To Albin and Shpend from Ed
Ed Joseph, my colleague here at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, offers this open memo to our recent visitors from Kosovo, Albin Kurti and Shpend Ahmeti. They lead the “Self-Determination” Movement, which advocates a referendum on union with Albania and opposed the April agreement on normalization of relations with Belgrade. I will of course be prepared to publish their reply, should one be received:
MEMO
To: Albin Kurti; Shpend Ahmeti
From: Edward P. Joseph; Washington, DC
Date: 6 June, 2013
Subject: Five takeaways for Vetevendosje from the Visit to Washington
I’m sure you both have gotten a lot out of your visit. It was good to see you at the event at SAIS; I noted your diligent note-taking and was pleased to see that you saw this public event as a real exchange — both an opportunity for you to voice your views, including to a member of the Serbian Embassy, and as well to listen. Permit me to share five points that I hope you will consider further:
1. Speech may be free; but positions have their costs.
While you are free to voice your opinion on most anything — Serbia’s failure to change; unification with Albania, for example — you should note that free speech has its costs. Harping about Serbia’s internal failures opens the door wider for others to harp about organ or drug trafficking in Kosovo. You may not see an equivalence, and there may not be one; but the more you stray into comments about neighboring countries, the more it will seem to justify unflattering charges about Kosovo. It is your right to complain about unfair Serbian treatment of Kosovo; but it is foolish to wail about all that Serbia needs to change. Let others judge Serbia’s fitness; stick to commenting about the fitness of Kosovo.
2. However convinced you are about the value of unification with Albania, you are opening yourself up to an eventual political embarrassment.
Washington is a town that loves differences and debate. The fact that there is near-unanimity about your adamant insistence on unifying Kosovo and Albania is startling. It suggests that a lot of folks who care about Kosovo in Washington think this is a really dumb idea. Again, free speech allows you to advance this position. But doing so makes it extremely difficult for you to appear as a responsible figure whom the US would want to do business with.
And this point, eventually, will become clear to Kosovo’s Albanian voters who will find the defiant sound of ‘unity with Albania’ a lot less appealing when they realize that it could mean substantial damage to the most important relationship that Kosovo has: with the US. Even if you win elections, you will lose credibility when your unification proposal goes nowhere.
3. Stop whinging about Kosovo’s ‘limited independence.’
You argue that Kosovo is not being allowed to realize its full independence because it is not allowed to pursue unification with Albania (as a majority of Albanians in both Kosovo and Albania want.) Well, the truth that neither Kosovo nor any country can do whatever a majority of citizens might want. There are formal and informal constraints that operate on all countries, including even the US. In this case, you have no basis to complain. Kosovo owes its independence almost wholly to the US, which led NATO into an air campaign that ended Serbian control of Kosovo; and Washington advanced independence with key European allies against Russian and Serbian opposition. Furthermore, to this day, Kosovo owes its security to NATO troops. All that creates a quite understandable basis for Washington and others to limit Kosovo’s nationalist ambitions. You should accept this as simply the facts of life.
4. The US cares — a lot — about the condition of the Serb community in Kosovo. So should you.
The US got involved in former Yugoslavia reluctantly, as Washington has limited interests in the region. Its main interest is stability. The main threat to stability comes from tensions related to the position of minorities. The main approach to dealing with these tensions is to develop democratic institutions, including democratic policing, rule of law and improving economic development — all of which tend to increase the respect for human rights and improve relations within and between states. The main vehicle for developing these institutions and reforms is the attraction of EU and NATO membership.
In short, we believe that ‘social integration’ begins first with ‘institutional development.’ We believe that, in fact, the evidence from around the world supports this sequence. First, protect rights enshrined in law with strong institutions; then watch as social integration gradually takes place. It is naive to think that, with a century of bloodletting between Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo (including examples where both sides committed heinous acts of violence on the other and years of mistrust in the past two decades), it could be otherwise.
Among other things, all this means that we care a lot about how Serbs are treated in Kosovo (and how Serbs in the north treat Albanians), and how Macedonians treat Albanians (and how Albanians treat Macedonians in Tetovo) and how Serbs treat Bosniaks in the RS, et seq, et al. We care whether Serbs in Kosovo can return to their homes, or whether Albanians like Shpend can do so. If our human rights organizations are doing their jobs, they will be not only monitoring the condition of Serbs in Kosovo, but doing something to advance respect for their rights.
