ethnic Serbs primarily live in three municipalities in the north, with one larger enclave in the south. The remaining 5 percent are a mix of other ethnicities scattered across the country.
Serbians have a strong emotional connection to Kosovo. Once the center of the Serbian empire—until it fell to Muslim Ottoman Empire in the 12th century—most Serbs see the territory as the birthplace of their state and its cultural center.
Serbia regained control of Kosovo during World War I, and in 1918, Serbia, and Kosovo along with it, were folded into the new Yugoslavia federation.
In 1974, Kosovo gained a modicum of independence, when Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito awarded the province semi-autonomous status. However, the status was repealed in 1989 by President Slobodan Milosevic, who imposed direct rule from Belgrade, which included firing most ethnic Albanian state employees, and giving their jobs to Serbs.
By the mid-1990s, mounting guerrilla activities of the Kosovo Liberation Army movement resulted in a brutal crackdown from Belgrade. By 1998–1999, the conflict escalated into war and ethnic cleansing by Milosevic’s army leading to a NATO intervention. After 11 weeks of bombing, Milosevic capitulated. By that time, nearly 1 million people had been displaced: roughly 800,000 Albanians refugees fleeing the bloodshed, and another 100,000 Serbs who subsequently fled.
In 2008, Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia, which Belgrade has vowed never to accept. Nonetheless, Kosovo is recognized as a sovereign state by nearly 80 out of 193 U.N. countries, including the United States, and most major European Union members. Russia is not included, and has blocked Kosovo from becoming a member of the U.N.
Next...Fanning Nationalist Flames
Fanning Nationalist Flames
”We will not withdraw; there will be no return under any circumstances and at any price,” Reuters quoted him as saying. Thaci also accused Serbia of trying to carve out a piece of northern Kosovo, and asserted that it “will never happen.”
On the other side, the Serbian government hurried to “harshly condemn” the attempts by Pristina to institutionalize pressure on the Serbs and members of other communities, “whose freedom of movement had already been limited for over 11 years due to the fear from Albanian extremists.”
In Serbia, although the political elite shows firmness regarding Kosovo’s independence, ordinary people seem to be tired of the constant fighting.
“If Kosovo wants independence so much, then let them go. We are tired of so many years of torment and suffering. Although Kosovo is an inseparable part of Serbia, I would say: let them go,” said Dragan, 39, resident of Belgrade, who kept his family name secret, fearing reprisal from his friends since his stance does not reflect the official position of Serbia.
Still, the situation in Mitrovica, situated to the north of Kosovo, remains extremely difficult, as it is quite a large area with predominantly Serbian residents situated right next to Serbia itself.
Future Prospects
According to Reverend Donald Reeves, Founder of the Soul of Europe, a peace broker organization acting in Kosovo, the only way forward is to create opportunities for Serbs and Albanians to get together, rather than leave them isolated from each other, as they are now.
“Sooner or later Serbia will need to recognize Kosovo. The question is how the north will be treated,” wrote Reeves via email.
The Serbian dominated municipalities in the North are likely to continue to be the major source of tension, according to a former International Civilian Representative (ICR) appointee in Kosovo who wished to remain anonymous. ICR is under the mandate of the U.N.
“It will be extremely difficult for Kosovo to gain sufficient respect, or be able to offer sufficient advantages to the people in North Mitrovica in order to control it as a normal part of the territory,”
“The residents in this area feel such a close association with Serbia and have continuing financial and political support from Serbia it will be a major task to change this status quo, despite efforts.”
For Mirjana Kosic, Executive Director of TransConflict Serbia, Kosovan independence is out of the question.
“Kosovo’s independence does not provide a solution to the problem and in many respects has only exacerbated it, as the recent events in the north of Kosovo highlight,” says Kosic.
She said that one of the worst possible scenarios is that minorities continue to leave Kosovo, as this happened after the 1999 war and the March 2004 riots.
“Many alternatives exist, including the idea the Pristina and Belgrade share sovereignty over the north of Kosovo, but the political willingness to explore these alternatives does not exist,” wrote Kosic via email.
Rrahim Pacolli, General Secretary of the liberal New Kosova Alliance political party (AKR), represented by eight members of Parliament, says from his point of view the conflict will only be solved if the Serbian government changes. He says Belgrade is feeding its people nationalistic propaganda and incites hatred and this must stop.
“I believe that this region will gradually open its borders, allow free movement of goods and people and that living in harmony and respecting each other’s beliefs and backgrounds will pave the way for the Balkans to fully integrate into the European Union,” wrote Pacolli in an email from Pristina.
Julia Wang contributed with reporting from Peja, Kosovo.
