US fear of Russian veto stands between Kosovo,
independence - Serbian commentary
BBC Monitoring Europe (Political) - February 8, 2007 Thursday
Text of commentary by editor-in-chief Ljiljana Smajlovic: "Theft of Kosovo"
by Serbian newspaper Politika on 6 February
There is only one sole reason why the paper that Martti Ahtisaari brought to
Belgrade and presented to Boris Tadic last Friday [2 February] does not
completely openly and explicitly propose creating an independent state of
Kosovo. The Americans have told the Finn to give Kosovo all the attributes of a
state (anthem, flag, coat of arms, constitution, president, and assembly), but
not to mention the word "independence" for the time being, just to be on the
safe side.
Washington has good reason to fear that the "i" word would trigger Russia's veto
in the UN Security Council.
And really, the United States' fear of a Russian veto is at the moment all that
is standing between Kosovo and independence.
Ever since Washington and Brussels first thought that the Russians might be
serious about lodging a veto this time, the number of visits to Belgrade by our
Western friends has tripled. They are kindly explaining to us that the Russians
do not have good intentions, that their motives are not pure or noble, and that
their wish is not to help Serbia. These interpreters of the intentions of others
are explaining that Moscow is in fact "only consulting its own interests." The
word "hegemony" is also being used in these talks, Russian hegemony, that is.
The West is suggesting to us to follow this logic: when the Russians stand up
for Serbian interests in Kosovo, then it is hegemony; when the Americans and
Europeans stand up for the Albanians' interests, then they do so in a principled
way, with good intentions, and for the sake of "stability in the Balkans." Our
Western friends (the word "friends" here should not be interpreted as irony)
know very well that Serbia aspires to be part of the West, a member of the
European Union, safe among neighbours and friends; they know that a hefty
proportion of Serbia's population would much rather have support from the West
than from Russia; they know that though all those years, we hated being under
sanctions, unloved, and bombed; they know that it is easy to awaken our fears of
another isolation.
Also, they know that we are poor and hungry for everything and that it is easier
to bring pressure to bear on us than on the Russians, whose energy revenues are
sky high. They know what we have only recently learned - albeit at third hand,
thanks to the gabby (not to say braggart) Slovene foreign minister, Dimirije
Rupel: that Vladimir Putin told Condoleezza Rice that "Russians will not be
greater Serbs than Serbs are themselves," that is, that Russians will protect
Kosovo in Serbia only so strongly as the Serbs will want to protect it.
Similarly, a New York Times correspondent reported from Kosovo two days ago [4
February] that Albanians were firmly resolved to accept nothing short of
independence, but only because they had first obtained the United States'
blessing for this position.
Therein lies the heaviness of the current political moment in Serbia. The only
chance for keeping Kosovo in Serbia for another year is for the Russians to
block the passage of a resolution in the UN Security Council that would pave the
way to a unilateral recognition of Kosovo. Perhaps the Russians will endure in
their resolve to block a solution that would not be favourable to Serbia and
perhaps they will not. We cannot be sure either way. All that we can be sure
about is that Putin will not be a greater Serb than Kostunica or Tadic. But if
the two of them continue to fight for Kosovo, perhaps he will, too. Even if, in
the final analysis, he may do so out of some selfish interests best known to
himself.
Source: Politika, Belgrade, in Serbian 6 Feb 07
Copyright 2007 British Broadcasting Corporation
Posted for Fair Use only.