Balkan expert James Ker-Lindsay suggests regional exchanges as a way to resolve the Kosovo issue.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February 2008, but 15 years later, UN membership is still just a dream for the country. Only about half of the world’s countries recognize Kosovo’s independence.
This year, the EU mediated the normalization agreement between Kosovo and Serbia, which could have opened the way for Kosovo to international organizations.
However, the implementation of the agreement has not progressed, and in May there were clashes between Serbian residents and NATO forces in northern Kosovo.
Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics By James Ker-Lindsay according to which all parties have made mistakes during the peace process.
The West’s big mistake with Kosovo has been that they only try to force Serbia to accept Kosovo’s independence, even though the matter was once handled in violation of international law.
According to Ker-Lindsay, Serbia’s mistake is to focus only on the wrongs that have happened since 1999, and not to understand that granting independence to Kosovo when Yugoslavia broke up would always have been the most logical option.
In his opinion, the mistake of the Kosovans was their obsession with independence as quickly as possible instead of a more permanent solution.
Ahtisaari’s mistake
Former president Martti Ahtisaari worked as a UN peace negotiator in Kosovo 2005–2008. After negotiations, Kosovo unilaterally declared independence.
– I think that he handled the negotiations very poorly. He made a huge mistake in how he operated, says Ker-Lindsay.
In Ker-Lindsay’s opinion, Ahtisaari should have brought an alternative to the table that would have eventually led to Kosovo’s independence but offered Serbia an opportunity to save face.
He raises South Sudan’s independence from Sudan as a model. The 2011 referendum on independence was preceded by a six-year period of autonomy.
A similar arrangement could have worked for Kosovo as well. However, Ahtisaari’s line from the beginning was that Kosovo should be given independence.
Ker-Lindsay says that she asked Ahtisaari why she didn’t offer the Serbs a face-saving option.
– He answered me: they didn’t deserve it, Ker-Lindsay says.
– Because he thought they didn’t deserve it, he has condemned everyone to live in this purgatory instead of looking for a workable solution.
CMI, the conflict resolution organization founded by Ahtisaari, did not want to comment on the criticism of STT.