Betreff: [ALBANEWS] Press: Fwd: Taft Op-Ed, Washington Times, 9/14/99
Datum: Thu, 16 Sep 1999 14:17:40 -0400
Von: Besnik Pula <besnik@ALB-NET.COM>--- begin forwarded text
Date: Wed, 15 Sep 1999 13:15:34 -0400
From: Balkan Action Council <bac@balkanaction.org>
Subject: Taft Op-Ed, Washington Times, 9/14/99THE BALKAN ACTION COUNCIL
September 15, 1999
We commend the following article to your attention, written by Executive Committee member William H. Taft IV and published in the Washington Times on September 14, 1999.
------------------------------------------------------------------------Time for a New Balkan Policy - Forget About Serbia, Help Kosovo
The current policy of the United States and its allies towards Kosovo is strangely familiar. In fact, it varies only slightly from the policy of a year ago. The objective remains political autonomy for Kosovo within a democratic Yugoslav state dominated by Serbia. In September 1998, the allies looked to the Belgrade regime to establish political autonomy in Kosovo at an early date, where today the United Nations is bringing this about more slowly. The effort to support democratic forces in Yugoslavia is being given more emphasis than a year ago. But these are small variations. We are aiming at the same goals we were aiming at last year - political autonomy for Kosovo within Yugoslavia. Those goals, however, no longer fit the facts on the ground. Times have changed.
Consistency in foreign policy is desirable, but events in Kosovo in the past year have substantially altered the situation. First, the Belgrade regime conducted a genocidal campaign against the ethnic Albanian population of Kosovo; more than 10,000 people were killed, hundreds of thousands were driven from their homes, and thousands still live in camps outside Kosovo because they have no homes to return to. Second, Serbia has bee defeated militarily and exhausted economically; it no longer poses a serious threat to the security of Europe.
Taking these new facts into account, our first objective should be to give the people of Kosovo the opportunity as soon as possible to decide whether they wish to establish their own independent state and, if they choose independence, to allow them to have it. The current allied policy of holding elections on everything but the critical question is backwards as a matter of logic and, on account of its apparent disingenuousness, dangerous.
Subsequently - because, Kosovo will choose independence if given a chance - a diminished Serbia should take its place with other unfortunate states whose authoritarian regimes deny their people the benefits of democracy but yet pose no serious threat to the security of their neighbors. Like Burma or Afghanistan, Serbia should be subject to economic sanctions as long as the current government in Belgrade lasts and eligible for assistance only insofar as this is directed to relieving the most pressing humanitarian needs.
At this point, the allies have no obligation or special requirement of self-interest to promote democracy in Serbia more than elsewhere, even if it were clear how this could be done, which it isn't. If any population has ever earned the right to self-determination and independence, the population of Kosovo has done so in the past 12 months. The "long train of abuses and usurpations" that so provoked the signers of the Declaration of Independence seems almost trivial in comparison with the systematic campaign of genocide unleashed by the Belgrade regime.
A world that has welcomed Singapore, Bangladesh, Slovenia and Eritrea into the community of nations in recent decades should not prefer the claims of a government of indicted war criminals over the hopes of the victims of genocide. Further delay in making clear where we stand on this question can only cast doubt on our commitment to the cause of human rights we went to war to defend and create dangerous uncertainty among the affected people. Of course the principle of territorial integrity is important, but there are times to make exceptions. Most commonly, exceptions are made after a country loses a war that it has started. This is Serbia's case.
Further, today a reconciliation between Kosovo's Serbian and Albanian communities is no longer plausible. Even reconciliation over the longer term is likely to occur only across a clearly established international border, such as France and Germany have enjoyed since 1945. With regard to the territorial integrity of Serbia, it should be recalled that the chief practical reason for supporting this a year ago was that it seemed a crucial element of any policy to avoid military conflict. We have now had our military conflict, and the result has been clear enough. Kosovo and several other Balkan states are very much in need of economic assistance and stronger democratic institutions: Romania, Macedonia, Albania, and Bulgaria.
The economies of these countries, never strong, have been set back as a result of the conflict. Throughout the crisis, however, these seemingly fragile and certainly immature democracies showed remarkable resilience. Each of them gave political support to NATO, and with the successful outcome of the war their democratic institutions have grown in confidence. With sufficient economic support, these nations can be expected to participate constructively in the growing community of democratic European states.
However, as long as the Belgrade regime remains in power, Serbia is a different case. Money put into Serbia is at this point simply wasted in comparison with what it could do in neighboring states and in Kosovo itself. When the government in Belgrade changes, of course, Serbia may become eligible for assistance. Until then, the allies should make it clear that they can wait.
In sum, it's time to change our policy objectives to reflect the events of the past year in Kosovo. We should call for a vote on independence at the earliest possible time. The people of Kosovo have earned the right to self-determination and we should support its exercise. The people of Serbia likewise should know within what borders their leaders over the last decade have confined them. The allies' efforts to strengthen democracy an assist the economic development of the region should be focused on those states that have shown some commitment to democratic values. Serbia is not one of them and should, until its leadership changes, be excluded.------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE BALKAN ACTION COUNCIL
P.O. Box 27392
Washington, DC 20038-7392
Tel: (202) 737-7720
Fax: (202) 737-7721
bac@balkanaction.org
www.balkanaction.org--- end forwarded text
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