Despite our warning to UNMIK HQ Pristina (acting according to guidance from the US) and to UN DPKO New York (unwilling to "second guess" the clueless leaders of UNMIK), UNMIK launched an action on March 17, 2008 to retake the courthouse in north Mitrovica. Here follows my email the following day sent to everyone in UNMIK and DPKO I could think of to make clear the damage done to our peacekeeping efforts in the north and along the Ibar and to forestall further ill-considered actions.
Balkanalysis.com has my fuller account of the background events leading up to what happened that day.
Balkanalysis.com has my fuller account of the background events leading up to what happened that day.
Good piece Sir. Now that the UN has blundered so badly, I wonder if Kosovo would ever be solved or is it going to become another region like some areas in the Middle East that would always require international peacekeeping presence. We started doing the slow, sensitive, and painstaking task of reintegration of the Serbs into the mainstream Kosovo society under the able leadership of Dr. Gallucci, which I think is a generational project requiring steady work to be successful. I believe that a sustainable solution for Kosovo should incorporate a policy of affirmative action consistently creating better opportunities for Kosovo Serbs in Kosovo compared to Serbia. This approach would gain traction with time and likely win as Kosovo becomes more prosperous and closer to the rest of Europe.
ReplyDeleteAlthough unlikely, the proactive integration of Kosovo into the European Union is the most proximate solution to the Kosovo crisis. This would alter the political dynamics in Kosovo considerably, hasten the integration of Serbs, and compliance of Kosovo Albanians with affirmative action policies. The question is-- does the Europe Union want Kosovo?