http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/06/15/opinion/edkosov.php

International Herald Tribune
June 15, 2007

Kosovo must be independent
By Former foreign ministers

[Note that the ten signatories are exclusively from
NATO nations or close partners Sweden and Australia.
Absent, conspicuously, are former foreign ministers
from Russia, China, India, Indonesia, indeed from all
of Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East,
Oceania excluding Australia and Eastern Europe except
for Poland. In short, from those nations whose
populations constitute some 90% of the human race.
"When the Security Council adopted Resolution 1244 in
response to Milosevic's actions in Kosovo, it laid the
groundwork for a political process that would
ultimately determine Kosovo's future."
UN Resolution 1244 explicitly identifies Kosovo as an
integral part of Serbia. The foreign ministers who
helped craft this resolutions know this, however much
they may try to distort and invert its content now.
"The Ahtisaari plan has several advantages. It gives
rights to Kosovo's 100,000 Serbs to manage their own
affairs within a democratic Kosovo, which will be
protected and monitored by the international
community."
Similar guarantees are contained in UN Resolution
1244, adopted eight years ago, yet under NATO and
UNMIK supervision hundreds of thousands of Serbs,
Roma, Turks, Goranci, Jews, Askali, Egyptians and
Albanians themselves have beem murdered and driven out
of Kosovo right under the noses, indeed with the
active connivance, of the alleged international
community once again disingenuously invoked by the
signatories below.
"Russia and the other UN Security Council members
should follow through on the promise that the Council
made in 1999 and agree to complete the process of
self-governance in Kosovo....Russia would prefer this
limbo to a situation where Serbia and Kosovo join the
European Union and NATO."
Resolution 1244 states: "Reaffirming the commitment of
all Member States to the sovereignty and territorial
integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and
the other States of the region, as set out in the
Helsinki Final Act and annex 2."
Russia, then, is abiding by its obligations under the
UN Charter and international law.
The West and NATO are not.
The contemptuous references to Russia and the spurious
motives attributed to it by the signatories
demonstrate, yet again, the utter and universal
arrogance toward and complete disregard for the
positions and interests of the true international
community exhibited by the currently dominant but
rapidly declining West and its NATO military
enforcer.]


Kosovo is back in the headlines. President George W.
Bush says that it should become independent soon.
President Vladimir Putin of Russia opposes
independence and prefers time for more talks.

President Nicolas Sarkozy of France has suggested that
we move forward, with a six-month delay.

This has a familiar ring to it. Eight years ago, many
of us - then foreign ministers - put in place an
international process to decide who should govern
Kosovo.

We believe that the only viable option is for Kosovo
to become independent under strict supervision. That
is the proposal that is currently before the UN
Security Council and is part of the process that the
Council, including Russia, agreed upon and has
implemented since 1999.

Kosovo is the last substantial territorial issue
remaining from the violent collapse of Yugoslavia. In
2005, as called for by decisions of the Security
Council, the UN secretary general appointed a special
envoy - former President Martti Ahtisaari of Finland -
to achieve a political settlement.

After 14 months of negotiations with the leaderships
of Serbia and Kosovo, Ahtisaari announced that the
irreconcilable positions of the two parties had made
consensus unattainable and that no amount of
additional talks would overcome the impasse.

In lieu of a negotiated agreement by all sides,
Ahtisaari proposed that Kosovo receive independence
supervised by the international community (primarily
the European Union and NATO) and provide strong
guarantees for the Serbs who live in Kosovo.

Now is the time to act. Tensions are likely to rise,
and they certainly will not cool. Moreover, without a
resolution on Kosovo's final status, the future of
Serbia and Kosovo will remain uncertain.

Some may say that Russia would prefer this limbo to a
situation where Serbia and Kosovo join the European
Union and NATO.

Serbs and Kosovars should prefer otherwise.

They deserve to be in the European Union. And Kosovo
cannot develop as things stand. It has been unable to
gain access to international financial institutions,
fully integrate into the regional economy, or attract
the political capital it needs to address its
widespread unemployment and poverty.

Russia has complained of not being included in talks.

It should participate, but constructively and not just
to block it. What may be needed is a formulation that
allows Russia to acquiesce without having to break
openly with Serbia. Russia can reassure Serbs and
emphasize that Kosovo is a unique situation, without
precedent for other regions.

The Ahtisaari plan has several advantages. It gives
rights to Kosovo's 100,000 Serbs to manage their own
affairs within a democratic Kosovo, which will be
protected and monitored by the international
community.

It also requires protection for Orthodox and Serbian
cultural and religious sites. Finally, it provides for
an international presence that will oversee Kosovo's
institutions and monitor the settlement's
implementation. It also places Kosovo on the road
toward EU integration.

The European Union has agreed to supervise Kosovo
during the transition period and deploy a police
mission alongside the current NATO peacekeeping force.
An indefinite delay caused by continued confusion over
Kosovo's status could jeopardize a smooth transition
to European oversight.

Kosovo is a unique situation that has required a
creative solution. It should not create a precedent
for other unresolved conflicts. When the Security
Council adopted Resolution 1244 in response to
Milosevic's actions in Kosovo, it laid the groundwork
for a political process that would ultimately
determine Kosovo's future.

We know that all decisions on Kosovo are difficult.
Some of us kicked the issue down the road eight years
ago. Today, the international community faces the
hardest issue of all. But the decision is necessary,
and it is the result of eight years of international
collaboration.

Serbia must recognize, however, that greater stability
in the Balkans promoted by the Ahtisaari plan will
allow it to use its location, resources and talent to
become a major regional player and a constructive
force in European politics. The Serb people deserve a
legitimate place in Europe and Serbia could also begin
to move towards possible EU membership.

Our goal remains a Europe whole and free, with all the
people of the western Balkans participating fully as
EU members. The benefits of a concerted EU effort in
Kosovo, backed by the UN and NATO, are enormous. As
such, Russia and the other UN Security Council members
should follow through on the promise that the Council
made in 1999 and agree to complete the process of
self-governance in Kosovo. This is the best option at
this stage of a very difficult history of the whole
region. Viable alternatives do not exist.

Madeleine Albright, United States

Lloyd Axworthy, Canada

Jan Eliasson, Sweden

Gareth Evans, Australia

Joschka Fischer, Germany

Bronislaw Geremek, Poland

Niels Helveg Petersen, Denmark

Lydie Polfer, Luxembourg

Jozias van Artsen, Netherlands