It’s truly great to see your party condemning the desecration of Serbian Orthodox graveyards. This is both the right thing to do, and also the thing to do if you want to cooperate with the US and the EU. Keep it up. Don’t complain about the prominence of this issue.
5. Stop blasting the 19 April Agreement; start looking for ways to ensure that it is implemented properly.
You may not like the 19 April ‘Agreement of Principles’ signed between the Prime Ministers of Kosovo and Serbia. That’s your right. You can continue to complain about the agreement if you want to. You can insist that Serbia has not in any way recognized Kosovo. You can continue to push for unification with Albania.
But if you continue to do all these things, you are helping out those who argue that Kosovo should not be recognized. And by doing that, you do not advance any of the goals you have for Kosovo’s development. To the contrary, you will help keep Kosovo marginalized.
Instead, you should change your approach — immediately. You don’t have to like the 19 April agreement or publicly support it, but you should focus on seeing that it is implemented in ways that protect the interests of all of Kosovo’s citizens. The agreement is complex and there is room for error; you could make an enormous contribution by putting forward constructive proposals — that take into account the legitimate anxieties of Kosovo’s Serb citizens as well.
Thanks for considering these points! Wishing you and all your fellow citizens good luck.
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Washington, where the voices were united in opposition to the idea of a Greater Serbia, was not the only city Kurti and Shpend visited – they traveled to visit diaspora Albanians in New York, Chicago, Boston, Worcester … It would be interesting to learn what they heard there. Diasporas often reflect a simplified view of the society their members came from rather than the current complicated, messy one, and to be more willing for the members of the current society to take risks to support the diaspora’s outdated views. For example, Tudjman was radicalized by association with the Croatian diaspora in the West, who had in many cases fled the Communist government during the days of Goli Otok and then lived through the years of anti-Communism in the U.S., Canada, Australia. Tudjman had to be talked into aiming for independence, not just a better deal for Croatia within Yugoslavia.
For Kurti, what he heard from the diaspora could be crucial. He would hope for financial support for the next election as well as help with persuading elected public officials in the U.S. It would be interesting to discover what he heard from the people who might have the best chance of influencing his views, at least, about the probability of gaining U.S. support for them.
As for support for the idea of a Greater Albania in Albania, it’s taken a recent hit when the party promoting the idea, the Red & Black, was discovered – or said to have been discovered – to have offered $100,000 to politicians to run on its list. Support has apparently plummeted, and with elections on the 23rd, there’s not much time for recovery.
1. This article says that the freedom of speech is a right everyone should have, but that won’t help you because we got you under control like a stringed puppet. Oh, and stick to commenting for Kosovo only because Serbia “does” the same thing (which they don’t. Serbia comments and accuses Kosovo every time they get the spotlight).
2. I agree that the unification with Albania is surreal right now, but not necessarily in the next 20 years. That can be possible with both countries developing their economies, international status, education & equality rights.
3. Lose the nationalism attitude but never limit the independence, no matter how dependent we are from the EU or US. If the US and EU follow that attitude, they’re not helping to create an independent country. They’re merely creating a blackhole in the heart of Balkans.
4. Without complaining there’s no advancements. As much as I agree with this paragraph, there’s still one part that is totally ignored. Most of the attention of the internationals goes to a small number of serbian population in the North, who have totally ignored any kind of help from Kosovo’s government and definitely refuse to change. In the other hand, there is also the south of Serbia which is populated with Albanians, who have no human rights or support at all but still are willing to change and are open to proposals (which usually are void). If you want to help, stop being biased.
5. There are all kind of things that are wrong with this agreement, but things were rushed and it is what it is. We need to adapt, but there shouldn’t be no need to do that if Serbia is not willing to do the same.
Thank you, Loriki.
One thing Albania and perhaps (a little later) Kosovo might do is to set up Ministries for Albanians in the Diaspora and the Region – just as Serbia has done for Serbs. The purpose of the Ministry in Serbia is to help Serbs in the neighboring countries fight for their rights, for example, by insisting that cyrillic be used in public signs in Vukovar, or holding rallies in Podgorica over retaining Serbian textbooks in the schools. All Serbs abroad are encouraged to support Serbian state policies in their new countries. Surely no one could have any objection to Albanians doing the same thing, right?
As far as uniting all Albanians in one state, do most Albanians in Albania favor this? It would certainly upset the balance between the North and the South. And as for the politicians in Kosovo, do you think they want to give up a chance to be the president of their own country in return for being a provincial leader?
“As far as uniting all Albanians in one state, do most Albanians in Albania favor this?”
