Thaci: a fine performance

I tweeted most of the substance of what Kosovo Prime Minister Thaci had to say today at Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies.  He was moderate, clear and careful.  He defended the agreement he reached in April with his Serbian counterpart, Ivica Dacic, and the implementation plan that has been elaborated since.  He looked forward to further agreements on electricity and telecommunications by June 20.  He said nothing I heard that would make trouble for his negotiating partners in Belgrade, though the press may spin things in the other direction.

Thaci outlined steps that will be taken to implement the April agreement on regularizing the north, a small portion of Kosovo’s territory still controlled by Serbia.  He made it clear the changes would come peacefully, in consultation with the northerners.  My guess is that those consultations are of necessity mostly between the northerners and Belgrade, not between the northerners and Pristina.  He underlined that barricades would be removed with KFOR cooperation to allow freedom of movement and commerce, rule of law would be established in cooperation with the European Union mission for that purpose, development funding would be made available, elections would be held with support from the Organization for Security and Cooperation and in Europe (OSCE) and after that police commanders would be chosen for the north in accordance with the procedures in the agreement.

This was not the Hashim Thaci who almost two years ago sent his special police to seize border posts in northern Kosovo, precipitating the EU effort to regularize the situation there and prevent further destabilization.  This was instead a Hashim Thaci who has understood that the international community, which once ignored his pleas, now backs a broad effort to reintegrate the north and its Serb population with the rest of Kosovo, using leverage that comes from Serbia’s desperate need of EU funds that flow with the announcement of a date to start accession negotiations.  The Serbs of the north will have extensive protection, within the Kosovo constitutional framework.  Anything less risks precipitating a series of partitions in the region, and possibly beyond.  Reintegration has the potential, Thaci said, of bringing a definitive end to the Balkans wars.

Thaci was clear and unequivocal on economic issues.  Acknowledging the dead weight of Communism and war, he emphasized that Kosovo is open for business and welcomes foreign investment.  He noted particularly the minerals sector but underlined the importance of Kosovo’s human capital as well.  Kosovo will finally build a modern power plant.  He was at pains to underline that Islamic extremism has no place in Kosovo.  NATO and EU membership are Kosovo’s goals.

He did not, of course, answer all the tough questions.  He was silent on what Kosovo might have to give Serbia in exchange for eventual UN membership.  No one asked, so he did not address specific corruption allegations against members of his party, which is suffering various internal difficulties.  He made only a general reference to corruption as a problem.  He offered no plan for getting beyond the current level of 99 international recognitions.  He cited non-recognition by five EU members as a problem, but offered no solution.

I know lots of Kosovars who are unhappy with the prime minister on these and other scores.  We hosted two of his harder critics at SAIS recently.  He governs with only a bare majority, augmented in the case of the Belgrade-Pristina agreement by support from two parties that are not part of the governing coalition, which gave him a two-thirds margin for its approval.  On many other days he must worry whether he can manage 50 per cent.  I don’t know many leaders in this precarious situation who would offer themselves for questioning with any more frankness and responsiveness. Or more care to avoid creating problems for his negotiating partners and the internationals whose support he needs.  This was a fine performance from a Washington perspective.