An Exam for Europe

At the expiry of the 10 December deadline for the Kosovo-Serbian negotiations on the future of the Balkan region, ended with a standstill, Pristina announced the forthcoming unilateral declaration of independence, while Belgrade warned: “Kosovo will always remain a part of Serbia”. Thus, almost 40 years after the fall of Communist regimes, which had imposed unity and coexistence under the Soviet umbrella, the Balkans aren’t at peace. The issue will be debated again on Friday December 14 during the EU summit in Brussels while the UN Security Council will address it next week. In the meantime, the situation is marked by turmoil as the majority of Kosovo’s population, of Albanian ethnicity, intends to undertake the path towards independence “as soon as possible”; perhaps already at the beginning of 2008, according to the negotiations’ spokesperson Skender Hyseni. Serbia declared its opposition with the support of Russia, its historical ally. Moscow’s Foreign Minister Serghei Lavrov, affirmed: “Those supporting Kosovo’s independence should carefully consider its consequences since it would violate international law” and “would cause a chain reaction in the Balkans and in other parts of the world”. The imperative tone doesn’t conceal a risky possibility: that other regions may follow the path of secession. It’s a possibility feared by other EU Countries, starting from Spain (Basque area) and Cyprus (Turkish part of the Island). At this point, Kosovo’s key issue goes beyond its National dimension and becomes an international test-bed with many ‘players’ involved. The first question concerns the future role of Kosovo’s authorities, starting from Hashim Thaci, the symbol-man of Pristina. Will he follow a “governed solution”, as the EU Foreign ministers have asked, or will he exert pressure on the present situation also at the risk of leading his people to a new armed conflict? Furthermore, the governments of Serbia (directly involved in the situation) and Albania (which could act in support of its “Kosovo brothers”) are under close observation. Since both are EU “potential candidate” States, they need to show they would avert the use of force as a solution to internal and external conflict. On this point the European Union is determined: there is no place in the Community for those who resort to the use of weapons. This message is true also for all the other Balkan States (Croatia, Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro) and for Turkey. Each one is in different ways headed towards the EU. While another reality was indirectly confirmed: the risk of political, diplomatic and armed conflict is higher outside the Community. Under this angle Kosovo represents an “exam” for Europe, which must be united internally and cohesive on the international level, in order to establish stability, democracy and peace processes, as inscribed in its history and in its DNA. Finally, Pristina’s future calls major countries into question, starting from Russia and the US, as well as supranational organizations such as Nato and the United Nations, the latter officially responsible of Kosovo’s transition. Once again Moscow, Washington and the UN are in the position of showing that the rule of the law and peace are their top priorities, with positive effects at world level. On the contrary, history will judge the culprits of a new death toll and of endless tragedies.