This is an ill-posed question, as it implies VeteVendosje wants that, but it doesn’t. Vetevendosje and most of the Albanians talk about unification of Kosovo and Albania; Montenegro and FYROM (let alone Greece) have nothing to do with it. And most people do favor it, be them voters of PDK, LDK, AAK, VV, PD, PS etc, though opinions about the timing and modalities differ greatly. This is one of the reasons that make Ed’s dishonest and highly unintelligent piece, he insinuates that all VV stands for is unification and nobody else outside its voter base wants that. For everyone who keeps repeating ad adendum ad adbsurdum a myth about VV and deliberately ignores most of its program is just that, dishonest.
The Ahtisaari plan has been torn apart to accomodate the requests of the aggressor state and nation, there’s no reason to bring it up against those who want unification.
“It would certainly upset the balance between the North and the South.”
The north and south of what, Wonderland? Westeros? Mu? Kruna? Dragaera? Khorvaire? If you mean Albania, you’ve been reading too many serb sites, you’re starting to become assimilated.
Serbian sites hardly ever mention Albania, and I’m chastised if I bring it up. (For example, it’s being picked as the Best Country in the World (Low-Income Category) in that Newsweek article a few years back.)
What I’m reading now is Pettiffer and Vickers’ The Albanian Question: Reshaping the Balkans, which deals with the years 1997 up to the war, particularly what was happening in Albania. So far I’ve been reading about the events of March 1997, with the clash between Berisha’s DP supporters in the north (pro-Kosovo independence) and the Socialist Party (nostalgic Communists) in the south. Perhaps as I read further I won’t see the division between the two parts of the country as being so significant – since the first author was in the south of Albania during the disturbances, he tends to focus on what divides Albanians rather than what unites them.
I believe in Vetevendosje, these 5 takeawaysare to be thrown in the garbage.
greetings from Switzerland
What Ed is suggesting here is to shed all its values and become more like PDK. What would be the point of VV’s existence then?
Not at all surprised about these 5 ‘Neutral’ comments. It’s funny there is no such comment regarding the Serbian government. Maybe he did it but directly in Serbian and had no time to translate in Albanian. Any comment on your friend Thaçi or the Podesta Group. Do you know how many they pay for the moment in US regarding the Serbian, Kosova’s and Albanian Governments???
To ED from Kosova: please be aware that the Problem is never the opposition but the Government… Please feel free to comment Albin Kurti as PM but just wait until the next elections!!!
Cheers!
Kosovo of course has the right to elect whomever its people want, but the U.S. has the right to decide what countries to support, and to what extent, in its own national interest. It’s not in U.S. national interest to have another blowup in the Balkans, which a lot of people fear would be the result of an attempt to create a Greater/National Albania. Since Kosovo depends on the U.S., like it or not, for financial, military, and diplomatic support, it’s just as well to make it clear where the country stands. If Kosovo’s citizens choose to disregard the advice, that’s one thing, but if they make decisions assuming that there won’t be any repercussions, out of ignorance, that’s another. It’s a good idea for any country not to fool itself about what things cost.
Mr. Amer,
Firstly, Ahtisari plan then Declaration of Independence and Constitution of Kosovo were drafted in full accordance with US interests.
There is no law or bill that go to Kosovo Parliament for approval without previously being screened by US representatives in Kosovo.
Therefore we have rightfully expected these documents to have full backing of USA.
Instead, we are ending up on changing at least 50 bills, as result of last agreement with Serbia.
This agreement could not have been reached without strong advice from USA.
If somebody still says that this agreement is not harmful for Kosovo and will consolidate the statehood of Kosovo, then I must admit that this is a strangest consolidation I have ever seen.
As you can see we as Kosovo are not disregarding any advice from our main friend, but USA is supposed to back the documents that we together produced and not make us crawl in unending concessions to Serbia.
USA has moral obligation to stand on protecting the Constitution of Kosovo that USA is practically the author.
Why is anyone surprised with this ‘advice’ from a former part of the neo-colonial rule called UNMIK and now EULEX?
Former American ambassador Christopher Dell was a vehement ‘hater’ of Vetëvendosje, as they were the only ones trying to prevent the ‘Bosnianization’ of Kosova. He was the de-facto king of Kosova, choosing who became prime minister and who became president via text messages and envelopes.
