Kosova's Last Chance

No one should have been surprised at the UN's decision to delay resolution of Kosova's final status until after Serbia holds its elections on January 21. This was just the latest attempt on the part of the West to appease Serbia. Appeasing Serbia has been the centerpiece of the international community's misguided foreign policy approach to the Balkan conflict ever since the NATO bombing campaign ended Slobodan Milosevic's genocidal march across Southeast Europe seven years ago.

The United Nations, the Contact Group, and the European Union could have taken the opportunity at the end of October-when Belgrade forced a constitutional referendum to make Kosova "an integral and inalienable part" of Serbia-to insist that Belgrade finally break from its horrific past. The West could have insisted that Serbia dismantle the Milosevic system, extradict Bosnian Serb commanders Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karazdic to The War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, and recognize the new reality in Kosova. Instead, immediately after the referendum, the West bowed to Serbia's ruling coalition led by Vojislav Kostunica and Boris Tadic.

Europe and the United States agreed to postpone resolving Kosova's final status, because this might bring the Radicals and the Socialists to power, when in reality all it will do is to undermine the new democratic forces in Serbia. And it asked two million Kosovar Albanians, who have been waiting for freedom since Slobodan Milosevic invaded and occupied Kosova in 1989, to wait once more.

Albanians should have realized by March 2005, when Ramush Haradinaj was indicted by the International War Crimes Tribunal and forced to relinquish his post as prime minister that the postwar balance had tipped in favor of Belgrade. But any lingering doubts about this have to be cast aside in November 2006. When Prime Minister Agim Ceku rightly stated last week that Kosova might have to declare its independence, he was "called on the carpet" by Western officials and chastised for taking a stand that would "discredit Kosova" in the eyes of the international community.