Could impatience be a virtue for Kosovo? Trundling eight years, past to present, in a state between Serbian region and independent nation, the pace quickened this summer with Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku calling for a set date of independence. Such a move follows a collapse of diplomacy in the UN Security Council and would be counter to United States and European-led efforts on Kosovo’s behalf. Faced with the possibility of further talks—a track that has perpetually ended in failure and intransigence—Kosovo has instead proffered its own self-deterministic vision.

 

Speaking from Washington, Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku has stated that parliament should resolve to declare independence by November 28 if no progress is made with Belgrade before then. He claimed that such a move did not necessarily constitute unilateral action.

“In no way are we talking about a unilateral action,” Ceku told the Associated Press. “We are talking about a declaration coordinated with our friends and partners. It is simply an idea and since it has not been approved... it remains an idea.”

Posturing as such has been long-displayed in order to appease Kosovo’s Albanian ethnic majority, but until now has yet to have been made so concrete. Having remained under the aegis of the UN since its liberation by NATO forces from repressive Serbian security forces in 1999, the region has seen little beyond failed negotiations, superpower interference and waves of minority repression in the years since.

A resolution submitted to the UN Security Council in February 2007 was the first step toward Kosovo’s path to independence.

Proposing EU-supervised independence, the measure failed on account of a Russian veto. Serbia’s staunchest ally, Russia fears that a declaration of independence will invigorate separatist movements within its own borders. Russian parliamentarians have noted that a free Kosovo would mark the first time in post-World War II European history that boundaries of a nation have been redrawn against its will.

Their beliefs are not unwarranted: Azerbaijan’s breakaway region Nagomo-Karabakh has declared that international recognition of Kosovo as a free state gives legal credence to its own sovereignty claims. Separatist groups in Russia are also intently watching Kosovo’s progress, believing its struggle analogous to their own.

As a result, Russia supports Serbian wishes to maintain full control of Kosovo. Belgrade believes a free Kosovo will bring instability to the region, and has therefore been unwilling to budge on the issue of Kosovo’s status. To reach some sort of middle ground—as well as to recognize the reality that Kosovo is, with Western support, a self governing region—Serbia promotes a Kosovo that has “more than autonomy, less than independence.” This would allow Kosovo self-governance, but not allow it a role in international affairs, defense, or central governing institutions.

UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari presented a Comprehensive Proposal for the Kosovo Status Settlement to Ban Ki-Moon on March 26. The Ahtisaari Plan as it’s called is fully endorsed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon as “the best solution that will advance stability not only in Kosovo, but in the region as a whole.”

“When former UN Secretary-General Annan launched the Kosovo status process in 2005, it was widely recognized that the status quo in Kosovo was unsustainable,” said Senior UN Envoy to Kosovo, Joachim Rücker on July 20, 2007. “Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon recently reminded us that ‘any further delay or prolongation of this issue is not desirable, not only for the Balkan states, but for all European countries’ and has reported that ‘while Kosovo’s overall progress is encouraging, if Kosovo’s status remains undefined, there is a real risk that the progress achieved by the United Nations and the Provisional Institutions in Kosovo can begin to unravel.’”

Mediation has occurred primarily through the UN. A revised version of February’s failed resolution was submitted in July with the intent of appeasing Russia by removing explicit mentions of Kosovo independence. Instead, the resolution focused exclusively on initiating talks between Belgrade and Prishtina for a 120-day period. The revisions, however, failed to sway Russia, who claimed that the resolution was merely a hidden attempt to grant the region independence. The revision was withdrawn five days after its introduction in order to avoid any provocation a Russian veto might cause.

Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said, “We believe in territorial integrity as the foundation of international law. We do not want to reward aggressive separatist inclinations.”

“Almost the entire text and maybe particularly the annexes are permeated with the concept of the independence of Kosovo,” said Ambassador Churkin. Instead, the Western powers plan to actuate Serbian and Kosovar diplomacy through the veto-less Contact Group comprised of the U.S., Britain, France, Italy, Germany and Russia. The group is expected to meet July 25 in Vienna, where further discussion of its role will take place. Serbian and Russian officials, however, are vehemently opposed to any measure that attempts independence or talks outside of the UN.

Despite calling all proposed resolutions “unacceptable,” Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica still holds that, “the solution of the Kosovo question can be reached only through the United Nations.”

The United States disagrees, and is committed entirely to Kosovo’s independence regardless of the medium. This approach, while mirroring U.S. unilateral action in the Middle East, has limited support among Europeans. The EU, while supporting independence, predominantly supports a bilateral agreement between Belgrade and Prishtina. Limited support for unilateral independence can be found amongst EU members, particularly Britain, but most states have said that any such declaration would greatly enervate EU-Kosovo ties and aid.

And so Kosovo treads with careful steps. Its impatience grows daily, but its ability to act remains constrained. Ceku hopes, however, that this provides an impetus for world powers to act on its behalf.

The dangers of a unilateral declaration of independence affect all parties involved given rising tensions, and as such more may be done to appease Kosovo interests.

“The United Nations has failed to act,” Ceku said. “My idea is a way out of this situation. We are offering our partners a solution.”