And the same line of anti-democratic behaviour continues with the current American ambassador in Kosova, Tracy Jacobs. She has – with Chris Dell – done everything to try to denigrate the free will of the people, also known as Lëvizja Vetëvendosje. She even began making rumours about Albin Kurti having sent threatining letters to former secretary of state, Madeline Albright. When Albin Kurti asked for these threats to be published in the media, she shut her mouth and nothing was ever heard again.
America tried to denigrate Albin Kurti and Lëvizja Vetëvendosje when they denied him a visa to visit America several times. And they leaked these refusals to the press, so Kosova’s voters would know that the US does not support Vetëvendosje and therefore trying to minimize the support for Vetëvendosje in the most pro-American country in the world
(http://www.realclearworld.com/list/most_pro_american_countries/kosovo.html?state=stop)
So it’s obvious that America does not stand for the will of the people but for the will of America.
PS. Edward Joseph should be ashamed of comments like these:
“Kosovo owes its independence almost wholly to the US, which led NATO into an air campaign that ended Serbian control of Kosovo; and Washington advanced independence with key European allies against Russian and Serbian opposition.”
His lack of historical insight is shameful. Kosova declared its independence in the early 90’s with a referendum. But where was America back then?
Kosova won its independence with the blood of its people who were willing to sacrifice everything – even their lives – to be free at last from the Serbian oppression and annexation of Albanian land. America and NATO intervened. They did not take sides.
Like America is intervening now in the Hague where it’s very likely that Karadzic and Mladic will be let out, because America – via ICTY president Theodor Meron (American) – wants to:
“(…) protect the military establishments of powerful states, specifically the US and Israel, from expansive forms of criminal liability previously developed by the ICTY.” (http://www.ejiltalk.org/)
The words of Franklin D. Roosevelt about the ruthless Nicaraguan dictator, Anastasio Somoza García, come to mind: “Somoza may be a son of a bitch, but he’s our son of a bitch.”
So as long as puppet rulers in puppet democracies are willing to be America’s sons of bitches, they can expect American support until they’ve overthrown by their own people. We saw that with Mubarak just a few years ago.
“Kosova won its independence with the blood of its people who were willing to sacrifice everything – even their lives – to be free at last from the Serbian oppression and annexation of Albanian land. America and NATO intervened. They did not take sides”.
America and NATO did not take sides? Yeah right. How did you get independence? You own your independence to Monica Lewinsky and Krvava baba.
You need new leaders in Kosovo, like Albin Kurti. You want to distance yourself from this http://tinyurl.com/bn2z5bp
This letter is full of contempt not just towards VV guys, but also towards the albanian nation as a whole. Did US really liberate Kosova or just took over the sovereignty from serbs according to you mr Joseph??
What makes you think that you can patronise one nation and their right for self-determination? You can only intimidate your friend and a business associate Hashim Thaci, but not the political consciousness of the whole albanian nation, despite your complex of inferiority. We are neither the people or the place for you to exercise your mediocrity…
Small countries live in fear of what decisions large countries may make about them – Serbia has been disappointed any number of times by Russia not coming to its support, for example.
But large countries worry about what the small countries they support may get up to and then drag them into. An ally that shows an inclination to provoke nations that it can’t defend itself against on its own is going to be viewed with extreme caution. It’s only fair to make it clear to that nation just how far support extends. It’s not a matter of contempt, it’s a matter of self-preservation for the larger country.
From Serb sites you may get the idea that the U.S. continually surveys the globe, looking for chances to act militarily to expand its power. Especially after Afghanistan and Iraq there is very little appetite in America for expensive military adventures – think about how long it’s taking for the Syrian rebels to see any aid. If Kosovo wants to go it alone under VV’s leadership, that’s their right, but it’s good to have a clear idea of how much international approval exists for their efforts. If Kurti realizes how little support this particular idea has – even when he’s wearing a tie while he presents it – he may sensibly decide to drop that plank from his platform and focus on fighting corruption and government inefficiency. Thaci said in his appearance at a similar event in D.C. that he shared these positions with VV, there’s no reason a consensus can’t be built around these ideas, or they couldn’t fight out a campaign based on who could better deliver on the same promises.
Please disregard this article full of hatred against Albanians as a whole. Mr.Edward P. Joseph is a former deputy Ambassador of the OSCE in Kosovo, who was dismissed from his job for being a racist and biased. Usually favoring Serbs in attempt to hurt Albanians in Kosovo. Now he is trying to continue it from home. We love US and we will always be grateful to it and you are nobody to speak on behalf of your country. You keep your opinion to yourself.
To Ed from Kosovo