Berisha: Independence crucial for stability

Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha: "Independence is crucial for stability."

TIRANA (Tiraspol Times) - Independence is an indispensable prerequisite for stability, says Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha. Although referring to Kosovo, Berisha highlighted universal principles and reasons which are equally valid for other areas of Europe whose territorial status is still undefined.

Albania wants a timely solution to Kosovo's status, Berisha stressed after a meeting with Kosovo's Prime Minister Agim Ceku. Kosovo, which is formally still a part of Serbia, has been a UN protectorate for 8 years after NATO led a non-stop 78 day bombing campaign which helped it break away from Serbia.

Unlike Transdniester, it does not govern itself. Transdniester - which officially is named Pridnestrovie, according to its constitution - declared independence in 1990 and is fully self-governing. Neither Moldova nor the United Nations have any say in the way that Transdniester is governed. But despite introducing its own currency, stamps, passports and border posts, this strip of country located between Moldova and Ukraine is not yet recognized as a state internationally.

In Washington, not everyone agrees with Berisha's statement that independence is an indispensable prerequisite for stability in the case of Kosovo. Some say that Transdniester deserves it more:

" - Kosovo would experience increased instability as KLA elements seek to subvert Montenegro, Sandjak, Presevo and Macedonia in their pursuit of an Islamic 'Greater Albania'," says James Jatras, an American specialist in international law and longtime Senate foreign policy insider. "This is in contrast to the relative peace and tolerance in the former Soviet entities and the absence of extraterritorial claims by them." Jatras has 17 years of experience as senior foreign policy analyst for the U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee. As a specialist in international law, he has testified at the Hague Tribunal and has close ties to Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, the Ranking Republican on the Select Committee on Intelligence.

His position is shared by other dissenting voices in Washington, but not by the US State Department which still officially clings to the notion that there is future for Transdniester inside a joint state with Moldova. The two sides, which have historically been separate from each other, fought a war in 1992 and have not seen eye to eye ever since.

Denial of independence can bring renewed instability

" - I honestly don't know enough about Kosovo to be able to comment on that part of Europe," says another specialist consulted by The Tiraspol Times, Michael Garner. "But I can say that in the case of Transdniestria, which I know a lot more about, it will be a huge blunder to close your eyes to the will of the people and their support for independence."

" - Our government is too short-sighted to pursue a sensible policy to address this, and work with Transdniestria as it becomes more open and democratic. Instead, just like Moldova, it will use a disasterous ad-hoc policy that leads to bad situations getting even worse and many of them recieving no good resolution, which would only lead to a “failed state” that breeds instability and terrorism, rather than new statelets that have emerged relatively functional."

" - Perfection is the enemy of the good, said French novelist Gustave Flaubert. Instead of looking for the perfect option to choose, we have to choose one that is merely good. It does not involve messy population transfers and, after 17 years of the status quo, we know that there will not be any new instability. This option sure beats a foreign-backed invasion or the flare up of the brief but nasty 1992 war. The West cannot support any status solution which does not respect the passionately held wish of the people of the area for political independence. Its simply not an option," believes Garner.

" - The West, and indeed the whole world, ought to publicly support the independence of Transdniester within its existing borders as a sovereign and democratic state in which human rights, including the rights of ethnic and religious minorities, and the rule of law are respected as the only way to lasting peace and stability in the region."

See also:
» "Transnistria independence before Kosovo" says top Washington expert
» The How-To for peace and prosperity on the Dniester
» No precedents in the unique case of Transdniester