Kosovo Clash: Serbia Divided on Approach to EU (original) (raw)
The flood of news from Kosovo may have slowed, but tension in the freshly minted Balkan country remains palpable. And much of that tension is being fed by the Serbian government up north.
On Thursday, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said in a statement that a new international committee -- founded to monitor all foreign activities in Kosovo and which met for the first time in Vienna on Thursday -- is "the most brutal transgression of international law." He also called on United Nations General Secretary Ban Ki Moon to bring the "policy of naked violence and perversion of justice against Serbia" to an end.
The comments by Kostunica are just the latest in a week full of indications that Serbia isn't going to give in quickly when it comes to Kosovo's Feb. 17 declaration of independence. Belgrade insists that Kosovo, which is 90 percent ethnically Albanian, is an inalienable part of Serbian territory and it has withdrawn ambassadors from all countries that have recognized an independent Kosovo. On Wednesday, Kostunica said on Russian television that the European Union "must recognize Serbia complete with an indivisible Kosovo." He also said that the 1,900 police, justice experts and administrative professionals sent to Kosovo by the EU "infringes on Serbia's sovereignty."
"I am certain that Kosovo will be a part of Serbia as long as we exist as a nation," Kostunica continued. "It is significant and assured that there will be no normalization of relations with those countries that have recognized Kosovo."
The war of words comes amid a noticeable lack of violence in Kosovo and Serbia since a huge protest in Belgrade against Kosovo's independence last Thursday. During the demonstration, 150 people were injured and one person died when part of theUS Embassy went up in flames . This Thursday, an explosion rattled windows in the town of Mitrovica -- located in northern Kosovo but divided between ethnic Albanians and Serbs. Two UN vehicles were damaged in the blast but no one was hurt.
Still, the Serb enclave around Mitrovica remains tense and protests there have been a daily occurrence since mid-February. According to the AP, scores of Serb police officers working in the Kosovo police force have turned in their badges since Kosovo declared independence with many more saying they are planning to do the same, police officials said Thursday. The police force had been one of the few integrated institutions in Kosovo, but now 170 of the 800 officers have quit.
According to a Reuters report, Germany is planning to send more troops to Kosovo in response to the uneasiness. Citing an army source, Reuters says that the extra troops are being sent as part of a training exercise, but that the beef-up is also meant to send a message of strength.
Much of the wrangling, though, is taking place behind closed doors in the Serbian capital Belgrade. Boris Tadic of the pro-Western Democratic Party was re-elected as Serbia's president in early February on a platform pledging to guide Serbia toward EU membership. Even as Kostunica expressed understanding for the destruction of checkpoints on the border between Kosovo and Serbia, Tadic was sharply critical of the attack on the US Embassy in Belgrade. Deputy Serbian Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic, a member of Tadic's party, reiterated this week that the Democratic Party would work together with Kostunica's government only if it continued to support EU integration and cooperated with the international community. "Of course we can make decisions on an emotional basis, but our responsibility is to ask what is in the best interests of our citizens."
On Friday, Belgrade took a small step toward improving damaged relations with the West by filing criminal charges against 80 people involved in last Thursday's attack on the US and other embassies. But Kostunica once again made clear where his priorities lie. He spent part of Friday morning in a pedestrian zone in central Belgrade where some looting took place last week. He was there to hand out badges reading "Kosovo is Serbia."
cgh/dpa/AP/Reuters