Kosovo independence this month, says US

A river runs through it: If granted independence, Kosovo (shown here) will become Europe's latest Muslim-dominated country

ZAGREB (Tiraspol Times) - In an attempt to railroad Kosovo independence through the United Nations with as little discussion as possible, US State Department cheerleaders are promising Kosovo its independence within the next couple of weeks.

" - We will be circulating today with our European allies a resolution in the Security Council that we believe will lead to the independence of Kosovo by the end of this month," US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said Friday while on a visit to the Croatian capital Zagreb.

Kosovo could be granted independence from Serbia by the end of the month, Burns told journalists while refusing to comment on doubts raised by other members of the United Nations Security Council as well as by allies witin the European Union.

If granted independence, Kosovo would become the latest Muslim country inside Europe. Independence would bring international power to Kosovo's Prime Minister Agim Ceku, an ex-militant formerly known as "Commander Ceku" or "Commander Zero" who is listed in the MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base and tied to KLA-led war crimes. Muslim Kosovo militants are allied with other groups of Islamist Jihadists worldwide, including sleeper cells inside the United States. Earlier this week, six suspected terrorists - the majority of them Kosovars - were arrested in a plot to blow up Fort Dix, a US Army base in New Jersey and kill American soldiers.

Commander Ceku, the current prime minister of Kosovo.

" - The United States is strongly supporting the independence of Kosovo," said Nicholas Burns, speaking after meeting with Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader.

European Allies not on board

Not everyone agrees with the glib-talking Burns. Slovakia, a non-permanent member of UN Security Council, also resists the American-backed plans. Robert Fico, Prime Minister of Slovakia, recently said that the independence plan was unacceptable and the content would have to be changed.

Jan Skoda, spokesperson for the Slovak ministry of foreign affairs, said Bratislava would not be changing its position fast. “We stress our appreciation of the efforts made by Mr Ahtisaari during his mission but we don’t support his plan”, Skoda told Balkan Insight.

Romania, too, is also not on board. Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu said Friday that Romania does not want the way in which the Kosovo issue will be solved to set a precedent for other areas with frozen conflicts, the Rompres news agency reported. His new foreign minister Adrian Cioroianu is aware that is Kosovo is given international recognition against the wishes of Serbia, then Pridnestrovie - or Transnistria, as it is called in Romanian - will be next in line to get recognition against the wishes of Moldova.

" - Our main and only concern is that the Kosovo solution should not become a precedent for other frozen conflicts," the foreign minister of Europe's newest member country said. The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, in an article published this week, reported that divisions among the 27 EU member states are obvious, but that Brussels is trying to cover them up.

Russia has asked for more talks, pointing out that previous UN resolutions on Kosovo have not been adhered to. Vladimir Putin - whose country is one of the UN Security Council's permanent five veto-wielding members, along with Britain, France, the US and China - was quoted by Britain's Financial Times newspaper as saying: "If we find the solution for Kosovo unacceptable, we will not hesitate to use our veto right in the UN Security Council."

Putin reportedly said that the same yardstick should be applied to Kosovo and the former Soviet republics.

" - If a precedent is set, it will negatively reflect on the post-Soviet region and it will be difficult to explain to the peoples of South Ossetia and Abkhazia why Albanians (in Kosovo) can breakaway from Serbia and they cannot," he stated, quoted in the Financial Times. He thinks if Kosovo is granted a independence then countries as Abkhazia, South Ossetia (formerly in Georgia) and Pridnestrovie (Transdnistria, between Moldova and Ukraine) wants it too.

Experts see Kosovo precedent for Pridnestrovie

" - If Kosovo gets independence without Belgrade’s consent, but solely on support of some world powers, the secessionist republics would have the right to get advantage of such a precedent," confirms Maria Patrasco, a political analyst specializing in cross-cultural communications in ethnic conflicts in the Balkans.

" - Kosovo's independence would grant the same rights to the people of the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in the former Soviet republic of Georgia," said Elena Guskova, a Russian academic and an expert on Balkans. Pridnestrovie was not included in her statement, since it is not technically a breakaway republic of anything. Pridnestrovie declared independence from the now-dissolved Moldavian SSR (MSSR), which was a component part of the Soviet Union. Pridnestrovie's independence declaration took place in 1990. By the time the current Republic of Moldova announced its own independence declaration, in 1991, Pridnestrovie had already been independent - albeit unrecognized - for a full year. At no time in history was Pridnestrovie ever part of any independent Moldovan or Romanian state.

If Kosovo gets independence, by the same logic other states in similar situations have the same equal right to secede.

A country facing the loss of a part of its territory has to consider how willing it is to impose its rule by force:
How many people are you willing to kill for the right to govern people who don't want to be governed by you? Will forcing them to remain lead to the destruction of the country as a whole? Is there more stability in working out a compromise, or letting the status quo remain in place?

" - The answers to these questions are not obvious, and vary from case to case," says an American commentator who wishes to remain anonymous. "Peaceful separations as well as peaceful unions are the best, and only happen where people respect one another. Unions and separations brought about by war are bound to be ugly, and can only be justified if the alternative is worse." (With information from wire services)

See also:
» Kosovo independence gives equal rights to Pridnestrovie; other unrecognized countries
» "Transnistria independence before Kosovo" says top Washington expert
» Kosovo independence far riskier than independence for Transdniestria