Still another Balkans interview?

I did this one for Dejan Kozul of the Croatian weekly Novosti:

Q.  You have been in Kosovo.  Can you describe general feeling after latest problems in north Kosovo?

A.  I was in Kosovo late last week, over the weekend in north Mitrovica, and in Pristina again Monday-Wednesday.  People in the north are frightened of Pristina and resentful of what they consider abandonment by Belgrade.  People in Pristina are so far satisfied with the results of their initiative at the border but anxious to establish permanently Kosovo’s customs and police authority there.

Q.  Serbian press writes about autonomy for north Kosovo but on the other side Serbian officials deny that they discussed it. Do you think that this might be proper solution?

A.  A very wide measure of self-governance is provided for the Serb-majority communities in northern Kosovo under the Ahtisaari plan.  That is still on offer.  I imagine there might also be implementation agreements that would meet legitimate concerns of the Serbs in northern Kosovo.  But anyone who imagines that northern Kosovo will be allowed to develop into the kind of autonomy that Republika Srpska is claiming in Bosnia is kidding themselves.  It isn’t going to happen because Pristina, the EU and the U.S. will not want it.

Q.  Can you compare the situation in Kosovo with the situation in Croatia during the nineties where autonomy was also solution for Croatian Serbs but in the end Milan Martic and authorities in Krajina refused it? Could it be compared at all (Krajina was not part of Serbia but Kosovo was)?

A.  I think there is some analogy.  But the kind of very wide autonomy that Milan Martic refused is not being offered and would not be acceptable to Pristina.  Reintegration with self-governance is what is being offered, and it is not a bad deal if implemented correctly.

Q.  When we speak about Croatia it is well known that Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor is supposed to visit Pristina. What are the reasons for this invitation and do you think that this is the right time for it?

A.  I think it natural that the Prime Minister of Croatia visit Kosovo, which after all is a neighbor, even if not an immediate one.  And certainly there is a good deal Croatia can now do to help Kosovo prepare for EU membership.  Neither Serbia nor Croatian Serbs should regard a visit of this sort as anything more than routine.

Q.  Two customs stamps, a Serbian and a Kosovo Albanian one, are mentioned as one of the possible solutions for stamp problems. Do you think that this might be good solution for beginning and is this problem taken too seriously? There are much bigger problems in Kosovo then the stamp question but it is used as a cause.

A.  There are many solutions for the customs stamps, if there is good political will.  We’ll have to wait until September when the Pristina/Belgrade dialogue reconvenes to see if that exists.  It is important in my way of thinking that Belgrade accept the fact that the Kosovo government is the legitimate authority in all of Kosovo, even if Belgrade still refuses to accept its independence.  What is needed in northern Kosovo is cooperation between Belgrade and Pristina to end a lucrative smuggling trade that is financing organized crime on both sides of the boundary/border.

Q.  Ivica Dacic few months ago was the first Serbian official who mentioned that splitting Kosovo is the only solution. Do you think that this might be the official Serbian policy?  What implications would there be?

A.  Serbia denies this is the official position, but it seems clear to me it is what Belgrade wants.  Even if you think it might solve one problem, however, it would reopen five or six other problems in the Balkans.  Neither Serbia nor Kosovo can afford today to be a source of such instability.  The Serb-majoirty communities in northern Kosovo have been offered a good deal under Ahtisaari.  They should appreciate it and start negotiating about implementation issues.

Q.  Recently, in Macedonia you mentioned that this is the era of reintegration. For something like that Serbia has to change its constitution and admit Kosovo’s independence. Under what condition do you think this might be possible?

A.  That’s for Belgrade to figure out:  they painted themselves into a corner with a constitution that they claim passed even though the requirement for 50 per cent of registered voters to vote was not met.  It would be no easier for Pristina to change its constitution to allow the north to leave Kosovo, a proposition that clearly violates UN Security Council resolution 1244, which Belgrade refers to so often.  It will not be easy to change the constitution, but it will, so far as I understand, be necessary before Belgrade can enter the EU.

Q.  Do you think that referendum about Kosovo or EU might be solution?

A.  That’s for Belgrade to decide.  It is a possible solution, but not the only one.

Q.  How do you see regional scene? The EU has so many problems. Do you think that Brussels has the will and strength to help the Western Balkans avoid more confrontations and to lead the region to EU membership?

A.  The Balkans are an EU burden, but not an enormous one.  Several of the countries are already de facto in the euro zone, and the Stabilization and Association Agreements give the Balkans countries many of the economic advantages of membership.  What Europe has lacked is clarity about the Balkans.  I hope they find it.

Q.  It’s not just Kosovo that is a problem. We still have Bosnia and Herzegovina as a country without Government, we are aware that splitting Kosovo might cause other problems in South of Serbia (Presevo, Bujanovac…) and also in Republika Srpska, maybe in Macedonia, Sandzak…?

A.  Yes, that is what I was referring to when I mentioned opening up new problems in the region.  That would be a grave mistake, one neither Pristina nor Belgrade would want to make.