peacefare.net

Stop! in the name of what?

Serbs are continuing to block roads in northern Kosovo, while several Serbs have been killed in the Albanian-majority area south of the Ibar in the last few weeks.  Continuing in these directions will push Kosovo in the direction of partition, which is what nationalist Serbs and Albanians intend.  What can stop this drift?

Not, certainly, love, or even mutual understanding.  One of the Serb mayors in northern Kosovo is quoted as saying

This can be easily solved if KFOR and EULEX say that they will not transport Kosovo police and customs officers and if they take back those people from the crossings, then a space for free movement of everybody and for normal talks will be opened.

This is what the Serbs of northern Kosovo claim is a “status-neutral” solution: a complete surrender by the international community and Pristina to Serb demands, in advance of negotiations.

Belgrade, concerned about the impact of the Serb resistance in northern Kosovo on its own hopes for approval of EU candidacy and a date for accession talks to begin, is trying to leave everything up to the Serbs in northern Kosovo. No one should be fooled. The northern Kosovo Serbs are heavily subsidized by Belgrade, which could bring them into line if it really wanted.

It is difficult to say the same about the Albanians south of the Ibar, especially as the murders seem to be unconnected. But Pristina needs to try harder. There has to be strict accountability for crimes against Serbs if Kosovo is to gain high ground in its international tug of war with Belgrade. The murders in recent weeks have to be made the object of serious investigations leading to arrests and prosecutions. And those who perpetrate these crimes, or who intimidate witnesses, should be viewed as what they are: enemies of a Kosovo state seeking to gain international recognition as a willing and capable defender of the rights of all its citizens.

It is always difficult to get individuals who stand to lose something in line in order to serve a broader, societal interest. But that is precisely what is needed both among the Serbs and the Albanians. They need to stop the violence against Serbs south of the Ibar and the barricades north of the Ibar in the name of the broader interests at stake for their respective groups. Both communities are cohesive enough to do this.

Albanians need to stop in the name of Kosovar interests. Serbs need to stop in the name of Serbian interests.