Kosovo recognition expected in May; with Transnistria to follow

Kosovo PM Agim Ceku, a former KLA militant, is ready to declare independence unilaterally (Photo: MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base)

PRISTINA (Tiraspol Times) - Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku expects Kosovo to declare its independence by the end of next month. In Pridnestrovie, which is also called Transnistria unofficially, the move is seen by many as a model to follow.

" - I expect Kosovo to be able to declare its independence by the end of May," Ceka said in an interview in his office in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, emboldened by unconditional support from the United States.

" - There is a very strong U.S. commitment to do this," he told the International Herald Tribune. The same day, Daniel Fried, U.S. assistant secretary of state for European affairs, said in Brussels that he is drafting a new UN Security Council resolution which will let Kosovo become an independent state, adding that it "would be adopted by the end of spring" despite Russian objections.

Not everyone is on board, however. Earlier this month, Russia's foreign minister reiterated his country's opposition to a U.S.-backed plan granting independence to the breakaway province of Kosovo, and warned that imposing the solution is "absolutely unacceptable."

" - We are very interested in the stability of the Balkans and Serbia," Sergei Lavrov said, adding that the stability of the region "can be jeopardized by attempts of unilateral recognition of the independence of Kosovo."

The comments followed a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington where U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said that the U.S. rules out autonomy for Kosovo and won't settle for less than full independence, making it clear that the United States will recognize Kosovo even if other countries don't.

U.S. State Dept official Nicholas Burns rules out autonomy. In his opinion, the only democratic solution is independence. Many in Tiraspol agree, drawing parallels to their own situation.

If they do, Serbia says that the U.S. is aligning itself with terrorists and war criminals. Agim Ceku, an Albanian Kosovar, is a former KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army) terrorist / freedom fighter who stands accused by the Serbian Government of being a war criminal. As reported by James Bissett, Canada's former ambassador to Yugoslavia, Agim Ceku led the Croatian army in 1995 in "Operation Storm," which ethnically cleansed almost all of the Serbian population from their ancestral lands in Croatia.

Under Agim Ceku's rule, millions of dollars in aid have disappeared in what critics say is complex web of criminal schemes led by former KLA commanders. According to the International Herald Tribune, Ceku admits that corruption is rampant. Over the past eight years, Kosovo has received more than €2 billion, close to $3 billion, from the taxpayers of the United States and other foreign countries with little to show for it.

NATO currently has 16,000 troops in the province, in part to prevent Serbia from asserting its sovereignty and in part to protect the Serbian minority in Kosovo from the government of Kosovo, led by the Albanian majority. 200,000 Serbs already who fled the province in the aftermath of the NATO-led war. Some 100,000 still live in Kosovo, but mostly in embattled, isolated and impoverished enclaves.

Washington: Kosovo independence or bust

U.S. officials have made it clear that an independent Kosovo will get recognition even without consent by the U.N. Security Council. Although Burns and Fried from the U.S. State Department advocate autonomy for Pridnestrovie within a common Moldovan state, they react angrily when a similar suggestion is made for Kosovo.

" - You put forward the proposal of autonomy. We think that is 10 to 12 years too late," Burns said.

" - We will support a declaration of independence by the people of Kosovo," Burns added, making it clear that with or without the support of the United Nations, his country's government is determined to break up Serbia.

The Serbian government, in response, issued what it called "a strong warning" that "U.N. member nations cannot unitarily" recognize Kosovo's statehood.

"Belgrade would fully reject as null and void any recognition of Kosovo's independence, because it would represent direct interfering by those states into Serbia's internal affairs," a government statement said.

Moscow was also perplexed over the statements by Burns.

"This wishful thinking is puzzling, because Burns cannot be accused of lacking information. The United States knows our position, and the positions of other countries, that a legal and stable solution to the Kosovo issue cannot be found without the consent of both parties to the conflict," a high-ranking source in the Russian foreign ministry told Interfax.

"We oppose double standards, when in some situations the principle of territorial integrity is maintained, while in the case with Kosovo it is ignored," the source said.

Reactions from Tiraspol see Kosovo as model to follow

Youth in Pridnestrovie - which is also known as Transnistria, or Transdniestria - had strong words for the West's double standards as well. Directed at the OSCE and its American-led mission to Moldova, they specifically compared Kosovo

" - A possibly independence for Kosovo could serve as a precedent for PMR, but in reality Pridnestrovie does not need a precedent," said Petru Gladchi, a civil society activist from Tiraspol.
" - It is a completely different situation, with Pridnestrovie having a far better case for independence than Kosovo, both legally and historically."

Nevertheless, the U.S. plans for partial recognition were confirmed again on Saturday: The United States will unilaterally recognize Kosovo's independence even if the UN Security Council vetoes such a move, a former US envoy to the Balkans and the United Nations said Saturday.

" - If Russia decides to use its veto (in the UN Security Council), there will be a declaration of independence in Kosovo, and the United States will recognize Kosovo the same day," Richard Holbrooke predicted during a conference in Brussels.

Sweden's foreign minister, Carl Bildt, also in Brussels, attacked Holbrooke over his comments, saying "that is playing with fire in Europe, playing with fire with the transatlantic relationship and playing with fire in the Balkans."
He insisted that the matter had to be decided by a UN Security Council resolution.

In Tiraspol, Gladchi added that "Kosovo should get independence if that is what their people want. To Kosovo we say: Bring it on! But of course, if they can declare independence unilaterally and be recognized, then so can we. Just wait and see..." (With information from AP, Interfax)

See also:
» Civil society youth warn of double standards
» Kosovo independence gives equal rights to Pridnestrovie; other unrecognized countries
» "Transnistria independence before Kosovo" says top Washington expert
» Kosovo precedent takes shape as USA rules out return to the past