Kosovo’s independence and its effects on separatist movements

Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence on Sunday has upset Serbia, Russia and several other countries with separatist problem.

Serbia was upset because it is losing a province which, it says, is the cradle of Serbian civilization; Russia because Serbia is its close ally, it has its own separatist problem and because it views it as part of West’s military plan to weaken it.

Russia declared at the UN Security Council meeting that Kosovo’s declaration is null and void and its President Valadimir Putin said in Moscow that Russia would never accept Kosovo. Russian analysts said US and other Western nations are backing Kosovo for military reasons. They are weakening Serbia because it is a Russian ally.

Russian fear that the breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia would follow seemed real, because its leaders announced their intention of appealing to the UN to recognise their independence.

The concern of the nations with separatist problem is fundamental. They are concerned because it would set an example to the separatist movements in their countries.

Sri Lanka’s worry is just that. The Foreign Ministry in its statement highlighted that aspect saying that it would, “set an unmanageable precedent in the conduct of international relations, the established global order of sovereign States.”

Sri Lanka also warned that Kosovo’s action would pose a grave threat to international order and security.

States like Spain, Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia which have separatist problem had expressed their misgivings. More are likely to follow.

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said Spain would not recognise Kosovo’s declaration because it, “does not respect international law”.

Several countries like United States, Britain, Germany, France and Japan have committed support for Kosovo. Britain and France insist that Kosovo was a unique case. Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Miliband described Kosovo as a, “unique situation which deserves a unique response”.

Separatist movements worldwide are not likely to view it that way. Tamil National Alliance (TNA) which has already welcomed Kosovo’s example said that it had set the principle that oppressed people have the right of self-determination. Parliamentarian K. Gajendran said, “By recognising Kosovo, the international community has accepted that oppressed people have the inherent right to their homeland, separate state and sovereignty.”

Colombo’s Tamil papers in their guarded editorial comments on Tuesday said Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence, and the possibility of its recognition by the majority of world’s nations indicate the changing nature of the world order, and the increasing tendency of accepting ethnicity as a criteria for state formation.

Can Kosovo provide an example for the LTTE for it to achieve Tamil Eelam? The process through which Kosovo went is as follows:

In 1974 Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito made Kosovo an autonomous region within Serbia. After his death the Yugoslav Federation began to disintegrate. The Serbian politician Slobodan Milosevic used Serbian nationalism and the resentment of the Kosovo Albanians as a springboard to national power. In 1989, Milosevic abrogated Kosovo’s autonomy and purged ethnic Albanians from the province’s civil service and curtailed government funding for public institutions in Kosovo, including the schools.

In response, the Kosovans, led by Dr. Ibrahim Rugova, set up a shadow government and began a campaign of non-violent resistance to the Serbian oppression. Since the early 90s they sought greater independence and freedom from Serb authorities. Serbia rejected the demand. Then youths formed the Kosovo Liberation Army and launched a guerrilla warfare.

In 1998 Kosovo Liberation Army attacked several Serbian police stations and brought most of the rural areas under its control. Milosevic ordered brutal reprisals. In 1999 NATO launched air bombardment, Milosevic withdrew from Kosovo, leaving it under UN rule.

Elections were held under UN supervision for a Parliament and the guerillas who gave up arms, entered the Parliament and captured the majority and formed their government.

In January 2006 UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari opened talks on Kosovo’s future. In February 2007 Ahtisaari unveiled proposal recommending independence for Kosovo. In August 2007 Russia stopped the UN Security Council from adopting the Ahtisaari plan, which led to four more months of fruitless talks.

On February 16, 2008 European Union approved a rule-of-law mission in Kosovo without explicitly supporting independence. The following day Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian-dominated Parliament declared independence. It said, “We, the democratically elected leaders of our people, hereby declare Kosovo to be an independent state.”

The guerillas had achieved their target. They got to it through the UN.